Sunday, October 09, 2011
sorry, looking for pictures
I'm looking for the pictures that I posted on this website, and they are in cyberspace somewhere. Blogger says they uploaded, but I don't see them. Sorry.
Camp Games Water baloon toss
Here's a few photos from our camp. Some games involving water (cool relief for a hot day!) Also, we had some bushmen children at our camp - here's a picture of one of them with Gabi, one of the camp counselors.
These kids are so awesome to work with. We love them - isn't that one of the best smiles?!!!
These kids are so awesome to work with. We love them - isn't that one of the best smiles?!!!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Post Kids Camp Testimonies
It’s been great, visiting the churches whose kids were involved in the camps. To see the increase in passion and love for Christ as well as the continuation of being involved in ministry. It’s translated into souls being won for Christ.
Last Sunday morning I listened as children gave testimonies as to how God had used them in ministry during the week. Remembering the words spoken over them at the altar during camp, we had prayed over them the previous Sunday to be used during the week to go out and touch and heal people.
One girl, Opana, told of seeing a woman who had a problem with her eye. The eye was swollen and had all sorts of stuff running down the woman’s face. Opana went to the woman and asked her if she could pray for her and the woman told her to go away, because the doctors couldn’t help her. “What can you, a little girl do for me?!!” She said. “Go away.”
But Opana didn’t give up. She responded to the woman that she couldn’t do anything, but that Jesus was the one that could heal her; and she asked the woman again if she could pray for her. The old lady said, “Ok, fine. Go ahead and pray for me, but if I don’t get healed; don’t be surprised or get disappointed!”
So, Opana bowed her head, placed her hand on the woman and prayed for her to be healed in Jesus name.
The next day as Opana was passing by where the woman was, she saw that the eye had cleared up and was no longer swollen or running. When the old woman saw Opana, she was so happy and thanked her for praying; that now she could travel to Windhoek without any problems. Opana reminded the woman that it wasn’t her that healed, but that it was Jesus who saves and heals.
Then, nine year old Stephen testified about how he went to a soccer game and was watching the men play soccer. One of the men crashed into the goalie and broke the goalie’s leg. He was in a lot of pain and couldn’t stand. Afterwards, as he was lying down off the playing field, Stephen went up and spoke to the man, asking him if he could pray for him. The man said “Yes.” And so Stephen prayed for him.
The next day, instead of seeing the man in a cast or lying down, Stephen saw the man at work and asked him how he was. The man thanked Stephen for praying for him and was so happy that the Lord had healed him so he could still work and earn money for his family.
Last Sunday morning I listened as children gave testimonies as to how God had used them in ministry during the week. Remembering the words spoken over them at the altar during camp, we had prayed over them the previous Sunday to be used during the week to go out and touch and heal people.
One girl, Opana, told of seeing a woman who had a problem with her eye. The eye was swollen and had all sorts of stuff running down the woman’s face. Opana went to the woman and asked her if she could pray for her and the woman told her to go away, because the doctors couldn’t help her. “What can you, a little girl do for me?!!” She said. “Go away.”
But Opana didn’t give up. She responded to the woman that she couldn’t do anything, but that Jesus was the one that could heal her; and she asked the woman again if she could pray for her. The old lady said, “Ok, fine. Go ahead and pray for me, but if I don’t get healed; don’t be surprised or get disappointed!”
So, Opana bowed her head, placed her hand on the woman and prayed for her to be healed in Jesus name.
The next day as Opana was passing by where the woman was, she saw that the eye had cleared up and was no longer swollen or running. When the old woman saw Opana, she was so happy and thanked her for praying; that now she could travel to Windhoek without any problems. Opana reminded the woman that it wasn’t her that healed, but that it was Jesus who saves and heals.
Then, nine year old Stephen testified about how he went to a soccer game and was watching the men play soccer. One of the men crashed into the goalie and broke the goalie’s leg. He was in a lot of pain and couldn’t stand. Afterwards, as he was lying down off the playing field, Stephen went up and spoke to the man, asking him if he could pray for him. The man said “Yes.” And so Stephen prayed for him.
