A Time of Ministry, Service & Refreshment

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Last month, I had the best time ever!! A church team from Peel Pentecostal Church in Brampton, of 17 people, came to visit VOH Mwanza and Petra church. It was an amazing time of ministry, service and encouragement. What a wonderful group of special people, of all ages and all walks or life! They were all so different, but had one thing in common - they loved God and they wanted to serve!

My role was the logistics person. It began when they arrived at 2 am, after a delayed flight. It was in the midst of a torrential rain storm, with so much luggage we had to hire another van just to carry it all and when we arrived at the compound there was no power. What a welcome to Africa!

Ministry

They came to minister - to the children at VOH and the people in Petra church. At VOH, they had a special play day with the children, a wonderful time of ministry with the house mamas and visited the classrooms - serving porridge, teaching songs, sharing Bible stories and God's love with the children.  

They came to minister - to the children at VOH and the people in Petra church. At VOH, they had a special play day with the children, a wonderful time of ministry with the house mamas and visited the classrooms - serving porridge, teaching songs, sharing Bible stories and God's love with the children.  
On the Saturday morning, we had a powerful time together at a special Ladies session. The church team members, and the older women of Petra (that included me!) had a prayed with the younger women in our church, anointed each one with oil, asked for God's will in their lives to be revealed and had a time of praise, fellowship and fun. For me, it was the highlight of their visit.
That afternoon, we had a prayer walk around the new Petra church grounds, committing it to Him to use it as a place of outreach to our community and beyond.
Service

And they came to work! At VOH, they spent a day doing all sorts of chores and service - like spending time in the classrooms, cooking the porridge in the kitchen and even cutting the grass. One team member (whose background is construction) jumped in the bulldozer to help clear the gravel to make a sidewalk. 

But the hardest work was in preparing the new Petra church ground, to get ready for building foundations to be laid, by removing the branches, debris and tree stumps. I was in the thick of it and tried my best - but believe me, I was exhausted!!!
Encourage

Last, but not least, they encouraged. It was amazing how closely we bonded and built relations in only 10 days. We spent alot of time together when they were here and had special times of worship, prayer and 1-1 ministry, sharing our lives with each other. 

The most memorable was on their last night. As we gathered together, they shared testimonies of how their mission trip had impacted their lives. We shared how they had impacted ours too.

We had a powerful time of prayer as a group, and ended with a special time where they prayed over Julius and me as Global Workers, for God to encourage and strengthen us as we continue on in His work. It truly blessed my heart. I know I'm called here and love being here, but some days aren't easy. I miss home, miss you and having the Canadian team here to uplift and encourage me was a wonderful, unexpected surprise from the Lord. 

Hopefully, I was able to speak into a few of their lives and provide encouragement to them too.
Their trip reminded me that part of doing His work is to take time for relationships, to encourage one other and spur us on in the faith.

As you go about your day today, I pray you will take time to look for the opportunities to be there for somebody, to share an encouraging word and to show you care - just like the team did for me.
 
"Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds ... encouraging one another" Hebrews 10:24-25
 
I end with a short video ... it's from the Fun Day the team put on for the children. They played games, sang songs, blew bubbles and more. We do alot of serious stuff here at VOH - educating the children, feeding them, checking their health, teaching them about God and more - but sometimes it's just nice to see them having fun. The sound isn't great (because the kids were too loud in the background!) but I think you will get the picture. It put a smile on my face. Hope it puts one of your face too!

Blessings
Jeanette


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