God Space

Is "God Space" another cute Christian cliché? Or is it something real?

"God space" is real to me, and it was genuine for the man who first introduced me to the term. Dr. Bob, as he was called, was dying of leukemia. He was on his last missionary journey, just a few weeks away from death.

Dr Bob checked himself out of Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, bought an around-the-world ticket, and was saying goodbye as he made it from one mission-post to another in Asia, India, the Middle East and Europe. We were one of his last stops on the last lap of his life's journey.

Dr Bob sat in a wheel chair, depleted of energy, as he challenged us to live in God Space. "When you get to the end of yourself, the end of your resources and your abilities, then you enter God Space," he said to Sally and me. He was frail, but he was still feisty. He was at the end, but death did not impress him and fear did not hold him.

"Faith doesn't begin until you have to have God come through for you, Floyd." His gaze was steady. He then turned to Sally. "You don't need faith for what you can do, Sally, you need faith for what you cannot do. Then you are living in God Space."

He explained the term further. "God space is living between the end of your resources and abilities and what God wants you to do for Him. That's God space."

At the time we were trusting God to buy the former Salvation Army headquarters in the heart of Amsterdam for an outreach and training center. We were entering God space big time and needed those words of encouragement. A few months later, a friend of Dr Bob's sent a large gift to encourage us. It was the down payment we needed to buy the building. It was sent in memory of Dr Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision and Samaritan's Purse. More importantly to us, our friend. And mentor.

Dr Bob taught us to live in God Space.

I recently received this testimony from someone who chose to take the risk and live in God Space:

I'd like to tell you a story. The day that you came to Muncie, IN. and spoke at Union Chapel last year, something amazing happened. You talked about "God Space." I had a friend who wasn't talking to me anymore, and I missed that person in my life. I decided the day you came to speak to give the situation with that person over to God and let God work in his space. I went home, after Church service, and prayed about it. Then I had this amazing sense of God's presence, and I heard a gentle voice speak to me in my head. It wasn't my thinking voice, it was God speaking to me. Anyhow, God told me to leave my apartment and go out. So, I decided that I'd go out to dinner at Arby's. Well, when I got to Arby's, God spoke again and said that I should go to the grocery store in the same general shopping area. So, I drove around the restaurant and went to the grocery. When I walked into the grocery store......guess who was there. Yep, the friend who I had neither seen nor talked to for months. However, the friend told me to never to talk to them again. So, I walked by them, without saying anything, and I went and bought some items at the grocery store. When I came back to the front of the store, she was still standing talking to someone at the front of the store, but as I was going through the check out she stepped out the door. At that point, I'm wondering why God guided me there? I walked out the store, and it was now raining. I had forgotten an umbrella. So, I started to walk towards my car, and I caught a glimpse of her walking towards her several lines away in the parking lot in totally the opposite direction I was headed. Then....out of nowhere......she turns around, waves at me, and actually runs up to me while sticking an umbrella above my head. We began talking again. God had guided me there that day to reconnect with my friend. Thank you for the sermon on "God space." I definitely needed it.

What challenge are you facing? There is a space, a dimension of life, where you have to have God come through for you to make it, to experience God's grace. I encourage you go there voluntarily. Live there. Rest there. Wait there.

God space is where God loves to come through for us, to meet us in very personal and life-altering ways. It may be in the valley of the shadow, and it may be on a spiritual high... God space does not mean we always get what we want, but it does mean God will be with us. Dr Bob died of leukemia - but he did so in the presence of the Lord, living in that realm of life that meant trusting God for grace to live victoriously. Dr Bob was not perfect, but he lived with passion and zest for the purposes of God. You can as well - if you live in God Space.

The Forgotten Ways of Church

I was recently sent a review of a new book by Alan Hirsch, co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come. I found the review so stimulating that I had to pass it on to you.

The numbers tell the story: about 15% of the population in South Africa and the United States attends church, and are less than in other Western countries. More important, the church is no longer engaging the culture or a force for transformation in society. The church is irrelevant to most people. Those same people are interested in Jesus, pray and believe in a higher power. They have not said no to God but they are not attracted to the cultural way we package church. That says to me we need to re-imagine church, to seriously look at new ways of doing church, ways that get us out of the church bubble and into the world.

I think you will find this short summary of The Forgotten Ways inspiring if you are as concerned as I am about reaching un-churched and unreached people with the good news of Jesus.

