Mossel Bay

Our time here as a family in Pretoria has been very blessed and fruitful.  We’ve gotten to know each other better on different levels, and the Lord continues to grow us and meld our hearts stronger with His.  I mentioned in my last post that the Lord had put a place on Josh’s heart and that we were praying into the meaning of it.  We never did hear back on our inquiry by January 7^th, which is fine because we asked God to close that door if that’s not where He wanted us.  However, a series of events happened which led Josh and I to visit this said location.  To rewind a bit…

On December 11^th we spent time as a family in worship.  Jade received a word from the Lord during the song, “It is Well”.  She felt like God was saying that there will be changes for our family and we might not be ready for it but it will be well with us.  Josh received a picture from the Lord of a map of South Africa.  Jesus’ hands were underneath it cupping it.  The following words were impressed upon him, “It’s all yours!”  He received another picture of a sushi restaurant with a sushi boat bar.  On each of the boats was a name of a South African city/town.  God said, “Take your pick!”

A couple of days later the following words were impressed upon my heart, “Wipe the dust from your feet and go.”  Days later I woke up knowing I had a dream, but all I remember is the following – I was reading a letter in scroll form and in it read, “Go after your dreams and do not stop!”

At this point we didn’t know if we’d be staying in Pretoria long-term or if the Lord was leading us elsewhere.  However, about a week prior to leaving the Footprints base the Lord gave me a dream that seemed to indicate that we wouldn’t be in Pretoria for long.  Josh was also sensing the same thing.  Almost 2 months ago (around the beginning of December), during Josh’s quiet time with the Lord, the words “Mossel Bay” came to his mind.  He didn’t know what it was or if it was a place so he decided to Google it.  It turns out that Mossel Bay is a place located in South Africa.  Josh had never heard of it before, nor do we know anyone that lives there (or so we thought).  He shared this with me, and then we placed it aside not thinking much of it at the time, but the Lord was relentless and continued to stir Josh’s heart to pursue what this might mean a little further.  After moving back to Pretoria, we began talking and praying about Mossel Bay and why the Lord would highlight this place to us, a place we’d never heard of before.  We thought maybe the Lord wanted to up and move our family there.  Then one day the idea came to me that maybe Josh and I should visit the place before just moving our family there.  We got online and researched local churches in that area to see if there might be one we could attend during our visit.  The first search result that came up was a church called Joshua Generation.  After reading about them and listening to a sermon, we had peace that this would be a good place to start so we e-mailed all 4 of the eldership couples to ask for recommendations on where we might be able to stay.  One of the elders called Josh and suggested that we should visit before up and moving our family – the same idea I had so we received this as wisdom.  This man was very helpful and offered to help with accommodations if we decided to come visit.

Before I continue any further, one thing to note is that there’s a family from the States that God is bringing to Africa to partner with us in serving and loving on the people of South Africa.  Josh spoke with our friend, Matt, whom will be coming to visit us in February and asked him if the Lord had been showing him anything about Africa and if he specifically felt called to South Africa.  Matt told him that he has peace about South Africa and that all the Lord keeps showing him is the ocean along the Cape.  Prior to this, Matt didn’t know anything about the Lord speaking to Josh about Mossel Bay, which is along the Western Cape by the ocean.  This was confirmation to all of us that we were walking down the path the Lord wanted us to.  Thank you, Lord, for sending others to RUN/PLAY with us!!  Eventually Matt, Bree and their 2 children will be moving to South Africa, but for now Matt will be coming to stay with us for a month on February 5^th.  Please cover his finances and travels in prayer, as he’s never flown internationally and will be leaving his family behind for a month.

