Sunday, March 26, 2017
The day I will never forget.
About two months ago my team, Relentless Pursuit, and I made our debut into the town of Strandfontein. We moved in with the ever-so-lovely Benting family (Mady and I have already gotten our adoption papers ready).
As for our ministry here, we walk a mile up the road to Denneguer Primary School every Monday-Wednesday, where we are teacher’s assistants from 8-1:30 (my fourth grade class is the best class in the whole school). Then, Thursday and Friday we go to either Waterfront or Long Street/Green Market area for street evangelism. WaterFront is a mall area in Cape Town that has EVERYTHING, including a ferris wheel. Long Street/Green Market is an area in the city that has lots of native African vendors and cute little coffee shops. On Sunday we attend Strandfontein Baptist Church with the Benting family and after church, we take turns going to Campground, a squatter camp that the church hosts Sunday school at. A lady whom I quite fancy named Sister Colleen takes us.
About a month ago Sister Colleen asked me if I would start taking the 9-13 year olds to teach them the lesson separately. It’s easier for them to understand English (they speak Afrikaans much more fluently in the squatter camps) and that it would help them to have more intentional time with someone. I gladly obliged. They split the gospel leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion into parts to be taught each Sunday leading up to Easter. The first lesson I was asked to teach was on Gethsemane: the power of prayer. It went really well. I really enjoyed hanging out with the older kids, making crafts with them, and hearing the questions they asked us crazy Americans. Colleen then asked me to continue coming to finish out the series of lessons that would close out the season. Again, I happily obliged, growing more and more in love with the kids as the Sundays passed.
This past Sunday was my last Sunday. The messagefor the day was on the crucifixion. It honestly freaked me out to think about teaching a group of 9-13 year olds about the crucifixion. I had no idea howI’d go about it, what angle I’d come at it from, or where I’d go with it. So like I had done all the other Sundays, I read the scripture, prayed, and prepared to let the Holy Spirit take over. My team leader/best friend Mady came with me this Sunday and we took the kids up to our usual spot and after we got settled I just jumped into it. I explained to them how all the stories lined up, read the verses from Matthew and added in what I call “Abigale’s side notes” to try and make it as understandable as possible. After we had gone over everything and I felt comfortable in their understanding of the gospel and death of our Savior, I did something I have never done before. I asked if anyone wanted to ask Jesus into their hearts.
There is an older girl by the name of Allison who I admire a lot. She is so hungry for the word, disciplined, beautiful, and kind. Sister Colleen had asked her earlier why she was happy today and she said “because I want to hear the word of the Lord, Sister Colleen.” Wow. I knew then, that she was serious. I watched as she was the first one to raise her hand. So many hands shot up and I felt it necessary again to probe them a little farther to make sure they were serious and understood the weight of the decision they were making. “Are you sure you’re serious about this.” I asked them. “Yes, Abigale. I am so serious about this.” Allison replied, practically coming out of her chair and in my face waiting for me to lead her in prayer. So I did it. By the power of the spirit, I led 12 young people to the Lord and we rejoiced with the angels up in Heaven afterwards. It was genuinely one of the most amazing experiences I’ve been gifted in this life time. But the day didn’t stop there.
I had noticed a young girl who brings her baby brother most Sundays. The two of them are always quite dirty. Like, very dirty. I had talked to her a few times, but not as much as I had some of the others. This Sunday I sat beside her during worship and without even saying a word to her, she slid closer to me and interlocked her arm with mine. The beautiful sign that I had just made a new, very special friend. When we split into our small group she made Mady move over a chair so she could sit next to me. She stayed very close to my side throughout the lesson. After everything was said and done I let them ask me questions. Most were about Heaven, salvation, and qualifications. I was shocked to hear them say that God wouldn’t allow people into Heaven if they didn’t fit certain physical qualifications. Such as, if their shorts were too short or they were wearing a crop top or…. if they were too dirty….
“They won’t let you into Heaven if you’re that dirty.” A few of them poked at my friend Angelic. “There’s no way you’re getting in that dirty.” Her face sank and so did my heart. I immediately jumped at the comments and told them that not only were they being ugly, but they were also horribly mistaken. I told them that Jesus was a “come as you are” kind of guy and that she would certainly be accepted into the gates of Heaven but even more so the arms of the father.
I later found her sitting on the other side of the building crying. Allison with her pure heart picked her up and comforted her. Then I wrapped my arms around her and walked her back to the storage container we call church. Once we got there, I leaned down in front of her, took her by her arms, looked her in the face and told her that she was beautiful, Jesus loves her, and to not listen to anything the others say to her.
Today my heart celebrated 12 names added to the Lamb’s book of life and within seconds broke for a girl who was told that because she was physically dirty she could not go to Heaven.
Thank you Jesus for loving your children and washing them as white as snow in your sacrifice on the cross. She’s pure and clean in your eyes. Thank you for seeing us for what’s on the inside rather than how we look on the outside. Thank you for giving me your heart to love your children as they are.
“He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
Matthew 18:2-6
“Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never send away.”
John 6:37
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.”
Isaiah 1:18
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.”
Revelation 22:17
“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight”
1 Peter 3:3-4
