With Josh Groban blaring from my laptop, I figured this would be a good time to sit down and give an update.

I have this week off, as a mandate from my fiancé. It's been good so far. I've done some wedding stuff, as well as just taken some much needed time for myself to relax. Yesterday and today I was in Pretoria visiting my friend Megan and her ministry, OM South Africa. This morning a few from her team were doing an AIDs training with local pastors. It was very informative and interesting! I got to meet her kids and see the place she stays.

For the rest of the week I'll be continuing my time of rest, complete with a second round of engagement shots. I know it seems silly, but we have a different photographer for our wedding than who did our engagement pictures. So, the wedding photographer's package comes with engagement pictures. We are going to a beautiful bird park (or farm?). 

Piet and I are in week 6 or 7 of our marriage counseling. It's been awesome and challenging! I think we'll probably continue most of the way up to the wedding. It's so true that you learn the most about yourself in a serious relationship. You learn about your flaws, the things that irritate you most, and the ways in which you fail others. Thank God for His grace and that He desires us to change and transform into His likeness.

I'll stop there for now. Life is good. Life is hectic. I'll be Ma Bakers (it's an African thing) in 49 days!

Speaking of the honeymoon, Piet and I are thrilled because we finally have a honeymoon spot!! We were really praying hard that God would provide something for us since we are just barely making it as it is.  And He did, not too soon, but just in time as He always does! We are going to the Drakensburgs in Kwa-Zulu Natal (SA) to a beautiful resort that has fishing, swimming, hiking, horseback riding, and lots more.

As far as work goes, things are good. We are enjoying the time with the youth. We have a volunteer named Kathryn from Seattle who came about a month ago and is staying for another 5 months. She specializes in drama, singing, and dance. She has really helped out a lot with developing our performing arts piece of YMS. She is doing lots of fun activities with the kids here, and is even offering partner dancing with the adults each Friday. It has been very fun so far!

As all other South Africans are enjoying only one more month of work as most companies close in December, the YMS team is gearing up for an action-packed holiday season.

Piet and I can always use your prayers. We are learning a lot about each other during this hectic engagement period; some good, some challenging. BUT it's only 2 months to go!

We love you!

This past weekend, a few of the Refilwe adults had an awesome opportunity to take our teenagers to bush camp. We drove about two hours north to the Pilanesberg Game Reserve and slept outside for two nights. The trip was a sponsorship given to us by two guys who work for the game park. They organized an incredible weekend of game drives, hikes, and more. I think all of the kids will agree that the highlight of our weekend was a very unique opportunity to watch two rhinos getting notched. The animals in the park are all given names and ID numbers to identify the percentages of animals that have died naturally, and those who have been poached. They are labeled with certain notches in their ears, but in order to do that, a helicopter flies around the park to identify an animal (in this case a rhino) that needs an ID. It is then darted with a tranquilizer, and after about 10 minutes, people will come in to notch the ears. So, as part of an anti-poaching campaign, we were invited to watch and were even allowed to could come close and touch it. Hardly anyone in the entire world will ever have such a rare opportunity to experience that!

All of us slept outside under the stars inside the game reserve. The youth took turns standing night watch and walked around the premises to check for lions and cheetahs and any other threatening animals. At about 4:00 the second morning we heard hyenas!

The Refilwe kids don't have that many opportunities to go outside the gates of Refilwe, so this was very special for them. It was also really nice for us as adults because we were able to spend quality time with the youth that we don't often get.

The two guides stayed with us in our camp and educated us about many different things. Over the course of the weekend they wanted to emphasize that this land is our heritage and it is our responsibility to not only take care of it, but to be aware of what is taking place.

To all my non-Safa (non-South African) friends, South Africa is such a beautiful country that is full of adventure and heritage. You really must see it for yourself!

I just wanted to give a general "thank you" and "God Bless you" to everyone who has contributed towards my expenses since being on the mission field. If I sat down to calculate, over the years of doing God's work through overseas ministry, I've been given thousands and thousands of dollars. It can definitely be overwhelming to raise everything in order to survive and to trust that people will give toward something they believe in, seeing as I'm not earning any kind of living.

There are days when I open my online banking and feel so blessed by those who are blessing me financially. I wonder what I did to ever deserve this?