Here is the review:

Alan Hirsch begins his new book, The Forgotten Ways, with a challenging question: why do some Christian movements grow so incredibly fast absent professional clergy, official leadership structures, central organization, and the ability to gather together in large group meetings? And what should this observation mean to us today? His answer is that they live out a radically different paradigm of 'church' - a missional-incarnational model, which he contends is the organic people movement Jesus initiated, rather than the hierarchical, religious, institutional model we have pursued during the last 17 hundred years.

This new paradigm of church cannot, in Hirsch's opinion, be merely a tag-on to what already exists. The system forces of church-as-usual disallow the co-existence of the emerging paradigm - when it is implemented as just another program to attract the younger generation. New wine has never performed well in old wineskins. A revival of the movement Jesus gave life insists on change at the very core of today's Christianity. Our systems story must be re-imagined - i.e. the very basis for how we feel, think and behave.

Hirsch believes that the key to fulfilling God's call to His church is based upon whether or not missional DNA is the basis of their re-creation in Christ. In the current church paradigm, religious institutions hold the template for what church ought to look like. Man is in control, measuring other men & women by their own interpretations of what is deemed sacred. Alternatively, when the Spirit dwells within a new born Christian, it is the God Himself who moves the individual, not a creed or institutional handbook. Fear of heresy has compelled centuries of church leadership to usurp the role of guide from the Spirit, thus installing clones of a man-made religion throughout the world, rather than reproducing a Spirit-led movement built on missional DNA.

The author presents six elegant features of a healthy Jesus Movement:

1. Jesus Is Lord - Everything having to do with life here on earth must be brought under the rule of God. When we live out a dualistic notion of existence - i.e. separating sacred space where God is found from secular space where God is considered absent - we end up with operational polytheism. God must rule in every aspect of life as the Alpha and Omega. Christians must continually assess whether other gods are leading in their lives - the god of consumerism, of power, of popularity, of financial security, etc. Be loyal to the One true God.

2. Disciple Making - Disciple making is one non-negotiable of any genuine expression of Christianity. Today's church has bought into the consumerism model which has unwittingly made 90% of our members passive spectators, thus - for all intents and purposes - pagans in sheep clothing. Jesus must be embodied within us enabling each one of us to become the gospel to those around us 24/7 - as living love letters. The notion that right ideas alone will transform people is erroneous. Discipleship is about living out kingdom principles on a daily basis, as spiritual practitioners, among those we seek to disciple.

3. Missional-Incarnational Impulse - This is the practical, centrifugal, seed-spreading, de-churchifying, contextualizing, outworking of the missio Dei. There are four dimensions to this: Presence - as God lives within us, we must be living in authentic relationship with others; Proximity - God, having brought us into various relationships, calls us to be regularly accessible to folks in the place where they live out their lives; Powerlessness - we live to serve with humility, not to rule or to pontificate; Proclamation - we are to invite others to follow Jesus. We are called, as the Christ incarnation archetypically exemplified, to exercise a genuine identification and affinity for all others.

4. Apostolic Environment - If we really want missional church, then we must have a missional leadership system to drive it. Apostolic ministry is a function, not an office; a calling and a gifting, not an earned DMin. Biblically, this is not about having a charismatic personality, CEO acumen, or the appropriate denominational pedigree. It is about having a persistent, Spirit-led influence that awakens the church to its true calling and identity. Apostolic environments are enticingly visionary, persevering stubborn despite opposition, alliance building among those of similar convictions, consistent mentors of the next generation, and tireless in their efforts to restructure church structure so that it can remain a dynamic movement rather than a static institution.

5. Organic Systems - God is both beyond his creation as well as fully present in even the smallest subatomic particle. Therein lies the basis of our confidence in organic systems - it is must always and entirely be seen as a God thing. When the Spirit indwells a believer, that person can be confidently sent out without the need of hierarchical control. Instead, the believer is networked with other believers while engaging in relationship building with non-believers. Movements are structure-lite and authority de-centralized because God is trusted to do as promised - to teach and guide each believer. Some have labeled this liquid church, meaning it is more immediately adaptive and responsive to the surrounding context because it takes seriously being both in Christ as well as part of the body of Christ. Christ is the undisputed, trusted head. Simultaneously we remain vitally and dependently connected to one another within the body. As in nature, organic systems intentionally reproduce (not clone) so that they maximize diversity, which - contrary to the thinking of the hierarchical model - actually decreases vulnerability.