The next day, instead of seeing the man in a cast or lying down, Stephen saw the man at work and asked him how he was. The man thanked Stephen for praying for him and was so happy that the Lord had healed him so he could still work and earn money for his family.
Kids Camp in August 2011
When I was praying, God said to me that I must go to other countries to tell them the Good News and to tell them something: You shall never have other gods.” - Frans (12 yrs)
“God said, don’t leave anyone behind – go to them. Preach the Gospel.” - John Lee (12 yrs)
“The Holy Spirit told me that there are a lot of people that still need to know God. So I can start while I’m still small to preach the gospel and when I become older I can travel around the world just to tell them the Good News.” - Shalom (11 yrs old)
“Last night when I went to my room to pray there was a feeling that I had: a feeling that I cannot explain. Such a happy feeling, like something has happened in your life. When I was praying something said to me, ‘Don’t stop praying. Don’t leave those behind who are behind you. Go and pray for others so they also can have the Word of God.”
There were over a hundred and twenty of us kids and counselors gathered, and I had given an opportunity; asking kids if they felt like the Holy Spirit had given them a word or a vision to speak to the other children at the camp. One by one a line formed until over a dozen children came forward, each wanting to share directly and purposefully, addressing the others gathered around.
“God said to me to tell everyone standing around here praying that you are not too small to preach. You are not too small to touch someone and just heal them. God will give you that strength, that Holy Fire to just touch someone and heal him.” (Willem (10 yrs)
In terms of children being called, trained, and equipped for ministry the camp was highly successful. One side that I didn’t even think about was the amazing impact that this also had on adults who helped at the camp. They too have come to me, amazed at how the Holy Spirit could move amongst children, amazed at how the children could respond so deeply, and amazed at things that God had also spoken to them personally with regards to children’s ministry.
What’s also amazing was what I call the “terrible tradeoff.” The trials and tribulations we suffered before, during, and after the camp that came in just too much of a flood to call them “coincidental.”
Right before camp, our dog that we really loved was run over by a car. At camp, we went to set the tent up, and Namibia got hit with a freak weather system causing rains at the coast and heavy winds inland, where we were. Thieves broke into the Bible School office and stole our two computers and my ipod. My sound system failed before camp, my backup sound system got fried by high voltage during camp, and on the last day of camp, the city turned the power off, and when they turned it back on again it spiked; causing the backup to the backup sound system to fail. And there were more trips to bring kids to the emergency room for this camp than any other camp.
In Africa don’t ever say “It can’t get worse!” I wanted to use my backed-up info on my wife’s computer and the powerboard on that computer blew. And my last resort external hard drive also joined the mutiny and stopped working. Ever feel like just going fishing?
Each challenge was met with prayer. Some of the prayers we saw immediate results for – such as the dramatic change in weather, giving us a pleasant camp environment for the whole week. Some of the prayers we are still waiting for answers on. I think that the most important prayers though, the petitions before the throne for a move of God amongst the children – I think those prayers were answered, being demonstrated by the response of the children at the altars and by the continued ministry involvement we are seeing by the children in the churches they have returned to. (see “And These Signs”)
I am deeply grateful for the answer to prayer for the health of Missionary Judy Mensch. She came all the way from Holland to help me do outreaches here in Namibia, the Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp being the foremost outreach.
A couple months before the trip she was having such a battle, especially with Shingles, and we didn’t know if it was going to be possible for her to come. So many people were praying and she pushed through, bringing a team of four short term missionaries from Holland with her. The team members were stellar in their children’s ministry: Rick (18 yrs old), Noa, and Woosjie (girls 9 & 11 yrs old), and the girls’ mother Carolyn. As Camp Director I was so busy resolving all the things we were getting hit with; I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have Pastor Judy and her team. Not only did they write the programs for the services, but they also ran them. What a big answer to prayer!
