A couple of days ago we had a small caravan with a group of the savings clubs members from Masiphumele, the Director of Living Way, Richard Lundie, and Mike and me. We took about an hour and 15 minute drive along the coast to a city called Stellenbosch. This place is known as Wine Country and is very beautiful. There were many vineyards along the roadside. We went to visit a couple of established savings clubs to encourage the new group from Masi and to help them with ideas about running their club. I wanted so desperately to step in with the teachings of the Biblical Principals, but understand that I must wait until The Lord says, “ok it is time to put it into practice.” My devotion for the morning was Psalm 46:10. Be still and know that I am God, so with that said I will wait!!!
We carried 2 ladies with us, Beauty and Cynthia, and spent a lot of time just sharing about our families and asking it they were Christians. One spoke English very well and the other didn’t speak it well but understood. The one who spoke well said yes, with enthusiasm, I am a born again Christian that was awesome to know. Mike shared with them that he had 7 children and they were amazed their eyes got really big and Beauty translated to Cynthia and they couldn’t believe it. We had a good laugh. We are learning that we must build the relationships first. Jesus’ command to love thy neighbor is the number one priority here. We must build trust with them.
The savings clubs were very well established one had 64 people saving 1 Rand a day, mind you this is less than 14 cents a day for us, but that is all they can afford. The other had 250 but only 50 active. They only make if anything around 100 Rand per day and to us that is about 10 to14 dollars a DAY. This in itself blows our minds. How can they ever get out of the oppression if the cost of living is the same as living in America? (Franklin or Brentwood I might add) Most everyone lives in Tin shacks and desires to have a house. Overall it was great for them to see the clubs working and I believe it is going encourage them.
Richard came to me in the afternoon yesterday, and told me he talked with the ladies in his car on the way home about the Crown Information and they want to do it. So I am excited and just need to begin to write a curriculum to meet their needs. Please pray for the right person to come along side me to help me write it. God is truly at work in SA.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Our first week at Work
We arrive at Living Hope each day around 8:00 and we have a little room for us to work in. We meet first thing in the morning for devotions and then begin the week. Pat Ball, the volunteer coordinator, left yesterday for 2 weeks and Avril Thomas, John’s wife also left yesterday. This leaves us on our own for the next couple of weeks with Teams. Nothing like throwing us into the Lions Den!!!!
There is a couple coming from Releigh North Carolina today, Friday, to volunteer for 89 days. There is also a team coming from Rolling Hills Baptist Church, Franklin,Tn. on Saturday and they will be here for 2 weeks.
Pat came in to inform us that we are now on Africa time. She said don’t expect things to get done quickly. We have done pretty well at getting things accomplished. We have all of our furniture now and are trying to decorate a little. We also have been able to get contracts on cell phones, and a bank account, that usually takes a while for most volunteers who come. Mike is very persistent and it has paid off.
Mike has been made aware, but I think he knew it all along, that Pat wants to pass all of the volunteer coordinator job description on to him. I believe that I will be helping Mike as his assistant and we ask that you pray for us to get established and settled and help me see where I fit in. The Crown Financial will be slow going but I have faith that God will help me to persevere to get it into the support groups/savings clubs soon. I had a good meeting today with the director and he likes it but we have to have a curriculum for the townships because their needs are so much different from the Americans. Pray that I will learn their ways and if I am the one to write the curriculum that I will have help and the wisdom to get it done!!
There is a couple coming from Releigh North Carolina today, Friday, to volunteer for 89 days. There is also a team coming from Rolling Hills Baptist Church, Franklin,Tn. on Saturday and they will be here for 2 weeks.
Pat came in to inform us that we are now on Africa time. She said don’t expect things to get done quickly. We have done pretty well at getting things accomplished. We have all of our furniture now and are trying to decorate a little. We also have been able to get contracts on cell phones, and a bank account, that usually takes a while for most volunteers who come. Mike is very persistent and it has paid off.
