DRIVING

YES!!!YES!!!YES!! I had my second driving lesson by Granny Jenny this morning. I am doing good, except trying to reach for teh seat belt on my left when it is on my right......trying to find the stick with my right hand when I bang agaisnt the door and realize, the stick shift is on the left side! Thank God the clutch and gas and break are still in the same order!!!!!I only drove 30km per hour instead of 50km/h Here are some pics :) OH MY!!!!!

ordinaryDAY

On an ordinary day, I wake up around 8:30 or 9 am. My breakfast is calling me and like every day I am having a bowl of ALL BRAN cereal (with lots of fiber) and a good mug of coffee. At this point, little Bella joins me and starts begging for some “people food”. After my breakfast and some Bella-talk, I sit back and read my Bible…I dive in and see where the Lord takes me, I learn about new things and journal. At about that time I really feel the urge to go outside and walk and go to the beach. That’s what I do. I walk down there and stroll along watching the waves and inhaling a fresh breeze. How about some coffee at my favorites News Café? Every once in a while, I would then go to the internet café to check my mails and actualize my blog (hint hint ) Then it should be around lunch time so I go home. Bella awaits me at the gate and loooves for me to carry her around for a few minutes. Then I prepare a quick lunch snack for me: Avocado spread on good toast and preferably fresh Mango. Yes, I fell in love with a fresh real South African Mango. MMMMHHH. By that time, I am ready to meet people, meet with people from my church and go for a coffee. The evenings are filled with Small group meetings, Teen girls group and Praise and prayer with the whole church. There are special evenings where I get calls from Germany which is a wonderful treat for me. When I go to bed between 10 and 11 pm my head falls on the pillows and I thank God for another day here in Table View, a suburb of Cape Town. I thank God for I know that this is the place HE has put me. I thank Him for I am at peace in my soul. How do your days look like?

(My Chains are Gone)

My chains are gone, I've been set free, set free of the chains of unforgiveness, of bitterness!! Amazing love , amazing grace. I thank God for HIS work in me, in my little heart this weekend!!! This song goes straight to you my JESUS, my redeemer and restorer, my comforter and my love!!!!

XENOPHOBIA

Xenophobia attacks

Dear friends, you have probably heard some troubling news from this side of the world, from the very country I am in right now. Attacks of xenophobia arose in the province of Gauteng which is the area around Johannesburg and Durban. To sum up the news let me tell you that the attacks happen in the townships, the poor areas close to the big cities and they are aimed at foreigners to this country, mostly people from Zimbabwe (former Rhodesia), Botswana, Mozambique and Swaziland. There have been dozens of dead people and even President Mbeki ordering to have the army around to end those attacks.

Please know that I am ok

. You can pray with me for this country as the spirit of the old apartheid seems to come through again. Read more in the following articles and see you in the throne room! God bless you my dear friends, Kerstin http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Xenophobia/Home/0,,2-7-2382,00.html http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Xenophobia/0,,2-7-2382_2326952,00.html

UpdateMAI

Dear friends and supporters, dear dear ones, Another 3 weeks have gone by, a lot happened and here is my next letter hopefully arriving on a day full with His sunshine. I know that I know that I know that I am supposed to be here at such a time as this. My heart has arrived at Cape Town. I approach the 3 month mark soon and I am very content being here. Now, let me bring you up to speed with things here and let me give you specific prayer requests for this season of my life here as the Long Term Missionary: Life @the church (Coastland Community Church)This week the tiles will be up on the roof of the new building! What a landmark! Just going to the site and standing in the building stirs up praise and worship for all of us here. We continue to meet on Wednesday night to praise all together and those nights take the church to a different level in the spirit. I am glad to mingle more and more amongst the people from church. Just this last Sunday I was invited to a little girl’s 1 year birthday party and what really blessed and honored me was that they asked ME to do the honor of praying for that little girl. I was speechless. God is creating relationships….Pastor Xavier had the privilege to baptize his little 11 year old daughter this past Sunday and it was such a blessing to watch it happen. Kerstin’s work concerning healing and restoration I felt a kick off for the healing work as well as God using me those past 3 weeks. I started to facilitate the genesis process in my present small group (the pic here shows sister Connie from my small group) I can feel a lot of resistance in the spiritual realm. We will go into depth in that group in a week from now. I am not sure about the say because people’s schedules are just totally busy busy busy. Likewise, there are a lot of different struggles in these peoples’ lives here. I will lead another 2 ladies through the genesis process starting soon. The group of teen girls is more a challenge to me in these days: My challenge is to bring Jesus to them in the way they can understand it. Here again, all works through relationship, patience and me waiting upon the Lord and coming alongside HIM instead of me running to the front on my own. How is Kerstin and how are her parents?? I am doing pretty well. Yes, I am lonely in different ways, but I am also thankful to God because I do not struggle as much with it as I had thought I would. I love reading my BIBLE and spending extended time in it. My parents are kind of ok considering the situation that they are in: They’ve had chaos and no kitchen nor bathroom for 7 weeks now due to a plumbing problem in the walls and water running out. I am proud of them as of how they keep up a good attitude. However, it is hard on them: financially and emotionally. Thank God, my mom is on vacation now and off with her friend to a trip to Berlin for a few days. My dad can walk better and better, he can drive the car again but has still problems with his knees and his back. It seems an everlasting thing. Thank you for all your prayers for those two special people in my life! I appreciate it a lot. Please continue to hold them up and pray them into the kingdom of our Lord! What is there to pray and praise God about?

I am so glad to know that this is the right place for me right now right here- I am thankful for that. Please pray for continual protection over me: physically, emotionally and spiritually. Hepatitis A and different flue bugs are fling around and I need God’s cover over my body every day. Please pray for my parents for God’s touch and HIS provision for them. Please pray for my genesis group and the 3 ladies in there, for protection and for God’s touch and HIS work to be fulfilled. Please pray for HIS healing touch on this congregation and in the families and endangered marriages. Please pray for my 3 teen girls and our times together: good relationship and ideas how to show Jesus to them. Please pray for me to listen to God, to receive HIS wisdom and to learn how to spot where HE is working so I can come alongside HIM.

Thank you so much. Thank you for writing to me and letting me know about your lives. I love it. I will say it again: You are here with me and part of me and what God is doing in me and through me. It is an adventure and with Jesus it is a victorious one, isn’t it? Much love to you all and may this day be filled with the soothing, joyful, tender voice of our Almighty Father, the one who made the Heavens and the Earth. Seek the Lord and let HIM hold your heart in HIS big hand. He is in control and HE will do what HE has promised! Count your blessings and feel a hug coming from far away God’s abundant peace be with you In HIS tender grip,

Kerstin

WINTERapproaching

When do you know that the winter is approaching here in Cape Town? As a foreigner, a German and American (somehow) I think I can pose this question. Everything seems the same, it is sunny, maybe a bit cooler, a bit fresher and the wind is stronger. However, I found something that gives me a pretty good idea of hen the winter is approaching: Take a look at my dog here. Her sweet name is Bella and as soon as little Bella starts wearing her jerseys like this one (Red and white stripy). Here you go… Winter is approaching 