Met Eish

To The Precious Saints !!!!

I just recently volunteered to be what is termed a HIV/AIDS Peer Educator in my workplace which is the Health Department of the Unicity of Cape Town. This position(you have to fit it in with your designated work) is to educate and help employees within the work situation relating to HIV/AIDS, STI's and TB. Ja you know the kinda stuff that makes for light hearted conversation around the braai. His Holy Spirit has been gently convicting me to make use of this opportunity to give God glory. So I've been the loyal, faithful and obedient servant and immediately jumped into the gap. Eikona!! For 'bout three years now every time this subject has come up I have come up with the stock answer,"I'M TOO BUSY!" Ah I see you nodding your head, familiar phrase huh. Of course I'm just too important to do something like that. And I mean I just cannot see myself handing out condoms on the street corner and then also demonstrating to a packed audience how to use one, using a prop (ag sies, use your imagination!). In the meantime people are slowly dieing without knowing that they have a saviour. So I took the step and put my trust in my (and your and the worlds) Saviour.
So I get trained up and then last Friday (27 May) we go to this team building meeting at Steenbras Dam. I get on the council bus at 8am on a cold and wet morning not having a clue what to expect. Then we drive off from town to pick up various people en route to Steenbras. The more people we pick up the noisier everyone gets. I then realise that I'm the only Christian on the bus of about 20 mense. I seriously doubted God at that moment 'cause the general tone of the conversation and the language is enuff to make my ears fall off and turn the air within the bus blue. Also I painfully notice that I'm the only 'whitey' there as well, "Lord what on earth am I doing here, did you arrange this? Okay sorry it's just a rhetorical question." From time to time the guys/gals would shout a question at me, "Hey Raymond is jy oraait? Hey Raymond is jy lief vir die council?" When they asked me ,"Is jy lief vir die council?" I answered that, " Ek is lief vir die mense in die council."
Of course you know what started to happen I started to see these people as.......people, not colours, unbelievers, loudmouths, I just saw them as people who Christ died for. Just remember you don't have sole rights on Jesus Christ by how good you are or how good you look.
Anyways we eventually arrive at the picnic area of Steenbras dam. I meet quite a few Christians there and the proceedings are opened up with a prayer. We do intro's and some talks are given and some other bonding stuff. The work stuff is closed off with a powerful prayer by one of the HIV/AIDS co-ordinators which just blows me away. Then time to eat (lekker braai) and mingle I get the chance to speak to quite a few people (hey man I'm still the only whitey!). A couple of the okes break out a bottle of White Horse (Die Witperd) and start pouring stiff whiskeys (sorry Klipdrift) met eish! Some of the okes start pulling my leg gently, "Hey Ray is jy oraait? How 'bout some eish? Looks like whiteys are immune to HIV/AIDS!, " and so on. Well eventually I accepted the offer (come on it was cold) of some eish and someone handed me what looked like at least a triple whiskey met eish. That really broke the eish and the okes really appreciated that I would share a dop with them. We chatted and the one thing that came through is that these okes cared, they really cared enuff to try their best to do something for their fellow workers and that warmed my heart (mebbe the whiskey also played its part!)
We piled back on the bus and on the way back I was offered and accepted some more whiskey and eish. The guys and gals never got drunk or out of hand but actually were amazingly open and friendly to me. When I eventually got off the bus in Goodwood (Allie came to pick me up, no I wasn't falling all over the place!) and I felt that I had just experienced something really special. It felt that my territory for the Lord and His glory had just increased considerably.

We are Christ's ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, "Be reconciled to God!" (2 Cornthians 5:20)

Here I Go Again
2 Corinthians 5: 16-21 / Romans 10:14

Father hear my prayer
I need the perfect words
Words that he will hear
And know they’re straight from You
I don’t know what to say
I only know it hurts
To see my only friend slowly fade away

So maybe this time I’ll speak the words of life
With Your fire in my eyes
But that old familiar fear is tearing at my words
What am I so afraid of?

‘Cause here I go again
Talkin’ ‘bout the rain
And mulling over things that won’t live past today
And as I dance around the truth
Time is not his friend
This might be my last chance to tell him that
You love him
But here I go again, here I go again

Lord , You love him so, You gave Your only Son
If he will just believe; he will never die
But how then will he know what he has never heard
Lord he has never seen mirrored in my life

This might be my last chance to tell him that You love him
This might be my last chance to tell him that You love him
You love him, You love him
What am I so afraid
What am I so afraid
What am I so afraid of?
How then will he know
What he has never heard

Lyrics: Mark Hall / Music: Casting Crowns

LoCTY !!!!!!!!