What an Adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the last day of 2010.

What an adventure this has been.

In this year I have seen many mountain highs and just as many valley lows; metaphorically speaking as well as physically.

The song “o how he loves us” is playing as I write and it is ringing true in my heart now because it is truly a testimony of what this year has been: an out pouring of God’s love and grace. Through the songs, skits, and scriptures that the Lord has placed on my live I have seen the love of God. In India as well as Africa I had the chance to narrate for the skit done for children about the parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15. God is relentlessly pursuing us and will do anything to be with us and have us understand that we are loved my him.

I have seen the love and touch of our Abba, Father, Creator God in many diverse ways this 2010. I have seen him in….

• · The eyes of a slum children in the streets of Kolkata, India who had a joy in the LORD that was contagious
• · The worship of Nepali speaking northern Indians in Darjeeling who are willing to do anything for the gospel and to further the name of Jesus
• · The home of a HIV+ Zulu family who physically was ailing but was strengthened in their inner being to grasp the LOVE that God had for them
• · The sharing of a meal and partaking in communion with a persecuted Christians in the Himalayas
• · The beauty of true friendship that is such an example of the LOVE of God because they KNOW me, the good and bad, and still love me
• · The majesty, power, and untainted beauty of the Himalayan, Draakensburg, and Yosemite mountains
• · The many patients that have I have worked with in the diverse nursing setting that I have been placed in
• · The diversity of people and gifts as well as ways to worship in the global and large body of Christ
• · The thousands of small answers to prayers that God has so faithfully answered in the mundane, daily, and routine life lived day to day

My final Sunday in Cape Town South Africa I had the chance to attend church with a dear friend Victor. The theme of the church for 2010 was a year of “Great Things”. This statement and motto rang true for my year. This truly is what 2010 has been: GREAT. I said to the LORD “Here I am, Send Me.” And he sure did take me up on that offer. I am so humbled that I have been able to be part of the ministry of God drawing his people back into a relationship with him. God is truly moving my friends. He is alive and he is active. The grace of God was overflowing to me this past year and I cannot believe the things that I have been able to see and be a part of all over this world. I am so thankful to my friends and family who were so incredibly supportive of all the things that God was doing in my life and allowed me to wrestle with issues, cry at things that seemed silly, complain about things in America that don’t make sense any more, process the interaction with the glory of the LORD that happened in India and Africa, pray and be pray for me, and tell stories over and over again and say “this one time in india/south Africa” =) couldn’t have done it without you all. Thank you. =) would have died with you! =)

It is interesting because this past year I have asked many believers the question “why are you a Christian?” An extremely common response to this question is “oh because I get to go to heaven”, but one response that I have heard and that I have claimed as my own is that I am a Christian because of the HOPE that I receive today. I have hope today, but I also have a hope for tomorrow and find forgiveness from my past. The Holy Spirit gives a joy that is unmatchable. The God of the universe is madly in love with his people here and now TODAY! I know that heaven is real and that it is a place that I will go when I die, BUT hypothetically speaking, if heaven was NOT real, I would still be a Christian. I say this because the God of Heaven and Earth has a kingdom agenda that does not start when we die. It starts now. My dear friend Holly said that many people are willing to DIE for Jesus, but far less are truly willing to LIVE for Jesus. May 2011 be a time of truly living: living with purpose, living with hope, living with joy, living with love. As I sat in the beautiful African Church that last Sunday, I turned to my friend and asked him, “2010 was truly the year of great things, so what is 2011 going to be?” and he responded “Megan, it is going to be the year of GREATER things.” I claim this promise in the name of Jesus.

2011 holds many exciting things and many unknowns. I am entering my last semester of nursing school. After May 8 when I receive my degree Bachelor of Science in Nursing, I will stay in Los Angeles and study for my nursing boards (NCLEX). After that it is pretty unknown. I know that I will be a nurse, a pediatric one most likely. I am going to be applying to a couple children hospitals in northern California and a few in southern California. =) I do not know where I will be but I do know that God has a plan for me. I know that I am his and that he is going to put me where he wants me. This is comforting because it takes the pressure off. I am going to do my best and do all I can to stay faithful to the call that he has placed on my life, but the LORD will place me where he wants me to be and will open the doors that he wants to and close the ones that he does not want.

This picture was taken the last day in South Africa, when we woke up at 4:45 to watch the sunrise over the Indian ocean; today as i drove my friend to the airport, I was blessed with a beautiful sunrise. These are little reminders that the sun (and son;) ) is rising on a new chapter in my life. A newness is coming. "Here we go again" is the the name of this blog and a truth as we enter into this year. So, Here we go again. =) By the Grace of God, Let us make the year 2011 a year of GREATER things.

Happy New Year Everyone. =)

Psalm 103

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

Who forgives all your sins

And heals all your diseases,

Who redeems your life from the pit

And crowns you with LOVE and COMPASSION,

Who satisfies your desires with good things

So that your youth is RENEWED like the eagle’s

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, ABOUNDING in love.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

SO GREAT IS HIS LOVE for those who fear him!

