More of Africa...

So I feel like I didn't really get to show you all I wanted about Africa. It was an awesome experience that we could have never done without the financial support of so many that handed us $50 here or there. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. I also know that we had a ton of people praying for us while we were gone. I mostly appreciate this while we were air born. I must say that was the scariest part of the trip for me. I have never really been scared to fly but I was figuring...a lot can go wrong in 19 hrs. What I didn't know at the time was that as soon as we were on campus the "Rev" (missionary) told us that we need to be careful walking on campus that they have had king cobras. GREAT! He said to be aware of the signs, first they will see you before you see them, then they will hood up and spit at you which could blind you temporary if it lands in your eyes, then they will strike and up to 6 feet away...so be careful. WHAT!?!? So every time I left my chalet, I walked and looked. So if the snake story wasn't bad enough, he told us several stories of crime. He said that at night you don't stop at lights or your car can get hijacked at gunpoint. Good thing he didn't tell us this story as we arrived in Jo'berg because we were traveling at night. I thought we were traveling awful fast. Since being home and really reflecting on the trip I stick with my first blog about perspective. It makes me really appreciate what I have here in America. Anyway...back to sharing the trip...I have upload a few videos that I secretly took during the church services. What an experience. Enjoy. ****If the videos are dark...try opening Youtube website and viewing them from there. Just click on the words youtube in the bottom right hand corner of the video.

Give me that old time religion...


He has done great things...


Group Prayer...They prayed in our language but what a powerful thing to hear them pray to our shared God in their native language. (I wish I would have gotten this recorded)


I surrender all...This is how they ended this service with us.


This was TOO FUNNY...American Nazarenes DANCING!!!!



Here are some sermons that were preached by the students at NTC (Nazarene Theological College) (These are 6 and 11 minutes)

Relaxed and Renewed...

Well that was the plan for this past weekend. I went on the ladies retreat with the church. We went to Sugarcreek aka. Amish country. I do feel renewed but extremely tired. We had a WONDERFUL time and we had an awesome speaker, Tammy Lashey of Calling Levi. She spoke about God's plan for our lives and how we often live in the "woe is me" world. It is like we set up camp where the enemy is and then we get discouraged when the enemy attacks. She said DON'T put up with it and don't let your sister in Christ live in the enemy camp either. Become fighters against the devil (aka. the jerk). The thing that stuck out the most to me was when she was talking about her son, who has a rare blood disorder, and she was pleading with God for an answer to why "she" was going through this. She said God spoke to her heart and said...this is the plan I have for your son and his life. All too often I find myself wondering why things happened to my dad the way they did and it wasn't about me. It was God's plan for my dad's life. I was reminded of something that I read in the Hummel blog about that question of why. Why me? Why them? Why? But if God were to answer the why before anything happened would we still be willing to say yes? I mean if I knew that my dad's passing would bring me closer to God, would I have said yes God you can take him or would I have begged Him that I would try harder or that I should be the one. God's plan for each of our lives is something that only He can only see. I wondered if he cleared his plan for Jesus with Mary. Did he say...Mary, my plan for Jesus is that he will die on a cross after being beaten so that the world could be saved, I doubt it. I am sure in the days leading up to and immediately following she wondered, "why?" So as I sit here tonight I am reminded of a verse that the pastor used...John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He doesn't promise an easy road but he reassures us that there is hope in the midst of our trouble.

I am ending tonight with a few pictures from the ladies retreat (some came out better than others) AND a video of Tammy singing. My stomach is still recovering from all of the laughing and my ears are recovering from my poor use of the sound system.