The calm before the storm

Time is getting closer and closer to the start of Creation Fest 2012.  Only 5 more sleeps until the long awaited start day - Saturday, 4 August!  But first, on Thursday, we will also have our Creation Movement roadshow event with 5 bands (Universal Royalty, Scott Cunningham Band, The Bear Hug Band, Our Digital Argument and L.E.D?)

 

I've moved to the Royal Cornwall Showgrounds (the venue for the festival) today, where a caravan awaited me and will be my home for the next 2 weeks :).  The grounds and venues are bigger and more beautiful than what I've imagined or expected - and I can't wait until it is filled up with people - all that will hear the Good News of Jesus during their stay.

 

The past weekend was a good "calm before the storm" weekend.  On Friday night, I finished work only at 21h in the office - it was our last day in the office - and then met up with Kristine, Cameron and Sarah for some Chinese take aways on the Launceston Castle courtyard watching the sunset.  Wow - it was so beautiful.  And then off course, who didn't watch the Olympic opening ceremony ;) in the host country.  And there I was, still proudly South African!

View from Launceston Castle

Sunset in Launceston

Saturday was just peaceful.  Gillian took me to Bude, a small coastal town in Cornwall.  We went for a L-O-N-G walk all along the Canal, over a small hill between some corn fields to the neighbouring town, Widemouth Bay.  And then back to Bude, all along the coast.  It was so amazingly beautiful!  These not-commercialised ("non-touristy") gems.  We did walk a part of it in rain (and at parts really hard rain), but it was still all worth it - and off course, part of the experience.  Sunday was just a relaxed time, filled with a good, long, personal time spent with the Lord, church, skype date and meander around the town of Launceston - ending with a good book on the lawn of the Castle.  Finished the day with packing - had to pack 90% of my the things again (not that I brought a lot with me :) ).

A small part of the Bude Canal

Beautiful view of Widemouth Bay

Coastal Route from Widemouth Bay to Bude

With all this "free time" and "alone time" - there is lots of time to read - yip, I am reading :)!  One of the books I am reading is "Gems from Tozer" which are key extracts from his work.  One of it has really touched me - because it is one of the "themes" that I learned since moving to Cape Town - with my key verse in 1 John 2:6 (He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked).  It is around faith.  Tozer said: True faith rests upon the character of God and asks no further proof than the moral perfections of the One who cannot lie.  It is enough that God said it.  Any professed faith in Christ as personal Saviour that DOES NOT bring the life under complete obedience to Christ as Lord is inadequate and must betray its victim at the last.  The man that believes will obey and where real repentance is, there is obedience.  There are a generation of Christians that has come up believing that it is possible to "accept" Christ without forsaking the world.  To "accept Christ" is to know the meaning of the words "as He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17).  We accept His friends as our friends, His enemies as our enemies, His ways as our ways, His rejection as our rejection, His cross as our cross, His life as our life and His future as our future.

It challenged me - good reminder to the first time I heard 1 John 2:6.  How many times have I "accepted" things of the world? Made excuses for myself or those I love when we did things just because everyone around us is doing it? How many time have I comprimised?  Which part of my life is not yet under complete obedience? Jesus is and should be my only example.  I need to stop making excuses and gently speak up to those I love (and them towards me - keeping each other accountable). I need to walk as He did.  I need to do as He did. 

 

In the words of Tozer: "True faith requires that we believe everything God has said about Himself, but also that we believe everything He has said about us.  True faith commits us to obedience."

 

Much love from a cold and rainy Wadebridge,

xxx

In the quietness of the busyness

I can’t believe how quickly time flies!  Before I know it, it has been another week since my last update.

The preparation for the festival is going well.  It is pressure time as Creation Fest kicks off in 10 days.  And off course, it is now all the small, finer details that need to happen.  But it is still an amazing journey to see how the Lord answers the prayer requests one by one for the festival.  So, please continue to lift the festival up in prayer.

A glimpse of the Olympic Stadium

This past weekend I had the privilege to go and visit my two very good friends; Jaco and Lizelle, in Dereham (close to Norwich, north east from London).  So on Friday, I travelled for 5 and a half hours to Norwich (2 and a half hours to London Paddington Station, then another hour on the underground tubes in London to get to London Liverpool Street Station, where I then caught the train to Norwich).  Through the journey – I also had a glimpse of the Olympic Stadium!  Arriving in Norwich, Jaco clearly instructed me to take the no.8 bus which dropped me right in front of their work J.  What a lovely weekend it was.  A weekend filled with hours of talking, catching up, sharing of hearts and what the Lord is doing in our lives.  In between all of that, we spent most of our time just relaxing at home or going to Norwich – for tea or lunch or dinner.  Both of my friends had to work on Sunday, so Jaco kindly dropped me at church, Servant’s Church (Calvary Chapel Norwich) before work.  It was so good to be able to sit thousands of miles away from home, but still have a “familiar” church family – I even knew majority of the praise and worship songs J.  Good teaching as well from Matthew 11 about doubt and unbelief.  On Monday, I took the train back to Exeter, where Dave (one of the Creation Fest team members so kindly picked me up for the 45 min drive to Launceston).  It was unforeseen circumstances to let to the weekend’s visit, but the weekend was such a blessing.  Thanks Jakes and Zel for a wonderful weekend.

