Another Busy, Yet Rewarding Week behind Us

Beginning on Sunday of last week we visited the Anglican Church to make a presentation for Living Hope, Living Way, and Living Grace. We also had planned to be at the Masi Baptist Church for another savings club launch, for a Malawian group, after that. Do to communication issues we didn’t get to launch this one but got it scheduled for mid May. We began our first ever Entrepreneur course for Living Way on Monday and had 6 students that we knew in the community that had either started their own business or had an idea. Mike, Richard, and I met early last Thursday for a time of prayer for this group and God delivered all of our requests and so much more. We invited different races of people to the class and hoped that everyone would have unity among the group. When we see black people in America we sometimes assume they all come from the same place. Here it is quite different, just because someone has dark skin, black or colored, doesn’t mean they all get along. There is a lot of racial tension among them. One thing that sticks out about our class was at the end Mike was reviewing the course and asked if there were any cultural expectations in their neighborhood. He was really referring to the way they did business and buying and selling on credit, but one of the guys spoke up and started talking about the Somalia’s who came in and started businesses and took their customers away. This opened up an opportunity for Mike to explain why it is important to have new ideas to be welcomed into the community and also if they were to need each other say one person ran out of material or packaging they could have good relationships so they could borrow from one another instead of being at each others throats. Literally!! They all understood and I think that really made them think differently about relationships. This class also taught them how credit was not their best way of doing business, as this is part of the cultural expectation.

We also had the opportunity to share Jesus with them and what He has done in our lives. Mike started out sharing his testimony on Wednesday and by Friday morning each one of us had shared as well. We did not know who was or was not a Christian, but we told them at the beginning of the week we were a Christian organization, and we were going to open and close in prayer everyday. It turned out that all had accepted Christ as Lord and Savior over their lives. We also had the opportunity to share scripture references for teachings about business throughout the week.

After the presentation of certificates one of the ladies, Patience, got up and thanked us for giving of our time and talents to their group. She recognized that we probably had some decisions about who would be in the group and if there would be unity amongst them. How awesome is our God to provide just that for this group. You will see in the picture, the guy with his arm around the other guy is a Zimbabwean. The other guy is a Xhosa guy. He is the one who was talking about the Somalia’s coming in and taking over. He used the Somalia’s as an example but I am sure he was referring to anyone coming into the community and competing for the same customers. Everyone got along great as you can see. She like all the rest had a new appreciation for business and was excited to see how God was going to use this teaching to empower them to get out of the poverty situations they are in. Please pray for us to find the mentors that we need (business people) to come along side them in the next couple of weeks.

Busyness of Life in Cape Town

We have really gotten busy with our work here and it is almost overwhelming with all we have going on. It is a good thing though. We are launching 3 savings clubs this week in the townships and doing a week long entrepreneurial training course with 7 people from the townships beginning next week. This is a pilot course and we are using them to learn how to teach this in the fall to about 20 or more people. It is really taking me out of my comfort zone because I don’t have any background in business or marketing only common sense. (Which is not all bad)

We had a savings club that we were launching this morning and the director and a mentor from another savings club both couldn’t make it due to different circumstances so it forced me and Mike to rely on the Lord to get us through. It was quite amazing because I was uneasy and upset about it. Mike was the cool one. When we got to work two devotions popped up on my screen from 2 different sites and they were both about confidence and that Jesus will see us through. I was totally at ease from that moment forward. Phil 1:6, Matt 28:20.

The other really neat thing was that I had printed out everything that I was supposed to share in the meeting and when it was my turn to speak, the Holy Spirit just lead me right through everything. When I got back to the car to sit down my print out had fallen out of my pocket and was lying on my seat. I am so thankful that I didn’t rely on my paper to get me through.

We also are working with bringing volunteers both local and abroad to help out and all the sudden we have so many that want to come help. It is a good thing, but we have to find jobs they can do. Mike is very good at working along side the people here to see where they could use some help. Please pray for us as we are placing these volunteers that God is directing our paths for each one.
Hope everyone has a great week.

