In the World but not of It

First of all--thank you all for your prayers--everytime I talk to my family they tell me how everyone is asking about me and praying for me! I can't tell you how much that means! Well, I have been in South Africa for almost a week and the Lord is teaching me lots of things, some lessons I didn't exactly think I was going to learn while I was here..but His ways are so much better than my own.

This trip is definitely different than any mission trip I've ever been on. We are in a city surrounded by anything we could want. Groceries stores, a mall, restraunts, movie theaters, bowling alleys, pretty much anything you could think of. I will be completely honest and tell you that it has been a frustrating few days. We have two parts of our job--first to work with the local church getting involved with their ministries and then building relationships with our neighbors. We did get to go to the church we will be working with on sunday and it was great! We are meeting with the missions pastor tomorrow to talk about what ministry opportunities we want to get involved with. The second part of our job is extremely difficult--we are just supposed to build relationships with people and over the next few months share with them the love of Christ. The only problem is it's cold here and most people aren't out. We have been walking around and prayer walking in our complex--just praying for the Lord to move in a big way! I know that He has me here for a specific purpose--I am slowly learning to completely trust in Him and to know that He is holding me in His hand--He has a purpose and It will be accomplished. This beginning process of meeting people and getting involved in things is just difficult--I want to jump in and get started with everything, but I'm learning to be patient and wait on His timing.

The Lord has challenged me to see that missions should not just be a trip or a few months--it should be a lifestyle. How many times when I'm at home do I go weeks without sharing the love of Christ with someone and it doesn't bother me at all?? Yet, when I'm here I am upset if I go a few hours without getting to share with someone--that should be my focus everyday of my life. No matter where I am. The Lord is teaching me so much about His timing and His plan. I am learning how to be surrounded by the things of this world, but not being involved in them--How to keep my focus on Christ even when I have so many distractions around me. Please be praying for our apartment complex-that people will be open to hearing about the love of Christ--that we will be able to build relationships with people and plug them into the local church. Pray that we will get involved in the exact ministries the Lord wants us to over the next 4 months. I know that He has big things in store--pray that I will be patient and find ways to serve the Lord while I'm waiting! Love you all and I'll update next week!