Blessed Relationships

Robin and I have just returned to the US after 3 weeks in South Africa. We were incredibly blessed by the time there which absolutely flew by. Unfortunately due to some struggles with internet access I was not able to post a real-time update on our trip the final 2 weeks. So I want to give a brief synopsis of some of the highlights of the rest of our trip that included.

• Sweet reunions with our home cell group from Norwegian Church and so many other friends in South Africa
• The miracle of finding a new flat in town at the right price for Debbie, Rachel and Nunus; seeing their joy in having a better and more secure place to live
• The Ugu AIDS Alliance meeting during which Two Tunics and the other members shared their programs and mapped out who's working where in the Ugu District
• Our visits with Doug and Suzy Hufton to Moi at Sinekhono Project and Cornelia at Jesus Christ Cares Ministry
• Our precious time with Sharon Jones, our dear friend and manager of the Genesis Care Centre on her return from England on the day of our departure
• And most especially 12 September 2010, the day Rachel and Nunus (our "adopted" nieces) prayed to invite Jesus into their lives as Savior and Lord as we shared the gospel with them

The event of this last bullet will certainly be the most enduring memory of our trip and the one with a certain eternal impact. The amazing growth we have seen in the girls over these last 4+ years has been incredible to be a part of. (We also celebrated Nunus' 8th birthday during the trip.) The seeds planted through the commitment to get them weekly to the Norwegian Church services and children's church, the children's Bibles given and read with them, the Scripture Union camps and the gospel message shared with them last March have, through the watering and nourishment of the Spirit born fruit for a harvest now. God is good!

In my previous post about the first week of our trip I mentioned the word or theme that stood out for me was "progress". Progress that brought me a little taste of heaven. As I reflect on the highlights of the last half of our trip listed above another theme word is clear. That word is "relationships". Every one of the highlights listed above involves a very important and precious relationship that God has brought into our lives since he first called us to South Africa in 2005.

God is a God of relationships. He accomplishes His purposes through the relationship of His people with Himself and with other people. The Bible is full of the stories of relationships of God with his people and their relationships with one another. God initiates a relationship with us and then pursues it. As we respond and enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, He grants us life, faith, hope and love. And that love must be lived out in our relationships with other people. God has blessed us with incredible loving relationships with so many people in South Africa. Being with them again was such a blessing to us and another foretaste of heaven.

A Taste of Heaven

We have had a busy and blessed week since arriving in South Africa on Sunday. It has been great having Sandra and Douglas Shuff here with us this week from Northview Bible Church in Spokane. Sandra has been a part of two short-term mission teams that have served here with Two Tunics in 2008 and 2009, while it is Douglas's first time visiting.

Some highlights of the week for me:

• Worshipping at the tin shack church of Pastor Amos in the Mkholmbe shanty town
• Sweet reunions with the staff at Genesis Care Centre and many other dear friends
• Sandra's "Jesus Loves Me" presentations at 3 of our community creche (preschool) partners
• Home based care visits with Amos and Busi - humbling, disturbing and uplifting at once
• Seeing the "investment" in projects like Nokukhanya and Sinothando Creches bearing fruit (especially Lindiwe's teaching of the children and Pas's garden in a bag)
• Oh, and let's not forget lunch at the Waffle House and dinner at Edelweiss (it hasn't been all work and no play)
  

One of the words or themes that stands out for me this week is "progress". When one is here full time working in the community, frustration over lack of progress can become an everyday experience. The positive changes that do occur is so slow and incremental that it is easy to overlook them. Now returning after nearly 6 months away (our longest absence in 5 years) and with Sandra return 18 months after here last visit, it has been encouraging to see much evidence of positive changes around several of our partners.

I've already mentioned Nokukhanya Creche with Lindiwe's teaching of the children ( Two Tunics is providing her training through TREE) and Pas's incredible bag garden (Two Tunics provided "seed money" and training through Tim Barratt a local farmer). There are also many children Sandra remembered by names and faces who were sick, dull and full of rashes before who are healthy and vibrant now (thanks largely to good nutrition Two Tunics supplies through Food4Africa and Feed the Babies). And a man with TB lying dying on the dirt I saw during home based care visits in March is now sitting up, eating and interacting with his family (thanks to support given to family to consistently administer his medications and much prayer).