Mike has been made aware, but I think he knew it all along, that Pat wants to pass all of the volunteer coordinator job description on to him. I believe that I will be helping Mike as his assistant and we ask that you pray for us to get established and settled and help me see where I fit in. The Crown Financial will be slow going but I have faith that God will help me to persevere to get it into the support groups/savings clubs soon. I had a good meeting today with the director and he likes it but we have to have a curriculum for the townships because their needs are so much different from the Americans. Pray that I will learn their ways and if I am the one to write the curriculum that I will have help and the wisdom to get it done!!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Follow up to Fire on the Mountain
We went to church this morning and John, the Pastor, updated us on the fire. Ocean View had a lot of soot throughout their homes but not any damage. Red Hill has three areas and section 3 was completely destroyed. They were mostly from Zimbabwe. He told us that 2 of his staff lived there and the fire stopped just before it got to their shacks. You can’t tell me prayer doesn’t work because that was one huge answer to prayer!!
Fire on the Mountain
As I write this tonight, there is devastation just over the mountain side near Living Hope but it is in Red Hill and Ocean View. Both of these are places in which Living Hope has involvement. I don’t have information on Living Hope yet, but when we were heading home you could see the fire coming down the side of the mountain. They do not have the sophistication that America has and so they are not able to really fight it like we can. They have fire trucks in some of the neighborhoods and we saw a couple of helicopters with the water buckets, but the biggest fight they have is the wind. The wind is unbelievable here (30-40 mph gusting up to 50) and it is keeping the fires uncontainable. Mike and I realize the only thing we can do is pray, and believe that He can stop the wind if He chooses. As I know more details, I will update the blog. Please pray for the people here who have lost what little they have and that the crime doesn’t increase due to looking to replace what they lost.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
A TESTIMONY
As we were preparing to leave during the last week, and the last several days, in particular, several close friends prayed with us and over us. Those are always good prayer times and you feel really blessed when so many people who you expect to be close to the Lord and active in their prayer life, stop to talk to the Almighty on your behalf. The kinds of prayer requests you hear most often are for safety, good health on the trip, ease of connections, peace, etc. A couple of the prayers on the day we left ask the Lord for us to be able to sense His presence during the entire trip! What a great trip this would be.
So, this is what happened. We had favor in our packing, were able to get 2 bags carried later by a team from our church (saving precious money), favor on the trip to the airport and had our “tip” for the baggage handler paid for us, had a friend step in just at the perfect time and paid for half of our charges for bags over the limit in number and weight. We had Pam’s brother arrange us a slight upgrade in seating from DC to Frankfurt. How much more could we see God’s hand touching us in so many ways to say, “I love you and I’m taking care of you?”
These things do not make us “able” to make the trip as we would still be in Frankfurt, Germany right now even if none of them happened. What is does do is to remind us that we are children of the King and we will be forever! He just desired to show us favor and honor the prayers offered to Him for us. We are excited to see what else the Father has in store.
Mike
So, this is what happened. We had favor in our packing, were able to get 2 bags carried later by a team from our church (saving precious money), favor on the trip to the airport and had our “tip” for the baggage handler paid for us, had a friend step in just at the perfect time and paid for half of our charges for bags over the limit in number and weight. We had Pam’s brother arrange us a slight upgrade in seating from DC to Frankfurt. How much more could we see God’s hand touching us in so many ways to say, “I love you and I’m taking care of you?”
These things do not make us “able” to make the trip as we would still be in Frankfurt, Germany right now even if none of them happened. What is does do is to remind us that we are children of the King and we will be forever! He just desired to show us favor and honor the prayers offered to Him for us. We are excited to see what else the Father has in store.
Mike
The continuation of our journey to South Africa and God’s favor since we arrived
The third and final leg of our journey was the longest but we made it. Our arrival was simple we had to go through customs and collect our luggage. As we were looking for our last 2 pieces of luggage, one of the porters walks up to me while Mike was at the carousel and says, “Are you looking for a large black bag that has the name Talley on it, I think it is over on the other side of the carousel I’ll get it for you. I told him yes but had no idea how he knew who I was or how many bags we had. We didn’t ask how he knew we just saw it as God’s hand on us.
