Meet Portia

Meet my friend Portia.  I met her in March during street team.  She was helping her neighbor who is renovating her house.

Portia has been coming to our Hope Africa office for some time now, visiting our prayer room for much needed prayers, counsel and love.  She told me: "I always feel so much better after [they] pray for me and can sleep."  She also said how she feels "happy and able to not focus on everything that is going wrong for a few hours" after receiving prayers from our staff.

Portia has a 6 year old son, who's father chooses not to be in the least involved.  He wanted nothing to do with the child since he found out Portia was pregnant.  You see, dads don't have to help their children financially here as they do in Canada.  They can just pretend they don't have them, leaving the women to take care of their children alone.  

Portia lives with her son in a small shack with no running water, no fridge & hardly enough space for the double bed they share.  When I visited her, there was no place to sit inside, so we ended up chatting outside, sitting on the ground.

Without a job or a way to make money & desperate to be loved, this leaves Portia at the mercy of not-good-for-you-men.  It's not hard to understand why a woman like her would stay in an abusive relationship(s) "just not to be alone" or for the few dollars this person might provide.

Helpless situations birth hopeless choices.

For Portia, her life is at a cross road right now.  We have offered for her to join our programs at Hope Africa, so that she can learn skills and get a job.  During her time with us, she would also grow as a person, and learn to stand on her two feet better.  She would meet Jesus in a new way as well.  But for many students like Portia, when their lives have been in pieces for so long, it's not as easy as one would think for them to take hold of the hand that is trying to help them. Truly help them.

There are always more obstacles than we can foresee.  Some real, some not.  People like Portia are so used to things not going their way, so used to failure, that sometimes it's easier not to try at all. Especially when it sounds too good to be true.

After discussing our programs and having her promise to come on the following Monday, the day our Life Direction course started, we left at peace.  I felt confident that she would come, despite the obstacles, which we had talked through (I thought).

But Portia didn't show up on Monday.  And it is hard for a person like me, who's never ever faced the kinds of challenges she has faced, to understand why not?  I want so bad for her, and many like her to know freedom from poverty.  To be able to stand on their 2 feet and tell those no-good-men to get lost.  To hold their heads high.  To feel loved by the King of Kings.

Because they are indeed loved.  And completely loved.  And as I write this I sigh.  A LOT.  Because I don't know the answers to my questions. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.  To my knees I fall and pray and ask my Papa for help, on behalf of all the people, like Portia, who are suffering, feeling their obstacles so heavy on them they can hardly see past.

With hope I say this story is to be continued.  Because you bet I will storm up to heaven's door for this woman and I know you will too!

Seeing new things or seeing differently?

It was a Thursday afternoon when I met her in the streets of Philippi, during one of our street team outing.  She looked at me and I looked at her, trying as hard as I could to hide the many questions popping into my head as to why she had a yellow-looking-mask all over her face.  And why, if it was indeed a mask, was she out of her house walking around as if nothing?

credits:https://misseuphony.wordpress.com/

But our street team stopped and started talking to her. She never mentioned it, and neither did I.  I used up all of my missionary politeness on this one, for I am very curious in nature.  And honestly, if I had met someone in the streets and invited them into my house while wearing a face mask, I would have certainly explained myself to my guests.  "Sorry guys, it's a bad time for my skin so I must..."  But this lady, nothing.

She was completely unapologetic.  I had to sit on my hands with the question burning up in my throat, trying to focus on what she was saying.  She was speaking in Xhosa, which makes it 100% more difficult for me to follow!  She did use hand gestures a lot, so it helped greatly, as she spoke to a fellow staff member (Sam).

One hand waived to the stairs and she made a lot of "BOOM" sounds, making me believe that she had fallen down the stairs and her repeatedly pointing to her sound system, while shouting and flailing her arms, made me believe that someone had possibly attempted to rob her recently. Having been here over 2 years now, I have stopped assuming that someone is mad just because they are yelling.   It did take me a full 2 years (and even now and then) to realize that Xhosa people just like talking very loud and even though they sound mad, they rarely are.  And this woman was proper-yelling!

All in all, I was only guessing, and now hearing the word "surgery" and perhaps "infection", I was gathering enough to know that this woman needed prayers.  I first thanked the Lord that Xhosa is sprinkled with English-like words that help me follow along in these types of situations, but also thanked Him that He knew her needs more than any of us ever could!

