Karoo Outreach, Klaarstroom

A Story from the Karoo by Gaylin Downie

Alfred is 73 years old. He has been married to his wife Sarah Magdalena for 49 years! They have both lived in Klaarstroom, a tiny little karoo community their whole lives, and in their current home since 1972! Alfred invited us to pray for Sarah who was suffering all night with a lung condition and diabetes. We sat with them in their little home and Sarah's pain subsided as we prayed for her. Then we sat and listened to their beautiful story for over an hour! We also met their nephew who was visiting at the time. He had seen us the day before and was hiding from us because he could see God was with us and he was afraid. His legs were paralysed and he had not walked properly in 11 years. Our friends prayed for him and shared the simple heart melting love of God with him. Immediately warmth filled his legs and all the numbness dissappeared! He moved his legs up and down, laughing and saying "I couldn't do this, I couldn't do this!

What a precious joyful moment in time. 

About 2 weeks ago Jason and I had the opportunity to go on a five day outreach to an area in the Karoo called Prince Albert. We were working in a small community just outside of the town called Klaarstroom. There were five of us from Bethesda House and we stayed on a friends beautiful farm (more pictures of that to come soon). It was an amazing time and I don't think any of us wanted to get in the car our last morning to come back to Muizenberg. We did many different things from painting the community entry gate and playing with kids, to washing the feet of intercessors and going on house visits to pray with people in their homes. We also had a youth day at the farm for teenagers from the area and led morning devotionals for the workers on the farm. 

Many miracles happened. One man rededicated his life to God while stoping to talk to us as we painted the wall. Jason and Ruan prayed for a man who was basically paralized for 11 years and could only move around a little with a cane. He got feeling again in his legs and was overjoyed with what God did. One man's eyes got healed after he welded without goggles and another ladies back was healed. These are only a few stories, there were many more and we spent so much time rejoicing in what God had done!

The gate after we patched it's holes and gave it a new coat of paint. The lady we stayed with is also a renowned calligraphy artist so she did some calligraphy on the pillars and back. I forget what the back said in all those beautiful colours but the pillars say, "Here the Lord is our Shepherd."

We're Having a Baby!

Baby Lewis is due the 22nd of January, 2016! We can't wait for the day baby comes but are wholeheartedly enjoying each step as it happens. New developments are getting over first trimester exhaustion, ultrasounds and appointments. It's all so fun and exciting! I will be 15 weeks tomorrow so getting there but there are still many weeks to enjoy yet.

A Little Abiding Revelation

This Sunday at church the pastor touched on John 15 and being a fruitful vine. To be honest I don't remember much of what he said but one line did stand out to me. He said, "We need to let God be the gardner." It resonated. Then I forget about it.

Thankfully God doesn't give up when we forget revelation and quickly brings things to our attention again. During worship at Bethesda House this Monday I again felt God speaking to me of abiding. John 15. This time He said, "It's time to give up your spade. Why don't you let me be the gardner?" The revelation began to take root.

So often I try to fix myself. I attempt to tend the garden of my heart on my own. Constantly looking for bad seeds and weeds to uproot. My heart is full of them and I often see them in my life, "Jillian you are so judgemental. Jillian you could be a lot more grateful and less jealous." and I try to fix them. In essence that's not bad - we are suppose to be aware of our sin and to desire to have it out of our lives - but awareness of sin is meant to lead us to Jesus. What I do is recognize it and then grip my garden spade harder and try to dig the nasty weed out myself. It's exhausting. It doesn't work.

It's time to give up my spade.

It was never mine to hold. Jesus died so He could wield it.

There is a part in C.S. Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader that has resonated deeply since the first time I have read it. I was never specifically sure why it stood out so much but I have read it over and over again since then and it is starting to make sense. It is when Eustace has turned from a boy into a dragon and is trying to get rid of his dragon skin. This is what it says:

{{But the lion told me I must undress first. . . . 

I was just going to say that I couldn’t undress because I hadn’t any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins.  Oh, of course, thought I, that’s what the lion means.  So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe. But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that’s all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I’ll have to get out of it too. 

So I scratched and tore again and this under skin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe. Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good. . . .

The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. . . .

Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off — just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt — and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me — I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on — and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I’d turned into a boy again. . . .

After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me . . . in new clothes.}}

I am Eustace. 

I try to take my own skin off (weed my garden) but end up doing it over and over again. Only Jesus is strong enough (can dig deep enough) to get to the root so that it never returns. God clearly states in John 15 that He is the vinedresser. Not me. It's His work to prune the bad branches and mine to obediently give them up knowing I will be more fruitful without them. "Apart from me you can do nothing." 

Thinks I have always known in my head are starting the journey to my heart. Lord let me daily give up my spade and let you do the pruning.