Our rental car was a breeze and away we left to come to our resting for place for a few days, Wellwood Lodge. We had a great breakfast and then knew we had to hit the ground running. We had an appointment with a Real Estate agent to show us a couple of different flats (apartments) that we had been looking at on the internet before we left Brentwood, but when we arrived there was only one, so we felt this was where The Lord wanted us to be. We did check a few other agencies but nothing was available. We made an agreement pending a few things that needed work, mainly the carpet. They agreed to clean the carpets and had that done immediately, but by Sunday when it had dried it still didn’t look great. We met a couple a few doors down and they invited us up to see their flat, when he opened the door we were amazed at the hardwood floors he had. We, of course, started asking all kinds of questions and it turned out that we had the same floor under the soiled carpet. We began praying that the Lord would allow us to show the owner the floor and consider allowing us to have it fixed back to its original hardwood. We would even do some of the labor to keep costs down.
Monday morning came and we were supposed to meet the agent and the owner, but the agent was sick. The owner was great and she loved the idea of the floors and agreed to pay for all of it and hire someone else to do the work. Since then, so much more has been done to update the 30 year old flat and we are very excited. The only draw back is that we can’t move in until Friday. After that, we left the flat and we went to see a man recommended by John Thomas, about a car. Richard had a car that was going to be traded in so we had a verbal agreement for this car. It came in later in the day but it didn’t have air conditioning or power steering so we asked him if he had anything else and he did and it was cheaper. So PRAISE GOD! We get the car tomorrow. We also found a used bedroom suite and paid a deposit to have our telephone line (this is a whole other story but I will just give the glory to Him) put in. Lastly, most of the American’s that are here, were telling us how bad the banking system (fees for everything!!!!!!!!!!) is and Avril, John’s wife, recommended Nedbank. We first went to another bank, because of a recommendation, but I was hesitant about saying yes to opening the account because the fees were so bad. We then went to Nedbank and they have a flat monthly fee ( which is ridiculous) but it was the best of what we could have gotten.
Today is a new day and we just praise the Lord for the beauty that is here and all that He has in store for us today. We are having to leave Wellwood Lodge but we have a friend that has been so gracious to let us stay with her until our flat is ready. Check back next week for Days of Our Cape Town Lives.
Our rental car was a breeze and away we left to come to our resting for place for a few days, Wellwood Lodge. We had a great breakfast and then knew we had to hit the ground running. We had an appointment with a Real Estate agent to show us a couple of different flats (apartments) that we had been looking at on the internet before we left Brentwood, but when we arrived there was only one, so we felt this was where The Lord wanted us to be. We did check a few other agencies but nothing was available. We made an agreement pending a few things that needed work, mainly the carpet. They agreed to clean the carpets and had that done immediately, but by Sunday when it had dried it still didn’t look great. We met a couple a few doors down and they invited us up to see their flat, when he opened the door we were amazed at the hardwood floors he had. We, of course, started asking all kinds of questions and it turned out that we had the same floor under the soiled carpet. We began praying that the Lord would allow us to show the owner the floor and consider allowing us to have it fixed back to its original hardwood. We would even do some of the labor to keep costs down.
Monday morning came and we were supposed to meet the agent and the owner, but the agent was sick. The owner was great and she loved the idea of the floors and agreed to pay for all of it and hire someone else to do the work. Since then, so much more has been done to update the 30 year old flat and we are very excited. The only draw back is that we can’t move in until Friday. After that, we left the flat and we went to see a man recommended by John Thomas, about a car. Richard had a car that was going to be traded in so we had a verbal agreement for this car. It came in later in the day but it didn’t have air conditioning or power steering so we asked him if he had anything else and he did and it was cheaper. So PRAISE GOD! We get the car tomorrow. We also found a used bedroom suite and paid a deposit to have our telephone line (this is a whole other story but I will just give the glory to Him) put in. Lastly, most of the American’s that are here, were telling us how bad the banking system (fees for everything!!!!!!!!!!) is and Avril, John’s wife, recommended Nedbank. We first went to another bank, because of a recommendation, but I was hesitant about saying yes to opening the account because the fees were so bad. We then went to Nedbank and they have a flat monthly fee ( which is ridiculous) but it was the best of what we could have gotten.