The small town, Dereham

My very good friends, Jaco and Lizelle

Late lunch at Tea and little cakes

Norwhich

This last 2 weeks was really filled with excitement – and I continue to stand in awe of our Creator and our Saviour.  However, it has also been really hard emotionally.  Those that know me really well, knows that I hardly take “time off” and prefer to have as little as possible “alone” time.  However, in these last 2 weeks – I had WAY more alone time than what I thought I needed, plus, being far away from my family, my friends and everything that is familiar to me  has been hard.  I know the Lord is using this time to deal with me on personal matters, change (and that’s never easy by itself), the unfamiliar and on top of that, I received some very sad news from very good friends.  BUT! In this emotional time, the Lord has been good.  He has been faithful and He kept His promises.  Through the encouragement of friends, devotional time and at church He really spoke to me through 4 particular Scriptures.  He promised in Isaiah26:3 – “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You; because he trust in You”; Isaiah 30:15 – “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength”, and Psalm 45:10 – “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth”. Matthew 11:28-29: “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heave laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

I can testify of this - facing the tough times/trials or the all the changes happening, is not easy but Jesus gave (and still gives) complete rest.  I could nowhere find peace as I did at the feet of Jesus. He is sufficient!   As long as I keep my focus on Jesus, spending time with Him – I know that this is temporary, it will soon pass and it is in these quiet moments with Him, that I have found my rest and my strength.  These trials, I know, is for my own personal growth in faith.  I would much rather be facing these trials while being IN His will for my life – than being “comfortable” but outside His will.

If you are facing hardship or are in the midst of a trial, go and put it at Jesus’ feet.  He promises to give you strength, peace and complete rest for your soul.

Thank you for all of you that have been keeping me in your prayers.  It has meant so much to me.  Thanks to my friends for the words of encouragement.  Miss you guys and please continue those updates about “life”.  I love hearing from you all.

Please continue to pray for me.  Some prayer requests:

Personal ones:
·         Praise and thank the Lord for His continuous blessings and ministering in my life
·         That I will be a BOLD witness for Him and that He will use me as an instrument to further His Kingdom
·         Fruitful quiet / devotional time as we enter the real busyness of the festival
·         Strengthening of my heart
·         For the Lord’s will in my preparation for the second phase of my sabbatical (South America).  I’ve submitted an application for a mission trip to Peru this week.

For the festival:

·         Safe travel and arrivals of all the bands, speakers and volunteer teams (start arriving from next week)
·         Tying up of all the loose end, final logistics before next week start of the festival – and that the whole team will do it with joy in their heart
·         We have our first Creation Movement on the 2^nd of August in Cambourne, Cornwall.  Pray a lot of people to come to the movement, and for the saving of souls at the Movement


XXX

Repent or perish?

What a full, blessed, overwhelming week this was :).

For those of you that is not exactly sure what I'm involved in, I thought it would be good to explain a little bit of the ministry.  Creation Fest is a week-long FREE Christian music festivals, packed with awesome bands, speakers, sport, activities and a massive skate park!  You can check out the website on Creation Fest.  I am currently helping where I can, but for most parts I help with the PR and marketing of the event.  Given the nature of the work, having access to a desktop or laptop is kind of crucial to be able to work productively.  However, I didn't have either.  There was no spare that I could use.  So for time being I accessed google and gmail off my iPod - but couldn't access any of Microsoft Office.  Me, and the rest of the Creation Fest team, prayed the whole week for a laptop to be "freed" somewhere for my usage.  On Friday, I received a phone call from my very dear friend.  The Lord had put it on her and her husband's (also a close friend) heart to give their tithes for this month to me for a laptop or how I see fit or a need!  Praise the Lord for answering our prayers and for my two friend's obedience to Him.  I was once again just amazed how He knows our every need, how He answers prayers, my prayers as well as how He is taking care of me ;)

I am currently serving with 2 girls (Sarah and Kristine) and a guy (Cameron) from California.  On Wednesday last week they invited me for a road trip this past weekend - which off course I said yes!  So on Friday afternoon I went with them to Bideford, a small coastal town in Devon, where I then also attended my first open mic night that night - it was fun and the two performances we saw were good.  So early Saturday morning we set off to Oxford where we joined our fifth travelling companion, Jordan.  Together the 5 of us explored Oxford.  Went on a 2 hour walking tour in Oxford, drank coffee at the oldest coffee shop in England and went into New College (1 of the 38 colleges in Oxford).  It is also the college where a lot of the Harry Potter movies where filmed.  Oxford is more beautiful than what I remember it to be from 13 years ago - rich in beautiful architecture, literature and college traditions.  Here are some pics of Oxford:

