Nations to Nations

Hello friends!

It's been awhile since my last post. Let me update you on what I've been doing.

I returned to Muizenberg last week after being away at a week long conference in Jeffery's Bay, on the Eastern Cape. It was about an 8 hour drive along the coast to get there, but it was BEAUTIFUL. At times we'd be driving for miles through farmlands filled with herds ostriches and wild horses, then over breathtaking mountains and areas that looked like rain forests. At one time along they way we had to stop and allow for a family of baboons to cross the road! Jeffery's Bay was a small surfers paradise with beautiful shell covered beaches. We stayed on a YWAM base in one of the townships and I met tons of on fire people from all around the globe. The conference was a really powerful time of worship and intersession for the nations. On the final night they rolled a gigantic map across the entire floor of the church we were meeting in and we laid hands on all the nations and did a Jericho walk. It was powerful. Each day we had a several different speakers from different parts of the world.

I was able to work in one of the local orphanages while I was there called "Seventh Heaven" and it was great to see just how true the word is when it describes the Lord as a father to the fatherless. Each month the Lord has faithfully provided funding for Seventh Heaven. The staff was so loving with the children and you could see that they had really dedicated their lives to caring for these orphans. The children, ages 1-10, were all victims of abandonment or abuse. Many had seen one or both of their parents killed. One little girl there that really captured my heart was named Angel. She is known as the miracle baby of the house. She had been found in a trash bag when she was only a couple week old. She hadn't been touched or fed in over a week and had severe swelling and rashes covering the lower part of her body. The team that rescued Angel was able to find her mother, who later admitted she had been waiting for her daughter to die. Angel is now a healthy and happy two year old. Seventh Heaven also found help for Angels mother. This team sets a true example of showing the unconditional, nonjudgmental love of Christ and have really touched my heart. Every child was so eager to just be held and talked to. Please keep them in your prayers and pray Gods blessing over the staff and the children.

Unfortunately while I was there I had some trouble with a tooth. One of my molars had been bothering me before I left and I had gone into the city to have it looked at. The first appointment I could get was with a general practitioner some friends from my church here recommended. He told me that I needed to see an actual dentist, but encouraged me and laid hands on me and prayed over me before I left. I was shocked, but felt so comforted as God was assuring me he was with me. The dentist I saw was an elderly Indian man and I could not understand his accent at all. I was in such tremendous pain I allowed him to just have at my mouth and he he began grinding on several different teeth. Then I was really in pain! After doing whatever it was he did he prescribed me some pain medicine and I headed of for Jeffereys Bay. Once I got to J-Bay, the tooth got infected and I was in a world of pain I have never known. I immediately saw another dentist who began an emergency root canal. The next day I woke up and the infection had spread to the surrounding soft tissue and the left side of my face was completely swollen. So it was back to the dentist I went, which turned into two additional visits to treat the infection. I found out that this dentist actually attended the church where my conference was being held and he was very gracious to me throughout that week, getting me in despite an already booked schedule. At the conference several people prayed for me and the Lord was so faithful to sustain me throughout the week and by the time we were getting ready to head back to Muizenberg the swelling had gone down completely and I have haven't had any pain since. I will have to see a dentist here in Muizenberg sometime this week to have the procedure finalized, but God has been so faithful in providing me with great health care providers, I'm not worried.

I will post again soon to catch you up on this week, it has been good.

Please keep me in prayer, as all the visits to the dentist and antibiotics have been a financial hardship on me and also complete healing in my final visit.

xo

Sibongile

Wednesday was my first day in the orphanage and my heart has been aching ever since. The orphanage was started by a woman whose daughter (Sibongile) died of cerebral palsy at a very young age. The woman promised Sibongile on her death bed that she would dedicate her life to caring for other children with this disease and others.

The good news is that the Lord is doing great things. Sibongile currently has 2 locations and is working on a third.

The first location is just two large metal cargo containers with a few cribs and a pile of blankets on the floor covered by disabled children. There are 3 "mama's" and about 20 special needs children within the two containers. Almost all of the children must be fed through tubes in their tummy's.

The second location was a small house that was actually quite nice. God is doing great things and soon blessing Sibongile with a third location. The children that are currently in the metal cargo containers will be able to move into a home and the containers will be used for an office.

In other news....

My outreach location has been confirmed and I will be going to India!! I will get to you soon with more details.

I'm leaving tomorrow for outreach in Jeffery's Bay. I will be there staying in the townships for 6 days. Please keep me in prayer.


Love you all.

Blessed

Just a quick hello and praise report!

I've been stressing out a little about how to befriend the local street kids as they seem to be a little apprehensive about talking to tourists. If I could just befriend some of them I could start to share the Good Word!

Last night I was jogging around the neighborhood with a couple girls from the base and we ran into a bunch of kids playing soccer and asked if we could join. They didn't seem to excited about 3 white girls cramping their style and I haven't played in a few years so I was a bit rusty. I can't really explain what happened next, but the Lord has a sense of humor. It was like God oiled my joints because within a couple minutes I was full of energy, running around the feild, and scoring on these very skilled boys. Oh my it felt great I was whoopin em! hahaha. So I played for about 45 minutes, but then had to get back to the base for my daily work duties. As I was walking back one of the boys ran up behind me and asked if I would come back and play with on Wednesday!!

God is good.

Outreach Locations Confirmed

The outreach locations have been confirmed. I will be praying over the weekend as to where God would like me to be, please join me in this prayer. Monday I have to submit my decision.

The locations are:

Thailand
India
Kenya
&
Swaziland

Happy Birthday to me!