To continue on, after speaking with our kids, they were okay with us leaving to Mossel Bay so we asked a lady in the house if she’d be available to watch them.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t but she took it upon herself to ask someone else in the house if they could watch our kids.  This person approached us because they knew of our need and offered to watch our kids for as long as we needed!  What a blessing!  We booked our plane tickets at a great price and were about to book a rental car for our time there, but then I had this impression that we should wait because the Lord was going to provide for us in a different way.  The next day we informed this elder we had been in touch with that we booked 2 plane tickets into George (approx. 30 minutes from Mossel Bay) for January 16^th – January 19^th.  He ended up taking care of ALL of our accommodations and transportation.  We were truly blessed beyond measure!!  What blows our minds even further is that he tells Josh, “Ya, for the first 2 nights you’ll be staying with someone you know.”  Josh is thinking, “I don’t know anyone in Mossel Bay.”  It turns out that someone we went to Harvest School with in Mozambique 2 years ago lives in Mossel Bay (his hometown) and went to the church Joshua Generation.  In addition, Josh served with this guy every week at the Noviane Center where they taught English and hung out with the boys.  Only God knew of this divine connection!!

Our kids were counting down the days until we left.  I think they were excited for us to leave because they knew they were going to have a lot of fun while we were gone….AND that they did!  The generosity and outpouring of love and honor we experienced while in Mossel Bay was beyond what we ever imagined.  Someone even donated some money to us for our trip.  They said it wasn’t much but that the Lord placed it on their hearts to do.  The Lord is so good to us!  On this trip we were asking the Lord to make it clear to us whether or not He wanted us to move there.  We sensed this trip was going to be about connections and building relationships, and we definitely met a lot of wonderful people during our stay.  We also got to see most of Mossel Bay and drove through the townships (aka slums), as that is where our heart is leading us to serve.

On January 17^th, our first morning in Mossel Bay, our friend’s wife asked if we had any dreams last night.  Josh mentioned having a dream of himself looking over the ocean while standing on a cliff.  Jesus was walking towards him.  There was nothing else around, just cliffs.  Jesus walked up to him and they began having a conversation about something, but Josh didn’t know what it was about.  Then he woke up.  Later that day our friend took us on a hike along this trail called St. Blaize that led to a beautiful view overlooking the ocean.  He left us by ourselves so we could worship and pray together.  The view was almost exactly like what Josh saw in his dream the night prior.  As Josh was praying, the lyrics from an American song popped into my head, one I would never think about on my own – “This land is my land.  This land is your land….”  I felt like the Lord was saying, “This land, Mossel Bay, is mine but I’m giving it to you!”

The next morning we attended church at Joshua Generation.  We felt very welcomed and honored, and it reminded us a lot of the church we attended in the States – Vineyard Meridian.  After the service a couple came up to us and said the Lord prompted them to approach us.  They shared how they do street ministry to the townships – exactly our hearts – but they knew nothing about us.  Another divine connection from the Lord!  A lady also prayed over me and released encouragement!  It was spoken over us that the Lord will bless wherever our feet may lead.  I looked up some verses that speak of this truth – Deuteronomy 28, Deuteronomy 11:24, Joshua 1:3.  We enjoyed lunch with some new friends after the service, and God even connected us with someone whom is interested in attending Harvest School in Mozambique this June, so we were able to share our story with her.

Here are some pictures of Mossel Bay.  We had a lovely time with some beautifully amazing people!  We are grateful for everyone that played a part in our visit, and yes, that includes those covering us in prayer.

With all of that said, we have peace about MOVING TO MOSSEL BAY and will be doing so within the next couple of weeks, so long as the details line up and God opens the doors.  The kids are super-duper excited to move again, especially since it means we’ll be by the ocean.  It is a huge leap of faith for us, as currently we don’t know where we’ll be living, we have no vehicle to drive and no steady money coming in, but the Lord is good and we know He didn’t send us all the way across the world just to leave us high and dry.  He will provide!!  Thank you for covering this next step in prayer.  We are asking the Lord to visit our kids in their dreams and show them the house we’ll be staying in.

We are also in the process of applying for our temporary residential visas for South Africa.  This will allow us to stay in the country for up to 3 years without having to leave.  The Lord’s favor has already been upon this process, for which we are truly grateful.  Your prayers for continued finances, peace and wisdom are greatly appreciated!  We’ll keep you all updated as things progress.  Thank you for choosing to be a part of this journey!!  Many blessings to you!

