If time can fly, that was July. (I didn’t even mean to make that rhyme!) But really, the month passed in a whirlwind – though it was a really great whirlwind!

 Amy and I were very fortunate to have our families come and visit us here at Hawane. We left to pick them up from Johannesburg on the 5th of July and then spent the next three weeks together – doing ministry and having a little vacation time too. Our families were able to experience our day to day life, doing devotions in the morning with the TCMI students, sitting in on our discipleship times with Jon and Jude, coming along to the hospital ministry, community outreach, and other things we do during our weeks. They were also able to experience working with the Luke Commission, one of our favorite ministry times, and prison ministry, which was a first time for all of us.

Though I was very blessed to see my family, I think I was more excited about them seeing and experiencing Hawane. On one of the first days, during morning devotions with the students, we were paired off to pray together and my dad was paired together with a young man who is battling with HIV/AIDS. I could tell my dad’s heart was very touched by this young man because he kept asking me questions about him. During the time my family was here the young man fell ill, staying in bed all day almost every day. One day though, while the other students were away at choir practice, he came out of bed to try to get warm in the sun. My dad saw him sitting outside and went over to talk with him. And then they sat there talking, without a break, for over three hours! Seeing my dad open his heart up to this young man, and seeing this normally quiet and un-talkative student open up to my dad, was very moving. For the rest of the visit my dad continued to visit the young man and gave him some magazines to keep him busy during his days in bed. God knew. He knew that they needed each other, even if it was only for a short time.

Going on family vacation was a lot of fun, relaxing, and refreshing. Though, by the end of the week I was ready to get back to my Hawane home and family. After we got back from vacation in St. Lucia we spent one more day together on the Farm and then it was time to say goodbye. I don’t think anyone was ready to go home though. That’s the thing about Hawane, it really sticks to you.

Since the families left we’ve continued to be busy, busy, busy. We hosted an awareness dinner for Challenge Ministries Swaziland (the ministry that Hawane Farm is a part of) where the Deputy Prime Minister of Swaziland and one of the King’s sons attended. And we’re getting ready to say goodbye to farm managers Wafuka and Lily, and our team leaders, Jon and Jude. Though the goodbyes are sad, we are happy to send them out, Wafuka and Lily to go start a new Teen Challenge center in Zambia, and Jon and Jude to start fundraising for Challenge Ministries back in the UK. And of course we are over the top excited to welcome our new/old leaders Allan and Annie to Swaziland!! We can’t wait to see you guys

God has been speaking to me a very simple scripture lately, Luke 1:37, “For no word from God will ever fail.” Through this God had been speaking to me two major things:

1. God speaks to me. I am worthy to be spoken to. I don’t have to get to a certain “level” of spirituality before God can speak to me. He speaks, I just have to listen.

2. What God speaks to me, I can trust in. When I hear God speak, and I know deep in my heart of hearts that it is God, I don’t have to doubt. James 1:6 says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” So when I ask God about something, and He answers, and I know in my heart of hearts that it is God speaking, I must not doubt. I must not second guess myself saying, “Oh maybe that was just me speaking.” I believe that we know deep in our spirits when it is the Lord. I need to learn to trust that.

Well, August is already well on its way! And what a great month it will be. We’re counting down the days until you get here Allan, Annie, and baby Judah!!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 19th, 2011 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Katie Froese. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.