Matthew 10:11-13
And what ever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
I read this verse today and it took me to our Ask The Lord week at the end of December-beginning of January. My team experienced exactly this, and as I read this verse my heart was flooded with awe over the goodness of God, the love of His people, and how His word is true.
My squad was told in Month 5, Malaysia, that we would have an “Ask The Lord” week from December 27th-January 2nd and it could be in either Botswana or South Africa. The requirements were that we had to stay with in a $10 USD budget per person, per day which included food, lodging and local transport. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that is very little money to work with.
My team prayed about it and we felt led to go to Pretoria, South Africa to do relational ministry. We weren’t quite sure what it would look like, most of us assumed it would be hostel ministry. Fast forward to Botswana and that’s where we decided to start hunting for a place to stay.
My team treasure and dear friend Mary Catherine and I would sit for hours trying to find a place that would go to as close to $5-6 USD per person per night for lodging as possible, but hostels would only go down to $10 USD and that would wipe out our whole budget. We would have to use personal money for everything else.
This went along for over a week to no avail and then we started looking for places in Cape Town since the squad leader with us had to go there to be with another team. A friend that lives in Cape Town even started trying to help-still to no avail. My squad mentor decided it would be too far for my team to travel with Karleigh, my squad leader, so to arrange it so that she could meet up with another team. My mentor also upped our budget so we could stay at some place in Pretoria for $10 USD a night….but…God had another plan.
Right after we booked a hostel, my team mate, Lacey, came over and said that her doctors from her small Canadian town that are originally from Pretoria, were in South Africa at the time, and found a place for us to stay in Pretoria…for free. So, we called the hostel back and cancelled.
Honestly, I was frustrated at first because we spent all that time on the phone and sending e-mails and….boom! That happened. It was a humbling experience and a great reminder that we can plan and plan, but the master planner, God, has all things under control.
Our time with the Erasmus’, Lacey’s doctors, was amazing. We ended up staying with another family that went to their daughter-in-law’s church who had a small flat attached to their house. This family was also extraordinarily amazing.
When the Erasmus’ picked us up they took us out to eat, then bought half of the team’s groceries and then took us to their house to swim in their pool. After that, they took us to the flat we would stay at only to find out they had already bought some groceries and prepared six mattresses with sheets and blankets for us to sleep on. Talk about extravagant giving!!
We also found out, just the day before our arrival, their daughter found out she had breast cancer. They weren’t depressed, they still had joy and hope that you knew was from the Father. Their daughter, Susan, also had an amazing hope and light of faith that was in her eyes. We had the opportunity to spend a day with her and it was such an honor. Her faith in the Lord and determination to kick cancer’s butt was amazing.
For New Years Eve, the family that allowed us to stay in their flat, invited us to join them for pasta and to worship into the New Year. They shared their stories of their walk with the Lord, shared about the history of South Africa and other interesting things. That is a New Years I will not ever forget.
That week, my team spent time in a lot of prayer and in communion with amazing peope that opened their homes and hearts to six complete strangers. We were able to see with our eyes that this scripture in Matthew is true…and that we could plan all we want…but the Lord is truly the one that directs all the steps of the righteous.
Thank-you, Lord, for that extraordinary opportunity to meet such beautiful, humble and loving people.
I love and miss you all! I will continue to share about my time in South Africa in the future when I have better access to wifi and can upload pictures to go along with the blog. In the mean time, I will share stories I haven’t yet that are truly written by the hand of God that has happened on the Race.
Sincerely,
Meraia
