Awezim - Festival of Life

June started on a high with the Festival of Life Conference, presented by Joyce Meyer Ministries. This consisted of 2 morning sessions and 3 evening sessions.

As this is Harare, Zimbabwe with broad streets and very few traffic problems (major problems mainly due to traffic lights not working), the girls and I left home at about 7:15am on Friday 4 June to attend the morning conference, starting at 8am.

I thought this would give us more than enough time to get to the venue, collect our conference material and leisurely page through our material prior to the start of worship by Darlene Zschech.

BUT ...............

I did not take into account how God would move over this beautiful country to bring thousands of people from all over to attend the conference.

We sat in bumper to bumper traffic - yes, traffic was similar to Ghana traffic on a Farmer's Day weekend!! :) - for just over 2 hours!!

There is so much I can say about the weekend, sharing it with the girls had been so special :)

The worship was amazing, hearing thousands raise their voices in worship ......... difficult to describe.

The messages from not only Joyce Meyer but also the other Pastors on the team were powerful.

Each delegate was blessed with 3 Joyce Meyer books.

People came from all over, united in their faith - standing in the gap during trying times. Friday night approx 100,000; Saturday night saw about 200,000 coming together and Sunday night more than 210,000. Plus the events were televised!!!

Please visit the Joyce Meyer Ministries site: http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/HandofHope/News/zimbabwe/.htm

Heavenly Father, Thank you

- for people who have a passion and a heart for others in need, not only providing for spiritual needs but also meeting basic food & medical needs;

- for all the role players who worked together in bringing this outreach to Zimbabwe;

- for the renewed Fire burning across Zimbabwe as people testify to the change You brought in their lives;

- for hope, joy, life through Your Son.

Amen

Surprise @ the end of May

George had a 2 day conference at the end of May and decided to spoil the rest of us with a short holiday in South Africa.

Samuel, always ready to travel

We flew down to surprise my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary and my Mom's birthday 2 days later. As we did not warn my parents of the upcoming visit, it took my Mom quite a while to realise that the little boy shaking the gate wanted in......

Ouma, Samuel & me at Victoria Falls Hotel, last year August

Oupa & Samuel building puzzles, last year August

Oupa and Ouma we love you lots and already miss you.

Let the count down begin

Counting down days is definitely a big thing in Southern Africa at the moment.
In South Africa they are counting down the days to the FIFA World Cup Soccer. Advertising campaigns aim at the "I was there" idea, something to reflect on / reminisce in your "old age" :)

In Zimbabwe we are counting down the days to the "Festival of Life" with Joyce Meyer as the main speaker. In my mind THIS is an event not to be missed. These 3 days, 4-6 June, will have such an impact on this country. This event will be life changing for generations to come, definitely something you want to look back on one day and say "I was there".

Around the country many churches have already been praying for this event for some time.
Many hearts have been prepared by the Spirit, waiting for that moment when God's people in Zimbabwe say "YES, Lord change me; send me; use me to Your glory."

We are also counting down the days of Tim's treatment which starts today. We know all involved are merely instruments in God's hands and that our strength and healing comes from Him. God has blessed and continues to bless Tim and his family in so many ways during this time, it is awezim :)

Samuel praying during family devotions

We as a family as also in a time of counting down, praying for God's perfect time. Unfortunately we will have to wait to share further on that, but for us this is a time of leaning on God. Knowing that as we count down, only He knows the "real end" date.

So here in Zimbabwe, we wait on our awezim God to move mountains...... counting the days!

Tim update

Tim, Felicity and Natani are currently in South Africa for about a month for further treatment.

It was confirmed that the tumor removed from his brain was in fact cancerous and an off shoot of the original tumor, thus resulting in more extensive radium / chemo treatment.

We continue to ask for prayer for Tim as the last operation had taken its toll on his body and he had been experiencing some debilitating headaches. It has also left Tim with eyesight problems.

Please join us and many others in prayer as we ask the Lord to:

- continue the healing process, all aspects of healing;

- grant Tim & his family the strength to cope with the upcoming treatment;

- grant them much needed rest in between treatments;

- provide in all their needs, He knows their specific needs;

- provide the right people to assist Natani not only with her school work, but also guide her at this tender stage of trusting a loving God, no matter what the circumstances.

