Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Hey guys! Mulibwanji! Sawubona! Bonjour! Howsit!
Well, we are settling in here and really starting to build relationships fast with these J-lifers. When we arrived, we sort of hit the ground running (which we were expecting). We arrived Thursday morning, and John took us from the airport, to run some errands in Jo-burg, and then we went over to the campsite that we will be staying at. The camp is beautiful! There’s a row of houses that people pay to live on, which financially supports the grounds there, and then there are dorms and some other little cottage-like houses kind of in the centre area. They also have a huge gym, huge bathroom facilities, a very run down squash court and a pool. So, we are staying in one of the cottage-like houses. It’s really nice and is two bedrooms with a living room and kitchen. It has a great view of the farm as well. However, right now, we are staying in John and Lorna’s guesthouse while we get what we need. The cool thing is that on both farms, they have so many animals! There are horses just hangin out around the campsite, and of course cows, and goats, and dogs, etc. So, you can imagine how much I love it!
After we saw our place, we went to the main camp, which they call Camp Eden. There is a reason why they call it Camp Eden… it is beautiful! There are incredibly huge hills all around, and you can see for miles into this green landscape that contrasts amazingly with the bright blue sky. Another beautiful part of this camp is the life here. I have never been in a place that is such a harmonious blend of young and old, rich and poor, loud and quiet, peaceful and boisterous, black and white, etc. Right now I am looking out onto this green hill and I’m seeing Denise, a coastal white South African, playing guitar and teaching John and Lorna’s little son Nathan who is 3 years old. We have so much to learn from each other!
So, the second day we got here, the men took off and headed to the other campsite so we could have a girls weekend here at the campsite. The whole weekend was amazingly deep and emotional. We dealt with wounds that we have received throughout our lives that are affecting us still, and crippling us in our ministry to the Lord. I got to know my group so well, and God was amazing in how He started using me here right away. Let me just say that there is no other place I would rather be to work for God’s kingdom than here! We had a wrap up session with the boys and girls together sharing what God had healed them from this weekend, or what He has started to heal them from.
Just a couple quick testimonies: There was a girl who had been raped every night by her cousin from when she was 13 until 15, and Satan had been telling her for so long that she was not beautiful at all, and that she was worthless. Saturday, she finally felt beautiful for the first time in many years, and that she could combat the lies that Satan tells her. Hallelujah!!! The second young man was involved in a gang, and at the age of 9, he killed his first man. Then at 12 years old, he killed another man. The gang life continued with drugs and alcohol, etc. Finally, at 15, because he was worrying his mother, he told the gang he needed to focus on education, and he left. Since then he has met Jesus and he has transformed his life. But yesterday, he finally dealt with those feelings of guilt and worthlessness to God, and he yelled out, “ I am a MAN!” Praise the Lord that he is continuing to take wounded broken sinner like me, and speaking His love and forgiveness to them, giving them value and a purpose!!
After these testimonies, John got up and spoke that these are not the last wounds they will receive. As Satan is waging war against our souls, he is constantly trying to cripple us and rub salt in the wounds that he reopens. But we combat lies with truth, we fight hatred with the love of Christ, and we will always be victorious! We went straight into worship again, one song in four languages singing, “ There’s no one there’s no one like Jesus!” over and over. And this is the truth that I am here for. How many times have you seen a murder on TV and just longed to be able to love the murderer and convince him not to do what he just did. How many times have we heard stories of women being raped and feeling worthless and dirty, and we just want to speak God’s love and value into her life? I went to bed thanking the Lord for putting me in this place where I am interacting with these things daily, and He is allowing me to show his tangible love to these young men and women. And this was just the first two days! What a revolutionary place. I just have to sit back for one second to see the Lord’s hand visibly moving in these people’s lives. He is at work and He is accomplishing good things! So, let’s give Him praise and glory for what He is doing in this world and let’s trust Him for even bigger things.
We love you guys so much and we are so excited to share these times with you.
Love,
Michelle