Monday, August 27, 2007

God's Animals

"And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so." Genesis 1:24

During one of the afternoons, we had the chance as a group to go on Safari. An amazing opportunity to be able to experience some of the wild animals that are native to Africa. Prior to this day many of us had only seen these animals in zoos...safely separated by several feet of fencing and moats. But not this time. We were up close and personal. In their environment....on their turf! As we spent the afternoon traveling in our Land Rover viewing these amazing creatures (and even being charged by a somewhat irritated elephant) I was reminded of something I'd heard a native Swazi once say; "Praise God for how He decorates the earth with His animals". Yes, these were His animals and our time there was truly a time of praise and worship to our awesome God and creator!

Warthog (pumba).................................White Rhinosaurus

African Elephant..................................King of the jungle

Impala.....................................................Giraffe

Nyala................................................Megan, Kathleen & Lauren

Saturday, August 11, 2007

A Godly detour

"Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia." Acts 16:66

By now some of you've heard the story of our interesting beginning to our July mission trip. For those of you who haven't, here's the scoop. Our Delta flight from Flint was cancelled early morning July 11th (our departure day). That cancellation set off a series of events with us trying to get our group of 19 to Atlanta in time to connect with our scheduled flight later on that day to Johannesburg South Africa. The airline informed us that due to the size of our group our only option was to divide up; with 5 going to Detroit (myself, my 2 daughters, their college friend and another gal) and the other 14 heading to Lansing (since my husband and I were designated 'travel leaders' we went in different directions to assure that everyone was accounted for). Sounds like a plan, right? But as we'd soon discover....God had his own agenda. Well to make a long story shorter, what began that morning with a cancelled flight soon developed into a series of events/delays that resulted in our tiny group of 5 missing our connection in Atlanta. We had somewhat of a 'home alone' moment...as we literally stood at the window watching the plane that was carrying our other 14 teammates back away from the gate without us! Now what? We had no way of communicating with them as we wondered how and when we'd be reunited.

We stood in line that night for hours at the Delta reservation desk trying every possible attempt to get on a flight to anywhere...that could eventually get us to Johannesburg. But despite our persistent efforts we were informed that we'd be spending the night in Atlanta. They booked us on a flight for the next night to Frankfurt Germany and after a 12 hour layover there, we'd board another plane for an 11 hour flight to Jo-burg. The phrase 'be flexible' kept resounding in our heads (a phrase drilled into us during several of our team training sessions in the spring...ok, ok...we get it!). So here we were for the next 3 days...with just the clothes on our backs and our backpacks. I must admit there were times we were frustrated and tired, but we tried our best to make the most of it; verbally expressing things for which we were thankful to God, taking the Marta (subway) into downtown Atlanta to see the city, as well as catching the train into downtown Frankfurt for some sightseeing (an unexpected blessing). Exhausted, we even slept on some park benches along the Mein river (hey, it was peaceful:-). Eventually and by the grace of God we made it safely to Swaziland via Jo-burg where days later, we were joyously reunited with the rest of our group.

After taking some time to reflect on our little 'detour', all five of us soon began realizing that every step of the way God was not only with us...He was in it. God had a reason for keeping us off that flight. He was not only teaching us total dependance on Him right from the start, but He was providing multiple opportunities for many different people (in Atlanta and Frankfurt Germany) to hear of our mission for Jesus Christ. How exciting! You see...even though there's times when things don't go as we've planned...and even though there's times when we're frustrated and can't see what the outcome will be... and even though there's 'detours' in life...it's comforting to know that God is in control and He knows what He's doing. It's true! For those of you who prayed for us...thank you very much. God answered. Here's some of the pictures taken during our 'detour':

5 'lost sheep' on the Marta in Atlanta........Lauren and Megan in the Frankfurt airport

Frankfurt train station............beautiful downtown Frankfurt

me & my girls along the Mein river........Yes!...souvenir T-shirts!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Love is the answer

"Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Romans 13:10

Heard a song on the radio today on my way to work that really spoke to my heart. It's by a group called Building 429 and the song is titled "I Believe". The lyics go like this:

Walk blindly to the light and reach out for His hand
Don't ask any questions and don't try to understand
Open up your mind and then open up your heart
You will see that you and me aren't very far apart
'Cause I believe that love is the answer
I believe love will find a way
I believe that love is the answer
I believe love will find a way
Violence has spread worldwide and there's families on the streets
We sell drugs to children now, well why can't we just see
that all we do is eliminate our future with the things we do today
Money is our incentive now so that makes it ok
But I believe that love is the answer
I believe love will find a way
I believe that love is the answer
I believe love will find a way
Walk blindly to the light and reach out for His hand
Don't ask any questions and don't try to understand
I believe that love is the answer
I believe love will find a way
I believe that love is the answer
I believe love will find a way
Jesus is the Answer for the World Today
Above Him there's no other
Jesus is the Way
Jesus is the Answer for the World Today
Above Him there's no other
Jesus is the Way
Since our trip to Africa, we've come to realize more than ever how much we have in common with those we ministered to. We sleep, we eat, we laugh, we cry. Our need to know we're loved and that someone cares is the same. It's the same. As we were returning home, we met a South African man in the gift shop at the Johannesburg airport. When he saw our t-shirts he proceeded to ask us about our trip. After hearing a little bit about it, I'll never forget what he had to say next. He said "You have given the people hope. They now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone loves them and cares enough to come and help them. Their lives have been changed forever." You see...love is the answer. My prayer is that we'll all, wholeheartedly, embrace that truth.......soon.
More pictures:

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Let the children come!

"But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Luke 18:16

People keep asking us; "What would you say has impacted you the most from your trip?". Well we've thought about that question alot and realized that it's not really 'what'....but 'who'. Without question I think we'd all say it's 'the children'. Their smiles. Their hugs. Their laughter. Their love. Their resiliance. Their hope. We cannot stop thinking about them. With the HIV-AIDS virus affecting over 60% of the population in this tiny kingdom of Swaziland, many of them are already orphans. A 15yr old today is given just a 6% chance of living to be 29! What staggering statistics! We cannot stop praying for them. These children are the future....and by God's grace they will become the godly leaders of tomorrow. Nothing is impossible with God! Yes Jesus, call them to yourself......and may they all, every last one of them, come to you!

Some of those faces: