“I will create rivers in the dry wasteland”
Time is still moving at an incredible pace. Where has May gone? It’s a mystery to me.
This month is a month of shut doors and new beginnings. Change is always hard for me when I just hear about it … when I know that it is coming; but when it the time of change arrives, I almost always feel at peace about things and it’s never as hard as I think that it will be.
Jason and Cara told us about a month ago that they would be returning to the States this month to try and get the proper help and care for Cara as she has been battling with her health for many years and they won’t be returning until 2012 (after our internship has come to a close.) When they first told me the news, I was a wreck! I couldn’t stop crying and I wasn’t sure how I would cope with their departure. But, when we said our goodbye’s to them in South Africa this past week, I was totally at peace. Of course we will miss them but God knows what He is doing in this, He has not forgotten about us. John and Jude (a wonderful couple on the farm) will be taking Jason and Cara’s place as our leaders and our whole team looks forward to what they have to offer for us!
As I wrote in my last blog post, we also said goodbye to our three Swedish friends at the beginning of May and just last week we said our goodbyes to our good friend Kirsty from Scotland. But, with all of the goodbyes we are welcoming 3 girls from America coming at different times in the next two weeks who will be moving into our house with Katie, Kylee and I.
At the beginning of May Katie and I were really struggling, asking God why all of this was happening, asking a lot of questions, unsure of the next step with our leaders leaving and even struggling with the ministry we have been involved with on the farm. One day during this time, Katie and I were fasting and praying and God gave Katie the verses in Isaiah 43: 18-19 “But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do for I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” I am still really holding onto those verses and trusting that God will take care of us and that through this change, good will come of it. Who am I to question God? He knows what He is doing and that excites me!
This past week the team went to Pretoria with Jason and Cara and the guys to spend time with them and do ministry in Mamelodi (a township outside of Pretoria.) Allan had taken us there in January so we were able to see some of the people we were introduced to at the beginning of the year, and we met many more people as well! Wonder and Clever lived in Mamelodi for a couple of years before coming to Swaziland so it was great for them to see so many people who are like family to them. I was not particularly excited about going, but it was one of the best weeks that I have had since arriving in Africa. We spent time visiting people in their homes, visiting many gogo’s (grandmas), many of Clever’s friends, we attended Youth group at the powerhouse church (where Clever and Wonder attended) and lead youth group for them. It is hilarious – Katie put it well when she said that Clever is to Mamelodi what Brad Pitt is to America. We would just be driving down the street when people would see him and they would start screaming and nearly crying with excitement at the sight of him. Every time we would knock at someone’s door and they saw Clever standing on their doorstep, they nearly fainted from shock and then nearly knocked him over in a massive hug. Clever is a celebrity in this township. Haha. It was very obvious that he played a big part in the people’s lives there and that they loved and respected him greatly.
We also had a really good time hanging out with Clever’s friends. Going out to McDonald’s for ice-cream! (something I don’t even really enjoy doing in Canada but for some reason when it’s a restaurant that connects to home, it becomes far more exciting. 
) We had many dinners together, ate African burgers (which don’t even qualify as burgers – it consists of french fries, a hotdog, and a fried egg. Haha) sounds super healthy… but for only 6 rand, you can’t go wrong! 
We had a picnic, checked out a huge mall in Pretoria, chatted together, sang together (one time we went out into a parking lot and sang a worship song in Si-Swati, our way of evangelising to people people were loving it though and at one point we even had a small crowd that gathered around us. No big deal. Haha.)
We also learned to always carry money with you in case your car runs out of gas… Wonder, Clever and James learned that the hard way as Katie and I were the ones with the money and on their way to pick us up, they ran out of gas so the gas jockey’s held Wonder hostage for about an hour until we could get back to the gas station and pay them. Lol. And we learned to always carry your passports with you as the South African police may just pull you over and take you into their police car because you have no way of proving your identity. Clever’s friends Joel and Nicky got put in the back of a police car for 45 minutes while they waited for Clever, Wonder, James and Noah to retrieve their passports and prove to the police that these guys really were who they claimed to be. Crazy. Haha.
It was a wonderful week and we are already greatly missing our new friends and hoping that God blesses us with the chance to see them all again sometime during the year.
So, after that refreshing week in South Africa, its back to farm life, submitting under a new leadership, getting a whole new schedule, and meeting a lot more people who we will get to know and love. If you would have asked me how I felt about all of this a few weeks ago, I would have told you that I never wanted these things to come to pass… if you would ask me now, I would tell you that I am so excited. God has a plan and a purpose and I am pumped to see what He has up His sleeve.
So, for all of you readers, I will keep you updated on the way that God is moving here in our lives as the time passes. Just keep praying for us for God to work and move in our lives in a mighty way. Oh and birthday wishes to my beautiful sister Katie who is 20 TODAY!! If you are reading this blog and are also friends with Katie, do me a favour and send her an encouraging word and a big happy birthday, she deserves it!! Blessings!!