The End of Pietermartizburg and Travel Week

I cannot believe it.

The time in Pietermartizburg is over.

The longest I have ever been in another country was spent at this place called African Enterprise. One of the most beautiful campus’ in the world. This place my friends contained amazing landscape but even more amazing people. The staff of AE became a family to us all. They did above and beyond was a necessary to give us anything and everything that would make our stay there the best. And it was truly a blessing.

As my dear friend Francie is always quick to say: we are SO INCREDIBLY blessed to have done what we did.

Let me recap the last couple weeks in PMB.

Highlights:

• · Finishing my Community Health Nursing course
• · Completing my Senior Seminar, Nursing Ethics, course, final paper and presentation
• · Finishing my nursing research course
• · Having a wonderful farewell dinner with our professors and some of the people we worked with at our nursing sites.

I don’t know if I told you all this, but if you watched the blogs that francie and did you would know that we (Emily N, Emily L, Francie and I) had to do a community nursing project. This project needed to engaged the community and revolve around education.

CARE CENTER

The other 6 nurses were in a group and had their project idea with like 5 weeks left in the semester. We as a group did not. All the options we were looking at weren’t working. Nothing was coming together. However, we all remembered that through the grapevine we had heard that Walk in the Light a ministry that worked in Haniville, a town that Mason’s clinic in is which is where we had been working this semester, wanted to start some sort of clinic/care center. We had met Pendile, a dear woman from Walk in the Light, because she takes people to clinics and hospitals if they are unable to. She is truly a wonderful women of God.

So with only 3 weeks left we NEEDED a project. By the grace of God, pendile was at AE on a Monday we were able to talk with her about this rumor of a clinic and she said that it was true and wanted us to come visit the ministry and go on home visits with her. So on that Thursday we were able to go with the APU team to Walk in the Light.

This is when the miraculous occurred. =)

Bruce, the founder of walk in the light, met with us that morning. As we told him what our project was about and what our passions and gifts are this is when it all started coming together. As we asked bruce about this clinic he told us the vision of Walk in the Light and how it is truly a City on a Hill, a light into the community. Bruce and Pendile have been wanting to start a Care Center since the start of walk in the light because there is such a need for a place where HIV/AIDS patients and other extremely sick people within the community to come and be cared for because their families are not able to care for them . So, after talking for a little Bruce goes, “lets go start clearing out the building.” I was in shock. I think I expected that we would talk about it, then wait and then actually do something…but by the grace of GOD it worked out perfectly. We also talked about how we could provide walk in the light with a Basic Care Manual that they could use on home visits and in the care center. . The other “random” (and when I say random I am perfectly orchestrated event that was prepared by the FATHER since the beginning of time) aspects of this project were as follows:

1. We needed to do this project for our class

2. There was a team of 8 Adam W, Byron R, Zach W, Emily G, Megan H, Sarah C, Carrie J, Janelle Y that was going to be working at Walk in the Light for three weeks

3. Pendile was able to take us on home visits so that we could assess the needs of the community in order to better produce the Basic Care Manual to fit the needs of the community

4. Walk in the light had an extra building on the property

5. Carin’s husband Wilfred (a precious couple from the Netherlands who is staying at walk in the light for about a year) is an architect and was able to design the bathroom and layout for the Care Center

6. A retired nurse, Sylvia, has recently decided to volunteer at walk in the light and has committed to help with any nursing care

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So it happened,

• we assessed (the community’s needs)
• we put together (the Basic Care Manual)
• we encouraged (the group of APU people that were there to keep working so dang hard to transform the storage room into a beautiful care center with a veranda, pathway, septic tank, newly painted walls, preparing a place for a garden and doing everything physical for this project)
• we rejoiced (because every week that we went back we saw the beautiful progress)
• we thanked God

We thanked God because we got to be part of something so much bigger then us. It was so encouraging to see the body of Christ working together to finish this project. Though we did not get to see the project come to completion; it was an amazing transformation. I have never gotten to be part of something novel like this and it was such an awesome feeling. Though it was strange to not the be the one “in the trenches” digging, working, sweating, and painting and being the one who is doing the manual labor, I had to realize that my team and I’s portion to this project was to provide nursing knowledge and skills to this project.

This project further confirms that role of short term teams. We were there to reignite a dream. Bruce and Pendile have wanted to do this for years, but due to lack of man power, energy, and nursing care knowledge it was not able to be done. Due to this kairos, miraculous moment in time where we were in the right place at the right time and an AMAZING GOD on our side.

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I cannot wait to see the finished product and have peoples lives be saved due to the care they receive in this care center.

Please pray for the ministry of walk in the light and the care center. =) I will keep you posted with pictures =)

Every good thing must come to an end they say aye….

Our time in PMB is over…

We had to leave…

After tears and sadness we left…

We left places and people that we love:

• New Life Centre (the church that I have been going to)
• South African Friends
• Dance Fitness friends
• Clinical sites like Ethembeni
• African Enterprise and the amazing staff

=(

So we left on SUNDAY

And we drove

And drove

And drove

And drove

We stopped in East London, Port Elizabeth, and George.

