False prophets???

The devil uses the Bible a lot to bring confusion amongst God's children. One popular verse he likes to use is where Jesus warns us against the false prophets. Although this is true, we now seem to focus on who's false and label people as false should they make mistakes or differ from our theological point of view. We seem to focus so much on who is false, that we forget to learn to get to know our Shepard, who is the Truth. And should you know the Truth, you will automatically identify the lie. The book of Jude talks about the false teacher. Or read this awesome article from my friends in Angel Mission SA:

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=36fb8448e2f5af02cc036c5c7&id=dd7848d7c5

I think the real questions are what is more important; to know who is false or to know our Shepard. Where is our focus? Can/will our shepard protect us?

Malawi July 2012

Malawi July 2012

Sunday 8^th

We arrived at our camp right next to the Chobe River during the midnight hours to set up camp. To the south of our camp is the Chobe National Park. During the day we can see elephant and buffalo herds on Kazakili Island dividing Botswana and Namibia. It is breathtakingly beautiful!

Sunday morning we went to a small church in Kasane. They worshiped together for a long time and afterwards the entire church prayed together. The presence of God was so tangible in that place. What a special moment! Oom Jan preached and we prayed for the sick. God healed one man instantly of chest pains! Another old man said his heart was beating less than 60 beats per minute. After some prayer he was dancing in front of the Lord! He said he was scheduled to see a specialist the following day.

The pastor confirmed afterwards that the Word that oom Jan gave was prophetic and a confirmation for them.  8am in the morning they usually start with Bible study. Then they pray together and 10am the church starts! It amazes me how the church functions together. One does announcements, one carries the pastor and guests’ Bibles and things for them. With worship they encourage the people to move freely in the Spirit. Then they pray together, loudly! For several minutes! There was a very noticeable shift in the atmosphere as the presence of God became more tangible. We had an awesome and special time!

The church also sees themselves as a missions church. Their vision is to reach the unreached. They are very active in their community and surrounding communities. Where is the biggest need? There they strive to go! We believe their church is also strategically placed. Not far from there, four countries come together. It’s the meeting point of Central and Southern Africa. What countless opportunities they have for the Kingdom!

After church, they requested that the visitors to their church stay behind for a glass of juice and some cookies. This is just a quick and practical way of showing God's love. 

The rest of the day we could relax and sort out camp for the rest of the trip and finished the day with a braai right next to the river...

Monday 9th

Our scheduled trip to Zambia did not come to realisation so we decided to stay another day. In the morning we went on a boat trip into the Chobe National Park. What a blessing! It was only the four of us on a smallish boat and we saw large amounts of buffalo, crocodiles, hippos and various other wild life and bird species.

We had a nice rest the afternoon and oom Jan went to see the woman that arranged everything for us. She works at the lodge. This quickly turned into an afternoon hospital visit where he prayed for the sick. She told us that she and a colleague visit the hospital on a weekly basis during their lunchtime to pray for the sick. This rose the question in my mind of what am I doing for the Lord in my day to day life? Where can I do more?
 
That afternoon we went on a large boat around the island for a game drive and had a delicious dinner around our camp fire the evening. The greatest stories are happening in between. As we meet new people, we share the Gospel and hand out Bibles. People saying they are experiencing the presence of God, people are making their lives right with God by accepting Jesus and an overall hunger and openness for the Word of God. The people of Botswana truly blessed us!

Tuesday 10th

We drove from Chombe to Mazambuka, Zambia. The border post at Kazangula to enter Zambia is a tricky and expensive one. More than R1000 expensive! You cross the Zambezi by ferry and then get confronted with African chaos!

Even in the spirit I sensed the tension. You go from one window to another paying tax on everything, even the fumes that your vehicle pollutes. A car with an engine of 3 litres is the same as a big truck. Corruption is everywhere there. 

While all these procedures were taking place, I shared the Gospel of Jesus with two insurance salesmen who were helping us. Thereafter they invited me to pray for their entire office and few others. God gave Word to every one of them and the presence of God was there in a very special way. You can see in someone's eyes when the Spirit is touching them.