And as the Xhosa staff listened and ministered to her, I quietly prayed and cried out to God on behalf of this woman and her family.  She was an important woman in the community, I found out, while she dashed out of her home to go get her neighbor lady who had a terrible illness.  She described it as something similar to tuberculosis.

And then it happened.  Her neighbor was also sporting the same facial mask as her.  I had to double bite my tongue again and well...

Let me completely honest, as I have grown accustomed to be with you, when I say that in that moment I also prayed for my own safety and physical strength against this terrible disease.  I felt guilty for my own selfish reaction, although very human, and resumed my prayers for this frail lady.  As I prayed and sensed an overwhelming darkness, I feared her ailment was possibly more spiritual than physical and in my soul I began to pray and intercede on her behalf.

I have often prayed for God to give me wisdom, to give me eyes that see what He sees.  For Him to give me a heart like His.  Yet for some reason, every-time a moment like this happens, where I feel like the Father is showing me glimpses into a person's soul, showing me how He sees this person, somehow I'm always surprised!  Did I not just pray and ask for that very thing?  Then why, oh why, am I surprised that my Father is answering by showing me these things and allowing me to feel such deep emotions and compassion?

Our Heavenly Father is so good and so compassionate, and loves deeply and freely.  He lavishes His love on us.  And when I'm overcome with a flood of love for a complete stranger, I know it's from my Father in Heaven.  He gives me words that I could never know to speak in such foreign situation. He gives me insight that I wouldn't have on my own.  As a girl from a far away land, I shouldn't dare speak up yet He empowers me.  He makes me bold.  He speaks through me when I choose to completely abandon myself to Him and trust Him.  I sometimes feel foolish, like I might not be saying the right thing, yet time and time again I see light and understanding from the other person.  That can only be from God.

So today I praise Him for the lady who had a strange facial mask on, who brought her sick friend over [to perhaps do another facial?].  For I have seen the Lord work in mysterious ways and perhaps it was more to minister to my soul than to theirs, but I doubt it.  He is so good.

Oh, and it turns out it wasn't a face mask.  It was...  a mix of white clay and Umemezi, that Xhosa women [especially older women from the Eastern Cape], apply to their faces to protect them from sunburns and harsh weather.  It is also used a "makeup" and regarded as a symbol of beauty by the women.  Now since our students are younger, I wasn't familiar with this practice, but now I know!

I'm not only seeing new things, but with the Lord's help, I believe that He allows me to see people differently.

Staff retreat blessedness

Mike and I (Marie-Eve) had the opportunity to go with our staff to a work retreat for 2 days and spend quality time together to dream, pray and refocus ourselves on this wonderful ministry the Lord has called us to.

Even with a broken toe, I attempted to participate in as many events as possible!

This nail challenged seemed nearly impossible, until we figured it out and gained speed at doing it :)

Jeremy became really intense and wanted to win so bad.

The pool was a relief as the heat was almost unbearable.

I was the saddest at not being able to do this rope challenge, but everyone did so fantastic.

Good kind of whirlwind

The last few weeks have also been packed with ministry events, times of teaching and speaking in local Xhosa churches.  There is so much to talk about, and I find myself lacking words to describe the whirlwind we find ourselves in!

Add to that the arrival of our family from Canada, and you've got yourself a beautiful chaos of laughter amidst profound ministry time that we have been having together.  It is so beautiful to share with them what we do here and to get to do it with them!

Boys on their way to go see our their cousins for the first time in AFRICA!

(We found a house walking distance from our place to host Mike's brother (Randy), his wife (Joyce) and 3 kids.  It's been a blessing to have them close by and for the cousins to bound together.)

Getting "new" hockey stick just the right size

Visiting the aquarium

Getting introduced to our Hope Africa staff

More staff, more people to love

Seeing on the map the areas where we drove through or walked through (in the township of Phillipi)

Seeing our hair school at Hope Africa

We had an amazing time walking the street of Phillipi, praying for people but of course I do not have pictures of those moments.  It is hard to describe how powerfully the Holy Spirit is working in and through our family during this time together in Capetown.

