Confession

I have a confession to make. I am a missionary who owns 71 ½ pairs of socks – 35 black, 32 ½ white, 3 tan, and 1 funky striped pair for sleeping. Inventorying them is part of my therapy, quantifying the problem. Some are new; some are old; some are holy, dingy and stretched out; one is missing its mate (why am I saving it???); and somehow they all came with me to South Africa. I put half in my drawers, and half in zip-loc bags for later – whenever that is…

When I moved here, I patted myself on the back thinking I did so well in sacrificing all my “stuff”. Selling things super-cheap. Giving a lot away. Traveling light. Trusting in God’s provision.

Looking at this pile I realize that I struggle with a scarcity mentality, rationalizing about what I “need”. I want to be a good steward by hanging on to what is necessary and practical, but according to my own definition.

When I moved here, the Lord did miraculous things – taking care of my house, raising financial support, providing me with a vehicle during an economic nosedive. I was just teaching at Hand in Hand that as we trust God and he proves faithful, our faith grows stronger and we’re able to trust him with bigger, riskier things. Yet strangely I fall short in the small day-to-day things. As if God can’t meet my need for new socks when these wear out. Or as if he doesn’t care about the little things and someone has to…

Ouch.


So I confess that I’m falling short of trusting God 100%, but I’m working on it. I’m now down to 40 pairs of socks. (I like even numbers…) And I know God isn’t done with me yet. Eish!

Beauty for Ashes

Has anyone ever told you you are beautiful? And did you actually believe it? So often we feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, unworthy of such a compliment. The moment of flattery quickly dissipates as counter-arguments creep into our minds.

Yesterday I attended a women’s conference at Show-Tell Bible church in Qwa Qwa. The theme for the day was Inner and Outer Beauty. The conference was an extra special treat because my roommate June gave the first message and my colleague Amanda interpreted for her. They were a dynamic duo!

They taught how in Bible times people wore ashes when they were in mourning. It was an outward sign of their inward turmoil and grief. Mourning is natural, and an important part of healing and moving forward. But it’s also something that can keep us from feeling loved, beautiful, or worthy of either. The enemy would prefer we remain in mourning, stuck, paralyzed, “processing”, wallowing…

Isaiah 61 tells us that the Lord wants to be right there with us - binding up broken hearts, freeing us from whatever is holding us back, releasing us from darkness, comforting us, even avenging on our behalf. Do you need any of these things? I know I do…

The Lord also wants us to end our mourning, and give up our ashes for the crown of beauty he wants to bestow upon us. Since we put the ashes on, I feel like we have to take them off for God to do his thing. We need to allow him to work and trust that he is. Only then will we be considered oaks of righteousness, displaying his splendor, able to rebuild, restore and renew whatever has been devastated.

Has something been devastated in your life? Whatever it is, God wants to trade you beauty for ashes. Sounds like a pretty good trade to me…

Louder Than Words

As we all know, actions can speak louder than words, and this week was no exception. This week our mission team from First Baptist Church in Canada completed a project on our base, blessing our farm staff with fresh paint, tile floors and new windows in their homes. Earlier this year our interns had painted inside their homes, so it was wonderful to be able to continue with the improvements.

They team did a great job, and it was such a blessing to serve alongside them!

The houses look great, and our farm staff is so appreciative. At the end of the day, they expressed their gratitude in a beautiful note thanking the team for their loving hearts and caring hands. Through the team’s hard work – including fundraising for supplies – our farm staff experienced the love of Christ in action.



Colossians 3:17 says “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (NIV)”

May our actions continue to speak louder than our words!

Godly Stewardship

On September 6th more than 130 leaders came together to learn how to be God’s salt and light “From the Inside Out”. The topics we taught included Godly Stewardship and Kingdom Living – things we need to model in our own lives before we can effectively witness to others. Based on the responses, God was clearly at work that day.

God was at work in me as well, as this was my first opportunity to teach such a large group. It was a challenge and a stretch outside of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed it and would like to teach more in the future.

My two messages were about Godly stewardship – God’s design for stewardship and the practical ways we can live according to His principles. It was such a blessing to share what God has been teaching me through His Word, and also draw from my personal and professional experiences.

Did you know that the Bible has well over 2000 verses related to money? Money is definitely a popular subject in the Bible. I think this is because it’s an area where we’re so often tempted. It’s where we are humbled. And it’s where we struggle the most to trust in the Lord.

Have you ever struggled in trusting God for provision, whether for yourself, your family, or your ministry? Wondering how the bills would get paid or the work would get done? I know I have. Losing my job, raising support for missions, living on a small fraction of what I used to, depending on God and others… The Lord often uses our financial circumstances to test and refine us, to teach us to trust Him, and to ultimately strengthen our faith.

How we handle our money – whether we have a lot or a little – reflects our relationship with God. It can be a source of life and blessing when we’re fully committed to God. But it can also be a trap that Satan uses to separate us from God. We can avoid that trap by knowing what the Bible says, obeying it, and walking in the freedom it provides.

A God-thing

What are you listening to right now? What do you hear around you? Birds singing or trees rustling? A cool song? Kids laughing? Your boss? (If this is the case, stop reading this and get back to work!!)…

I can’t even imagine how challenging it would be to have a disability – not being able to see, hear, speak, or walk… Things I need to be thankful for and not take for granted. As difficult as it must be, how much more difficult is it when someone doesn’t have access to helpful resources?

Our Sunbreak mission team had the divine opportunity to minister to a family of deaf people. I know it was a divine appointment because 2 of the team members have deaf people in their families as well.

They shared with us how special their time was together, and what a blessing it was to get to know the family, share the love of Christ, and leave them with a long letter of encouragement. They were able to communicate by writing in English, which I also think was a total God-thing.

The family isn’t able to attend church, so the Lord brought church to them. He knew what the family needed, and loved them so much that He sent people across the world to tell them.

See what I mean about being a total God-thing?

I don’t have a picture of the team with the family, but I thought you’d enjoy this one. I call it “Jumping for Joy”. What do you think makes God jump for joy? We do.

Meet Pastor Maria

Meet Pastor Maria - beautiful woman of God, pastor of a small church, committed leader, hard-working business owner, Godly influence in her village. I love this lady!!

Our recent mission team from Sunbreak Church in Washington served in her village. After their first week of relationship evangelism, 8 people came to church with us that weekend. And after service, Pastor Maria met with each of them to tell them about her church, encourage them in their new faith, and welcome them to come back again. We pray that they do.






That’s one of the great things about partnering with local churches and pastors. As the mission teams serve in an area, the local church follows-up with people afterwards continuing to water and sow the seeds that were planted.

Another great thing is how encouraged our pastors are as teams reach out in their community, joyfully and sacrificially serving on behalf of the church. Over and over again, Pastor Maria told me and the team how thrilled she was to have the team visit her area.

Please pray with me for Pastor Maria and Lighthouse Ministries Church – that her church continues to thrive and to be a light in her community.