A gift and the mother of peace

Worship service at AFM Butha Buthe

Sunday October 6th

Sharon and I were on the road today just before 10am as we made our way to Pastor James' church in Butha Buthe.  We were greeted by a room full of passionate worshippers singing beautiful songs in Sesotho. Pastor James also played a shofar as part of worship and it was stirring. The time of singing went for 2 1/2 hours and everyone there is so in to it, time flies by.The pastors from the various church plants (AFM branch churches) gave an update on their ministries.  I was called on to preach this Sunday again and it was such an honor.  I spoke on vision from the life of Nehemiah and following the message 6 people came forward to put their faith in Jesus which was awesome!

We also took time to pray over those who knew God's vision for their own life but were held back by fear as Pastor James initiated this prayer time.  Now it is time for communion, a time of prayer for Sharon and myself, then announcements and by this point it is 2pm!   Sharon and I then got a chance to listen to their children's choir sing and it was so amazing.  They then followed that by reciting Psalm 23 together.

 After the men's and women's ministry have meetings,  Pastor James gathers together the ministry leaders and together with myself we talk about the possibility of Grace interns coming to serve here.    I shared on a "win, build, equip and multiply," philosophy of ministry, took various questions and a time of prayer followed as well.

We finish and it now 4pm and I happen to notice more meetings taking place....all I can say is wow!  We are then invited over to Pastor James for "lupper" and 'M'e Matsepo puts on an amazing spread including potato salad that rivaled any potato salad I've ever had.  We feel so blessed  and our time together ends in a bout of laughing as we had such a great time with them.

At dusk we made our way back to Hlotse where we met up with Scott and Rochelle, who are interning with Bracelet of Hope at the Leribe Hotel along with Andy and 'M'e Mahlompho.  Scott just happens to have NHL Center Ice and I get a great taste of Canada watching the Senators lose to the Leafs as played yesterday evening.

Tonight 'M'e Mahlompho gave Sharon and I are Sesotho names:

My name is Mpho - meaning gift as she shared how I have been a gift to the church here and Sharon is given the name 'M'e Makhotso, mother of peace and she has seen this quality in Sharon.

What an amazing day and my heart is really filled with so much joy over God's goodness during our time here.

Monday October 7th

At Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park - hire this guy for Lloyd's Tree Service!

Sharon is the real photographer...her pics will be amazing!

The winds were pretty strong in the safari bakkie!

Sharon and I headed out with Andy at the crack of dawn on Monday and made our way to St. Lucia, SA were we began our time here with a night safari at Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park.  It turned into a 4 hour drive as we saw hippos, zebras, antelope etc.  Tuesday was another full day of sight seeing as we were off at 5am to see the big "5" and we caught the elephants, water buffalo, rhinoceros, a lion...so 4 out of 5 was pretty awesome. We also caught baboons, zebras, many types of antelope, giraffes and were treated to breakfast and a BBQ lunch in the park.  We head off to see the Indian Ocean in the morning before heading to Eshowe where we  will meet the ladies who make crafts and specifically the red and white beaded bracelets for Bracelet of Hope.  We look forward to Friday as well as it will be a surprise birthday celebration for Pastor James' 50th!

love this guy!!!