Abundant Love

Sweet Sleep's team in South Africa began this morning by eating a fresh breakfast with a spectacular view from the dining room table of white sandy beaches, lined with beautiful mountain ridges. Afterwards, we made or way to worship at King of Kings Baptist Church. Aside from a few noted minor differences, worshiping here was much like it is in The States. We sang familiar worship songs and heard a message about the responsibly of raising Godly children in a worldly world.

As the mother of four, I knew that leaving my family to travel half way around the world to Cape Town, South Africa to minister to orphaned children here would be a hard step to take, but I don't think I realized just how hard that would be until this morning. As I sang in worship to the Lord, I started to miss the way that my third daughter, Leah, would reach up to me during Sunday morning worship, beckoning me to pick her up and hold her. I missed the way I could hear her softly sing worship songs in her little voice as she would lay her head on my shoulder.

I whispered a prayer to God, letting him know that while my heart missed my own children, I knew that he had called me here to Cape Town to minister to the little ones here who don't have a mother to reach for each Sunday morning in a worship service, who don't have a mother to run to when they scrape a knee, or when they are scared.

After we attended King of Kings, we traveled to a much different church service, this time in a small, one room church in the heart of a poverty stricken community here. In spite of the small number of people, the volume resounding from this place was on the same scale as something you would here in your average American mega church. Although we could not understand the majority of their words, the passion there could not be missed. The praises seeped out of the windows of the church and filled the dirty streets near by where children were playing. It was nothing short of amazing.

As we walked into this church my heart rejoiced as a small boy ran up to me with a smile that could light up the world and held his hands out for me to pick him up....just the way my Leah does. What an amazing God to know just what I needed in that moment... and to provide the strength and resolve I needed to go forth with our mission to show God's love to orphaned and abandoned children in South Africa, a love that is abundant and never failing.

Posted by: Courtney Beddingfield