Keep Pushing Forward

It has been amazing to see the Lord work over the past several weeks in the continued opportunities he's given us to minister to others. Several weekends ago, we participated in another virtual camp, this one geared toward young adults. This one was even better than the first with many who attended, small groups that we connected consistently with throughout the whole weekend, and of course and improved virtual camp experience as sorted out kinks from the first camp. It was so encouraging to receive feedback from many of the young adults who attended. Here's a testimony from a young woman named Whitney who share how this camp impacted her life.

"I'm very grateful for this...I've been on two sessions-Saturday morning and today evening. I thank God for the experience..I never thought 'online classes' [camp] was a thing until I tried it and it turned out beneficial.

On the topic of suffering, I learnt

-Not to escape from it but endure it because I have to endure it first to come out of it.

-Suffering reveals and builds character

-And when we escape instead of enduring We get the pain but not the prize

Today on religion, I learnt that its not your label that will make your religion acceptable to God. It's your conversations, compassion to others and your character. 'What you are under pressure is what you are'. We should be in the world (of course we are)..but the world shouldn't be in us. During the panelists...They were God driven - so much knowledge to share. From relationships to your salvation to knowing your purpose, integrity, [and] accountability. For your plant to grow (salvation/closeness to God) we should keep on watering it. Put boundaries. Lastly, in the campfire, that's where I ended my journey. I learnt about Moses [and] found out a couple of life lessons;

-To know my Identity..

-Evaluate yourself

-Be ready to suffer

*Is there a difference between you and the world?"

Our students, who have continued to live on our property since the beginning of lockdown also participated in the camp. It was awesome to hear the many ways they were also challenged and encouraged through the camp. 


This past Saturday, we had planned to hold our first Woman of Worth conference of the year. However, we obviously had to postpone a physical gathering due to continued government restrictions. However, still wanting to encourage and reach out to ladies, we decided to start a video series to share things the Lord has been teaching us, short devotionals, as well as useful resources to continue to encourage ladies in their personal walks with the Lord. We released our first official video on Saturday and were thankful to hear ladies respond with how they were encouraged by it. We are praying that we will still be able to meet physically later in the year but pray that God would use these videos in the meantime to continue to challenge and encourage women through this time. (To view our first video, click here.)

On another note, we are thankful to be able to return to the office now that the country has moved to level 3 of lockdown. It has been so nice to be able to see our WOLZA fam again and return to a somewhat more normal routine. We are planning some small camps for the month of July and look forward to seeing what the Lord will do as we continue to adapt and seek to reach out in the best way we can.

Thanks so much for your love, support, and prayers! We love and appreciate you so much. Please let us know how we can specifically be praying for you!

Please pray:

- that we would continue to trust the Lord and make the most of this crazy time

- that we would be an encouragement to people during this time and that the Lord would use it to turn hearts to him

- for our DTC students as they finish off the last 2 weeks of term 2

- continued discipleship relationships

- for wisdom & creativity as we move forward in our various ministries

- Small camps coming up in July

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Camps Near & Far

Image
It’s been a while since our last update and so much has happened since we arrived back from furlough. Thato took a trip to Zimbabwe to help with some camps alongside the WOL Zim team, we assisted with our church’s Holiday Bible Club (VBS) as well as a winter camp alongside one of the churches we partner with in the East Rand.    Our team also continued with our annual camps happening at Potchefstroom (True Word Bible Church) and Mozambique (Trichardt School). The biggest thing that has happened over these past few months though it that we welcomed our third baby girl, Aliyah Mphonyana (translated ‘little gift’ in Sotho) 3 weeks early. We are thankful for the smooth delivery of our sweet Aliyah on Thato’s birthday (June 4) The pastors cooking for the campers Zimbabwe I had a privilege to go to Zimbabwe after coming back from furlough to help teach at camp. The trip was great ias we were able to meet with Pastors and have fellowship with them as well as teach the word of God to ...
Read more

There & Back Again

Image
It's been a month now since we returned to South Africa and have been settling back into a normal rhythm. We are so thankful for the time we had on furlough to reconnect with friends, family and supporters. It really was such an encouraging time and though it was quite busy with lots of traveling, it was also refreshing. We started out our time with some downtime with our family over the Christmas holidays. It was a wonderful and special time especially since it was the last time we were able to spend with Ashley's Pop Pop before he went home to be with the Lord in March.  We officially began our furlough the first week of January as we caught up with friends and supporters and shared in churches in Abaco, Spanish Wells and Nassau (3 different islands). We were so overwhelmed by the love, generosity and care we felt as we visited with different people and churches. It was also encouraging to see God at work in each person's life and their own spheres. Our time in the US was...
Read more

Weeping & Rejoicing

Image
The Lord gives & the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. This last month has held some really high highs and some really low lows. There has been weeping and rejoicing. But through it all, we continue to say through tears and smiles, "blessed be the name of the Lord". Just a few weeks ago, Thato and I joyfully received the news that in less than 7 months, we would become parents to our first baby. We were ecstatic and so thankful for this gift the Lord had given us. However, the excitement was short lived. Just 5 days after discovering I was pregnant, we were told by the doctor that we had a miscarriage. Though we had only known about the pregnancy for less than a week, we were devastated to hear that we had lost our baby. We struggled to understand exactly why the Lord had allowed this but we continued to trust that He is good and faithful and that he would use it for our good and His glory. Our hearts still hurt but we are thankful for the Lord's lo...
Read more