We all had the same experiences in the Cayman Islands, as a team, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we all experienced it the same. God works in different ways and we are all on different journeys in our walk with God. Here are the thoughts of each team member on how they experienced our time in the Cayman Islands.
Gerrie
In my life I have been very blessed with situations in which I experienced God's immense favour and provision but nothing could have prepared me for what we would experience here in the Caymans. Never before have I felt so blessed, so cared for and so welcome as here on the island of Grand Cayman, and it's all because of God's kindness towards us. We came to the British West Indies with no money in our team account, no contacts and no place to stay and we managed to leave after 2 weeks with round about R8000 in our team pocket after spending a total amount of US$65, and that in one of the most affluent countries on Earth!! This is a mammoth testimony of God's favour, His provision, His kindness, His faithfulness and just the overall richness of His blessings. Thank you God for allowing us to experience all of this...I am without words!
Linel
Looking back now, and sharing with Miss Erna, I realise how God planned all of this out, way in advance! Nothing is coincidence! The blessings we receive will spill over and in the abundance of it, bless others as well. Thank you, Jesus! Thank you Lord for way in advance already planning out our salvation by your Son, Jesus Christ. And that it's only by Your GRACE that we are saved, through FAITH. Not from our works, so that we cant boast in anything, except Jesus: The Hope of Glory! Thank you for rising us up with Jesus, so that we can also live in victory! That's what Easter is all about! Thank you Father God! (Ephesians 2:1-10)
Marlene
If I could sum up Cayman Islands with just one verse, I will with no doubt quote
Matthew 6:33 - "But seek first his Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
We saw how God provided in our every need from accommodation, food, money and even emotional needs. We seeked His Kingdom, His will and His presence – and He provided for His children. We also saw how God worked through us to provide for His other children in Cayman, whether through physical work, fellowship or emotional support. Our God is a God who knows our needs. He just asks our trust.
Ashleigh
Expect the unexpected...in this picture perfect paradise we certainly received the unexpected- and it has been so wonderful! It has been fascinating hearing about the islands interesting past and listening to old stories from the locals. We have had such a beautiful time here and made so many friends who have loved and cared for us so dearly. This country has produced some brilliant testimonies to how God provides, provides some more AND THEN provides again! The locals and the tourists here have blessed us in so many ways and it has been inspiring hearing each person's story. J
Kim
Trying to stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks as we said goodbye to miss Erna Jane, I realised what God wanted me to learn during our time in Cayman Islands. For God, nothing is impossible. He gives freely. He blesses abundantly and when He provides, He provides in excess. I found it hard to understand why people kept inviting us to braais, dinners, restaurant lunches, birthday parties and movies when we can't offer them something in return. We can't offer them long term friendships or even teach them something, we don't even have jokes to share with them, yet we couldn't even fit all the dinner dates into our schedule. I kept asking God "why?". He then made me realise that people, Christians, need fellowship, they need God. A dinner date with a lady may mean the world to her as God shows His love through other people. And we can be those people.
Marielle
It is very sad for me to leave the Cayman Islands, not only because we had such an amazing time here, but also because of all the amazing people that we have met here. God has blessed us in so much abundance, that we have actually been spoiled the whole time that we were here. We thought that we were going to have a difficult time in this country, because it is very expensive and we didn't have a lot of money when we first got here. Our experience has been the complete opposite of what we expected. The blessings hit us like hurricane Ivan hit the Cayman Islands in 2004, but obviously in a good way. This hurricane of blessings made us humble and changed our perspective of what Christian hospitality really looks like. The strength of this hurricane was very intense, because of all the different people who has opened their hearts to help cause this big storm of love. This hurricane almost drowned us in God's amazing love and we can all say that we will never be the same after we have been hit by this "natural disaster". We will never forget the spiritual hurricane that God hit us with in the Cayman Islands. Thank You Lord Jesus for spoiling us! I pray that God will bless, all the people that He has used to bless us with, ten times more and that God will keep His protecting hand over this beautiful Island!
