I greet you all in the name of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I’m so sorry I’ve been so bad at keeping in touch these past weeks. I thank you profusely for your prayers, as always they have been a necessity in the work that the Lord is doing here! I will try now to catch you up on what the Lord has been doing, and let you know how to continue praying…

     Man, the past month and a half has held a VERY wide range of experiences and emotions for me. God has been teaching me to love and obey and trust Him when things are going great and also when I truly just don’t understand what He is trying to do!

Finishing up in the schools…

     I wrote you at the end of October about the wonderful experience of having some of our Xhosa Christian sisters coming out to help us teach in the schools. This truly was a blessing for me, and through it the Lord has given me a strong vision for what the ministry in the schools needs to look like next year. I feel that He is leading me to co-teach with our Xhosa brothers and sisters next year, and really be in partnership with them in what the Lord is doing in their communities. Pray for direction in this!!

A visit from home…

     I had the wonderful blessing of having Ron Phillips, a member of my home church (Cool Spring Baptist), coming through South Africa on business and stopping by to see first hand what God is doing here! It was a truly great time of fellowship, and super fun to get to actually show one of you guys around and introduce you to the lovely culture here. Thanks Ron for the encouragement!!

Changes…

     Hahaha, let me be honest, for most of my life “change” has been something of a dirty word. I am still sorta resistant to it, but the Lord is continually teaching me valuable lessons through the change that He leads me through, so I suppose I’m beginning to grow at least a little appreciative of it being a constant in my life. Many changes are getting ready to take place in the ministry here as Megan and I look towards the next year. As we have been praying about where the Lord is leading us, it has become apparent that He is actually leading us in different directions. I have truly loved co-teaching with Megan this past year, but in the new year, I will be branching off on my own, continuing to minister in the schools, while Megan will be following a different path that God is laying out for her. The ways that God brought each of us to this realization were different, and for both of us it has been a painful process in part, but such a rewarding one as we step out in faith, knowing that God is going to bless each of our individual ministries.

     God is really showing me how He leads us through really challenging times and asks us trust Him, no matter what we may be thinking or feeling. His love for us is UNFAILING and He is entirely trustworthy! Standing on that truth, no matter what we FEEL like is key to an authentic relationship with Him! As for the practical side of things, we are both still in Grahamstown, living in our little house, we will just be acquiring another car in the near future. Please pray for us both as we continue to follow God and work out the details!

Thanksgiving…

     So you guys are probably wondering what a bunch of missionaries do for Thanksgiving. Well, this year we had a HUGE party! The Morris’, Megan, and I hosted a Thanksgiving party for some of the Rhodes University students, and it was amazing. We had all the traditional food and it was a joy and blessing to get to share a bit of our culture with almost 30 students! These guys and girls have really been an encouragement to me here, so it was awesome to get to say “thanks” to them as well as joining together with other believers to thank God for what He has done in this past year.

A Holiday Club…

     Otherwise known as VBS!! I regret that I did not get out a prayer request to you guys before this happened, but man, the Lord really blessed this week! The pastor of the Baptist Church in town, and his wife organized a “Holiday Club” for the girls at Victoria Primary (where Megan and I taught this past year). It was really a blessing to be involved with this.

     The school opened up their last week for us to come in and lead those girls who were interested in four days full of games, competitions, singing, and most importantly, a study of God’s word. It was a blast! The girls had so much fun, all of us counselors got really into it, with face paint and crazy clothes, and we just all had a good time. The best part by far though, was the small group times, where the leaders were able to share what Christ has done in our lives, and invite the girls to also have a relationship with Him.

     So many girls came to know the Lord!! What a blessing it was, after a year of trying to get to know the girls, and sometimes wondering if God was at work there at all, to see Him move in the lives of so many! I have already spoken with the school’s principal and it looks like I will be able to return there next year. I’m excited to see what God will continue to work in the lives of these girls!

Language learning…

     So this really isn’t about me learning the language, I’m still pretty bad at that. However, I was so excited on Wednesday after I went to my last lesson for the year. I was able to have a really wonderful talk about the Lord with Bulelwa, my language teacher. This really was just a gift from the Lord, because without me instigating anything, she opened up to me about many feelings she had about God, and shared a whole lot. I was able to respond with God’s truth, and it’s so cool just to see how God is as work in her life. So many times here, I get to thinking this is all about me, and about how well I can preach to the kids, or whether I always have the right things to say or do. But I can really see now in this, how it’s not about me at all, it’s entirely about God’s Holy Spirit and about HIM dealing with people’s hearts. Rejoice with me over what He is doing!!

Prayer Requests…

• Pray for Nosicelo, Zukeswa, and Pumeza. These are the girls that came and helped this past year with our classes. Pray that God will continue to be at work in their lives, and that they would allow Him to use them in whatever way He asks.
• Pray for next year! I am really just seeking the Lord for His plan for the rest of my time here. Please pray that He would guide me as look for schools to go into, and for Xhosa Christians to teach with. Also, pray that He will guide me as I prepare the set of lessons that I will be teaching from. May His truth saturate all that I say to these kids. Also pray that I will know how to get involved more deeply in the lives of the kids. I feel like God is leading me to be involved in more one-on-one time with them, but I need direction because the options of almost limitless! I want to invest my time where He really wants me.
• Pray for Bulelwa! She is really seeking the Lord right now, but is still not trusting Him. She knows about Him, but seems to doubt His goodness. Pray for her salvation, and that she would be open to all who He is and wants to be in her life!
• Pray for Megan as she also steps out in faith to follow God where He is leading. There are many things not yet decided about where she will be ministering and she is trusting in the Lord that He will guide her. In particular, she is organizing a True Love Waits training weekend for some of our Xhosa Christian brothers and sisters in February. Pray that this will come together and will bring glory to God.

In other news…

     I am leaving TONIGHT to head by bus to Cape Town. On Sunday I will be picking up my FAVORITE twin sister, Jenny, and she’s going to stay with me for a month. I’m truly jumping off the walls with excitement! This does mean that for the next month, I will probably not be around my computer just a whole lot, so give me some grace in responding to you. At the end of Jenn’s stay, we’ll be heading up to Jo’burg where I’ll see her off, then go to a game reserve, Kruger, on vacation with the Morris family. I probably won’t be back until mid-January. So with this e-mail I send you all my best wishes for an awesome holiday as we celebrate the birth of our Lord! Thank you so much for investing in my life through your encouragement, and your prayers!

     I want to leave you with a worship song that has really spoken to my heart in these past weeks. It speaks of loving God in everything that He leads us through. It is my prayer for myself and for each of you that we will come to a place of trust in the Lord where no matter what comes our way, we truly will be able to say in our heart of hearts, “Blessed be Your Name!”

Blessed be Your Name, In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow, Blessed be Your Name

Blessed be Your Name, Though I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness, Blessed be Your Name

Blessed be Your Name, When the sun is shining down on Me
When the world is all as it should be, Blessed be your Name

Blessed be Your Name, On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering, Blessed by Your Name

Every blessing You pour out, I will turn back to praise You
When darkness closes in Lord, Still I will say…
Blessed be the Name of the Lord, Blessed be Your glorious Name!

You give and take away, My heart will CHOOSE to say,
Blessed be YOUR NAME!!

May we bless the name of the Lord together during this season,

heather :-)
 

See More Photos from Heather Here