Nicole Eckenroth - LOVING GOD; LOVING PEOPLE

Port Elizabeth

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Well, i have been in P.E. for 2 months now. This is now probably one of my favorite places is the world! I love it. I have been working with a youth group at a church called lighthouse family church. The youth is called Firehouse! It happens on Saturday nights. I am there to help and lead, and do whatever. There are about 5 other teammates who go there to help also. I have been able to mentor a few girls, and help lead a cell group (small group) on Wednesday nights! I have really been used by the lord here. This church is amazing. They opened their arms wide open and have been there to help us and support us in every way possible.

I have also been working with a ministry call Isithembisu. It's a children's home for abandoned and abused babies and toddlers! The nurses who work here pretty much only have time to take care of basic needs.... little time for love, for play, or anything else really. These babies are precious. They just want someone to play with them. Some of them have TB, some have HIV and others are just beaten and abandoned and removed from their houses by social workers.

Here's one story of one baby... His parents divorced and were fighting over who gets to take him. They were both pulling on his legs, and broke both of them. So, he is a little over 1 yrs old, and has just started to learn how to crawl. Every time you pick him up, he just keeps his legs straight out, because he doesnt know he can bend them. They are completely healed now, and he is just precious.

This city has blessed me, and changed me, and helped me to grow! I love it, and will be back one day! I love the people, the ministries i can be apart of, and how God is moving! He is the God of this city, that is for sure. And i have seen it first hand!

Blog 6: Outreach Location

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Alright, so I know I haven't written in a while, but it has been crazy here! So much has gone on and yet it seems like there is nothing new.

Well, my house visitation team just lost one our ladies. We decided to keep visiting her family, but they have decided to move to Cape Town. So we no longer have that family to visit. There was other 2 women that we visited, Thelma and Mandeesa, and both of them asked us to pray for them to get jobs, and God answered our prayer. They both received very good jobs, but they work all the time, and so we can no longer visit them. Then another woman we visit, Roberta, also received a job. And last but not least, Gloria, the mother of the child that needed help, also received a job. So, good news is God answered all our prayers. Bad news, we no longer have families to visit. Our house visitation team is back to square one. We are in the process of finding new people to visit and see what God wants us to do.

He actually already has 2 big projects that have come up within this last week. Our whole team knows this woman in the township. We call her Auntie Matilda. She is crazy and she is fun. This woman loves the Lord and takes care of her community. Well, this past week the back half of her house caught on fire. Thankfully no one was hurt. Since this happened, we now have some work to do. We spent a good bit of our week cleaning up and painting her house.

The second project we have is starting a bible study with a group of kids who go to a feeding center. Amber, one of our leaders, met this woman last year who ha a dream of starting a feeding center. Long story short, they did it. It is called Khulisa. Every morning, Noma makes breakfast for the kids. Now she has a dream of starting a bible study for these kids. She wants to do more than just feed them food, she wants to feed them life eternal. My house visit team and I have decided to take this on. And it is going to be a challenge, because at least half of the kids speak little or no English. So, starting up this next week, we are meeting with them on Wednesday, and beginning a bible study for a group of young kids. We need to love them, and show them how important they are.

Please be praying for that!

Now.... For some really BIG news!!!!! On Thursday of last week, we found out what our outreach locations are... starting in January. There were 3 options. We all ranked them from what we wanted most to least. The leaders continued to pray over them, and then began to place us in our teams. The three options were staying in Jeffreys Bay, go to Swaziland, or go to Port Elizabeth (P.E.). I wanted P.E., and that's what I got!!!! Yay... I am stoked! We have the opportunity to work with a church called Lighthouse Family Church. They have many different ministries that are up and running that we can contribute to in so many ways. They have a large youth ministry that we can make an impact on. They also have started a few orphanages, then they also have outreach ministries that go out into the community. They go into the townships, to the poorest of the poor. They go meet peoples needs, love people, and SHOW the world around them who Christ is. I am soooooo excited for this opportunity. I will be on a smaller team of 15 people total including our leaders. Pray for unity to form between the smaller teams.

Now... in order for me to be here for the second half, I need to finish raising my money. I have most of it, but there is still the last bit that needs to come in. I need to raise $1000. That's all I have left, and really that is nothing. God can make that happen so easily. I am asking you, all of you who read this, and support me, and care about this work that God is doing, to help. You are apart of this trip just as much as I am. Prayerfully consider giving to this cause. All you have to do is go to left hand side of my page, and click the support me link. Make a donation by credit/debit card. Just follow what the page says. Thank you everyone. Everyone who is praying for me, everyone who has supported me financially and in any other way. You all help make a huge difference. Thank you all so much.

Talk to ya soon!

-The Roth

An answered prayer...

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

An answer to a prayer... well, at least that's what I think now. This week was a little difficult to be honest! The first part was normal... visiting with some of our friends in the township. Monday and Tuesday we were with a friend named Hester! She is a crazy wonderful woman to hang out with. There are absolutely no words to describe her!!! =) She let us know that she needed help with her garden out beside her house. We didn't even know that it was a garden, that's how bad of shape it was in. So we told her we would get to work on it. The next day, we came back with supplies: carrot seeds, spinach seeds, and beet root seeds (all by request). We spent the next couple of hours working on this
garden. Or at least... Davie and Sarah did. Jess and I were busy playing with the kids. Hester decided to start a creche (daycare) on Monday. Crazy Hester!!!! So that's how our day went!

Now let's go to the end of our week. On Thursday, we decided to stop by and see sweet Evalyn, the woman who had a stroke, because we hadn't seen her in over a week. We walked in to a house full of people. They were cleaning and fixing things. The smell was gone, and I looked over to the room where Evalyn stayed, it was open, and she wasn't in there. I immediately began to freak out in my mind. One of the ladies we had never met before came by and sat with us for a moment. She told us that Evalyn passed away on Saturday. My heart stopped. I loved this woman. She was so precious. We would come in and sing songs of praise over her. We read her scripture. We sat with her when she didn't even have the energy to speak. My whole team developed a deep love for her, and as we heard the news... all of our faces just dropped. But we knew it was an answer to a prayer. She was healed, but in an unexpected way. She had no more pain, and was dancing with the Lord! But this moment was just silence, and there was pain within us as our hearts broke. But we sat there, and continued to speak with her family. They informed us about the funeral arrangements. We all knew that this was not a loss, it was a victory. Christ has so much work for us to do here... right now with this family.

