'BE THE CHANGE'.. Life in Cape Town so far!

Before I kick off, I want to thank each of you for your messages and emails etc etc! I really have not spent time replying as yet.. I will, I will.. but may this blog serve as an encouragement and an update! Yes I know sometimes it ends up a little long but at the same time, only read if you have time and feel the urge.. J More than you know I appreciate your love, your friendship and your prayers! Blessings to you..

“Welcome Home!”. That phrase we usually use when RETURNING BACK to our place of belonging. And yet, it is a strange reality to realize that I have instead been welcomed to a new place, which will now become ‘home’. The past 25 days have been active, vibrant, busy, meaningful, powerful, surreal and full. From day one I knew that I knew that this is the place that God wants me to be. And even though there are still things I am learning, procedures to be understood, people to meet, relationships to be built, ministries to grow, there exists a ‘sweet spot’ when regardless of all that, you know that at least in this very moment, I am where He wants me to be! It’s not necessarily ‘easy’ but there’s nowhere else I would rather be.

2 weeks ago Gareth Stead came to speak, and among other things he reflected on Adam’s life, where in Genesis it reads ‘God took him and put him.. (in the garden)’. He didn’t ask for Adam’s approval, nor try to convince him of how good it would be, No, God took him and put him! The same is said for Joseph whose master ‘took him and put him’ in prison! And ‘what man intended for evil, God used for good’! In a similar way I feel like God ’took me and put me’ here! This is God’s placement, not mine and because of that one thing, I know that He has a purpose and a plan for me here in South Africa.

On Thursday 29th January I arrived in Cape Town to find out that my Pastor, Anthony had been admitted into hospital with chronic pain in his neck and down his back. Resulting from a surfing accident 5 years ago, his neck and back were now saying ‘enough’. With compressed vertebrae and pinched nerves, it was time to get it ‘fixed’. So on Tuesday 3rd Feb, Anthony went in for surgery, with an expected recovery time of 5 weeks! For a guy who is always on the move this has been quite the adjustment. He at this moment in a neck brace and slowly getting back to his normal active self. Vision Sunday was moved from 1st Feb, to this Sunday 1st March (while several individual staff meetings have occurred in his living room). But God is on the move! He has a plan! And God always has a purpose in events such as these! So as a church, we are excited to hear how God has envisioned Anthony for the year ahead and empowered him to lead us in that God-inspired vision. Our mission statement for 2009 is BE THE CHANGE! When the disciples were faced with a crowd of over 5000 hungry people, Jesus responded to their state of anxiety with ‘YOU FEED THEM!’. Often we see the need and hope/ask/pray that God would meet the need by those who are ‘gifted’, ‘qualified’, or ‘trained’, and yet to his disciples Jesus said ‘You feed them’.. ‘YOU be the change that they are searching for’! And that is our mission.. to BE THE CHANGE!

My transition into church life, staff roles, youth leadership and building relationships has proven to be surprisingly smooth and natural! Yes as I said earlier, there is much to learn and understand, but more than that, there is an overriding peace and excitement that God has deliberately put me here for ‘such a time as this’ to serve his purposes in this current generation. I feel ‘at home’ in church, within the staff, with the youth, and here in Cape Town. That is not to say that I don’t feel the effects of being away from my family back home, because I certainly do. It is one thing to go away on ‘trips’, knowing that you will return ‘home’, but to re-locate to another continent for the purpose of establishing life there long term is very different and new for me. In many ways it still feels surreal and I often catch myself thinking ‘Am I really doing this? Did I actually leave Australia and move to SA? What on earth am I doing here?’ Lol. But in those moments I must come back to the assurance that God said GO! Like he told Abram to ‘leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you’, I feel that God has required the same obedience from me – to get up and leave.

I am grateful that this firm confirmation from God was not only revealed to me but also to my family. As difficult as it was to say ‘goodbye’ they released me to go, knowing that my obedience to God had to come before my own personal desires (like spending some time back home with them!). I feel supremely blessed.. Only God can allow a family to be so close, and yet release each other with such freedom, knowing that God is God and bridges the gap while apart from each other. A sweet friend recently said to me ‘Bec, God’s will for you is God’s will for your family’. So I entrust them to God! (But I will say that technology is just fabulous! Skype/FB/sms/calling cards etc makes the contact all the more convenient!)

While writing this I am sitting in my ‘granny flat’, situated in Bantry Bay, Cape Town about 5-10 minutes drive from the church. A sweet couple offered for me to stay in their granny flat, under their house.. It started out as a temporary arrangement, but I'm trusting that God will lead the way ahead. All I know is that for now God has placed me here.. deliberately.. intentionally.. for a purpose! God is good! And nothing is a coincidence or ‘plan B’ when He’s in charge!

