What defines a family? Does the term only refer to a collection of people that are united by their similar genes? Is it possible to apply this term to ten people you've known for only four months?
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More recently i am convinced that the greatest battle you will ever fight is for your FIRST LOVE! The greatest call you will ever answer is the call to RETURN to your creator! The greatest purpose of your existence is for intimacy. You have been saved for GOD! "And this is eternal life, that they know You, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." [john 17:3]. What an Awe inspiring God we serve, the King of the universe loves and pursues a creation that's predisposition is to betray and reject HIM! But before you begin to think that this is another one of those pieces that will make you feel guilty about being a human listen to this Story ...
Everything that the Holy Spirit taught me just during our first week in São Paulo, Brazil, can be condensed into that one sentence: God doesn't need Google Translate. He really doesn't!
wow so much...not enough time or words... i'm going to theme this one : Restoring the joy of my salvation! and i'm going to start off with an apt piece of literature written by a man who seemed to have a true revelation of the Grace of God: DAVID.
Turning water into wine. Telling fishermen to be his followers. Followed around by spiritually-hungry people, searching for truth. Feeding five thousand people with a little boy's lunch. Setting people free from law and leading them into grace. Yes, that's my Jesus. This same Jesus allowed Distant Worlds to get a taste of what that felt like during our week in the Andes mountains.
It was a dream come true. Rattling, shaking and bumping up zigzag mountain passes to the village of Incahuasi. This was where we would sleep for five nights. We drove for four hours on 100km on a single-lane, dusty, serpentine path. In the Andes Mountains. I almost couldn't believe it.
The mountains were colossal, stretching 3130m into the heavens. My eyes were as wide as saucers as we drove past mountain villages, with hand-sown rice fields and horse-drawn carts. The women wore the most beautiful, colourful, handmade clothes. Not much has changed in these villages from 100 years ago.
We shared bibles with many far-away schools in isolated towns. The average amount of students were 40 in the whole school. It was interesting to note that most of these people had never even left their mountain town. They didn't know about things such as beaches, skyscrapers of drive-thru McDonalds. They knew more about mountain trails than LonelyPlanet and their diet consisted of things they had planted and cultivated themselves. A whole new world. "Lord, what do I say to these children? We come from two different worlds. We don't even speak the same language - they speak Quechua and I only speak primitive Spanish. Holy Spirit, speak through me please..."
Venezuela. A country that has been sitting on the drawing board of Distant Worlds for many months. A name that has been written on our itinerary and on our hearts. And finally, a country that we can say we have been able to share the Good News with.
The speaker crackled as the pilot announced our descent. Nervously, I grabbed Kasia’s hand as we descended into my homeland… South Africa, hello old friend. I was ready to go home, ready to see my family and friends, ready for the next step God prepared for me. I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to my team…my family.
We had spent ten months in each other’s company. For the last eight months, I had watched these people grow and mature as the Gardener Himself pruned and fertilized them. They watched me cry, laughed with me, supported me, prayed for me and loved me. They were my family for eight months… and now I had to say goodbye? God, am I ready to be on my own again after being part of a team for so long?
Welcome to... BRAZIL!! Distant Worlds landed in São Paulo on Tuesday and were split up into smaller groups to go stay with families.
Our bodies have been described as temples of the Holy Spirit and as clay in the hands of the Potter. It is an awe-inspiring, intricate tool for the Kingdom, made according to a blueprint designed by an Almighty God.
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