We are about one month in our house, and still without a telephone. I spoke to a fellow a few days ago who said that he was 2˝ months without a phone the last time he moved. Kind of discourages moving, but sometimes you just have to do it. We are very happy that we did, despite the various hassles.
We are doing a seminar near Rustenburg in one week, and will also again be on national radio tomorrow. We are also booked to be on again near the end of the month, and on each occasion we will announce new seminars to be given here in Pretoria. We are quite blessed to have these opportunities, and look forward to meeting lots of new people. The first new seminar to be given will be on the Scriptures as the heart of the Spiritual Bride. The New Covenant promises that our Father will write His Word (literally His “torah”) on our hearts, but for years I never encountered any clear teaching on what this really meant. Simply, it means that we will be like a new bride, with no greater desire on our hearts than to please our Beloved by doing what He wants us to do. And what does He want? The first and greatest commandment is to love Him with all . . . just, all.
Of course, one of the ways that we express our love for Him is by ministering to the needs of “the least of these”, e.g., the homeless, orphans, etc. A few hours after we are on the radio tomorrow Louise and I are meeting with the top managers of the social services department here in Pretoria, specifically on the subject of an orphanage for boys. It currently exists, and has what ought to be reasonable funding, but it is not doing well at all. Louise especially has had a heart for an orphanage for a long time. There are 20 boys now living there, ranging from pretty young to almost 18. I really don’t know what Father has in mind for us regarding this, but it is never right to limit His ability to take care of people He loves, no matter who He chooses to do it. So, we shall see. My only idea (?) is to take the post-puberty boys to the gym and try to exhaust them. Brilliant, huh??
Philadelphia Fellowship is now blessed with a good group of children every week; at the last meeting there were 10. (See photos of two of the children and of me with one baby - not mine). Yesterday Louise brought the message, so when she finished presenting to the children it was time for me to take them away. The good news is that everyone survived, despite the attempts of the older boys to find ways to end their lives through various exploits. I am SO glad that there are people who are called to be children’s pastors. Now, all we have to do is find one who will work for free . . . .
Louise has been holding a sort of after-school-school for two weeks now, teaching Hebrew and the Scriptures. The children just love it. One of the mothers loves it so much she stays with her children the whole time. She sits on the little-bitty chairs and goes through all the work along with her kids. Then she takes everything home and teaches her husband. I guess they just doesn’t want to be left behind. Henry, who is five (see photo), comes early and leaves early, since he is sort of special. The remarkable thing about the photo is that it is not blurred, which is how he usually appears on account of his perpetually rapid motion. The truth is that he is very sweet, but is just a good bit younger than the others and so it works better not to try to mix them all together. I guess that’s why most schools have grade levels and all that. Huh! Now it is all starting to make sense. They are all learning a lot, and especially love the Hebrew. Pretty soon I will know substantially less than children 40-50 years younger than me. Maybe I need to start sitting on the little-bitty chairs, too. (Poor chairs).
We are enjoying our house more and more, and one of these days will actually get a bed for the “spare bedroom”. When we do we’ll make a big announcement, and then start booking ya’ll on a rotating basis as you come and visit. We may need to find someone with a large vehicle we can borrow to bring the groups and all their luggage from the airport, but we’ll find someone or something. Start saving your money!!
Love from Africa,
Lary and Louise