Then oom Jan entered and I realised that he had been a victim of corruption. The insurance people overcharged him. He went to the police and they only confirmed the true amount that must have been paid, with no intention of stopping the corrupt people who have been working there for just less than a decade. In the end, God helped us and we got our money back.

I pray that the sons of God will stand up in that area with boldness and take a stand for the truth, and that God will turn chaos into Godly order at the border post.

During this entire time, a war in the spirit was raging. Even as we left, I could feel the tension, not between the four of us in the car, but in the spirit. Later that day it lifted and one could feel the flow of the Spirit again.

We arrived at our destination at Mazambuka. We stayed over at a friend’s friend's house, Robbie. He received us as if we knew each other for ages! We were encouraged to take as much as possible from his vegetable garden and to help ourselves with anything in the house. He had to go back to work. We unpacked, washed laundry, made food for the road for the next day and had a decent shower and cleaning session. We were refreshed and felt like new persons again!

Robbie sent a friend to the house to see if we were okay because he had to work late. He is a child of God and we had long conversations over every aspect of the Gospel. We handed him a box full of Lewende Woord's booklets explaining the basics of our faith. He accepted gladly and was eager to go and hand it out to others even when there were very few subtle differences in some theological areas. It is possible to love even when there are differences!

Robbie's wife is in Pretoria with brain cancer. He is leaving for Pretoria on Friday and will be staying with family with his wife. He works at the biggest sugar factory in the world here in Zambia. One can only imagine the heavy load it must be to carry the challenges at work and at home.

When Robbie got home, we had coffee and then all of us prayed together in the living room. We prayed for them and they prayed for us. When all had prayed there was an awesome presence of God in the room. We just started worshiping God together and the prayer went on! This was definitely a highlight and moment to remember, because God did something special in every heart there that evening. I think it showed them again how normal it is to worship our Creator especially in our own language. Perhaps it will be the start of a revival amongst the Afrikaans population in Zambia? One can only pray! For me this was an evening to remember, just because of the presence of God and the hearts of the people we met. They taught me valuable lessons in humbleness and hospitality!

We arrived as strangers but we departed as family!

Wednesday 11th

What a long day! We left Mazambuka early, and then we were stuck in Lusaka's traffic. We had to rush to catch the Malawi border post, which was still several hundred kilometres away. The road was terrible, through mountains on a very thin road with very wide and very deep potholes. Not for the faint hearted!

One highlight definitely was that we stopped next to the road at a village close to the Mozambican border that consists mainly out of markets, all selling the same stuff! On one side of the road they sold self-made baskets and on the other side fish and vegetables laying in the sun and covered with flies. They could not speak English! There was one woman who could understand me and point me towards the bathroom, a. k. a. the longdrop. Or in this case, just a drop! When I got back, she was gone. I wanted to give her a Bible but no one could understand anything I was trying to say! I tried giving a nearby woman the Bible and tried to explain that she must give it to the lady that now was missing. A few men also gathered next to me and looked what was going on. I asked if I could pray for them, using mostly sign language and they agreed. I prayed but it did not take long for me to realise that I am the only one understanding myself. In the meantime, the others were sitting in the car ready to go and waiting for me. So with some explaining I asked if someone is sick or has pain. The lady showed me that she has stomach pain. Being in a hurry, I quickly gave a quick few seconds’ prayer. The woman’s face lifted and a smile came on her face. She confirmed that Jesus healed her. But, Jesus did more than that! All the sudden many of them could speak English! They all wanted Bibles! We handed them some Bibles and then continued on our journey. Thank You Jesus for this moment!

At the border post, we met some student missionaries from all over Africa and Canada travelling to share the Gospel and had some nice conversations and prayer with them and others.