“God said, don’t leave anyone behind – go to them. Preach the Gospel.” - John Lee (12 yrs)
“The Holy Spirit told me that there are a lot of people that still need to know God. So I can start while I’m still small to preach the gospel and when I become older I can travel around the world just to tell them the Good News.” - Shalom (11 yrs old)
“Last night when I went to my room to pray there was a feeling that I had: a feeling that I cannot explain. Such a happy feeling, like something has happened in your life. When I was praying something said to me, ‘Don’t stop praying. Don’t leave those behind who are behind you. Go and pray for others so they also can have the Word of God.”
There were over a hundred and twenty of us kids and counselors gathered, and I had given an opportunity; asking kids if they felt like the Holy Spirit had given them a word or a vision to speak to the other children at the camp. One by one a line formed until over a dozen children came forward, each wanting to share directly and purposefully, addressing the others gathered around.
“God said to me to tell everyone standing around here praying that you are not too small to preach. You are not too small to touch someone and just heal them. God will give you that strength, that Holy Fire to just touch someone and heal him.” (Willem (10 yrs)
In terms of children being called, trained, and equipped for ministry the camp was highly successful. One side that I didn’t even think about was the amazing impact that this also had on adults who helped at the camp. They too have come to me, amazed at how the Holy Spirit could move amongst children, amazed at how the children could respond so deeply, and amazed at things that God had also spoken to them personally with regards to children’s ministry.
What’s also amazing was what I call the “terrible tradeoff.” The trials and tribulations we suffered before, during, and after the camp that came in just too much of a flood to call them “coincidental.”
Right before camp, our dog that we really loved was run over by a car. At camp, we went to set the tent up, and Namibia got hit with a freak weather system causing rains at the coast and heavy winds inland, where we were. Thieves broke into the Bible School office and stole our two computers and my ipod. My sound system failed before camp, my backup sound system got fried by high voltage during camp, and on the last day of camp, the city turned the power off, and when they turned it back on again it spiked; causing the backup to the backup sound system to fail. And there were more trips to bring kids to the emergency room for this camp than any other camp.
In Africa don’t ever say “It can’t get worse!” I wanted to use my backed-up info on my wife’s computer and the powerboard on that computer blew. And my last resort external hard drive also joined the mutiny and stopped working. Ever feel like just going fishing?
Each challenge was met with prayer. Some of the prayers we saw immediate results for – such as the dramatic change in weather, giving us a pleasant camp environment for the whole week. Some of the prayers we are still waiting for answers on. I think that the most important prayers though, the petitions before the throne for a move of God amongst the children – I think those prayers were answered, being demonstrated by the response of the children at the altars and by the continued ministry involvement we are seeing by the children in the churches they have returned to. (see “And These Signs”)
I am deeply grateful for the answer to prayer for the health of Missionary Judy Mensch. She came all the way from Holland to help me do outreaches here in Namibia, the Ultimate Challenge Kids Camp being the foremost outreach.
A couple months before the trip she was having such a battle, especially with Shingles, and we didn’t know if it was going to be possible for her to come. So many people were praying and she pushed through, bringing a team of four short term missionaries from Holland with her. The team members were stellar in their children’s ministry: Rick (18 yrs old), Noa, and Woosjie (girls 9 & 11 yrs old), and the girls’ mother Carolyn. As Camp Director I was so busy resolving all the things we were getting hit with; I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have Pastor Judy and her team. Not only did they write the programs for the services, but they also ran them. What a big answer to prayer!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Good Friday Bad Friday on the Swakopmund River
Good Friday was yesterday and it was almost Horrible Friday.
The Swakopmund River normally only flows once every 5 or 10 years and has pretty much been just a dry river bed. This year, Namibia has seen more rain than has ever been recorded in history. As a result, the Swakopmund River has been flowing down into the sea and many people are taking advantage of this for fun and recreation. We have done this also, almost to our undoing.