We stayed in the nicest hotels by the ocean that I have ever stayed in =)

And a little adventure occurred on this trip:

I JUMPED OFF THE HIGHEST BRIDGE BUNGY JUMP IN THE WORLD!

It was amazing!

I will put up the video ASAP!

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We are in CAPETOWN!

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A city that I have been to before (for the first time, I am returning to a place that I have been) and it is wonderful

Pray that I can lean in and embrace these last couple weeks =)

God is good

This place is beautiful

And I cannot wait to come home!

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The internet is kinda slow here so I m not going to upload pictures just yet…but they will come ASAP!

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Watch francie and I’s video that we just posted right below this post =)

I love you all and I miss you terribly!

See you soooooo soon!

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Final Video Blog in Pietermartizburg, KZN, South Africa! =)

Procrastination at its finest =)

As we sat in the library late last night working out senior sem presentation (which i just FINISHED and it went great--i think --- ;) ) we decided to create this little video blog!

Enjoy!

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VIDEO BLOG =)

Emily N, Emily L, Francie and I made a video blog during a thunder storm that suddenly interrupted our homework time =)

Enjoy

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I CAN'T BELIEVE IT IS NOVEMBER! =)

Well goodbye September and October in south Africa. Hello November!

We only have like three weeks left in PMB and I cannot believe how fast time has flown by! Life is CRAZY! I have to remind myself every day that "this is real life" and that we are in Africa because i still cannot believe that i have been blessed with this amazing opportunity! Praise the Lord! =)

When we first got here we were leaving South Africa’s winter and are now going into summer. In the Eastern Cape (which is where we are) it rains in the summer season. So when we got here it was brown and dry. NOW, after many many days of thunder, hail, and rain the country has turned GREEN! I love it! It many many times reminds me of beautiful Ireland which makes me miss Ireland even more. It is super funny how many similarities there are between the white South African culture and the Northern Ireland culture! I love it! =)

In the spirit of enjoying the beauty around us we have done a couple of sweet activities like hiking, soccer and zip lining. African Enterprise is positioned outside of the city and up against a game reserve and mountain. Right behind our Chalets is a beautiful 30 ft waterfall that we get to hear and see always!

One of the highlights of this weekend was getting to go zip lining over the African canopy! It was seriously amazingly beautiful! The longest zip was 180 meters!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were going to fast, we were so high, and it was seriously so scary/awesome/wonderful/out of control!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is a picture of what it was like looking over the valley!

Fun Events that Start with H!

Homecoming

The past couple weeks we have gotten to have entirely too much fun! We have an amazing activities committee that plans stellar events! The first one was HOMECOMING! We had a homecoming week where every day we got to get dressed up for in a different way like crazy, twins, and stuff like that. It was everyone else who is here who is not a nursing major finals week so we used homecoming really just as an excuse to get dressed up and have a dance party. It was a vintage theme and the committee did great! We had dance offs, a photo booth to take pics and danced the night away! It was so much fun! Here is a picture of all the girls that live in my chalet! =) Charles Palma! =)

Halloween

Of course, the next H is Halloween! Again activities committee planned a great event for us to have fun and get dressed up! My roommate Kimberly and I were stressing because we didn’t know what we were going to be and while on a weekly mall run she came up with the idea of being an old married couple….so after an hour of getting my makeup done, asking the guys here for clothes, getting a q-tip/cotton mustache I came out looking like Mr. Fredrickson from UP! =) Here is a pic of me and Kim and then one of me and Cherokee when she was dressed up like Russel from Up and I was Mr. Fredrickson! Thanks to Adam, Lucas, Audra, and anyone else who made this costume possible!

=) This is what i would look like if i was an old man =)

RUSSEL AND MR. FREDRICKSON

This is post is all about the fun things that have gone on this past couple weeks! I will have a post ASAP about my last week of clinical and talk about the Community Project that we are doing with Walk in the Light Ministry!

Who knew the rain would be so fun =)

The theme of this blog is RAIN =)

The past couple weeks there have been some amazingly wonderful fun things that have happened and they seem to revolve around the rain.

FIRST….

So it is 11:00 Wednesday night, I am finishing up some homework for a poster presentation that we were doing for our group about the World Health Organization when I was interrupted by the LOUDEST thunder I have ever heard! I ran out of our chalet to see the sky LIGHT up! It was a thunder storm unlike any I have seen! As we are standing outside someone says, lets stay out here all night and watch this. Then someone says, lets lay on the lawn and watch this. Then someone (most likely a boy) say LETS GET THE SLIP AND SLIDE OUT! I thought they were kidding

….o no….so we got the slip and slide out and had the most epic thunder storm slip and slide EVER! It was so much fun! =)

THE NEXT RAINY EVENT….

Saturday was Durban day round two! However the capstone of this day was the semi-final SHARKS rugby game.

My ticket was DD 813…little did we know that DD was literally THE LAST ROW. I am not kidding you guys we were at the last row. =)

As the game started (well it started late because there was as swarm of bees on the field lol) we moved down to closer seats. RUGBY IS CRAZY, every second I thought someone was going to die. It makes American football look so lame and makes the players who wear pads like wimps.