Hello everyone! Yesterday was my birthday and I missed you all terribly! Everyone here has been great though. I had a fabulous day of binge eating. A group from the base took me out for an American breakfast and it was WONDERFUL. For lunch some Zambian guys from base made me their favorite dishes from home and it was wonderful! A 3 course meal, eaten entirely by hand. After evening classes my entire DTS surprised me with cookies and ice cream and singing.

Things have been great here. I went to a new church last week in one of the townships and it was amazing. No lights, no sound system, no band. Just two young girls lifting their voices leading worship. The Holy Spirit was heavy in the small building. The townships really tore on my heart strings. Hundreds of 20x20 huts, walls made out of cardboard boxes and scrap metal or whatever they can find. The people are just so happy to gather and praise the Lord in this old church with broken out windows and old rickety pews.

We've started ministry with the local street kids and prostitutes, just loving on them and praying for them. There are so many in need here. Its difficult to even walk down the street to the market without passing 15-20 people begging for money or bread.

Next week I will begin work at one of the many local orphanages. It is an orphanage for disabled children. I'm very excited, but praying for strength.

Tonight is a very special night for one of my fellow students, Collins. One of the local cafes is having a "Kenya Night", with food and music from his homeland and we are all going with him. In fact I need to be off to finish my daily work duties so I can go! Update you soon!

<3

I rode the train for the first time this week to go into town and buy a phone card. Was it ever an experience! I have never seen so many people pack into one train, but not even just the cars! On top, in-between cars, and hanging off the edges, for miles! We the train stopped in front of me and the doors opened, hundreds of people flooded out, it didn't seem to end! Women were screaming bloody murder as they were trampled and children were mindlessly pushed out of the way.

A friend of mine here has a car and that doesn't seem to me much safer than the train. She picked me up for church last Sunday evening and we headed into Cape Town. People drive crazy here! No one stops at stop signs because it is common for their windows to be punched out and to be robbed in just that short time. It is intense!

Week 2

(sorry this is a draft I forgot to post about a week ago)


Hello everyone! Another week has passed, and it has been even more amazing than the first.

It is so beautiful here. The weather is great, but still pretty chilly. Despite the beauty though, there are many street kids, homeless, gangs, and prostitutes. It is a city stricken with poverty and crime.

We have been interceding in prayer as to where our 3 month outreach should be and so far we have confirmed that one group will go Thailand. There may be up to 3 other groups. Possible locations so far are Cambodia, China, Swazyland, and Kenya.

Tonight at 6PM we will start a 24 hour prayer 6 to 6. All YWAM bases worldwide will be joining in. Please jump in and pray at anytime!

Week 1

Hello everyone! I've been dying to update you on my adventure, but only recently was able to gain access to the internet. An entire week has gone by already and what a week it has been! I left Portland late Friday night. With a combination of layovers and in-air time, I was in Johanasburg, South Africa about 25 hours later. The flight arrived about an hour late, so I was in a dither trying to collect my bags and get to my final flight. Being my first time flying alone, as well as my first time in Africa, I imagine I must have looked like a prime target. A nicely dressed man walked straight over to me and grabbed my luggage cart and said he wanted to help me. I ran after him asking "Wait, why are you helping me? Who are you?" He told me he just saw me looking confused and wanted to help. So in my head I think "Oh nice! God sent me an airport angel to make sure I don't miss my next flight!" By this time I'm just running behind this man and my luggage, not realizing we were cutting in all the lines or realizing what he was whispering to the workers behind the counters may not be good. In about 2 minutes we had checked my baggage (bipassing all the lines) and arrived at the next security check point. It was here he told me that my baggage was actually too heavy and there was going to be a $39 dollar fee. Confused, I explained I hadn't had any problem in America, then it hit me. Then I was annoied. "Alright, what is it that you want? A tip?" He denied it up and down, but still being nervous I handed him the smallest bill I had which was 10 Rand and regretfully went on my way. I solemly boarded my plane thinking to myself, "Aw man, I can't believe that just happened. I can't afford to spend any extra money!" However, without this man scamming me, I very well may have not made my flight. I was just excited to get to YWAM. I struck up a conversation with a nice girl I was seated next to and told her the story. She sympathized with me, but smiled as she eased my mind by telling me 10 Rand is actually only about $1.30 USD. In 2 hours I was in Cape Town, where Noel and YWAM staff were waiting for me. After a 20 minute car ride I was in Muizenberg at the YWAM base.

There are about 28 students in the DTS. The base is extremely crowded though. There are 3 other schools being held here. School of intersesory prayer (SOIP), school of biblical studies (SBS), and a church planting school. In addition, we are letting a 20-some odd student DTS from Perth, Australia stay with us for the moment.

On the 2nd night the base was broken into in the middle of the night. Thankfully no one was hurt and nothing was taken, but our water pipes were cut. They came in to steal our pipes of all things! Copper is a hot commodity here. We have great local security though called Mountain Men, and they responded very quickly. So everything turned out okay, we just went without water for a day until we could have our pipes repaired.

Unfortunately tragedy struck on the 3rd day. One of the SBS staff members was working on something on the roof of the base and fell off and was killed almost instantly. It was extremely hard on the entire base, but especially for those students of the SBS. Please pray for comfort for those students effected and this mans family. His name was Fou Fou and he was from Brazil. He had been a part of YWAM for a couple of years. He was just 28 years old. We spent the rest of the week thanking God for Fou Fou's life on earth and for the celebration taking place in Heaven.

It has been an interesting first week and I am so excited to see what God is going to do. Please keep me in your prayers!