Wow! Has it really been a month since our last post?? When last we left you, faithful reader, we were preparing to start Beat the Drum, which, by the way, was absolutely incredible! Our whole team gave everything they had for the entire community as they visited people door-to-door, went to high schools to show the movie, and ran afterschool programs to even get the word out there. By the end of the week, testimonies were being given left and right about the great things that God had done. Christina and I were so proud of how hard our entire team worked!! The Lord blessed them with so much strength that by the end of the week they were actually MORE energized than they were when they started!
Then we moved right from there into “Family Week” with UCSA, another ministry with a base here in J-Bay that we have some great relationships with. We played host to our team from Johannesburg that week, which brought the number in the house up to 30 people! Needless to say, coziness was the theme for the week as everywhere you turned there was another mattress to step over. Thankfully, Christina and I were asked to housesit that week for some people in YWAM who have a wonderful house about five minutes from our own. In addition to the king-size bed that we slept in the entire week, it was also really nice to have some time to spend in our own space.
Along with the packed house, we were also able to take part in the conference itself, which mostly consisted of some great talks by a couple of AIM guys who were able to share their hearts about the power of the Holy Spirit as Healer and Redeemer. The Lord moved in some mighty ways in and amongst our team during that week, and has really spurred us all on to learn about spiritual warfare and authority.
Finally, last week was a shorter week of ministry, as we gave the students our own version of a “Spring Break.” After such hectic weeks, they really needed the time off, and most of them spent the time relaxing around the house and getting refreshed. Christina and I, however, had our sights on more “important” matters. The Ironman Triathalon came to Port Elizabeth (a much larger city about an hour east of Jeffrey’s) on Sunday and we decided that we wanted to be a part of it! No, we didn’t actually swim, bike, and run, but we definitely cheered on those who did! After getting up at 5:30am, we left our hotel room (another night by ourselves!) and walked down to the pier to get a bird’s eye view on the crazy start of the entire competition. On the whistle at 7am sharp, 1,700 athletes ran down the beach and jumped into the ocean to begin a 3.9k swim. Upon seeing that entire leg, we went back to our hotel room to clean up and check out, after which we found a great spot to cheer on the competitors during the biking leg (another 180k). After two hours of that, we walked down to the main area to have lunch and made our way down to the finish line to cheer on the winner, who crossed at 3:30pm, after he finished the last leg, a full 26-mile marathon! Probably what was most amazing to us was the mood that so many of them were in as they crossed the finish line. Granted, the ones that we saw do triathalons for a living and are in phenomenal shape, but I still have no idea how they were able to do anything more than crawl and gasp across that finish line! Amazing! Beaming from ear to ear and running with more vigor than they jumped in the ocean with a whole working-day time before, they completed a task that many get tired just thinking about!
And now we’re on this week. “Normalcy” has returned, students are back in their ministries, and our time here in J-Bay is winding down faster than we even want to realize. What we’re really trying to focus on now is handing off leadership (where possible) so that things can continue at the same level of excellence once we leave, and finishing strong. We are confident that the Lord will keep on doing amazing things down here, and can’t wait to let you know all about it!
