3/7/09

Today we had the privilege to speak at a church called River of Life There is a group of ladies who are called “Women in Evangelism”, who have been praying for their country for quite some time.  When Jennifer shared her dream with them, they were moved to tears at the reality of how much God loves them.  He loves them so much that He sent someone from across the world to tell them that He hasn’t forgotten them.  Isn’t it amazing that He would go to such great lengths to let them know He hears their crys?  If you have ever thought God didn’t hear you, this is proof that He does.  There is never one prayer that goes unheard, one tear shed that He doesn’t see.  I am so moved by the fact that our God is never too busy to know exactly where we are and what we need. 

Tomorrow we will be at the largest church in the country, where Jennifer will be speaking to the congregation, and I will have the opportunity to speak to the youth of the church.  I am so excited to get to impart to them the importance of their generation to this country.  The whole country has such a pattern of immorality, hopelessness, and poverty mentality.  This generation has the ability and the chance to change and make a difference, if they will rise up to the task.  It won’t be easy, but it has to start somewhere.  I pray that something I say will motivate them and stir up their hearts and give them the courage to be different. 

03/06/09

I have been enjoying some amazing sights, people, and connections over the last few days.  I had the pleasure of being on a two day safari where we saw some amazing wildlife.  There were elephants, zebras, hippos, giraffes, many different species of antelope, crocodiles, etc.  We had a visitor at our tent one night who was very large and had very long, white tusks!!  When we peeked through our tent window screen, there was a huge gray elephant staring right at us!!  I was a little concerned that he might decide to attack our tent, but Jana assured me that as long as we stayed inside, we would be fine. I guess she knew what she was talking about, because I am writing this note to you.

On Wednesday, we came to Lesotho where we met a missionary by the name of Dr. Knight, and toured her facility where she has a school, church and hospital.  They also have a mission in the mountains which we drove to and it was very sad to see the people living without electricity or running water.  We take so many things for granted.  The people of Lesotho have many resources but don’t seem to know how to put them to work.  They have fertile land, cattle, water, diamond mines, etc., but they don’t have the mentality of making life better for themselves.  There are a lot of orphans, AIDS victims, and hopelessness.  The children walk one to two hours to school every day, because there is no transportation. 

Today, we went to visit an orphanage where they currently house 36 babies, and they have around 50 children up to the age of 5 in their preschool.  It was a very loving facility and it is called Beautiful Gate.  Their website is www.beautifulgatelesotho.org .  They are an amazing husband and wife team who love these children and are facilitating adoptions for the babies and children.  Our hearts are forever changed as we look into the eyes of these beautiful children who have been rescued from being born in toilets, left to die in ditches, plastic bags, etc. 

We also spoke to a group of ladies today who have been faithfully praying for their country three times a week on their lunch break for many years.  They were moved to tears when Jennifer shared her testimony about the dream God gave her about Lesotho.  It confirmed to them that God has heard their cries and that He has a plan to save the country of Lesotho.  I am so thankful that I have been given the opportunity to reach outside of my own world and just do a little bit to help someone who is in need.  We should all be doing something for someone.  Sometimes we think that our little bit can’t possibly change the world, but it might change someone’s world.

03/01/09

We have been without communication for a few days so today is the first chance I have had to write about our trip.  Yesterday we arrived late into Botswana for the women’s conference with our missionary friends Jerry & Jana Lackey, but we made it just in time to participate in the things we were scheduled to do.  Jennifer spoke on a panel of women dealing with issues of teenage girls.  She also sang for the women and they loved her.  Danita and I had the privilege of hanging out with the youth girls and getting to know them a little bit.  They loved us and very warmly received everything we had to say.  We “tag teamed” speaking to them about issues that concern teen girls such as self esteem, shame, boys, fears, etc.   I believe we made a true impact on them and they loved the mirrors we gave them that had an inscription on the back that said,”I’m God’s girl…fully alive and beautiful”.   This morning we attended their regular Sunday morning church service and Jennifer sang again.  I was allowed to talk to the youth again just briefly during their group discussion and give them the bracelets I had brought to them from America.  They were so excited and thankful for the gift.  Many of the girls wanted to talk to me after the service and wanted a picture with me.  I had forgotten how much I loved and enjoyed working and relating to young girls.  I really miss that. 

This afternoon we were taken on a hike through the bush  by a world renown guide who has taken people like Oprah, Charlize Theron, Prince Charles and many more famous people.  He is currently managing the lodge we are staying in which is truly amazing and beautiful.  We were fortunate to see zebra, giraffe, ostrich, monkeys, and much more that I don’t remember the names of!!   Tomorrow we will go to Love Botswana mission to visit their facilities there and see how they are doing.  Some of the children there are HIV positive and live on campus there.  The people here are so sweet and loving and appreciative. 

We arrived in Johannesburg this morning about 9:00am.  We had quite an exciting time in London.  After boarding the plane that was to take us to South Africa, we had to get off because there was a problem with the nose gear or something like that!!  So after two hours, they found us another plane.  We are very tired but excited because tomorrow we fly to Botswana where we will minister at a women’s conference there.  We will write more later.  Going to bed now.  Good Night.  Love you guys.  Pray for us.

Approximately one year ago, God spoke to me that I would be going to Africa.  I wrote this in my journal, and as I wrote it I doubted myself that I was truly hearing God’s voice.  In a short two months later, I attended an event called Heart Quest where I met a wonderful friend named Jana, who is a missionary in Botswana, which is in South Africa.  She and her husband have a ministry called Love Botswana and have been there for over 20 years.  When she told me that, my heart jumped and I knew that we had connected for a reason.  Throughout that week, we knew that I would be traveling to Botswana sometime in the very near future.

Now it is one year later, and I am sitting in the London airport, preparing to fly to South Africa with my good friend and pastor Jennifer Crow.  God has also spoken to her through a dream, and very specifically told her to go to Lesotho, which is a tiny country in South Africa.  We are not even sure exactly what our mission is, but we know that God is with us and guiding us every step of the way.  We will be meeting many influential people and gathering information about human trafficking in Lesotho over the next couple of weeks.  I will be posting blogs on our progress and the beauty of realizing your dream.  Just as this dream is coming true for us, there are many who have similar dreams that have been divinely given.  Don’t ever doubt yourself.  Believe in your dreams.  They really do come true.