September 24, 2009
Lately, all of us here at Hawane Farm, Hawane CLC, and Potter’s Wheel Church have sensed that a season is coming for the Holy Spirit to move. God has really been speaking to many of us about moving things to the next level. The mothers, youth, children and men who live and work in Hawane are ready for God to move them from a basic foundation of faith to a whole other dimension of faith. All of them, including me, are on various levels of spiritual growth, but God has communicated to us that it is time for a wave of growth in everyone. It has come up as a main topic in teaching; whether in cell groups, devotions, personal conversations, conferences or prayer. Even before I came, when I prayed to God asking what He wanted to see done in this phase of life at Hawane, He impressed upon me the need for deeper development, deeper knowledge of Scripture, and deeper connection in relationship with Him.
Last week’s cell group for the mothers was a prime example. Jane, the nurse on the farm (though her work far exceeds just medical care) had planned another topic but she felt that the Spirit wanted to give the moms a chance to be prayed over and be baptized in the Spirit. We ended up spending most of the time in deep worship; we prayed and spoke in tongues for those who asked for it, and a couple of moms were actually baptized in the Spirit. There was a strong feeling of moving deeper into God’s will and into His plan.
This past week was unusual because there was a Teen Challenge conference, which was a real blessing to all of us. One of the teachings was called “Discipline For Change” which was really geared toward Teen Challenge youth, but proved to be a valuable guide in working with the children and teens on the farm. We spent a huge chunk of time again at the mothers’ cell talking about specific kids that we felt needed help now, or were seriously struggling; what was the root of the cause, and how could we discipline for change. How can we move these children on? How does God see them? What does He want to do in their lives? What has been done wrong up to this point? How can we do better with the younger ones? Again, what was on all of our hearts was that God wants the seeds that have been planted to gain DEPTH; For them to really start moving into strong, independent relationships with God.
For my part, I have been trying to encourage the girls in the cell group to have daily devotions with God, and not to rely only on the weekly meetings and Sunday gatherings as their relationship. Jesus wants a sincere, independent bond between us and Him. Please pray that these girls (and the boys too!!) learn how INCREDIBLY important daily time alone with God is. Pray that their hearts are sincere and there is a real relationship with Jesus. We cannot judge this ourselves of course. The only thing we can do is follow the prompting of the Spirit in encouraging them toward the truth and praying.
I have been very touched by some of the girls. Their passion for Scripture, worship and knowledge of God is apparent and seems very sincere. May God use them to impact the others! There has also been a plan to hold a “sword drill” because a lot of the time they are struggling to find Scripture references during lessons. Some of them are more familiar of course than others, but it’s a good idea to really get them into it. Pray that the exciting thought of competition turns into a revelation in the heart and soul that knowing Scripture is precious and necessary to us in our walk with God.
On top of all this the Bible study for the women in the community has been going really well with those who have been attending. We normally have around 10 women. However, last week it dropped to about 5 or 6, but that Tuesday was horrible, dark and wet. These women walk for miles and miles so naturally on bad days not as many may come. Also one of them is pregnant and she fell ill; Jane and I went to see her and thankfully, so far, she is ok, as is the baby.
At first I thought the lack of attendance was a negative thing to be overcome through prayer and persistence; perhaps it still is, but I have gained a new perspective on numbers from the last study we had with just a few women. There were four women who have come whether it was dark or sunny, wet or dry, cold or warm. NOTHING has stopped these women from coming to learn about and worship Jesus. Their names are Mavis, Ester, Maina, and Jabu. They came every day to the retreat and have come every single day to this Bible study. Jane, Elizabeth (Pastor Augustine’s wife) and I have really gotten to know them very well; we take their prayer requests (already huge prayers have been answered), know about their families and lives, and we all feel very comfortable together. We have been able to grow RELATIONSHIPS with them. This is something that is difficult to do in larger numbers.
Maybe God is just trying to empower these particular women before the study grows larger. He is already working in them in very specific ways. I thank Him so much for all of them. They work day and night, in very poor conditions. They are tired, the kind of tired a lot of us could never understand. Some of them barely get the food they need to survive and on top of that they are fighting AIDS/HIV. Would we walk 5 miles in the cold, wet, mud and mist, when we have so much else to do and had a very thin meal the day before, were sick, and had to go with a cane, to a Bible study? Or if like one of them we had to carry children along with us? Or like two of them were over the age of fifty? Would we even think about it? God bless and look after these beloved few who will not be held back, or beaten down. Pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed; blessed beyond the curse. Many around here often say that Swaziland is a living pulpit for the Word of God. I can see why.