So, in an awkward silence, we asked if there was any way we could help. This woman, Violet, began explaining all the family
that was coming in to stay with them, and they didn't have enough money to feed them all. So we asked what we could buy. As soon as we started running out the door, she came running after us. She wanted to tell us that she has never interacted with white people like this before, except in her work. None of them ever seem like they care.

WOW! How do you react to that? My heart is completely broken for her! So, we went on our way, and bought them a good bit of food, which cost us next to nothing! As we returned with it, they brought us back into the house, and started crying. They were so grateful and overwhelmed by something sooooo small for us to do, but it was HUGE for this family. These women just began crying and thanking us for this. But we tried to point out to them that it wasn't us that did that, it was Christ. We told them how Christ made us all equal. No one is higher than the other! They didn't know what to do with it. But it was such a good moment. We prayed with them, and then heard something going on in the back. We went out to check, and one of the husband's was outside beginning to build an extra shed/shack for the weekend. Davie started helping, and then we decided we would come back the next day and build it for them. We got the other house visit team, and a few leaders to come with us. We spent the next few hours building, and as we finished, we just hung out with the family. It was a wonderful afternoon, and we had so much fun and joy brought into our lives. Serving others who have needs... well there are no words to express the joy that comes from the Lord in that! The funeral is tomorrow, and we will continue investing in this family the way the Lord wants us to. He works through brokenness so well, so there is no telling what can happen here! Pray for this family. Pray for my ministry team. And thank you for keeping up with what's going on!

I'm out for now!

-Roth

Update: Beat The Drum

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Beat The Drum... the most exhausting week ever!

Wow... I don't even know how to begin this one. Let's start with day one, Friday morning, our whole team rolled out of Jeffreys Baii, but we didn't all leave at the same time. We had to leave in shifts. A 5 am crew, 6 am, and the lucky 8 am people. I was blessed just to be leaving at 6, but God is good and faithful and made it easy for me. So, after a 3 hour drive, my van load arrived in Somerset Oos. After everyone arrived, we had our first welcoming meeting: basic information, dinner, meeting with our teams and worship. Day 2 was just training, and Day 3 was church and that evening was opening ceremonies of Beat the Drum. The entire community was invited and so many people showed up!

Day 4, MONDAY, was the big day... time to teach! But the problem was... I did not feel ready! I was teaching a class of 11^th graders at an all black, Xhosa school. I had one other person teaching with me, Max. Funny story, he has the same birthday as me, but is 2 years younger, so he was born on the same day as Stephen! CRAZY! But that's besides the point. So, we have this class together, and the first day wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. We got to show the entire school this movie called Beat The Drum. Then we had an hour with them to start through the workbook and beginning our AIDS awareness program where we preach abstinence.

Day 5, TUESDAY, was interesting. I didn't feel like Max and I made much of an impression on these students after day 1, but as we came in, the students were so welcoming. They were ready to learn and remembered all we had talked about the day before. They weren't responsive during teaching the day before, but I guess they just had to gain our trust before they could open up. This was a big thing. We didn't get to finish our lesson from the day before, so the principle let us have an extra hour with the students! PRAISE THE LORD! It was so nice. Max and I finished talking about values with the students, and somehow the Lord was changing how they think. Then for the second hour, we split the guys and girls up for this lesson. With the girls, we dealt with issues that girls struggle with, and he moved in amazing ways!

Day 6, WEDNESDAY, God decided to take me way out of my comfort zone. I thank Him so much for that now. I was asked Tuesday night to lead worship for the entire BTD team. We met for devotions and worship every morning. I am still terrified of leading worship... but God thought I was ready apparently. So, I led! And I don't remember how it went exactly, because when I get in a moment like that, I just let the Spirit lead. It was so refreshing to let him really let go in me too! Then after that, my team prayed for one specific thing among our school: courage for our students to speak out. Let me just tell you, Satan decided he did not want that and attacked the school. They had no water, and normally they would send all of the kids home. The principle decided this was too important for the students to miss out on. PRAISE THE LORD!!!! So, we start teaching, and they opened up and became completely vulnerable with us. We explained purity and abstinence in a new way. They asked me if I was married. I said no. Then if I had a boyfriend, and again I said no. Lastly, they asked me if I was a virgin, and I said yes! I have never seen a group of students so shocked. Completely befuddled by that fact, they asked Max, and he said that was a virgin too. They didn't know how to react to this. These students have been told and believed a lie that if a guy didn't have sex the sperm would go up his spinal cord and into his brain. Once it hits your brain, you become mad! We told them truth and broke that lie from their lives. They also started thinking about abstinence. It was a rollercoaster of a day... and it still wasn't over. That night we had a youth rally for all the students at all the schools we were at, and over 500 students showed up. I was in a drime that night, there was amazing worship, and amazing teaching. But none of that matter. Hundreds of decisions were made to give their lives to Christ, and there were also soooo many decisions to remain pure from that moment on. God moved in awesome ways.

Day 7, THURSDAY, was a good day with my class. Again, we went to the school and there was no water. We actually wnet early in the morning to teach so they could go home early because of the water crisis. Satan tries to defeat us, but in the end he got walked all over by the glory of Jesus! So, Max and I went in knowing exactly what we were supposed to do that day. The Holy Spirit led like crazy. Our lesson was talking about what true love was, and the difference in lust and attraction. We added onto what we talked about the day before and then gave a call to salvation. I'm not putting numbers out for numbers sake, but to bring God glory in this. He did everything. 9 out of the 15 students gave their lives to the Lord! God is so good! Let's just say I had a party that day celebrating new brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Day 8, FRIDAY, was mass chaos. Nothing got done the way it was supposed to. We didn't get to teach our class, and I had a horrible headache. Max had to leave a day early, and Satan decided to attack in another way. So, nothing got done on this day for any class, but from what I heard, God had already won the battle on the days before! There were multiple calls to salvation and to abstinence! This day wasn't even really needed! That afternoon was free HIV testing and hundreds upon hundreds of people showed up for this! It was a hard day, because there were some people who were positive, but in the end... there was so much freedom in knowing the truth. So to end off the week, we had a closing ceremony and it was precious. God showed all that he did, for HIS glory. So many entered into the kingdom of heaven, and so many chose abstinence. God is good, all the time! All the time, God is good!

This was my long exhausting week in the beautiful town of Somerset Oos(East). I loved every minute of it. And I pray that God brings me back there. This is a very brief version of what happened here. Beat The Drum in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed reading!

Love Y'all!

-Roth

Now This is Community!

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Well, I have been living in community with others for an entire month now.

