Hammer on Anvil '

This will probably be the last entry about my trip to South Africa. Though I learned more than I could possibly put into these blogs, I think I have hit on the highlights.

The picture at the right depicts an after-school feeding program that takes place at Lighthouse Christian Church in Mokopane, Limpopo, South Africa. Blessman Ministries feeds 7,000 orphans a day in various venues, and this is one of them.

Nearly 1,000 children are orphaned due to AIDS in South Africa every day. Our team got to spend a couple hours visiting an orphanage one day, and I didn't want to leave. One little girl was noticeably lethargic, and wasn't interested in playing like the other children.  Later I saw her holding her head and crying. Turns out she had a splitting headache. She has advanced HIV and her prognosis is grim.

Then there was Julia, whom I mentioned in my first South Africa blog. She is a 6-year-old bundle of energy. She and I played on the swings and the slides. When we approached the merry-go-round, a bunch of boys were already on it, going at breakneck speed. I told Julia to let me slow it down first so she could get on. But she simply jumped on, seemingly unaware of the possible danger. When I mentioned this to my husband, he said, "Well after what she's been through, what is there to be afraid of?" Sadly, he is right. When you are raped at 18 months of age and placed in an orphanage, what is a recklessly fast merry-go-round in comparison?

James 1:27 tells us, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." It is an admonition that I have chosen to ignore for much of my life. I have helped widows on occasion, but closed my eyes to the problem of unwanted children.

Before my husband and I went to South Africa, God had been moving on our hearts to do foster care. Our trip sealed the deal for us and confirmed what we believed God was telling us to do. One night shortly after we returned from our trip, I was crying out to God on behalf of the children I had seen at the orphanage. In the midst of my prayers God spoke to me, "There are children like that in your own back yard." Yes, indeed there are. We plan to begin foster care training as soon as a class is scheduled.

The best thing about our trip? Well, playing with the orphan children was great. Washing feet and distributing shoes to needy children was awesome. Watching people's vision improve dramatically when we fitted them with the right eyeglass lenses was wonderful. But by far the best thing was allowing God to speak to us and stir our hearts in the midst of the ministry. It wasn't so much about what WE were doing, but what God was doing in each one of us.

Mission trips aren't about going to a faraway place briefly and coming back to "normal life." They're about being challenged in your walk of faith, and coming back forever changed, with a heart pierced anew with the things that pierce the heart of God. I don't want to go back to "normal." To quote Katie Davis, author of Kisses from Katie, "I was forever ruined for comfort, convenience and luxury, preferring instead challenge, sacrifice, and risking everything to do something I believe in."

Last week I talked about gratitude and how I have allowed the culture we live in to influence me in negative ways -- that's a nice way of saying that I am spoiled, as are many Americans who have WAY too much of a good thing. 

The picture at the right is children worshiping at Lighthouse Christian Church near Mokopane. This is the kids' church gathering, which takes place in a separate facility from where the adults meet to worship.

The picture below is of a girls' youth group we were privileged to attend at a private, secular boarding school. The photo does not do it justice, but an average of 900 teenaged girls attend this youth group every Friday night. I knew we were in for a spectacular evening when we arrived half an hour early, and about 20 of the girls were already in the gymnasium. They were walking back and forth, hands raised, praying for God to move powerfully in their midst.



What strikes me about both these photos is the palpable JOY. Though many of these kids have few possessions, and some may not know where their next meal is coming from (if they get a meal at all), they were exuberant in worshiping Jesus. The throng of teenaged girls was so loud that at first I wished I had brought ear plugs -- but as the meeting progressed, I cherished the sound. These girls were serious about giving praise to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. They shouted, they hopped around and danced out of sheer joy in His presence.

Can we learn a lesson from this? I learned that it doesn't matter how much you have or don't have in the way of material possessions. It doesn't matter if you are hungry. It doesn't matter if you have the "proper" clothing to wear to church. Our God is worthy of our praise, wherever and however and as often as we can give it. We need not be reserved and dignified in His presence. Remember King David? In 2 Samuel 6, we are told "David danced before the Lord with all his might" (vs.14). In fact, he made such a spectacle of himself that his wife was embarrassed to the point that she "despised him in her heart" (vs.16).

Have you ever worshiped like that? Or do you stand during worship with your arms folded across your chest? Think about it: if we claim to be Christian, we have been saved from eternity in hell by the precious blood of Jesus. We will not receive the just punishment for all our sins, because Jesus took those sins upon himself and nailed them to the Cross. He has given us life when we deserved death. He has given us His Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and to lead us and guide us into all the truth (John 16:13). How can these truths not inspire unbridled joy?

Perhaps you need to re-think the song part of your church's worship service. Songs are not sung merely to pass the time before the pastor brings the message. This a sacred time when we should put aside everything else to focus on God. Think about why He is worthy of our praise. Think about who He is -- and ALL that He is. Consider praying Psalm 51:15 as the music begins: "Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare Your praise."

I encourage you to make an effort to participate fully as you join your brothers and sisters in worship this weekend. Corporate worship is a powerful thing, and God manifests himself uniquely when His children gather to praise Him.

There is nothing like spending a couple weeks in a third world country to drastically alter your outlook on life. I wanted for God to stretch me and teach me and rattle my cage spiritually, and He more than delivered.

My husband and I, along with a team of 17 others, returned last Tuesday from South Africa. I thought I would have lots to blog about. But when I sat down to write, words wouldn't come. How can I communicate in mere words what I experienced in those two weeks?

For now, I am going to talk about gratitude. As I read the short epistle of Paul to the Colossians this morning, I was struck by the fact that exhortations to be thankful were mentioned five times (in a book with only four chapters!). I began to weep as the Holy Spirit revealed the ingratitude in my heart. He showed me my tendency to complain rather than be thankful. I have allowed the culture I live in to influence me in negative ways.

For the most part, we Americans have no idea how blessed we are. We consider it a hardship if our internet stops working temporarily. We get aggravated if our iPhone drops a call. We are annoyed if our favorite TV show gets preempted by some sports event or the president's State of the Union address. Other drivers provoke us to use language that would make a sailor blush.

Now come with me to South Africa. The little girl in the picture with me above is six years old and has spent her entire life in an orphanage. She was so brutally raped when she was 18 months old that she couldn't walk for some time. Remarkably, though, she seemed to be the happiest and most personable child in the orphanage. I spent about an hour playing with her on the playground. She was smart as a whip, was very articulate, and spoke English well. I didn't know her tragic story until later.

The part of South Africa where we were reminded me a great deal of the Phoenix area -- very dry and dusty, but mountainous and beautiful. I took old tennis shoes because I was told they would get pretty trashed as we played outside with children, walked with lions, etc. The fabric on the inside back of those shoes was already torn away, and after two weeks walking in the red dirt, the mesh parts of the shoes were saturated. As I packed our suitcases for the return home, I decided to trash the tennis shoes. They weren't worth bringing home.

Later that day Jim Blessman, the founder of the ministry we worked with, fished my shoes out of the trash and offered them to one of his employees. The shoes fit her perfectly and she was so delighted to have them that she almost cried. I didn't even think about offering the shoes to anyone because they were so dirty and beat-up. When I said as much to Jim, he responded, "Your worst shoes were better than anything she had."

I think I'm going to stop writing for now. Please take the time to meditate on these two scenarios I have just described, and allow God to speak to your heart. Perhaps, like me, you will need to repent because you do not "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Maybe you take for granted the abundance of possessions you have, and gripe that you don't have more.

In subsequent blogs, I will continue to write about our journey. Stay tuned.