6. Communitas, Not Community - Could middle-class culture actually be contrary to authentic gospel values? If our culture is preoccupied with safety and security, for ourselves and particularly for our children; if we are obsessed with comfort and convenience and thus the penchant for consumerism - then the pejorative and proverbial bourgeois shoe probably fits. How might this change? Hirsch posits that by leaving the context of security and entering the context of liminality (the initially disorienting arena at the margins of our expected community of comfort and safety) we are driven to develop bonds of communality - communitas - among others suffering similar life difficulties. Throughout history liminality and communitas have been the more normative existence of God's people when they were living at their spiritual best. Against this is the tendency of all living systems toward equilibrium, with a concurrent loss of adaptability and diversity. Stasis actually diminishes the possibility of survival because we become reluctant, even resistant, to change which is the one constant of life in this world. The Spirit is wisely and continuously moving the church to the edge of chaos where we must take risks and creatively rethink every aspect of being in order to continue as kingdom people.

I wholeheartedly invite you all to raid your piggy-banks in order to purchase this book. Alan is the co-author of The Shaping of Things to Come.

Only One...

Friend,

Do you ever feel overwhelmed and don't know how to respond to the masses of people in need? We find comfort in these amazing words. May they guide and strengthen you today as well,

Floyd and Sally

ONLY ONE...

My child...I've often heard you question...and this message is my
answer...hear Me well:
You're concerned about the hungry world, the millions who are
starving... and you ask,
"What can only one do?"

feed one

You grieve for all the unborn, children murdered,
every day...and you ask, "What can only one do?"

save one

You're haunted by the homeless souls who wander
city streets...and you ask, "What can only one do?"

shelter one

You weep for those who suffer pain, disease and hopelessness...
and you ask, "What can only one do?"

comfort one

Your heart aches for the lonely. the imprisoned, the abused...
and you ask, "What can only one do?'

love one

Remember this my Child...two thousand years ago,
the world was filled, just as it is today, with those in need...
and when the helpless and the hopeless cried out to me for mercy,
I sent a Saviour....

Hope Began...With Only One...

B. J. Hoff

Under His Wings

I don't usually think of a bird as something that I would feel safe and protected under!  When the Psalmist used the analogy of finding refuge "under his wings," that always sounded a little weak to me.

A while back we were with some friends at a restaurant in Pretoria called "The Blue Crane."  We sat on a deck overlooking a pond with a number of birds.  I heard the blue crane before I saw it.......a very loud squawking noise.......and then it swooped down.  Its body was large, not huge, but its wing span was HUGE.  I didn't run out with my tape measure, but my guess would be 2-3 yards/meters across.

This large, yes it was a blue/gray color, bird was watching out for and protecting a female that was nesting.  It was making lots of noise and flying down in attack at any other bird that got near the nest.  Its sole mission seemed to be to scare away predators.  One look at those huge wings coming in, and the other birds and ground animals took off.  Because of those large wings, as it flew it also cast a large shadow on the ground blocking out the bright mid-day sun.

The verses from Psalm 91 took on new meaning and significance with this very visual application of the promises written there.  You could see, and thus feel, the sense of protection.  It brought home a fresh reality of our protection under HIS wings and in HIS shadow.  I know right where I want to be!

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, who abides in the shadow of the Almighty.......under his wings you will find refuge." Psalm 91:1, 4

A Historical Note

I am contemplating the words of one of the first Europeans to land in Cape Colony, what is today South Africa, written on April 8, 1652. His lofty ideals were not to be lived out. I wonder what would have happened, in the history of the land, indeed in all of Africa, if they had been lived and practiced?

He gave this command to those serving under him: "Whoso, therefore, ill-treats or pushes any of the natives, whether he be right of wrong, shall, in their presence, be scourged with 50 lashes, in order that they shall perceive that such conduct is against our will, and that we are desirous to deal with them in love & friendship..."

I don't know if that is consistent with other things he wrote and believed, but in itself it is a powerful statement.

A Word in Season

Many things have changed in South Africa in the last 13 years since apartheid was abolished. It's a new day, new season in many ways. And yet, I notice so many have a "downtrodden" spirit. You can feel it. It has grieved and saddened me. I've prayed and asked the Lord what I can do about it. It seems like such a big, overwhelming need.

The Lord has been challenging me to respond by encouraging and loving one person at a time. A smile, a kind word, an encouragement, an affirmation.......all can bless. It seems like such a small thing for a giant need. But I've realized if I'll do my part, then God can use it and do things I can't do. My small acts of kindness can begin to chip away and break down big walls of hurt, pain, anger, bitterness, and low self-esteem. It's what I can do. I can't change the past, but the seeds I sow now can affect the future.

