WELCOME !

Welcome friends, old and new, known and unknown! It has been my desire to share with you how the Lord is working in my life as I serve the Lord on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. There is an old black and white movie called The African Queen. It is about a boat that travels down river. This blog is not about a boat. It is however, about my travels on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. By the way, did you know that my name means queen. For many years I have been burdened for souls in Africa. That is why some of my friends call me African Queen.



Monday, January 13, 2014

Life Lessons from Living in South Africa:The Mist

There is a natural phenomenon that happens in my area.
It creeps up on you and then you can't see a thing.
This natural phenomenon is what we Hillcrestians call "The Mist".
This "mist" does not occur anywhere else in Durban, 
but when you get to Hillcrest you see it.
It might be a very beautiful. clear day with not a cloud in site.
Then, you can feel the weather shift rapidly.
You look out your window and see this.
Here it comes!
Once it has arrived, the "mist" makes it hard to see anything.
The "mist" reminds me of how satan attacks us sometimes.
Life can be going well, but then all of a sudden a "mist" rolls in.
The "mist" (satan's attack), makes it hard to see through the darkness.
This attack seems to cover our life making it feel dark and dreary.
Praise God for His Word to light our path!  
Use God's Word to help you  and lead you through the hard times!
Recently, while reading my devotions, 
the Lord made the following verse stick out to me:
 "For thou wilt light my candle: 
the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness." 
Psalm 18:28

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Life Lessons from Living in South Africa: Growing or not?


I have struggled with my gardens while living in South Africa.


My friend, Bethany, & I planted the garden 
only a month after I moved here in 2012.



After that, it began to grow and flourish.

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Then the predators began to come.


The monkeys would steal the tomatoes, potatoes, and even eat some flowers.


Mama monkey carrying baby
They would uproot my root vegetables, leaving the half eaten carrots on top.
~~~
As a missionary, my goal is to share the Gospel, 
lead people to Christ and help them grow in their spiritual walk.
My garden often reminds me of the spiritual growth in 
myself and the South African ladies that the Lord has put into my life.


The Gospel was planted & watered.
The seed took root and appears to be growing.
~~~
A little while ago, I was sitting in the front room studying for my Zulu class.
I briefly looked out the window to see a monkey thief 
pulling out all of my beautiful carrots.
I ran to the window and clapped my hands to chase it away.

Then, I returned to my studies.
After a few minutes, movement from the window caught my eye again.
That monkey came back to pull more carrots out.

This time I got up and opened the veranda door and threatened him 
with a shovel in my hand.
He calmly looked at me, grabbed a few more carrots, 
and climbed back up on the roof.

I was frustrated with that bad monkey by this time.  
My carrots were not as big as I wanted them to be,
so I was not ready to dig them out yet.

After mumbling a few words about how I wanted to kill those pesty monkeys,
I sat down to continue my studies.
Just as I sat down, I saw that the monkey thief
 had already returned to the carrot patch.

That was it!
I had to do something more permanent about it!
No, I did not kill the monkey.
(It is illegal to do that here.)

I bent down and picked up all of the uneaten carrots 
that the monkey had pulled out.
Then I dug out all of the rest.
~~~
Although, the carrots were all planted at the same time,
I immediately saw the drastic difference in their growth.
This reminded me of the difference in the spiritual growth
 of myself and those around me.


Everything may look the same of the outside, 
but it is what is below the surface that God is concerned about.

Week after week, I have invested in the spiritual growth of others
 by teaching Bible Studies and discipleship courses.
Yet, there is an apparent difference in the growth rate of each individual.

This life lesson from my garden reminded me that 
there are hindrances in each of our lives to spiritual growth.  
It is our duty as Christians to go before the Lord 
in prayer asking Him to examine our hearts, 
cleanse us with His Word, and help us to grow as He sees fit.

It is not the rate with which we grow that is as important as 
the fact that we ARE growing!