Please then continue to pray for growth, that all of these move on from milk to solid food, by the grace of God. Whether a mother on the farm, a teenager in TCMI, a member of the CLC church, a woman in the community, or those of us who are here working with them. We ask that God bring growth, and more real change; that there will be more anointing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Finally we THANK God for the incredible things He has already done and is doing now.
Written by Stacey Weneck who is serving in Swaziland until mid-December.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Reflections and Updates from Stacey
God is continuing to do incredible things in Swaziland. When the first outreach team arrived, our hopes were extremely high. We had spent months and months in careful prayer and preparation of a program initiated by Kevin Rutledge called Seeds For Swaziland, a week long women’s retreat taught by Cassandra Conger entitled A Christian Woman’s Lifestyle, and a week long set of men’s discipleship classes taught by Gary Miller. We believed that God would change lives, win people for his kingdom, enhance the faith of young Christians, send His Spirit to guide us, spread the gospel through the giving of much needed gardens, and strengthen the relationship between Christian Life Center and Potter’s Wheel Church, the Lighthouse, and Christian Life Community.
He did all of those things and more.
The Seeds For Swaziland effort was a huge success. Beforehand God had provided us with the best seeds we could possibly give to the recipients of four gardens. Pastor Augustine Boateng had chosen carefully which four homesteads would receive gardens, none of which were even a part of Christian Life Community Church. Then the guys on our team tilled the hard earth and cleaned it of rocks, planted, watered, and left three necessary tools with the head of the household. They brought many of the boys from Lighthouse care center to help them, and encouraged the younger boys on the homesteads to help their “go-go” (Grandmother). Grandmothers in Swaziland are often the hardest workers and provide for their grandchildren by feeding and clothing them, and sending them to school. It was important that the children learned how to work hard to support themselves and their grandmothers. Several of the homesteads began to go to church; frowns turned to smiles, cold attitudes warmed throughout the week. They were asked to share the eventual crops; which is something Swazis do not usually do. New relationships were established with each of these homesteads which may result in new believers. We have prayed that these gardens produce not only physical fruit but spiritual fruit, that God would bless each family and bring everyone into His kingdom. We also prayed that the gospel would be spread through the gardens.
God also truly blessed us through the women’s retreat. We had asked God to bring to us women who had repentant hearts, made of fertile soil, that would truly bear fruit; that they would grow, or that new women would turn their hearts to Jesus; that He would show them His love and lift them up. Before we left, we were cautioned that Swazi women, especially the Siswati speakers, would not open up immediately because in their culture women are considered little better than the eldest child and were often abused or put down for having opinions; that it would take at least 3 days for them to really talk to us. This advice came from people who had a long experience with Swazis, and we CLC women went into the first day believing that, but praying that God would at least get them to warm up at some point.
The Lord decided to give us far more. Not every woman opened up, but the very first day even the community women who did not speak English talked and responded. By the third day they were very, very warm to us, hugged us, asked us questions, and testified of the amazing things God has done in their lives to this very day and what they had learned at the retreat. It was overwhelming. They sang beautiful choruses, full of joy; they danced together, and even those who had not known each other coming in became friends and conversed. They prayed altogether in loud voices, crying out to God; the second day several women accepted Jesus for the first time or said they had wandered far from God and wanted to come back. They asked for Bibles, talked about arranging Bible studies, and laughed together.
They also admitted their sins, what they struggled with, what was difficult for them to understand about God, and many admitted things that really brought them pain. If one said they found it difficult to believe that God provides for every need, another testified how God provided every need for her. And so we encouraged them to build each other up and support each other.
Every day we all went in tired and drained physically and spiritually. Every day God met us there and totally blew our minds. What an incredible week. We learned that God can move in more powerful ways than we could have imagined. Our hearts were broken for these blessed women who felt pain, fear, and loss but reached out to God nonetheless.
Thankfully the guys on our team served the women lunch every day. This was a total shock to many of them as women usually do the serving in Swazi society. I remember Kevin told us that he prayed that by the end of the week, the fearful and ashamed frowns he saw in the lunch line would turn to warm smiles of a more confident heart. They did. Eventually they began perhaps to feel that these foreign men believed they were worth something, and smiled and joked with them.
Jane Walker and I have developed a new community women’s Bible study on Tuesday to open opportunities for the Spirit to do what He did during that week. Please pray that God continues to move in these women’s hearts, that just because the retreat is over and the team is gone, they won’t let go of the truth.