Again at our destination we were received with open arms by complete strangers! Also friends of a friend! They served us with freshly homemade bread and soup. It was delicious! They are missionaries in Malawi for more than 15 years now.
Their testimony is definitely one that must be shared! They drove over a land mine in their Land Cruiser and God saved them. Ansie (the wife) had a serious head injury where parts of her face were gone and her brain fluids flowed out of her nose. Andrew (her husband) also had some head injuries. And God placed the right people at the right place at the right time to fly Ansie out of Mozambique to SA. Today both are perfectly normal people, healed by the Lord Jesus!

Thursday 12th

We had a relaxed day and spent some time with Andrew and Ansie at their home and mission base. They showed us their operations and shared some stories. They disciple local people and send them out to evangelise. They also have some projects including a chicken farm, which helps to make the ministry self-sustainable.

We ended the day with a nice dinner and prayer. The conversations throughout the day really were a great blessing!

We wanted to help Andrew put in a gearbox for the one vehicle but unfortunately couldn’t find the right parts. All the women had some girl-time while they prepared (grouped) all the medical supplies we had with us. They do not receive many visitors, so just by listening and showing God’s love we could sense the appreciation and hunger for company with other Afrikaners. The problem we saw (and this is everywhere!) is that many people make promises they cannot keep. Andrew and Ansie were victims of this many times before. People become overwhelmed by emotion and then they promise the world to everybody only to deliver nothing except more damage. I believe our basis to approach people must be love! Godly love that is unconditional! Be fast to listen and slow to speak!

Friday 13th

We had a nice breakfast with Andrew and Ansie and then set off to Mzuzu. Here we met with Reverent Bishop Chirwa. He took us to our home for the next two days. We also went to the market to buy clothes as a gift to the village we would visit the following day. We met with his family and he showed us the church that they are busy building. Overall it was a very relaxing day. In the spirit it was clear that God is going to do something supernatural to reveal His love to the people of Malawi. Malawi looks like a very religious country with Christian signs all over the country! 

Saturday 14th

 

We came to Choma, nearby Mzuzu. After a long drive off-road, we arrived in the mountains and were greeted by a group of people praising the Lord. They were singing and dancing and made us feel very welcome. They carried our bags as well as the 45kg of clothes, and then we walked over 3 mountains to the church service. This is very important to them and is their way of showing their appreciation to their guests. After oom Jan delivered a short message we prayed for the sick. Almost everybody came forward! Headaches and stomach-aches were healed in Jesus’ Name! One man testified that his leg had been very painful but that Jesus healed him! He was dancing for the Lord! A boy had a limb or something in his arm. He was being used in witchcraft. They pull him towards them by that thing in his pulse. We prayed for him first and later prayed for the entire family. The mother testified that God has delivered them from this magic and she is now a believer!

 

We then went to pray for a man who is mentally ill. We prayed for him and he testified that he is feeling life in him and he has never experienced this before. He was very happy! Later we heard that this man's name means "kill him". It was given to him by his grandmother who has now passed away. We then prayed some more while his father was also there. He gave his son a new name. From now on he will be called "Hope"! We also prayed for the father whose name means "Reminder". We prophesied over him and prayed for him for he is a reminder of God's promises! May they be reminded of the hope that God birthed in their hearts!

There was also a medical doctor present who came with us and he gave all the people some advise and medication. These people live in the mountains and are very isolated from society, with many deaths because help is too far away. We pray that the ministry will continue there and that God will reveal Himself in fresh ways to those people! What an awesome day!

 

After the walk back over the three mountains to the car we went to Reverent Bishop Thomson Chirwa's house where his wife prepared lunch for us. His entire family is very friendly and go out of their way to make you feel welcome! 

In the evening, we showed the Jesus film next to the street against a wall of a building. There was quite a big crowd present for the film. I got an opportunity to share the Gospel to the people during the film. It was very special to see the people's reaction and comments during the film! They loved it and were rooting for Jesus all the way! At the end there were quite a few people committing their lives to Christ. The biggest miracle is when someone is born again and everything is worth it, even for just one person! It is one less person who will spend eternity in hell! We had a great time with the people and arrived back at our place at 10, all tired and ready for a good night’s rest!