It's not as easy as I thought it would be. On Thursday, Tag, one of our leaders, placed a challenge on us that we had to partake in: we were not allowed to buy anything for ourselves for the next 24 hours. Other people had to buy it for us.

AHHHH.... This is so hard for me. I hate letting people buy things for me.

Rules: We couldn't buy anything for ourselves. And we have to ask for one thing during this next day. So, we had to ask for help. That meant if we had to go to the doctor, others had to pay for it. If we wanted a soda, other people had to pay for it. If we needed anything at all... others had to pay for it. For me, I don't mind paying for other people's things. I just have trouble relying on others. I like being independent in that sense... at least when it comes to my friends and my peers. It is really hard for me to ask for help. It's hard to even ask my parents for help. I hate feeling inadequate.

This challenge was teaching me specifically to lean on others. And it is showing me the meaning in a kind of off-the-wall way. One thing we need to survive is money... and that money buys us the things that are essential... as well as the things we want. Now because of our needs, we have begun to lean on money rather than leaning on the body that is supposed to help support us. I got through this challenge just fine. I asked for some vet coek, a South African specialty that I love. So, one of my teammates bought one for me, and the other got me a fanta. And I gladly bought things for my friends when they were in need. That one day challenge was no problem.

The next day, we debriefed this challenge as a team, and Tag decided that it wasn't over. So this continued, and is still going on. It should end before beat the drum. We're having to learn to rely on our team for little things, such as a coke, so that we can begin to trust them with the big things. But for me, I got another twist on this challenge. Let's just say that living in community, we share EVERYTHING, sickness included. I started to become sick over the weekend, and I tried to avoid being bed-ridden. But the sickness got the best of me, and on Monday I was out all day. This was hard for me. I had to ask for help. That is what this challenge is all about... asking for help! So being sick was the worst thing that could happen, or the best should I say. I was stuck in bed: no way to get food, no way to get a drink, no way to do anything... unless I asked my team for help. When I am at home, it is so easy to ask my parents for medicine, a cold rag, or even chicken noodle soup, but this was not as easy. I had to ask my team for vitamins, for water, for fruit, for dinner, but they came through. They supported me so much, and through something so small, I learned I could rely on my team. I now don't seem to have too much of a problem to ask my team for things that I need.

Slowly but surely, I am learning more and more about community. I know that we need it. As human beings, we all are wired for relationships, for love, for community. And through these next 9 months, I am on a journey of learning more and more about what it is. This is just one simple experiment.

Here's a few Prayer Request:

Pray for growth among my team, and for unity to continue to grow stronger. Pray for vulnerability, so that we can grow together through our weaknesses. We need prayer over our health. We need prayer lavished over Beat The Drum!

That's all! Love y'all!!!!

-Roth

Update #2

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT

So this past week was an interesting one. It was different than the norm, even tho we haven't really entered into the norm. There were some people from our team helping with an UCSA camp. Then there was a holiday program that some of the others were helping in at Victory For All. That is where I was all week!

And honestly, let's just say I wasn't thrilled when I found this out. I wanted to do house visits like I had been doing. I was beginning to get to know the families we would be working with, I was seeing God do amazing things, my heart was being broken daily and I was being stretched in unimaginable ways. That is where my heart was.

Needless to say, God has other plans in mind for me. I was working this morning camp. The kids from the township just came as they pleased. They were not disciplined, they came from broken homes, most of them were probably beaten and more than likely raped, especially the little girls. I dont know how to handle this. My heart was not ready!

First of all, kids are not exactly my specialty. I would much prefer middle school to college aged kids. I just don't have much of a heart for that age group.... Or I didn't have much of a heart for them. That all changed. Day 1 was probably the hardest for me. I was picked along with 2 other of my teammates to do the dances on stage. That was great for me: I was in musical theatre, I loved to dance, I loved to have energy. That part of the week was wonderful. But... I was on stage in front of all these little ones. They saw my face every day, they knew me, and they wanted to hang all over me. It was a hard situation for me. I didn't want them hanging on me, but I had no choice. The next day, day 2, God broke me for them. I don't know why. I don't know where it came from. I just know that I was in pieces when I saw the little faces as they came in through that door. They were so eager to come sit with me, and to sing to Jesus, and to listen to a bible story, and sing worship songs, and jump, and dance, and have the time of their lives.

That was Monday thru Friday morning. Then Monday and Tuesday afternoon, my team got to do our house visits. HOORAY! Well, let me just tell you now, God decided he was going to tear my heart to shreds. On Monday we went to one lady's house, and she took us back to see her baby. Baby Enza was 7 months old and weighed the amount of a newborn! It wasn't eating anything because the mother wasn't producing any milk, and she couldn't afford to buy it formula. She was feeding it flower and water, which is basically glue. So we told her we would see what we could do. My team and I came back and talked to our leaders and found out that Aaryn met this lady before she came home last year and only had one week to help her. Apparently, she gets money from the government monthly that she spends on things like alcohol and marijuana. This makes me angry and I wish I could do something about it. I don't know what to do here. Long story short, she let us take the baby and put it into an orphanage indefinitely. This woman still needs love, and she needs Jesus. Please pray for her, the baby, and for us to have discernment in how to help her.

That is just a quick update of what has gone on this past week! It has been a hard week for me. I was stretched to deal with lots and lots of broken children. I don't understand their situations and I don't know how to help them. All I know how to do is love them. I also was broken with this situation of baby Enza. I am so mad at the mother, but I need to show her love. I don't know how to do this. Please pray that I learn how. I need help with this. I cannot do it on my own.

Love you all!

-Roth

My trip thus far...

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Well... I have been here in this country of South Africa for only a week, and my world has already been rocked!

My first week was training camp... and I don't really have much to say about it. It was sooooo hard. We were roughing it! Hahaha.... I can rough it.... But for some reason this just seemed really hard. We were using port-a-johns, sleeping in tents, showering with a hose and freezing cold water, and in the blistering hot weather of GA! This week was hard and it pushed me and stretched me in more ways than I could ever know. I missed my friends and my family so much. They were only 30 minutes away from me and I couldn't see them. My bed, my shower, and my toilet were only 30 minutes away. I just wanted to be there, not where I was. I was surrounded by a group of people I didn't know or understand. They didn't know how to meet my needs and I didn't know how to meet theirs. I felt alone and unwanted. The enemy was speaking pure lies to me, but
I decided to choose IN with what I was doing. And soon enough things got better. I began to connect with my team through crazy, absurd team builders. Friendships began to immerse and now we are on this incredible journey together.