Seasons Change

Some seasons in life are longer than others, and we don’t always know when one season will end and a new one will begin.  However, we have to be able to recognize and discern when something’s time has passed and be able to move into the next season, no matter how difficult moving on might be.  Each season prepares you for the next…  Each season serves its purpose…

We thought our season here at the Footprints base was going to last longer, but the Lord is leading our family to move off base.  In fact, we are moving tomorrow, January 1, 2015, back to Pretoria to stay at our friends’ house (Fred and Rene), whom we stayed with when we first moved to Africa.  We do not know how long we will be in Pretoria, but they have been so gracious to us and are letting us stay there as long as we need to until the Lord gives us clear direction for the next steps.

The reason for the move, you might ask…..  Well, sometime in October the Lord had been showing me some things, but we placed them on the back burner so-to-speak because we didn’t know the significance of those things at the time until now.  We thought we’d be leading the Footprints’ children’s school for another year.  We thought we’d be building a home on the base and bringing more children into our family – a few that were really highlighted to us already.  We thought many things were going to happen, but the internal checks continued to happen and the Lord began closing doors.  At this point, we knew we had to revisit the things the Lord had been speaking to me about and showing me.  This meant humbling ourselves before the Lord and the director at Footprints.  Our hearts meant well, but the Lord was telling us to slow down our steps so that we did not get ahead of Him and what He has planned for us.  We’ve learned many lessons here, for which we are grateful.  We’ve met some wonderful people, of which we hope we can stay connected with.  Our unity has been tested, but we have remained victorious over the enemy’s tactics!

One day as I was seeking the Lord for guidance, He spoke to my heart saying, “Ask your kids how they’re doing.  It will be key to your next step.”  We ask our kids often how they’re doing, but Holy Spirit gave me strategies to help me dive deeper into their hearts.  A common thing that was shared by all of them was, “We miss family time.”  We have enjoyed our time here at Footprints, but community living doesn’t come without its challenges.  I felt prompted to have some people pray for our family over a 2-day period (not sharing any details with them about certain situations) and to share anything with us that the Lord might be showing them on behalf of our family.  A friend of ours shared a couple of things with us, and one of those things was that she kept hearing the words, “Listen to the kids,” throughout her prayer time.  This lined up with what God had been speaking to me about, so I knew there was something more to it and God was trying to get my attention about something.  I am so thankful for friends that clearly hear the voice of the Lord and are an encouragement to us!  A love shout out to you all!  As I was typing out an e-mail to another one of my friends, the Lord spoke to me through my own writing confirming what our next step should be.

Through much conversation and prayer, Josh and I were led to make certain decisions on behalf of our family, but we wanted the blessing of leadership here at Footprints as that would be the honorable thing to do.  About 2 weeks ago we met with the director and received her full blessing to move forward with the direction the Lord was leading us, which is to move off base.  What’s really cool is that the night before we met with the director, the Lord gave her a dream about me and our kids.  I won’t share the details but it correlated with what was going on in my spirit for our family.  God’s so good!!  The Lord has made it very clear that this next season of ministry is all about our kids and strengthening our family unit.  We are called to make disciples, and that definitely starts in the home.  Don’t get us wrong, family is always ministry for us so this is nothing new, but the Lord is asking us to set aside all other “good” opportunities to go deeper into the Lord’s heart as a family during the month of January….no one being left behind.  We sense it is in preparation for us and what is to come for our family.  He wants to toughen up our army for the front line.  My heart is that as a family our intimacy with the Lord will become stronger and that a lifestyle of worship and prayer will become a greater focus for each of us individually and as a family unit.  So, if you don’t see us post much on Facebook or write any updates for a few weeks, it’s because we’re dedicating this next month to really focus on the Lord and grow more intimate with Him as a family.