Today is a new day and we just praise the Lord for the beauty that is here and all that He has in store for us today. We are having to leave Wellwood Lodge but we have a friend that has been so gracious to let us stay with her until our flat is ready. Check back next week for Days of Our Cape Town Lives.
Our first and second legs of the flight
We are sitting in reclining chairs waiting for our flight from Frankfurt Germany to Cape Town South Africa. I want to share God’s amazing grace through out our day yesterday. ‘
First we had 7 pieces of luggage, 3 extras than allowed, and weighing 20 lbs. over the limit. We had a wonderful friend to take us to the airport in his SUV because of the amount of luggage we had. He was gracious enough to tip the porter to take them for us so we didn’t have to handle them. Then as we checked in the clerk told us it was going to be really expensive to get the luggage over there. We had some idea it would be but didn’t really know how much. Just as we were getting the final amount another friend of ours walked up and said, “Hey I’ll split that with you!” Wow God’s timing is perfect. Not only did we split it but he reduced it by $90.00.
Next, my brother is a pilot for United Airlines and we were talking earlier in the day and we thought we might cross paths in Washington. We tried to make a plan to meet between our connecting flights, but we were a little late and he had to immediately get on a flight to Orlando. I had asked him in an e-mail earlier if it was at all possible to move us to a better seatJ could he do it. I told him the biblical saying is “you have not because you ask not” so I am asking!!!! When we got to the gate they were already boarding the plane, but I knew in my heart that if it was possible to get a better seat my brother would make it happen. I suggested to Mike to go up to the check in counter and see if we had been upgraded. The man at the counter asked him if he knew a Mike, (my brother is Mike too.) and Mike said, “Yes that is my wife’s brother” and he said, “I think you are going to like these seats you will have plenty of leg room. We got moved into economy plus and had all 5 seats to ourselves across the middle of the plane, so needless to say we stretched out to watch a movie and sleep.
Speaking of movie, Mike said when we got on the plane “I hope they are showing the movie, The Ultimate Gift, our friends we stayed with for 3 months said it was a great movie”. Well again, God is so good. We watched The Ultimate Gift and it was a great movie. It is so hard to out think God and His capabilities so stay tuned for the last leg of our journey.
First we had 7 pieces of luggage, 3 extras than allowed, and weighing 20 lbs. over the limit. We had a wonderful friend to take us to the airport in his SUV because of the amount of luggage we had. He was gracious enough to tip the porter to take them for us so we didn’t have to handle them. Then as we checked in the clerk told us it was going to be really expensive to get the luggage over there. We had some idea it would be but didn’t really know how much. Just as we were getting the final amount another friend of ours walked up and said, “Hey I’ll split that with you!” Wow God’s timing is perfect. Not only did we split it but he reduced it by $90.00.
Next, my brother is a pilot for United Airlines and we were talking earlier in the day and we thought we might cross paths in Washington. We tried to make a plan to meet between our connecting flights, but we were a little late and he had to immediately get on a flight to Orlando. I had asked him in an e-mail earlier if it was at all possible to move us to a better seatJ could he do it. I told him the biblical saying is “you have not because you ask not” so I am asking!!!! When we got to the gate they were already boarding the plane, but I knew in my heart that if it was possible to get a better seat my brother would make it happen. I suggested to Mike to go up to the check in counter and see if we had been upgraded. The man at the counter asked him if he knew a Mike, (my brother is Mike too.) and Mike said, “Yes that is my wife’s brother” and he said, “I think you are going to like these seats you will have plenty of leg room. We got moved into economy plus and had all 5 seats to ourselves across the middle of the plane, so needless to say we stretched out to watch a movie and sleep.
Speaking of movie, Mike said when we got on the plane “I hope they are showing the movie, The Ultimate Gift, our friends we stayed with for 3 months said it was a great movie”. Well again, God is so good. We watched The Ultimate Gift and it was a great movie. It is so hard to out think God and His capabilities so stay tuned for the last leg of our journey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)