Update From Jeffrey's

Originally posted on 11/8/08

Africa has been an intense these past 2 weeks. It's hard to explain how God is working because most of where I've seen God is personally in what He is doing in my life. He is definitely working in ministry but I feel like the focus has been shifted off of ministry and onto what He is trying to teach me. I will do my best to explain but bear with me. I'll start with the easy to see things...

Our team has had many oppurtunities in the past 2 weeks to really build relationships with the woman that work at Ithemba. I am in the classroom with the older children and Nomsa is the teacher in that classroom. God has truelly just given me a heart for Nomsa. I can say that I really do love her and don't want to think about having to leave her. God has given me numerous oppurtunities to just sit and talk with her about life. There is one conversation in particular that really just stuck out. It was the end of the day and most of the kids had left, so we were just sitting in the backroom talking and she began sharing a little piece of her heart with me. She has one child of her own but takes care of 2 of her sisters children as well. She's just been really discouraged lately with how raising them was going. Obviously, I have no knowledge or experience with that but God just gave me words of encouragement for her. In that, I was able to share a piece of my story with her as she was sharing about her past and how that has shaped her. Nomsa is just an amazing woman of God who really is just giving her life to Him. As much as I know God used that conversation to speak truth over her life concerning how she's being used and just encouragement to keep going, God used that conversation to encourage and bless me. I walked away from the conversation with more love for Nomsa but also seeing how God can use a simple conversation to bring His name glory. I've done a poor job of explaining but it's not something I really understand. In the moment, and even looking back, I just know that the Spirit was moving and we were both encouraged by the Spirit as we just talked. Worship took place in the backroom of Ithemba as we just talked together and it was beautiful. I'm really excited about how God is going to continue to build this friendship and how He will use that to bring Himself glory. Some of our ministry team is going over to Nomsa's new house tomorrow to help her move in and share a meal together and worship together and I'm ecstatic. I just know in my heart that God wants me to focus on this relationship and I have no idea why but I'm excited.

God is also working in the classrooms. Some days are really challenging as we are trying to figure out the best ways to help them learn. Our classroom has a wide variety of struggles. Some of the children can't do basic math like addition and mulitiplication while others excel at that but can't read or write basic English words or sentences. God is definitely working on my patience and teaching me how to love them through spending time with them. We have spent more one on one time with them these past 2 weeks and in that we have seen some improvement. I know that it is something that is going to take a lot of time and effort on both sides though. So keep praying for the kids as we help them and challenge them. It's hard for me to see how God is using the time in the classroom to bring Himself glory but I know that He will somehow.

On a more personal note, God has really been working on my heart. It's hard to explain what He is doing but He has just been showing me areas of my life that I need to surrender and allow Him to work on. There are many things that I've never even thought about but God is bringing them up and giving me oppurtunities to work through everything. He has taken the majority of my attention off of ministry and shown me that even though I thought that is why I thought I was coming to Africa, He has a bigger plan. It is about ministry, but it's more about what He wants to do in me. I know He will still work through me at ministry but I'm finally seeing, after being told more times than I can count, that He's brought me to Africa to change me. He's brought me to Africa to set my entire life before me and make me work through it. It's hard and frustrating and overwhelming but I'm doing my best to allow Him to work. It's hard to see what God is doing and how but I know that He is making me more into who He wants me to be.

I also just wanted to take some time to thank you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support, thank you for your concerns, thank you! Your prayers are so helpful and uplifting. They do more than you guys could even know. Thank you for your ministry to me and my team. It truelly is a blessing to have so many back home that are supporting me. It gives me strength on those days where I'm just warn out. So thank you. Please continue to pray for our team. The leaders are in the process of deciding who will be doing outreach where after Christmas. They have to decide soon so that we can begin preparing as a team. The locations will be Port Elizabeth, Jeffreys, and Swazi. I will let you all know where I will be when I find out and I will update you more shortly. Thank you again for every form of support you have given me and continue to give. You are such a blessing and God is using you in big ways so thank you for your ministry to me and my team!