Posted in General Articles by The World Race on 6/14/2006
On our way again!!!
Once again, we are on our way!!! Our time in London has come to an end, and we have SOOOOOOOOO many people to thank! EVERY SINGLE DAY we have been blessed by people's prayers, their enthusiasm about the World Race, and their warmheated hospitality! Although some days were very busy, we have had much time to be quiet in the Word and rest after four months of fulltime travel and ministry.
Estee and I helped some friend out at London City Mission with a quilt that they were busy making for a newly wed couple in their church. The guy on the left of the photo is Jaco, one of our hosts and a great friend! He was brave enough to also try and help - Jacques and Stefan quickly found "other important things to do" when they saw that the work involved needels and thread!!!
One of the highlights of our time here has been and invitation to a Youth Group at Newick, just outside of London. Chris, a South African who also did Service Year for Christ with UCSA, is the Youth Worker at the church and the young people come together once a week to spend time in the Word and also hear the testimonies of special guests. Jacques and I were privileged to spend an evening with them and were greatly encouraged by their enthusiasm and hunger to hear about life on the World Race.
They will have their first Youth Service in a few weeks' time and are practicing hard to make it a success. On the photo here on the left is Rob, one of the Youth members, who recently came back from Lesotho, Southern Africa. He spent some time their being invoved in missions work and was very excited to hear that we will be working in the sam area later this year. It was wonderful to see such a young boy SO excited about the Lord's Work and we were GREATLY encouraged by his enthusiasm.
 Of course, we also visited a few historical sights. St Paul's Cathedral was an awesome sight to see, as well as Tower Bridge. I have been in London before, but my first experience wasn't very positive, since I came to work and REALLY stuggled to find a good job. It was really a time of searching for God's will in my life and I ended up going back to South Africa much earlier than planned. Thus, to be here now with Jacques and many other wonderful friends, has been a refreshing experience and I am SO thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness over the years!!! He IS the same yesterday, today and FOREVER!!!
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Posted in General Articles by The World Race on 6/5/2006
Let's Go,
Europe
!!!
Dear friends, what an adventure! We just barely, by the grace of God, made it into
Europe
! Crossing the Meditiranean became our biggest travel-challenge yet, since we discovered that there are no longer Ferries on the route between
Egypt
and
Greece (
we planned to make this our entry-point into
Europe)
. So, after days and days of research, we decided to buy flight tickets to
Greece
(this was a huge step of faith, since this expence was not part of our budget). Before we even got to
Cairo
, though, Jacques fell ill at
Dubai
Airport
and the two of us had to stay behind for an extra day for him to recover completely. We made it just in time for our flight to
Athens
, but as Stefan, Estee, Jacques and I were checking in, the Airline discovered that our tickets had been mysteriously cancelled! We no longer had place on the flight - our tickets were given away to other people! AND WE HAD PAID FOR THEM!!! The end result was that we
 had to spend another day in
Cairo
, fix things up together with our travel agent, and we flew the next morning at
03:15
. At last we set foot on European soil! From there we took a ferry to
Ancona
,
Italy
. On the photo here, Estee and I are making sandwiches in a market place it the city. We planned to spend the night at the airport, before our flight the next day to
London
. We had to "camp out" on the grass in front of the airport building, since the airport CLOSED at
23:30
!!! That same night, at
01:30
, the ARMY came to ask us to please leave - we are not allowed to camp on the airport grounds. We ended up convincing them to let us stay at least till
05:00
, since we had no other place to go! Well, to make a long story short, we eventually ended up in London, as planned! Seriously, my heart was FILLED with thanks to the Lord for brining us safely here! After all the obstacles we had to cross, it was truly AMAZING GRACE to eventually set foot on Brittish soil! We have been VERY blessed with WONDERFUL FRIENDS who have opened their hearts and homes to us!
Here Estee and I are ENJOYING washing the dishes after a wonderful BRAAI with friends from South Africa who are working in London at the moment. Although it rained most of the day, we did not loose heart and the guys even had an ambrella to assist them in the braai-process! Estee and I have been longing to do dishes with HOT water and proper dishwashing liquid! What a privilege to simply turn a tap and get running, hot water! We are making use of every opportunity to cook on a stove and wash dishes! (It will probably be the last chance we have until November!)
Jacques and I are living with Henk at the moment. He is a South African missionary working with London City Mission. They have started a young church in a mostly Muslim community in the South of London and we are joining in with the home cell meetings and also church services. I decided to bake some "beskuit" (rusks) for our friends here, and we have had many visits around "koffie en beskuit" these past few days! Thanks, Mom, for all your patience with me in the kitchen - just look at how good those rusks look (just like yours!). Wish I could share them with you and Dad!
Our friends here have TRULY been a great blessing. It is AWESOME to be in the fellowship of other believers and to see how they are serving Jesus in London - a city full of the world's temptations. They still hold strong to their faith in Christ and we have found MANY "men and women of peace" here. Jacques, Estee, Stefan and I are really in great need of a time of rest and reflection, and these friends are making it possible for us! Thank the Lord with us for their open hearts and houses - words cannot describe our thankfulness!
Duisend dankies aan al ons SA-pelle vir jul gasvryheid - ons geniet elke oomblik en waardeer jul moeite om ons te akkommodeer opreg! Julle issie beste en ons bid Jesus se rykste seen toe vir elkeen van julle! Spesiale dankies aan Henk, Jaco, Jubilee, Liesl, Corneli, Mielie, Darryl en Madel! Julle is ware staatmakers en "dankie" is nie genoeg om te werklik te se hoe baie ons julle waardeer nie!
