South Africa Day 4

God is in Africa too.

Really.

I just spent about nine days in Pretoria, South Africa, where God used our team to do some amazing things. For each of the next several days, I’m going to post my journal entries from the trip, starting with the first day, and ending with the last, excluding travel time. I hope the Lord uses these to touch your life like he did mine. Enjoy.

Fourth Day: May 21

Today it was my half of the team’s turn to go out in the community while the other half got to experience the labor side of things. I’m not going to lie—it was really funny to think about Marshall, Pete, and my sister doing manual labor. But they did a good job.

Anyway, I ended up paired with Katie Reno for the biggest part of the day. In one of our first visits, we went to see a lady who was well-known in the community; her house was in the very center and she was stricken with high blood pressure. Katie felt led to give her Bible to the woman, even though her understanding of English was minimal. We then prayed for her to be healed of her ailment, read Psalm 23 over her, and asked the Lord to give her clear understanding of His word. Katie felt like if that woman was healed and received Christ, the whole community would be led to the Lord because of the location of her house and the word of her testimony. When you see the picture, it is her “house”, remember it in prayer.

After visiting with several more houses, we went across the street to a shopping center where we ate lunch. It was one of the things that hurt me the most about South Africa. We could literally cross a street and go from extreme poverty to extreme normality. So many unmet needs contrasted with so many luxuries. Unbelievable. But God reminded me: it happens at home too. We have so much we take for granted.

Every day.

Following ministry, we went into Johannesburg and ate at a restaurant called Carnivore’s. It was amazing! They just kept bringing us meat—everything from chicken to crocodile to kudu. Most of the guys loved it, most of the girls were tolerant of it.

Anna, Katie, Jenna, and I are teaching the 4th grade tomorrow while the rest of the team works with pre-schoolers. It should be interesting/fun. We practiced and went over both the doctor skit and the sin-chair human video—they should go over well in the school assembly before we break off into classrooms.

I am exhausted.

Prayer for tomorrow: Patience, gentleness, kindness, discernment

South Africa Day 3

God is in Africa too.

Really.

I just spent about nine days in Pretoria, South Africa, where God used our team to do some amazing things. For each of the next several days, I’m going to post my journal entries from the trip, starting with the first day, and ending with the last, excluding travel time. I hope the Lord uses these to touch your life like he did mine. Enjoy.

Third Day: May 19

There wasn't much spiritual about what we did today. Basically, my half of the group did hard labor today: clearing a field, shoveling gravel and sand, playing with machetes, etc. Don't get me wrong, we had to get this stuff done and it helped the community out greatly. However, as I was sitting on a trailer that recently carried pig slop, pulled behind an old Massey-Ferguson tractor, being beaten to death by the rough roads, I realized something.

I wasn't created to do this kind of job.

South Africa Day 2

God is in Africa too.

Really.

I just spent about nine days in Pretoria, South Africa, where God used our team to do some amazing things. For each of the next several days, I’m going to post my journal entries from the trip, starting with the first day, and ending with the last, excluding travel time. I hope the Lord uses these to touch your life like he did mine. Enjoy.

Second Day: May 18

2 Samuel 24:24—Psalm 74

Admittedly, I was a little anxious about the work we were doing this morning. The overwhelming responsibility of speaking healing over people’s lives wigged me out—a little. But then God reminded me it was His responsibility and His power, not mine. Got a real peace as we split up into groups and played with the kids—we were like rock stars—that’s because God answered our prayers and prepared their hearts for our arrival. First, we prayed for a guy whose family had some tragedy that had emotionally scarred him. Then, we prayed for a lady with epilepsy. So we held her hands to steady her as we prayed. There was a spirit of heaviness all around her. As we began praying together, she screamed and fell to the ground, still tightly gripping my hand. That’s when we knew we were dealing with a demonic presence. We prayed and cast out the demon—hoping that she knows it was Jesus who healed her. We prayed for two people who were dying—a little girl and an old lady. The little girl had full-blown AIDS—she was 5 and looked about 3, full of sores, it was so sad. But God reminded me that her greatest need isn’t being healed from AIDS—it is Jesus.