Because of my trip to Windhoek I had so much work to yesterday (Good Friday). Breanna and her friends wanted to go tubing down the swakopmund river which is now flowing into the sea. I had been a couple weeks ago and it was a nice, comfortable ride, so I gave her permission. She went out with 5 of her friends and they took inner tubes with them. Kim dropped them off at the place where the road goes to Walvis Bay.
The road was closed because the river was flowing over the bridge. That should have told us right then and there that the current was too dangerous. I should have really been with them, or at least insisted on life jackets, but I was so busy,having just returned from Windhoek and now having to catch up on emails and other things. I was too busy, and so I didn't give it much thought. I had only thought about the river as it had been when I was on it.
A few hours went by and I received a call from Kim saying that Breanna had almost drowned. They had been going down the river by the pumping station and there is a man made drop off there. When they went over it, they lost their tubes and the water coming over the wall caused a backflow that if you were to get caught in it would be pretty catastrophic. Well, the teenagers did get caught in it. Breanna told me that she couldn't get out and she yelled for help a couple times before going down. She said the force of the water coming down was just too much for her and she couldn't escape. She had actually come to the place where she didn't have any more strength left and had given up and she really thought she was going to die. And then a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up.
When the teens went down the river, there were two rather large Afrikaans guys that had decided to float down the river as well, and they decided to all go together. If it weren't for those two guys, the teens that got stuck in this backflow would have drowned. It was indeed a very, very scary experience, and when I heard about it, I was so upset with myself that I had let them go tubing without actually checking the flow rate or the level of the water myself. Even a couple weeks previous when the river was low and we had come to the pumping station, we decided to get out of the tubes and climb down, instead of going over that man made wall. It was just too dangerous. If I had been there, and had decided that it would be ok to go down the river, I would have never allowed them to go over that pumping station wall.
Sometimes as parents we make mistakes. Huge mistakes. It's a wonder that our kids survive and turn out the way they do in spite of us. It's the grace of God. We can't be there all the time, and sometimes when we are there we make foolish decisions. If it weren't for the grace of God, what a mess our lives would be. It is very important I see then, that we keep a humility about us and maintain a God-fearing, repentant attitude so we can walk in the fullness of this grace.
This will be a very special Easter. I woke up this morning, walked downstairs, and looked at my daughter who was peacefully asleep.
O thank you God.
The Swakopmund River normally only flows once every 5 or 10 years and has pretty much been just a dry river bed. This year, Namibia has seen more rain than has ever been recorded in history. As a result, the Swakopmund River has been flowing down into the sea and many people are taking advantage of this for fun and recreation. We have done this also, almost to our undoing.
Because of my trip to Windhoek I had so much work to yesterday (Good Friday). Breanna and her friends wanted to go tubing down the swakopmund river which is now flowing into the sea. I had been a couple weeks ago and it was a nice, comfortable ride, so I gave her permission. She went out with 5 of her friends and they took inner tubes with them. Kim dropped them off at the place where the road goes to Walvis Bay.
The road was closed because the river was flowing over the bridge. That should have told us right then and there that the current was too dangerous. I should have really been with them, or at least insisted on life jackets, but I was so busy,having just returned from Windhoek and now having to catch up on emails and other things. I was too busy, and so I didn't give it much thought. I had only thought about the river as it had been when I was on it.
A few hours went by and I received a call from Kim saying that Breanna had almost drowned. They had been going down the river by the pumping station and there is a man made drop off there. When they went over it, they lost their tubes and the water coming over the wall caused a backflow that if you were to get caught in it would be pretty catastrophic. Well, the teenagers did get caught in it. Breanna told me that she couldn't get out and she yelled for help a couple times before going down. She said the force of the water coming down was just too much for her and she couldn't escape. She had actually come to the place where she didn't have any more strength left and had given up and she really thought she was going to die. And then a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her up.