Yesterday I was reading in 2 Corinthians 5 and was struck by verse 4 which speaks of the mortal or dying being "swallowed up by life" (NIV). Paul was speaking about how through Christ, although our mortal bodies are dying we have future heavenly living bodies. But I was struck by the evidence I had seen this week that even while in these mortal bodies awaiting our desired heavenly dwellings, we can experience little pockets of life swallowing up death and hopelessness. This happens as each of us follows and serves Christ in the way he has been called. And I believe God is glorified whenever and however death is "swallowed up by life".

I thank God for the foretaste of heaven He has given me this week.

Gazing Godward

No I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, just off the face of internet publishing. Not that anyone will have noticed or certainly had their life impacted negatively by my absence. And yet I still feel the need to apologize if only to myself. God doesn't want my apology, only my repentance so I will offer that as well.

Since I last posted:

• South Africa hosted a successful World Cup - congrats to Spain but I was pulling for the Dutch - (commiserations Alfon's and Marco
  
• The 4th of July was rained out in Seattle


• Summer came to Seattle on July 5th and still hasn't left - "yeah!" (see picture below of Robin and Debbie on the ferry from Seattle)


• Two new members joined the Two Tunics board - welcome Debbie Tucker and Doug Hufton, our St Louis connections


• My daughter turned 28 (don't tell her I told you)


• We started attending Mars Hill Church at the Bellevue campus


• My wife Robin and I have enjoyed 4 more blessed months with our grandson Mikah (see picture below gathering eggs in Vicki's henhouse)


• The work of Two Tunics in South Africa goes forward thanks to Onnie, Debbie and our 9 amazing community project partners as well as all our faithful supporters
  
  

All the stuff above was good stuff. Well most of it - we'll forget about the 4th of July in Seattle. But somehow through it all I didn't feel like I had anything to share here. It wasn't like God wasn't using this time and teaching me. We have loved the teaching at Mars Hill. And God has used The Pursuit of God by Tozer in some deep places in my life. But day to day I think I have struggled with the separation from the work I still feel called to in South Africa, even knowing without a doubt that this (Seattle) is where God wants us to be for a time.

Now as I resume this blog I think back to why it started - sharing a faith journey. The title of this blog comes from a description by Spurgeon of faith as "slender wires". That description still rings true in my life and I think always will. Now another description of faith has come to me as well by Tozer. Faith is the "gaze of the soul upon a saving God". As Tozer says "looking and believing are really the same thing". We direct our attention where we look. And faith is not a looking once, but a continuous gazing, a "habit of inwardly gazing Godward".

I think maybe during this time I have been looking in the wrong direction. Not all bad places - in the Bible and in good books, but not continuously at Him. And too much at myself. The eye never sees itself, and so faith is occupied only with the Object upon which it rests. I need to continuously practice looking away.

Getting back to the final bullet point above. In 2 days Robin and I will leave for another 3 week visit to South Africa. We have much to accomplish there both personally and for Two Tunics. It will be good to be back but I'm sure hard as well. My prayer is that as we go we will be gazing on Him.

South Africa Trip Highlights

It was so good to sleep in my own bed last night. Especially after 3 weeks in a small bed in a hot room and our 33 hour trip back to Seattle. These last 3 weeks in South Africa have been busy and hard but incredible in so many ways. Unfortunately due to the busy schedule and shortage of access to the internet I have not been able to post regular updates on the progress of the trip over the last 2 weeks. So I will try to give you the highlights now and fill in some of the details at a later time.

Some Trip Highlights
In addition to delivery day and the church dedication in Eastern Cape I wrote about in the previous posts, here is a partial list of other trip highlights.

1. Meeting with the management committees of the community projects of Two Tunics' 9 key community based partners: These meetings were one of the key objectives of our trip. Two Tunics is committed to responding to the needs related to AIDS and poverty in a way that enables each person to fulfill God's purpose for them. We want to be about sustainable solutions that build upon local assets (people, knowledge, skills, and resources) rather than just offers short term relief. We really believe that real solutions are to be found in the local community and especially the local church (Christian people not institutions).

We have selected 9 key community projects to partner with in a more developmental, non-paternalist way that does not perpetuate unhealthy dependence. Our meetings were such a confirmation that we have selected the right projects to work with. Each of them is led by a person or two that have incredible hearts for people in their communities, especially the children. Cornelia, Thabile, Dumisani, Busi & Lindiwe, Pas, Evelyn, Bonisile, Moie, and Amos are names of some of our heroes. While we often get the thanks, these people are the ones doing the hard work of caring for the needy in their communities and sharing Christ's love on an everyday basis, with little or no support at times. We believe in these people. We are privileged to be a part of what they are doing.
Meeting with Sinothando Creche management committee.
Pas is in the center holding the child.