In the meantime, God put a place on Josh’s heart, and right now we’re praying into the meaning of it and if it’s somewhere He wants us to visit.  Josh had never heard of this place before, nor do we know anyone that lives there or has been there.  We’ve taken the first step to inquire of this location, and now we’re just waiting to see if the door remains opened or closed.  Please join us in prayer that we would have an answer by January 7th.

I want to “sign-out” with this verse: Psalm 1:3

“They (the faithful) are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season without fail.

Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper.”

For those that are faithfully following Jesus, this says there is NO season that doesn’t produce fruit.  If you are going through a season and questioning whether or not there is any fruit, ask the Lord to show you His perspective because He’s always at work growing something beautiful in you, BUT you must stay connected to Him for it to grow.  Let Him be your source of nourishment and the center of your heart!

With the new year upon us, we’re excited for what God has in store for the Mason Family in 2015, but we’re taking it one day at a time and choosing life today and not worrying about tomorrow.  We pray that all of you will experience freedom, love, hope and joy beyond measure during the year 2015.  Happy New Year from the Masons!

Merry Christmas from the Mason Family

Our family would like to take this time to wish you all a Merry Christmas!  We’re enjoying our first “hot” Christmas the non-traditional way.  No Christmas tree, no decorations, no stockings, no presents to open first thing in the morning.  I’ve been pondering in my heart what I want our family’s Christmas day to look like.  To be quite honest, I don’t completely understand why we celebrate Christmas and Easter in the first place (just one calendar day of the year).  EVERY DAY should be about the birth and resurrection of Jesus, right?!?!  I think that a lot of holidays have become worldly and commercialized, and in years past we’ve gotten caught up in all of that.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to give gifts on Christmas, but we have decided that our gifts to our children would not be the first thing they focus on Christmas morning, so we will not be setting out stockings or gifts until later on in the day when we feel led to.  We are choosing to celebrate in a different way this year, without all the distractions, although we do miss the fact that family isn’t near.

We have a tradition in our family that has been going on for many years now.  We write down everyone’s name on individual pieces of paper and then draw names out of a hat.  Whoever’s name we draw, we get to make them a gift for Christmas – a gift that comes from the heart.  The kids look forward to this time the most, so we have decided to give away our gifts to each other tonight on Christmas Eve.  We then plan to watch a family movie together and celebrate Jesus’ birth by having a “birthday” cake that Gracie made for Christian as his gift.

However, you choose to celebrate Jesus’ birth, let Him be the focus of your day…..and for those that have kids, really ponder about what you would want Christmas to look like if Jesus were joining in on your celebration because He should be the whole reason for the celebration and not just a small part of it!  Peace, love and joy from our family to yours!!

We asked our kids to share with you what’s been going on with them, so here are their thoughts….

CHRISTIAN (7) – Hello friends and family!  I hope you can come to Africa.  It’s been hot and raining here in Africa.  It’s really fun having new friends to play with here, and you will get new friends too if you come here.  Today is Christmas Eve, and I know you know that too.  Christmas is about Jesus’ birthday, and it’s not just about getting presents.  It’s about celebrating Jesus.  There are three termite mounds on this base.  Me and Josiah share a room.  I wish you could come and share a room with us too.  There’s this game called shegisha, and all of the Footprints kids like to play it and so do I.  I’ve seen millipedes, rabbits, snakes, biting ants and cockroaches here at Footprints.  God has given me pictures of places in the world like in Europe.  I saw flowers and lots of animals and people and it was really hot there.  There is a swimming pool here at Footprints.  Have a great Christmas!  Merry Christmas!  Bye!

