Darin's Journal
Tuesday Morning (4/July)Happy 4th of July! On a day when we celebrate our independence as Americans, our team is celebrating some independence – from the routines and schedules that we have become so accustomed to at home. We’re learning that 9AM can mean anything from 9AM to ‘somewhere before noon’. We’re learning that a driving tour of the area can turn into a mountain hike/prayer time. We’ve added “Hurry Up and Wait” to our regular team vernacular alongside “Sleep When You Get Home”… and we’re becoming accustomed to life at this pace.
Most of our Monday had an orientation feel to it. Dieter shared much with us on the history of Namibia and particularly the town of Okahandja (pronounced Ok-uh-han-ya). It was interesting, but even more so because he shared this history lesson with us as we were atop a hill overlooking the whole town.
My team got our first ‘action’ flying as the prayer covering team for By Faith’s first concert in Khomasdahl. The evening was a youth service centered around the theme of ‘family’. The challenge for the band was that they learned this theme AND that they were expected to carry the whole service – music AND message. My prayer team knew that prayer would be essential.
Reminiscent of the first performance of the 2005 trip, we were challenged by the generator powering the sound equipment. First we ran out of gas before the concert was to begin. Dieter’s son Richard and I ran about trying to find anything that could be filled with Petrol. A coke bottle came to the rescue. (A personal note to all Pepsi drinkers – note: it was a Coke bottle, not a Pepsi bottle that rescued us!)
The generator started, the band struck their first note. Dieter tapped me on the back and said, “There is something wrong with the generator”. The next thing I know Dieter and I were praying over the generator. It steadied. Each time it sputtered, we prayed all the more. At one point it shut down – the band was in the middle of “Amazing Grace”. Dieter shouted prayers and I pulled the rip cord like a madman and within just a few seconds the generator was humming along again – the band having filled the instrumental void as if it was planned. No doubt our prayer team was holding us up, as we held the generator up, as the generator held the band’s instruments up – and the next thing we knew the generator finished the night without another sputter.
Dave Sumner shared his testimony with the young people who gathered. As the band finished sharing the song “How Great Is Our God” a number of the people there stood and shared testimonies of where they had seen God’s greatness. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. When Pastor DeClerq stood to share you could have heard a pin drop. He looked at Dave and said “Dave, your testimony and mine are very similar”. He concluded, “this is something we can all relate to”.
As we sat around the fire last night it was evident that my team thoroughly enjoyed the role of prayer covering. As I type this, a couple of them volunteered to accompany the band as prayer covering this morning, where they had to roll at 6AM (and this really meant 6AM) so that the music would start at the school assembly precisely at 7AM.
God is showing up in many of the conversations around the fire, and many of our teammates quiet walks around Dieter and Joan’s property. As you all know, this is chief among the answers to my prayers. Thank You Lord!
posted by Darin @ 5:42 AM
