I have so much to say; I hope I find the words to get it all out on paper. My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King; my tongue is the pen of a skilful writer.
Psalms 45:1 NIV
The kids and I like to explore coffee shops in every town we visit. Recently I came across a jewel, a coffee shop where I felt God closer than I’ve ever had in any church. It made me think. We are all called by God not only to be light-bearers but to be workers for His Kingdom where He plants us. I felt recharged, refuelled and filled with possibilities. What if we could bring Jesus not only to people but into a place, like a stamp, especially where hardened hearts need grace.
My heart has been to leave a physical footprint to honour God for a while. A place of rest for weary pilgrims. When we arrived in Swellendam, it went quiet, but the spiritual world was in an uproar like I’d never experienced before. God spoke to me clearly and assigned me to revamp an old shed into a prayer room. Desolation is exchanged for hope! To redeem the ground for God, a physical manifestation for spiritual transformation! My heart was pounding in my chest as I prayed on my way to ask permission. God gave favour. Tian could not phantom why I wanted to take on such an endeavour, but I knew what God said! I saw the vision of the finished shed. So I started counting the cost and doing research.
I laughed a little to myself. When we were in Lambert’s Bay, ex-missionaries we met told us about their work as missionaries. Uncle Wiets told us he had to build with little building knowledge, but God equipped him after seeking His guidance in prayer. I thought to myself: “Oh God, please don’t call us to build!” God humbled me. If God chooses to use us any way He pleases, who am I to stand in His way! Now I was in over my head because I am not paint-fit, nor do I have the know-how.
The very first challenge was gnats infestation! Nasty little buggers those are! I could identify with the Egyptians during the plague a little; this plague was minor in comparison, of course. God led me to pray over the building and command the gnats to go for three consecutive days. Then I fumed the stubborn ones, which angered them. It was a running game, trying to keep my mouth shut as not to swallow any. Then, this scripture came to mind: He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
Exodus 15:26 NIV
Then came the cleaning out and preparation by the washing of the walls. The shed was baptised! We tackled the outside – scraping the old paint off the walls. Challenge two: There was water damage. Scraping was not a pleasant task, and the kids gave up very quickly. God spoke to me about enduring hardships. What kept me going was that Jesus did not do His ministry half-hearted. No place for lukewarm; it’s all in! That night my body ached, and my hands were raw and cramping. We took a break and rested while researching damp proofing.
God also spoke to me about keeping our campsite and surrounding neat and tidy. He has called us to be an example and stewards of His creation. The campgrounds are in pretty much the same condition as the shed. I swept the road in front of our caravan as a prophetic act (more than once). Like I was sweeping into existing the things as if they are, although not yet seen. It was rewarding to see fruits when finally the workers came to cut the grass, and in town, a cleaner was sweeping the roads of rocks.
Finally, we started painting the undercoat. Great muscle power was required to spread the paint and get into uneven surfaces. Up and down the ladder, I was crouching to get to every angle while clutching to that roller handle, cramping, aching, exhaustion. Challenge three: It seemed like we might be short of paint! There is work to be done. God asks us to labour for His Kingdom in obedience, no matter how it looks like to us in our small capacity to grasp His masterpiece. I honestly had to keep my attitude in check. Negativity wanting to creep in. I wanted to give up; why am I doing this again? One morning, clocking in for painting, I found someone had a good time drinking and smoking in the shed. God reprimanded my thinking. “Do you think you are better? Did I not come for the ungodly and unsaved? What is it to you how I use this shed to reach people, focus on the work I gave you!”
Again, humbly I set myself on God’s course. To lift the spirit to joy, we started decorating. Oh, how great it felt to be doing something other than roller painting. Creativity flows from our brains through our hands. Nanke drew shapes while I painted them. Maybe Nanke enjoyed it a little too much, going big, to my frustration, because the babies were getting unmanageable. I just wanted to finish off for the day. Accidentally, without realising, we created a snake. We had to call Tian in to try and save it, but he said to make an opportunity out of our embarrassment. I prayed about it that night and woke early morning with: “Kill the snake with love!”
We took nature walks to clear our minds at the end of almost every long day. God often shows us His spiritual principles through the physical. Just as we exercise our physical muscles, we must exercise our spiritual muscles and vice versa. I can see how even God’s blessings rarely fall into anyone’s lap; it asks something of us, then God moves. Challenge four occurred when I fell during a walk and severely sprained my ankle. In nursing, they say to rest the foot, but I loudly, above the pain, heard God saying: “Get up! Walk it out!”
Slowly over the next few days, we painted the chalkboard paint, the waterproof paint, the roof and floor until finally finishing off with the white topcoat. At this point, I had it with painting; I had enough! Jusia got hold of a white paintbrush at this particular breaking point and passionately made white brush strokes on the black chalkboard wall. I will refrain from words right now, except I was very close to tears.
The final touch was God giving me the idea of doing the gospel on one wall. The end product delighted me, as I’m sure God smiled down on us. Our prayer is that everyone who comes into the shed will encounter God. Thank you, Abba, for pouring into my character during this project. Also, thank you to our patrons for making this project possible and helping to birth the shed.
DisciplesOfJesus 