So, we arrived in Africa late Tuesday night. It seemed so surreal, and I have no idea what is about to come. My team spent the first couple of days getting over jet lag and getting to know the town we were in. Those were an interesting couple of days and I don't even know where to begin. I just remember one incredible moment: I was on the beach with a few people just admiring God's incredible creation. We stood at the water's edge ofSouth Africa, in the Indian Ocean, and we were facing Antarctica. I think that was the first moment that I realized exactly where I was.... IN AFRICA!!!! It was a precious moment, that's for sure.

Next thing you know, we are all packing up to head out for the weekend. We were going camping in THE BUSH of S. Africa. CRAZY!!!!! Here, we cooked every meal over fires, slept in barely nothing shacks/ cabins, didn't shower the whole weekend, and were put to the test! It was freezing, about 2 degrees Celsius, which is only like 30 something degrees F. Let's just say, our team was pushed to the limit. We did a few more team builders, and were united in the fact that we wanted to come back home to USCA, the place where we live! Hahahahaha.

WE SURVIVED THE BUSH OF SOUTH AFRICA!

Now, on Sunday night we returned to USCA, and had about 30 minutes before dinner. We unloaded and got settled back into our cabins. We had the option of going to this thing called Nations Celebration. And I decided to go, but the only problem was getting a shower and getting settled within the 30 minutes we had before dinner. The only time we had was before, but somehow God made it happen. I showered and got settled into my cabin in less than 20 minutes. We ate dinner and then we were off to Nations Celebration. It is at a church called Deo Doxa, which is maybe 5 minutes away. I walked in, not knowing what to expect, and God just blew me away! This Sunday Night service was just all the nations coming together to celebrate the Lord. There were people from all over the world who came into this little room. We sang songs in English, and then there are a few in other languages as well. I LOVE SINGING SONGS IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE TO THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE! There is something about it that just brings me life and joy. I love knowing that God hears it all the same, no matter what language. I just remember the first song that wasn't in a language I understood, everyone ran to the front and starting doing a dance for God. So, our crazy little American selves decided to join in. We ran to the front and danced with everyone to our God. We gave Him praise through our voices and through all our movements. Nations Celebration now holds a special place in my heart, and I cant wait to go back every Sunday night we get a chance to.

Now, the next thing that happened was on Monday. We found out what our ministries were going to be. I was placed into HOUSE VISITATIONS! At first, honestly, I was really sketchy about it. The first day we went to visit people that our leaders knew and kind of get a feel for what we were going to be doing. It was really awkward and weird for me. I didn't like it very much. But I told myself I would give it another chance the next day. I told God he lad to blow my away, and sure enough he did. Tuesday rolls around and we are still with our leaders walking around, getting to know the township. We went back to one lad named Noma, who we met the previous day. She brought us over to her neighbor, Evalyn. Evalyn had a stroke about 4 or 5 months before and her family was taking care of her. This woman was in awful condition, basically paralyzed. Somedays are good and some days are really bad. She was stuck in her bed and the stinch in her room was almost overwhelming. Poor Evalyn was just going to the bathroom right where she slept because she couldn't move. You could see the wetness of her bed just running up to the top of her sheets. We prayed over her and her health. As we prayed, we layed our hands on her and showed her love. She kept saying "Baie dankie," which is Afrikaans for thank you, and "Enkosi", which is thank you in Xhosa! She was mumbling with every once of strength she had in a different language, and she began crying. As she was crying, we decided to sing over her, so the chorus of How Great Is Our God blessed her life, shortly followed by Amazing Grace. This woman broke our hearts from the moment we walked into the room. When it was time for us to head out, she mustered up enough energy to reach her hand out to us and grab each of our hands and she thanked us multiple times. Needless to say, we would be back to visit Evalyn.

Later on, we started heading home for supper. As we are walking and talking, we run aross this woman. She looked at us and just stared (which is normal because we are white Americans walking around the slums). So our group stopped to talk to her. The first thing that came out of her mouth was, "Do you know J-Z?" hahaha.... Apparently if you are from America, you know all the famous people, or so everyone around here thinks! Well, we decided to continue talking to her for a bit. We found out their names Ethel and Eunice. Ethel is blind in one eye, and so we prayed healing over her. Ethel told us about Eunice, she has seizures, so we also prayed healing over her life. After all of this was over, we were about to head home, Ethel begins tring to tell us where she lives, but her accent was so heavy it was hard ot understand her. We finally kind of figured it out. She lives in a blue house across from Zama Zama tavern. She told us to come visit her, so we would try.

Now for Wednesday, here's an excerpt from my journal:

"So today was wonderful! Except at first- honestly... I was really discouraged. So- today we went to go find this woman we met yesterday, Ethel. We went to where she told us to and she wasn't there. We couldn't find her and no one around knew who she was. We kept asking around and praying for her to show up- but we had nothing. We had no lead... literally we were clueless- and we had no idea where we were. We started walking back in the direction we came. We have all these really annoying kids hanging all over us- holding our hands, singing and kind of getting on our nerves. So- then we went to this creche(daycare) with one of our leaders. She knew some people there. And the whole time I was just antsy to leave and to get going on my own. So our big group split into 2, as we will be for the rest of the time, and we just started walking in opposite directions. My group was clueless and lost, but we kept going. So as we were walking, we went to go see Evalyn again and we prayed healing over her. She is so sweet! Evalyn was in great shape- compared to yesterday that is. She was talking... a lot! Praise the Lord! She spoke more clear and a good bit louder. She had so much more energy than yesterday, and she was speaking a decent amount of English! It was so good and it brought us and her so much joy. Then we left and continued walking through the township. We turned left down one street and all the kids that were hanging on us earlier saw us and immediately ran up to us, jumped on our arms, backs and legs! So we picked them up and went with them to the house they were playing in front of. And as we were there, we went up to the door and knocked... hoping ot be welcomed in- and we were. As we walked in, 3 women were sitting there: Thelma, Madisa, and Precious were there names. We started talking and this wonderful conversation developed with Thelma. She was incredibly welcoming and asked us why we were there. We told her we were missionaries from America. Through the conversation, we asked her if she went to church, and she responded no. But she replied that she wants to go. We told her she could come with us when we figured out what churched we would be going to. We also told her about Nations Celebration at Deo Doxa. We invited her and she will come with us. (just a little info: when someone in this culture says they might do something, they WILL do it). We got her number and told her we would call her to let her know when we go. She wants us to come back and visit- and we want to!!!!"