Christ Church College with Kristine, Sarah and Jordan

New College



A little bit of South Africa in Oxford - Cape of Good Hope Cafe

From there we travelled west, to Cardiff (Wales), where we spent two nights, (1 day). Sunday morning we joined the Calvary Chapel Cardiff church service and for the rest of the time the locals took us around sightseeing.  After a good Nando's lunch :), we walked past the Millennium Rugby Stadium (only of interest to me and the locals), and Cardiff Castle - both based in the city centre.  From there, we went to an even more beautiful castle - Caerphilly Castle and spent the evening walking Cardiff Bay and visiting Steve and Amber.  I really enjoyed the time in Cardiff.  The church and the people really made me think of South Africa.  Warm-hearted, hospitable and passionate!  And wow, what a good conversation starter Rugby was. Here are some pics of Cardiff:

Cardiff Millennium Rugby Stadium

Caerphilly Castle



Cardiff Castle

Since I got to the UK, I am reading through the Gospel of John.  It is really reminding me of and taking me back to the basics.  In the UK, a lot of people don't know God and have never heard of Jesus.  Then on Sunday, Pastor Steve's teaching was from the Gospel of Luke chapter 13 - which was so fitting with my current reading through John and the necessity of repentance for our salvation.  We all have the decision -either we repent or we will perish.  We are all sinners (Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God) and deserve the penalty of sin - death (Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord).  Repentance is not only confessing, but it is a change in mind that cause a change in direction.  Repentance is the only way to get right with God and to go to heaven .  Being a good person, is not enough.  Jesus is the ONLY way (John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me").  The Lord promised us that if we confess our sins (repent), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  Repentance is a privilege because of the high price that Jesus paid for it - He died on the cross for our sins.  Repenting is not only something we have to do, but also what we get to do.  Have you made the decision?  Have you repented and turned away from sins?  Or will you perish?

If you have repented, there will be a change in your life.  God promised then that if we are in Christ (repented and accepted Jesus as our personal Saviour) we will be new creations - old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Cor 5:17).  Does your life reflect it?

Thank you for everyone that is staying in touch.  I enjoy every BBM, What's app message, sms and most of all, thank you for everyone's prayers!  Please continue to pray for the Lord's instructions, guidance and teaching in my life.

Blessings,

xxx

Left on a jetplane

Or was it a Boeing? Ah well, it doesn't really matters... In essence, I travelled for about 27hours via plane, train and car to reach Launceston, Cornwall - my 'home' for the next 5 weeks.

I live with Gillian, in a 3 bedroom house, about 10minutes walk from town.  The town is apparently a very historic town and we drove (and walked) past a beautiful old castle in the middle of town - so there is lots to explore on my days off.

The week before I left South Africa, I read Psalm 32.  Verse 8 really stood out for me as the Lord's promise to me for this time away.  It says: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye".  And just as a confirmation of this to me, one of the Sunday School girls, Hannah, wrote this exact verse on her farewell letter to me.  So I am assured of the fact that if I keep my eyes on the Lord this next few months, He will guide and teach me.

Above are some pics of my last moments in Cape Town - My packing and my farewell at the airport (Thanks George for uploading my farewell pics on facebook)! To everyone that was at my farewell, thanks for making it so special (Thanks Karen and Liz for organising and Santie for your house), thanks for every farewell letter / sms / phone call -  a lot of you had me in tears!  Thanks Mom, Liz, Ruan, Engela, Shiloh and Ame for spending my last 2 hours at the airport with me.  It was special.

The last 2 days I've joined the team of Creation Fest and really had LOTS of information shared with me - who is who in the zoo, the background to the fest, insights into the Cornwall people etc etc.  I will really be helping where I can, but for now, I will start with the Marketing of Creation Fest (kinda familiar territory) - but as it develops, I will keep you updated.

Prayers:
1)  Thank the Lord for my safe arrival in Launceston and a good, smooth passing through passport control entering the UK (with Olympics coming soon, they are extra cautious and it was probably my easiest ever entering a country).
2)  As I start serving with the Creation Fest team, to make me a useful vessel and bold witness for the Lord
3) Pray for the logistics around Creation Fest and the roadshows - including finding housing for everyone & safe travels of all the teams and bands
4) Pray for unity amongst the Creation Fest team as well as for unity amongst the churches in Cornwall (specifically during the roadshows)

Until next time!
Blessings,
Xxx