When the teens went down the river, there were two rather large Afrikaans guys that had decided to float down the river as well, and they decided to all go together. If it weren't for those two guys, the teens that got stuck in this backflow would have drowned. It was indeed a very, very scary experience, and when I heard about it, I was so upset with myself that I had let them go tubing without actually checking the flow rate or the level of the water myself. Even a couple weeks previous when the river was low and we had come to the pumping station, we decided to get out of the tubes and climb down, instead of going over that man made wall. It was just too dangerous. If I had been there, and had decided that it would be ok to go down the river, I would have never allowed them to go over that pumping station wall.
Sometimes as parents we make mistakes. Huge mistakes. It's a wonder that our kids survive and turn out the way they do in spite of us. It's the grace of God. We can't be there all the time, and sometimes when we are there we make foolish decisions. If it weren't for the grace of God, what a mess our lives would be. It is very important I see then, that we keep a humility about us and maintain a God-fearing, repentant attitude so we can walk in the fullness of this grace.
This will be a very special Easter. I woke up this morning, walked downstairs, and looked at my daughter who was peacefully asleep.
O thank you God.
When dreams turn to nightmares - My Avis Adventure - Windhoek Trip II
I took Marshall with me and we hiked the Avis Dam. When the dam is full of water, the hike is so, so much longer. I didn't realize how long it would take to get around the place with all that water, and three quarters of the way around we took a wrong trail that led us into no man's land. It was starting to get dark, and the clouds were moving in. We could see rain in the distance, heading our way, and with that rain, lightning and then sounds of thunder. We had to get off that koppie we were on and make it back to the truck. However, the further we went on the trail, the more spider webs crossed the trail. Big spider webs with big spiders. We would get a stick and break through the webs so we could proceed, but now it was starting to get difficult to see the spider webs in the twilight. I actually walked through one large web. At first I didn't know what it was. I walked into it head first and because I had a hat on didn't feel it against my face. All I could feel was the tension on my head of pushing through something, and I could hear the stretching and snapping. As I said, these were humongous spiders, and so you could actually feel the tension and hear the webs as they broke. When I had already pushed through and broken webbing fell across my shoulders and arms I kind of panicked. I realized what I had just walked through, and knew what the owner looked like. As I was pulling webbing off my arms and head I yelled to Marshal, "Marshal!! Look, quick! Is there anything crawling on me?!!!" It was quite unnerving. As we continued on, we came across bigger spiders until we reached one web that was just enormous with a very, very large arachnid in it. I was so frustrated. We had bog on one side of us that we couldn't escape through lest we sink, we had storms coming in from the other side, and now we had these giant spiders in front of us that made it impassable. I cried out at the top of my lungs, "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Just an emotional outburst of frustration. Unbeknownst to me, there was a herd of baboons about 40 yards up the trail on the other side of the spiders. And they responded, "ONNNNNNKKKKK." Now, if you are totally unaware that there is a herd of baboons next to you, and all of the sudden, you hear that loud noise, it can be quite startling. And it was. I guess they thought maybe I was challenging them, and they just responded. I told Marshal, "Uhhh, I think we better pick up a couple rocks to defend ourselves."
I asked Marshal, "Bro, have you ever felt like you were in a nightmare." You're trying to escape the bogs and quicksand with a storm bearing down on you, and then you have giant spiders to deal with; and right when you don't think it could get any worse, you come across a herd of barking baboons as it's getting dark." Lovely.
A trail that leads into arachnitopia cannot have been a trail used by many hikers, and therefore it was logical that we were on a trail leading us to somewhere we didn't want to go. So, we turned around and started running with our rocks, keeping our eyes on the lookout for those babboons.. After about 2o minutes of backtracking we found another trail that we followed and it took us down towards our vehicle. But alas, it was not to be without further incident. When we were almost to the parking lot there was only one more obstacle. A very ominous obstacle. The trail had now become a tunnel. A tunnel of spider webs. There was no way out to the right - it was all mud bog and water. To the left was all impassable bushes. We couldn't turn around because it was getting dark and the thunderstorm was almost upon us. We had to go through. Marshal said, "No way, Pastor."