As for buying a car, that is still a Work in Progress! For those of you who have read my previous blogs, you are probably thinking to yourself ‘Bec, it’s not about the car!’ lol.. yes thank you! But I am trusting that in the next week or 2, I might have found one! Maybe God is teaching me the lesson of dependence upon others and the humility it takes to ask.. and ask again.. and again! Sweet people have been absolute gems! – always willing to pick me/take me home! I have also enjoyed the 40minute walk to work when the weather has been good.. and the walk home certainly gives my legs and rear end a work out! Bantry Bay is quite elevated, overlooking Sea Point.. so my trek home, feels more like a mountain trek, than a casual stroll! But I can’t complain – Cape Town is a beautiful place to be!

So this brings to me to why God brought me here in the first place! The youth of Sea Point! Wow, what a journey it has been so far. My first meeting with my leaders occurred 3 days after I arrived and I just knew that there was treasure lay hidden and potential waiting to be released! It was as if we ‘clicked’ from day 1. I love them! ..And I am passionate about investing into their lives and setting the stage for each individual to explode in the fullness of what God has placed within them!

There are 12-15 key leaders who have committed themselves to the youth of this city. Yes we have much to learn and much to grow into, but what an exciting reality it is that ‘God’s eyes search throughout the earth, looking to strengthen those whose hearts are set on Him’. My prayer is that as God looks across the city of Cape Town, that his attention would be arrested as he looks upon this group… These are the future leaders of this country! May they not settle for what the world would throw at them or let their confidence be crushed by the weight of pressure around them. But may they stand firm, rise up and take hold of the power that God has placed within them by His Spirit!

Paul’s words to Timothy continue to speak ‘Don’t let anyone look down upon you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity’. God uses young people!! When Jesus fed the 5000 (yes by now you know I love this story!) he said to his disciples ‘YOU FEED THEM’ (thanks Sean!), but where did that food come from??? That’s right – a boy! As I journaled this passage on Friday it hit me.. ‘Bec, those youth leaders that are right in front of you – they hold the key! Just like Jesus blessed the boys lunch, my prayer is that he would bless that which is in the hands of my leaders to ‘feed’ the multitudes!

I believe God wants to touch this city in a powerful way! Do I feel that the task is too great! YES! Do I feel like small David standing before the mighty Goliath? YES. Do I feel that it is impossible for me? YES. .. BUT!.. Do I believe that God is too small for a miracle? NO! Do I believe that God can’t work with my limitations? NO! For his power and strength is made perfect in my weaknesses! David’s confidence was in His God, no giant was greater than his trust in His God! I want to be like the disciple Andrew who ‘spoke up saying ‘here is a boy, with 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish..’. That might seem simple to you, but he had enough faith to speak up, offering that which he had to offer! In the same way, I feel like I am saying to God ‘There are hundreds/thousands of youth who are spiritually hungry! The task is so great, the man power, seemingly small. But Lord, here we are.. use us!

I believe change is on God’s heart, but with that change I believe the evil one is freaking out! He is threatened by the potential of what God wants to do in and through his Church! And so we as the church are certainly being tested. Without delving into great detail, we had a major shock this past week with Lorenzo, one of the key church leader/planters in Mozambique dying suddenly from viral meningitis. He was only 22 years old, married with one child and another on the way! A major shock especially for those within his church. Please pray for Anne-maree, the Australian woman who planted the church up there 10 years ago and her husband (and baby) as they seek God’s direction and depend upon His comfort at this time.

Also, back here at home, one of my youth leaders, Inez is currently in ICU in a critical condition. Her body is fighting a tough battle! She has low blood platelets, causing her immune system to weaken with any infection. Her lungs are struggling and she is not able to breathe on her own.. they tried taking her off the ventilator but her body did not respond well. Her liver and kidneys are also fighting an uphill battle. She is only 17! God calls us to pray for healing.. so join with us! With just one word he spoke the world into creation, and with one touch he healed the blind, the sick, the broken. Do we demand healing? No, but we are asking for healing and calling on God to magnify his greatness and glorify Himself through Inez’s life! So please pray with us.. there are other areas of testing but I know that God is on the move and he is refining us, molding us, growing us and stretching us to be the men and women of God that He has created us to be!

There is much more on my heart to share, but I think this blog is more than long enough for one sitting! Wherever this finds you, may you approach this new day ahead with a deep and unshakable assurance that God is here! Jesus loves ‘showing up’! Thanks to Mark Burchell who preached tonight, he gave 3 examples of God showing up! In the midst of FEAR, he appeared to his disciples in the upper room declaring ‘Peace be with you’.. In the midst of the FIRE, he appeared with Daniel in the furnace as his protector and ‘fire-proof’ shield.. And in the midst of a FIX he showed up in the prison, releasing the chains of bondage and opening the gate to freedom! When Jesus shows up, lives are transformed, chains are broken and hope is restored!

May we trust in the unlimited, unfathomable, unchanging power of God! ‘It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery’ (Gal 5:1)..

BEC*