So that was a nice long excerpt from my journal. WOW... this is a long blog, and so much has happened. I hope this gives you all a glimpse into my world in Africa so far. This place is amazing and God is moving in miraculous ways!

Just a few more things. Please please please pray for these women who I have talked about above. They are opening up in ways that we could never imagine... and its only been 3 days of ministry so far! Pray over Evalyn's health. Pray that we find Eunice and Ethel. Pray for Thelma and her family to be open to what Christ wants to do in them... especially Thelma. God has big things planned for her... I can see it. Pray for my team's safety. And pray over the Beat the Drum ministry. If you don't know about it, I have an earlier blog that you should check out. We need a minimum of $1500 to come in. So please prayerfully consider giving. Check out the other blog to find out how!

Well, I love you all, and have many updates with lots of amazing information and stories that need to go up. So continue checking my page. God is good all the time, all the time God is good!

***Giving myself away***

-Roth

WOW

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

WOW... SO TODAY IS KINDA LIKE DAY 2 ACTUALLY IN SOUTH AFRICA!!! IT IS CRAZY, AND I ALREADY LOVE IT. WERE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING USED TO THE TOWN RIGHT NOW, BUT I THINK ALL OF US ARE JUST ANXIOUS TO GET INTO OUR MINISTRIES! BUT BEFORE WE CAN DO THAT, WE ARE GOING CAMPING THIS WEEKEND!!! THAT WILL BE EXCITING!

I DONT KNOW ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE, BUT I DONT THINK I HAVE EXPERIENCED MUCH JETLAG, BECAUSE I DID SO MUCH SLEEPING ON THE PLANE!

WELL THIS IS A SHORT BLOG, BUT IT'S FOR A SCAVENGER HUNT!

-ROTH

Send Me Things!!!!

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I have arrived in South Africa! Some of you have been wanting to know my address where you can send me things... so here it is:

PO Box 921

Jeffreys Bay, South Africa 6330

packages and letters are both welcome! It takes 7-10 days according to th US post office! but it could very well take longer! And... there is nothing like a hand written letter when you are this far away!

Love you all!

Later

-Roth

SUPRISE!!!

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

WOW.... so last night was quite the night! It made me realize even more how amazing the community im apart of is!!!! I love my friends! I love their giving hearts and I will miss them so much!

So this is what happened:

One of my friends, Talia, picked me up from my house so we could go get THE OFFICE SEASON 4 on DVD because it just came out.... ITS MY FAVORITE SHOW, and we wanted to watch it. So we drive to wal-mart, then to Starbucks to get coffee, and then back to my house. As I walked in, it was just a little too quiet to be normal, and the next thing ya know... i hear "SURPISE!!!!!!!!" and all my friends jumped out from behind the couch and counters and from the other room! They threw me a surpise goodbye party in the middle of the week, and really just let me know how much they care, and that they are going to miss me!

Well everyone, i want you all to know how thankful I am for you, and how blessed I am to be apart of this community! I AM GOING TO MISS YALL SOOOOOOO HONKIN MUCH! There is nothing like this group of people, and it's hard to explain it until you are apart of it. I hope that I am able to take to South Africa a little bit of yall and bring it into my team that i will be with for the next 9 months. I want to share life with them the way i do with you!

So continuing on with how the night went... we ate delicious brownies and ice cream, we danced salsa until our feet fell off, had a wood chopping competition, a marshmellow fight, played catch phrase with a little over 20 people, layed in hammocks, sat around a bon fire, roasted marshmellows to make smores, sat around the fire with a guitar and worshiped the One who made all things, and shared life by giving ourselves away in community! Later on, when the number dwindled down to about 6 or so people, we went inside and made some delicious craft mac and cheese, and sat down to watch the office! Oh how I love that show.... it just makes me laugh!

So to say the least, I had an incredible night hanging out with all these people who I care about so much, and who let me know how much they care! I love you all and thank you soooo much for being apart of my life!

Well that's all... I'm out!

-Roth

Beat The Drum

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Hey everyone... i just received an e-mail about an event we will be working with. It's called beat the drum! Here's the e-mail I got, so please be praying for this!

BEAT THE DRUM Somerset East, South Africa
October 12th-19th 2008

Adventures in Missions is joining with other Jeffrey's Bay, South African organizations, churches and friends to bring Beat the Drum to Somerset East and WE NEED YOUR HELP.

HISTORY OF BEAT THE DRUM

The horror of so many millions of souls currently under the curse of AIDS has been seen. The movie "Beat the Drum" was the catalyst for our response. A multi-faceted approach was developed that continued with a massive campaign to train young people in AIDS prevention, mobilizing people, volunteers from Africa and the US to break up into teams to go into high schools to train the learners in biblically-based AIDS prevention under a brand new project called, Beat the Drum.

Why Somerset East?
In early 2008 George and Michele Mwanza took a team to Somerset East for outreach. They spent three days prayer walking through the community. Through this prayer walk God introduced them to many influential leaders and opened their eyes to the need for change and growth within this small community. George knew that the town was ready for Beat the Drum it was just getting influential leaders on board. On Friday May 23rd six leaders went to present Beat the Drum to different representatives of schools, businesses, and churches. The response was amazing. God was so evident in that room that day. They are ready for Beat the Drum to happen tomorrow. God is telling us that it's time to move in to Summerset East and open their eyes and hearts to the ways of our Lord.

PRAYER NEEDS:
*Continued prayer is needed for the whole week of community outreach week.
*Families of the community
*Finances
*HIV/AIDS positive people in the community
*Home Visits
*For the volunteers
*Curriculum facilitation
*Lasting impact and real value
*For God's spirit to be poured out on the people attending
*Opening of their eyes to the knowledge and truth with understanding
*The Truth of the Word of God
*For the overall smooth running of our programs

FINANCIAL NEEDS:

Vehicle rental/Gas for transporting teams from J-Bay to Somerset East (100 people/3 hour drive)
Curriculum-Our target is 6,000 books which will cost $.80 a book which equals $4,800.
Any additional food that is not donated by the community

HOW TO GIVE: www.adventures.org/give
Type BTD Summerset in the Staff name block

MISSION
To serve the Somerset East Community by bringing primarily the message of abstinence through Beat the Drum project and giving hope through meeting felt needs in the community.

