Stories of faith

I think South Africa has some pretty sweet money. I'd say it's the coolest ever, but I really don't have much to compare it to.

South African currency is called a Rand. The conversion rate constantly changes but it's roughly 7 Rand for every 1 US Dollar right now. So, $7.50 would get you that R50 with the awesome lion's head on it over there to the right. -->

During a time of prayer for the DTS (Discipleship Training School) students tonight, we were asked to write down how much money we were still waiting for God to provide for our outreach fees (which are due on March 10th).

Out of the 27 students we still need R95,000, or $13,500.

I personally still need R7,500 to pay for the rest of my outreach to India. That's a little over $1,000. I love seeing God work and move and I was so encouraged to see how many different people that God used to provide for my ticket to India. I'd like to share a few testimonies about different people God used recently.

• $10 received from a Dutch friend. I've never met this guy in real life (we've only had a connection online). He's also an unemployed college student. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that we don't believe in the same God, but he still believes in seeing the world changed and improved.

• $4 from a friend in the Mid-West. I stayed with this friend and her husband for a few days last year and was blessed to have met them and enjoyed their company. This friend has ongoing health issues and they continue to pay her hospital bills using only the husbands income because she can't work. They later sent another $20!

• $100 received from a family on the East Coast. I lived with this amazing family for a few months in 2009. One day at work I was given an old box of books. I picked one out and then passed it on to them. It was filled with Bibles and old Christian books from an estate sale. One day, one of them picked a Bible out of the box, flipped it open, and found a $100 bill! They passed it along a few weeks ago, what a blessing!
  

The list could go on and on, but these are some of my favorites. Each donation is a blessing in it's own right. It's someone taking a minute to pass something on, it's another person partnering with the ministry God is using me for right now. It's a step of faith and an act of giving.

I've really been dwelling on Hebrews 11 lately about the great cloud of witnesses (I'd encourage everyone to re-read it , click here). I love all the stories of faith, but I think my favorite part lately has been the first few words of verse 38...the world was not worthy of them. I want to have faith like that.