Sunday 15th

We started the day with a church service in Reverent Bishop Thomson's congregation. There were many special formalities by them making us feel welcome and we were also celebrating Bishop Thomson and his wife's wedding anniversary. But when the formalities ended, the Holy Spirit started to flow. First Reverent Bishop Thomson shared a message and then oom Jan brought the Word. Then the people had a moment of silence, giving opportunity for the Holy Spirit to talk to them. He did! There was a very tangible presence of the Spirit. Then the entire congregation walked past and we prayed for every person. Afterwards our doctor also gave the people medical treatment.

After church we left for Nkata Bay. We arrived underneath a very large mango tree in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere in the bush. But we were greeted by a crowd that has been waiting for us since 6 o'clock the morning. We arrived 15h30! They welcomed us with singing and dancing! Then the kids as well as several adults singed and danced for us one group at a time. Oom Elbee and then oom Jan shared some Word and several people committed their life to Christ. Afterwards we prayed for the sick (it included almost everybody!) and God healed several pains and diseases. Some illnesses can't be tested straight away, like malaria, but the people said that they could feel God did something! One man's one leg was shorter than the other. God's love made that both legs now are equal in length! 

Straight after that, we prepared to show the Jesus film to the people. The electricity came from the car battery and we had to set up the entire scene. These people haven't seen a video in almost three years! We went for dinner at Reverent Bishop Thomson fathers' house. We had rice and chicken! There was a bit of a smell in the house, which came from the room next to us. After dinner we went in. We prayed for a woman who could not stand up and stayed in bed. She suffered from TB, aids and some other illnesses. The smell was almost unbearable! The communication was a problem so we can't say for sure what happened, but we will continue to pray for her healing. We believe God definitely touched her heart! It tore my heart to pieces when I realised that this woman is stuck there in that small room on the mattress on the floor. There is another lady staying with her to nurse her. Her reward in heaven will be worth it! God will see to that!

Back under the mango tree, a crowd was forming at the place where we were about to start with the Jesus film. There were A LOT of people! After the film I again had an opportunity to deliver a short message and lead the people in prayer to accept Jesus. What an honour! 

Monday 16th

We started the day with condensed milk coffee next to Lake Malawi, watching the sunrise that one could only imagine. After breakfast we went back to bed. I soaked in some prophetic worship to recharge my batteries. While soaking in God's presence it felt like Jesus Himself paid me a visit. I'm not sure what happened but it felt awesome!!! I then took a long shower praising and worshiping God. I felt ready to take on the world again! 

We made lunch on the beach overlooking the lake before heading back to the big mango tree for a service. The people were not ready for the service at that time, because it was lunchtime and we were treated with a visit to the lake. There were children playing and fishermen preparing their nets. It was a picture-perfect scene with the beach and the calm waters, just like a tropical island. A fisherman then took us on his boat and rowed us around two rock islands a few hundred meters away. It was the treat of a lifetime! After the boat trip we were overwhelmed again by the children playing on the beach. They just wanted to be part of a photo! In the process the man disappeared and we didn’t get a chance to thank him. On our way back to church we saw him next to the road at his house. We thanked him for taking us on a boat trip and handed him some money. He refused! During the entire trip we did not pay one cent bribery, anywhere. Here we tried to give money to say thank you, and he wouldn’t take it! The only time an official asked us for something was here close to Nkata Bay. He asked for a Bible! Even Reverent Chirwa was surprised with this! He said that it was very strange the way that the officials let us off with such ease. He said that he believed that they must have seen the angels that were with us. All I know is that when he said that I got goose bumps all over my body!