EXPECTATION
To see the movement of God
To see believers, Churches and ministries join hands in unity to serve our community

PURPOSE
To educate on HIV/AIDS
To prevent and STOP HIV/AIDS in the community
To care for our community

If you would like to help go to ...
www.adventures.org/give
and type BTD Summerset in the Staff name Block

Thanks for reading. I can't wait to tell you all how God has used this program to change His people.

Love...

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Love God, Love People... that's what my philosophy in life comes down to.

But in a world who takes lust and "feelings" and makes them into love, I dont even know where to begin looking for it- REAL love that is! What is love, true love, divine love? I know I have sensed it and experienced it, but how do I show it... considering that is what I am called to do, to love others. I figured I would start out by finding out what love is in the living Word.

There are 2 different kinds of love in scriptures. There is the first word for love, hesed (checed), is Hebrew and means:

-unfailing love, loyal love, devotion, kindness, often based on a relationship especially a covenant relationship

-love, kindness, unfailing love, great love, mercy, acts of devotion

-faithful, approval, favor, devout, grace, glory

Then there is the second word for love, agape (ah-gah-pay), is Greek. In the Greek language, as in Hebrew, there are several terms used for the emotion "love." Eros is passionate or physical love; phileo is expressed as love of family or love of mankind and agape is the Greek word for spiritual or divine love. As the word agape is used in the New Testament, agape can express the love that God has for mankind in general as in John 3:16: For God so loved the world... In this way agape differs from hesed in that it does not refer to a love already promised to a specific group of people. The second way agape is used is not only for God's love for us but also for the human response to God's love as well as for love shared and expressed between covenant believers-brothers and sisters in the covenant family. For example in John 21:15 Jesus asks Peter: "do you love (agape) me more than these?" In Matthew 5:43 agape is used to refer to love of neighbor and seems interchangeable with philos, brotherly love: You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you... In this case agape is even used when Jesus refers to loving an enemy. Therefore, agape is not just a covenant love owed in loyalty to a particular person or group with whom one is in a committed relationship-whether it is God or another person in the human family. Agape love refers to a more unique love-to an unconditional, self-sacrificing love which does not expect reward.

So, in short, hesed is a covenant love. It is the love that we can show. Agape is the the perfect love that we get to experience from God. It is unexplainable, undeniable, and just real! We can not show agape love, we are human, sinful, and nowhere near perfect. In that, we can not show unconditional love, to anyone and everyone, no matter how hard we try.

1 Corinthians 13 uses the word agape. It is the best way to describe this unconditional love.

4Love (agape) is patient, love (agape) is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love (agape) does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love (agape) never fails.

***What a beautiful truth that is. That is what we need to strive for. But how do we strive for it? My personal opinion through how the Lord is speaking to me is by beginning with hesed love. By showing love and striving for relationships, for covenants! That is going to help us strive for perfection.

Yahweh's hesed covenant love calls for commitment to Him. It also calls for commitment to each other. This commitment consists of self-giving, trust, deep affection, and joyful submission to the Law of the covenant as an expression of love:

I praise your name for your faithful love and your constancy; your promises surpass even your fame. [..]. Though I live surrounded by trouble you give me life-to my enemies' fury! You stretch out your right hand and save me, Yahweh will do all things for me. Yahweh, your faithful love endures for ever, do not abandon what you have made (Psalm 138:2b, 7-8).

Hesed love is not a static love but a love which must be returned: faithful love is what pleases me, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not burnt offerings (Hoses 6:6).

So, in all this mess, I may have created more confusion. But there is also the chance that we may come to understand love, real love, a little more. So, now that yall know my philosphy, try it!

Let's Love (hesed) God; Love (hesed) people. But let's not stop at hesed, let us, as a people strive for agape.

General Information...

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sooooo.... some of you have been wanting some general information about my trip... so here ya go! I will give you all I have.

I am going to Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa for 9 months.

Training camp is from September 8th to September 15th.

We fly out on Sept. 15th.

I return on May 15th, 2009!

My team is 41 people, including me.

I have 10 leaders.

I have to raise a total of $12,000 for the trip. This includes 2 round trip tickets, food, boarding all the things we need for ministry, and pretty much everything else.

I will be coming home for Christmas Break for 2 weeks.

My team will be mainly working with Ithemba and Joshua's Project, in ministering to orphans and troubled children.

I will also be ministering in the townships to the AID's victims and the sick.

My trip is divided up into 2 differnt parts.

September to December: The Awakening.

Training camp: one week packed full of team building exercises, training, and orientation. We will be sleeping in cabins or tents, using portable toilets, etc. We will be roughing it, kind of!

Time alone with God: we have this every morning at the same time as everyone else.

One-on-one discipleship: I will be linked with someone who will help grow me up as a leader and a follower of Christ. They will be the same gender as me. I can expect a lot of prayer and accountability out of this. This relationship is alot about being gut honest about anything and everything. It is going to teach me alot of trust!

Large group discipleship: These are every morning. During this we go deeper into what it means to be a follower of Christ. We will have different discussions, teachings, worship, journaling, and praying with one another. Basically, we are seeking the Lord together!

Team Discipleship: Once a week we meet in smaller groups, our teams. We will go through different studies together. And this gives us an opportunity to grow closer as a team, as we will be working fairly close together.

Outreach ministry: Every afternoon I will be involved in ministry with my team. This will give us an opportunity to be involved hands on with people. These will vary from anything to working with children in day care to doing street evangelism or working with a church.

Blogging: I will be blogging about once a week, depending on the internet access we will have. This is to talk about what I have learned and to keep updates posted for anyone who wants to know what is going on.

Team Activity: Once a week, my team will have a dinner and a time of hang out just to have fun and relax together. It is supposed to be a restful break from the rest of the hectic week.

January to July: Outreach

During this time we will be moved to different locations as teams.

Internship: 25-30 hours a week we will be involved in a specific ministry. My ministry focus is a prayerful choice. In most cases, we will choose from the ministry options already established. In most locations, people will be using public transportation to get around, which will usually require a lot of walking and living like the locals and the people we will be ministering to.

We will still have team discipleship and group activities. I will still be blogging once a week. The only thing I won't be doing is having one-on-one discipleship.

Things will not be as structured here as they were the months before. We will have more freedom!

This is the gist of my trip, and what I will be doing. Now everyone can have a little more insight to how my life is going to radically change, and how I am going to be radically changed!

This opportunity is going to be so great, but it is not my work that is being done, it is not my teams, or AIM's work or power... it all comes from God and goes back to God, full circle!

-"For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." Romans 11:36

How beautiful those words are to me, and hopefully to you as well!