The winner of this game moved on to the cup finals and the game was super intense and kinda close. With 30 minutes left in the second half it started raining…then it started POURING…but the game had to go on =) it was so much fun to be in the rain and watch them play in the rain and then walk back to the van in the rain =) The sharks ended up winning so that was super fun =) First ever rugby game was seriously so much fun =)

THE THUNDER STORMS CONTINUE

For clinical this week I was at Ethembeni again which is the home visiting to HIV/AIDS patients ministry. This week francie and I got to be together and that was such a blessing because this was our first time in Africa being in the same clinical group. =)

We got to go to the rural area called Haza and hang out with some of the same families that I got to work with last time I went there. Francie and I were trying to be cool and balance the maze on our heads lol. well we could barely do it with without using our hands =)

It was super hot in the morning, but the clouds were present. These were those dark ominious clouds that you know are bringing rain. So while we were in a house talking and praying with a patient the sky let loose. =) Thunder was rippling, huge rain drops were dropping. It was crazy/beautiful =) I am so thankful for the chance to work with such a wonderful ministry =)

Another extremely wonderful activity that happened in the rain was DRESS LIKE YOUR ROOMMATE game night! So much fun so many games and SO many laughs! =)

=) Thanks for reading =) love and miss you all =)

This past week I had the opportunity to work at CAPRISA which stands for Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa! www.caprisa.org I had the most wonderful nurse ever. She loved her job. It was extremely refreshing to be in a clinical setting here where the nurse truly cares about her patients. We saw a lot of sick people; the Human Immunodeficiency Virus attacks the cells within people’s bodies that maintain their immune system. When you have HIV, you are extremely susceptible to illness like Tuberculosis. The stat is that 70% of the people with HIV are co-infected with TB. It was super encouraging as well to be working with a nurse who was a Christian. When people are working and serving for the honor and glory of the LORD there is a huge difference. Pray that the Lord continues to bless and honor her ministry at CAPRISA.

On Thursday of last week, after seeing a few patients, my nurse turn to me and says, “Let’s make our goal today to have every patient laughing by the time they leave this room.” I was overjoyed because I think that laughter is such a healer. EVERY PERSON at CAPRISA is HIV+. They are so much pain, sickness, shame, and burden. So why not help that with a smile or a laugh. The jokes included anything from how me and Obama are friends, how I am American, and my favorite was when a little girl who was seriously sick with HIV and TB came in and I put on my TB mask (which seriously looks like duck face) and I waddled and quacked around the room and we were all laughing. My nursing professor says often towards many different situations that we have encountered “We laugh because if we don’t then we cry” and this statement rang true this week because it would be so easy to look at all the suffering, pain and sickness and be completely overwhelmed BUT what a testimony to be able to encourage and bring a joy to people who have been stripped of it. My nurse was such an encouragement to me and to each one of her patients! I am thankful that I was able to learn under this sister in Christ!

Coming off of India and the few short term missions that I have been on, I am solidifying my ideas about short term missions and trips like the one I am on right now. I think that the purpose of short term missions to most countries should be TO ENCOURAGE THE CHURCH. There are amazing things happening in these countries that we go into with our great ideas and good intentions and many times we get lost in our agendas and don’t ask the Lord what his true desire is for us to be there.

While being here, I had in my mind that I was going to go into clinics and use my nursing skills. But there are many times when observation is the key aspect of the day because I don’t speak Zulu, I don’t know their systems, and I don’t have the same scope of practice as the nurses here therefore I have been forced to take a different approach at my time here. There have been many days in which the nurses I have interacted with are bitter, frustrated and in need of renewal. I have had to make my focus pouring into the nurses that I work with because they need it. Please pray that I can love on and encourage these lovely sisters who are serving their communities and are burnt out. =)

God is good.

He is moving!

=)

This past weekend we went on a safari! IT WAS SO GREAT! =)

More pictures are on facebook! =)

Francie and Emily and I made this video blog about it! =)

TALK TO YOU SOON!

=)

Our God Speaks.

This past summer in the Himalayas a theme that was a continual reminder and comfort was “GOD SPEAKS”. He speaks healing, he speaks truth, he speaks love, he speaks promises, and he speaks tenderly.

Last week I was “randomly” reading in John 20 talks about Jesus’ empty tomb. Mary goes to visit the tomb and finds nothing; she runs back to tell the rest of the guys that they got to come see that someone has taken their Jesus. In disbelief the disciples RUN to the tomb, when they saw the empty tomb, they believed her. The disciples left and had to be feeling so discouraged; however, Mary stays at the tomb. Perplexed, confused, and emotionally drained due to the events of the past week, Mary weeps. Then messengers from the Lord appeared and asked her “Woman why are you crying?” and she responds in utter sadness that someone had taken her Lord. Then behind her a man’s voice asks the same question “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

The man speaking these words was Jesus. He knew why she was weeping, he knew who she was looking for: HIM. Mary did not realize it was Jesus until he said it…

(I just imagine Jesus’ face with the smile/smirk of knowing what is about to happen, eyes that are beckoning Mary in the tender way that only a true friend can do, he had to be so excited and bracing himself for the embrace and love that is about to come.)