At the church, we had a great time worshiping the Lord, something that I longed for on this trip. Tannie Marie first shared a word on God's presence followed by a word from oom Jan. It was later confirmed that it was very timely for the church and community leaders. After the service we again prayed for the sick. Some came and confirmed their healing of the previous day. We had an awesome time praying with the people. The doctor who travelled with us also learned how to pray for the sick. He is a natural now! Again we saw many people who got healed and delivered in Jesus’ Name. One woman said that she had backslide and did not want to attend church meetings anymore. She is a pastor's wife. After a few words of love and a prayer of fire she started praying in her language for what felt like hours! She praised God with a big smile on her face! When we wanted to pray for a mother with a baby, the baby’s tongue came out and made like a snake! The demonic is such a part of the people’s natural life because of tradition and other reasons. We know that Jesus will set them free and that their community be the Light to surrounding communities. People will see God’s glory!

When the night fell, we showed them a film about Samson. The people cheered and laughed. The excitement in the air was tangible. (Marries, kry ‘n sinoniem vir tangible, want dit word baie gebruik) Oom Elbee then did a corporate prayer for people to accept Jesus. We got back to our rooms at 10 o'clock again, very ready for bed! Tired, but with the peace of God in our hearts!

Tuesday 17th

We again woke up with a beautiful sunrise over the lake, but this time it was cloudy. During breakfast while overlooking the lake, it poured down with rain on the sink roof. What a great sound when rain comes down on the roof! As we finished with breakfast, the rain stopped.

We started the long drive to Blantyre. On our way we stopped over at another pastor's house and briefly heard about their ministry. They are planning to start an orphanage for all the many children that are left without parents because of HIV/aids. The people in Malawi (and Africa!) are not only asking for help; they’re pleading! The opportunities are endless! We then prayed with them and continued our journey.

Most of the day we shared many stories and discussed a few of the occurrences while we ministered the previous days, especially the deliverances. The way the people minister in Africa differs from ours. We learned a lot! It’s a privilege to be part of what God is busy doing!

Wednesday 18th

We ministered in the Bangule district today. To get there was an adventure of its own. Through the city, down a mountain pass, through more villages. We picked up three more pastors on the way. The last stretch was a gravel road. The road was very challenging. There were a couple of times where we nearly hit a pedestrian or a person on a bicycle. They drive and walk just as they please! It became really challenging to love these people! The arrangements were chaos and the road challenged me! I said Lord, how can I minister to these people if I do not love them!? It was a real battle for me. As we arrived there we were greeted with friendly smiles and faces filled with hunger for the Gospel and I got my victory! I could see again through God's eyes!

The service was filled with pastors from about 15 churches in a classroom. The worship again was something to experience! Then I gave a word of encouragement and prayed with the people who were serious with God, who did not want to be lukewarm and were not ashamed of the Gospel. I trust that God ignited a fresh fire in all our hearts for His glory. Oom Jan then shared about how our walk with Jesus must look. At the end he asked for a moment’s silence to talk and listen to the Holy Spirit. Then the Spirit started and a few women started to manifest, although I think one or two was demonic. We then prayed and did deliverance on several people. Again through God's love several people got healed and received the Holy Spirit. There was a woman who came forth who practiced witchcraft. She confessed and accepted Jesus as her Lord. We then cast the devil out of her. The local pastor will now walk a path with her. She also said she wants to burn all her witchcraft medicine after the service.

After all the prayers a pastor stood up and said that he started his ministry on fire but he has backslidden. But that day he has received a new hunger for Jesus! He then asked if we could pray for him. We then gathered all the pastors and prayed first corporately and then individually to all the pastors. You could see the tears of joy in the pastor’s eyes. He later started laughing and praising God. There was a pastor from Mozambique and he literally drank every word we spoke. The people are so thirsty and hungry for the Word of God!

I believe we are called to equip the saints, to encourage and empower the pastors so that they can be more effective in their work. We are not called to do their work for them or to make them look bad in front of their people. If we are there for our own honour, we are doing more damage than good. One pastor made his son’s girlfriend pregnant. I say this not to condemn him or anyone! I say this firstly to tell everybody that humans are human; even pastors or other Christians! We all make mistakes! Secondly I say this to the body of Christ; that before we point our finger to anyone, doesn’t matter what he did or didn’t do, we must help that person. We love them like Jesus! God’s grace is enough to restore any mistake that we make! You want God’s favour? Help His kids when they are down! Feed His sheep!