God Bless, and thank every one of you who are behind me on this journey!

Will You Go W/o Knowing?

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

"He went out, not knowing whither he went." Hebrews 11:8

Have you been "out" in this way? If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question - "What do you expect to do?" You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God and see if it is a going out of everything trusting God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder - you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a "going out," building in confidence on God." Take no thought for your life,... nor yet for your body" - take no thought for the things for which you did take thought before you "went out."

Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you go out in surrender to Him until you are not surprised an atom at anything He does?

Suppose God is the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him - what an impertinence worry is! Let the attitude of life be a continual "going out" in dependence upon God, and your life will have an inefable charm about it which is a satisfaction to Jesus. You have to learn to go out of convictions, out of creeds, out of experiences, until so far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing between yourself and God.

-A Passage from "My Utmost for His Highest"

----------------------------------------

I feel like this is what I am doing... going without knowing! People keep asking me what I'm going to be doing in South Africa. Well, honestly... I do not know. That's part of the mystery of this whole thing to me. I'm taking a leap of faith and going without knowing... and i can not wait!!!!

I kinda feel that this is a lot like skydiving. I went about 4 or 5 months ago for my first tandem jump! I remember standing at the edge of the plane looking down 14,000 feet! And I didn't think that my parachute wouldn't open, or that some other horrible tradgedy would happen. I had faith... faith in my instructor, faith in my parachute, and faith in gravity to work the way it should! As I looked down, I thought, not knowing what would happen, and took a leap of faith!

I do not know the people I am going with, I do not know the area I'm going to be working in... (I know of it), I do not know how the structure of my life is going to be.... All I know is that Jesus is going with me. And with Him anything is possible------ casting out demons, raising the dead, moving mountains, healing the sick, helping the blind to see, helping the lost to be found! What a victory that will be! Who knows what my team and I will be doing, except the Lord himself!

So, will you go without knowing? Will you take that leap of faith? Will you jump out of the plane? I know my team and I are, and we are seeking that so far as our faith is concerned, there is nothing between us and God... and we are going to jump!

The Message of grace... an embarrassment?!?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Amazing GRACE, how sweet the sound...

those are the words that come out of our mouths. We sing it to the Lord yet we run from it. The sound of that screeches in our ears, and it seems to hurt, so we run.

I heard someone say that the message of grace is an embarrassment!

WHAT?!?! I don't understand. How can grace be embarrassing? Why does America... and the american "christian" get embarrassed by grace? Why do they run the other way when grace gets taught? You would think that grace would draw people in... apparently not! It pushes people away...

I've been thinking about that a good bit... and I can begin to see why people run. It's from pain in their own lives and lies from the enemy.

Job 22:25-27 (The Message)
21-25 "Give in to God, come to terms with him and everything will turn out just fine. Let him tell you what to do; take his words to heart. Come back to God Almighty and he'll rebuild your life. Clean house of everything evil. Relax your grip on your money and abandon your gold-plated luxury.God Almighty will be your treasure, more wealth than you can imagine.
26-30 "You'll take delight in God, the Mighty One, and look to him joyfully, boldly.You'll pray to him and he'll listen; he'll help you do what you've promised. You'll decide what you want and it will happen; your life will be bathed in light. To those who feel low you'll say, 'Chin up! Be brave!' and God will save them. Yes, even the guilty will escape, escape through God's grace in your life."

Could this be it... giving in? do we as americans, as humans, not want to give in? It seems like that's what it takes, to let the Lord tell you what to do. But we don't like being told what to do. We are a culture bread to be independent. We are told we should be able to provide for ourselves. It says to relax your grip on money and abandon luxury. "OH HECK NO"... Humans do not like to leave what's comfortable. They do not like to let go of their money. But we cant serve both God and money... so if thats true, then why don't we let go of our money and our luxuries? Why have we begun to assume that getting away from "comfortable" is bad? The enemy is speaking lies into our lives, and presenting us with what seems good and right and comfortable. So we take it. But is this why we run from grace?

I think it is one reason of many. Americans have been taught to never give in, to hold their own, and be independent. When we can't do that, we get embarrassed. I know that I can feel that way.

When I first began to learn money management... it was not pretty. I had my debit card, and I had a very limited amount of mullah in my account. It was hard to manage... and let's just face it, I overdrew. Although, I always seemed to be able to recover. There was however one time that I overdrew, and had no income for a few weeks. I still had to live life, pay for gas, eat, you know... but my card would not work b/c there was nothing in my account. I realized I had to ask my dad to borrow some money. And that was embarrassing, I had to say that I messed up, that I could not do this on my own and that I needed help. I would have preferred to run the other way, and if there was any other alternative, I would have.

So I can relate, I see that when you are being taught to be independent and hold your own, and you can't, it can seem embarrassing. When you have to admit that you messed up, that you can't do it on your own and that you need help, we want to hide. But what we have overlooked is that grace is not condemning. It is not supposed to embarrass us. It is meant to bring peace. Grace helps us. If we truly embrace it, we can look to the Lord with delight, and we can look to him and be joyful... not embarrassed. The enemy has been hiding this from us, and we need to overcome it!

Romans 5:20
All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life-a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

That is what grace is supposed to be. It invites us into life! A life of abundance!!

Now...

Amazing GRACE, how SWEET the sound!

It truly is a sweet sound to know that grace from the messiah is what invites us into and abundant life that goes on and on!

I Will Go

Wed, 4 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Lord has called me to go.... as with the rest of my team! We probably all have feelings of fear and doubt hidden beneath the surface, but we also just want to be there now. We are in a stage of preparation. I believe that is part of why I am working at camp again. It is preparing me in ways that I do not understand. It's a mystery, and that's where trust and faith comes in. I have to trust in the mystery!!! We have been called to go... so we will go!

Isaiah 61:1-3 says
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion-
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

That there is the reason I know I am doing what the Lord has called me to. But why South Africa? Well, I know that I was previously accepted to go on a trip to S. Africa with AIM... but it was for 3 months instead of 9! Long story short, the trip was canceled. So I didnt get to go. And since then, my heart absolutely MELTS when I hear the name of this country. I am not sure why, but it has been programmed within my inner being! I have never been there, but I have studied it. I love the people that I do not know. I cry for them. I want to just be with them and give myself away to them! After all, that is what we are called to do.... to give ourselves away! After the sovereign Lord, El Elyon, works within me... he will work through me. I just have to be willing... to be a living sacrifice! When I give myself away, I am a vessel of the Lords, comforting and providing and proclaiming. The people that I, and my team, do not know will be called oaks of righteousness. They will be a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor!

