A few weeks before we left for Africa, I was spending time with Teresa, the squad mentor of J-squad, in Gainesville. Anyone who knows Teresa will know that the rest of this paragraph is about a challenge and encouragement that she gave me, because that’s what happens when you’re around TT. She knew all about my doubts and struggles to hear from the Lord, and how I had just recently started walking in that confidence of the faith. But as she looked at me, she didn’t see any of that. Instead, she told me that she had been listening to God for me and heard, “He gets what he asks for.” “You’re going to bring faith to this squad,” she said. Nervous excitement flowed through me, as that’s an area I simultaneously thrive in and struggle with the most. As launch came, the excitement replaced the nervousness. Let’s do this.
At the airport in Atlanta, we saw Hector’s back healed. Our first week in Lesotho, people that were virtually blind had sight restored. Hearing was restored in a prison. Back and leg pain that had been there for years was taken away. The squad prayed for rain and it rained…for the first time in months. Rivers started flowing. Jesus delivered people from fear and rejection. Almost 200 people gave their lives to Jesus!! Ok God, I see you. J-squad is GETTIN’ IT!
Enter Swaziland. God breaks the bondage of witchcraft over a home through some of our men and women, and the help of a dream. People hear God’s voice for the first time. Lies are broken off as chains are shattered. Rain fell consistently for the first time in over a year. A community of women learns how to be vulnerable and break off shame through Beauty for Ashes. I don’t want to brag, but my squad is the best.
Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. We’re spread out in ministry, but the one I spend the most time at is teaching Sex Ed at a local high school. The second day, a teenage girl runs out of class sobbing as the Lord starts speaking to her about her shame. Another girl asks how she can hear from the Lord. Another girl asks how she can tell who is a safe person to share with that will protect her story. In a public school ya’ll. This week, teenage boys are walking up to the board and writing on it what God spoke to them during their time of worship. And, of course, it’s all words about their worth and affirming that they are sons of the Father. Last week, Anthia, one of our ministry hosts, asks us to pray for her restaurant because business has been bad and that’s what they depend on to sustain their ministry here (when I say business has been bad, I mean no one comes into the restaurant). We walked around it praying and thanking the God of abundance that day, and since then the restaurant has had customers every day and she called me this morning to inform me that they just confirmed a reservation for 60 people for 3 days. That’s a huge deal! That’s what i’m talking about Jesus. Riding with Anthia’s husband Lyndon in the car the other day, we’re having a conversation about the teams and he looks at me and says, “Andrew, something is happening here in Jbay, and the atmosphere is changing. I’ve felt that way ever since your teams got here. There’s something different about you all.” I agreed because, yes, J-squad is awesome and we are full of faith and love and expectancy for God to do big things through us.
But there’s a few parts of the story that I left out. Sections that, without which, the picture wouldn’t be complete. Vital pieces of the puzzle that I didn’t notice until 530 this morning when I went for a run at the beach with HB and Hector. Because at 530 this morning, on the basketball court beside the beach, there were 3 African men who were PURSUING God. Walking up and down the basketball court, with almost no one else around, screaming and praising God, and asking for His will to be done in Jeffrey’s Bay. My eyes get watery and I get goose bumps just thinking about it. The gravity of what I was seeing didn’t hit me until Hector commented, “this isn’t the first time i’ve seen them doing this”. These men are out here early, before anyone else, fighting for Jeffrey’s Bay. Changing the atmosphere. Inviting the Spirit to move here. Sowing. And we got to reap some of the benefits of their hard labor. Oh, what a privilege we have! In Lesotho, there are 3 men named Oliver, Tsepo, and Obed (and i’m sure a host of others), that had been plowing the ground for years before we got there. Staying up into the night praying. Speaking in tongues. Planting churches 2 hours walk from the town. Visiting the prison. Going to the hospital every morning. Running the soup kitchen. Visiting homes. Worshipping and believing God for big things. And when we arrived, we saw almost 200 souls saved and many people healed and set free. They sowed, we reaped.
And these men rejoiced in our reaping of the harvest they planted. There was no jealousy, no strife. Only celebration of the Kingdom harvest. They embodied the spirit of a son of God, who cares not whether he reaps or sows, but only rejoices that he is gifted to be a part of the work. And I am learning from them as I sit in this realization this morning. I’m learning what it means to be thankful. To trust God with the reaping. To trust that there’s growth even when we can’t see it. That that time in my life where I felt like I sowed and sowed to no avail had a purpose. It wasn’t a waste of time. That I need to repent of being mad at God for “not living up to His end of the deal” when I was in Memphis. That I can hope that there will be reaping from the sowing that we did. To trust that we can’t always trace His hand, but we can always trust His heart.
Without even knowing it or expecting it, Jeffrey’s Bay has been about redemption for me.
Much love,
Andrew
PS- how are you sowing or reaping? Let me know!