Potential for disaster turned out wonderfully with God's hand

We have had such a great week in allowing God to lead our paths with small steps.
Tuesday of this week was our second launch of a savings club in Red Hill where the fire took place when we first got here. We struggled with wanting to be involved in building houses because that was an immediate need but that was not what God had planned. He wanted us to wait to be involved in a different way. We now see the plan. When we first arrived at the church, the wrong one I might add, we couldn’t find anyone who knew about the savings club that was supposed to take place. We knew of another church in a different site so Mike took off up the hill and found another church and asked them if that was the “river of life church” they said yes and Mike came back down the hill and said he found it. We all, about 15 of us, loaded up and headed up to the other church. When we got to the other church, the person who was supposed to have cleared the church had not done it so they had no idea we were coming. I began explaining what we were doing and she was ok with letting us come in. Then we realized that the word hadn’t really gotten out, so we thought all of these people had come to help launch the club and we aren’t going to have anyone to come. God certainly had a different plan. He brought 3 people from the lower area and the lady that opened up the church to us went around and recruited about 10 more people so we have the perfect amount of people to get it started.
We have our first meeting on Monday and this will be our first opportunity to share the uniqueness of our savings club in that it is a Christian based. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us through this and that those that may not be Christians will grow from the teaching and ultimately ask Jesus into their hearts!

A quiet weekend at Home

Yes, we had a quiet weekend at home after celebrating my birthday on Thursday. Mike was so sweet. He had a birthday cake at work for me and then treated me to a short round of golf and sushi for dinner. It was a beautiful day without wind. We have a busy week this week with a daily devotion devoted to prayer each morning. We have had lots of paperwork (volunteer forms that needed updating) that we are trying to get done. We have a savings Club to attend in Masiphumele in the morning and launching our second one in Red Hill tomorrow afternoon. This will be the first one that Mike and I will be involved with from the ground up. The first one did not incorporate praying before and after their meetings nor did they have any scripture references to go by. I get to launch this “Crown Financial” concept and I am very excited yet nervous. This is what I have been waiting for so pray that the Holy Spirit will use me as a vessel to deliver the message that He wants me to share with them. There will also be 5 ladies from the Masi savings club, so pray they will want to incorporate this into their weekly meetings. Wednesday we will go to all the holiday clubs and see where volunteers might be needed and take lots of pictures. Thursday we will have our entrepreneurship training all day to get ready for the 7 people that are interested in starting small businesses. We have found out again that we won’t be going to our Outreach in Sutherland, as they are having unity issues amongst their church, so pray that if this is not where God wants us that He will find another place for us to go to. It is really awesome to see God work in our lives and to be able to share this with you all. Thanks for the friendships and may God bless you.

Waiting on results for a new President of Zimbabwe

Living in the US we wouldn’t have given this fight for Presidency a second thought. However, because we live in the country of South Africa and amongst many Zimbabweans, who have fled across the boarder illegally, we are very much in prayer for the removal of President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. This is an 84 yr old man who has been in power for 28 years and has driven out all farmers, factories, and anything that promotes advancement for the people. This means there is no food, jobs, or hope for the people of Zimbabwe. It takes 10 million Zimbabwean dollars to equal 25 cents US. He blames the Westerners for all of the problems, but in reality that is far from the truth. He rigged the last election and is working hard at rigging this one. The election should have had results on Monday, but the voting is slow leaving time for falsifying information again. We are praying that Lord will deliver a new leader and will help the people who have fled from their homes to be able to return and have a life with families they have left behind. We ask that you would join in helping us to pray for these people. They have moved into the shack townships because this is all they can afford but they would like nothing more than to get out of these places and move back home. They are kind and gentle people with good work ethic and because of their eagerness to work hard; they are persecuted by the local South African black groups. At King of Kings, where John Thomas is the pastor, there are approximately 40 to 50 that come every Sunday. This past Sunday John had a special prayer for them and for the results to be in favor of a new President. As you tune into your news this week pay special attention to the results of Zimbabwe. We covet your prayers during this time. This is also a good time for us to remember our obligation to vote and to pray for our leaders so we can live in peace.

What’s on the horizon?

