My Grand Adventure

Since I last blogged, my life has changed a bit! I'm now officially at Biola University! For one of my classes, I had to write and share my testimony. What better way to share it then through social media! Am I right? Well here it goes! What is sin? Sin literally translated means failure to hit the mark.  Most people say, “I haven't committed a crime or killed anyone, therefore I am not a sinner.” Romans 3:23 states, “ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because God is just, he can not leave our sin unpunished. It confirms in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Titus 3:4-7 reminds us, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,   whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,...

This week has been jam-packed with exciting adventures!  Monday to Wednesday was spent in Swaziland. Swaziland is the only remaining African country that still has a monarchy in place. It is the smallest African country, at only 6,704 square miles, roughly the size of Massachusetts. It is surrounded on 3 sides by South Africa and one side by Mozambique. Our first night there was spent at a girls' home run by Hosea's Heart ( http://hoseasheart.org/ ) in Manzini. There are around 15 girls, aged 9-19, who are there for the sake of their own protection and well-being. Whilst there, Auntie Susan and Uncle Randy shared the gospel with the girls, as well as how God has adopted us into his family. Tuesday was spent with Pastor Vusi in a village outside the town of Big Bend. He pastors in this rural community, caring for not only his own wife and two children, but also 6 orphans! We spent the 5-hour drive listening to an amazing book entitled  Seeking Allah, Finding ...

This week was fairly uneventful with the exception of Auntie Susan's Birthday on Wednesday!  As we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus this weekend let me leave you with this passage from John Pipers's Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ.  The agonies of God's Son were incomparable. No one ever suffered like this man. Through all eternity, we will contemplate the killing of the Son of God and sing, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain" (Revelation 5:12). Count Zinzendorf (1700-1760) and the Moravians developed a theology based on the wounds and blood of Jesus that some believers became lopsided in its focus on the "five wounds" of Christ. But we are not in danger today of any such excess preoccupation with the anguish of Jesus. So come and worship with me at the splendor of Christ's suffering. No one ever deserved suffering less, yet received so much. The stamp of God on this perfect life is found in two words: "without ...

After all the craziness of last week, this week seemed to go by very slowly.  On Thursday I had the opportunity to get to know the girls interning at the Baby Home as well as Britt, the Baby Home manager. We spent all day painting their house. It was a ton of work, but it was wonderful to spend time with other godly women! Friday was the first ever young adults in the new church building! We played games, ate a delicious dinner, and spent time in God's Word. Tony spoke to us about evangelism and how to share the gospel with our unbelieving friends, family and others we interact with. He said that our message must be Christ-centred, we should focus on people's needs, not their wants, and we need to make them feel loved. He also spoke about how we need to live out what we say we believe. People should see that Jesus changed us! Live the Gospel! Saturday: Julia, Auntie Susan, Hope, and I went to a conference, The Theology of Psychology. It was taught by Ed Wilde, a law...

We have had a very busy week!  On Wednesday we set up the new church for Sunday! We used partitions to section off rooms for Sunday school and crèche. We set up little tables and chairs. We sorted and put away the supplies that will be used for the Sunday school.  Several families from out of the country arrived on Thursday for the baby home celebration on Saturday. Because of this we hosted 2 young at our house since their rooms were being used by the out of town guests.  Friday: Uncle Randy, Auntie Susan, Sophia, Elijah, and I went to the Baby Home for a small luncheon for the out-of-town guests. We ate authentic African food and enjoyed fellowshipping with one another.  On Saturday, we celebrated the Baby Home's 5th birthday! We had a wonderful time remembering how great our God is! It was beautiful to hear the many stories of how the Baby Home was started, how God has continually provided, and how God has cared for each of the 40 tiny blessings t...

Wow! When I look back it feels like the time has flown by! It feels like just yesterday I was stepping of the plane into my new life! I had a fairly uneventful week. Four kids from Arkansas visited this week. I tagged along with them as they helped out with some projects. We worked on some things for the new church building that we are moving into next Sunday!  The stomach bug has been going around, but so far we seemed to have escaped it. Please continue to pray I stay healthy for the remainder of my time here! :) Saturday evening, we had a surprise party for Chyreece Lester! We spent the day setting up tables and chairs, arranging flowers, and stringing lights. We had a wonderful time celebrating the beautiful woman of God that Chyreece is.  Thank you for continuing to pray and for reading these updates! I love and miss everyone at home! Just 5 more weeks to go!  Bug Bite count: not as many as last week Days until my family comes: 23 ~Sara...

Week 5 Autumn is almost upon us, bringing its cold nights and warm afternoons.  Some highlights from this week: Starbucks  I finally got to experience Starbucks: South Africa edition. This month they are introducing a new Frappuccino flavor each week. I got a cupcake Frappuccino. Although it didn't really have any coffee, it was still delicious!  Young Adults  Once a month, the young adults come together for a time of fellowship, worship, and teaching. The theme of this month's meeting was a bake-off as well as a team competition. We also participated in a tea drinking, watermelon eating, and melktart eating competitions. I baked Lemon Bars and came away with the Judges Choice Award. It was an enjoyable night filled with yummy treats!  Irene Farm .  Saturday morning, Uncle Randy, Marissa, Gabriel, and I dropped Vanessa and Chisomo off at the airport before heading to a dairy farm. Before buying fresh raw milk, we walked around a...

Is it just me, or does it feel like there are never enough hours in a day?!? Sure, I may complain that I don't have anything to do, but each night as I lay in bed I think about all the things I still need to do. When will I have time to take senior pictures? It certainly doesn't help that I am halfway across the earth and a 10-hour time difference away from people who have the answers to my many collage-related questions.  I recently realized that I’ll only have three and a half months from the time I get home until the time I start college, which explains the freaking out.  Well, now that you know what was going on in my head at 1 am this morning, let me tell you about my week. Last week was crazy! So, it has been a relief that this week was nice and quiet.  Highlights of this week: Gabriel's birthday was on Tuesday, so Marissa made a delicious Lego hobbit cake.  To celebrate, the three older kids and Uncle Randy went to an ob...

This has been an interesting week to say the least. I have had to play "Mom" to 4 precious children, which put my patience to the test. Now a little backstory:   I mentioned in my first blog post how Julia has been having stomach issues. The medication the doctor gave her has not been helping so he sent her to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon and she stayed there until Friday evening. They didn't really find out much, which is the main reason why she came home. Please continue to pray for healing and answers. She goes back to the hospital for more testing on Monday.  While Julia was in the hospital I was in charge of the kids. I have watched a lot of My Little Pony , Wild Kratts , and a ton of other little kid movies. I now have an enormous amount of respect for moms. I still don't know how moms manage to stay calm after being asked the same question for the millionth time or come up with activities to keep all your kids entertained all day every day.  ...

Week 2 Day 9 Saturday Today we had a baby shower for Ana, one of the members of our church, who is having twin girls. She and her husband, Isaac, are a part of the small Mexican/Central American population of LHC. We had a piñata, Mexican food, and even played a game where you had to match Spanish words to their English meaning. I hope Ana was blessed and that we made her feel at home! Also, be praying for her, as twins Isabella and Tamara are due to arrive very soon! It has been a long and busy Saturday. In the evening, Uncle Randy and Auntie Susan went out with Karlien and Andre for dinner, so Ben and Kara came over and watched a movie with the younger kids while Julia helped edit my blog! We had an unexpected surprise while all of the adults were away! Some missionaries from Swaziland showed up. None of us had known that they were coming to stay the night, and Auntie Susan had forgotten they were coming! Julia and I scrambled around trying to get a place ...