After the service we ate with the people. We also prayed with the pastor's wife who couldn't come to church because she was preparing the food. She had pain because of a fall she had and also heart pain. We prayed and God touched her! Thank You Jesus!

We then took the 150km, 3hour drive back to our sleeping place. We dropped two pastors on our way back at their house and church. It was already dark and we prayed with them and their families and children under the clear starlight. We worshiped God all the way back home! It was a looong day!

Thursday 19th 

We planned to visit another pastor’s village the afternoon and to sleep over at his place on our way to Mozambique, thus having a very relaxed morning. But things turned out differently. We discovered that the pastor wasn't quite honest with us and his youth got the worst of him. His stories that he told us were not the truth. Oom Jan still wanted to see his village for the people’s sake and offered to go and look at the nearby village. The village wasn’t that nearby and after several kilometres oom Jan told him that this is where the road ends. They dropped him and went to buy few things for the road. While they were gone, we packed the trailer and then had a good fellowship session while we waited.

When oom Jan returned that afternoon, we drove to Tete, Mozambique. The road was very bad and was littered with deep potholes. In Tete we found a South African restaurant and had a delicious dinner. We camped right next to the Zambezi River for the night, again putting up camp in the dark with no toilet facilities. The drain was also leaking and we had to camp with the smell of sewerage in the air (and on the ground!). The worst part for me was the million mosquitos per square centimetre! Emotionally it was a long day and we went to bed very tired!

Friday 20th

We cleaned up camp while watching the sunrise over the Zambezi River at the Tete Bridge. This bridge looks like something from New York. It’s huge! Jesus painted us an awesome picture! We set off for our long journey to Inhassoro. Half an hour out of Tete we were pulled over for speeding and had to drive all the way back to pay the fine. This took two hours from our day! This is when fruit of the Spirit is tested! And I can say with a smile that God was in the car! I saw Spirit-filled people going through what everybody goes through BUT with God in us, there was a difference! We have authority to choose our attitude!

At seven o’clock the evening we finally reached our destination at a breathtaking campsite right next to the sea. Here we wanted to seek God and spend some time to be saturated with the Holy Spirit. It is a message God put strongly on our hearts for that day. Seek His presence. Get close to Him. Get filled with His presence.

"As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." (Psalms 17:15).

Saturday 21st

We slept late, spent the day on the beach, braai for brunch and dinner... A good average day in Africa! The Lord blessed us with time to seek His face and to find rest. We did!

Sunday 22nd

On Sunday, I woke up early and took a long walk on the beach while the sun came up. Then, under a few palm trees in the shade I sat down with Jesus for a while. It was awesome! I walked back for breakfast and spent the morning relaxing at camp. The afternoon I walked again even further, this time to the north, and again found a nice place in the shade to sit down with my Lord. 

What I liked is that the people (mostly women and children) walked together for kilometres a day to go and get fish and/or catch crabs. In some cases the entire family walked together. This brought new thoughts to my understanding of what is means to be free. The people, although poor in the eyes of a westerner, were happy. They were all laughing and enjoying each other! That’s more precious than gold!

The evening we braai'd a fresh caught fish! The last two days we took to recharge our batteries and discussed our adventure to speculate what the future might hold. God knows! 

Monday 23rd

When we wanted to leave the campsite after breakfast for Zavora, the car wouldn't start. The South-Africans that camped next to us helped us to jumpstart the car. This gave us the opportunity to share with them and other neighbouring campers the Gospel.

Few hours’ drive later, we stopped at Koos' farm. He is a citrus farmer focusing on local farmer training and development. He teaches the local people how to farm. His program is very successful in the three years that they have been busy. They provide four harvests per year and supply various food stores with their produce, including Woolworths and others in America and elsewhere around the globe. This is the most organised, peaceful, clean, well-structured farm I have ever seen! Everything works! Everything is in line! Even the John Deere’s are polished!

