When Your Life Takes An Unexpected Turn

If you had asked me 10 years ago, I never could have even imagined being a single missionary in Africa. In fact I would have laughed at the thought of it. But here I am and I feel blessed and thankful for God's faithfulness on this journey. Having been with Children's Cup for 6 years I can't imagine being anything else, but evidently ...... God can!

As of the end of this year, I will no longer be a Children's Cup missionary. God seems to have other plans. I still support Children's Cup and their amazing work with orphan and vulnerable children throughout Southern Africa. However, like Paul and Barnabas, we have chosen to minister differently and take different roads.

I was not planning this and honestly, my world felt upside down at first. This is not an easy decision for either side but I am fully at peace that God was and is totally in this. I am not sure who I will be partnering with next year, but I do believe God has confirmed to me to stay in Africa and to continue using my passion for children as well as my gifting in administration.

On the practical side, my email is changing to sandrachesterman07@gmail.com  and my support that was going through Children's Cup will need to be changed to World Outreach Ministry which is www.WorldOutreach.org/donations  (then just select my name to donate online). Their mailing address would be

World Outreach Ministry

P.O. Box B

Marietta, GA 30061

And designate it for me.

 They are an administrative agency whose ministry if being the office support for missionaries in the field from a variety of organizations. They are a 501 3C and will be issuing charity receipts for all donations made under my name. I will pass on the new information as it is fully in place next week.

Please lift me in your prayers. As I said, I know that God's hand was in this change but I am unsure of what the future holds. My focus at the present is to finish the year strong with Children's Cup and to assist in making it as smooth a transition as possible. I love the children and workers at our different CarePoints and want them to continue strong. I will also be connecting with other ministries that I know of and praying for confirmation of which one I can serve the best.

For anyone else whose lives are taking unexpected turns, hang in there. If I have learned anything in these last 10 years, it is to trust Him and obey no matter what. The turn will probably send us on a incredible journey beyond what we can imagine our lives will be like 10 years from now.

I Can't Imagine

Even after living here (meaning Africa) almost 6 years some days it still hits me that as much as I know about and interact with the culture, I really can't imagine what it is like.

It was a couple of weeks ago when I saw for the umpteenth time people waiting out in the rural area for a kombi "comb-bee" which is the local mini van/bus system.

But then it hit me, can I even imagine having to walk long distances to stand and wait for a ride that might come in 5 min or 2 hours or not at all that day? How would I plan my day or my life if that was my reality? I honestly, couldn't imagine.

Then, my list started to grow.

Could I imagine sleeping on a mattress or foam pad on the ground?

Could I imagine coming home after a day at a CarePoint with a layer of dust all over me and be unable to take a shower or bathe to get it off?

Could I imagine only bathing or doing laundry or dishes from water collected at a neighborhood tap?

Could I imagine being cold and scared and not be able to do anything about it?

Could I imagine not having food to eat?

Could I imagine not being able to see a doctor when I was ill?

I can't.  

And I never will. 

Even if I tried to go and live in the rural area I would always know I could walk away. 

It wouldn't be the same.

Many of you, I'm sure, can't imagine living in Africa.

But then God took my eyes off the physical and made me go deeper.....

Could I imagine going through my life without having a personal relationship with Jesus?

Could I imagine being confused and not having the Bible or the Holy Spirit to guide me?

Could I imagine being alone in Africa, without Him?

Could I imagine living without the joy, the peace or the lack of worry because I trust Him?

Could I imagine dying today not knowing what is after death?

I can't imagine.

I am thankful beyond what I can describe, that I don't have to.

But what about you?

Can you imagine? Or is this your reality?

I'm relooking at the world around me differently. Not that I didn't think of it before but because I have let myself be distracted by the cultural and economical differences. I need to refocus on the eternal differences. I don't want anyone to not know Jesus intimately. I couldn't and wouldn't be where I am today without Him in my life. I don't want to be in anyone's face but I do want to be a better reflection of Him. 

I want to be more conscious that some people live a life I cannot imagine.

I want people to know the One who is not from my imagination. 

The Christ who is alive and real and loves you!

If you don't know Him or believe in Him, message me. I would love to talk

Messed Up!

Often when teams come they get what we call "wrecked". It is not necessarily about Africa, although Africa will definitely leave an imprint that few can ever forget. It is rather about God moving in some significant way in their life. It messes them up and turns their normal upside down. It is cool to see and as I said in previous blogs it is renewing and refreshing for me to see the ministry and to see God work through a team's eyes.

The team I just helped host in Swaziland last week, was different; they ended up messing ME up! More precisely, they were the instrument that God used to wreck me and knock me off any pedestal I have set myself on. Missionary or not, I am just like everyone else who seeks God's face and wants to be more Christ like. But this team challenged me to take it up a notch; to go ALL IN! To find the grey areas that keep me from that. Not sinful things but distracting things that keep my focus off what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable and worthy of praise. And it was not by merely their words but by their heart and their actions!

This was a team that who was from two different churches, strangers before the trip, who were so prayed up for this trip and for unity among the team that I could not tell who was from which church without looking at the list. A team that got in the trouble because they kept trying to serve the servers and almost got staff in trouble because they were not doing their job of serving the guests. A team that an emergency stop for sick team members on the side of a mountain road became a ministry opportunity to share about God to kids who were there. A team who one member's highlight for the day was meeting a seller in the market and not about buying but seeing she was hurting and getting to pray with her and then staying and praising God with her right there in her booth rather than shop. A team that had men who so exemplified how husbands should treat their wife's that it was over the top impactful without them ever saying a word. The team of mostly men were an example of how men can be strong, hard working and sold out to God. In a land where the community does not have many men who go to church or who stand firm on biblical principals, they were a bright light to the women, children and men in Hhelehhele "Hay-lay-hay-lay" and everywhere else they passed through. Whether it was ministering to each other, strangers or missionaries, they were there to follow God's heart. I've never seen a team so generous and so selfless on multiple levels. It wasn't about the things, although they did bless generously all whom they came in contact with their time, their resources, their  fervent prayers and their flexible spirits. It was about God! But not God in a box but in being open and obedient to whatever God had in store.... And then rejoicing over the detour!  Don't let me put them up on a pedestal. They are everyday people with everyday struggles but they were here to be used of God and He used them to mess me up!

Let me back up a bit to tell you that I have been struggling the last few months with a sense of the enemy attacking strongly. Not me directly, but around me. I have been praying against it but feeling I am coming up short, that something was missing but that it is vital that I continue to come against it. This team unknowingly gave me the push I needed to get real with God and stop rationalizing things, that aren't sin, but things He was and is telling me the enemy is using to distract me from a more powerful, impactful path with Him. I'm ready to be ALL IN! So thank you David, Kevin, Jerri, Buddy, Kim, Eugene, Eric, Jacob, Bobby, Brant, Alita, Alyssa, Lynden and Jewelia! Thank you for being so willing to be used of God that in a year from now (yes, I am hoping you will all return) you will be able to see the impact you had on me and all you came in contact with!

Continue to pray with me for the community of Hhelehhele, for me and my journey, for Children's Cup, for Swaziland and for South Africa. God has some mighty plans ahead and I am praying that He expose the lies of the "world" and is able to use me to see His miracles unfold! May He, not the team or I, be the focus!