I had a sweet, practical example of this a few days ago. I was sitting on a bench next to a lady. I could just feel her heavy spirit. My heart ached to reach out to her in some loving way. I looked over and smiled.......and noticed she was wearing a pretty wooden necklace. I told her how lovely it was. In response, she frowned and actually glared at me. I wasn't sure what else to do, so I sat there praying. A few minutes later she looked at me and smiled, and said, "You know I made it myself!" I immediately began to tell her how wonderful that was......how I can't do things like that.......and how I admired people with the ability to work with their hands. She told me how she'd seen one in a store, but it was too expensive. She went looking, found the beads, and made one. We talked for a few minutes, then she went on her way smiling.......with her step a little lighter!

It's just a small thing, but I have a feeling it's a big thing too. If enough people love in these small ways, it'll bring big change. I want to do my part! I ask the Lord daily now for sensitivity to His spirit to encourage those I come in contact with. I was thinking recently of a song we used to sing in church when I was growing up - "little is much when God is in it." I believe that's very true!

God created the universe by speaking things into existence. We can create good things in our world with our words too!

"A word in season, how good it is!" Proverbs 15:23

Mourning What is Lost - Honoring What Has Been

We experienced a tragedy recently when a pastor, a dear man of God, was shot and killed by a distraught man he had been counseling.  In fact, this man had tried to take his own life a few weeks before, and the pastor had found him and saved his life.

This pastor was a wonderful elder in the whole community of Masiphumelele, a township near where we live.  He was a servant to the people, highly respected.  He had lived and served in "Masi" for 18 years.  When there was a need or crisis, he was often the first one on the scene to help and minister.  He had touched many lives in the community.  The loss was widely felt.  The community responded with a quiet dignity and mourning, a sense of honor and respect for the leader they lost.

These events have caused me to think about how we grieve what has been lost. God cannot comfort us if we yield to the temptation to "spiritualize, rationalize, or criticize" when there is a loss. Giving into any one of these temptations, as a way of trying to help others through their grief, is a huge mistake. I have learned in my journey to avoid these three pitfalls. Let me explain why.

1. Don't over-spiritualize the loss of a great person or something precious to us with Christian cliches and superficial jargon . It is better just to say, "It hurts. I'm sorry. I will miss him." Commonly used phrases like, "The Lord understands," or "It was God's time," or "all things work together for good," are not only hurtful to those close to the one that we've lost, but can also denigrate the wrong choices of others who caused someone's death. These cliches lose their meaning by repeating them without thinking. They often reflect bad theology. For example, "all things do not work together for good..," but "in all things God works for good." There is a world of difference.

2. Don't rationalize or intellectualize someone's loss. There is a great temptation to find answers, to understand with our minds what must be responded to with our hearts. I have struggled this last week with why God would allow a great man to be killed tragically. There are times we should not try to explain what is unexplainable. There are aspects of our life on earth that do not fit into neat theological boxes. Even if we have the correct insight, it can be profoundly insensitive to speak it out. Far better to hold those thoughts and ponder them in our hearts.

3. A third way to respond to loss is to blame it on the enemy. Some people don't feel happy unless they have someone or something to blame. But the blame game will definitely hinder grieving. I get the impression that people believe Satan has more power than God.  Satan cannot do anything that God does not allow him to do. He is a created, fallen, finite being. He is a liar. He is limited. God does not cause evil to happen. God is not responsible for people's sinful choices, but He is greater than evil and sin. He can take the evil of this world and bring good out of it. The Bible says that God will cause even the wrath of sinful men to praise Him (Psalm 76:10).

On a natural level my human mind can't help but ask, "why him, Lord? He was one of the really good ones!  We need him." Though we shouldn't rationalize with human reasoning a serious loss, God does give insight and revelation. My heart has ached for this pastor's family (he left a wife, children, grandchildren), his congregation, and the community.  The need is so great.  Losing a life is always tragic, but losing this man has had an even greater impact.

As I have pondered this for the last couple weeks...... I was reading in Job and was struck by the words in Job 32:8 - "It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand."  When Job reached a depth of humility and surrender to the gracious sovereignty of God, he was able then to receive wisdom and insight. "I have heard of you with the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you..." (Job 42:5). Spiritual wisdom is revealed to the lowly of heart, not the mighty of mind. While I don't think we will ever have all our questions answered here on earth, I do believe God wants to give revelation and understanding to our hearts when our motive is to understand His ways .  It's His spirit in us that does that......for all the questions we bring to Him.  I continue to pray and seek God's perspective on these recent events.  While my heart grieves with those who mourn, my prayer is to respond with God's heart and with Godly understanding.

I've also prayed that many will be raised up to take this dear man's place!  His ministry was deeply rooted in the community, and now his very life has been sown into it.  Although I didn't have the privilege of knowing him personally in the short time we've been here, I honor him for the spiritual foundations he laid in the community.  I pray that there will be an abundance of eternal fruit from Pastor Phillip Mokson's life.

