If ye have love one to another

John 13:35...."By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another". A very simple, yet profound command by our Savior. I am afraid that we often overlook the importance of it and underestimate the power of it. Very few ideals have been distorted as badly as Biblical love has been, in our present day. Biblical love is not for sissy's. Biblical love is not about sensuality. Biblical love is not about spineless acceptance of all things. Biblical love is defined in I Corinthians 13. Biblical love between God's children, is an evidence of salvation to all the world around us. Today I watched a manifest token of such love between 3 brethren, that brought a tear to my eye.

After David and I finished a Bible study with Thomas and Kenyas today, David went to the car and pulled out a bag with 2 of his shirts that he brought to give to these 2 men. Now you have to understand that David is a South African and Thomas and Kenyas are from Zimbabwe. South Africans and Zimbabweans typically despise each other. David probably has less than 10 articles of clothing to his name, yet T. & K. have only one change of clothes. David has no job to buy any replacement clothes, but he saw 2 brethren with a definite need. Though he couldn't do much, he wanted to do what he could. He didn't ask me if I had an extra shirt or extra money to buy them something. He didn't ask what I thought about their need at all....he just took the initiative to give what he could to his new found brethren! It was a humbling experience to witness. Biblical love is truly only wrought in a man's heart by the power of Jesus Christ. May each one of us reassess our commitment to fulfilling God's love through us to those in need around us.

It's Heritage Day!

One of the joys of living in a foreign country is that we get to celebrate twice as many holidays in a year than we were previously accustomed too. Today is Heritage Day here in RSA....if you are interested you can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Day_(South_Africa). Though I have no heritage here in the culture or traditions of this country, I took the occasion today to reflect a little bit on the heritage that God has blessed me with. The Bible has a lot to say about a heritage. Two verses of note are, Ps 16:6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. and Ps 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD...


It just so happens that Heritage Day also coincides with my wife's spiritual birthday! She's 13 today....lookout we've got a teenager in the house:-). The first aspect of the goodly heritage that the Lord has blessed me with, is without question, my wonderful wife! She was the heritage given to her parents, by the Lord, and passed on to me with their's and the Lord's blessing. Most certainly she is the helpmeet that the Lord prepared for me and the mother that our children need. She is a Godly example of love, surrender, faithfulness, commitment, compassion, and patience. Without her, we could not be what the Lord has made us today. Without her, we will not become what the Lord desires for us in the future . I have every confidence that my wife will always desire to be exactly where and what the Lord wants her to be. What a blessing to have a wife that is saved and truly loves the Lord! Thank you Lord for such a goodly heritage!

Prayer Alert

Thanks to all who have prayed for us this week. The Lord has been so good to us. You already heard the great news about my daughter, now let me give you some more. We have seen 3 men from Motupa give testimony that they put their trust in Christ!!! Godfrey told me today that he was saved on Sunday night after he got home from the service. Thomas and Kenyas, both from Zimbabwe, met with David and I for a couple hours on Wednesday afternoon and both of them accepted Christ before we finished. Here's the exciting thing.....We reached David about 2 years ago with the Gospel. David led Fels to the Lord a couple months ago and began discipling him. Fels began working on many folks, one of whom was Godfrey. Together Fels and David worked with Godfrey to lead him to Christ. What a tremendous joy to witness these guys working for the Lord and passing that burden on to those they reach. Should be a great service on Sunday in Motupa!!!!! We are planning to baptize Fels....if we have water that is. We will find out tomorrow if they got the water fixed at the school where we meet, otherwise we will have to wait for another day....TIA:-).



Pray also for Silas and the village of Dan where he lives. We met with him last Sunday in lieux of beginning some Bible studies at his place. We are going tomorrow to meet with him and try to find some others who are interested in the things of God to meet with us for Bible studies on Sunday at his house. Please pray for the Lord's will!

Thanks for praying!!!!!

Anna Update...

Anna's urologist gave us a great report today! He was so very pleased with the results from the ultrasound, that he said no further tests are needed at this point. He said "This is exactly what I hoped to find." Her cystic kidney is less than a 1/2" in size now and continuing to shrink. No tumors or such kinds of growths were indicated in any of the other organs, and her good kidney continues to increase in size to make up for the one that is lacking. Given the circumstances, he gave us the best report possible today. They will continue to monitor her on a yearly basis with ultrasounds as they did today, for another 8 years. We are so thankful to our God who has been so gracious to us. Thank you to so many who have voiced assurance of their prayers and concerns for our little girl. We are so grateful for each one of you who included us in your thoughts and prayers.

Rejoicing,
George and Kristin

Here are a few pictures of the excellent Urology Hosptial in Pretoria. We are so grateful for Dr. Dirk Ligthelm and his expertise. He has been a tremendous doctor. From the very beginning - just 3 days after Anna was born - he has looked after our little girl and been available to talk on the phone whenever we needed it. God surely led us to you. Thank you Doctor!