I want everyone to know that I am so thankful for each contribution towards my ministry. I would say that most times I don't know who is giving because I only see a check that has been cut by the church. I wish I could thank each person individually, but honestly I don't know who to thank! So, please know that I am not ungrateful or too busy to write a note; it's just that I really don't know where or from whom the money is coming. So please, drop me a line if you are one of those people who haven't heard from me. I am blessed by YOU!

Just a side note to all my prayer warriors: please think of Piet and I in the coming months as we are preparing for the most exciting day of our lives! We could really use prayer as we are looking for a place to live. We've pretty much decided to stay living at Refilwe because we can't afford an apartment of our own for a while. So, just pray that something here opens up!

"At the moment I have all I need-and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me...they are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God." Philippians 4:18

                       

I don't blame my fiancé, Piet, when he says he is a confused young man. He's been through a lot in his short life, but has a beautiful story. God has truly rescued him.  Beauty and redemption are woven into the fabric of his life.

Piet has two families, one biological, one adopted (unofficially). His adopted parents are lovely people, and to him, they ARE Mom and Dad. The way their family operates is also quite beautiful. They have brought in multiple children that are biologically not their own, but have become a part of their growing family.

When adopting a child, it is not uncommon to change their name, and certainly not uncommon to change their last name. Though there is no blood relation, the adopted child is just as much a part of the family as any other member of the family. In the same way when I join Piet in marriage, I will be adopted into his family. I'll change my name, leave the home from which I came (though I've already done this), and become an official part of his family. Everything he has, I'll have access to, and vice versa.

                       

We have officially had three "Saturday Live" youth programs in these last three weeks. As an outsider coming into Refilwe trying to involve myself in these young people's lives has not been easy. In fact, the first two weeks of youth, I would come home at 4:00 after we had finished, climb into bed feeling very overwhelmed and defeated, and not really move from that spot for the rest of the evening. I didn't realize the extent of the hurt and brokenness these teens, who are essentially children, were feeling. They have been rescued from very painful homes and backgrounds, brought into loving families, but practically had Christianity forced on them. God wasn't exactly something they chose into. Some have even been bold enough to say that they didn't care about having a relationship with God. The memories of previous lives are still very much a part of them. The ways of the world are all they know, and breaking down these walls takes a lot of time and love.

Since we've begun, we have been discussing healthy relationships and what it means to be a godly man or woman. Despite their extremely skewed perception of marriage and dating, they have shown a longing and a deep desire to know more, and even to hear what God says about these things. We've learned that putting them into discussion groups keeps them talking and interested in the topics at hand.

This past Saturday, August 7, I left youth with a smile on my face and my heart not only in peace but with spirits lifted. I was so proud of our youth. They are making progress. They are grasping what we are trying to get at - and they are excited about it!

We split them into set up teams; setting up chairs, instruments, making food, etc, and they did their jobs so well. I was thrilled. Another trick we've learned is to keep them active. They don't want to sit and listen and be treated as if they are in school, they get that enough 5 days a week. And, as someone mentioned to me just today, these kids are all "preached out"; and it's true. So, we play lots of games and do fun activities with them. They really like performing and enriching their skills.

Even though these kids are so different from my beloved youth in Port Elizabeth, they deserve the love of Jesus just as much, and perhaps they need to understand it more. I am realizing how much additional effort I have to put into these youth, but it's ok; it's worth it.

Heidi Baker, the founder of Iris Ministries in Mozambique, has a saying that I think is very appropriate: STOP FOR THE ONE. Instead of being overwhelmed by reaching out to the 25-30 youth we have each week (and praise God for that, hey? It's not often that you have so many when you are just starting!), I must reach out to the ONE. The ONE whom God has placed on my heart for that moment. The ONE who needs a hug. The ONE who needs a listening ear. We are doing Kingdom building when stopping for the one.

I apologize for not explaining the where and how donations can be given. Because the vast majority of my readers are overseas, the easiest way to give is financially.

There are two ways to do this, depending on your need for tax deductions. Firstly, you can filter the money through my home church and they will cut me a check; the details are at the bottom of this page. Secondly, you can give directly into my Bank of America account. Any Bank of America employee can search for me by first and last name.

Any way that you choose, you can be assured that the money will be used for our youth. Just be sure to let me know that money is coming through.