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Allow me to reflect from the deep, ponderous ‘Mama’s heart’ place today☺ It is a little long, but it will bless you if you hang in there…

Yesterday we celebrated our sweet four year old’s birthday. Our first gift from Papa God, we named her Johanna Joy (God’s gift of joy). For all who know her, Johanna is truly a bringer of great joy. Like any proud mama- my heart swells at the enormous privilege of loving, training and stewarding her well…..I say stewarding because she is not mine….even though she was biologically born to me…Johanna belongs to the one who formed her in the womb- our Heavenly Father. She is His daughter first and mine second. A very rich truth indeed. Something I am only beginning to understand…Since she is a daughter of the Most High King Jesus, how can I daily walk this out? When she is melting down? When she sick? What about on her birthday?

How many times have we read or spoken “It is better to give than to receive.” As Christians, if we truly believe this, what are we modeling to our children? A birthday celebration is just an easy example. If the day is centered around a child receiving, is our child perhaps missing out on a greater joy?

Please, please, please hear my heart. I am not against the traditional western birthday celebration! Of course we need to celebrate these amazing little people and lavish our love on them through gifts, cake, parties, etc. However, I do strongly believe the traditional birthday celebration can be improved by giving!

In Africa, many children never experience a birthday day celebration. Many families struggle to provide one-two meals a day, so something as luxurious as cake and presents are not an option. Because of this, children grow up not really knowing their birth date. A great example- Johanna’s best friend and neighbor, Panach.

We live in an informal settlement in South Africa where unemployment is crazy high and HIV ravages the community. Due to the felt need- our ministry started a daily feeding program for local children and adults. That is where we first met Panach. Johanna and Panach hit it off as fast friends. When walking her home one day, we discovered she living right down our street! Soon Panach became a daily part of our lives….racing to our house after school and staying till dark. We affectionately introduce her as our “day daughter.☺”

Since birthdays are in important part of our family, we asked Panch about her birth date several times…she never knew quite how to answer…Jan? Feb? As Johanna’s birthday got closer, Panach began to say “Feb 26” which was Johanna’s birthday.☺

So we asked Johanna what we should do? Like any almost 4 year old, she thought about her answer carefully. She was really looking forward to her party. “Maybe we can have the party for me and Panch?!”

We were already asking the Lord how we could use this opportunity for Johanna to give and not just receive. She already prepared special gifts for her local friends (little goodie bags with art work, fruit, candy). But now Johanna had another special mission…to love Panch well and give her the best birthday ever! And because sweet Johanna tapped into God’s truth- she super enjoyed her own special day with deep abiding joy!

Last year, an eight year old girl named Eden, asked everyone to give a financial gift to MCV (Michaels Childrens Village- the childrens village we help oversee in SA) instead of receiving presents on her birthday!. Although her love gift made several kids quite happy on their birthdays in Africa, we are pretty sure Eden experienced the greatest joy of all!

Fellow mamas- search out opportunities for your children to give especially on special occasions like birthdays, Christmas, etc. And model Christ-centered giving before them….it is the fast track to JOY in your home!!

 
Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving]. 2 Corinthians 9: 7





He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses. Proverbs 28:27 


 In everything I have pointed out to you [by example] that, by working diligently in this manner, we ought to assist the weak, being mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, It is more blessed (makes one happier and more to be envied) to give than to receive. Acts 20: 35

Every year we look forward to the Pastor’s Advance- a time of refreshing, equipping, and impartation for the amazing pastors of Southern Africa. Pastors and leaders travel from all over South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and even a few from America. From the testimonies shared, this years conference was perhaps the best leaders gathering yet! The anointed preaching, the powerful worship/presence, and outstanding fellowship (and food☺) allowed all attending to truly “Advance” into 2014! Of course, my favorite speaker was Jean who brought an absolutely life-changing word about “Breaking the Poverty Spirit.” Please email us if you would like an audio copy!

 Another highlight was the amazing blessing of sd cards for cell phones with the complete Bible/Jesus film in several local languages for the leaders. One of the beautiful fetchers of this tool is that when leaders use it- the blue tooth technology allows the Bible verses to be sent to other cell phones in the area….cell phone evangelism! Pray with us for the prophetic harvesting of the atmosphere for Africa!!!