Then he said it….MARY….He said her name. IMMEDIATELY SHE KNEW IT WAS HER JESUS.

She turns towards him and cries out “Rabboni!” which means teacher in Aramaic. I can only imagine the other words that came out of her mouth when she saw her Savior and Friend who was DEAD, but was now standing before her. If that were me I would be running my mouth a mile a minute. I can only imagine the tears that were just being wept in pain, anguish and hopelessness are now transformed into tears of JOY, EXCITEMENT, and HOPE! Could this really be?

I love though that the turning point of the story is when Jesus speaks Mary’s name.

Our God speaks.

He speaks tenderly, lovingly and in such a way that elicits peace and excitement.

This same voice that calls us my name so tenderly and lovingly is the same voice that is talked about in this beautiful Psalm: the voice that is MIGHTY, POWERFUL AND MAJESTIC!

Psalm 29

¹ Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

² Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his ^[a] holiness.

³ The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

⁴ The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.

⁵ The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶ He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion ^[b] like a young wild ox.

⁷ The voice of the LORD strikes
with flashes of lightning.

⁸ The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

⁹ The voice of the LORD twists the oaks ^[c]
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

¹⁰ The LORD sits ^[d] enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.

¹¹ The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

We serve an amazing God. This God speaks.

This God deserves all the glory, honor and praise.

May you ask the Lord to speak to you. Daily as you put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6) may the belt of truth be the words of truth that our God speaks to you.

May you ask the Lord to speak promises to you from his word.

May you find in the craziness of this life to listen to this God who speaks. May your ears and heart be tuned into the voice of our amazing heavenly Abba, Papa, Daddy, Father.

And the crazy things is that the Lord wants to speak through you and me. Just as we as believers are called to be his hands and feet in this world we are also called to be his mouth piece. There are people who are hurting, who like Mary are weeping in desperation and hopelessness.

May we be ones who speak truth and love to this world so that they can be drawn into a relationship with this mighty amazing God who speaks.

Lets Mix it up a bit =)

Happy October Everyone!

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Instead of having you read about what happened this week.....

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How about you WATCH what happened this week in Francie and I's life here is SOUTH AFRICA!

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THANKS!

LOVE YOU ALL!

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Top Ten From Week Two =)

Top Ten from Week Two

(ps I cannot believe it is only week two =) praise the lord time is going by kinda slow)

1. I had an amazing clinical experience at Ethembeni. Ethembeni is a hospice home visiting organization. Tuesday I was able to go up to Haza which is a very rural part of the town Mpopemeni. We handed out food to people who had very little. Then once they have been given food they are encouraged them to come to bible study after. MAN O MAN that was a powerful time with the Body of Christ. These men and women affected by HIV have had lives transformed by the father. I understood very little of what was being said but I FELT and I knew that they were testifying about the goodness of the Lord through their pain. Thursday I had a chance to do home visits to patients that were in town. After giving the food we would do bible study and pray in her homes. The verse that the lord continued to lay on my heart was Ephesians 3 and though these patients were wasting away in their physical bodies I pray that their inner beings will be renewed so that they can grasp the intensive love that God has for them. It was powerful and many tears were shed: tears of joy and tears of pain and sadness. But there is joy and passion that is rooted in the Lord. I am so thankful that I was able to be in a room full of Zulu men and women and experience the Zulu side of our God. He is so awesome and so big. And one of my favorites parts was getting to end my day at the family center. There are about 50+ kids that have all had parents that have been affected by HIV/AIDS meaning many of them are orphans who do not have one or both of their parents because they have died of AIDS. These kids have so much joy and are so amazing! I got to read stories, sing song and dance my heart out with these babies! I loved it.
2. Got to go to chapel on Monday and take communion and Joey Convertino had a beautiful description of what communion is. We always talk about remembering what the Lord did but he took an approach that we must RE- MEMBER like become a member of the body of Christ and by partaking in this communion we are re-membering ourselves into this body that thousands have done before us over the years. It was a wonderful reminder.
3. Joey Convertino and I are going to be leading a D-group which is a small group and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for us! =)
4. Got to get a little dressed up and go out with the nursing girls to an Italian restaurant called Pesto and it was GREAT!
5. Opened a letter from Kelsey that was labeled “open this when you are sick of doing homework” and made my day cuz it had rand in it to purchase art supplies and I can’t wait to do art! =)
6. We went to see paintings draw by the Bushmen and got to hike around the mountain! =)
7. Got to skype with awesome people this week such as including my amazing family! =)
8. We had Mexican food for dinner last night! =)
9. I am sad that I missed Kelsey and Jeremy and Karla and Daniel’s weddings but I am so happy for them! =)
10. Church this morning was amazing. I am going to an Indian church called New Life Centre and it is seriously such a blessing to me. The pastor is so passionate and the youth are extremely vibrate and so encouraging. I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed me with this place. =)

Can’t wait to see what week three holds! =)

I will keep you posted!