2. Spending the day with the Grace Church short term mission team: The South Africa mission team from Grace Church in St Louis overcame incredible adversity, and I believe attacks of the enemy, in serving God last week. After spending two nights in airport hotels in Mpls and Atalanta due to flight delays, they arrived 2 days late and without their luggage. Having their mission cut from 7 to 5 days just seems to give this team a greater urgency and determination to overcome any and all challenges as they jumped in to serve in schools, creches, churches and communities. They spent one of their precious days in South Africa with Two Tunics and God used that time to bless us all.

Grace Church has partnered with us in supporting Busi & Lindiwe and their Sunnyside Creche in Murchison. We had a great morning at the creche loving on the children (the parachute was a big hit) and making plans together for further improvements to the facility. Then Pastor Amos took the team on several home based care visits. The team got a close up look at the impact of poverty and AIDS on a few of the thousands of affected families in the area. I believe God did a work in hearts of many on the team during those few hours. The team also had a powerful time of worship and prayer with each family. Finally, the afternoon ended with a visit to Pastor Dumisani's feeding project in Gamalakhe township, which included the distribution of shoes to needy children. As always the singing of the children blessed us all. Hearts were stretched, challenged, full and overflowing at the end of the amazing day. Grace Church team visiting poor families outside the shack home.
Grace Church team distributing new shoes to children at Dumisani's feeding project.

3. Having a chance to catch up face to face with our South African friends: Robin and I loved being together again with our South African home cell group on a Thursday evening. Also spending time with dear friends like Sharon Jones, Athena and Dougie, Pauline and Simon, Ami, Pastor Trevor and Helene and so many of our friends at Norwegian church. Meeting with staff at the Genesis Care Centre over tea was special as was being able to meet with Dave at Genesis, Clement at Positive Ray, Chris at Gibela and all our Ugu AIDS Alliance partners.

Having 3 weeks to enjoy times with Debbie and her girls Rachel and Nunus was also very special. They are family to us. It was amazing how the girls had grown in just 4 months! Whether it was going to church at Norwegian's, going out to lunch, swimming and a picnic at the beach or shopping together for Rachel's birthday gift (her birthday is on Easter this year) our time with them was precious. Picnic by the beach with Debbie, Rachel and Nunus.

4. Visiting a Zulu church started by pastor Amos meeting in a shed in the Mkholombe shanty town: As we met with our community partners we began to hear stories of several strange happenings in the communities, especially involving children and the schools. Children are falling down crying in the schools, often saying they are seeing dwarf like creatures. Some schools have had to be closed for the rest of the day. The high school age daughter of one of our partners has been plagued by disturbing appearances and attacks at school. We are convinced that many of these happenings are the result of spiritual warfare. God is doing a work in this area especially through many of our community partners and God's enemy is bringing opposition. This is strange stuff to us and not in the realm of our usual experience. Pastor Amos leader of Jesus' Voice Kingdom Ministries, one of our partners, has been called out with other pastors to pray at the schools and with affected individuals. Pastor Amos has a lot of experience with these things that he says are the results of the activities of demons. Much of this is related to the traditional African religious practices of the culture.

As we met with Amos he shared with us the work God was doing through the church he had started in Mkholombe a shanty town on the outskirts of Port Shepstone. People, many who have been plagued by spiritual attacks are responding to the gospel and experiencing incredible deliverance. The church which meets in a small 3 sided shed has grown to 150 people. They have started building another larger "shed" to meet in but don't have funds for the roof. Amos asked us if we would come and visit the church on Sunday and see the new building. So Sunday after attending nearby Norwegian Settlers church in their large hall with the new even larger church building going up next door, we and our friend Athena followed Amos on the short dirt path-like road to a little shed with sounds of amazing voices singing praises coming from it. We then walked down a narrow path to the site of the new church "building". The wood poles with slats forming walls were already overgrown by tall weeds and could not be used for church meetings in this hot sun (or frequent rain showers) without a roof.

Following the sounds of praise back to the existing "church", space was made for us on the crowded benches under the shade of the roof. Dozens of others crowded around the opening of the shed in the beating sun. For the next hour we were blessed to worship, pray and share from God's word with this incredibly real, vibrant and growing church. God is using Amos in a powerful way to bring light and hope in this incredibly needy, dark and hopeless place. We are convinced that God would have us be partners in this work.