These are the lyrics to I Will Go by Starfield... they speak to me! I see in this song, what the 08 Africa Awakening team will be doing for 9 months of giving themselves away! The things we can do are unstoppable and unimaginable!!!

Ephesians 3:21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

That's whats up!!! =)

I Will Go- Starfield
To the desperate eyes and reaching hands
To the suffering and the lean
To the ones the world has cast aside
Where you want me I will be

I will go
I will go
I will go Lord send me
To the world
To the lost
To the poor and hungry
Take everything I am
Clay within your hands
I will go
I will go
Send me

Let me not be blind with privilege
Give me eyes to seek the pain
Let the blessing You've poured out on me
Not be spent on me in vain
Let this life be used for change

I wanna live for you
Go where you lead me
I wanna follow you

Send me!

Bad Days...

Wed, 21 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sooo... yesterday was just one of those days! I was working, I'm a server, and somehow i just kept getting skipped. Everyone else has been sat with at least 8 people. Trying to keep a positive attitude about it was really hard. But i kept thinking to myself that God would provide me with the $ I needed. Continuing on through the next hour or so, I only got 8 ppl in my section and I made a grand total of $25. Now how is that supposed to pay the bills?!?!?!? I'm cut... I do my side work... and I leave... with my head hanging low... wondering where God is in all this! I'm at a low point here...

So I continue on with my day... I go home and stuff a few more envelopes with letters, and I'm calling up more friends and family getting addresses... When I feel a heavy burden layed upon me. I have this doubt and fear that I am not doing things right to raise money, that I'm not supposed to go to Africa, that my plans are all wrong. So i kinda freaked out. And again... I wondered where God was in all of that!

Next, I'm supposed to be meeting up with a bunch of friends to play some good games of volleyball! Well, I get there and am immediately thrown into a game... awesome right?!?!?! not... i was doing horribly, and it just wasn't fun to me. There were ppl with negative vibes all around me, and again... I wondered where God was in all this. So, I continue to play more games, and nothing is getting better, everything is getting worse. So, i finally decided to call it a night! I headed to my house, and I really wondered where God was! I couldn't find him, but he was there! and I didn't really know where he was, until today!

At those moments.... I could not see or understand why everything sucked so badly... but i continued to press on and try to search for him. At those moments... I felt fear, I felt doubt, and I felt discouragement. But my problem was, I didn't truly look for him. I was only looking for what I wanted. So I call it a night, and I hit the hay!

Today I wake up, and I immediately see the Lord. I talked to him about last night, and I cried out for him to show me something.... and He definitely did!

I went to work and I made $65! (which is amazing during a lunch shift!) God completely provided for me there! Enough to cover me for yesterday and today!!! Thank you Jesus!

I head home, completely grateful, and i decide to clean out my bag. I found one of my yellow envelopes pre-addressed to AIM. I open it up, and there within it are two $50 bills! Filled with awe and complete and utter thankfulness I realize that I am supposed to go on this trip, and that all fear and doubt was from the enemy! So i sit down and think to myslef where this came from! And how did I not notice it before?!?!? Then it came to me... at Water's Edge on thursday, I passed out a few support letters. One guy, that i just met, handed back to me the yellow envelope. I thought maybe he wanted me to save the envelope for someone else, and not waste it. So I slipped it into my bag without thinking. Who knew that a little envelope with $100 can bring that much confirmation and thankfulness?!?!? This small thing made me realize even more how BIG God is. And how his plan is soooo much greater than mine. He keeps telling me "I know the plans I have for you Nicole... plans to prosper you to and to give you a future... just trust me my beloved!"

Oh, and it doesnt end there!!! i get on to check my support, and my mentor/friend has already committed to giving to my account on a monthly basis! Wow God... there you are! I couldnt see you before, because I didint trust! And you're teaching me to trust you with little things. Baby steps! If that's what your using to teach me now, I can't imagine what you will do in the next year!

So God, where are you in all of this?!?!?
Now I know, you are teaching me a lesson. TRUST! It's soooo important!
Even though I can't see the big picture, and things don't always make sense, I need to trust! B/c you will work them all out in the end!

You really do make bad days better!

Religion vs. Spirituality

Sun, 18 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Why does the world look at Christians and think they are religious? Why is the world turned off by religion?
Some ppl say they are more interested in being spiritual than religious... but what does that really mean?

I think that theres a few different things that can apply to this. You can be religious without prayer, but you cannot be spiritual!

It's sooo true... being religious is simple... just do what the book says, do what appears to be right. Religion brings about a hypocritical nature.

Religious ppl KNOW what the bible says, Spiritual pp WALK in what the bible has to say.

Religious ppl have all the right words to say... but being spiritual is sooo much more than that.
Spirituality has to do with having a relationship with the Lord, knowing and learning who He is, and just longing to spend time with Him.

The reason I bring this up is b/c i feel that many ppl walk in religion. They say they love the lord, they can quote scripture, but they dont really believe with their heart what they read and know. Ppl know ABOUT Jesus, but they dont know Jesus.

Now, i dont really know what to do with that. I know that i cant change ppl who are like that, all I can do is love them. That's what Jesus wants me to do, and hopefully through that they will be able to see who HE really is.

I love Jesus! And I love ppl! Hopefully i can convey that to the world!

South Africa... here I come!

Thu, 15 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Wow, so I have officially been accepted to go to S. Africa with a team of people I do not know for 9 months. This means I have to take a year off of school, which does not bother me too much! =) I have to learn to trust NEW people, begin an entirely new life, and emerge into a new world. This could all be substantially daunting, but I am actually not bothered by any of it. I cannot wait!!!

I know the Lord is sending me, but the one thing that almost seems overwhelming is raising all the money I need for the trip... $12,000! That's so much money... but I know the good and gracious Jehovah-Jireh will provide for me. I am in the process of stuffing more envelopes of letters for friends and family, and I have an overwhelming peace about the financial side of my trip!

This opportunity is going to be life changing, and I cannot wait until I get to meet everyone on my team. I have begun to get to know some of them through Facebook, but that certainly does not do justice to meeting them in person. That day is soon to come. What the Lord will do through us is unimaginable... I bet we could even move a mountain if we really wanted to!! =) The possibilities of our future is endless because we have the one and only Almighty God on our side. If God before us, who can be against us... Right?!?!?

South Africa... HERE WE COME!
AFRICA AWAKENING 08-09