Whatever You Do For The Least Of These….

On Saturday I had the honour of going along with a group of young women from the Huistechnicon Residence of CUT Campus to take some supplies and the love of God to an orphanage in Batho location here in Bloemfontein. The “Mother” of the home, Magdalena, has been running this home for 17 years, relying solely on the providence of her Heavenly Father. It is a living testimony to the faith of a daughter of Christ and the faithfulness of the God we serve, since this home offers sanctuary to an average of 40 children and young people at any given time, ranging in age from newborn to early twenties. They are seen through school and leave when they are able to hold down a job and support themselves. There has been a new victory lately in the form of a pledge of Government aid to be supplied on a monthly basis in the near future. Seventeen years of holding out in faithful prayer has been rewarded! What an inspiration to know that there are women and men like this, giving a home, a place of safety to the destitute and helpless. May God’s blessing rest on all who have given what they can to support this home and feed and clothe the children living here.

What a privilege to be able to give a contribution of our own, however small, as an offering of thanks to God for His provision in our lives! After we had brought the supplies and spent some time with them in prayer and worship, we played games outside with the children (thankfully the rain had stopped!). In a display of how everything we have is given to us to pass on, I was able to teach the children a dance I had learned from the children of Groblershoop! No boundaries in the Kingdom of God! All round, plenty of fun was had and I look forward to more such visits… ;o)

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SHALOM! ;o)

Waiting on God

These are three words that have been coming up in my life with attention-grabbing regularity in the past few months, and I dare say I could have paid more attention to them in which case I might have been saved some trouble… But, as the Word of God comforts us – God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

But I digress… The thing I want to share with you is how those three words’ meaning changed for me. Naturally, the first mental picture we form when we hear the words: “waiting on God” is a person quite literally waiting, not making a move until they receive the signal from God, or strength, or wisdom, or knowledge, or all of the above, to perform a certain task. While on the Groblershoop mission, God gave me another picture of “waiting on God” that kind of revolutionised the way I look at those words now!

 

I saw myself in Spur where I used to work once-upon-a-time, and lo and behold, who should seat Himself at my bay, but my Father, God Almighty, the owner of the Spur and everything else on Earth. Naturally I am beside myself, ecstatic, in fact! Here is an opportunity to serve the Master! Wow! Not to be missed!

I rush to His table and gush, “Oh, wow, Lord! What can I get for You? No, wait, wait! I know! You are gonna just loooove today’s special!” And off I charge to bring God what I decided He should have today. In my eagerness and excitement I even bring Him the desert first, then the starter and then the main course.

All the while He is sitting there, waiting, like the Gentleman He is, for me to slow down and give Him a chance to speak. His finger is raised and I kind of notice that, but in my headlong rush to please Him (and the manager) I ignore it and redouble my efforts to win His favour with my decisions of what He should have.

Eventually I come to a halt, standing breathless at His table, expecting to hear, in reward for my efforts, the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” but God is silent, gazing at me with a mixture of amusement, pity and affection on His face.

“My Child,” He begins, “Who are you waiting on? Who are you serving?” I am fairly startled at the question, thinking the answer to be obvious. “Why… YOU, Lord!”

“Then why did you not wait to hear what it is that I want you to do for me?”

GroblersHOOP!!!

 

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
(Eph 3:20-21)

The mission to GroblersHOOP was truly beyond anything I could have asked, thought or even imagined! I have said this before and I am pretty sure I am going to say it a few more times in my lifetime… God is faithful if we simply make ourselves available. From the beginning it was evident that we were not the ones in control of the mission, but the Holy Spirit was leading and empowering and inspiring each one of us in the work the Father had given us to do.

The first evidence of this was the fact that almost all of us were there on last minute arrangements. Most had no thought of going to Groblershoop, but had other plans which fell through at the last moment. The way in which God led us further whether in teaching, prayer, devotions or service, was further proof that we were not in control.

I would be amiss if I did not mention that in fact this mission was a huge learning curve for me and in it I learned the value of obedience. What Samuel said to Saul is very, very true: “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” Disobedience cost Saul the Kingdom of Israel, it cost him his crown and the authority God had given him was taken away. Quite a sobering thought…

But what a pleasure to see the Holy Spirit at work in Groblershoop and know that because of this, and not our presence or teaching ability, His Kingdom will come in that place! If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!

The first morning’s EN Team Meeting…

The EN Team and the GoodYear Team… “Teeeeeam! Team-team!”

The EN Team meets the Mayor and Municipal Manager of GroblersHOOP! Inspirational ladies indeed!

YES! JESUS LOVES YOU!!

 

VICTORY!!!