Should We Love Muslims or Pray Against Them?

One scholar is predicting a clash of "Christian" and Muslim civilizations in the future, with inevitable victory being won by the more "dedicated" and persistent Muslim forces.

Others see Muslims as our enemies right now: "They are all terrorists at heart," they say.

Conservative Christians believe Muslims and Christians pray to different Gods, and that the true God does not hear a Muslim when he prays.

What do you believe?

Many followers of Jesus believe a proactive way to respond to the growing influence of Islam is to fast and pray during the month of Ramadan, the 30 day period each year when Muslims around the world fast and pray from sunrise to sunset. Learn how to be part of this world wide prayer movement at 30days.com. If you would like help thinking through these issues, or just some practical advice on how to reach out to Muslims, I recommend you check out this link today.

A helpful book on Islam is written by Carl Medearis, titled Pillars and Prophets. Carl lived in the Middle East for over ten years and offers insights into Islam without fear or prejudice.

Fire!!!

No, not the Holy Spirit kind - the natural kind!  Fire has been blazing in our valley for 2 days.

We are living (house-sitting for a friend) in a home on the side of a mountain overlooking a large valley.  Part of the valley is made up of what they call the "vlei" - a brush land nature preserve with a few scattered small lakes.  This area leads on out to the ocean.

A fire started in the afternoon in the vlei.  Two helicopters with huge water buckets battled the blaze for several hours, but had to stop when night came.  Firetrucks stood guard over the blaze during the night.

When I awoke the next morning, it was bigger than ever and spreading.  I told my neighbor that if this was a Calif. brush fire, they would be evacuating us all.  She calmly replied, "Not here."

The fire kept burning and spreading throughout the day, moving closer to the main road and to structures.  In early evening it turned into a big, bright orange ball as it hit an area of thick growth.  I watched it through the evening - almost like a fireworks display.  I again went to bed with the fire brightly blazing.

By the second morning, it was smaller.......and, thankfully, by that night it was only smoldering.  On the third morning I could plainly see the huge scorched area that had burned.  Wonderfully, no one was hurt.  I haven't heard the final report about structures.

Watching this fire was amazing - so large, so powerful, so fast, so all-consuming!  It was riveting.  I wanted to just stand and watch it's might and power.  I long to see that same thing happen with a spiritual fire in this land!!  May God light South Africa on fire with His Spirit.

"The flame sets the mountains ablaze......"  Psalm 83:14

Fire and Violence

A massive fire has been raging around one of the townships we are working in, just minutes from where we live in Cape Town, and then last night one of the pastors was killed. The township is called Massipumelele. Last night when the fire was blazing, there were emergency vehicles coming......we thought it was for the fire, but they turned into Massaphumele.The pastor who was shot and killed - Pastor Phillip Mokson - is a very good man who has done much good for the community of 18,000 people. He was a real elder in the community. There was a man in the church that he had been counseling. He was struggling with depression. He came into a prayer meeting with a gun, and shot the pastor in front of his family He just lost it. The pastor's family, his grandson, daughters and others - were there and saw it. The pastor has daughters with young children - he was the family patriarch.

Word has spread and people are all gathering at the church from the community. Members of our project team are helping to serve tea and snacks to people gathering at the church from the community.

This kind of violence hasn't happened in the community in a quite a while, so it's really shaken people. Please pray for God to bring good for the community out of the loss of this dear man's life. With the fire burning for 2 days (it's still going this morning, but smaller), there has been an uneasy "spirit" here.

Please be in prayer for the pastor's family and the community.

The Mighty Winds

"The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it."  John 3:8

That could have been written about Cape Town!!!  They told us about the winds when we were preparing to move here.  They call them the "Cape Doctor" because they blow so often that they keep the air quality clean and clear.  The air here is lovely and fresh.

We've been here long enough that we know what they're talking about now.  The wind blows and blows and blows!  And then it blows some more.  It blows loud!  It blows so strong you think the house will blow down.  It blows away everything you don't have anchored down outside.  And if you're outside, it blows you too!

Dec. and Jan. are supposed to be the windiest months, and we hadn't had much wind yet.......but then... wham!  It blew enough the last few days to make up for it.  In the summer the winds blow one direction (from the southeast)......in the winter another (from the northwest).  People build their houses (and decks for warm weather use) accordingly.

I actually quite enjoy all the different weather patterns here.  The weather changes continually - sometimes several times a day.  The variety is fascinating.  The home where we're house-sitting right now is on the side of a mountain overlooking the valley.  I love watching all the weather patterns move through the valley.