The men’s discipleship classes did not go as expected, but we thank God for every single life impacted, even in the smallest way. We know He will do good things with Gary’s efforts. The first day, no men came, but the number grew throughout the week, and some men even came on the following Saturday to ask questions. Pastor Augustine has realized the need to guide men as the spiritual head of the household, and so efforts are under way to develop a men’s Bible study along side the new women’s study. Please pray that a time can be decided on and then men will come and be equipped to change Swaziland for Jesus Christ.
On top of all this, God really blessed our team. I did not hear a single negative report or argument the whole time though we were all drained and very tired. Even those around us commented on how incredibly unified our team was, and that the Spirit was with us. Pastor Augustine confessed the last Sunday that he had never served women and was truly convicted and inspired by the willing ministry of Kevin, Eric, Micah and Gary, who served lunch even though they were fasting one day. Even though most of us hadn’t known each other before coming to Swaziland, we became like family. We cried together, laughed together, ministered together, and supported each other. All of this was clearly through the supernatural work of Jesus Christ and the love that He poured out to us. We praise God for that highly necessary work in our lives. When the team finally left, it was very hard for me; not because I wanted to leave, but because I loved them so much and wanted every single one to stay.
After several weeks now however I am very busy and life is in full swing. I love every face here and the thought of leaving already makes me incredibly sad. I’m really getting to know the mothers and children at Hawane CLC and people at Hawane Farm; So far I’ve been tutoring, playing with the children, helping with the girls cell, starting the new Bible study with Jane, beginning the TCMI computer class, visiting homesteads, and working on assignments from Pastor Kevin and others. Much more is still left to be done. This has been a dream come true for me and I have already learned so much I can barely comprehend it all. I hope I will be able to be as much of a blessing to these precious people as they have been already to me and others. I believe that God has truly blessed this place with leaders and followers who desire to please Him and exhibit the reality of His heart. Please continue to pray that God will shower Swaziland with His love and transform broken human lives.
He did all of those things and more.
The Seeds For Swaziland effort was a huge success. Beforehand God had provided us with the best seeds we could possibly give to the recipients of four gardens. Pastor Augustine Boateng had chosen carefully which four homesteads would receive gardens, none of which were even a part of Christian Life Community Church. Then the guys on our team tilled the hard earth and cleaned it of rocks, planted, watered, and left three necessary tools with the head of the household. They brought many of the boys from Lighthouse care center to help them, and encouraged the younger boys on the homesteads to help their “go-go” (Grandmother). Grandmothers in Swaziland are often the hardest workers and provide for their grandchildren by feeding and clothing them, and sending them to school. It was important that the children learned how to work hard to support themselves and their grandmothers. Several of the homesteads began to go to church; frowns turned to smiles, cold attitudes warmed throughout the week. They were asked to share the eventual crops; which is something Swazis do not usually do. New relationships were established with each of these homesteads which may result in new believers. We have prayed that these gardens produce not only physical fruit but spiritual fruit, that God would bless each family and bring everyone into His kingdom. We also prayed that the gospel would be spread through the gardens.
God also truly blessed us through the women’s retreat. We had asked God to bring to us women who had repentant hearts, made of fertile soil, that would truly bear fruit; that they would grow, or that new women would turn their hearts to Jesus; that He would show them His love and lift them up. Before we left, we were cautioned that Swazi women, especially the Siswati speakers, would not open up immediately because in their culture women are considered little better than the eldest child and were often abused or put down for having opinions; that it would take at least 3 days for them to really talk to us. This advice came from people who had a long experience with Swazis, and we CLC women went into the first day believing that, but praying that God would at least get them to warm up at some point.
The Lord decided to give us far more. Not every woman opened up, but the very first day even the community women who did not speak English talked and responded. By the third day they were very, very warm to us, hugged us, asked us questions, and testified of the amazing things God has done in their lives to this very day and what they had learned at the retreat. It was overwhelming. They sang beautiful choruses, full of joy; they danced together, and even those who had not known each other coming in became friends and conversed. They prayed altogether in loud voices, crying out to God; the second day several women accepted Jesus for the first time or said they had wandered far from God and wanted to come back. They asked for Bibles, talked about arranging Bible studies, and laughed together.
They also admitted their sins, what they struggled with, what was difficult for them to understand about God, and many admitted things that really brought them pain. If one said they found it difficult to believe that God provides for every need, another testified how God provided every need for her. And so we encouraged them to build each other up and support each other.
