Rachel's Reflections

Yesterday was Word of Life South Africa's third annual Women of Worth Conference. The focus was Lydia, a lady mentioned in the book of Acts. From her life we learned about Christian Time Management, Christian Hospitality, and Christian Service, all things Lydia is mentioned for.  All this week we were in preparation mode, baking biscuits, cooking chicken, cutting vegetables, gathering up decorations, and making bookmarks. More than 100 women came from churches around the Johannesburg area. Thandeka and Vinolia, the ladies Macy and I met ice skating a few weeks ago, came to the conference! Macy and I were so excited to see them again and enjoy the conference together. At the end they told us they really enjoyed it and were encouraged by the three speakers. Vinolia asked a question that caught me off guard, and could not give a satisfactory answer on the spot. I really want to follow up more with her, maybe meet her in the city for a lunch date or something. She seems really open t

Youth Leader Conference: Today we hosted between 50-60 people on property for a youth leader conference. Mike Calhoun was our speaker, he and his wife Betsie arrived from the States yesterday morning and are here for two weeks speaking at various churches and events. I sat under three of his classes at the Bible Institute in New York. He has years of experience in youth ministry and was able to offer a lot of encouragement to the youth leaders who came. I enjoyed listening as well as serving in the kitchen with Abbie, Aunt Christy, and Macy.  Portuguese: "I need to work on speaking Portuguese no matter how uncomfortable and awkward it is." I told Paulo on Tuesday.  He replied with something in Portuguese and I had to think about what he said before I could even begin to answer in Portuguese.  "This is like the delay you get when talking on Skype sometimes," he said as he laughed. We conversed like that in Portuguese for about 30 minutes with simple phrases lik

Evangelism on Ice: Not what you would expect to read from Africa, I know, but take the opportunities God gives to you. As a special treat a group of us went ice skating last Saturday at a nearby mall. My friend Macy noticed someone struggling and offered to help her, I came along the other side of her and we taught her how to ice skate. Vinolia is a university student and it was her first time trying to ice skate. We found out she had come with her friend Thandeka, who also needed help learning. While taking a break Macy started sharing the gospel with them and I joined in to offer illustrations and to support what Macy was saying. While they had a basic understanding of the Bible the simplicity of the gospel was new to them. I can confidently say Thandeka understood and is now sure of her salvation but I am a little less sure of Vinolia. We have been following up with them throughout this week and have invited them to come to the Women's Conference Word of Life South Africa is ho