There's No Place Like Home

The FREY homestead

There is certainly no place like home!

I found myself longing for it even more every day leading up to the day 

I could get on that plane.

~~~

When I was on deputation, I was constantly going to or from a meeting.  

My theme song during that time was

 "This World is Not My Home, I'm Just Passing Through".

I spent those 3 years not really "at home", but I was in the great old USA.

~~~

Living in South Africa is not really a hard life, just differant.

After a while, you get a bit lonesome for familiar surroundings, 

to feel the saftey and love of home.

Finally, I had a chance to come home.

I have to say, I was getting pretty weary.

My close friend Amy called me with news of her engagement.

What a great opportunity to take a short break and come home.

In anticipation, the days rolled by on the calendar.

Between school and ministry, I was kept so busy, 

that the days went by so quickly.

WEEK ONE 

First week was the wedding.

Mom sewing my gown

Praise the Lord, I already had a dress at home for the wedding.

It just needed a few alterations.

Mom altering my gown

My mom worked hard and fast to get the alterations done, 

so we could enjoy our time together.

Me in my gown

This is what the gown looked like.

Mom did a wonderful job!

Amy and bridesmaids

It was amazing to see how all of the gowns 

(which by the way, were all purchased at thrift shops)

matched perfectly!!!

Thank you, Lord!

Jonathan and Amy's Wedding Party

It was a special blessing to be there for Amy's wedding.

She is the last of a long line of my single friends.

As teens, we called ourselves the "old maids club".

We never realized we would be single for so long.

Now the club is over.  I am the only member left.

It is hard as a single person to see all of your close friends married, 

and still with noone in sight for you.

Makes you wonder what the Lord is doing and why His plans are the way they are.

Amy & Jonathan

I praise God for the wonderful husband that He has given my friend

and in faith I trust that maybe one day, He will choose to bless me in this way.

WEEK TWO

 The other special blessing of going home at this time 

was for the sending service for my pastor & his wife.

It was so great to be able to be in my home church for a while.

The music and preaching certainly ministered to me.

What a wonderful service as we glorified God by looking back at all He has done

and then forward at all He will do.

Randy & Shirley Starr

The Starrs are heading out in an evangelistic/training ministry. 

To read more about what they are doing click here.

To listen to the morning message click here.

LATER THAT WEEK...

I was able to visit the place where I had lived and served for 19+ years.

My brother and I walked around the property together.

I even got to see my cat, Bandit.

She is the "camp cat" and everyone is taking great care of her.

I was happy because she remembered me!

Here are a few other sights from around where I lived-

My brother said, "You are like a tourist in your own country"

and I said, "I just want something to look at to remember".

WEEK THREE

During the third week, my family went to Saxis Island, VA.

We love Saxis, because it is a laid back place.

A place where we can take the boat out on the Chesapeake Bay,...

...go out fishing,..

...or even crabbing.

My favorite week that I was home,

 was the time I got to spend alone with my family!

During my time in the States -

While I was home, there were many supplies 

I had to gather for the ministry in South Africa.

There were also times that I could do some things to help at home,

play games, and visit with friends.

One way I spent my time while I was home, was in working.

I made peach dumplings - YUM!

I had missed peaches.  Ours here are awful!

Mom & I made and canned fresh salsa with vegetables from their garden.

I painted my parent's mailbox.

Before
I even wallpapered a room in 2 days!

After

Of course my time was not all spent on work.

I played games with my family...

... and spent time with some friends.

We even celebrated my "little" brother's 17th brithday.

I can't believe he is that old!

What a handsome young man he has become.

We have such great fun together!

 Yes, there is certainly no place like home!

~ ~ ~

When I got on the plane to return back to South Africa,

I also had the feeling that I was heading home.

It may not be the place I grew up

or even where "my people" live,

but it has become my home.

I was excited to see "my South African people" again.

Thank you, Lord, for my "home away from home"!

Ephesians 2:19

 "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, 

but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;"

Mission's Conferece - Fisher's of Men

    

Mission's Conference was always a highlight of the year for me.

It was mostly because God was bringing me to the place where I am now.

He placed that burden for souls upon me and led me to serve here in South Africa.

I never imagined that I would be part of a Mission's Conference on my mission field.

Not that people across the world should not be burdened for souls, 

but because I guess I never really thought about it.

It was so exciting, as we decorated the church in anticipation for the week ahead.

In our church library, Pastor Jeff had a bunch of Bibles in other languages.  

We placed them among flags from countries around the world to remind us to pray for those taking the Gospel around the world.

Even the Junior Church room was decorate for the theme: Fishers of Men.

(To see how the fish are made click here.)

Our Mission's Conference was Wed- Sun August 21-25th.

We met each night for a shared meal together 

and then preaching from Ron Bragg (BIMI Africa director) via Skype.

Children showing their international costumes to Bro. Bragg

We heard some great & challenging messages about sharing the Gospel

 and being involved in world wide missions.

FRIDAY NIGHT : International Dinner

Friday night, each family decorated a table for our international dinner.

We had tables representing-

Mexico,

Greece,

and

China.

We all brought food from these countries - YUM!!!

(my favorite food was from Greece!)

Mexico table

Greek Table

China table (sorry, no pics with people sitting here)
To see how I made the China Lady click here.

Mission's conference was so much fun!

We had a great time of fellowship and were fed physically, 

but the best part is the spiritual food we received!

SATURDAY: To Every Creature Visitation

This was a special Saturday visitation

and we had another church join us to take the Gospel to Hillcrest.

