God has been doing some REALLY cool things at CLC and the Lighthouse lately. First, we had been working on getting one of the house moms, Nokuthula, ready to go to South Africa two weeks ago. Nokuthula is a very loving, kind, passionate woman of God who is an excellent mother to the kids in her house, and often volunteers her days off to come and help both Jane B. and Jane W. out in the community doing clinics.
It was decided that Nokuthula would go to school to learn nursing and how to use it to spread the gospel much in the same way both the Janes have been doing. After two days of rigorous interviews and testing (they once asked everyone to find the book of Abraham!) she got in! We were so very excited for her, and we know that God will do incredible things through her. Eventually, she will be able to do nursing work not only for the Lighthouse but also for CLC and the community clinics. Since she is a Swazi, she will be able to reach the people in Hawane region in a very special way. Please pray that she will not be afraid or nervous, but trust that God has a plan and will make her able to complete all of the courses set before her. Also please pray for the kids in her house. Since she will be gone for some time at school, a new house mom will be hired to watch over them.
The women’s Bible study is also going tremendously well. We have seen visible changes in the women’s attitudes. They’ve been bringing food to share without being asked, sharing and praying for prayer requests, and participating very well in the lessons. One particular house mother has been doing all the interpreting which has really boosted her confidence level, and last week she was so inspired by the lesson that she spent about 5 minutes preaching herself!
The week before, we challenged all the women to tithe something; whether it be time, produce from their garden, or work. One of the women decided to tithe her time because she had little else. So every day for a week she spent an hour and 20 minutes with God, praying and reading the Bible. Usually, this same woman sells candy, and often is not able to sell anything at all. She told us at the end of the week that after tithing her time to God, ALL of her candy had been bought and she was able to buy more to sell. What else can we say? God is faithful. We really hope that they will see this and continue to trust Him more and more with everything they have to give.
This week, the challenge to the women was to ask God to give them a vision of what He wants them to do. It could be small, like going to comfort a sick person, or huge, like becoming a nurse. This is to get them paying more attention and tuning their ears to the voice of God. Who knows what He will have said to them at the end of the week!
In the middle of this same study, Pastor Augustine came in and told us that some organization notifived him that they were going to feed ONE THOUSAND people in the Hawane area the next day, and that they needed his help to spread the word. Here we were, discussing how laying down your life to God opens the door for Him to pour out blessing and do good work....and God pours out a huge blessing on the Hawane area. Are the attitudes of the few who are growing in God already paving the way for the whole community to be covered in God’s abundance?
Every little thing in our lives that we surrender, every little choice we make for the good, comes against evil so that the Spirit will increase; not only for us, but for those around us. It seems to me this may be the key to winning the Swazis for Christ. And maybe, just maybe, tithing an hour and a half for a week could lead to feeding 1,000.
Written by Stacey Weneck - CLC's extended stay traveler to Swaziland. Stacey will be in Swaziland for another month.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Dead Man Came Out
A few weeks ago, we did a lesson at the CLC women’s Bible study on John 11, where Jesus raised Martha’s brother Lazarus from the dead. We looked at the story from two points:
- Jesus showed Martha that He was all powerful and had control over everything in her life, even death. We know from other stories considering this family that Martha was a bit of a control freak, struggling to serve Jesus and His disciples and even rebuking Mary for not helping her. In that story, Jesus lovingly taught Martha that spending time with her Lord and Savior was more important than physical labor. In this story, Martha had no control. She sent messages to Jesus long before her beloved brother’s death, but He did not come. Perhaps she felt like in the moment of her life where she needed Jesus the most, He wasn’t there. It wasn’t until four days after her brother’s death that her Lord finally showed up. In fact, when He commanded them to open the tomb she even told Jesus not to do it because of the potential stench.
- Second, even though Jesus was God Himself and the most powerful being on Earth, He exposed Himself to the pain and sorrow Martha and others were suffering. He even probably knew that Lazarus would live again, and yet He cried with them. Some translations say that Jesus sobbed with them. Ours is not a God who sits on His throne in heaven oblivious to our pain. He feels it with us, and felt it when He died for us on the cross.
