Blessings and Bedbugs

Our trip has begun!  I spent Friday driving my four companions to the home of our friends who hosted a weekend conference on the sufficiency of Christ based on the book of Colossians. Jeremias was Saturday’s third preacher, expositing our Lord Jesus’s sufficiency for ministry from Colossians 1:24-2:5.  The Holy Spirit used all the day’s messages to powerfully show forth the glories of God the Son and call hearers to faith in Him, in a way fittingly summarized by Jeremias’ comment that evening:  “Today Christ shone”.

This is our first stop on a two-week trip to South Africa for a church association conference – but on Wednesday evening I didn’t see how I’d be ready on time.  I’d arrived home late after work, with a list of a hundred items to pack in order to load my vehicle the following evening, only to find a fine layer of dust from that day’s construction work covering my room.  Weary from repeated late nights of travel preparations, I napped elsewhere and prayed in discouragement while Boniface and Stephanie kindly cleaned my bedroom.  My director allowed me to come in late to work on Thursday, so by God’s grace I was both rested and packed when we left early Friday morning.

The Lord has been answering other prayers too.  All the passports arrived on time, and Nraca’s family recovered from their illness. Our first day of driving was remarkably smooth, with an earlier-than-expected arrival.  Our fellowship with the dear believers here has been sweet, with our visit just as restful as the last – and free from food poisoning, since I showed our hostess how to disinfect vegetables with bleach.