Watch this space for more details to come. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with on the day we visited Amos' church but he did have his and took some photos. I will hopefully get some from him via our South Africa office and post some soon. I also plan to give some more details about my thoughts and impressions as a result of this trip back to South Africa in future posts.

Returning to South Africa

Well, Robin and I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for the Seattle airport. Thirty some hours later we should arrive on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. This will be a 3+ week Two Tunics working visit. We are definitely not looking forward to the long trip or to the tremendous heat and humidity that everyone in South Africa has been telling us about this summer over there. But this trip is not about the weather and hopefully will be well worth the discomfort of the trip. I plan to use this blog to provide (hopefully) regular updates and insights on the progress of our trip.

The primary purpose of the trip is a little difficult to express concisely in a sentence or two but let me try. The bottom line is that we at Two Tunics want to ensure that the ministries and programs that we are involved with in South Africa are implemented in a way that empowers and equips the communities we are serving. One key way of doing this is to ensure that we are working through local partners in effective partnerships. We want to avoid paternalism ("we know what is best for you") and not create or perpetuate dependence ("we're poor and need your money/resources to meet our community's needs").

We do feel that from the beginning we have been participatory, relational and humble in our approach. We went in as learners and identified what locals were doing that was working and then supported that. But we still have much to learn about serving poor communities in a way that helps and not hurts both the poor, their communities and our witness as followers of Jesus Christ. Our Two Tunics board has recognized certain dangers and potential pitfalls that we need to be sure we avoid in our approach. Therefore we are going back to South Africa now to begin making needed adjustments in our structure and approach.

The decision for us to go back to South Africa at this time (only 3+ months into our "furlough") was made as a result of discussion around these issues during our board meetings in January. Since then I have read a book that moved my thinking about some of these issues to a whole new level. The book is called "When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself" by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert. I think it should be required reading for anyone doing or considering doing missions work (short or long term) in a poor community. It has really challenged me but also excited me. This is going to be a really hard road but the rewards will be great as long as we travel the hard road.

I will be commenting some more on this book in upcoming blogs but if you or your church are doing any kind of mission work in poor communities or you are supporting any organizations involved in care of children or the poor, I recommend you read this book. For now stay tuned to this blog for updates and insights on the progress of our journey these next 3-4 weeks.

Giraffe Prayer

This week is the 4 year anniversary of our move to South Africa. It has been an eventful 4 years but when I think back on it now it seems to have passed very quickly. Robin and I are preparing to return to the USA in November for a furlough and have many details to take care of both here and in the US to prepare for our time there. But after the last very busy 5 months working for Genesis we realized we needed to take a break here and get away for several days to rest and refocus. So we spent this last week in two cottages, one in the southern Drakensberg mountains and one in the the bush of northern KwaZulu-Natal. Our time was very blessed as we were able to relax and refresh in the the beauty of God's creation. (Although there were a few harrowing moments, but more of that later.)

Over the years I've done a lot of traveling and seen a lot of the world but there is something about being in the African bush that touches you in ways that few other places do. This week we stayed in a small cottage ("lodge" when you're in the bush) in the Kuleni Game Reserve near the large Hluhluwe Game Park. There are about a dozen small lodges in Kuleni but other than driving to and from your lodge it is a walking only game reserve. Obviously they don't have lion, buffalo, elephant or other dangerous game in the reserve.

Late one afternoon as we were walking in the reserve we had seen several animals including wildebeast, kudu, warthog and several small antelope. But we were hoping to see some zebra and especially giraffe. As on other occasions when on game viewing outings ("safari" doesn't seem to fit the occasion), I prayed to God, "God it would be so cool if we could see a ... (giraffe in this case)" And then as on other occasions I've always felt a little weird about saying those prayers. Is that really something I should be bothering God about? I know the Bible says pray continuously but does that including asking God to fill up my "Big 5" list?

This issue was on my mind because it had been brought up as I was reading "Walking with God" by John Eldridge this week. In it he talks about having this moment by moment conversational relationship with God. That seemed so right to me but when he talked about hearing "fish" when praying to God about whether to go fishing one day or to do something else, it didn't set just right with me. Does God really tell people to go fishing (for fish, not people)? Yea, I know Christ told Peter to throw his net on the other side of the boat but that was about demonstrating who He was, not about a nice day of catch and release on the river.