"Just put your head down and hang on to the back of my shirt, Marshal." It's like bungee jumping. Even when everything inside is screaming, "DON'T!", you just go forward. As we went through the tunnel with spiders on every side and above, I just started quoting Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of spiders, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me....."
Well, here I am, writing this, so I did not die. What started as a dream-walk in the beautiful Avis Dam turned into a nightmare with baboons and spiders; but praise God, we came out of it. A couple years ago when I took Kim on a hike around Avis Dam, she asked, "Are you trying to kill me?!!!" As we were running up the hill through spider territory, trying to get back to the truck before it got dark I could hear Marshal huffing and puffing, trying to keep up, and I wonder if he was asking the same thing.
Just an emotional outburst of frustration. Unbeknownst to me, there was a herd of baboons about 40 yards up the trail on the other side of the spiders. And they responded, "ONNNNNNKKKKK." Now, if you are totally unaware that there is a herd of baboons next to you, and all of the sudden, you hear that loud noise, it can be quite startling. And it was. I guess they thought maybe I was challenging them, and they just responded. I told Marshal, "Uhhh, I think we better pick up a couple rocks to defend ourselves."
I asked Marshal, "Bro, have you ever felt like you were in a nightmare." You're trying to escape the bogs and quicksand with a storm bearing down on you, and then you have giant spiders to deal with; and right when you don't think it could get any worse, you come across a herd of barking baboons as it's getting dark." Lovely.
A trail that leads into arachnitopia cannot have been a trail used by many hikers, and therefore it was logical that we were on a trail leading us to somewhere we didn't want to go. So, we turned around and started running with our rocks, keeping our eyes on the lookout for those babboons.. After about 2o minutes of backtracking we found another trail that we followed and it took us down towards our vehicle. But alas, it was not to be without further incident. When we were almost to the parking lot there was only one more obstacle. A very ominous obstacle. The trail had now become a tunnel. A tunnel of spider webs. There was no way out to the right - it was all mud bog and water. To the left was all impassable bushes. We couldn't turn around because it was getting dark and the thunderstorm was almost upon us. We had to go through. Marshal said, "No way, Pastor."
"Just put your head down and hang on to the back of my shirt, Marshal." It's like bungee jumping. Even when everything inside is screaming, "DON'T!", you just go forward. As we went through the tunnel with spiders on every side and above, I just started quoting Psalm 23, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of spiders, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me....."
Well, here I am, writing this, so I did not die. What started as a dream-walk in the beautiful Avis Dam turned into a nightmare with baboons and spiders; but praise God, we came out of it. A couple years ago when I took Kim on a hike around Avis Dam, she asked, "Are you trying to kill me?!!!" As we were running up the hill through spider territory, trying to get back to the truck before it got dark I could hear Marshal huffing and puffing, trying to keep up, and I wonder if he was asking the same thing.
Windhoek trip
Have been very involved in trying to sell two missions houses, and get a place here in Swakopmund to live in. It seems like things have gone through very well for the house in Otjiwarongo, but there have been a few hiccups with the house in Windhoek. The gate was giving problems, the electricity in the house kept shutting off when it rained, the flat lost power to half of it, and the pool didn't stay full. It drained - turned out that there were cracks in it and the water that was used to fill the pool drained out through the cracks. So, a lot of work was involved to get everything going the way it is supposed to be going, and we will have to put in a new pool.
One of the hiccups was also that there is a tree on the property line that is busting through the wall. The purchaser asked that I would deal with the owner of the property next door to take care of that tree and fix the wall. At first it just seemed like one more thing to deal with, but then as I was praying, asking the Lord to give me favor with the neighbor, I sensed that the Lord knew that tree when it was just a seed, and was using it for me to have a witnessing opportunity.
So, I went to talk to the neighbor 3 times, and each time I missed him. Finally, one morning when I looked over the wall and saw his car in the driveway, I parked my truck in front of his gate so he couldn't get out. When the gate opened and he was blocked in, I went over and greeted him. He told me that he had a meeting at 8, but that we could talk for 5 minutes. So, I moved my truck, and got in his Mercedes to talk, and he drove off with me into the city. We talked a little bit in the car, and then he pulled up to a construction site where about 40 workers were waiting for him. He's the owner of a big construction company that was constructing a building.