JADE (12) – It is so hot here! It does get cold here. I can’t wait for winter, which is summer in the States. It’s like an extra-long summer because when we left the States it was summer. I’ve made lots of friends here at Footprints. My friends and I have sleepovers and we go swimming together in the pool. I love having a pool here because I can just hop in whenever I want to! First when we got here it was all dry and everything was dead (the plants). Now since it’s been raining it is all green and alive. I like the rain, especially when I’m going to bed. Our roofs are made out of metal so when the rain comes down hard it is loud and comforting. All the kids and adults here are amazing and I’m glad I met them. I always help in the kitchen. I love helping whoever is cooking. I can’t believe it’s already Christmas! This year for our family tradition I got Gracie and I think she’s going to like her present. I can’t wait to give it to her! God has really been speaking to me about intimacy with Him a lot. So I’ve been reading my Bible and really pressing into Him more. I hope all of you guys have a great Christmas and a happy New Year. Merry Christmas!

GRACIE (5) – It’s fun here in Africa.  I play with my new friends.  I jump on the trampoline, and I play on the monkey bars.  I can go all the way across all by myself now!  I play in the sandbox and make sandcastles.  I got 2 new pairs of glasses because mine broke when I was hugging my mommy.  My mommy always calls me a “little fish” because I like to swim in the pool.  I’m learning how to swim.  I jump into the water while plugging my nose.  I’m not afraid of the water.  Merry Christmas, bye!

JOSIAH (4) – I love you all!  I wish you could come here.  I play with friends on the trampoline.  We put balls on the trampoline and bounce them, but if they touch you then you’re out.  The only way to get saved and back into the game is if another person jumps over the ball that touched you.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Simon Says...

This morning I woke up pondering things in my heart.  The Lord brought the game “Simon Says” to mind and told me to blog about it.  You know, the childhood game where one person is Simon.  If Simon says, “Simon says to touch your nose,” then you must touch your nose.  However, if Simon says, “Touch your nose,” but doesn’t say, “Simon says” and you touch your nose anyway then you are out.  Well, this isn’t new revelation to me but the Lord was speaking to me through this game.  If you put God in place of Simon in the game and God says to do something, you should do it.  If God doesn’t say to do something, don’t do it.  As a child playing this game, I would almost always get out if I tuned out what Simon was saying and just watched the actions of others.

The Lord was speaking to me about this and how we must listen to His voice for direction and not allow others to influence our actions or decisions.  He absolutely can speak wisdom through others, but I have learned to always take what is spoken to me to the Lord to process it with Him and “throw out the chaff”.  In Psalm 1:4 it talks about the wicked being worthless chaff, but the Lord was applying this particular concept to some situations we’ve been experiencing.  For those that aren’t familiar, chaff is the outer shell (or husk) that must be removed to get at the valuable kernels of grain inside.  Chaff was removed by a process called threshing and winnowing.  After the plants were cut, they were crushed, and then the pieces were thrown into the air.  Chaff is very light and is carried away by even the slightest wind, while the good grain falls back to the earth.  Chaff is a symbol of a faithless life that drifts along without direction.  Good grain is a symbol of a faithful life that can be used by God.  Unlike grain, however, we can choose the direction we will take.

In the last few months, we’ve allowed ourselves to be “carried away” by good opportunities, choosing to set aside some internal checks we were having and going after what seemed like the logical path.  One day the Lord spoke to me clearly and said, “What seems like the logical answer is not MY answer.”  I am constantly pondering Proverbs 3:5 in my mind and heart, “Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  Before any steps were taken I was sensing some things in my spirit about direction for our family.  In sharing those things with Josh, he heard me but didn’t take those things to heart or ask the Lord if He was in it or not.  Instead, he chose to follow what made logical sense to him.  In the end, I chose to submit to my husband because I wanted to honor him and be in unity.  We are aware of where we went wrong, and in hindsight Josh has learned that he shouldn’t have ignored the checks I was having.  I have also learned not to waiver or treat nonchalantly the wisdom the Lord imparts to me.  We continue to walk through this journey of life, continually being humbled by the Lord’s “teaching” opportunities.

