Gotta love this lady!

There's a great deal of work being done at Agnes's House right now. We are so grateful to Chris and Amy and their team from the US, Matt and Angela and the STAK club for their generous support, Lincoln and Jenny for all their hard work, GM South Africa for their continued support of the monthly programs, and especially Mama Agnes for the love she pours out to the children in her community. Derek and I have had nothing to do with this building project other than to watch it all take place and absolutely marvel at what God has done for this woman, her home, and the children involved. Derek and I have been so privileged to be apart of this grass roots work from the beginning, but truly God does what God does like no other and we are floored by His heart for Agnes and the children in her care. We are celebrating today and praising God for Agnes!!

Wednesday Bible Studies

Right now my Wednesday morning Bible study group is studying Esther and the evening study is doing Breaking Free. Both studies are by Beth Moore and are amazing. I love them so much and what they inspire the women to seek from God in their own lives as well as the lives of those in their sphere of influence.

Without sharing names I thought I shared some of the praise reports we've had lately: New houses, healthy children, sleeping children, healing in children & siblings, new jobs, spouses seeking Christ, eyes being opened to areas of bondage, awareness to addictions, healing in marriages, salvation of immediate family members, new ministry opportunities, and many, many, many answered prayers!

It is a privilege to lead and teach these groups and I love my time with all these women, but my greatest thanksgiving right now is for the prayers of the people and the response of God. Thank you Lord for each woman in these groups. Bless them Lord and pull them even deeper into your presence. Give them the faith and courage to trust you with their whole lives.  Thank you Father for Beth Moore and all who produce these Bible studies. Hold them tightly in your hand and continue to pour out your grace and favor. And thank you sweet Lord for caring so much about every aspect of our lives and your constant readiness to hear our hearts and lead us into our destinies with You. You are a Blessing like no other!

Wisdom and Love

As God brings us into deeper relationship with people we are discipling it is so hard to know how to write about it on a blog. I mentioned that to my aunt recently and she told me to rather focus on what God is doing in us and what we need from Him to do the work He gives us. I thought it was a great suggestion and this is my first attempt.

As sinful beings we can easily get trapped in areas of bondage and strongholds meant to keep us from living the abundant life God has planned. Jesus died to set us free from all areas of captivity, from every stronghold, from slavery to sin. Every day we are teaching and praying with people wanting to be free but stuck in the same old patterns and that makes it pretty easy for God to show us a few of our own areas of captivity.

Lately, He's revealed issues in us we thought were gone but aren't. He's revealed things we thought were still there but we now realize are under our feet and Praise You Jesus for that! And He's revealed things we hadn't seen or were afraid to look at. We know what He's doing and the grace and love we feel for Him because of it is precious. There are people in our life who are hurting and broken and lost. There are people in our life trying to hold onto God but who spend 24 hours a day in a ungodly household with an ungodly spouse. There are people in our live struggling to cast off areas of sin and walk at peace with God and themselves. There are people in our life wrestling over the issues of forgiveness and love and sadly bitterness and anger are winning. But all of that, ALL of that, falls under the shadow of the cross. Jesus lived that we could follow His example and be able to talk to Him about anything. He died to take all our sin away and free us from the bondage it creates. And He rose again and defeated every enemy we have - sin, death, and the devil.

We're not afraid to dig into our issues. We're not afraid to tackle the issues of those we are discipling. However, we are terrified of attempting it in our own strength or understanding. We need Jesus. We need Him everyday to fill us up and teach us about life and how to live it. We need Him to speak through us and bring deliverance to His people. And we need His love to overwhelm us for the people He places in front of us. And you can imagine we need prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. And the people we are working with need prayer. I can't name them here, but God knows their names and we ask for you to please lift them up to Him. Much love! D&R

Wow, it's May! When did that happen?

I know the expression "time flies" but seriously, is it truly May? How did that happen? We started this year with what felt like a shotgun start and having been racing ever since. However for those of you who know us best, I am thrilled to say we've also rested in between the laps! We've learned the hard way that without the rest we aren't worth much and this year we've grabbed it when we've been able. Some things have fallen by the wayside and that includes this blog, our taxes, lots of admin, snapfish updates for family (so sorry Mom), and a bit more.

So for today I just wanted to say thank you to our friends and family for praying for us and remembering us. God is awesome! Ministry is awesome! Family is awesome! God is busy. I have no other understanding for what is happening around us other than our God is jealous for the hearts of His people and jealous for the lost to come home. He's doing something constantly in so many different areas and lives and we are standing in shock at how it's coming to pass. We are amazed by Him. Salvation is here and salvation is coming for so many in our midst and we are absolutely delighted. I've got lots of pictures and updates to add to catch us up for the year, but in the mean time please keep praying for us and for the lives He touches through us. We need His grace, His humility, His love, and His wisdom every single day. Much love, Derek and Rebecca

Faith Station: Ruthless Trust

Our church produces a monthly devotional called Faith Station that is emailed to anyone requesting it as a pdf file. The writers are from our team or contacts our elders have made over the years. Most of the recipients are people from around the country who have taken our courses. Derek is responsible for assigning the writers and overseeing the design through to the mail out. This month was my first one to write and the title is Ruthless Trust. I've done topically studies of trust before but for this the Lord gave me such an incredible idea of which I will be eternally grateful! He led to look at major events in the Bible and study His way of teaching mankind to trust from a Biblical theology perspective. I have been a nervous wreck during the design and mail out process, but am thrilled with what God has shown me personally through studying His word. My sincerest hope is that it will be a blessing to the faith of anyone who reads it.

Green ID Book

On December 22nd I received a message that my green ID book had been finalized and was ready at our local Home Affairs office. Within 15 minutes we were all loaded in the car and heading downtown. We're so thankful to finally have this ID book! When the offices open again I'll go back to the licensing department to see about getting my Texas license converted. I'm long past the due date and they have the right (and possibly the obligation) to make me retest in South Africa, but my hope is that they will do what was originally told to me and simply convert. I've been driving over 20 years but the thought of testing makes me very nervous. The average person here fails their written and driving test several times before passing. Derek played a role in exposing corruption in the department about 7 years ago as workers we knew were being failed until they were willing to bribe. Our local department has been shut down twice for corruption since we've lived here. So as you can imagine, I am praying for God's favor in every way imaginable regarding my license.

I love Christmas in Africa!!

We are truly blessed. In one fun filled weekend we are surrounded by Derek's family, our church family, and our missionary family!

Christmas Day started bright and early with the kids opening gifts and then off to church we went. I love Christmas carols and am now thoroughly accepting of singing and sweating at the same time. I love Christmas in Africa!! It's usually hot enough to swim and the kids love spending the day with the family God has surrounded them with. We had a great day with this bunch of American missionaries. They are wonderful friends and we love them dearly!