When did it become June???

Time has absolutely flown by during this outreach phase. In some ways it has been much more challenging than my experience in Cape Town, but in many ways it has far exceeded my expectations. Our team has had so many adventures (some planned, some very unexpected) and God has been so faithful through it all. Never in my life have I experienced God's grace so powerfully as I have this past month. I've also never experienced such clear guidance from Holy Spirit as I have during our time ministering in the communities. Our time spent meeting people and sharing with them never seems to be in vain because we are continually receiving confirmations that we are exactly where God sent us to be.

We left Cape Town by bus on May 1 and spent the weekend in Jeffrey's Bay with friends at our sister ministry, LXP (Leadership Experience). This is an intense, nine month discipleship and ministry program for emerging spiritual leaders in Africa. It's a very powerful program, and the fruit of it is extremely encouraging! We drove from J Bay to Mthatha, Transkei in a van borrowed from LXP, visiting a few friends of All Nations along the way. Our time in Mthatha was chaotic at first. During the third night our van was stolen from the front yard of the house we stayed in! It was a shock to the team, but we immediately came together in a time of worship. God restored our joy, giving us confidence that he had a plan, albeit different from the one we made originally. The first day after the theft my teammate Bethany and I took a long bus trip into Lesotho. Her visa needed to be renewed by crossing the nearest border, so we spent the weekend with our new friend and soon-to-be ministry facilitator, Godfrey, in the town of Butha-Buthe, where our second leg of the outreach phase would be spent. It was a blessing to get a sneak-peak of the community and ministry we would soon be involved with.

When we got back to Mthatha, Godfrey in tow, the rest of our team had adjusted to a new ministry plan and begun working in the community nearest our house called Zimbane Valley. We only had two short weeks there, but God moved powerfully! Not even mentioning all the amazing experiences of the rest of my team, I personally experienced leading Nceba to the Lord who was so excited to share with his friends, ministering to Ayanda who had suffered a miscarriage three days before we met her, praying for Nopiseka to accept Jesus and be set free of curses from her ancestors and witchcraft and be healed of a stomach illness, and rejoicing with 20 year old Thandaza, who is the head of his household, when he receieved a job the day after my team prayed for him after months of unemployment. God is so good and we felt so honored to be part of bringing the message of Jesus to these people and seeing them set free! These miracles we saw God perform in the people's lives highlight the deep needs of the community, however, so we continue to be in prayer for the new believers and the people we didn't even get to meet.

On May 25 we took a hired van from Mthatha to Ficksburg, which is on the border of Lesotho. We walked across the border with no trouble (praise God!) and entered the beautiful mountain kingdom. To be honest, God really worked on me personally in Mthatha and I had a very challenging time adjusting. This new season in Lesotho feels like a breath of fresh air after God brought serious breakthrough in my life during our last days in Mthatha. I am so full of the joy of the Lord and am experiencing fulfillment I never imagined possible! We are staying with a mentor of Godfrey's, Mme Moratoua, and our team is really becoming a family in this home. Our time in the community, Nkoeng, has been so encouraging and, as one lady put it, God has put such love and passion in our hearts for these people that we don't even notice the cold or the long walks to, from and around Nkoeng each day. During the week we visit with the families God leads us to and we have really enjoyed hearing their stories, praying with them, and encouraging them with scripture. On Saturdays Godfrey leads a program for the local kids where we play games, disciple them, and just generally love on them. We are all excitedly preparing for an overnight camp for these kids coming up on June 19-21 based around the theme of 'Foundations'. Our time here is just beginning, but we're trusting God for huge transformation in this community over the next five weeks. Thank you so much for your prayers for my team and our ministry, we are seeing the results manifesting powerfully. Please continue to be in prayer for us as we work with the kids with the aim of discipling them into passionate followers of Jesus, for the kid's camp, for our team's unity and sensitivity to the Spirit, and for the people of Nkoeng who are in deep need of the salvation, love, healing, and provision of Jesus Christ. For me personally, the joy of the Lord is my strength, so please pray I will continue to live out this truth!