Our brethren beneath the Western Sky

In our church here, we have Sunday night services and I played the hymns on the piano for the first time last night. I chose one of my favorite hymns that we used to sing at Texas Bible School - that goes like this:

The day thou gavest Lord is ended, the darkness falls at thy behest,
To thee our morning hymns ascended, our praise shall sanctify our rest.

As over each continent and island, the dawn brings on another day,
the voice of prayer is never silent, nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking, our brethren beneath the western sky,
and hour by hour fresh lips are making the glorious doings heard on high.

So be it Lord they throne may never, like earth's proud empires pass away,
Thy kingdom come to stand forever, when all the earth shall own they sway!

This was the first time I had ever sung this hymn from another continent - looking back at all of those I love on another one! I was in tears as I realized it was 7 pm and all of my dear fellow believers were in the US and Canada getting out of services as I was playing this hymn. It was very bittersweet and it made me long for the kingdom to come now when we can all be together!! I love and miss you all my dear brethren! I can relate now to Paul's writings when he says, though I am absent from you in the body, I am present in spirit. Know I am thinking of you all!

My dependence on technology and media

When you move to another continent, it becomes apparent that without technology, you would never be able to stay in touch with those you love. One of my greatest comforts each day is logging on to the internet and finding emails from all of those people that I miss! I remember the first time we used Skype and I heard our friend Dyron's voice - it was like this flood of warmth came over me - the voice of someone from home! We stayed up til 2 in the morning on Mother's day talking to all of our sweet mothers and family - it was so worth it! So imagine when we woke up last week and found that our internet connection was gone - used up - we had maxed out our quota and our friends that own the house are in Spain and unreachable for a couple of weeks! We have just made it to an internet cafe and once again are connected to the world again! Ironic that we lost our connection the day before the season finale of my favorite show Lost. We realized that downloading the last 2 episodes is probably what put us over the top! So, we'll resolve ourselves to just going to or renting the occasional movie.

We've also had to learn how to deal with pay as you go cell phones, which is tricky, because so far, I've only realized I was out of minutes when they were used up and gone and I couldn't call! You can't get a phone contract here if you don't have a bank account (which we can't do unless we're S.A citizens). Cam really misses his Google Earth on his IPhone when we get lost in the middle of nowhere and can't find our way out. I've also struggled to kick my news junkie habit - since it's so hard to get US news here. About the only thing in our paper here is what's going on with Lindsay Lohan - and who cares about that?!

But all in all, it's taught us that our faith really has to be in the things of God- not in the security of feeling safe when you have a cell phone with you, or internet access to find out what's going on in the world, or that your security system in your house and the gate is working to lock you in and keep you safe. Living in a safe neighborhood, going to the good parts of town, having an alarm on your car, locking your doors - all of that has value, but when it comes to our protection, or safety, our trust must be in our Lord. We must realize that as long as we are seeking to be his children, all things in our lives will work for good (Romans 8:28), whether they feel good at the time or not. God does not keep us from trials, but he does ensure that we will be able to bear whatever comes our way and that He will provide us a way out. I Corinthians 10: 12 tells us "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! ¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." So as I grow in my faith here, learning that my real trust has to be in God and that my real reliance has to be upon God and Jesus each day, this helps me endure the trials and struggles that come!

HORSE BACK RIDING BY ANI

HELLO! I'm in South Africa right now and I'm going to tell you about my English horse back riding. The barn with horses is really fun, but I like riding the best. Let me start my story. Horse back riding is on Monday. Each Monday I go to horse back riding. I do it in groups.

There are only 2 people. We do rising trot. If you don't know what rising trot is, it is where you trot and push up at the same time. I rode Socks and Gravity. Kayla takes me to horse back riding.

Shiloh's Beach Blog.

Last Friday I went to the beach! It was really fun :). I found a really nice shell and I swam a lot! I am really good at riding the waves! On the normal waves you jump up, and on the white waves you dive under! I learned this because when I went over the white waves, all I got was a mouthful of water . It was VERY, VERY, VERY fun! Well, after a lot of wave riding, building in the sand,and a few mouthfuls of water, it was time to go. I had had a fun time at the beach. I hope I can go again soon!

Until next time,
Goodbye!

Gonna go back in time....

We have been blessed to stay in the home of a family here in South Africa that is away in France. We have had full use of their pool, trampoline, giant dog named DINO, cockatiel, hamster and many wonderful books and toys. Their house has a thatch roof and has a very unique style. The front door is a solid wood door about 8 inches thick - you should see the length of the key! They have a novel idea of putting trampolines in the ground even with the surface grass - it looks much nicer than having a trampoline above ground and definitely won't blow away in a strong wind storm.