We also thank the Lord for:

- the family of Christ that are stepping into the gap for them;

- the testimonies that have already poured forth, prayers already answered;

- the restoration taking place on so many levels of their lives;

- His everlasting presence throughout this period in their lives, not once has He let them slip from His hand.

We serve an awesome God, a loving Father who will not forsake his adopted son, Tim.

We have had our "What if"

God is so amazing in preparing us for the unexpected things in our future. In following a blog on a very brave little one, who has fought more than her share of medical battles, God reminded me of the unconditional love of a parent. This prompted me to write the post about "What if..."

3 Days later Samuel had his 2nd "loss of balance / limp" episode that scared the girls and me into a proper emotional state. The episode lasted less than 15min -felt like a life time as I was frantically calling the doctor in between trying to calm girls & and myself. By the time we rushed into the doctor's rooms, Samuel as so active that the nursing staff - on standby due to Mommy's plea - surely must have thought this Mom had lost it. He was so charming & cute, even I doubted what had happened less than 30min ago!

So after the EEG done on Monday, we heard today that Samuel would need to take medicine for Petit Mal Epilepsy. I was so relieved, I cried again.... yes, such a "small reason" in relation to all the things that flashed through my mind on Friday. We continue to pray healing as the doctor said that he could outgrow it - we stand on that :)

And for those who know me, yes I did cry at the EEG - Samuel looked so small & vulnerable and all I could think of was how blessed we were to love such a precious little one.

.... I also cry when they need to draw his blood & do his shots...... yes, yes I know :) I have nothing to say in my defence.

Samuel is back to his old self, getting cuter each day, his sisters are even more protective than before and loving on him in extra measure. More often than not we find him drumming away..... the sitting on the drum was self taught. The most adorable drummer boy I know :)

2 Amazing young ladies

It felt like just the other day when George & I were told I'm not only expecting, but expecting twins! After being "kicked off" a fertility program (their stats gave us a 0-3% chance with best medical help available), we experienced the most amazing blessing direct from the Father's hand.

God didn't stop there, He was in control when we were told at 34 weeks that the one baby was in distress and to prepare for complications. This slightly smaller "distress" baby(1.9kg) was born 1 min after her big sister (2.1kg), but there was clearly nothing wrong with the very verbal pink bundle :) The doctors and staff were blown away as both girls lungs were developed and they needed no medical intervention. Of course we had to wait almost 3 weeks to bring them home due to their weight, but they were (and still is :) ) perfect in this Mommy's eyes or as close to perfect as teenagers can be :)

Today these babies turned 17!! Yes, 17!!!!!! Young ladies:)

God has given them both a heart for others and they love loving on little ones - which makes Samuel one much loved little man. They treat their younger sister with compassion and despite the normal teenage "conflict" that sometimes rears its ugly head, Yvonne knows that she can rely on them always.

George & I are blessed to know that they know & love the Lord. We pray that their relationship with the Lord will continue to grow each day and that they will seek His face daily.

"Thank you Lord for Ellen & Marina;

they are fearfully and wonderfully made

and precious in Your sight.

Thank you Lord for the relationship they have

with Yvonne & Samuel;

for the privilege of being their parents.

Lord, as they enter this "grown-up" stage,

our prayer is that they continue to sit at

Your feet daily, like little children."

Most of the friends are still on holiday, so celebrations were somewhat low-key with the girls going out to dinner with 2 friends. Will do a proper celebration once school restarts.

Ellen & Marina, we love you so much !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (x2)

Tim update

Tim had spent most of today in theatre to remove the brain tumor doctors discovered last week.

The doctors here have expressed some concern as to whether Tim is now "clean" of any further off-shoots from the original tumor, as there had been some "surprises" during surgery.

For now Tim is in ICU in a medically induced coma.

Please continue to pray for complete healing, all aspects of healing.

Please pray God's strength and peace over both Tim and his family - especially those not in Zimbabwe.

Please pray for all medical staff attending to Tim, for wisdom & patience.

We also pray a prayer of thanks for Tim: his life - people have been, still is and will be blessed & enriched in knowing him.

God is in control, even when we feel out of control.

We trust God to do an amazing work in Tim and through Tim.