ALL the nations will praise Him--South Africa, Day 4

Have you ever thought about how much praise goes on throughout the world on a Sunday? Think for just a minute about all the time zones and all the churches in those time zones...pretty much 24 hours straight of praise and worship to the creator of the universe occurs throughout the course of a Sunday. Is that incredible or what? I mean I know He deserves our non-stop praise all week, but to think that for basically 24 straight hours someone somewhere is singing praises or listening to a sermon or crying out to God is the coolest thing EVER.
This thought hit me in the middle of the church service in South Africa on the Sunday we were there.
The church service was certainly a different experience, but an incredible one. Capricorn Church, like I mentioned in the previous blog post, is a small container like you would use for storage. Adults, teenagers, and children all come together in this small space and praise God with all they have, which creates the most beautiful picture imaginable. Hands are raised, feet are moving, people are dancing, hearts are filled with joy...the name of Jesus is cried out, sung, praised, and held on to.
One of the songs that our team absolutely fell in love with is called Jabulani, Africa. The lyrics go like this:


Jesus life and hope
To heal our land
Savior reaching out
With your mighty hand


Sing for joy, O Africa
The Lord your God is
Risen upon you now


Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa
Jabulani Jabulani Africa


Jesus river of life
To our thirsty land
Savior meeting our needs
From Your mighty hand

Sing for joy, O Africa

The Lord your God is

Risen upon you now

Jabulani Jabulani Africa

Jabulani Jabulani Africa

Jabulani Jabulani Africa

Jabulani Jabulani Africa

Now I know you're wondering "What does 'Jabulani' mean??" Well, I'll just tell you :) 

"Jabulani" means to bring happiness to something. So this song is basically saying "bring joy to Africa." I just love this song because when I heard the people of South Africa singing it, I could hear their earnest pleas to God, thanking him for delivering them from their suffering and praising him for giving them a living hope. I seriously am at a loss of words to describe to you just how cool it was to see the pure and passionate praise of the African people. They sing with all their hearts. They express themselves through singing, dancing, crying out, pretty much everything you can think of. I could feel God's presence in that place. The pastor was filled with the Holy Spirit when He spoke and the people hung on to every word. I get goosebumps just thinking about the experience. I truly did not want to leave once the service was over. 

It is interesting though that during the service, children were running up and down the center aisle of the church, either going to their parents, going to their friends, or going outside to play. The service is relatively long (the length of our Sunday School plus the service) so it is typical for the children to go outside to play at some point during the service. But even through all of the distractions, those who wanted to listen to the sermon hung on to every word. These people REALLY care about Jesus. 

Later in the day, we went up to Table Mountain, which is one of the most prominent landmarks of Cape Town. We drove up as far as we could and then rode a cable car to the top (which was a little nerve-wracking). Once on top, we could see the entire city of Cape Town, the ocean, and even some islands right off the coast of Africa. Just another reminder of how big God is and how small I am!

"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." Proverbs 18:10

"Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." Revelation 15:4

"Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples." 1 Chronicles 16:24

I'm sorry that I still feel like I am not fully able to express how incredible this trip was because it's just one of those things you HAVE to experience for yourself to fully grasp, and even then you don't grasp everything just because there is so much to learn, but I do hope that you are able to at least see a glimpse of how amazing God is through these experiences. Thank you for reading!

Grace and Peace. 

