rach in durban - end times and exciting times

Hey team

Still sunny here with LOADS going on. It's been a great weekend.

End times
Just before we left for Durban, Soul Survivor took the difficult decision that SITCD 2009 would not be happening. A tough call, mostly (but not entirely) based on the fact that the British Lions tour is pushing flight costs over £1000. Much of the time we've spent here so far has involved Ben, Dave and Sue having to meet with people to tell them, apologise to them, explain what's happening etc. It's been a tough time. I've not told you before because we had to wait for it to be public knowledge.

As hard as it has been, people have received the news graciously at this end and some churches are already talking about the possibility of continuing it themselves with South African delegates. It's hard for us to let go of something into which we have invested so much of ourselves but we have to leave it with God and trust that His plans are infinitely better than our own.

The side effects of that are that Ben is moving back to the UK. Staying here in his house gets more interesting by the day. Dave and Sue popped to the supermarket on Saturday and came back to see their beds being loaded into someone's truck and driven away! We're holding on to the furniture in case it gets sold from under us!

Exciting times
Sue and I joined a prayer walk yesterday afternoon which was organised by several churches in the city. We walked and prayed through Warwick Junction - a busy market area under the flyover of one of the main routes in and out of Durban. There were about 50 people from a huge variety of churches. It was SO exciting to be part of it and to see so many Christians of all flavours coming together to pray for their city.

I met Fr Stephen from the cathedral after the walk. He's involved with SITC and has some delegates at his church this summer. We are planning to stop at his church on the last day of the prayer walk and he has suggested we call into the end of the morning mass (in English) during which they will pray for us, and then stay for the beginning of the afternoon mass (in Zulu) when they will pray for us again and send us off.

Something good:
Meeting with all those churches to pray for Durban yesterday. They are planning on prayer walking together monthly and its so exciting to see it start and begin to grow.

Something I am working on:
I have a few more churches to connect with over the next couple of days, some of which I have meetings with, others I am yet to talk to.

Something to pray for:
The churches and projects who were going to be part of SITCD 2009 - pray that they will keep focussed on God and His plan.

durban on saturday

Hey everyone

It's been a good week again.

Jane and I went up the coast for a couple of days holiday. I'm here working but Jane is on holiday and not allowed to go anywhere on her own so I just had to accompany her. Such a sacrifice, hehe. We stayed in St Lucia for 2 nights and spent a day in Hluhluwe game reserve hunting for lions. We didn't see any lions in the end but had a great day seeing white rhino, elephant, hyena, eagles, vultures, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, warthog, various buck and lots of birds. Amazing.

I spent Friday with Jean, driving the north and south prayer routes to finalise which way we will walk in the summer. My map is now full of coloued lines and little marks where churches are! I've got some work to do now, contacting the churches and organising the walk days.

In the afternoon, Jane and I visited the Pastor Assan and the creche at Gate of Life. As well as being the last stop of the entire prayer walk, the church runs a creche for refugee kids during the week. Some of last year's delegates worked at the creche. We took 52 teddies with us, from Teddies for Tragedies - an army of knitters from the UK who make bears for kids around the world. We had lots of fun giving out bears and singing with the kids.

Tomorrow, Sue and I are going into the city centre to join a prayer walk which all the Durban churches are doing together for the Global Day of Prayer.

After that, I've got 4 days left to catch up with all the churches and sort out a few practical things before I fly home.

Something good:
We've got accommodation for the prayer team for the summer.

Something I'm working on:
Contacting all the churches on the routes - pray that they'll be receptive and I'll be able to share the vision in the right way.

Something to pray for:
The projects for SITCD 2008 - the first delegates arrive in 6 weeks.

rach in durban - day 6

Hi team!

Thanks for being there - its great to know there are so many people back home keeping up with what's going on here and praying for us.

I met with Jean Viljoen yesterday. Jean is an amazing woman who has been prayer walking Durban for many many years. We spent some time together starting to plan the four prayer walk routes and are meeting again on Friday to drive some of the proposed roads we will walk.

This morning Jane and I met with another lovely couple who have very kindly offered to accommodate the prayer team. Rob is vicar of St Thomas in Durban. He and his wife recently moved back into the city, having been at a church much further north for a few years. Subject to approval from the church board, we'll be staying there this summer.

So...

Something good (aka something to thank God for!):
Rob and Sue Taylor and their very generous offer of accommodation!

Something we are working on:
The prayer routes - we are almost there but have a few areas to work out. Once that's done I need to connect with some churches along the way and get the meeting points in place. Jean is a very busy lady and her time is very much in demand so we are really very privileged to have ger help and support.

Something to pray for:
Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a busy day for Ben, Dave and Sue with some heavy meetings to get through. Pray that they'll be well received and will have grace, wisdom and humility.

rach in durban - day 5

Hi everyone

Durban welcomed us in true British style with grey clouds, strong winds and heavy rain. Apparently the weather is good here this time of year?! Today has turned though and its really hot now.

After a quiet start, work is beginning to pick up. I've spent lots of time with Ben, Dave, Sue and Jane discussing SITCD plans and the priorities for the next few weeks. We've been praying too and its been great to get some perspective on it all as we bring it before God.

This morning, Jane and I went to the Church of the Good Shepherd in Durban North. It was good to be back (Dan and I went a couple of times last year). COGS is quite Western and very friendly - an easy church choice for our first visit! I had a good chat with Garth, one of the worship leaders there who is interested in doing some worship leading for the prayer walk later this year. He's quite well connected so might be able to bring some other worship leaders from across Durban into the mix.

Coming up so far I have a meeting with Jean, Durban's queen of prayer walking, and some appointments which the SITCD team have with various churches here that I'll tag along for. Once I've seen Jean I'll put some more meetings of my own in the diary too.

Something good:
A good weekend with Dave, Sue, Ben and Jane, chilling out, eating good food (snails and ostrich yesterday!), drinking Ben's wine so he doesn't have to ship it back and talking and praying about work.

Something we're working on:
Lots of meetings to set up and fit in over the next couple of weeks.

Something to pray for:
I'm spending Monday afternoon with Jean to plan the prayer walk route. Pray that she and I will communicate with each other well so we'll use the time well and get a good route sorted out.

durban update - day 1

Hey everyone

Just a short message this time. Dave, Sue and I arrived safely in Durban at about lunchtime today. The flights were relatively straightforward although we did have some trouble getting 52 teddies through customs (more about them later!) and I'm not impressed at whoever decided that showing P.S. I Love You as in-flight entertainment was a good idea (I don't think I've ever cried at a film from beginning to end before!)

Durban is hot and sunny (well it was, but it's nearly 9pm now). It is Labour Day here tomorrow - a public holiday so we're not expecting to be particularly productive in meeting people but will try to start to set things up for the rest of the week.

So for now:

Something good:
Safe travel and a lovely evening with Dave, Sue, Steve and Renske

Something we're working on:
Lots of meetings to set up and people to see, primarily with Jean Viljoen

Something to pray for:
Clear direction from God while I'm here so that I'll meet the right people, say the right things etc


I'll send more interesting updates as more interesting things happen!

Rach
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