Transkei 2021
What started off as just a far off idea. Maybe even too far to reach. An image very differently painted in my head. "The Transkei". A place I knew I've never set foot on in the physical. A place so unfamiliar to me, none of the conversations with past travelers could've prepared me well enough for.
Racing through emotions as we exit the familiar gates of what was now known as home to us, "The Missions House". Somewhat afraid, yet excited for what will be discovered. A month in the Transkei. A time of disconnecting from our familiar and comfortable lives.
In the beginning it felt like I had offered up a comfortable life. I was doing a "good" thing. Pretty soon God showed me that it was nothing lost, nothing given up, but rather an opportunity and invitation from Him to live freely. Free from trusting in worldly things. Free from materialism. Free from preconceived ideas. And free from my western way of always wanting more, better and bigger. Here you worked with what you had. And even if you had nothing, with God's strength and wisdom you made it work.
We spent most of our days serving at different NGO's as they served the community of Zithulele. From covering school books, assisting in building a library, planning a few events, helping with an English curriculum, tutoring school kids, organizing store rooms, baby sitting and even giving piano and swim lessons, our team was enabled to serve, minister, and love the community by using the unique skills each individual was given. It was an opportunity to grow and to trust God.
Although our time spent with the local community was little, I believe God placed a song on my heart for them that echoed throughout the month. For every child that was raised with absent parents and that had hurt and felt like they had to fight for love. For every parent that was unsure of the next days provision. And for every parent who grieved because of a lost a child. For each person that felt alone, stuck and like they were not enough. Like they had to prove something or like they would never amount up to anything. To each person that just simply lives without purpose. And for everyone that felt scared and trapped by the lies of the enemy. A song of victory, redemption and hope.
DEATH WAS ARRESTED.
"Our Saviour displayed on a criminal's cross. Darkness rejoiced as though Heaven had lost... BUT then Jesus arose with our freedom in hand. That's when death was arrested and our lives began."
It's nothing we could earn. And it's definitely not something we deserve. BUT God is good, loving, faithful and merciful and still decides to give us victory.
Enabling us to live in freedom from bondage. Setting us free.
Bringing the dead bones that seemed to have no purpose or place, to life. And not only life, but life in abundance.
He wears the Victor's crown in the form of woven thorns.
Not only do I believe that God has called the Zithulele community to live in victory, but also each one of us. Free from bondage. Free from anxiety, depression, addiction, sin, brokenness, unworthiness, bitterness, forgiveness and the list goes on. He has also called each one of us to live this way. And whilst I myself is still on a journey discovering just what that looks like I want to invite you with me to stop accepting the chains that bind you. Don't allow yourself to be content with simply surviving. God has called you for so much more. Trust Him. And above anything else seek His Kingdom.
I pray that this truth that God wears the Victor's crown and that He has set us free from bondage will be so evident in each of our lives.
And that it will be a truth that is echoed through the dusty roads and grassy hills of Zithulele.
~ A
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