MPD adventures continued... and some VERY exciting news...!

I'm in PE at the moment, continuing with the MPD hunt. It was really wonderful being back in Grahamstown briefly after the worship school - catching up with people, and trusting God to impart some of the things we'd learnt at the worship time to our church. We had MANY great times of just soaking in God's presence, letting His love chase us down and surround us. There is nothing more life-changing then realising that God loves YOU, just as you are, just as He created you to be. Not for what you can achieve, or how well you've behaved. And also not because He *is* love and it's His job (or obligation) to love you. But His specific love for you. It can actually be quite a scary thing to still your heart, and ask God, "How much do You love me? Who do You say I am?" because we  kinda expect that He'll reply with a dismayed shake of the head, full of despair and frustration... "When are you going to get it right? Why are you making so many mistakes?" But that's just not true! He looks at us and is captivated by us, astonished by us. And everything He has to say to us is full of love, full of encouragement and joy. How crazy?! Anyhoo... we had lots of fun just hanging out with Dad :o)

So it felt like a great pit-stop before hitting the road again. I'm staying with a great friend in PE, and it's been fantastic catching up with her. She helped me get my hands on a Christian Business Network list, full of contact details. So I've been doing a lot of cold-calling, working me way through that list. I've had some VERY interesting conversations, ha ha! And found some great new partners.

But I must say that all of this has been somewhat eclipsed by some news I got today...

When I was at the worship school in Johannesburg a few weekends back, I saw a flyer at at the resource desk. I picked it up to check it out, and even before I’d read it, my heart started pounding so hard, I thought it was about to leap out of my chest! I flipped the flyer over, and read about an exciting worship school called The 18 Inch Journey (18 inches being the distance from head to heart). I got so excited, I thought I might explode on the spot! It’s hosted by Jonathan David Helser, his family and his worship team; and is based in Sophia, North Carolina. I applied for it as soon as I could, even though I knew they would only accept 15 people (from MANY international applicants), and it was therefore an incredibly long shot.

I’ll spare you the agonies of the wait (which I found long and difficult!)… I received an email from them tonight informing me that my application has been accepted! YAHOO! I believe it is a God-thing, and am so VERY excited. We learnt so much in one weekend with this team, that I can only imagine what 2 months of living in community with them will do to me! And imagine what I will be able to bring back, and sow back into our church! The whole weekend I kept thinking to myself: “These are my people! I need to hang out with them and learn from them more about worship!” And now here's my chance :o) It starts rather soon (eeek), and runs from 1 June to 31 July. It’s going to cost 2400 USD (which covers accommodation and food etc), and I also need to pay for VISA application and flights, of course. I’m thinking it’ll probably add up to a total of R30 000, possibly a bit more. So it’s really going to have to be (or continue to be!) a very large miracle! That feels overwhelming at this point, but I know God can do it! You can find out more about the school at http://www.aplacefortheheart.org/aplacefortheheart/18inchvision.html and you can see the BEAUTIFUL 52 acre place it's held at here: http://www.aplacefortheheart.org/aplacefortheheart/The_Facilities.html

Please pray with me for funds to come through! Eeeep!

EXCITEMENT :o)