Another highlight was visiting Mawande's family in their home in a neighboring township called Mfuleni.  The hospitality we received was like nothing we had experienced before.  How beautiful seeing our 2 families, from completely different countries, background and life, come together for a meal.  That is real church guys!

Mom Fast helping getting the meal ready

The mamas and bride-to-be

Tata (grandpa) and auntie

Real tough Jets' loving boy

Mama and Mawande having a chat

The kids hanging out with the neighbors

Mike, Mawande's uncle & Mawande

Uncle Randy keeping the troops under control

Our beautiful host!

We have also started taking some very early steps to connect some of the white churches and Xhosa churches which is very very rare here, with the goal of building up and equipping the churches.

Who knows what next?!?  We await with such expectation!

You turned my wailing into dancing

Every Tuesday, a new local church we have made connections with called Upper Room, hosts a meeting for about 20-25 pastors from a variety of denominations and backgrounds for prayer.  The time is intentionally focused on 2 things: reading the Word and spending time in prayer.

Last week Tuesday, when we arrived at the church, we discovered that just the night before the church had been broken into and robbed.  Their sound system, camera, tithe and office computer were all stolen.  The front door was smashed and the office specifically looked like a bomb went off with the thieves having ripped apart every desk and drawer searching for things of value.  The pastor of the church was devastated.  His face was downcast as he felt so violated and understandably so.  No matter how often this kind of thing happens here, one doesn’t get used to this feeling of being violated.

We stayed in contact throughout the week with the pastor and continued to pray for him and his church at Hope Africa.  

Another pastor from the meeting borrow him some equipment to host his service on Sunday.  As you can imagine, his church people were very angry.  So much so that they wanted to curse the people who had done this and take justice into their own hands.  This pastor now had a unique opportunity to speak about God’s undeserved grace and mercy, using their own church experience as an example.  

The next Tuesday, we gathered together for prayer again at his church.  The pastor’s face was beaming and full of joy, as he shared how God ministered to his congregation on Sunday, and how just on Monday he was offered a sound system for a fraction the cost that it should be!  When the seller found out his story, he immediately offered to drop the cost by another 50%, a church member came forward and covered the other 50% and another of the pastors from the prayer group offered a computer.  So in 8 days, God had provided that which was lost, even in the midst of poverty!  Praise the Lord.

And His praises we sang at our prayer meeting.

Just a little weekly pastor prayer meeting... :)
Posted by Hope Africa Collective: Mike & Marie-Eve Fast on Tuesday, September 8, 2015

There are tears in my kitchen

It was a cold winter day.  The kind of cold day where you wonder if the Earth is still part of the Solar System (did you hear Pluto isn't a planet??).  The kind of winter without snow, however, cold enough that heat inside your home wouldn't just be a luxury.  The kind of winter South Africans know about and yet still build these uninsulated houses with bricks and mortar... and without adding central heating.  (It's gotta be a prosecutable crime by now?)

And there I was,
bundled in 100 layers,
crying in my kitchen.

Heat was emanating from my electric oven.  Which meant at this moment, we had electricity.  For that, I was grateful.

Still.

Tears where streaming down my face,
hands covered with flour,
unable to shake the feeling.

The smell of bananas pungent in the air.

My hands were moving along like a well-oiled machine.  My movements were rehearsed.  My work unaffected by the tears.  Peel bananas.  Mash bananas.  Beat eggs.  Measure the flour.  Cut down the sugar, no one will notice.

Tear drop.

Wipe face.

Mix the batter.
Smile.

Tears of gratitude streaming down my cheeks like white rapids.  I was standing on Holy Grounds, in my very own kitchen, listening to God whisper to my soul "well done servant".

I found myself, serving my Lord, with something I actually loved to do.  God had asked me to bake muffins (for pastor leadership training).

BAKE!!!

Making others go "oh! yum!".  Making their tummies happy.  Filling their bodies with nutritious food and perhaps some indulging too.  He had asked me to be part of setting a feast for Him.

And He had equipped me for this moment.  All these years bare-foot in the kitchen (which HAD heat...) were just practice time.  In fact, my God-given talent, had grown with years gone by.  And not because I'm awesome (although a factor?), but because this wasn't a talent I had buried in the sand.  It was a talent I have put to use, even when it wasn't so awesome.  And those are the talent the Lord chooses to increase, the ones we use again and again in faith that He can use anything for His glory.   And so this is the talent I cherish because I've put a lot of work, dedication and sweat into it.  I tuck it away in my heart and pull it out to bless others.  