For the next couple of months we are going to spend 2 days a week with everyone that works at Living Hope. We plan to learn what each person or group does and how volunteers can be utilized in their departments. We want everyone that comes to have a great experience and to do what God intended for them to do based on their gifts. We began today in Muizenberg with the life skill educators. They have a set curriculum for teaching during the school year and then they have to come up with activities for after school kids clubs. The kids are out for 3 weeks break and they are putting together 2 weeks worth of “holiday clubs for kids”. They have to come up with Bible stories, skits, crafts and a snack each day for the next 2 weeks. Mon-Fri. We then interviewed them and asked them how could we help them to be more effective with volunteers and they gave us some great ideas. All in all our first day was a success. Starting next Friday we are going to teach all the life skill educators a skit each week that we learned in Fiji so they can use these for their ministry. We are very excited about all God has in store for us. As for Living Way we are just as excited about all that is going on there. We will launch our 2nd savings club in 2 weeks and have our 1st entrepreneurial class beginning on the 21st of April. Please pray for us to be effective in our ministry and to give God the Glory.

The Containers have arrived

For those of you who have been to Cape Town on a short/long term trip, the containers finally arrived 2 weeks ago. For those who don’t know, Living Hope has been waiting on 4 containers to be used for their kids clubs and other community activities in Capricorn township since September 07. These containers are metal buildings that look like the back section of an 18 wheeler truck with doors on the side. They set them on the ground and within 48 hrs they had already been broken into and vandalized. This is nothing unusual and we can’t allow fear to get in the way of what God has in store for these containers. We must look to figuring out ways to keep the bad guys out. They had a wire fence around the area but that wouldn’t keep anyone out so now they are looking at other alternatives. Everything costs money and fencing and security are expenses they don’t have right now. Please pray for provision and for protection until they get something figured out.
Also for those of you who have visited Living Hope Muizenberg homeless ministry, they are renaming it Living Grace starting April 1st. They will have crafts again and activities for the homeless people to come in and share their stories. They will continue the morning/lunch devotion and meals. They will also continue to provide a shower and place for them to wash their clothes. If anyone is looking for an opportunity in their life to serve and their passion is homeless people this would be a great ministry to get involved in.

Easter Sunday

Sunday morning sunrise was dynamic in remembering the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We attended a sunrise service at the beach and 2 baptisms took place just as the sun came up over the mountains. Words cannot describe nor does this picture do it justice but it was an incredible reminder of what Christ did on the cross for our sins.
We then attended the 9:00 service at King of Kings and enjoyed the rest of the day with a drive around the tip end of South Africa.

The Week before Easter

First off, it has been a great week beginning with Palm Sunday. We visited/worked at Ocean View Baptist Church. This is one of the 5 communities that we are heavily involved with. We spoke about Living Hope/Living Way and asked for local volunteers to come and offer up their services from hair and nails for the patients, to entrepreneurial help for start up businesses for Living Way. While we were waiting for the service to get started we had a good idea the roof was about to be raised. They had very large speakers, a drum set without anything around it, a base guitar and 3 microphones for vocals. It was an awesome service and we both thank God for our experience in Fiji to allow us to have an open mind for the way others worship the Lord on any given Sunday!

On Monday, we began a 4 day entrepreneurial training program. We learned strategies that we have not thought about before and learned that starting out with a very small amount of Rand (South African money) is possible for a business. We are going to have our first training class at the end of April and begin with 6 students, 2 from the sewing class that was starting at Living Hope. This is an exciting time for us as we are digging in with volunteers, getting ready to launch our 2nd savings club in Red Hill, and having our 1st entrepreneurial class beginning on April 21st. I am still excited about incorporating Biblical Financial Principal’s but am waiting on the Lord for His guidance.

Good Friday was dedicated in the morning to going to church and reflecting on what Jesus did on the Cross for our sins. For our Brentwood family it was like Maundy Thursday. It was a great time of reflection and communion. The most amazing thing was that they had 2 different holidays this weekend. It was Good Friday and Human Right’s day. Everyone was off today and will be off on Monday. Since we couldn’t find anything open, we headed down to the beach to watch bodysurfing. The water was about 45 degrees and we couldn’t believe these guys were in the water surfing. We left and headed home for the evening. Stay tuned and I will update the rest of the weekend early next week.

Saturday morning we met United States Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee and Congress woman Diane Watson from California. They came to visit the healthcare facility and to tour around the Cape Town areas to see the impoverished townships. As soon as he met us he immediately said, “Will you all be staying for the tour I want to be sure and have my picture made with you.” I thought that to be really funny because I brought my camera in hopes that he would be willing to have his picture made with us. So they are going to e-mail those pictures to us. I will add them to the blog when they come in.