When I hear the winds begin to blow........I just think of the creator of the winds, and rejoice in His goodness in bringing us to this land of mighty winds.  I pray, too, that the winds of His Spirit will blow mightily across this land!!

Responding to the HIV/AIDS Crisis in Africa

Let me explain what we are planning and praying about as our part to in responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. The closest "township" to us is just a two minute drive away - this is where we will train workers for planting churches in Africa and learning to work in the African context. It is called Massiphumelele. There are about 20,000 residents. 27% of the people are HIV positive, the highest rates of HIV of any community in this region of South Africa. Most of the people in Massiphumelele live in very small tin shacks.

One of the greatest challenges facing young people here in South Africa is hopelessness. There are three things that cause hopelessness in Africa: disease, poverty and not knowing Jesus. One teenage girl from the township, age 14, told a local pastor this story when he asked her how she felt about being pregnant at the age of 14. She told him she looked around at other peoples lives and saw that the only work available was being a servant to a white family. She had no hope of not living in a tin shack or to escape the poverty. She said she didn't want to spend the rest of her life being a domestic worker earning menial wages (being a servant for a white family). She heard that sex made you feel good, so she decided she would have all the sex she could, then get AIDS, with the "hope" she would die before she was 20. Why? So she wouldn't have to live in a tin shack and work as a domestic worker all her life.

I am deeply passionate about responding to this type of poverty, disease and hopelessness. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by it, but we must respond. We know it is what Jesus would do if he was here.

We are developing a sustainable model for responding to the AIDS crisis. We run a baby house for AIDS orphans in Mozambique, and are planning on starting a second house in '07. We have decided not to multiply an indefinite number of baby houses, even though they have an important role in helping in crisis situations where a baby will probably die if we don't take in the baby.

What we are going to do in the future is identify the African "grannies" who are the care-givers for AIDS orphans in the villages and townships of Africa, and work with them. When the parents die, the "grannies" are the ones who end up caring for the babies and children, often their own grandchildren. We will come along beside them and train them about HIV/AIDS, how and why it is important to give the ARV drugs (ARV's = anti-retro-viral drugs), make sure they have access to the drugs, provide them with food to feed the babies and children, and then work with the village and community leaders as they help the grannies. We have plans to develop a micro-lending bank and start small businesses to create jobs as well. Three young entrepreneurs who volunteer with us are giving the next ten years to develop small business models to under gird this strategy.

A key to sustain this strategy is to start small, simple churches beside the grannies to support them and carry on the care our full time workers will give. In this way we will be working with African social structures that are already in place, instead of creating Western models that are dependent on outside money and finance, like big orphanages.

The greatest need to implement this strategy is for dedicated workers and finances to start things rolling. Please pray with us as we seek to put this strategy into practice. Perhaps you would like to help?

Three Incredible Days

It's hard to put into words what has happened in the last three days. But I must try!

Sally and I just returned an hour ago from three wonderful days with our All Nations leaders from around South Africa and Mozambique. There are are a little more than 50 staff and volunteers working with All Nations in this part of the world. They are involved in 21 different church plants and some amazing ministries to the poor. The churches range in size from a new church in Maputo, Mozambique of three young men who are being discipled in a "simple" church, to a thriving house church that has just sent out four teams to the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent.

We came away from these three days tremendously encouraged because of the unity between our workers, the vision they have for discipleship and reaching the nations, the maturity level of our leaders, and the passion they carry for Jesus. After the team that went to Lebanon (there were 32 people on the team divided up into five locations around the country) gave a report on their time of ministering to children, counseling and praying with parents who were traumatized by the war, doing construction on a lone church building in the Hezbollah dominated south of Lebanon, we had an awesome time of prayer for that war torn country. There were many tears shed, and some people who made commitments to go back full time. We have been invited to start a full time leadership training program (CPx) in Lebanon and we are taking steps to accept the invitation.

We also spent time discussing and strategizing how to respond to the AIDS crisis in Africa and how that works with our vision to build church planting movements. We agreed that we must respond to the widows and orphans who are left behind when mothers and fathers with AIDS die. This often means there is no hope of work, food or medicines for those left behind. We have adopted a new strategy as our main thrust of caring for AIDS impacted widows and orphans. That is to support the grandmothers and grandfathers left behind who are caring for their grandchildren, to train them about AIDS, get them food, and help them qualify for ARV's (anti-retroviral drugs). We will train long term workers to equip the "grannies" who are left to care for the children, enlist the help of the village heads or local social agencies and humanitarian organizations, and follow up with church planting teams to win and gather a supportive community of believers who will gather around them. In this way we are working through the existing African social structures, co-operating with the village and township leaders as they seek to care for their own people, and start small churches in each community that will carry on the work of loving those in need.

