A Chapter Ends

Charl left for Cape Town yesterday, which was a little bittersweet.  I realized how much I appreciated his friendship since we’ve been here, and it’s not just because he was the one person that would make me an iced mocha “the right way.”  The past week proved to be a great step forward in our friendship, and the Lord proved to be ever-faithful in that.

As I mentioned before, I felt a great sense of urgency when we got back from Swazi, knowing that there was a limited number of days for me to have the kind of conversation with Charl that I had wanted to.  There was a certain depth that I had not yet been able to reach with him, and I really felt like the Lord wanted us to get there before he left.  So intentionality had to be the watchword of the week.  I pounced on a chance to have dinner on Monday, and while I’m really not at liberty to give a whole bunch of details about that, when I dropped him off three hours later, I just had to praise God for the ways in which He moved in that time.  Was there a tear-filled cry for repentance?  Nope.  Were there obvious strongholds that were broken, resulting in shouting for joy and praise?  Not then.  What there was was a new sense of hope, definitely for me and I feel like for him as well.

I’ll tell you, though.  It was a scary time.  I had no idea how that conversation would play out – whether it would be well-received or if there would be bitterness and cold-shouldering as a result.  What I do know is this – the friendship that we had before opened the door for that conversation, and was the reason why there was no bitterness when we were finished. 

I would appreciate your prayers for him as he’s in Cape Town, as he’s left his community here, which includes believers and non-believers.  I have no idea what will happen to him there, but I am confident that God has him and will not let him go, which I couldn’t say beforehand.  We’ll see him again in Cape Town, which I’m looking forward to, and know that He will cause our paths to cross again.