We have enjoyed watching the monkeys play in the back yard- they are quite entertaining. We've been told not to smile at them (which is hard to do!) because they see teeth as a sign of aggression. But so far, they've been across the yard and haven't ventured close. We think these monkeys are vervet monkeys. We'll try to get a better shot of them to post.

Now to the back in time part - life here in South Africa reminds me of the 70's in the US. We find ourselves going to 10 different stores to find what we would have found all at a Walmart Supercenter (I told you I would miss Walmart!). At the grocery store, baggers still bag your food for you, except they call the bags "packets" and you have to pay for them. They are encouraging you to bring your own bag to help the environment! The cereal aisle is not full of cartoon character based sugary cereals, but mainly Special K, Corn Flakes, and maybe a few others. The big sugary cereals are Frosties (Frosted Flakes), Rice Krispies, and Cocoa Balls (Cocoa puffs). That's it! It's quite refreshing to not see all the commercialization. Oh, and don't forget to shop before 7 pm, because they close at that time. There are full service gas stations, and hardly any SUVs here. most cars are small. They call trucks bakkies (pronounced bucky) and they are all small like the 70's Toyota trucks that you used to see all the time. Life moves at a slower pace here. When you ask someone about a future plan, you'll probably get the response "I'll do that just now," but it doesn't mean anytime in the immediate future, and might not even happen at all! We've been told that everything shuts down from Dec 15 to Jan 15 and that you can't even get a plumber or a locksmith, etc. as they're all on vacation! Imagine how that would be in the US! Although some days it feels very weird to be here, most other days it feels just wonderful!!

Howdy Friends & Family!!!

Kim is doing a great job of putting updates out. I'll strive to keep pace!

First, I want to appreciate everyone who has been sending me regular encouragement, as well as those praying for our Journeys!

We've arrived safely, finally received the last of our personal

effects, and have our housing arrangements and church arrangements in order. God has been putting the right people in place at the right time to ensure each step of this has gone smoothly!

Now for the missions. We've been blessed to work several different efforts.

I'll be assisting with a Bible Education center, which doubles as a Bible bookstore selling bibles at rock bottom prices (usually equivalent to $4 thru about $15. If you'll check out the local US Bible store prices on Bibles, you'll probably find that $10 dollar bibles are in short supply, well the same is true of South Africa. We sell basic, but good quality new Bibles in several of the most common versions (ie, KJV, NIV, Message, Good News, ESV, Zulu, Xhosa, French) and always provide opportunities to also take some basic bible courses that are free of charge. It is amazing to see the enthusiasm that these people have for the Word of God. A true willingness to learn what is really taught in the Bible! I'll provide BEC pictures on the next BLOG entry.

I've also had the opportunity to work with a couple of newer churches. Lamontville and Mariannhill townships. Both of these churches have great excitement and enthusiasm. I keep thinking of Acts 20:7-10 and Eutychus (they go on and on and on...they love the word!). The hunger for the Word is great with these Brothers and

Sisters in the Lord. I love it. Both of these churches come from very humble circumstance but stand in Glorious witness to the Love they have for our Father. And you should hear their hymns! Amazing.

Here are some pictures from the Lamontville area, around the church.

This one is just across the street from the church.
The next pic is down the hill from the church and is representative of a whole neighborhood of people who are part of the local community that our church is helping with.

One thing that I have found here is that the people in these townships have put the best face on a tough situation, and do a really good job of living in very real "Hard Times". For many of these people, this is the best they have ever or will ever experience. Everyone I meet is very friendly and welcoming, even if sometimes it is totally in Zulu.
It still feels funny even saying that...

Anyway, our local church doubles as a community center and Preschool and is becoming well known in the community for the service that it does to the poorest of the poor in the community by watching their children while they are working.
I love this next picture...The children make a Rainbow with hand-paintings. Beautiful!!

Lord Willing, I will be getting involved in a couple of additional projects in the next week, and anticipate that I will BLOG on them within the next 10 days.
First, I will be getting involved in Happy's, which is a school for disabled children. I will take some pictures to share with you.
Second, I will be coordinating an effort to help cleanup the community (communities?) around the two churches in our Townships on a volunteer basis. This will be well appreciated by the local communities and help the poorest have better living conditions. Every little bit helps!
Third, I will need to obtain bibles for one of the churches. If anyone wants to pitch in our efforts, this would be a fantastic way to help out. email me at cameron.beeler@gmail.com if you'd like to contribute. Every little bit makes a difference here, and your help is really appreciated and has real and immediate impact.
Thank you all for your help, your prayers, and your Love! May God bless each and every one of you!
In the Love of our Master,Cam

BTW, the fruit bats are singing me to sleep, so it is time for me to go! I look forward to BLOGGING with you again, soon! C