Thanks for the prayers! They are felt! =)

Week One =) wow =)

Week One: OMG THIS IS REAL LIFE!

So wow.

That just happened!

I am going to break down what the week looked like!

Friday we arrived at the most beautiful place ever! African Enterprise Campus is amazing. This is where we live. Amazing!

Saturday we had our first south African history class and it was so interesting. I love our professors here! Then we went to the birds of prey exhibit down the road. So scary but such a testimony of the beauty and creativity of the LORD.

Sunday: =) I had the amazing opportunity to go to church at New Life Centre in Northdale. New Life is a church with primary Indian South Africans and it is a place where the spirit dwells and is active and moving. I am excited to get to know the congregation better.

Monday: well we spent the WHOLE day in class. I am taking Nursing Ethics, Community Health Nursing History and Culture of South Africa and Intro to Zulu. So I wake up at 6:30 then breakfast at like 730ish then Chapel, then class, then tea time (SO GREAT) then class then lunch, then class then tea, then class, then dinner then class. NO JOKE!

But it is awesome because we are in Africa.

Tuesday: FIRST DAY OF CLINICAL! I was at Mason Clinic in Haniville. SO AMAZING! This clinic has a chronic unit, an HIV/AIDs building, and an Acute Clinic.

I spent my Tuesday in the acute clinic. Patients would come in and get assessed my the Zulu Sister (all nurses are called sisters) and then we would treat as necessary. There are no doctors at this clinic. The nurses in SA are trained basically as a combination between an RN and a Nurse Practioner. It was such an eye opener and a great introduction into health care and clinics here. We had everything from common cold to TB patients to little babies with pneumonia to HIV+ patients needing additional medications and women figuring out if they are pregnant. Unreal experience.

Wednesday: we had a MUCH NEEDED Sabbath. We have this day off as nursing majors and I used this day to rest, read, and explore this beautiful campus! O ya and NBD (no big deal) We saw four zebras on our afternoon run =) TIA(THIS IS AFRICA) .....PTL (praise the lord)

Thursday: Back to Mason Clinic. Today I was in the HIV/AIDS portion of the clinic. We hadded our the patient’s ARV (anti retro vial) medications that are used to counter the effects of HIV. Unreal experience. The most powerful part of the day was being involved in the testing of a 18 month old baby boy. His mother is HIV+ and he was in the clinic to check his status. So sobering to have been playing with this beautiful boy and then to have finger be pricked, his blood placed into a rapid tester and wait for the results.

One line is negative.

Two lines means positive.

By the grace of God, only one line showed up. We rejoice. However, we know that the battle is not over for this dear one. We pray. We treat. We encourage. We continue to do what the LORD calls us to do.

Friday has a similar schedule to Monday CLASSES! But I love it! TIA=THIS IS AFRICA.

Saturday was spent in DURBAN at the Beach swimming in the Indian Ocean =)

God is good.

God is Faithful.

So when we were in Johannesburg I was praying that the Lord would give me something to claim as my theme passage for the trip and He said Ephesians 3:16-21. And then when I arrived at AE my dear friend Kelsey had written me a note that I was meant to open my first night here and guess what passage was written in it. Yup, Ephesians 3 =) And then on Sunday I went to a church in the evening with a friend and the special passage during worship was Ephesians 3. So my friends I guess the Lord is trying to tell me something ;)

Know that I love and Miss you all and would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from each of you! God is faithful!

Ephesians 3 is also my prayer for you all. Be Blessed.

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

WE MADE IT! =)

WE MADE IT!
After meeting at apu at 145 am and flying from LAX to Washington DC with a little layover, getting on a plane that took us 7 hours to Dakar Senagal to refuel and stop for an hour and then 8 and half more hours to Johannesburg, South Africa! Being up for like 48 hours is totally worth it when you realize that we get to LIVE IN AFRICA FOR 3 ½ MONTHS! =)
I got to spend my 22 birthday in an airplane. However it is one of my most memorable birthdays ever! God blessed me with some amazing south African friends that sat next to me on the horrible long flight and they were seriously awesome and so much fun! They asked the flight attendant in Afrikaans to wish Christina and I a happy birthday over the loud speaker! So then like the whole plan sang to me and Christina! So great! And then we got to go to dinner at this really cool place right by our hotel and have a wee birthday dinner! I got some amazing notes and gifts from friends back home that I found in my bag =) I love you all! Thank you!

So day one of South Africa was spent in Johannesburg and we went to the apartheid museum and a town called Soweto. Soweto is a town within JoBurg that was a place of extreme unrest during apartheid and it home to Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Below is my relfection from my time at the museum :

The Apartheid Museum

Having been to South Africa before and spending some time studying and reading about the pain and struggle of apartheid I have a sliver of knowledge walking into this museum. However, no matter how much you know about something, understanding and a true grasp of the magnitude of an event take more than just knowledge. I will never know the pains of a “nei-blankes” or”non-whites” as my ticket classified me as. I am a white person; this means the people with my skin color were the ones who inflicted this oppression.

