Our Second Meeting

            Our second meeting was yesterday and we began by first learning how we will say hello to our patients. “Sawubona” means Hello (singular) and “Sanibonani” means Hello (plural). It is exciting to learn new words or phrases each week so we will be prepared to communicate with the South Africans once we arrive! We also met with our different committees and then discussed as a group different committees that we can go ahead and start helping. For Children’s Ministry, please start gathering any balls, chalk or toys and refer any questions to Nathaneal at hallns@musc.edu. For Fundraising, please contact Meredith at meredithbarb@gmail.com if you have any ideas for future fundraisers. Meredith had some great fundraiser ideas such as a movie night at Cinnebarre, a slice night at Andolinis or a pancake supper at Applebee’s. For Optometry, please start gathering any glasses or contact Ericka at weaver.ericka@gmail.com if you know of anyone or any organization who is willing to donate glasses. We should be hearing from Aubrey this week about our Prayer Partners so get excited about getting to know someone new! Some important dates coming up include:

            Sunday, February 5^th – Meeting #3 Testimonies

            Sunday, February 19^th – Meeting #4 Team Unity

                                                    $1000 total due

This week the topic of our discussion was Spiritual Warfare. Ephesians 6:10-12 states, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Spiritual Warfare is a pro-active approach to our faith. Actively resisting the devil when his hosts harass us, and actively pursuing spiritual disciplines that will make us stronger and better prepared. It is actively engaging the enemy when people are in spiritual bondage. The devil is the enemy and our weapon is prayer. As we all begin to embark on this journey, the devil will try to discourage us and work against us. Some tips about being spiritually ready for this trip are to get in shape and expect to get hit, be self-controlled and alert (discern spiritual realities behind situations & circumstances), trust Christ, use God’s plan and weapons, and know who your enemy is and use God’s armor. We are excited for what is to come and please continue to keep us in your prayers.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33