I believe that this farmer has found the right strategy for Africa. We call it to hold on to your belongings with an open hand. Almost nothing belongs to him!  It is the government’s farm, his focus is not self-centred, but towards the empowering and upliftment of the local people. He can be kicked off any time! But because of his attitude towards the locals, he is in demand! They want him all over the country!

He also farms with chillies. He supplies the chillies to the local people who make chilli sauce with it. They sell the chilli sauce next to the road. His farm is right next to a town and the national highway. There is a tap where 400 women collect water on a daily basis right next to his chillies and tomatoes. His farm doesn’t have any fencing and he has no problem with theft!

He trains the farm workers for two years on all areas of farming. They learn to farm for themselves. Koos buys their produce from them. He says the challenge is to make the guys realise that it is possible to be more than just a farm worker. You can be your own farmer! They struggle to believe that! But with various success stories, things are looking good! Even the president paid him a visit. Koos didn’t take this opportunity to complain about the lack of government support for this government program, but rather gave all honour and glory to the local small farmers and even the other government workers. Suddenly the minister’s attitude lifted and everybody showed more interest. This taught me a huge lesson in humility! We are the salt of the earth! I realised I still need to die in myself!

We visited Dina's house 25km away. She is a widowed old woman living in Mozambique for the last 16years. Her husband had a vision to start a clinic and the Lord made that vision a reality. There are two semi-permanent doctors from Holland and Germany based there. Three white people in the bush in Africa. Two of them are women. Dina drives thirty kilometres a day alone to minister to the people. Even at night they walk alone in the bush. They are respected and loved by the locals because of their attitude. Barefoot with a huge smile overflowing with love and a song of joy in her heart, she faces the challenges they are confronted with. Dina showed us where we will sleep and spoiled us like a typical grandma with plenty of coffee and cookies!

Late afternoon we also had the opportunity to go to the beach. This was a huge highlight! Playing on the beach, climbing the dunes and having a great time, in July! I suddenly was a kid again! I loved every moment of it! That evening we went to a nearby restaurant with Koos, Dina and Paul, the doctor. We had an awesome time! It is amazing to see what God is busy doing. I saw people that are saturated with God. The love is shining from them like a bright light! And I had lobster for the first time in years! Yummy!!!

We got home after dinner and then with a nice cup of coffee, 'koekies' and chocolate from Dina, we prayed together. We asked them if there is anything we can pray for. First Koos humbly and honestly said that all he wants is the Lord’s guidance, to hear His voice. Dina cried out with tears in her eyes when she was asked what we could pray for. She told us about a story, while the tears ran down her cheeks, about a young girl who is totally possessed by witchcraft. The cry-out for breakthrough for this young girl came from a heart that stilled the heavens. People come and give their opinions on how to cast out these demons, but few take the time to listen! This was heartbreaking for me!  Then it was Paul’s turn to say what he wanted prayer for. He also just asked to hear God’s voice. And then, as we prayed, he got up from his chair and went down on his knees and literally cried out to God, begging Him to send more labourers. This floored me! These people are living the day to day normal Christian life! They make effort (and I do mean effort!) to get together once a week. I believe that this gives them the edge; the support and love of fellow believers. Never underestimate the power of fellowship! The Lord encouraged them prophetically and His presence touched all of us. The perfect way to end an awesome adventure with Jesus!

Tuesday 24th

After a very uplifting breakfast with Dina, where we talked about what God laid on our hearts we started the journey back home. Just before Xai-Xai we met with Dirk and his family next to the road. The Lord is calling them to live in Mozambique. We shared a couple of thoughts and then prayed with them for the Lord's guidance. We pray that God will show them the way and open all the doors for them! Back in SA at a popular garage (Milly’s) we stopped for coffee. Here we met a man who knows Koos and also works all over Africa. He said that he will help us anytime in the future should we need place to sleep. He said that from here in SA right through to Cairo you can sleep over at South Africans every night!

The Lord opens the doors! Are we accepting His invitation to go?

Proverbs 16:9

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”

Mark 16:15

“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation”

Matthew 28:19

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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