My last month in Africa, was called “Ask the Lord” Month.
Normally we have a contact, a church, and a ministry set out for us the second
we step foot in a new country. This month, we had to figure that all out
ourselves – country, ministry, church – everything.
Instead of partnering with a church, like we normally do… we
decided to do something a little different, which entitled living at a hostel
for a month, and being a witness to all of the random people from all over the
world, coming and going to Johannesburg.
One of the people that came to the hostels name is Johannes.
He is from Germany and was on a layover for a few nights on his way to Namibia
for school research. He noticed something different about us from the second we
got there. He began to ask why we were helping out around the hostel, and was
curious about our daily prayer sessions at 9 am. We shared with him what we
were doing, and slowly presented the Gospel. Later in the week, a few of us
were on our way to a bible study at a coffee shop with the church we joined
that month. Johannes just happened to be walking back to the hostel as we were
leaving. We asked him to come along, and he did. He had no idea what he was in
for.
We started talking about Christ, and all of the experiences
we have had so far. This is the first time he had been shared the gospel, and
he was filled with questions. Questions about Darwinism, faith, church, etc.
Some questions were extremely deep. He wanted to know how he could experience
Christ the way we have. Although some of his questions were difficult to
answer, we encouraged him to keep praying that God would reveal himself. I also
presented the group with this question. How much time have you spent in your
life, studying? School, science, Darwinism, etc. Everyone responded with, a
lot. I then asked, “How much time have you spent truly and deeply pursuing a
relationship with Christ?” There was a significant difference in time spent for
everyone.
Johannes left a few days later, and sent us an E-mail. He thanked
us for everything we had shared with him, and said that he had been praying for
Christ to reveal himself; wondering if seeking for a relationship with him was
the right thing to do. He said that on his way to Namibia, a girl sat next to
him on the bus who happened to be reading a bible. He started talking to her
about it, and she presented the Gospel the same way we did. He said this is the
second time in his entire life he has heard about God, and it all happened in
the same week, the week that he prayed for God to reveal himself, and he did.
The girl sitting next to him on the bus was confirmation from God, and an
answer to his prayer. Johannes is now on
a new chapter of life.
This month, for me is the month that I grew most
spiritually. I’ve seen God in ways that I never have before. I have more stories;
about ways God have moved me, but those you will have to ask me about
personally if you are interested.
Also, this month, part of my ministry was through Artwork.
The hostel we were saying at needed a lot of fixing up, and livening up. They
asked me to paint something bright on the hostel wall, to attract more clients.
I haven’t done anything with my artistic capabilities since high school, and I certainly
wasn’t expecting to do anything like this on the race, but God has re-opened
that door for me.
In this picture, I painted traditional African art, as
requested. I added a little spice to it, however, in favor of Jesus. I painted
the fruits of the spirit, on each piece of fruit atop of the persons head –
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, faithfulness, Gentleness, and
Self – control. There is also symbolism behind the sun. It was supposed to be a
cross, but now it’s a cross in disguise, because I wasn’t allowed to paint
anything too obvious. There is a sun in the middle of the cross, because Jesus
is the light of the world J
I’m now in the Philippines, more updates soon.
God bless everyone, and thanks again to all of my
supporters!
