CCP Update 4

I seriously have a really hard time looking at the calendar right now.  Not only have we been living in South Africa for over a month, but we only have two weeks left until we are back home.  A lot of mixed feelings come with that, but mostly I think I am going to miss this place much more than I realize.  I love the food, I love the culture, I love the people, and most of all I love to watch as God redeems these students to himself and reveals himself to them.  When I get home, I have a feeling I am going to look back on all that God has done and just stand speechless at the ways he has grown me, but it’s difficult still to put into words all of the things that I feel I have been learning.

This is our final week of ministry on campus.  Most of the students have gone home, and only a couple of them remain.  It has been hard as, one by one, I say goodbye to girls that I realize I might never see again, but my heart hopes that I may one day see them in eternity or hear that they have become my sister in Christ. So far, we have had many women who have expressed interest in Christ, but none that have yet made professions of faith. Time and time again, we have had conversations about Christ with girls who have many questions, but yet still are not ready to commit their lives to Him.  We trust that even if we don’t see these women come to faith, God is still good and he is still at work on this campus, and we still believe it is evident that God sent us here for a purpose.  One of the girls we have been spending a lot of time with said, “God sent you to me for a reason; there’s no other explanation for why you flew from America to here to spend time with me.”  It gives us a lot of joy to think that God has privileged us enough to use us in these girls lives.

Last week, we became aware that the University had issued a mandate that was a major setback in recruiting students to the Joint Winter Conference.  Many of the Wits students live 4 or more hours away from Johannesburg, and because of this, when they go home for the semester they usually do not come back before their next semester starts.  This being the case, we usually encourage students to stay until the last day of their exams, even if it means staying a week after they have finished all of their schoolwork (For instance, a student could finish everything on June 11, but the final day of exams is June 22.  We would encourage them to stay the extra eleven days, even if it is a little bit of a hassle for them).  Generally, if students want to come to the JWC, this solves most of the transportation and housing issues, because JWC begins immediately after the semester ends. 

However, last week Wits University issued a statement that said students had to leave campus and return home the day after their last exam, or they were going to have to pay the university for every night that they remained on campus.  This ended up making it difficult for many students to make the JWC a possibility, because they could not afford to pay to remain in Johannesburg until the conference started.  When we found this out, we did a lot of serious praying as a team, as this severely impacted ministry in the men’s residence halls and in Jubilee, one of the women’s residence halls.  Many of the House Comm (or as we call them, RA’s) petitioned the housing department here to repeal the mandate, but it continued to remain in place.  We knew that one of two things was going to happen: 1. God would allow for the mandate to be repealed and ministry would resume as planned, or 2. God would leave the mandate in place and provide other ways for student to come to the JWC, and leave us in awe of his provision.

Out of the prayers and perseverance of this time, ministry resumed with a new fervor.  Normally, we go to campus around 2pm and do ministry until around 9:30pm.  However, we ended up cancelling our team time in the morning after we found out about the mandate and spent the entire day on campus with the students. Immediately, God began to show us that he’s still at work.  Two of our guys, who are partnered in ministry here, led a set of roommates to Christ within 24 hours of each other.  Jessica and I were not sure how much this would impact the girls on our hall, and for a while we were skeptical as to whether any of the girls we have been doing ministry with would make the decision to come.  This week, we have watched as three of the girls we have been doing ministry with registered for the conference and made the leap of faith to go, one of whom will have to take a 12 hour bus ride to get to the conference from her home at the Eastern Cape.  If this past week has taught our team anything, it has taught us that we serve a big BIG God, and that nothing, not even a mandate, will stop Him from having his will done.  Joint Winter Conference starts in four days, so please pray that people are able to make it back to Johannesburg without any complications, and that he begins to prepare hearts for the messages that they will receive while they are there.

This summer, we have been studying the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible and have also been memorizing Psalm 103 (which I have posted below).  I think that some people were maybe a little intimidated by the idea of studying the Old Testament, but if they were they certainly didn’t show it.  I feel like I’ve grown in a deep appreciation for how God revealed the gospel in His promises of the Old Testament, and it’s been amazing to read about how God’s promises to Abraham are still being fulfilled today.  I would really love to spend time expanding on some of the things I’ve specifically learned, but time is short and this blog post might turn into a novel.  As we study it more, I wonder how I could ever have found this stuff boring growing up…it’s such a testament of God’s faithfulness to His people!

I will say that one thing I have personally been learning here is God’s faithfulness to me personally, and how faithless we as humans are to Him.  Yesterday, I received word that I did not get the teaching job that I was hoping for this year, and I took it really hard.  I think that I sometimes struggle with when God says, “no” to something I think is really good.  Bill gave us a talk this week in which he said, “God’s “yes’s” and God’s “no’s” all comes out of grace.”  There is a purpose to everything God does in our lives, and I know in my heart that when God says no it is meant to preserve me for life, and not prevent me from it.  I continue to grow in faith that even though I don’t always understand the twists and turns of life, I’m not alone. “…If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Tim 2:11-13) I already feel privileged to be a part of the great plans God has for me, and I am thankful that when I forget to have trust that everything will work out, God continues to keep his promises to me for plans of good and not evil.  I still have so much to learn, and I am glad that He promises to complete the work that He has started in me, and I love knowing that I am apart of a plan that is so much bigger than anything I could ever dream of.

And lastly, there were a couple of verses that my friend Lilly Deacon wrote to me in a card for my plane ride over here, and they have stuck with me throughout my time at Wits:

“But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, by truthful speech, and the power of God; with weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise.  We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” (2 Corinthians 6:4-10)

We can proclaim the gospel confidently knowing that though we are often rejected and not always received, we are well known and loved by a great God who dwells among us and within us.  God sent our team here to make many people rich; not by the world’s standards, but by Christ’s.  In a culture that is so gripped by poverty and social class struggles, it is quite something to know that we are sharing riches with these students that the world cannot take away from them.  I have nothing in me to offer these students than the hope that Christ has given me, and it is enough.  It is enough to heal their disease and it is enough satisfy their desires.  And it is enough to provide them with a life and a purpose that will outlast anything this world has to offer.

Thank you for continuing to pray for our team…our hearts are torn as we near the end of our time here.  We miss you all greatly, but have come to love South Africa and the people here.  I hope and pray that years from now, though we will be forgotten by many, the God that we told them about will be remembered and praised.

In Him,

Katlyn

“Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits;

Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy

Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed

He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love

He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;

For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him

And his righteousness to children’s children,

To those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all

Bless the Lord, Oh you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!

Bless the Lord, all His hosts, his ministers who do his will!

Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, Oh my soul!”

- Psalm 103