Arthur
The Caymans was a real time of blessings and provision! I saw God really provide and that He will do it in the way that He pleases. I realized once again that everything on this earth belongs to God and everything that we have is only temporary and ordained from God. Everything, whether it be money, intelligence, everything! We can only love because God has given us some of His love. I also have seen that God makes everything work together for the good, for those who love Him.
Andre
The ways of the Lord is so gracious, totally irrespective of what we've done or what we deserve. If we would learn to trust and believe the ways of the Lord, He will feed us with Honey from the Rock. The ways of the Lord is grace, grace, grace.
Albie
We've been blessed with manna and quails and this in abundance. In one of our most expensive countries we used almost no money and were left over with bags and bags of food, too much to carry with to our next country. God said to Abraham that He will bless Him and that he will also be a blessing to others. This promise came true physically this past two weeks in our lives here in Cayman. The people of the church also looked so well after us and so many individuals provided in our different needs. This is what the church should be like. And all this started with us sitting on the sidewalk in front of a hotel (that we couldn't afford) and no direction whatsoever....
We have been challenged in the Caymans on trusting God to provide for us especially in terms of finances. We came to the Caymans with so little money that we didn't know how we were going to survive, but we trusted God and in the end He blessed us so much in His provision that we were actually spoiled. We are leaving the Caymans with more money than we arrived with, even after we subtracted the amount of money that we spent here, and we lived so spoiled in the abundant blessings from God's hands. If He did it for us, He can and He will do it for you, because we didn't do anything to deserve this. We cannot do anything to deserve anything from God, because everything that we receive from God is out of grace. There is nothing that we could ever do out of ourselves (flesh) that would ever be pleasing to God so that we might deserve anything. Everything that we receive is out of grace and we are all equally undeserving of it, but God's love and grace is for everyone. All that you have to do is to believe it and accept the gift of grace and everything that God gives through grace.
So we'd like to challenge you
Is there something in your life that you want or need, but you cannot get it because of money? Money has become such a great influence in our lives today, but we need to be careful and make sure that we do not rely too much on money and that it doesn't control or limit us. We want to challenge you to speak to God about that one thing or area in your life that is being influenced or controlled by money. Tell God in which areas of your life money is an obstacle and then give that burden to God. Trust God and ask for his provision. Stop relying on your own money and capabilities alone. You will be shocked at how God will bless you if you start trusting Him and show Him that you rely on Him and have faith in Him. God might test you sometimes, but if you choose to be fully dependent on God, no matter what salary you earn, you will experience His favour, provision, faithfulness and grace.
nWe believe that God has great plans with His church here in the Cayman Islands. Pray with us that God will raise up Godly women and men who will serve our Lord Jesus passionately. Pray that God will protect this Island and the people here against any natural disasters like hurricanes or tsunamis. Pray that God would bless these people and strengthen them through fellowship with one another in the presence of God. Pray that God would renew their minds and to continually let His love flow through them so that more people may be blessed just as we have been blessed by them.
We need Your Support
Thank you to everyone who has been supporting us through prayer. The power of prayer is really so much stronger than we think. If we really understood how powerful prayer is, then we would pray without ceasing. Please don't stop praying for us! Pray for our protection against sickness or disease and against any accidents or unfortunate events. Pray for strength and energy so that we will be able to serve God wholeheartedly all the time!
We also need you to please pray for our finances, so that God will provide the money that we need for our journey ahead.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuzGgvotxQw&feature=youtu.be 400x300]
If you would like to contribute and help us by giving some financial support, we would really appreciate it. Here are the banking account details:
Account name: GCX-One Year 9206958383
ABSA
Branch: 31 Da Gamma road, Jeffreys Bay, 6330, South Africa
Branch code: 334515
Reference: DISTANT ISLANDS
Swift Code (for international payments): ABSAZAJJ
Thank you for reading... We will soon have another update on what we are doing in Jamaica.
Love and peace to you
Distant Islands Team