Cape Town. THE Cape.
A city I have been wanting to come to for years. About a week before arriving in South Africa, my team found out we would be in Cape Town and we started to piece together all of our dreams of this city. The sights, the experiences, the hikes – we were all wildly excited to be going to the Cape. We had a spectacular month in Ngarange, Botswana. We were far from any grocery store or internet and even further from any large city. The idea of living in Cape Town for a month after living in a small village was a bit of a shock. We felt extremely blessed that the Lord had gifted us with two incredibly different experiences in our time in Africa and we were looking forward to what a month in Cape Town would be like.
We began our travel to Shakawe, the nearby town and proceeded to Namibia to start our long bus trip to the Cape. Somewhere in these few days the Lord revealed something to me about the posture of my heart. He reminded me why I signed up for the race, and that he had not only gifted me with the opportunity to go to Cape Town but entrusted me and my team with a call to something higher than just being a tourist.
About a year and a half ago the Lord called the six of us to do this thing called the world race. Then, we had no idea what we were getting into, where we would be going in each country, or what ministries we would be doing. All we knew was that we signed up to serve the Lord all over the world.
Fast forward to February, 2017. I had assumed the tourist mindset and was beyond pumped to see Table Mountain, the ocean, and penguins. Our team had even been entertaining the thought of cage diving with sharks. Generally, the hype of going to such a beautiful city was really catching up with me.
Our first morning here, a book I’m reading brought me to Jeremiah 29:13-14. I’ve known this scripture for a long time and it always makes me think of something our family friend says when we misplace something; “did you look with your heart?”. Nine times out of ten, when Becky says this, we find whatever we were looking for. And boom – there it is in scripture. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord…
Through these words, the Lord reminded me of how much more I can get out of this month – out of each and every day – if I seek him instead of seeking experiences or memories. If I seek experiences, I’ll have a few cool photos for Instagram and some stories I hopefully remember years from now. If I seek him, I gain bits and pieces of the kingdom, our perfect inheritance, and that lasts forever. Something else that’s pretty cool is that it says “I will be found by you” which is in the passive voice. This means that the “I” of that sentence, referring to the Lord, isn’t doing the work here. (The Lord does pursue us endlessly, but that’s not what this verse is talking about).
The Lord will be found by me if I seek him in everything, everyday, with my whole heart. In this declaration, too, the Lord promises that he will show up. “I will be found by you.”
For a moment, I had misplaced seeking the Lord. I placed it behind seeking experiences. But he reminded me to seek him, with every ounce of my being, and he has promised to show up.
To me, this is a call to be faithful and diligent. We’re going to get so much more out of our time in this incredible city if we choose to seek the Lord in each thing, regardless of our experiences. That is my challenge to myself this month and that is our goal as a team. We’re going to search diligently for the Lord. I am way more excited to share those stories at the end of the month than I would have been if we were just coming here to be tourists. What a blessing that we get to receive an even greater experience, an even greater gift of a month because of this promise the Lord has made to us.
I hope that we step into that challenge fully this month. It won’t be easy; the beach isn’t far away, there’s a mall that looks just like the malls at home 10 minutes from our house, and adventure is literally around each and every corner of this city. But after one day of doing ministry here, I can tell you that the kids are beautiful and full of life. They live in hard places, see atrocities, and talk about things 7 year olds shouldn’t even know about. They need people to care for them, invest in them, and tell them they matter. I know I’ll find the Lord here, and I can’t wait to seek him in that this month. He’s given me an easy start by revealing these beautiful mountains everywhere I look.
As you pray for our team, The Village, this month, please pray that we would be faithful and diligent in this call to seek the Lord in all things, each day, with the entirety of our hearts.
I have some photos of this beautiful place that I’m excited to share, just haven’t found wifi strong enough to post them on here yet!