When the Lord gives you a specific task, keep your gaze focused on Him and don’t be tossed to and fro by others’ opinions or exciting opportunities that come but aren’t doors you’re supposed to walk through.  There’s no need to question the “why’s” behind it – simply trust God because He sees the bigger picture.  When you begin to second guess the Lord, the spirit of doubt and confusion enters in and clouds your vision.  We know we have heard the Lord clearly on specific dreams and tasks He has given us, but it’s important that we get the timing right and not get ahead of Him.  Someone shared a testimony with me the other day, and I believe the Lord prompted him to share it with me at just the right time without him even knowing about our situation and challenges we were facing – and it all happened through casual conversation.  The Lord spoke to this couple a year ago that they needed to find a new house.  As they began looking, one would find a house that the other didn’t like and vice-versa.  Then they found a house that they both really liked.  That weekend (Saturday) they were going to purchase the house, but it turned out that someone else purchased it the day before they were supposed to.  At that point they gave up on searching and began wondering if maybe they heard the Lord wrong because it didn’t happen the way they expected or when they expected it.  A year later the word that the Lord gave them about finding a new house began manifesting and it’s happening with such ease and favor….all in His timing.

He has spoken to us (even our kids) through words and pictures/visions, confirming that we have done the right thing by slowing things down and staying true to the things He’s put on our hearts to do.  And, YES, that means saying no to other good opportunities that may come our way so that we will be available for God’s BEST opportunities to serve out His purposes through us.  One word of advice in the “waiting” is to keep your love on and protect your relationship with Him!  The enemy would love nothing more than to steal those things from you.  You can pursue dreams that God has given you, but if you turn off your love towards anyone during your journey when obstacles come, it means nothing [1 Corinthians13].

There is this incredible song by Kelanie Goeckler called, "Let Go Now."  I would highly recommend you take the time to listen to it right now as it carries a great anointing from the Holy Spirit.  The lyrics are extremely powerful and clearly convey what is going on in the hearts of me and Josh.  Here are some of the lyrics:

Holy Spirit overshadow me.  Take me by the corners of my soul and shake me.  Break me wide open to carry your heart.  All I want to do is lose myself in you.  Lean back in your arms and just let go.  Let it be, to me, according to your word.  Your ways are higher than mine.

I let go - your kingdom come.  In my life - your will be done.  Your ways are higher than mine.  I let go now!  Everything we were holding back before, we give it to you.  We won’t struggle against your hand – we just let go.  It feels so good to just let go!  I make my good plans, but you direct my steps.  I will trust in you at all times.  Your ways are higher than mine.

 

We are choosing to JUST LET GO and surrender daily to His ways because they are higher than ours!  What will you choose today?  Will you continue to hang on to the comforts of life, or will you choose to surrender your entire life to Him and let Him have His way in and through you……..?  I pray that God will have His way in you right now.  I pray that He is ministering to your heart this very second.  I pray that chains that have held you back are broken off right now.  I pray that all fear is broken off in your life and that Holy Spirit will reveal to you God’s purposes for your life and that you would be able to take a giant leap of faith to follow after His heart – even if it means letting go of something familiar to you.  It will be worth the risk!

Slowing down our steps because “Simon” aka God said to.  Letting go now…….. 

We've Got 90-Day Visas!!

We promised an update on our visa situation so here it is…..  Success!  Yesterday we were able to pass through Botswana and back into South Africa with no hiccups whatsoever!  The Lord granted us favor with the right guard being in the right place at the right time.  Our driver told us that we had a 50/50 chance of getting 90-day visas, but I quietly told Josh, “Not with God.  He’s 100%!”  I never doubted the Lord’s faithfulness in this matter.  However, He still asks us to pray and let our requests be known to Him and then take steps forward in faith believing that He’ll provide.  So, a big THANK YOU to those that were covering our visa situation in prayer.  It saved us from having to apply through a different process and paying $1,200 for our family. The Lord has truly blessed us with free visas for 6 months.  Come the end of February we will be looking into purchasing temporary residential visas that will allow us to stay in South Africa for a longer period of time.

