Siebert's South Africa Blog: Day 5
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Carson-Newman softball's All-America utility infielder Elayna Siebert is spending the first part of her summer break on a missions trip to South Africa. This is a blog of her experiences.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Carson-Newman softball's All-America utility infielder Elayna Siebert is spending the first part of her summer break on a missions trip to South Africa. This is a blog of her experiences.
There is so much I want to write about today that I'm having a lot of trouble sorting all of it out in my mind. God is just doing so much in me through my experiences here that I'm just so overwhelmed…I feel like all I can really do is go through today's events step-by-step and figure out how to record my thoughts along the way.
The first thing we did this morning after breakfast was listen to Michaela (one of our class members) lead us in devotion. She spoke of when Jesus counseled the young rich ruler in Matthew 19, as Christ told the young man to sell all of his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him. Michaela brought up that this could very much be a literal command for us. I have definitely felt the call from God to make sacrifices of time, energy, possessions, and money, I'm just not sure exactly what and how much He wants from me right now at this point in my life. I want to give up everything for Him, as I'm sure many other people want to as well, but I see that a common struggle with this is not understanding fully what it means to give up everything. I'll be the first to admit that I've always lived a life of comfort without need. I feel like I have my own idea of what "give away everything and follow Me" means, and I know for a fact that my idea of this differs from the view of others. I can't wait to see how God leads me to put this into practice!
After our devotional, we went to Agape Farms, a children's home in Grabouw. It was founded by Garrit and Ami Coetzee, who actually showed us around the area and shared with us the miraculous story of how the ministry came to be and how the buildings themselves came to be constructed. It is truly incredible how the Lord orchestrated and continues to build up the ministry, buildings, and pre-school. It reminds me of how God's network is so large and divinely connects all of us together in beautifully unexpected ways.
One of the stories Ami shared with us at the beginning of our time together was about a little baby born without a brain. The doctors informed Ami that the child was probably only going to live for one week, but the baby was kept alive in Agape's care for two and a half years! That in itself is such a miracle, but what really touched me was the fact that it was through this extended lifetime that the child's mother came to find the Lord…When I heard this, my heart leapt and screamed "Hallelujah!" The Lord has a wonderful purpose for every single person's life on this earth, and my belief in that has only been confirmed through this story. Gerrit and Ami told us so many more stories during our time with them that I can't write them all. The lives of this couple is such a wonderful testimony of fearlessness, faith, action, and agape love, and I am so thankful to have met them and learned of their ministry.
Daniel led the devotional we had tonight. I felt so personally convicted, as he spoke about spending alone time with the Lord, finding peace, and quieting yourself. I've found that intentional, peaceful, quiet, genuine alone time with the Lord is essential to having an intimate relationship with Him. My favorite authors (Eric and Leslie Ludy) actually reference this point almost constantly in their books and messages, and they use the same verses Daniel did to compliment this point. He used Psalm 46:10 ("Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!") and 1 Kings 19:11-13 (when God's voice was still and small rather than in the strong wind, earthquake, and fire). I felt so convicted because I've been allowing the busyness of the world to keep me from spending time alone with the Lord. I'm so thankful that Daniel shared this with us tonight when I really needed to hear it before the busyness of summer hits me as we get back to the States on Monday. This is God's perfect timing in action in my life.
Finally, at the end of the day, we had a 30-minute debriefing with Dr. Crutchley about our experience at Agape Farms. He also referenced the very beginning of his first lecture here (in which we were told to define "spirituality" in our own words) and asked us to write a definition to "spirituality" again based on everything we've learned. My definition on the first day was this: "a recognition of higher power and a conflict in the cosmos and on the earth among humankind, and a sense of submission to said higher power (God), a recognition that 'there is more' than just oneself." That definition now seems so methodical and hollow to me. My new definition of "spirituality" is "a strong, unbreakable, and committed connection with the Lord and with those around you, actively and unwarily seeking out ways to tangibly and intangibly show God's love to all who are in need of it (which is everybody, in essence)." Yes, this new definition may be flawed, but I feel that it's been shaped from my experiences here in Cape Town and what I've learned here pretty well. I'm excited to see how this definition will change as I continue to experience and learn more throughout the rest of my life. I encourage everyone to take time to explore what the word "spirituality" means based on their life experiences.