Forgive us for another lull in communication☹  Please know there is never a lull in Holy Ghost activity here, just in the ability to properly communicate it!  As always, we strive everyday to see Jesus in the one before us….asking the question “What does love look like today” to the ones He brings along our path.  Doing our best to balance this beautiful journey of loving HIM first and then our neighbor….while loving and training the little ladies of the tribe…Can you believe Johanna turns four next week!!!  And Gloria is a fearless, unstoppable toddler with such delicious cuteness, it is crazy hard to not drop everything and just devour her daily?  So we are grateful for the glorious grace which allows emails, FB, blogs, newsletters, etc go neglected while we champion the one before us!

We just wanted to quickly testify about our new car!   So many of you know our family struggle with having one vehicle (that I could not drive because I never mastered the standard).  After almost 6 years of grace for this situation- we realized the grace had run out.  Jean put a “fleece” of sorts out to Lord in early December that if $10,000 came in for our personal support, we would take the plunge and buy a car.  Although, we know God is able to provide that amount and much more- it was still kinda ‘pie in the sky’ request.  But do you know exactly $10,000 came in!!!  There was maybe $20 extra for the first tank of gas!

So we feel like Jesus kissed us again with this amazing blessing of a car.  So we named her ‘Beijo’ which is Portuguese for kiss☺  Every time we drive her, we are reminded for His lavish love which kisses us daily in so many ways…

We are praying for HIS kisses to be felt in your life.  May we each pause constantly and enjoy our Jesus and His face in the ones before us. 

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine.
Song of Songs 1:1-3

 This weekend, we were hugely blessed to have Papa Rolland Baker join us for a three-day conference in celebration of Iris Revival Church’s third birthday!  People joined us from around South Africa, Mozambique, and the world (even guests from Belgium!) The Holy Spirit rocked the services as the hungry cried out for more of Jesus! What an amazing time of teaching and encountering Christ. Truly 2014 is the year for birthing the miraculous….what an amazing kick-start for our precious local family! Pray with us for God’s greatness and glory to be fully displayed in our little corner of the world!!!

Peace and Joy from South Africa!

“Tis the season to be BUSY….Fa,la,la,la,la,la!” Once again we face an amazing, but hectic holiday season. Already full schedules have to make room for parties, Christmas outreaches, shopping/gift giving, and huge needs from every direction. Anyone else feel overwhelmed or stressed?

We believe Jesus has given us the key to thriving (not just surviving) the Christmas chaos! After studying the gospels, we find Jesus was never stressed out or frazzled ….he did get tired, but he was never burned-out by the swarming, needy, and demanding crowds. What was His secret? Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19-20)! He didn’t care about doing everything expected or pleasing everyone around Him….He cared about pleasing and obeying the ONE He lived for!

We shared this truth with our leadership team recently and we were super blessed by the amazing strategies God revealed. This year we are committed to doing only what we see the Father doing…Allow us to share one special vision we have about this Christmas…

We will be welcoming another little princess into our home. No, we are not announcing a pregnancy…this little princess came to MCV in 2012 from the local hospital- neglected, abused, malnourished, and very sick from HIV. When praying about this Christmas, we kept seeing her face. We thought it was kinda odd…she is very content with her MCV family. But when we heard her housemother would be leaving to visit family for an extended time, we knew P was to come home with us. We are crazy excited to see what God has in store for her and us during this next season.

Friends, what do you see the Father doing this Christmas? Extravagantly loving a rude neighbor? Going the extra mile for a wayward family member? Throwing a party for those who could never repay you? However He leads you- we are praying this holiday season would be so full of HIM that heaven invades earth! May His abundance flow in every way. Remember wise men still seek HIM! By offering HIM everything, we present Him with eternal gold, frankincense and myrrh!

It started as any other hot and windy day at MCV.  The kids were home from school due to
the school holiday, so we planned some fun water games for the afternoon.  As our visiting team prepared the water
slide and Toddler pool, the cloud of black smoke in the distance seemed to
mushroom bigger and bigger.  We
knew there was a fire down the road but it was a good distance….I called Jean to come back to MCV so we could watch things better (he could drive around).