Zanzibar and my inward journey

Dear Friends, We are on the last stretch, heading homeward! We just completed the ministry time on Zanzibar and will start our trip down to SA in the next two days. The last few weeks God has been reminding us as a team to finish strong and has given us the scripture from 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." We know, with His grace, we can finish well. While on the island Anna-Marie visited us. She was of great encouragement to the whole team and also came to facilitate the Veritas module 1 course. During the course we had to memorise scripture and I got Colossians 2:13-15, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins and he canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness that stood against us and condemned us. He took it all away, he nailed it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross." It is was through memorising this scripture that it has really come alive to me. So much so that when I quietly repeat it to myself it tremendously strengthens the faith in my heart and enkindles my relationship with the Spirit of God. This accompanied by a deep revelation of what the scripture means has given me a very sharp sword to cut down the temptation to sin. At the same time I've started reading Watchmen Nee's book, The Normal Christian Life, and for the first time I've realised my shallow understanding of the Gospel and my limited view of what it means that your sins are forgiven and that you are a new being in Christ. Having a complete revelation of the fact that Jesus not only forgives your sins but also crucified your sinful nature on the cross makes me realise that it is possible to overcome sin. Not just to have your sins forgiven. For some reason I've never really understood it in such a way that it becomes reality to me. The above is probably the highlight of my inward journey here on the island of Zanzibar. Pray for us as we tackle the long trip down. We will be heading past two mission stations in Mozambique before we go to scout Ilha de Mozambique: the place where the country got its name from and where Islam has reigned for over a 1000 years. After that we will spend a few days in Ponta de Ouro in the south to debrief the team and then its just a stones throw to the border... Greetings, Willem