Pray for Anna!

On Tuesday, Anna has her annual kidney check-up. We are so grateful to the Lord for the good health Anna has been blessed with these 20 months of her life. For those of you who may not know, our daughter Anna was born here in Africa (January 12, 2006) with one functioning kidney. And although the diseased kidney never has worked nor ever will, they must monitor it to watch for tumors, monitor it as it shrinks, etc. until Anna is 8-10 years old. All praise be to God that her good kidney is functioning over 100%; meaning that it is doing all the work for both!

When Anna had to undergo testing at birth, they mentioned that the tests might need to be repeated when she was older. We know that our little girl is safe in the Father’s Hands. We are so grateful for our Princess. Would you pray that they won't need to run all the tests again? They were so awful and invasive, they would have to totally sedate her (and her parents too). No fun, but whatever is best for her health. We will post updates via email and here, as to the report from her appointment.

In the Everlasting Arms,
Kristin

Culture…Familiar Places in South Africa

One of the most amusing things when visiting a foreign country has to be seeing American signs and products. Maybe it seems crazy to you, but we enjoy the McDonald’s in Pietersburg. There isn’t one in Tzaneen yet. We are told the story by the locals that McDonald’s HAD tried to come several years ago, but the bistro/produce market just outside of town by the similar name of MacDonald’s, filed a lawsuit with the American franchise. Apparently now, the dust has settled and McDonald’s has been given permission to open in our small town. Funny.

When you walk into McDonald’s here, it is identical to any you’d find in the States. The food, the packaging, the signs, the smells (which aren’t always good) – everything – is identical except the prices are in Rands (R) on the menu board! But honestly, I think it’s more the ‘American’ familiarity than it is the food… :o)

There are several other familiar places, businesses, and products around the country. Here are some ‘we’ have seen this term. In more westernized parts of the country, like Cape Town and Johannesburg, there are even more ‘familiar signs’, I am sure.

Avis Car Rentals
Hertz Car Rentals
KFC
McDonalds
Cinnabon (Pretoria)
Seattle’s Best Coffee (Pretoria)
ReMax Real Estate
Subway (Pretoria)

You will see brands such as:
Coke, Sprite, Fanta
Tab
Lipton Iced Tea
Oreos
Doritoes
Lays
Ziploc
Kellogs
Colgate/Palmolive
Dove
Pantene
Old El Paso Flour Tortillas
Hershey’s Syrup
Levi’s
Nike

However most times these are imported from USA, Canada, UK, or New Zealand and are the priciest options!!

We still have not forgiven the Castners and Heinzes who can get TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM in Chile. That is just plain not fair! :o)

Although these things seem small and insignificant, when you are in a strange land and culture, these are welcomed sights! Hopefully this was a ‘different’ perspective on our reality.

What do you Want??? Part Two

Ok....sorry for the delay here in getting to post part two. I know that you all have been waiting with bated breath to read the sequel to what a missionary is looking for and laboring towards in the people that he is trying to reach. So, here we go.

Last time we said that we are looking for a Certain People....i.e., a people that God has prepared to receive the Gospel. Next according to Matthew 10:7, "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand", we are laboring towards a Clear Proclamation. The message must be clear. We live in such a time where the message of the Gospel has been so murkied and muddled by so called churches and renegade 'preachers' that it is often difficult to give an understanding to people of what the Gospel is and why they must be born again. There is a Kingdom of heaven, of which Jesus is the King. The Kingdom of Jesus is coming to this earth, and all men must prepare to meet Jesus! Jesus the King demands subjection to His authority, and His command to prepare for the Kingdom of Heaven is to "repent and believe the Gospel" Mark 1:14-15. It is one thing to preach a clear presentation of the Gospel, but it is quite another thing to have your audience 'hear' a clear presentation of the Gospel. So many people have had a shallow experience with Charismatic religion, and actually have no idea what the Gospel is or what the Bible teaches, yet they are convinced that they are born again. One certain leader in a prominent Charismatic church was talking with one of our men this week, and actually took issue with him on the point that Jesus IS God. She had never been taught that doctrine, and couldn't believe it was actually in the Bible. It is a job that we must labor towards, to make certain that people are hearing and believing the Gospel of God, and not some devil-made, preacher-taught counterfeit.

What do you Want???

When we moved to our little spot on the globe 2.5 years ago, we knew NO ONE within a 4.5 hour drive of us, and the only people we knew there were other missionaries :-). The Lord sent us here to preach the Gospel, disciple converts, train leaders, and start churches. But where do you begin? What do you look for? How do you know where to go, where not to go, when to go, and when to leave? The task is more than a bit overwhelming, but with God's grace we dug in where we could. Through a process of events the Lord led us to begin working with some contacts that we made in the village of Burgersdorp. We met there with some men pretty consistently for the last 17 months, and this past weekend we had to make the most difficult decision that it was time to leave. I will spare you all the details, but I wanted to share with you some of the things that I shared with the fellows from Burgersdorp on Sunday, as to why we felt that the Lord would have us move on to other villages.