Lastly, we want to wish you all a Happy Easter! May we reflect on what Jesus did on the Cross for our sins? We need to give thanks and remember that the bread was broken as a representation of the body of Christ and the cup represents the new covenant in His blood, poured out for us.

Invasion of Privacy

Today, we went home for lunch to find that our upstairs neighbors had been broken into.
The intruders took just a few items, plasma tv, computer and jewelry. The police were there when we arrived and were just leaving. The older couple had only been gone for a couple of hours. Up until 2 days ago there was another couple across the hall but now they have left for a few months. We had been told that because we were off the beaten path and high up on the hill we weren’t in the everyday path of the people who make a life of crime but this has awakened our senses a lot. We had also been told that there had not been a break in for 32 years. Just 2 days ago in the evening before going to bed, we stuck our heads out the sunroom windows and asked the Lord for protection that we would not be invaded while living there. We have been blessed with a great flat and view. Well we have learned that we are always at risk and don’t need to let our guard down. Yesterday we had a new security gate installed because the one we had was bent and I couldn’t close and lock it only mike could. While I was waiting for the installers to come, I left it unlocked so I would hear them while out back hanging out the laundry. The installer actually said to me,"why don't you have this door locked". Had that been today it would have been the burglars instead of the installers because they came during that same time frame. First of all this tells us that someone was watching the place and the other thing is it had to be someone that had been in there flat previously. They knew what they were after. So with all that said, please pray for our safety and protection.

Cape Argus Cyclist Race

Sunday was such a neat day. It was hot but there is always a breeze. Cape Town has an annual cyclist(bicycles) race and there were 38,000 entries. They close all the main streets around the area and it was difficult to get to church so we thought we would make a morning of it. We got up at 5:45am and got ready and went down to Fish Hoek with our chairs and waters and waited for the leaders to come through. We learned that the race started at 6:15 and the leaders would come through about 7:00 am. This was a 109 kilometer race( 67.7 miles) At a few minutes to 7 they started appearing in the distance. I was fascinated how these folks all came together in a pack, where they could literally reach out and touch the other person. If you have ever been at a NASCAR race and all the cars are going along at 200 miles an hour and don’t wreck, you would appreciate the rush that these guys left us with. After the first group went by it was a few more minutes and then another huge group went by this went on for hours. One of the pastors from King of Kings Church, that we attend, was in it. We wanted to see him go by but with so many bikers we didn’t think we stood a chance. The only thing we knew is that he left at 8:40. We then calculated how long it took the first one’s to come through and then based on that we calculated what his time might be. With all that said and done, we spotted him gave him words of encouragement and he waved to us. (This reminded me of those silly math questions in school that we had to figure out. I’m sure you all remember if A left at 6 and B left at 8 then what time would A arrive if C happened J something like that). There were some guys who set up some really big speakers and they were playing 80’s music to get the bikers pumped up when they went by. We heard someone way down the road playing the music first thing in the morning and I said, “I sure am glad that music is way down there”, and then another bunch came up at our end and cranked it up. Turns out it was a lot of fun. This lasted until 11:00 for us but the race didn’t finish until about 5:00 pm. We found out that the winner finished the race in 2 hours and 27 minutes just about the
time Guy, the pastor from church, was starting the race. We then went home had some lunch and enjoyed going to the beach.
About the beach this is another story in itself. The water here is cold and we debated about going in but we figured once we were numb we wouldn’t feel anything. After we had played in the waves, we laid out our Sulu’s (from Fiji) and our towels and decided to lay back and close our eyes. We know we weren’t there very long before the tide came in on us and soaked everything we had. We
moved faster than you can believe grabbed up our belongings and sat on the bank and held everything up for drying out. The winds blew and it looked like we were flying flags. I know, I know you really feel sorry for us and to top it off we got sunburned.

My How Time Flies

It is so amazing how fast time goes by. I realized it has been a week since I blogged. Sorry! The team from Rolling Hills left late Wednesday night and we said our goodbyes. We don’t have another team scheduled until May so that gives us some time now to really write up our job descriptions and learn the ropes of Living Hope. It was great to get thrown into the fire to see how we can be more effective for the next group. We had a great time with them. They did a retreat for all of the Prevention team (support group leaders, lay counselors, and life skill educators.) They also took all of the home base care givers to the Aquarium. They intended on Table Mountain but it was too windy that day.