Well anyway I said the prayer, feeling a little weird about it. Within 5 minutes as we walked up a gentle rise in the trail through grass and low shrubs I looked off to the right and saw the tall brown form of a giraffe in the distance. We put the binoculars on him and we could see his face turned and looking at us even though he was a long way off. We continued on the trail as it rose gently and turned to the right. A small herd of impala were feeding on the grass and quickly darted off as we approached them. As we turned the bend toward where we had seen the giraffe Robin said, "look there are 3 of them". I said "no look there is another over there and look there is also a young one behind its mother". In fact there were 6 giraffe including the youngster clustered around the path ahead.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We were so blessed to be able to see these beautiful animals in their natural habitat, doing what giraffes do. They didn't seem to mind us being there. I believe God brought them to us to bless us. What I realized is that because I had prayed for God to bring us a giraffe, there was no way I could not give Him the credit. God wants us to pray to him about the desires of our heart, about the everyday issues like fishing because then He is revealed as the one in control of our lives. We rightfully have to acknowledge Him working in our lives. Otherwise we may be deceived into thinking things come our way by chance. There was no way we were going to come across 6 giraffes, right on our path by chance. Only by prayer. Thank you God!

Thank God for the Gospel

It's been a few weeks since I've posted. Life has been a little crazy over the last month or so. There are many big changes taking place at Genesis and I have been asked to take over more of the day to day management of the bulk of the programs and not just manage the medical care of patients in the Genesis Care Centre. I'll give an update on all of that soon but it has been a matter of much discussion and prayer as it impacts on all that Two Tunics is doing as a ministry here in South Africa.

What I want to share today is an experience I had yesterday at the Genesis Care Centre. I had been asked to do an interview with a Dutch radio station that is recording a series of programs related to the upcoming election here in South Africa. Election day is 22 April 2009 and this will be the fourth free national elections since the end of apartheid. It is a foregone conclusion that the ANC (the party of Nelson Mandela) will win the majority, probably by a 2/3 majority, and Jacob Zuma will become the next President of South Africa. He is the one who was recently acquitted of rape but admitting having sex with the young woman who was HIV positive and said he "showered afterwards in order to help prevent getting HIV". He has also recently publicly married a young woman as his fourth wife (he's married to all 4, not divorced and remarried).

The dutch radio station is going to include a program on the issue of AIDS in their election series and was quite interested in how those working with HIV/AIDS see Jacob Zuma's impact on the issue. But I don't want to talk politics today. What I want to share is about guilt and forgiveness.

As the reporter and I toured the Genesis Care Centre he asked if he could interview on tape a couple of the patients, all of which have advanced HIV disease. We proceeded to interview 2 women and a man on the wards who were quite open and willing to talk about the impact of their disease on their lives (knowing that the interview would only be broadcast outside the country). As we were speaking with the man, I will call him Vusi although that is not his real name, the reporter asked him about how he got HIV. He said that he had been having sex with many women at the same time because in his culture, one is seen as an important man if he has many partners. He stated he now realized that that is wrong and he has committed to changing his life style and realizes he must have only one partner.

Toward the end of the interview the reporter asked Vusi if he had children. He said he had 6 children by 2 woman (I'll call them his wives although I'm not sure if he is married to either). He said his youngest son was 6 months old and was with his wife. He was asked if his son and wife were healthy. He said his son was sick with TB. The reporter then asked directly if they had been tested for HIV. Vusi said both his wife and son were positive. The reporter then said "so you have given this disease to at least 2 other people". At that point Vusi put his head down and began to cry (something not common for a Zulu man in public). He said it was "very painful".

I was surprised by the directness of the reporter's statement as it wasn't a question and had a judgemental tone to it. Vusi did not seem offended or angered by the statement but rather demonstrated true remorse. At that point I put my arm around Vusi as he sat slumped over his bed. I shared with him that we are all guilty of many wrongs. The Bible clearly states that we are all sinners and equally guilty in the eyes of God. I shared that although we are all guilty we can receive forgiveness from God, because through Jesus, God has provided a way for us to be forgiven. If we turn away from our sin, repent and receive that forgiveness through Jesus, we can experience a new life of peace with God. That does not mean that there will be no consequences of our sin but that we will not be judged by God and can forgive ourselves and others.

All of this was communicated through an interpreter who then said Vusi knew the truth of what I had said because he was a priest in his church. I am not sure of the church and most priests or pastors of the local indigenous churches are not trained and are more or less self appointed. I encouraged him to speak to Pastor Abraham, the Genesis chaplain about what we had discussed and he indicated he has been talking with Abraham.

