Sweet-famBirthday...a twin thing!

 It was the most amazing birthday ever! it was really, really, SPECIAL!!!!

To the good twinship, sibblingship, and friendship!

This is to all those good and bad year!

Dad singing happy birthday to us through the phone!

Fam moments!

The birthday surprise...pudding attack!!!

Service days....!

 

In this world of competition every one wants to be first. Everyone wants to be served. Everyone wants to be on the top of  the "food chain". Those who serve are looked down on. The last are made fun of. It is a crazy thing to watch children fighting to be first in line or trying to get the best seat, yet they will stand with their arms crossed against their chest without moving when it comes down to serving. And this mentality and attitude is carried throughout life; no wonder we as adult tend to behave the same as those 9 year old or teenagers. Christ then takes that pyramid and turns it upside down, making it clear to us that; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

  (1 Peter 4:10-14) As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace...
 
For the past two days we were trying to break this attitude (though it will take more than that do truly break it) and introduced the joy and blessings that comes from choosing to put others before ourselves and to serve them in love without expecting anything in return. We divided the students into teams (every team received a different task) Some of us went out into the community with the aim to serve and encourage those who lived around us and needed a helping hand and others remained at school and helped around too. These were just days set apart to teaching our students how to love and serve our neighbors by the strength that God supplies and to do everything to the glory of Jesus Christ. Both days went really well and it was successful. It was truly a great blessing to see the smiles on the faces of those we chose to love and serve. I really enjoyed myself and the children were so happy to go out and do something good for someone else with the mindset of being a blessing and John 13:13-14. We are truly praying and hoping that we can teach and live out the love of the Lord and the love of our neighbors, not only in our school but also within the community. (Matt 22:37)

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The Out Reach...

Half of the team!

Max,Rave, Ladiwa,Josephine,Indepensia, and Chanteline.

When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him...(Luke 10:17)
This is the verse that came to mind when I saw the faces of my children glowing in excitement and just the deep joy they were experiencing that moment when they returned from their homes after the outreach!
Many of them came back inspired with so much courage, and a deep desire to do it again.

Saturday was an amazing day for us and thanks be to God who made it possible and paved the way before us. With a few friends from church and my gr.5 students we met up at school, divided up in to teams and  send those teams out in to the community; every child back to his/her own house in order to share the good news, encourage, and pray with their family members.
In this first out reach we aim for the students’ families. So we did home visits. We praying for them, encourage them, and just got to know them and sharing the Good News. 
The reason why we aimed for the students’ families first is that they are the one we are most familiar with and keys to the rest of the community just as these students have been the key to the families. If we share The Gospel with them, disciple them and send them out, then they can start sharing the Good News with their neighbors and everyone they know within this community, people that I myself or my students will never be able to reach. And I thought it will also be easier for us to do some follow up and start with the training because we have a connection with them through their children. So the idea is to start cell groups with the families and continue disciple them to the point where by they can grow and through them we can reach the rest of the community. And I am also praying that for our second outreach these families will be able to join us.
 I am deeply thankful for the different people both here and outside that decided  to stand with us in prayers for God really did go before us and prepared the way. I had so much peace when I went out yesterday and for boldness; my children were bold and greatly inspired. 
I can't fully express the love and deep joy that I am feeling deep down, I am so thankful for every one who showed up and who was praying.

Going out and just talking to all these families also gave me an idea of what most of them believe in and where they stand. Many of them claim to be Christians simply based on the fact that they were baptized when they were babies, that they do go to church on Sunday and they know who to call upon in days of trouble. And some are simply relying on their good work or the type of church they are in. Trying to explain the truth to them is quite a challenge because it only ends up in arguments that leads to this phrase: "it depends from what church you are from and what you believe!".
Some do totally believe that whatever the bible says it's true and it should be put in to practice, so I realized that the only way we might settle most of this matters is if we all sit down and truly study what the bible say and ask those questions: what does the bible say?  and how can we apply that to our life today?
My hope and prayers, and what I am looking into right now is to start a Bible study right away. Two of my students' families are really open to that which I am truly thankful for. But this is just the beginning and I am really excited to see what God is planning to do in both the families of my children and the rest of community.

This part of Africa!

Where do I even start, there is so much to tell, so much to digest and so much to wrap my head around. Honestly, I am tired I have never felt so tired in my life before, but it was worth it in every way.

The past few weeks had been really life changing and mostly encouraging for me.  I met so many amazing people and I fell in love with each an every one of them…I wish I could take them all home with me! An amazing body of Christ, that’s what it has been for me. Great teachings and mind blowing testimonies of what God is doing around the world through ordinary men and women. Young and old. Husbands, wives, students, missionaries…you can name it!

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They understand the call and no matter who they are or what they do, they became intentional about sharing the Gospel and they apply it to their everyday life. They understand the father’s heart for the Lost around them. They see the value of the Kingdom in a way that fully elevates the king himself and because of that they found it worth everything with deep Joy. They still have their daily schedule but sharing the Gospel and finding the lost at any cost is part of their lives. It has been such a great inspiration, encouragement, but also a challenge. Beside all of these amazing fellowships, we also got to meet more new people in town and enjoyed God’s creation all around us. Beautiful sun rise and sun sets, full moon. Adventurous hikes with friends, games, and good food.

Zeka, Steve Smith, Laura Smith, Peter.

The Namibian Team

Training

Hanging out

Selfies!