children and sunsets --- South Africa, Day 3

I had every intention of finishing my homework before I did this post but I just couldn't stop thinking about it so I figured I'd go ahead and do this so I can hopefully not be as distracted when I go back to my homework. Don't know if that will actually help, but here's hopin'.
So, the first full day we had in South Africa we split up into groups. One group of girls held a Women's Spa Day type of event at the Team House where we brought in the women from the Capricorn church community and had a devotional and prayer time with them and also did some spa type activities with them, like painting toenails and such. Another group stayed at Capricorn Community Church and watched the kids of the women who were at the Spa Day (basically a babysitting group). The last group consisted of guys that did a Men's Prayer Breakfast at Capricorn Community church. I was in the babysitting group and actually was able to learn some lessons through this experience about what passion for God looks like. When our little van of Shades people pulled into the parking lot at Capricorn, the kids immediately started running up to the bus and hugging us as we got out, going crazy. I mean they didn't even know us and they immediately fell in love with us! This blew my mind. We played with them outside for a while, doing small games of four square or soccer or drawing with chalk. We also had some teenagers from the Capricorn church (3 girls) come help us watch the kids. One of the girls introduced herself and said her name was Shanese (not sure if I spelled it right, but it rhymes with Denise). When she said this, I responded "Okay, I can remember that because my mom's name is Denise and your name rhymes with that." Later in the week when I remembered her name, she was impressed. I think (and hope) that this stuck out to her because I'm sure she's used to teams coming down to help with their church and not remembering names, which can get frustrating. Shanese (19) really touched my life because of her pure, passionate love for God, which she made evident at church on Sunday and during the youth rallies (will talk more about that in later updates). Another one of the girls, Taylin (16), was helping a child draw something with chalk and I noticed that after the child finished drawing, Taylin used the chalk to write out "Taylin loves Jesus" in HUGE letters. This simple statement made me grin and even think, "Is that what I would've written out about me? Is that the most important characteristic people should know about me?" (I'll be talking more about Taylin in the other updates as well). At one point while the kids were playing outside, the teenage girls called me over to sit with them so I went over and they started talking to me and we were just hanging out like old friends. I really enjoyed this experience, knowing that they were just like me deep down -- searching for God's plan for their life, going to school, etc. Being around these girls and knowing that we can help encourage each other made me think of this verse..."Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:23-25. This experience just really sunk in the feeling of unity among believers to me. The concept really became real to me. 
Later in the day, while the men were having the prayer breakfast inside the church, we took the kids down to the beach, which is only a couple of minutes away from the church. As mind-boggling as it is, most of the kids live in this community and hardly if ever go to the beach. Most don't go until they are old enough and responsible enough to walk there on their own/with friends. I know this is a foreign concept to most Americans who go to the beach frequently. Seeing the kids play in the sand and in the water  (which was cold, but they didn't care) was fun, just knowing that we were giving these kids the time of their lives. Afterwards, we took the kids back to the church and gave them a snack and let them watch The Incredibles on a projector in the church (which is just a small one room building by the way. it's a portable container, like a storage unit). The entire experience was exhausting...I can't imagine what life must be like for the mothers who take care of these children. We had a nice, long time for relaxing, going to the beach, etc. during the afternoon and evening and I absolutely loved getting to watch the sunset because literally it happened in 15 minutes. I guess that's just how fast it goes when you're that far south but it was seriously incredible and just reminded me of how big God is and how beautiful his creation is. Every landscape there was absolutely breathtaking. The beaches, the mountains, everything. 
Anyway, before I start ranting and spoil the stories for the rest of the week, let me just recap and say God  can teach lessons, big or small, at any time, even when you don't expect it (actually, usually when you don't expect it). 


"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" -Matthew 19:14


"The earth is the Lord's and everything in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters." Psalm 24:1-2


Grace and Peace. 

goodbye Birmingham, hello Cape Town -- South Africa day 1&2

After driving 2 hours to Atlanta, flying 16 hours to Johannesburg, flying 2 hours to Cape Town, and driving 45 minutes to The Team House (our home for the week), we FINALLY made it to South Africa. So we basically left Birmingham at noon on Thursday and arrived at The Team House at 11:30 (ish?) on Friday evening (South African time...8 hours ahead, 7 hours ahead after Daylight Savings change). The traveling was probably one of the most brutal situations I've ever been in but it was SO worth it. On the super long 16 hour flight, I spent some time reading The Awakening (novel I had to read over spring break for school...so fun...), watching some movies, and reading scripture/devotional material. I read a whole 20 pages of the novel on the flight to Jo-burg (wow, way to go) and watched "Life As We Know It" (cute, but probably won't watch again). Oh and I also got about 5 hours of sleep total on the flight. WAHOO. The most rewarding part of the flight to me though was reading some devotions I get e-mailed to me daily by Joni Eareckson Tada and reading some in my Bible. The devotion from that day, which fit perfectly, was about how God purposely put you exactly where you are (where you live, what group of friends you have, what decade you were born in) because of His plan for you. The verse reference that went with it was "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live." -Acts 17:26. I took this deeper and thought about how if I wasn't going to Shades Mountain Baptist and surrounded by such a strong group of Christian friends and family members, I would not be as strong in my faith as I am. That's just that. I strongly believe God has purposely placed me where I am so that I would be surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses", as God intended according to Hebrews 12:1, and so that I would have the opportunity to go on trips such as a spring break trip to South Africa or a choir trip to New York, all to make His glory known to the world and to strengthen my faith in Him in the process. While I was reading, I listened to some praise and worship music on my iPod to help my mind focus more on Him. I especially enjoyed listening to Leeland, which is one of my favorite contemporary Christian groups. Listening to these words from "Follow You" especially got me pumped for the trip...

"You live among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away
All my needs you have supplied
When I was dead, you gave me life
How could I not give it away so freely?
And I'll....

I'll follow you into the homes of the broken
I'll follow you into the world
I'll meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God
I'll follow you into the world

Here's my hands, here's my feet
To make your kingdom come
To the corners of the earth until your work is done
Cause faith without works is dead
And on the cross your blood was shed
So how could we not give it away so freely?
.......
And I give all myself
I give all myself
I give all myself to You
Yes, I give all myself, I give it all to You"

---"Follow You", Leeland feat. Brandon Heath

Even as I sit here typing these lyrics, I am able to look back on the trip and see how these words came to life in my experience in South Africa. Praise Him for the great things He has, is, and will do in South Africa and the South African people.
I hope these glimpses of my experiences can touch your life like it touched mine.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." - Hebrews 12:1-3

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" - Matt. 28:18-20

Grace and Peace.