Other than hearing the question, “Are we almost there yet?” several times during our travels, the kids did great.  We spent between 10-11 hours in the car, and only got out at the borders.  Our driver complimented us on the kids’ behavior.  On top of that, our driver honored our hearts by not smoking in the car with our children.  IN FACT, shortly before driving us to Botswana he decided to give up smoking cigarettes – said it was a bad habit/addiction he’s had for far too long.  His health will thank him for it.

We pray that all of you whom are back in America had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday.  We didn’t celebrate it in the traditional sense, but we choose to be thankful daily.  As you prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus next month, I challenge you to make it about HIM and not about gifts this year.  In fact, everyday should be about Him!  If it’s not then you’re missing out!

Enjoying the journey of life with you!  Much love from the Mason Family!

Traveling to Botswana - Visa Extension

It is time for us to extend our visas so we can continue to stay in South Africa, and to do so, we must exit the country and then re-enter.  So, on Thursday, November 27 we will be traveling out of the country to Botswana.  We will be catching a ride with a guy that travels there weekly so the Lord is blessing us already!  We need to be ready to depart outside the main gate of Footprints at 7am and are expected to return by 7pm at the latest….in time to Skype with my family back in the States!  It’s about a 3 ½ hour drive to and from Botswana, so we will be packing our lunch and bringing some “entertainment” for the kids.  I’m sure they’re pretty excited to have a day off from school, although we might plug in some teaching along the way! ;-)  We will pass through a guarded gate at the border and then re-enter the country of South Africa – the exact process we’re unsure of.  Typically the border guards either grant 7 days or 90 days, so of course we are praying for the latter.  After our new 90-day (see, I’m already declaring it!) visa expires we will apply for a residential visa which lasts much longer and does not require us to leave the country.  We are asking the Lord for the following and would appreciate you joining us in prayer:

1. 90-day visa extension.
2. No issue with my (Mindy’s) visa.  Since my expiration date is different from the rest of the family’s, due to my leaving the country back in September, we’re praying that doesn’t cause a red flag.
3. Smoke-free drive (the driver is in the process of quitting and is aware we’ll have children with us.
4. Safety and smooth travels; grace with children in the car for 7+ hours.

We will post another update once we’ve returned from Botswana.  Thanks and much love from the Mason Family!

Building a Home for Children

Years ago God gave us a dream of opening up our home to abandoned children/teens, and now we are getting to live out this dream because He is faithful as we choose to live in obedience!  The next step for our family is to build a home here on the Footprints base so that we have the proper living quarters to bring in more children and multiply our family size.  After the proper classes and training, we will take on the role of “foster/house parents”.  We’ve been praying about which children to “unofficially” adopt into the Mason Family, and the Lord has already highlighted 2 of them to us.  We feel an urgency in our spirits to move forward with building a home soon, so we would greatly appreciate your prayers over our next steps – that we would be led with His wisdom.  It has always been a dream of mine to design and build my own home, so I’m pretty excited that God is giving me the opportunity to do just that.  The cost of building a home here in South Africa is not the same as in the States, but regardless, there is a cost attached.  We’re getting out of the boat KNOWING that God will provide everything that we need to make this happen.  We know He doesn’t ask us to do something radical, seemingly impossible, without providing the means to do it.  BUT, we first have to take that initial step in trusting Him and being obedient.