Every day we all went in tired and drained physically and spiritually. Every day God met us there and totally blew our minds. What an incredible week. We learned that God can move in more powerful ways than we could have imagined. Our hearts were broken for these blessed women who felt pain, fear, and loss but reached out to God nonetheless.
Thankfully the guys on our team served the women lunch every day. This was a total shock to many of them as women usually do the serving in Swazi society. I remember Kevin told us that he prayed that by the end of the week, the fearful and ashamed frowns he saw in the lunch line would turn to warm smiles of a more confident heart. They did. Eventually they began perhaps to feel that these foreign men believed they were worth something, and smiled and joked with them.
Jane Walker and I have developed a new community women’s Bible study on Tuesday to open opportunities for the Spirit to do what He did during that week. Please pray that God continues to move in these women’s hearts, that just because the retreat is over and the team is gone, they won’t let go of the truth.
The men’s discipleship classes did not go as expected, but we thank God for every single life impacted, even in the smallest way. We know He will do good things with Gary’s efforts. The first day, no men came, but the number grew throughout the week, and some men even came on the following Saturday to ask questions. Pastor Augustine has realized the need to guide men as the spiritual head of the household, and so efforts are under way to develop a men’s Bible study along side the new women’s study. Please pray that a time can be decided on and then men will come and be equipped to change Swaziland for Jesus Christ.
On top of all this, God really blessed our team. I did not hear a single negative report or argument the whole time though we were all drained and very tired. Even those around us commented on how incredibly unified our team was, and that the Spirit was with us. Pastor Augustine confessed the last Sunday that he had never served women and was truly convicted and inspired by the willing ministry of Kevin, Eric, Micah and Gary, who served lunch even though they were fasting one day. Even though most of us hadn’t known each other before coming to Swaziland, we became like family. We cried together, laughed together, ministered together, and supported each other. All of this was clearly through the supernatural work of Jesus Christ and the love that He poured out to us. We praise God for that highly necessary work in our lives. When the team finally left, it was very hard for me; not because I wanted to leave, but because I loved them so much and wanted every single one to stay.
After several weeks now however I am very busy and life is in full swing. I love every face here and the thought of leaving already makes me incredibly sad. I’m really getting to know the mothers and children at Hawane CLC and people at Hawane Farm; So far I’ve been tutoring, playing with the children, helping with the girls cell, starting the new Bible study with Jane, beginning the TCMI computer class, visiting homesteads, and working on assignments from Pastor Kevin and others. Much more is still left to be done. This has been a dream come true for me and I have already learned so much I can barely comprehend it all. I hope I will be able to be as much of a blessing to these precious people as they have been already to me and others. I believe that God has truly blessed this place with leaders and followers who desire to please Him and exhibit the reality of His heart. Please continue to pray that God will shower Swaziland with His love and transform broken human lives.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Outreach Team Returns Safe and Sound
On Wednesday, September 2, 2009, our Outreach Team returned home from a 14 day journey to Swaziland.
There were plenty of hugs and handshakes to go around as the team arrived in the baggage claim area.
Family, friends and several CLC staff members were on hand to celebrate the safe return and incredible work accomplished by the team. Despite the long plane ride home, there was excitement in the air as the travelers began sharing some of their experiences.
.JPG)
As we wrote previously, the focus of this team was on outreach. Through the women's retreat, men's discipleship discussion group and the Seeds for Swaziland project, we strove to share the hope of the gospel and the saving love of Jesus. Through their words and deeds our team planted seeds - spiritual as well as actual seeds. It is our hope that those seeds fell on "good ground"; that there are now people in Swaziland who have a better understanding of God's Word and who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will begin to grow and bear much fruit. (see Matthew 13: 1-26) Please join us in continuing to pray for those who were ministered to by this team. Through them, may the nation be changed for Christ!
There were plenty of hugs and handshakes to go around as the team arrived in the baggage claim area.
Family, friends and several CLC staff members were on hand to celebrate the safe return and incredible work accomplished by the team. Despite the long plane ride home, there was excitement in the air as the travelers began sharing some of their experiences.
.JPG)
As we wrote previously, the focus of this team was on outreach. Through the women's retreat, men's discipleship discussion group and the Seeds for Swaziland project, we strove to share the hope of the gospel and the saving love of Jesus. Through their words and deeds our team planted seeds - spiritual as well as actual seeds. It is our hope that those seeds fell on "good ground"; that there are now people in Swaziland who have a better understanding of God's Word and who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will begin to grow and bear much fruit. (see Matthew 13: 1-26) Please join us in continuing to pray for those who were ministered to by this team. Through them, may the nation be changed for Christ!
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