We will continue to operate baby houses for crisis situations where there is no one to take care of an orphaned child, but we feel in the long run we can do much more by working through the existing African social structures instead of creating new structures (orphanages) that are totally dependent on outside money and expertise.

Of course, the key to all of this is mobilizing and equipping workers who will lay down their lives to bring the good news of Jesus in word and deed. Pray with us for those workers, will you? Our commitment is to train them, partner with local churches to send them, and coach and care for them as they serve on the front lines.

Thank you for your interest in our work on this wonderful continent. God loves Africa... and so do we!

Yours,

Floyd and Sally McClung

We Speak the Same Language?

Whenever we've moved to a new country or location, I've learned that there are always cultural adjustments.  I was expecting that in our move to South Africa.  But I am surprised at how many English language adjustments we've had.

I was grateful in our move to Cape Town to know that English is the predominant language spoken here.  Some parts of the country speak mostly Afrikaanse, and in the smaller towns there are many tribal languages spoken.  I've never been good at learning new languages, and at age 58........well, let's just say I wasn't jumping up and down at the prospect of starting over and learning a new one!

So, knowing we would be speaking English was a relief and blessing.  But here I am, in English,  learning a "new" language.  Here are some fun examples:

- robot: a traffic light

- waitron: the new p.c. word for waiter or waitress

- to let: for rent

- lounge: not a sleazy bar, but the living room in the house

- braai:  to barbeque

- bond: a mortgage

- garden: the yard

- is it?: instead of "really?"

- wendy house: a small shed in the yard

- scullery: a "2nd" kitchen for washing the dishes

- bakkie: a truck

- just now: later

- taxi: a minivan crammed with, seemingly, as many people as possible

- lilo: an air mattress

- pleasure: "you're welcome!"

I'm sure there are many more.  I'm discovering new ones every day.  Please pray for my learning of this new language. :}

Sure makes you glad that God understands us all!!  "The Lord has heard......!" Psalms 6:9

Searching for a Home

A week ago I wrote to quite a few friends about a possible house for us to rent or buy here in South Africa. We asked for wisdom and guidance about a particular house. We received a clear answer the next day. The owner of the house we were interested in called us and said she wanted more money, so we said no thanks. We were disappointed, but we had asked for God's direction, and we trusted that he was guiding us. The day after that we heard from two of the people we asked to pray with us. They said they didn't feel at all peaceful about that particular house, so that encouraged us.

I feel very conflicted searching for a comfortable house when so many people in South Africa live in tin shacks. But when I pray I feel God's pleasure and peace, especially when I pray with Sally in mind. Sally is on a journey with the Lord about which home we live in. She takes this process very seriously and has a deep sense of God's desire to provide a home she likes and can live in happily for years to come. I agree with her.

She has prayed for years for the opportunity to live by the water. Sally grew up on an island so it would mean a lot to her to have that blessing from God. She doesn't make demands of the Lord. She is not testing God in any way. Just honestly expressing her heart to her Heavenly Father ( to follow Sally's journey here in South Africa please visit her page on the tab above - her most recent entry about God's care for the "little things" will give you insight into her heart, and more importantly, insight into God's heart for the "little things" in our lives).

We would like to find a home that we can rent with an option to purchase, a home that we can live in long term. Actually, we would like to purchase a house now, but we don't qualify for more than a 50% mortgage until our permanent resident permit is granted. So that means renting.

Unless God does a miracle

Good News From Prison

I received this wonderful testimony concerning Earl, the brother who chose to follow Jesus last February in the maximum security prison:

"A quick testimony is that Earl lead someone to the Lord in his cell on Sunday night, and then another 11 guys at a bible study he lead yesterday morning!! I had the privilege of being there and it was simply amazing. There were 11 unbelievers and 7 believers in attendance. The lesson was about the nature of the wide road vs the narrow road, and at the end when he asked if anyone wants to give their lives to Jesus, all 11 unbelievers stood up as one... Earl was almost speechless at God's goodness and so we left with everyone in the room being saved!!"

Please pray for Earl and the new brothers in the Lord, and for Maritza is discipling Earl.

A Different Thanksgiving

While our friends and family were eating turkey dinners, watching Macy's parade, and arguing over football games.......we had a different kind of "celebrating" here in South Africa. There was nowhere to go for turkey and dressing, but we decided to take an American friend to lunch. We went to a quaint cafe at a vineyard nearby.......nestled up in the hills with a view of the ocean. We enjoyed the fellowship, and agreed that we have so much to be thankful for!