God has been speaking to me a lot about faith and what it actually means.  During my last flights on my way home to Africa from my dad’s funeral back in September, the Lord directed me to read Hebrews 11.  It recounts many examples of people of great faith in the old days…  Noah built an ark because He trusted the Lord when He said a flood was coming even though there was no sign of it.  Abraham left his home without knowing where he was going because He trusted that God would lead Him and provide for him once he arrived there.  To me, faith can be described by Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”  Simply put faith = TRUST.  The way we live our life truly reveals just how much we truly trust God.  If you live a “safe” (i.e. logical, no-risk) life, maybe you’re missing out on God’s purposes for you.  Have you ever felt like God was asking you to do something and then you reasoned it away because it wasn’t logical, seemed impossible or didn’t make sense?  If God told you to sell all of your possessions and then use the money to feed the poor, would you do it or would you say, “But what about me Lord?  How are you going to take care of me?  How am I going to live without this or that?”  The God I know isn’t someone who calls you to do something and then leaves you stranded or doesn’t provide for your needs.  However, your perspective on what exactly your needs are might need a little adjusting.  What if God asked you to give away one of your vehicles to a homeless guy on the street, and you reasoned it away with the thoughts, “But what if this homeless guy is ungrateful for the gift or just uses it to go buy beer instead of to get a job?”  When did God ever say we were responsible for other peoples’ responses or actions?  NEVER.  We are responsible for our connection with Him and Him alone.  As a parent, I am responsible for teaching my children truth, but ultimately they must choose how they’re going to respond.  It is so freeing knowing that I don’t have to control my children or manipulate them into making the right choice, which is something I see often in this world and have been guilty of at times myself in the past.  Instead, I get to model making good choices for them, ask for grace and forgiveness when I mess up, and then watch them make good choices because they “want” to – not because they “have” to or are fearful that if they don’t they will be judged, punished or won’t be accepted.

Do you have faith for things that are logical or do you have radical faith to do something that doesn’t make sense to you and you can’t see the “big picture” but you know how to hear God’s voice and trust Him clearly to act without fully understanding why?  The serpent asked Eve, “Did God really say not to eat…..”  Since the beginning, Satan has been instilling doubt in man’s mind and causing confusion and deception.  Adam and Eve lived an alternative life to the one God originally had planned for them in the Garden of Eden all because of their disobedience and lack of trust in Him when they didn’t understand the bigger picture.  They had a moment where they allowed the enemy to get them to doubt, and look at what the results were….  Although, thank God He had a plan to restore man’s relationship with Him through Jesus.

Hebrews 3:14 says, “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.  BUT, never forget the warning: Today you must listen to His voice.  Don’t harden your hearts against Him……”

You can’t obey God and walk in faith if you don’t know how to hear His voice and know how He speaks to you personally.  If you’re not hearing God’s voice, you’re either hearing your own or Satan’s, and yes even through man.  You can even hear God’s voice and still live in unbelief because hearing and acting upon His voice are two different things.  Faith requires action.  Faith isn’t just a set of doctrines that one believes in.  Faith is living out your trust in God.  Living = an action word. In Hebrews 3:16-19 – God says that those who live in unbelief (who disobey Him) were not allowed to enter His rest.  Examine your life – is there an area in your life where you’re not “at rest”?  Maybe it’s with finances, a relationship, a job, etc.  Could it be that you are not at rest because either a) you haven’t been obedient to what the Lord has asked you to do with $, relationship, job, etc. OR b) you haven’t fully surrendered those things over to God trusting that He’s got your best interest at heart?  Lack of trust in God prevents us from receiving His best.

When you trust in Jesus, the vine, you can partake of all His fruits – peace, love, joy, gentleness, patience, etc….  When you don’t trust in Jesus, you are choosing to sever yourself (the branch) from the source of life.  My greatest inner healing came when I realized that I had an issue with trust.  At times I was skeptical, at times I doubted, often I lived in fear of being wrong.  BUT when the Lord healed me of trust issues, I became FREE because the truth literally set me free!!  Do you want to be free with Him, to soar with wings like eagles into greater depths of His heart?  I pray that today you will surrender your heart to Him and ask Him to show you areas where you don’t trust Him and are listening to lies instead of truth.  Then allow Him to gently speak truth into your heart.  It will change your life.

As we are living out our own personal journey of faith, we would greatly appreciate it if you’d join us in prayer for the following:

1) God’s blueprints being downloaded to us for our new home

2) Wisdom on where and when to build

3) Clear direction with our finances, as we want to be good stewards

4) Names and number of children to bring into our family

We thank everyone that has covered us in prayer and acted in obedience as the Lord has led – whether financially or sharing a word the Lord has given to you for us.  God is good, all the time, even in the midst of a storm!  Hold on to what is true even when you cannot see!  Love and blessings to you all!