Last night was one of the most special times for me thus far in Cape Town. Pastor John Thomas and his wife Avril had the entire team, along with our host family, the Johnsons, over to their house for dinner. This man is an exceptional example of what it means to follow God by faith. I cannot count the number of stories I have heard since I have been here about this church stepping out on faith and punrchasing a building before they had the money to pay for it, and God providing! One time for us would be a big deal, but these people see that as simply being obdeient to God- not being out-of-the ordinary. Their church is 4 years old and has 400 members. From that church, Fish Hoek Baptist church that later changed its named to King of Kings Baptist Center, was spawned a Christian radio station (the 3rd most listened to station in the greater Cape Town area), the Masi Baptist Church, an AIDS hospice, the Muizenberg homeless shelter, the Capri cente, and the Ocean View Center! This congregation has an absolute passion for what God is doing and sharing the love of Christ with those that do not know him. It's very humbling to see what a church of 400 has done to impact its community verses our church of 4000. My prayer is that our team would come back to Brentwood and be on fire for God, fanning the flame and encouragivinng others to join our cause as well. True, we may not have the AIDS pandemic on our doorstep at home the way it is here, but that doesn't make the problem any less. We live outside the capitol city of TN- I know there are homeless and needy people there who could desperately use a helping hand, and there are lost people everywhere in a world where we almost assume that people are Christians. Just because the wealthy and the poor do not live a mile apart the way they do here doesn't make it right for us to turn our heads to the greatest problems at hand. The biggest lesson I have learned in this regard is that Living Hope pools their resources and takes care of their community, then praying with faith that God will in turn provide for them, whereas we have gotten in the habit of taking care ouf ourselves and then helping out with whatever we have leftover! Where is our trust in the Lord? God is really breaking us down this week and teaching us what it really means to live by faith, and I am excited to continue to learn more.
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4 comments:
My dear friend, It is awesome to see how God is taking care of the needs of many. He is big and cares for us all no matter where we live. I am praying for you and the team! ~shel
i wanna play with the kids too! i'm so excited for you. i can't wait to see pictures and such. emily and rhonda are taking good care of your blog, so don't worry and i'm keeping up on my sarcasm, so we're just awaiting your return. love you sweetie! ~ari
Hey, I was just curious if you had any specific prayer requests come up since you've been there? If so, let us know, and if not, we'll just keep praying for the things you asked or as the Spirit leads. Love ya!
I am moved to tears everytime I read these entries. I hope that all american youths could have the experience you are having to open their eyes and their hearts to God's spirit. I love you and miss you my dear GB!
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