It's only been 8 months since we returned from a visit to South Africa and made the decision to move here. We would have never dreamed that our home would sell in less than 24 hours, that we could sort everthing/get packed up/sell things/and be out of our home in about 5 weeks. We would never have thought that we could get everything done for moving internationally......including the very involved visa application process......and be back here in South Africa in 7 months.

After we returned from our lunch, a neighbor called. She's an American lady married to a South African man. She had made pumpkin pie and had 2 pieces for us. Such a special touch to our first Thanksgiving away from the U.S.! We enjoyed every yummy bite. :}

I couldn't help but think with nostalgia about previous family Thanksgiving celebrations, but I couldn't be sad because my heart was filled with such gratitude. God is so good and has been so faithful to us!

"I will magnify Him with thanksgiving." Psalms 69:30

In the Middle of a Maze

I've always been a little claustrophobic. I don't like small, closed-in spaces. I like bright, cheery, open, airy spaces. I've never panicked in a small, tight space (doing an MRI was challenging!), but I feel like someone is squeezing and pressing me when I'm in one. We've sometimes lived in very small spaces (especially in the inner city in Amsterdam), and God's grace was there for that season.......but it wasn't easy on my sense of space.

We are on a journey to find a home here in South Africa. Houses are expensive to both buy and rent.......so we've looked at lots of them, trying to find a bargain, and trying to find what the Lord has just for us.

We've looked at so many that I'm beginning to feel like I'm in a giant maze of houses!!! They're all around me......pressing in on me. It's hard to see the way out of the maze. I realize we're making a decision that will affect the rest of our lives. This will be our home for a long time. So many options / decisions / questions / concerns....... the maze just twists and turns. It's hard to see the "answer," the end of the maze.

As I was praying about this earlier in the week, the Lord gave me a special scripture from Isaiah 42:16:"I will lead the blind in a way that they know not, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them."

How precious when the Lord lights the path, and shows the straight way ahead. I'm trusting Him to do that in the maze we're in. I'm confident in His faithfulness. He is so good! He never forsakes us.......and He doesn't get claustrophobic!

Miracles Come in Lots of Ways!

We recently submitted our application for our permanent residence permit to the Dept. of Home Affairs here in South Africa. There were a couple of significant obstacles to this process. Because of these obstacles, there was a possibility that the application wouldn't be accepted into the system for processing now. As it is, it will take 12-24 months for the process. If we had to wait to submit the application, it could take several years. It seemed like the Lord put us with just the "right people," and our immigration lawyer had such wisdom in saying just the "right things." In only and hour or so we left the office with our application "in" and the process started! It was truly quite amazing. When we looked at the crowds and lines, we knew we had just had a miracle! (A week earlier some people had become so angry and frustrated with the difficult process, that a brawl had broken out!)

Our next stop was the shipping company that is organizing our furniture and belongings coming into the country. We received word a week ago that the ship carrying our container will arrive on Christmas day - a nice gift. :} When we walked into the offices of the shipping company, a manager greeted us and introduced himself. He had read some of Floyd's books, and said he would do everything he could personally to make the process go smoothly for our belongings to clear customs and be delivered to us. This can be a difficult and confusing process. The Lord sent us a "man of peace" to help us along! Another wonderful miracle!

"....I will make straight all his ways." Isa. 45:13 God has been doing that in truly miraculous ways! We are very grateful.

Learning to Live in South Africa

Last week Sally and I were speaking at Harvest Church in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. We had a great week. We also got to know Ray and Cwyati, a lovely couple who are praying about becoming part of All Nations.

Sally and I are loving South Africa. We spent this week doing the practical things we have to do to live here. One of our adventures was going to the very famous Department of Home Affairs to apply for a permanent resident permit. There are some horror stories floating around about how long, hard and difficult it is to go through the red tape at Home Affairs. In fact, the week before there was a fight between some officials and someone who couldn't take any more delays. Chairs were flying and people were throwing punches in the waiting room!

We also visited the ship handlers to start the process of clearing the container bringing our furniture through customs. The manager was a believer who had read some of my books. They gave us a very warm welcome and made us feel at home and certainly in very capable hands. The container is scheduled to arrive on Christmas day!

The rest of the week has been spent looking at houses to rent. Houses are very small here - our home of 2000 square feet in Kansas City is considered a huge home here, on the luxury side of things. Pray we will find the right home! We would love to have a home office for both Sally and me and extra space for guests and entertaining.

Thanks for your love and prayers!