Add vanilla.
Fold in the butter.
Chop the chocolate.
Mix until moist.

I was crying because as "little" as we sometimes make these things out to be, they are far from little. Our God, our Lord, calls upon us to serve.  YES.  That is a good reason to cry and be thankful, in the most basics of ways.  No shame in my game.

I'm baking for the King of Kings.  I rebuke the lies that it's not important.  The Creator of the Universe has equipped me with good hands, fabulous taste buds and a knack for baking.  So don't mind if I cook up a storm and bless others in this God-given way, while not even bothering to wipe the tears streaming down my face.  I'm standing on Holy Grounds.

What talent is the Lord wanting to increase in you today?  Because there are tears in my kitchen for you too, for when He whispers into your soul "well done my servant".

South Africa speedz "tshomi"

8 days in South Africa are just not like 8 days in Canada.

It's a whole different SPEED.

But first, what a HUGE difference coming to South Africa is this time compared to 18 months ago.  Leaving wasn't easy, but now when we arrived, we actually know the person meeting us (Terry our director).  He greeted us with big hugs, not knowing we were covered in vomit (air sickness is a thing, apparently).  Bless his heart.  Or "shame" as they say in South Africa (even when it's not shameful at all.  Go figure).

Vincent "sleeping" on airport chairs

Even thought we were UBBER jet lagged and exhausted, this felt really different.  We knew the roads that we are going to travel on, and we moved back into our house!  In many small ways we have adopted and gotten used to the South African way of life.  Or at least it feels familiar, and that's an awesome feeling.

Jet lag is for real

And it wouldn't a welcome to South Africa without a few simple things going wrong.

Car dead...  Getting it revived by merciful friend Peter

But it doesn’t take long for us to realize that even though we are more familiar now with our surroundings than we used to be, there is still much for us to learn, especially about life in the townships.

We landed here on Thursday the 13^th, and spent the next few days recovering from I don't know...  a 2-day-sleep-deprivation-marathon.  The following Monday, Mike went back to work with ridiculously red blood-shot-eyes and started a new Faith Discovery Group.  I don't know if anyone noticed how "terrible" he looked (he is always handsome, I'm just kidding).

He writes:

"What a huge privilege to come back to SA and join a new Faith Discovery Group class. I love being able to present the good news of Jesus and seeing how God uses these times to build His kingdom.  Sometimes this is difficult, as we saw in our faith discovery group class last week. 

There was one student the same age as me (33), and she came to me to ask if she could leave early one day.  I asked her what she needed to go and do, and she tells me that she had to go to the hospital because her daughter had just had a miscarriage.  My heart broke for her, and we spent time as a class praying for her daughter during this difficult time of loss.

Later I couldn’t help but think how grown up many people have to become in the townships.  She is the same age as me, and yet she is already a grandmother!  She is the same age as me and she needs to already be learning and adjusting to a new role/responsibility in life that many people in Canada wouldn’t think at all about until they are much further along in life.  She is coming to study computers so that she can hopefully get a job, so that she is able to take care of her family.  I am also really encouraged by how her fellow classmates are caring for her at this time.

Each day of Faith Discovery Group, as we went through the life and teachings of Christ, it was awesome to see how God was moving and preparing hearts.  On Friday we spent a lot of time talking about John 3, and what it means to be born again.  Praise the Lord 3 out of our 14 students stepped forward to follow Jesus for the first time.

Then at our first FDG follow up group last Wednesday, 2 more of the 14 also decided to repent of their sins and turn to Christ!  I don’t think I will ever get used to ministry here in South Africa, my expectations are sadly too low of God.  So I pray for more faith, I pray for faith to believe that God really can change many, that he can the townships, that he can change the city, and that he can change the country of South Africa.  As Jesus said in Luke 18, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”  I need so much more faith about what God wants to do; his plans are just so much bigger than I could ever dream.  How amazing it is to serve Jesus! 

Challenges and blessings seem to happen much faster here than at home, in just the first 8 days since being back here in SA, we have this huge joy and privilege in ministry, and the heartache of a hurting family.

Please continue to pray for us as we share the gospel and minister to the Xhosa people in Cape Town."