It's mine too.

We ate spaghetti for dinner and talked with Mariet about her 80-day mission trip all over the eastern hemisphere. It was cool to hear her passion and her accent. Kyle then told us to listen and sit across the table from God and ask Him specific questions. I did. No answers…yet. Tomorrow, we’re halving our group up—some doing construction and half doing what we did today.

Prayer for Tomorrow: Flexibility, listening ears, loving beyond circumstances.

P.S.: Marshall and Nathan say ‘hey’.

South Africa Day 1

God is in Africa too.

Really.

I just spent about nine days in Pretoria, South Africa, where God used our team to do some amazing things. For each of the next several days, I’m going to post my journal entries from the trip, starting with the first day, and ending with the last, excluding travel time. I hope the Lord uses these to touch your life like he did mine. Enjoy.

First Full Day: May 17

Job 29—Luke 4:18—2 Samuel 9—James 1:27

Know who you’re talking to
--Know God, Know His power

Healing Hands
--Same power
--Child healed at Church
--Noise

See people past circumstances, see them as God’s children

Door already open in Heaven—Revelation 3



This place is incredible. The people here are most definitely kindred spirits with us. God is doing the same stuff here that He is back home. He’s way bigger than Brandon. We worshipped at the church plant here this morning with a freedom and simplicity I haven’t seen in a while. They prayed over our team—such a blessing. We then experienced a wonderful South African tradition, a Brie, which is similar to BBQ back at home. Little Viele, the son of one of the missionaries living there, brought Kyle an orange to peel for him—but then tried to take it back, not wanting him to finish peeling it…just like me. I need help and sure, initially I’ll give things to the Lord. But when I realize what I’ve done, realizing I’ve lost control, I’ll ask for those things back, or worse, never hand them off. Later that day we hiked up to an observation deck overlooking the area we would be serving in, a beautiful place in its own way. We enjoyed a light dinner followed by a time of worship, led by Nathan and Pete. The time in God’s presence was incredible each and every time we pulled our chairs up to His table. As the Lord was preparing us for the next day of door-to-door work in the community, Leigh Ann was prompted to ask for healing hands for the people we would encounter. It then hit me that my lack of faith could keep someone from being healed or set free. Asking the Lord for faith, no doubt, healing hands.

Prayer for Tomorrow: Discernment, wisdom, healing hands as we split up and visit orphan homes. Soft hearts, see Jesus, not us.

Life After Scrubs

Cue nostalgic, cheesy pre-graduation post...



In many ways my last night here has been a lot like my first: a lot of packing and a little anxiety. But not the bad anxiety, the good kind—the kind that spurs you on to bigger, better things—or maybe just different things. When I walked across the stage at Thalia Mara hall and graduated high school, I had a lot of things that I thought would happen, had many of my own plans for the course of my life. Four years ago today, I would have never thought I’d be where I am: single, at Mississippi College, and surrendered to full-time ministry, likely with middle schoolers somewhere. And even though I didn’t expect any of this, you couldn’t pay me to be anywhere else doing anything else. And I can’t imagine not having the relationships I have now, or imagine them going away. But after high school, I would have said the same exact thing, that I didn’t want any of my friendships or circles to change.

I hate to say it, but that’s probably what the next step is going to look like too. I’m going to lose relationships, lose touch, lose lots of things. But I know that, just like He has before, God will provide me new Aarons, new Miriams, to walk beside me, to hold my arms up when I can’t go on. That’s just how life works, relationships come in, relationships disappear. I just have to cherish the ones I have now, never knowing what the future has in store. That doesn’t mean I won’t try to keep the good ones and discard the bad ones, not at all. It just means that I’m content to have you guys in my life now, that’s all.

Don't Holler at Me!!

--Matt