There were a couple of people on the team that went over to Red Hill where all the houses burned in site 3 and we were able to go over and see the shack (house) they built for one of the ladies who didn’t have anyone to help her build back. We also attended one of the afternoon programs, Kid’s Club, where they give the kids a snack do some sort of a craft and a Bible study each day. For some this snack may be the only meal or best meal they get. We also went over to the area where one of the staff at living hope was blessed to not have the fire come to her home. It really was amazing to see how close it came without doing any damage.

Mike and I really wanted to stay the rest of the day and work on building houses for the people and to be able to show them the hands of Jesus but we had to get back. There is a group there now (global challenge) that will be there for a couple of months and trying to do a long term plan. The 2nd day after the fire the people were told they had to go back to the land that the shelter couldn’t take care of them anymore and they had no hope as they got back to the area. There is a man who lives here now that was with YWAM from almost the beginning, his name is Floyd McClung, Mike and I met him last year and recognized he was really making a difference in some of the townships and had only been here a year. He is not with them now but with an organization called All Nations. He had been praying for a way to get into this township and this was the door that God opened. By the end of the first week, he had a team of people helping to bring hope and healing back into this community and now they are working together to rebuild Red Hill. Please pray for us as we really want to go help in this community as well but not sure this is where God wants us to be. There is just so much to do everywhere.

On a lighter note, Mike and I had our first haircuts here. Mike didn’t have any anxiety issues, but I on the other hand did. The ladies will understand this more than the men. I had been going to the same hairdresser for 18 yrs and I didn’t have to tell her anything when I went to her she knew what I wanted and just did it. We were riding down the road and I was talking to Mike about it and he said, “Well you better know what you want because you have to tell her.” I hadn’t really thought about it so I decided on just a trim until I could see how she was going to do. She did great with the trim and next week I am going to be brave enough to go for some “highlights.” Also known as “Covering up the gray hairs.”
This is all for now and I will hopefully do better. We still don’t have internet at home so this makes it more difficult to have to go to internet cafes. Please pray that we will get our connections soon!!!!!
We love you all and pray for you daily!!!

Road Trip to Stellenbosch

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.

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!!

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.

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

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 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.

God Reveals Himself Daily

As we prepare to get all of our ducks in a row, God continuously reveals himself to us.
I had to have a CPR course to keep up my license and I called a friend of mine that has recertified me for about 8yrs. I wanted to get her a gift certificate to a restaurant but wasn’t sure about the amount. Mike and I felt that $40.00 was what the Holy Spirit laid on our hearts. I called her and long story short she said, “I usually charge $40.00.” However, she was so gracious and told us to go use it as a blessing to us from her.

We have been so amazed at the financial support from our brothers and sisters in Christ.
God is totally in control of our “daily bread.” He continues to blow our minds with contributions that we least expect along the way. He strengthens our Faith on a daily basis. If He were to give it to us all at once, how would He continue to build the relationship? A few weeks ago we started watching the currency exchange and the rate was under the normal $1.00 to 7 rand. I asked the Lord to increase that rate so when the money was transferred from the church to Living Hope we would get more for our dollar. Yesterday the rate went to 7.12 and we are supposed to have the money transferred tomorrow. We thank Him for the provision and continue to be in awe over His sovereignty for our budget.

Lastly, this was so awesome. Mike has to take a medication for his thyroid on a daily basis. Normally, the insurance company won’t allow more than 30 days at a time. Last year, when we went to Fiji, he was able get enough for 6mths. This time he was going to try and get another 6mth supply and worry about the rest once we were in SA. When he called the insurance company to get the ok, the guy kept asking for a round about date for our return. We didn’t really want to commit to a day but he wouldn’t let up, so Mike told him around Dec. 15th. The guy then said, “would 330 days work for you?” Mike said, “I think that would be just fine.” We recognized after it was all said and done that was just another gift from Our Father.
There are many more things God has showed his hand in but these really stood out in our minds. We wanted to share these stories with you all.