A few interesting responses resulted from sharing these two points with the women in the study. We asked them, "Has there ever been a moment in your life where you felt like you had prayed and prayed for God’s help, and He just didn’t show up - and then suddenly He answered your prayer at the last hour?"
One of the women who comes consistently told us a beautiful story -one so close to her she couldn’t finish it because she began to cry. A few years ago, when she was pregnant with her youngest child and her husband beat her often, even though he knew she was with child. He rebuked her for going to church and was very spiteful. For a long time she prayed that God would change him, or save her from his violent actions. Time went on and on and God did not answer. She even told us that she felt like God was favoring her husband’s prayers over hers, because He gave her husband the power to beat her.
Then suddenly her husband began going to Hawane CLC church with her. He changed, and has even stopped beating her. To this day he attends regularly.
What an incredible testimony. Like Martha, this woman did not know if God would answer her prayer, but He did. He brought this woman’s husband back from the dead. He cried with her every step of the way when she cried, and in the end, the dead man walked out of the grave.
Please pray that this testimony will be one that inspires the other women in the group. Another woman in the group told us that she did not understand why Jesus would want to experience the pain that she feels in her life. We now have 26 women involved with the group. Not every woman is from Hawane CLC Church; some are from other local churches. Some are strong, some are weak, but God has provided all of us with brothers and sisters to be His hands and feet for us.
~ Stacy Weneck
- Jesus showed Martha that He was all powerful and had control over everything in her life, even death. We know from other stories considering this family that Martha was a bit of a control freak, struggling to serve Jesus and His disciples and even rebuking Mary for not helping her. In that story, Jesus lovingly taught Martha that spending time with her Lord and Savior was more important than physical labor. In this story, Martha had no control. She sent messages to Jesus long before her beloved brother’s death, but He did not come. Perhaps she felt like in the moment of her life where she needed Jesus the most, He wasn’t there. It wasn’t until four days after her brother’s death that her Lord finally showed up. In fact, when He commanded them to open the tomb she even told Jesus not to do it because of the potential stench.
- Second, even though Jesus was God Himself and the most powerful being on Earth, He exposed Himself to the pain and sorrow Martha and others were suffering. He even probably knew that Lazarus would live again, and yet He cried with them. Some translations say that Jesus sobbed with them. Ours is not a God who sits on His throne in heaven oblivious to our pain. He feels it with us, and felt it when He died for us on the cross.
A few interesting responses resulted from sharing these two points with the women in the study. We asked them, "Has there ever been a moment in your life where you felt like you had prayed and prayed for God’s help, and He just didn’t show up - and then suddenly He answered your prayer at the last hour?"
One of the women who comes consistently told us a beautiful story -one so close to her she couldn’t finish it because she began to cry. A few years ago, when she was pregnant with her youngest child and her husband beat her often, even though he knew she was with child. He rebuked her for going to church and was very spiteful. For a long time she prayed that God would change him, or save her from his violent actions. Time went on and on and God did not answer. She even told us that she felt like God was favoring her husband’s prayers over hers, because He gave her husband the power to beat her.
Then suddenly her husband began going to Hawane CLC church with her. He changed, and has even stopped beating her. To this day he attends regularly.
What an incredible testimony. Like Martha, this woman did not know if God would answer her prayer, but He did. He brought this woman’s husband back from the dead. He cried with her every step of the way when she cried, and in the end, the dead man walked out of the grave.
Please pray that this testimony will be one that inspires the other women in the group. Another woman in the group told us that she did not understand why Jesus would want to experience the pain that she feels in her life. We now have 26 women involved with the group. Not every woman is from Hawane CLC Church; some are from other local churches. Some are strong, some are weak, but God has provided all of us with brothers and sisters to be His hands and feet for us.
~ Stacy Weneck
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