Matthew 10:5-6. There is a Certain People that we ought to be looking for. The Lord told His disciples to go specifically to the Jews first to preach the Gospel. There probably are several reasons for that, but one would most certainly be, b/c the Jews were a prepared people. For centuries they had the Prophets, and the Old Testament. They had been preached to by John Baptist, and had even met the Messiah face to face. You won't find a people that God did more for to prepare, than the Jewish people. However, prepared doesn't always mean that they will respond to truth. The Jews certainly did not. There are certain things that may indicate that God is preparing a person or a village to receive the Gospel, but that may not always translate into a person or a village that is willing to receive the Gospel. Prepared or not, the Gospel cuts across the grain of where we live! Nevertheless, we are looking for a people that God is preparing. A people whose heart God has opened. A people whom it is obvious that God is trying to desperately get their attention. We would do well to keep our eyes open for the fingerprints of God upon the lives of those around us. The best time to share the Gospel with someone will be when God is already working in their lives. They may not immediately respond to salvation, but you will have opportunity to share the Gospel in a way that they will never be able to forget....if you exercise boldness to step through the door.

Prayer Alert

Thanks to all who were praying with us on Sunday. We did meet in Burgersdorp, unfortunately Eddy was unable to be there, as he was sick, and we really wanted to talk to him face to face. Anyway, we clearly laid out why we had come to Burgersdorp and why we felt that it was time to leave. We are praying that the Lord will use this to get hold of some hearts in this village down the road. Keep praying for this place.

Sunday afternoon we had a great service in Motupa. David did a great job preaching on the Sower and the Seed. Afterwards, Thomas approached David and told him that he was lost and is 'ready' to give his life to Jesus. We are supposed to go and meet with him tomorrow afternoon at 3, we are praying that he will get saved! Thomas is actually from Zim., but lives over an hour from Motupa. He was sent to Motupa for a few months on a work contract with his employer, and started joining us for the services. He is due to return home again in December. God's timing is amazing!

Godfrey was present on Sunday afternoon as well. Fels walked home with him after the service and preached to him for an hour about how to confess his sins, repent, and believe on the Lord. I believe that Godfrey will be saved very soon! Fels has been saved for 2 months, and has already been a powerful witness for the Lord. On Saturday, he said that he had nothing to do, so he went walking around all day, looking for friends and acquaintances to give his testimony to and preach the Gospel! Lord willing we will baptize him a week from Sunday.

Thanks for your prayers, they do make a difference!

Fun with the Kuzels

For 'Labor Day' we spent a few days of R&R with Kuzles at a halfway point between us and them. It was a sweet time of fellowship and so good for the kids to interact with someone else their age - something they don't get much of!

Joel is 3.5, Alayna will be 3 in November, and Anna will be 2 in January.

Prayer Alert

Tomorrow looks to be a day of mixed emotions. In the morning we are to go to Burgersdorp one last time. We have labored here every Sunday morning for the last 17 months. We have had many different contacts come and leave again at some point. There are a few who still come but appear to be stubborn about their spiritual condition. When do you draw the line? I think that line is better left to be drawn by the Lord. At this point, we believe the Lord has given us clear direction to move on to other villages and preach the Word of God. Tomorrow morning we will be making it clear to the folks as to why we are moving on. Will you pray that God will turn their stubbornness into submissiveness to the Word of God? Please pray for Eddy, Michael, Roger, Maggie, and all the folks of Burgersdorp. What exactly is a missionary looking for from the people he is trying to work with anyway? We'll talk about that some more in another post.

In the afternoon we will be back to Motupa. Last week 3 of the men there indicated that they are in need of Christ. Yesterday one of those men, Godfrey, met with David and Fels to talk about his spiritual state. He said that he was ready to leave everything and follow Christ. They gave him some Scriptures, and said they would talk to him again tomorrow. Perhaps he is already born into the kingdom, perhaps he is still struggling. Will you pray for Godfrey, as well as Thomas, Kenyas, Samuel, Eddy, Peter, and others from Motupa??? Perhaps something is ready to break in this village!

We're Back!!!

I know, I know....some of you are thinking, "here we go....these guys start a new blog, post a lot the first 2 weeks, then, bang, they disappear.....probably won't hear from them again till January" Ok, well you probably weren't that hard on us, but I would have been if I were you :-). Sorry about the long delay in posting. We were out of town the first part of the week, and then we got home and our internet was out for a couple of days. Anyway, no more excuses....keep checking back, we got lots to catch up on.....Thanks for hanging in there with us.