Growing up in California, in this generation, with the family that I have, racial acceptance and diversity is a common and celebrated. At APU and in my life, racial differences, diversity, and acceptance are frequent topics of conversation. It is so frustrating for me, someone who has tried so hard to have a mindset that includes and embraces all cultures and colors to see people who look like me continue in the stereotype. While looking at the pictures of blacks being servants to the white people elicited the irritation that color of skin is such a divider between people. Almost immediately after, I was reminded of my time in Northern Ireland. The English came over to Ireland and took over (which they seem to be so in the habit of doing) the northern part of the country and brought their culture and religion. Of course the Irish did not want this so they resisted. “The Troubles” were times in the history of Northern Ireland were many lives were lost, many bombs were thrown and many bullets shot. “The Troubles” took place in the past 20 years. This is just an example of man’s depravity because there was no physical difference or color difference between the Irish and English, but if it is not race that separates it will be religion.

The room that took my breath away was the one that had nooses hanging from the ceiling, the pictures of a few of those who were killed in the fight for freedom, and has examples of solitary confinement rooms. Is freedom free? Is the peaceful approach possible? As I was reading many of the signs, all I could do was shake my head in disbelief and annoyance and ponder “there has got to be another way to freedom, peace, and equality.” Why on earth has history repeated itself so many times? Have we as human not learned from each other? The holocaust? Have we forgotten that segregation and oppression has never really successfully worked well? I am not naïve I know that “birds of a feather flock together” but it is a matter of human rights. As I write this though I am reminded that my country is in war in the Middle East killing people, why is violence is so part of being human just as loving is party of humanity?

A picture of a man covering his face with a bible stated “When the Europeans came they had the bibles and we had the land, now we have the bibles and they have our land.” I think that this quote hit me so hard because people number one who look like me, number two who read the same bible I do have done things in the “name of God” that have hurt and oppressed so many people. It is hard for me to reconcile.

Approaching this day I was trying to prepare myself emotionally. I don’t think you can be emotionally prepared to hear and see and learn about these kinds of things. The part that brought me to tears was the final line in the final sign of the museum for the Veld Garden. The sign encouraged us to ponder what we just saw, to contemplate apartheid, then it ends with “And walk away free.” Even now as I write this I am in tears. I will never truly understand, but with all of my heart I am moved with compassion. I pray that the Lord will give me strength to look at His children through HIS EYES. I pray that I can be an emissary of true reconciliation towards God and between his people, true freedom that is found in Christ, and equality that is found in the Body of Christ.

Who knew that day one of South Africa would be so powerful.

I pray that we can learn from history.
Please look into south African history, learn about apartheid, learn about those who lost their lives in the fight for equality and freedom. May we remember.

So then today we flew from Joburg to Durban! And again the Lord blessed me with an amazing travel buddy from Durban! I love talking to people! =) the flight is like traveling from LA to San Fran!

From durban we drove an hour to our new home in South Africa: the African Enterprise Campus in Pietermaritzburg. OMG SOOOOOO NICE! I will put pics up asap! But this place is beautiful and amazing and I am so honored to be here! We start classes tomorrow! I CANNOT WAIT!
God is so good and I am so humbled to be here!

=) PICTURES AND more to come asap! =)

IN HIS GRIP,
Megan Frew

Well, here we go again!

WELL, HERE WE GO AGAIN! =)
As some of you may know, I am headed back to South Africa on September 7 to study abroad with APU. I will be doing Community Health Nursing (working in AIDS clinics, doing home visits with a hospice organization, helping at children’s development center, and working at community hospital) in South African communities. I have not had the chance to do nursing outside the country before so I am very excited.
In preparation for South Africa ,this past May I had to complete 90 hours of clinical for the public/community health in order to apply to become a Public Health Nurse (PHN) when I graduate. It was an awesome experience to work with pre-mature infant home visits. I had an amazing clinical instructor who took us into families homes to assess the children, complete developmental tests, and talk with the families of these beautiful children. I LOVED my time. We also completed some classroom time, did community assessments, and discussed teaching projects that we are going to do in SA. Public/Community/Global health is amazing and I am so excited to get the chance to combine my LOVE for the world and my passion and love for nursing. =) PRAISE THE LORD =)

So for those of you who do not know, this will be my second time to South Africa! Summer of 2007 (summer after my freshmen year of college) I was able to be part of a 10 person team to Paarl, South Africa. It was a humbling, amazing experience. The Lord moved in ways I had never seen or experienced. We worked in three different communities that make up the rainbow nation of South Africa: the Zulu/Xhosa (tribal African people), the Afrikaners people (Dutch/European white people) and the Coloured communities (the people who are mixed raced). Our focus was to foster and promote a spirit of reconciliation. This beautiful country has been torn apart by racism and the wounds are deep. I have a huge passion for reconciliation and working in this country has refined that passion.

And here we go again, back to South Africa. This trip has different focuses, different team members, and we will be working in the Eastern Cape mostly. I am so humbled that I get to join in on the legacy of those who have gone before me to this place. I am so humbled that I get to work in communities that may not have gotten the health care and education that they deserve. I am so humbled to just go back to place that is so near and dear to my heart.


