A day of history and prayer

 

Day 4 was a day of history lessons for us Americans. The day started out with breakfast and devotional time with our team at the conference center,and some time just hanging out together.

Mid-morning, Darryl and Tom picked us up in the trusty vans and took us to the capitol in Pretoria. We were going to tour the capitol building but were unable to, so we walked around a little and checked out the giant statue of Mandela.

Next we drove to the Voortrekker monument, which contains the history of the afrikaner pioneers who left the Cape Colony and traveled by wagon train to the interior of South Africa. (To learn more, click here.)

It's a beautiful monument with three different levels accessible by stairs. The top level opens up all the way to the bottom level and allows the hole in the roof to shine down on a marble slab on the bottom level where the words “ONS VIR JOU SUIDAFRIKA” (translation: We for thee, South Africa) are engraved.

After spending time learning some South African history, we headed back to the conference center for dinner, then out again to the prison to do some prayer walking.

A large group from Maranatha Church met us at the prison, and we started off with a group prayer. We then paired up in twos and walked around the perimeter of the prison, praying for the inmates. It was a powerful time of prayer, and I was once again impressed by the men and women of our sister church in Kempton Parkwho dedicate so much time and energy to prayer. So often I believe that Christians get caught up in what we can do for God that we forget that the answer is actually “nothing.” It is so important to give each situation and aspect of our lives, including our acts of service that we do for Him, TO Him to control. We are not doing anything through our own actions or strength, but we are allowing Him to use us and we are only successful because of His power. It is not our success, but His. We are a part of a bigger thing: His story.