How it is to be home...

What an emotional week it has been! So I am home in South Africa...without Jared...and it feels like I have left a huge part of my heart in India. After spending about 23 hours of the day with each other for the last 3 months, we are both feeling very much like half a person. The Lord did such amazing work within us both during the last week of lectures, that our marriage has become indescribable. We truly feel like we are one spirit! When you realize The Lord is within you and within your husband, He shows you that through Him the two of you can be united into one spirit, which is what He had planned from the very beginning. So when we are truly missing each other, we seek The Lord even more, where He then can comfort us and unite us in spirit. All I can say is Our God is G.R.E.A.T!!!!!  

On Wednesday Jared phoned me, saying how he was sick and how he had had a fever for the last five days with flu like symptoms. He went to the doctor who said that if he wasn’t better within 2 days he would have to come back to see him. Praise The Lord the fever broke the next day and his strength returned the following day. Thank you to everyone that prayed for him and his protection. He is now fully back in action and has lots of news. So I will try to fill you in to the best of my ability.

So they are now on the outskirts of Chennai, in a much more rural setting. His outreach team consists of 8 people 4 ladies and 4 men (including the two leaders). They are staying in a pastors home with is a one roomed house where they are all sleeping on the floor. This particular stretch of the outreach they are involved with church planting and evangelism. He says they have been doing a lot of prayer ministry where they have been going to peoples houses to pray for them and to pray blessings over newly bought properties. (This is a very common practice for the Indians to do, no matter what religion they are, they will get a ‘spiritual blessing’ over the property before they start building their house).

Jared had the opportunity to preach in a church this Sunday on Lordship and has been prayerfully selected as the worship leader for their outreach team.

He says that the spiritual warfare is very strong so please stand with us in prayer against any attack from the enemy, whether it be physical, spiritual or emotional.

So it has been scientifically confirmed that we are having a BOY!! What a blessing it is to have a baby on the way... we are so excited!!! And what an even bigger blessing to know that we heard The Lord right, and that He has given us a name for this beautiful baby boy - Elijah.

Baby Elijah at 27 weeks - He has his head turned looking right at you.

As for me and my personal walk with The Lord, He has blown me away this week...AGAIN!!

Re-entry has been quite a thing... I actually feel like there is more culture shock for me coming back to my own culture than there was going to India. I think this is due to the fact that we had mentally prepared ourselves for the different culture when going but when coming back had not actually thought about how different things are in South Africa. The first couple of days been back were a bit experimental for me, trying to figure out what was the South African ‘normal culture practice’ and what was the Indian ‘normal cultural practice’. You might be thinking but how can she forget when she has been in South Africa for 24 years and only in India for 3 months. I think as part of a coping mechanism and vital to fitting in that on that side, I had to forsake our cultural practices to be able to take on theirs. So when I came back I had to try remember what practice goes where, like for instance taking shoes off before you enter a house is INDIAN and flushing toilet after every time that you go is SOUTH AFRICAN :-)

Just before leaving India The Lord showed me that I use to seek comfort from food and movies when I was alone, for instance when Jared went to visit someone or play sport, I would have to have some junk food and movies to keep me occupied until he came home. I believe this time of separation is a time for me to learn to seek The Lord for that comfort, to abide in Him and to learn to keep my eyes set on Him always. I won’t lie it has been difficult, especially with all the exciting TV programmes, the busy schedules that everyone has and in general the world going on around me. I just thank The Lord for His consistent faithfulness, He truly will never leave us nor forsake us! I am very excited as The Lord has guided us to a new church where I truly believe He has amazing, unfathomable plans for us. He has connected us with people that share the vision He has given us and I truly believe there is no such thing as a coincidence....only a Godincidence.

I pray that you all have a very blessed week and that The Lord shows you something that you know could only be from Him.

Blessings to everyone!
Sanchia