Luke 10 - The Kingdom of God Has Come Near!

"The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you... Heal the sick and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' " Luke 10:1-9

Last Friday God sent us out on a journey of faith, asking us to trust Him in EVERYTHING - from where He is sending us, to how we will get there, specifics about what He wants us to do there, what we will eat, where we will find shelter, how He will protect us and get us home safely. Our mission – go and declare that the Kingdom of God has come near!:)

We prayed together as a team and felt that God was sending us to Plettenberg Bay. We wrote down a couple of directives that we felt God was giving to us including that we need to find a little stone church with a black gate. After some research we found that it is the St Peter's Anglican church in Plet. With that info we set out. Doubt said, "Plet is way too far away and you are a team of five, how are you going to find a lift for so many people anyway?" But God said, "I am sending you to proclaim My Kingdom, trust Me."

The God who sent us wiped out those initial doubts by sending Kirsten on our path...this student from PE picked us up at the fuel station outside Jeffreys Bay. Not only did she give all five of us a lift all the way to Plettenberg Bay, but she also dropped four members of one of our other teams at Stormsriver on the way there! She was the first one to acknowledge that this encounter was too random to be random. She was not planning on going home for the weekend, neither does she ever stop at the Jeffreys Bay fuel station or pick up hitch hikers. But she did and we got to spend about two hours talking about our journey of faith and her journey in life.

Our next divine appointment took place at the top of a steep hill in Plet. We were out of breath and thirsty when we met Caroline, a waitress at one of the restaurants. She gave us each a glass of water and God spoke to us through Matthew 10: "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward." This opened the door for us to pray with Caroline for the desires of her heart and although we had nothing to give to her out of ourselves we could give to her from the overflow of the rivers of living water that God has placed within us!

We then set off to find our little stone church. In our minds we thought that we would probably pray God's blessing over the building and the grounds, because it was Friday afternoon 17h30 and we did not expect to find anyone there. But God had other plans. When we arrived there we could see smoke coming from a braai. It happened to be the church's annual meet and greet that evening! At first we were received with a bit of apprehension, because we were about 40 years younger than the average member of the congregation and we came with such an unbelievable story about God sending us there, but in the end we did get the opportunity to share our hearts with a few members and pray a blessing over the priest and his congregation. 

For the rest of the evening we met, spoke to, prayed for and ministered to everyone we ran into on the streets - security gaurds, locals, foreigners in rehab...God was really guiding our steps. As the sun started to fade into the night we still did not know in what form provision for shelter would come, but we knew that we should not ask people to provide for us, but ask God to do so. We were walking down one more street trusting God for Isaiah 30:21"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it"  when three young ladies sitting on their porch noticed the new faces hanging around Plet. Des, Suné and Pumi asked us what we are doing, invited us in and offered us food and accomodation. Praise Jesus!

But God was still not done for the day. It turns out that two of these precious ladies were also daughters of the mayor. Memory Booysen was in Cape Town for business, but by God's direction he returned home that evening, a day early, and he was open for us to pray for him as the leader of his family as well as the leader of his town. If we ever doubted that God loves Plet and has a plan for her and her people, we now know for sure that God is busy there!:)

The next morning we had a valuable time of Bible study with two of the ladies during which we got to listen to their hearts, shared our hearts with them and minister the true gospel of God's love and grace! Thereafter we went prayer walking in the streets proclaiming that Jesus is the God of that town and claiming the land that our feet tread on for the Kingdom of God. Along the way we came across a group of children that were begging for money. We experienced what Peter must have felt like when he told the lame begar that he has no silver or gold, but what he does have he will give. So we shared with them the love that Jesus has specifically for each one of them and encouraged them to ask God to reveal to them the plans that He has for their lives.

On Sunday morning we went back to the Anglican church where God sent us to to attend the service. We were not used to the formal robes and structured tradition of reading from prayer books, neither were they used to the more casual and free way in which we approached church, but it was so beautiful to see that amids all the differences between us, Jesus was still the common ground. They prayed that God would send people out into the nations, and we knew that we were part of the answer to their prayers. They prayed for the leaders of the country, specifically the mayor of their town, Memory Booysen, and we knew that we were fellow labourers, able to pray WITH the mayor just two days previously. God is good!

Our final mission was to get back to Jeffreys Bay by 13:00. God surpassed our expectations by providing a lift for all five of us in one vehicle and being able to pick up four more team members on the way...again! We were blessed with amazing fellowship, vision sharing and encouragement during our last lift back into Jeffreys Bay and we were home just in time for lunch! We were filled with so much joy and faith in God after such an incredible weekend. 

God is good, ALL the time. He is ALL He says He is. He is the Provider and the Healer. He is faithful, He makes a way where there is no way. He relentlessly pursues the hearts of ALL people. He adds ALL things when we seek the kingdom first. He has a plan that cannot fail. He makes ALL things work together for the good of those who love Him. He is God, He is worthy to be praised. Hallelujah!

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."...Then turning to the disciples he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." Luke 10:17-24