"Consider the Poor"

(thoughts from Paul)

This week I was asked if I had heard about the "million rand robbery." I had not. Apparently, there had been an organized, armed robbery in Johannesburg where 1/2 to 1 million rand worth of items were stolen. The robbery was aggressive and included over 20 men with AK-47 and other automatic weapons. Forty rounds of ammunition were fired. Thankfully, no one had been hurt. I asked where this had taken place and was grieved to hear that it was in Sandton, a wealthy community only 30 minutes from my new home. Though the conversation remained casual and I showed no outward evidence of fear I could not ignore the terrible senses I was having from the several "what if" scenarios developing in my mind. What if Peter...? What if John David...?

My mind knew this was fear and that I needed to be in faith for God's protection, but still the thoughts and feelings ensued.

That night I spent my prayer time bringing this issue before God. I had a wonderful time in His presence, casting all of my cares upon Him. Afterward, I picked up where I had left off in my bible study, which happened to bring me that night to this very verse:

"Blessed is the man who considers the poor: the Lord will deliver Him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve Him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and you will not deliver him to the will of his enemies" (Psalm 41: 1,2)

All of the feelings and fears vanished in the light of God's Word and promises. A great sense of peace and excitment settled over me as I knew the creator of Heaven and Earth was covenanting with me to deliver and preserve me, keep me (and my family) alive, bless me and deliver me.

But, the context in which the Lord spoke this promise was not merely because I was "in His will," or because I had moved to Africa in obedience. The context of this promise was in considering the poor.

God's "father heart" aches and breaks over every soul who does not have enough food to eat. How would I feel watching Peter or John David starving to death due to malnutrition? The thought exceeds my imagination. God's heart feels that and moreso for every hungry child in Africa and throughout the world. He has covenanted with His people that we can be His very Body on earth and do the very works of God. If only He can find those in His Body who would "consider the poor," who would personally identify with their need to the point of action. Only then can He fulfill the desires He feels so strongly towards the starving and needy.

Will you consider the poor? Will you look beyond the issues of your own life and create a place in your heart to care for those in desperate need the way He does? It is to people who would do such that God promises to aid in their time of need.

If you would like to know more about how you can be a part of meeting the needs of the starving children in Africa, please visit www.jamint.org.

Every Goodbye is Followed by a Hello

The plane touched down after 15 hours in the sky and the pilot said, "After a marathon journey it is my pleasure to give you a hearty welcome to African soil." We are home.

It's amazing how Africa just seems to wrap her arms around our hearts. It feels so right to be here. We arrived at the Joint Aid Management base and we are staying in a temporary accommodation used for visitors until our own home is ready to be occupied. (They are knocking down some walls in one of the existing staff housing units to convert it into a three-bedroom unit for our family. We'll be in it by the end of the month.)

This morning we had a brief meeting with Peter Pretorius just to touch base. Then Paul and Minda took Peter N. to visit a Christian preschool 15 minutes from the base where we've decided to enroll him. The school year began here yesterday, so Peter will start Monday and be in on it from the beginning! He's so excited. He said, "Mommy, can this be my school?" (The principal of the school was Minda's brother's teacher when her family lived here 20 years ago.) It is Summer here in the Southern Hemisphere and so today the boys are already loving playing barefoot outside on the green grass and enjoying the spacious and safe grounds on the base.

We are excited to pursue our plans for this first phase of our journey after arrival. We will need to get up to speed with our roles at JAM Headquarters here on base. We also feel we have several important relationships with various church leaders already developing. We will be visiting several of these and discerning where we will fellowship locally, and also have as a local covering.

Before starting work with JAM on February 1st, we will be accumulating furnishings for our new home as well as acquiring a bank account, cell phones and a car, interviewing and hiring a nanny for John David, getting over jetlag and getting settled into our new home. Minda's parents are here on one of their many trips to South Africa and so they are providing much appreciated help with the kids, etc.

WE ASK FOR PRAYERS during this transition time - for ability to adjust easily, for wisdom in making decisions, for provision for needs. Thank you for carrying us in your hearts. We are so aware of all of our friends and family and carry you in our hearts as well.

Anyone who wishes to contribute towards our relocation costs and the work we will do with JAM can do so by mailing a check to DDMI at the following address and your gift will be tax deductible. (Please mark your gift for the Nichols.)

DDMI
Nichols Mission
2457 Airport Thruway
PMB #220
Columbus, GA 31904

Thank you.

Update:

We are planning to leave Dublin on Tuesday, January 6th and will spend a week with family before departing for South Africa from Atlanta on Tuesday, January 13th.

We are planning to depart for South Africa on January 7th (pending the processing of our residence permits in time). We have sold most of our belongings and are “camping out” in our unfurnished house: sleeping on air mattresses, eating on paper plates and borrowing a TV and microwave from a friend! We’re filling our days with necessary preparations for the move and precious visits with friends and family.

Upon arrival in Johannesburg, we will get over our jet lag and begin to set up our new residence on the mission base of Joint Aid Management (JAM). We’ll visit preschools and enroll Peter as well as interview nannies for in-home childcare for John David. We are set to begin in our positions with JAM on February 1st.

Minda will be working as Personal Assistant to Peter Pretorius, helping him during the transition period of the next few years as he prepares to give the leadership of the organization to his son. Paul is going to be managing the websites, writing and editing stories as well as monitoring donations coming in to track their effectiveness. http://www.jamint.com/

We are very much looking with anticipation to this new opportunity in front of us. In addition to our work with JAM, there are many churches and ministries who are doing so much effective good in South Africa, whom we look forward to building relationship with and ministering with as opportunity provides. We love South Africa and can hardly believe we’ll be living there in just a matter of weeks!