After he finished speaking to his workers, he introduced me to "Ali," his foreman. This guy has quite a past and was originally from Germany, but then spent time in Rhodesia and South Africa before moving into Namibia. He used to be Pentecostal, but as I spoke to him, I found him to be, let's say, somewhat removed from pentecost.
I had a really good time sharing with him and exhorting him to get his relationship with God in the right place so he can start fulfilling God's purposes in his life. Then when it was time to go, I had another opportunity to talk to the owner, Mr. Yambo. I showed him Song of Solomon where God is saying,
Son 2:10 My Beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:11 For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over; it goes to itself.
Son 2:12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;
Son 2:13 the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:16 My Beloved is mine, and I am His; He feeds among the lilies.
I told him that he had reached the point in his life where his soul was wanting to turn to God. The Winter is past, the rains are gone, and now God was really calling him to follow Him. I spoke with him and told him that God isn't looking at him, waiting for him to die so he can cast him into hell, but instead, God is calling him "his love," and "his beautiful one." That only God can see us this way, for we certainly don't. Mr. Yambo and I then prayed right there in front of his construction site out in the open. We put our heads together and prayed and sought the Lord, to follow in His ways and not in our own anymore. It was a really good meeting and prayer time and I look forward to seeing him again and continuing in this. He is a man who has lived a pretty sinful life, but he is also a man who does not hide that, but is very transparent.
One of the hiccups was also that there is a tree on the property line that is busting through the wall. The purchaser asked that I would deal with the owner of the property next door to take care of that tree and fix the wall. At first it just seemed like one more thing to deal with, but then as I was praying, asking the Lord to give me favor with the neighbor, I sensed that the Lord knew that tree when it was just a seed, and was using it for me to have a witnessing opportunity.
So, I went to talk to the neighbor 3 times, and each time I missed him. Finally, one morning when I looked over the wall and saw his car in the driveway, I parked my truck in front of his gate so he couldn't get out. When the gate opened and he was blocked in, I went over and greeted him. He told me that he had a meeting at 8, but that we could talk for 5 minutes. So, I moved my truck, and got in his Mercedes to talk, and he drove off with me into the city. We talked a little bit in the car, and then he pulled up to a construction site where about 40 workers were waiting for him. He's the owner of a big construction company that was constructing a building.
After he finished speaking to his workers, he introduced me to "Ali," his foreman. This guy has quite a past and was originally from Germany, but then spent time in Rhodesia and South Africa before moving into Namibia. He used to be Pentecostal, but as I spoke to him, I found him to be, let's say, somewhat removed from pentecost.
I had a really good time sharing with him and exhorting him to get his relationship with God in the right place so he can start fulfilling God's purposes in his life. Then when it was time to go, I had another opportunity to talk to the owner, Mr. Yambo. I showed him Song of Solomon where God is saying,
Son 2:10 My Beloved spoke, and said to me, Rise up, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:11 For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over; it goes to itself.
Son 2:12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land;
Son 2:13 the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, My love, My beautiful one, and come away.
Son 2:16 My Beloved is mine, and I am His; He feeds among the lilies.
I told him that he had reached the point in his life where his soul was wanting to turn to God. The Winter is past, the rains are gone, and now God was really calling him to follow Him. I spoke with him and told him that God isn't looking at him, waiting for him to die so he can cast him into hell, but instead, God is calling him "his love," and "his beautiful one." That only God can see us this way, for we certainly don't. Mr. Yambo and I then prayed right there in front of his construction site out in the open. We put our heads together and prayed and sought the Lord, to follow in His ways and not in our own anymore. It was a really good meeting and prayer time and I look forward to seeing him again and continuing in this. He is a man who has lived a pretty sinful life, but he is also a man who does not hide that, but is very transparent.
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