Another reason why this blog is called here we go again is because the Lord just continues to take me up on the offer that I gave him. Like Isaiah, I said “HERE I AM LORD, SEND ME!” and well God said OK! And sent me to the Himalayas this summer! It was a surreal experience that was broken up into three different ministries. The first stop was in Kolkata, India. As soon as I stepped off the plane I was bombarded with the sights, smells, and temperature of this crazy unique city. We were able to serve in the Mother Teresa homes Daya Dan (home for children with mental and physical disabilities) and Prem Dan(home for men and women who are mentally ill, physically or mentally handicap). Please pray that the Sisters (Missionaries of Charities) will continue to find their strength in the Lord to serve these people who are so desperately in need of love. We worked at an organization called FreeSet ( http://freesetglobal.com/ ) which is a beautiful business in the middle of the red light district (Sonagacchi) of Kolkata. We were able to sit with the women who are no longer in brothels or being trafficked and help make bags with them. Finally, we worked with a program called Good News which is an organization that goes to some of the major slum areas to pick up children and provides bible stories and a place to learn English and math. The places we partnered with are bringing peace, hope, and joy to an extremely crazy, chaotic and seemingly hopeless place.

Our main ministry focus and time was spent in the misty northern Indian city on the hills and in the clouds: Darjeeling. While we were in the beautiful Himalayan Mountains that were covered in tea fields, our goal and mission was to encourage the church that is definitely the minority in this region. We worked with the Assemblies of God (AG) Church of Darjeeling to go to home churches, Christian schools, and church plants throughout the mountains. A beautiful opportunity we were given was to put on programs at a few different schools where only about 5% of the children were Christians. The AG Church has a Bible College that trains up young men and women to become pastors; these pastors will then move into a village not of their own that does not have a church to be a full time missionary to the tea estate/village that the Lord places them in. We were able to travel to these churches to preach, share testimonies, and pray for the Lord to deliver and heal. My favorite memory was when we were able to go to one of the pastor’s homes and sit and drink tea with him and his family. Over the course of the evening all of the Christians in the village made their way into the very small home. We, the diverse body of Christ, worshipped, laughed, prayed and ate together and the joy of the Lord was evident in that place. May we continue to pray for the churches and Indian missionaries of the Darjeeling area because God is moving and working through his people to do the miraculous: turning hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, turning anger into compassion, and turning lifelessness and sorrow into deep rooted joy. I am so thankful that God let me see his Indian side and that I was able to worship and pray with our brothers and sisters in India.

The final portion of our trip was in a small landlocked Himalayan country that I am not going to share for the safety of our host and all those believers who are being persecuted for their faith, but please feel free to ask me personal what country it was!

I am at a loss for words on how to describe the picturesque and breathtaking beauty of this country. Our purpose there was to encourage the persecuted church, learn all we could about Buddhism and the countries culture and have every moment we could be filled will intercession and worshipful prayer for the country. Our host is one of the most amazing people that I have ever met and it was so humbling to meet and get to know such a prayer warrior, joyful worshipper, and successful business woman. For many years teams from APU have been going to this beautiful yet Jesus needing place to pray for the country, for our host and her ministry, and the church, I am so humbled to be part of the continued work in this country. My favorite memory was getting to be part of the church in this closed country(and by “the church” I mean one of the only churches that meets in the country). The youth of this Himalayan country are rising up with the strength and confidence to proclaim the name of Jesus to their friends and family so that they will be drawn into a loving relationship with the Lord. May we continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in the Himalayas that are being persecuted for their faith and their radical counter cultural attitudes. May the lives of these believers be living testimonies in this beautiful country that our God delivers, heals, and transforms souls.

Friends, I am here to tell you that God moved on this trip, His glory was revealed to His people, and I was able to see Lord heal and heard him speak. Our God is alive and active. He is in the business of transforming lives. Yes, physical healings are amazing but I think what is MORE amazing is when a man who used to abuse his wife gives a testimony at a church in Darjeeling that he now looks at her with a heart of love and compassion. It is amazing to hear a woman in a small tea estate in the mountains of Darjeeling say that she used to be depressed and wanted to end her life, but now that she knows Jesus and has hope, a purpose and joy. Hearing the pastor of the church in a persecuted country encourage his congregation to stay faithful to the Lord no matter what obstacles come because the Lord is on their side is a beautiful miracle. It is miraculous for the children in Kolkata to know that they are loved and valued in spite of circumstances. Our God is so faithful and loves his church so much. I am so thankful to serve a God who is so much bigger then America and I am so honored that I was able to taste and see a glimpse of the goodness of our multi-cultural God

So, here we go again. I humbling walk forward with joy and excitement to see what the Lord has in store for me in South Africa . I cannot believe that the year 2010 has been filled with such amazing God filled adventures . Friends, may you say to the Lord, Here I am send me. Because the Lord desperately wants to use you. Whether that is in the bay area, in azusa, or in the world, may you be obedient to where he calls you! Be an ambassador of the Kingdom. Be one who draws others into a reconciled relationship with the Father! Love you all and more updates to come!

2 Corinthians 5:14
14For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.