On the Verge of a Miracle

The power is out again, our ceiling fan isn’t spinning on high, and it is hot. It is 3 AM and I am sitting here wide awake pondering the last two years of our life here in South Africa. I am not sure why, but God often talks to me most frequently in the middle of the night. I was thinking back to the days when we first got here – I would often head up to the mountains behind our house and ask God why? Why did you bring us here? Why did you take us away from everything we know? And many times, it would end with me finding peace from the song by Rich Mullins, Verge of a Miracle. I couldn’t help but picture the BIG things we wanted to see happen while we were here. For example;

An AMAZING after-school program in extension 23.
HUNDREDS of people coming to know the Lord.
God would change ME, and I would become an unbelievable teacher for J-life.
That we would be a HUGE assist to Camp Eden.
I would BUILD homes for the orphans at Door of Hope.
And the list can go on and on…

As our original 2-year commitment comes to a close, you can conclude that we were total failures. Nothing that we wanted on the list above was accomplished!! We pushed doors so hard and they continued to CLOSE and CLOSE and CLOSE again.

As I lay in bed awake, feeling completely defeated, God spoke to me (not audible), but clear enough for me to get the point. “Rob, you fool – look around you?”

This night is like most weekends in our home, every place we have room for someone, it is occupied. And God went one-by-one showing me the miracles.

Laying next to me is my wife of 16 years, Jeanie. Five years ago, she viewed our house and family time as off-limits to others. She looked at both of them as sacred, and often didn’t allow people to interrupt our schedule, unless we were given at least one weeks notice. Now our family of 6 meal time, often changes at any given moment and normally we have 12-15 people sitting around our table.
Currently in our bedroom we have an 11-year old girl, named Thobile, who curls up and sleeps at the foot of our bed with her sleeping bag and pillow. When we met her, she had just lost her parents, and she wouldn’t come near our house. Now she is a regular in our house, you will find her cooking or baking in the kitchen with ‘Aunt Jeanie’. She has a big smile, and a big heart – and she loves Jesus.
In the next bedroom are Tate and Tanner. Both have faced many fears and challenges over the past two years. They have grown in the Lord in ways I never could have taught them in the US, what joy we have had with them!!
In the next bedroom are Siyabonga, Austin and Hudson. Hudson is our little fireball who rolls with anything. He doesn’t have a clear memory of our life prior to the chaos, so he is always just waiting for the next person to wrestle. Austin has been the most affected by our move. Christ has given him an amazing heart for the people we are surrounded with, and his life will never be the same because of it. Siyabonga (Thobile’s older brother) didn’t like the farm, and often talked about his life prior to the move. Now he also loves the Lord and often times you will find him and Austin discussing the differences between the two cultures and the circumstances that brought the two of them together.
In the extra bedroom is Xolani. We found him curled up on a street corner, addicted to heroin, and abandoned by everyone he knew. As most would say, he was a reject who was just hustling to get the next high. Now he is living in our house, doing Bible studies with us. He is going on 4 months sober and he loves the Lord with all of his heart.
On our couch is Nathi. A guy who was put in our path because he was lying to himself and everyone in his life. Now he is truly a son to us, and we have the privilege of serving alongside him daily as we continue to be obedient to the Lord.

And lastly, there is me. A man with a plan, I had ideas about how God wanted me to change Africa but I wasn’t completely surrendering to Him. Now, thanks to the Lord, I can truly see the miracles are His people and not the list of projects. Not only are we on the verge of a miracle, but we are all miracles that believe in the one true Christ. Thank-you Jesus for showing me all the miracles. Now I just don’t know it intellectually, but I believe it with all of my heart.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalms 127: 1-2

AMEN