(To read more about this visitaion day click here.)

In the afternoon, just as we finished the last street in Hillcrest,

the whole group sat down for a meal together.

You know, we are Baptists and that is what we do!

It was a blessing to serve the Lord together 

and then to have some time of fellowship together before the group left for home.

SUNDAY: Faith Promise Sunday & Junior Church Sings

As Sunday rolled around, we understood the great need for our faith promise giving.

Envelopes were passed out and prayed over all week.

We are thankful that our people learned this important principle of giving.

~~~

While I was on deputation, I found that many churches that I went to that did not have faith promise giving, were not able to support new missionaries and were themselves struggling to support the ones they already committed to.

Faith Promise Giving is a sign of a growing church.

A church that follows this principle will be a church with people who grow in their own personal faith in God, while becoming more and more burdened for the lost around them.

So many churches that do not follow this Biblical principle

 are slowly dying in faith and in attendance.

I am thankful to be working with missionaries who are teaching others 

that the Great Commission is a command for ALL of us!

~~~

Our Faith Promise Giving this year will cover all of the missionaries we currently support,

as well as, helping a little in some "one time" gifts to others that the Lord sends our way.

Below are videos of the Junior Church singing their Mission's songs

for the congregation on Sunday morning.

"Fishers of Men" in English & Zulu

"Tell me what a Missionary is" in English

To Every Creature

"And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

Mark 16:15

This was our theme verse for our "To Every Creature" soulwinning program.

In April, we had a special banquet to kick-off our new program.

After all, soulwinning is something to celebrate!

(to see how to make some of the banquet decor click here.)

Pastor Jeff, Robbin, Peter, & I practicing out theme song for the banquet.

The church came together to partake of a delicious meal,...

... and then we were fed spirtually.

Pastor Jeff shared soul winning quotes to stir our hearts for the lost 

and then he gave us a challenge from the Word of God.

As the quotes flashed across the screen, my eyes began to well up with tears. 

 It again brought back that "missionary's" burden for lost souls.

"To Every Creature" had three parts :

1- Instruction

2- Preparation

3- Presentation

Every Sunday night we would come together for evening service

 and "instruction" on how to win souls to Christ.

As a missionary, I have been through tons of these 

class type sessions on soulwinning.  

I am so thankful for my church and how they invested in teaching me.  

Now it was exciting to be teaching others on the opposite side of the world. 

 What a blessing to see new believers begin to grasp Bible truth 

and to hear newly memorized soul winning verses pass their lips!

Every Saturday around 10am,

the church would be busy with the "preparation" part.

We made so many memories together by putting together packets 

to hand out door-to-door in Hillcrest.

Then came the "presentation" part.

Our first goal was to reach people in our "Jerusalem"/Hillcrest.

Witnessing to a gardener

We went house to house taking the gospel to "every creature".

While some went door-to-door,

...others stayed behind preparing more packets to be sent out.

Each packet included:

 a New Testament,

 tracts in Zulu, English, & Afrikans,

  a map and letter from our church.

South Africa is diffarent from America,

we cannot go up to each house and knock on the door.

No, each house has a fenced yard with a huge gate surrounding it.

We were however, able to hand deliver each gospel packet 

into the mail box at every home.

Can't do this in America, but praise God, we can do it here!

The children helped.

Us ladies worked.

Pastor Jeff delivering packets

It was exciting to go to church every week to see the number on the wall to know how many homes we were able to get the gospel into.

As we reached our "Jerusalem", 

another church from an hour away came to help us reach their "Samaria".

We would highlight the map every time we finished a new road,

making sure we covered all of Hillcrest.

The number started at 1,319 in July,

grew to 1,718,

then grew more to 2,480 in August,

and finished at over 4,200 homes by September.

We are still praying that the Lord would bring people to the saving knowledge of Christ and that they would be added to the church.

 Acts 2:47 "Praising God, and having favour with all the people.

 And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

Prayers for Protection and Saftey

To all of you who pray for your missionaries, thier protection, and the protection of the people in thier ministry - THANK YOU!!!

Today, as I took some of the children home in the car God protected us. It was a beautiful day, so the windows were rolled down and we were chatting in Zulu and English. A slight breeze came through the car as I turned a corner and out the window went one of the work sheets that one of the kids had colored in church.
Yes, I felt sorry for him and saw where it landed, so I turned around to go back for it. I said a few times in English and in Zulu for him to wait until the car stops, to be careful, and when I am stopped he can get out and get his paper in the middle of the street.
What you need to know, is that the Zulu kids are not used to riding in cars, except to church. Many times they get out and never close the door because they are just not used to a car.
My car has automatic locks, so the doors were locked. BUT, children are children. As we got close to the paper, he unlocked his door and started to jump out. I slammed my brakes on because my little brother did something like that before and was badly injured. Thankfully the boy did not get out because he heard the panic in my voice. Meanwhile, a car zoomed up behind us and blarred his horn. Drivers in South Africa are very rude and impatient (and that is all I had better say right now). Praise the Lord he did not decide to ram into my car.
I was able to park like I wanted to and the little boy got out of the car and picked his paper off of the middle of the street. We praise the Lord for His protection for that little boy and all of us. The rest of the way to thier homes I tried to explain why it was dangerous. the Zulu lady with me said, it was good it happened, because the children will learn a lesson from it. I never want anything to happen to our kids, but sometimes things do happen. I praise the Lord for giving me wisdom and for His safety today. Thanks again for everything you pray for!