This is a missionary endeavor and so we have undertaken the challenge of getting there and the many expenses that go along with that such as fees for residence visas (plus the expenses of acquiring all the legal documentation required), airfare, and the accumulating of furnishings for our new home. If you would like to give towards making the work we will do possible, tax-deductible contributions can be made to DDMI (Divine Design Ministries International) and all funds will go fully to us. Please mail to:
DDMI
Nichols Mission
2457 Airport Thruway
PMB #220

Columbus, GA 31904

Thank you for the interest and support that so many of you have expressed and for being a part of this exciting journey with us. We will continue to update as our “new season” in life unfolds!

May you have a Merry Christmas, celebrating all you hold most dear and may you experience God’s blessing in your 2009!

In Summary

We have returned safely to Dublin, Georgia and are basking in the richness of everything we have experienced in South Africa.

We were overjoyed to see people come into the Kingdom of God. We were honored to minister to 11 congregations, Bible Schools and ministries and so humbled by the flow of grace we experienced. We truly “stood on top of” what has been built into us over the years of formation and sensed an authority to communicate as well as a receptivity and need for the things God has entrusted to us. We witnessed God’s hand of guidance as we made numerous purposeful connections over coffee, in restaurants and in homes with spiritual fathers, leaders and the emerging generation in that land.

Before leaving for South Africa, we stated that the purpose of the trip was to put our feet on the ground and see what we experienced… walk through the open doors believing they would lead to open doors for the future. Through God’s Word to our hearts while away, through the witness of the Holy Spirit in our spirits and through the connections made we feel a growing confidence in the purposes of God for us in that land. Our hearts are now connected with the work of God in South Africa and Africa in a more deep way and we look forward to the future and watching God’s plans develop.

We realize that all we have been a part of over the past four weeks is not due to anything special that we are, but it is because of God’s goodness and His commitment to the destiny of His people. If we make what He is doing in the earth our priority, it is His pleasure to bring us into our place in that plan.

We thank you for your interest and your friendship. Thank you for being part of this journey with us – we were so aware of your support. We hope you have been enriched and inspired to fully participate in all that God is doing in your life and in the earth.

All praise to God!

Cape Town

We are in the “Mother City”, Cape Town. Known as “the fairest cape in all the world”. Cape Town is a bustling, cosmopolitan metropolis – the city at the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa.

Friday evening we were at Fountain of Life Church in a colored neighborhood (the preferred term of the race who are a mixture of the inter-mixing of indigenous Africans and whites from generations ago). Paul spoke a powerful Word, challenging them to apprehend the Kingdom of God through agreement with God and agreement with one another.

Sunday morning we enjoyed vibrant worship with Christian Family Church, Cape Town (another large colored congregation). Paul ministered the message on the Kingdom once again, teaching that the revelation of Who Jesus really is begins the building of God’s Kingdom in our lives.

Sunday evening we were with Christian Family Church, Tyger Valley who we ministered with four years ago with the youth from our home church, World Harvest Church. We experienced a really good “flow” as we delivered our final message for this trip. We saw all the things we have taught come together into one large stream as Minda passionately spoke on Enlarging Your Capacity and Paul preached the Kingdom Come.

These three weeks have truly been an adventure and our experiences have exceeded our expectations. We have been so blessed by the hospitality and warmth of the churches and leaders and their receptivity to what God has given us. Each place we have visited has extended an invitation to return. We are most grateful for the flow of God’s grace as we have ministered which has confirmed to us a special link between ourselves and Africa.

Today we are visiting with one of Minda’s closest friends from high school who married one of Peter and Ann Pretorius’s sons and we will enjoy a special day tomorrow with Minda’s parents before beginning our 25 hour journey home on Wednesday.

There will be one final blog post in the next few days to summarize our trip. Thanks so much for your interest, support and prayers.

Margate

Tuesday we flew from Johannesburg to Durban and drove an hour to Margate, a retreat community on the southeast coast. Wednesday morning we spoke at a rural African congregation who meet in a school in a very poor area of Margate. We were overcome by the Father God’s heart for these precious people. As Minda was praying in preparation for ministry to them she heard the Holy Spirit say to her heart, “Tell them they’re the apple of my eye.” She shared with them from Deuteronomy 32 and Proverbs 7 that we are the apple of God’s eye and His Word is to be the apple of ours’. She encouraged them that as they grow in love towards their Father God, he will plant His desires in them and then He delights to bring those desires to fulfillment (according to Psalm 37).

Wednesday evening we had an awesome time at Rhema South Coast, a church planted by Rhema South in Johannesburg (which was planted by Rhema South Africa, which was planted by Rhema, Tulsa). This vibrant church of only 3 years was packed with people of all generations and full of energetic worship. We both preached the message, “Enlarge Your Capacity” and afterwards we received so much confirmation from the leaders throughout the church as to how God was speaking “into the Margate area” through our message. The pastor is going to make the CDs of the message available to the congregation at cost on Sunday and he encouraged everyone to listen to it over and over. We were really overjoyed to be the carriers of a Word from God to encourage and empower these laborers who are making a tremendous impact on their city.

Thursday we flew from Durban to our favorite city, Cape Town, the city on the southern tip of the continent of Africa. Once again we’re absolutely awe struck with the wild natural beauty of the mountains and ocean here.

Today is Peter’s 4th birthday so we are making it all about him! We look forward to another very full weekend of ministry.

We value prayers that will carry us through our final week on this mission.