This has been an exciting week, and it is only Wednesday evening! On Sunday evening there was a celebration of the conclusion of the "Forty Days of Purpose" project at the organizing church, with a number of congregations and their pastors in attendance. At one stage the pastors went up to the microphone and gave testimonies about what the project had meant to their churches. All of this was done in Afrikaans, so I practiced the art of "listening in the Spirit" (it's surprising how much you can pick up that way). When they were done (to my surprise) the organizing pastor called me up from the back of the room to say something to everyone there, so I talked about the devotionals and their purpose, i.e. being available for use by those who could not afford the book. After the meeting a pastor who works with blacks asked me if they could translate it into Tswana for the poor. All I could do was smile and say! : YES - that is exactly the purpose for which they were written.
As many of you are aware, I felt a calling to come here as a teacher to young, black pastors. Having been here two months, I have been VERY grateful for the doors the Lord has opened for me, but also curious about when something of the original vision would happen. Last night there was an organizational meeting for this years "Transformation" conference in Rustenburg. [This requires a little background. In 2001 there was one venue for this movement, in Cape Town. In 2002 there were 7 or 8 stadiums in South Africa, and last year there were between 70 and 80 in many nations in Africa. This year, on May 2nd, there will be more than 300 throughout Africa, with many millions in attendance. The theme is 2Chron 7:14 - prayer and repentance, calling on the Lord to forgive the sins of Africa and heal the land.] There were many pastors in attendance, including a young (age 35) black pastor named Edward (see attached picture of Erton, Edward and me). I met him in a prayer huddle at the end of the meeting. After that he approached me and said that he felt from the Holy Spirit that there was some connection between us, and wanted to spend some time with me. He gave me a lift home and took my cell phone number. Tod! ay he called and wanted to come over. He ministers in a town some distance from here called Sun City, sort of South Africa's version of Las Vegas. He is from the nation of Cameroon [see attached map]. He planted a church in Sun City about two years ago, and it already has grown to about 200 members and has spawned 3 or 4 satellite congregations. He has a vision for teaching black Africans, including specifically getting help from one or more Americans in producing high quality teaching materials and presentations on the computer, for use throughout Africa. I showed him some of my "stuff" on the computer and he pleaded with me to help him. All I could do was smile and say that doing just such things is exactly why I'm he! re. As if that wasn't enough, on Monday night he had a dream in which he had a meeting with an old friend of his - an American with a big beard (he showed me a picture of the man, named Roger). But, in the dream the man's beard and hair were snow white. He told his wife about the dream Monday morning, and then who should he meet Tuesday night but the very image from his dream - me. So, next week he is coming to our Monday evening meeting, after which I will go home with him and spend Tuesday and Wednesday with him in Sun City. The vision is coming true. And beyond even that, the pastors of Sun City are working on putting together a "Forty Days of Purpose" project as was done here in Rustenburg, and he said the devotionals I wrote would be very helpful to them.
Last night while I was at that meeting our optometrist friend (and creator of www.goodthingsfree.com) Hans took Erton and Lydia to the provincial hospital to pray for someone he knows who was in a coma. Several others also came, all the way from Pretoria, where the man has relatives. Well, a real prayer meeting broke out, including the head nurse of the ICU, and this morning the man came out of the coma. Praise the Lord! Lynn and our neighbor Audrey went to pray for a young woman dying of AIDS this afternoon, and Lynn led her to the Lord. If she is cured of her AIDS you can be sure I'll let everyone know.
I'm preaching on Sunday, and next Thursday the 'Fresh Bread' course starts, so I'm definitely keeping busy. The pattern of beautiful weather, with rain several times a week, has continued, so the reputation of Rustenburg as hot and dry in the summer is completely ruined. It is absolutely beautiful here - everything that isn't green is flowering in even prettier colors. There are streams flowing in the desert and water pouring over the rocks. Today there was more peace and joy here in the Mission house than ever before. I know that the Lord has even bigger and better plans than anything we have seen - but it is actually hard to imagine. I have finally seen what "the abundant life" is really like. Hallelujah! God is so good!
Love from Africa,
Lary
