Guys, seriously!!! The year didn't just go by, it went BOOM with a BANG. Like "wow". Some of it felt long, some of it felt short, but after being in South Africa for a year, we marvel more than
ever at the work of God and His ability to reach out, save and transform
lives.
This is no joke, we (you all included) serve a God who is alive, He reigns over all the earth, calling His creation back to Himself. AH! We are so stinking privileged to serve Him, and our family is so
privileged, by His grace, to be in a ministry in South Africa where we see His hand moving daily. WOW.
Mike has been teaching Faith Discovery group every six weeks since February, and then every Wednesday he teaches a follow up class with these same students. He almost always starts off the classes with an opportunity for them to share what God has
been doing in their lives. It never ceases to amaze me the stories he shares about how God changed the students lives during their time at Hope Africa.
- One student shares how God has changed their attitude to enable them to let go of their anger.
- Another student shares how God has helped them forgive someone they never thought they could forgive.
- Another student testifies to how God has healed their lungs from lifelong breathing problems.
- Another testifies how God has given them a passion to know Jesus.
- Another testifies how for the first time in their life they felt the presence of the Holy Spirit as they gave their life to him!
And that's just one week's worth of testimonies, this happens every Wednesday. And that is entirely
based on the work God has done, and we get to be a part of that.
Mike says:
"I now come to Faith Discovery Group weeks with huge expectations about what God is going to do. I know that the students will have gone through severe trauma and struggles in their lifetimes. Before every week starts, my co-teacher Mawande and I, spend a lot of time praying for what God wants to do. I know that on Monday as Mawande and I share our testimonies, God will open the doors for our students to open up about their life stories."
There are always 2 groups of about 15 students taking the class at a time. We now know ahead of time that in each group:
- Many will share about not having enough food.
- 14 of the 15 of them will have no fathers in their lives.
- 7 or 8 of the 15 will have one or both parent(s) dead.
- 3 or 4 will have been rejected by not only their father, but also their mother and that they were raised by a grandma or aunt.
- 1 will share about being raped, and as she shares, another 3 or 4 will start deeply weeping immediately as she says the word.
Mike says:
"But we also know that God is the good Father. And as we begin to teach about God, the good Father, who is forgiving, just and loving, we know that through the Holy Spirit there is freedom, there is healing, there is power to forgive others, there is the forgiveness of sin. Through Jesus, we can be made right with God again, restored according to His plan from before creation even began!"
He continues:
"This past week in Faith Discovery Group, God blew me away yet again! And as I heard the students testimonies in our follow up from our last week of class, I think about their life stories they shared last Monday and I am so deeply humbled. I am so humbled by their authenticity, by their openness, and by their hope in spite of despair all around them. I am so humbled to see God working through our ministry.
In particular I am humbled by being used by God last Friday, when I was able to go around and pray with 7 students. When I came to the first student, I asked him what God had been teaching him last week. He said, “I want to respond to Jesus’ call and follow Him.” So I talked with him about counting the cost and making sure this is really what he wants, and as he affirmed it, I lead him in a simple prayer of repentance and turning to Jesus.
I proceeded to talk to the next student and she tells me that she actually gave her life to Jesus for the first time while I was reading Isaiah 53, and as she did that she felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in her life.
The next person asks me to pray for them as they are struggling to forgive the deep hurts from their abusive father.
The next two students I talked to, also make first time commitments to Christ. And then 2 more, asked for prayer for various struggles and hardships.
For those that know me personally, sometimes I think that driving Camaros or Arctic Cats, or playing hockey is fun. But there is nothing like watching someone experience the joy of salvation, never mind four in one day! This makes me so deeply humbled to be used by God is this way."