As I was speaking to Vusi, the reporter was listening and recording the conversation. He was quiet and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he a Christian? Had he ever heard the gospel message before? How would he or another non-Christian (assuming he is not a born again believer) have dealt with Vusi's painful guilt? I would be at a loss to deal with it if it were not for the gospel. Perhaps the conversation I had with Vusi will have a greater impact on the reporter than with Vusi (who apparently has already accepted gospel forgiveness).

I thank God for the answer he has given me for the pain of guilt that I experience in my life. I cannot imagine the pain of knowing I was responsible for the suffering, illness and possible death of my 6 month old son from AIDS. But I am also thankful that I have an answer to share for the emotional pain that is part of every HIV/AIDS patient that I see. Without it I am helpless and can offer little hope. Thank God for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A Visit to Sinothando Creche

Today's post will hopefully be a little lighter and more encouraging than the last. It will also be more of a story of our activities this day and an opportunity to hear about someone with an awfully big heart. More about that later but first a little background.

Since early this year Robin and I have been developing and implementing a Two Tunics' program to help support orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) that are being taken care of in their communities. These communities here in the Ugu District of KwaZulu-Natal are being devastated by the AIDS epidemic. 40% of women of childbearing age are HIV+ and as the epidemic matures women in their twenties and men in there thirties are dying at high rates. This is leaving thousands of children (more than 1.2 million in South Africa) without moms and providers.

Orphanages are not an approved or acceptable way to care for orphans in South Africa (as it is not in the US) and nearly all of these children are cared for in their communities by extended family or neighbors. But this often leaves the children vulnerable. Schools provide an important protection and safety net for many of these children. But for those younger pre-school children it is the neighborhood "creche" that provides this support. Many creches are started by women who have a heart to care for the children in their community. They often give sacrificially of themselves and what they have to provide a little something for the children. We have been finding these people and their projects (creches) and coming along-side them with some encouragement and support.

Today we returned to visit one of these women and her project in the township of Gamalakhe. Nomapasika (Pas for short) is a big woman with a huge heart. For about 2 and 1/2 years she has been providing daycare for up to 25-30 children in her shack of a home. Often the children's parents/guardians leave the children with her into the evening and on the weekends. Although she has little, she provides amazing care for the children. Anyone who visits is quickly aware of her love for the children and their love for her.


In the picture Pas is on the left with some of the children. This was taken a couple months ago as Robin gave her a new (used) crib for some of the many babies she cares for. The small shack in the background is the only indoor space she has to care for all of these children. When it rains (often this time of year) the yard turns to mud.



Today we went back to visit her creche to make a plan to provide her with a better facility for the creche. We hope to be able to help her build a 5x3 meter building with attached toilet and wash basin. Our friend Ian went with and has offered to act as the contractor and work with a local builder. Hopefully the work can get underway in January. We also hope to provide some playground equipment so the children have something to do during the day. As you can see in the picture on the right the kids are often quite bored.

In our work we must be very careful about coming into situations and trying to rescue or provide free easy solutions. But over a period of months we have observed Pas and the work she is doing and believe she and her project are the type deserving of Two Tunics help. We believe that our assistance will help provide loving care to many OVCs over the years. It will help Pas sustain the work of her heart to meet a growing need in her community. It is a priviledge to be a part of this work and thank you to Two Tunics donors who are making this possible.

Thread-like Faith

This week I was struck by the analogy of our faith being like "slender wires" used by Charles Spurgeon in his book All of Grace. It is easy for us sometimes to fall into the error of making our faith an idol. The power is not in the faith but in the God upon whom our faith relies. We are saved not by faith but by God's Grace (Eph 2:8). Grace is the fountain and faith is the conduit through which the fountain's living water comes to us. "Great messages can be sent through slender wires, and the peace-giving witness of the Holy Spirit can reach our hearts through thread-like faith." So often my faith seems thread-like. Praise God that "even though a hand may be trembling, it can still receive the golden gift".

These last 3 years in South Africa with Two Tunics have been an incredible faith journey (as well as the nearly 2 years leading up to are being here). At times it felt like I've was drinking from a large pipe as God overwhelmed with his clear and active provision. At other times it has felt like I've been holding on to a slender wire listening for and not hearing that "still small voice". Those were feelings of mine that changed. God, his plan and his faithfulness didn't change. My faith was ever thread-like and yet that was enough for God to pour out his grace.

I wish I had been more faithful over the years in journaling the stories of this faith journey. I am starting this blog as a means of recording my experiences living on a "slender wire" of faith. I hope it will also be a way to keep friends, family and supporters updated on progress and challenges of the work of Two Tunics in South Africa. I hope you will check back from time to time and be blessed as you do.