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Posted in General Articles by The World Race on 6/2/2006
Cry for India...
 "Religion that our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." - James 1:27
The time we spent with the orphans in India was life changing. I believe it is impossible to leave this place untouched and unchanged! God is there and He is busy! My mouth dropped numerous times as I witnessed Him work through the lives of those special young children! I am convinced more than ever that He is a loving Father and was privileged to witness His Hand over 80 precious little orphans - I will never be the same!
These little children get up every single morning at 6 to pray and worship Jesus together. They do it boldly and unashamed! In Spirit and in Truth. With childlike faith. When they promise to pray for you, they DO! I was SO humbled and challenged by their commitment as well as their SURRENDER to Jesus! They all know that they may one day die a martyr's death for Christ, and yet they follow Him unconditionally. Compared to the world's standards they have nothing, and yet they have EVERYTHING! In India an orphan is considered to be less than nothing - completely worthless with no hope of a future. Yet, they KNOW Jesus personally. Whatever needs they have, they bring it boldly to their Lord - and He provides. The little girl with me on the photo is "Artie". Her bright smile and bubbling laughter brightened each day at the dusty orphanage. She is a precious little girl with a very special place in our Lord's heart.
On this photo is two of the young boys assigned to my care during our time at the orphanage. Washim, on the right, left within a week to visit family during the school holiday time. He is a very talented cricket player and I enjoyed watching his enthusiasm on the sportsfield.
Khampu is the smiling spiky-haired little guy on the left. He is the point of my heart! He always greeted me with the most beautiful smile - always friendly and ready to help with whatever he could. As we were walking together to the bus on our last night at the orphanage, he was carrying one of my bags and softly said, "Miss... You must please try to come back here one day." ... Ah... and my heart broke in a thousand little pieces. I did not want to leave! I wanted to keep this smiling, wonderful little orphan with me forever! We both had tears in our eyes and I promised him that I would try my best to visit him again. It would mean the world for this little guy if we would come and visit them again at the orphanage... May the Lord grant me this privilege once more. Nothing would give me greater joy than to spend more time at Emmanual Orphanage. I pray that this was not the last visit to this spiritual oasis in the middle of dusty, hot India. Please pray with me for Khampu, Washim and all the other orphans at Emmanual Orphanage, that they will grow in their love and commitment to Christ and that He will be their Father, Brother and Friend - always.
Here I am leading praise and worship at one of the prayer meetings. The children meet three times a day for prayer. They have learnt MANY Bible verses that even the five-year-olds can recite without a problem!
Here we were giving a new pair of shoes to a bare-foot mother on our way to the Taj Mahaal.
The young boy in the red shirt is Brijmahan. He preaches often at the orphanage and wants to be an Evangelist one day.
His sincere heart has been a true inspiration to me and he longs more than anything else to serve Jesus with all his life.
 This is Victor and his wife, Simini, who are both workers at the orphanage. They are an example of a couple
selflessly serving the Lord and living lives committed to the cause of the Gospel.
Please keep praying with us for the orphans at Emmanual Orphanage. Pray that their love for Christ will only grow and that He will teach them in all His ways.
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Posted in General Articles on 4/21/2006
Thailand, oh Thailand!!!
Friday, 21 April, 12:20
Can you believe it!? Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever guessed that I would walk and see the place where theTsunami struck just over a year ago! We have now been living in the Phuket area for the past few weeks and one can still see and experience the signs of devestation left after what happened in December 2004. We are truly blessed to be able to work and minister here and we have learnt a great deal from the local missionaries about the service and unselfish work that is being done here by fellow-believers.
Jacques and I spent most of last week working and doing research in a Muslim community in Phuket. We were given an assignment to make a media presentation of the local people's way of life, their beliefs and their economy. It was a challenging, but blessed time and we enjoyed working together on the project. We were also blessed by a wonderful man, "Mr Don", one of the great pillars of his community, with a bufet
Texas Barbeque!
Thank you SO much, Mr Don - you were a great inspiration to us and we truly had a WONDERFUL meal!!!
For the past few days we have spent most of our time working and living with a South African family, helping in and around their house. Jacques and I have been painting most of the time. It is the first time for us to be working on a painting job together, and honestly, we make a MEAN TEAM! We have had lots of fun and know now that painting will be NO PROBLEM if we were to have our own house one day! (at the moment, though, our tent is our house, and we certainly don't need to do any painting on that!!!) Stefan and Jacques are now busy painting the hallway and they are doing some "family bonding"!
Baie liefde en groete vir al ons vriende en familie in Suid-Afrika! Ons verlang lekker met tye, en julle moet WEET dat julle vir ons BAIE spesiaal is! Ek wil tog vra dat julle spesiaal bid vir my en Jacques oor die Here se pad met ons lewens vir die toekoms en dat ons duidelik sal hoor wat Sy perfekte wil vir ons is bedieningsgewys.
Baie liefde,
Lana
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Posted in General Articles on 3/30/2006
Journeying with The A Team!!!
As you all know, Jacques and I, together with Sarah and Tauna from the Blue team, have been ministering together for the past few days. We decided to call our new team the "A TEAM" - and the adventures proved to be as adventurous and even more than the original "A Team" on television!!! We visited a small town and stayed there for three days.
Allow me to take you along our journey by sharing some of our photo's with you...
On Tuesday, the four of us left together with our two missionary friends to a nearby Tibetan school by motorcycle. I never knew that Jacques was very capable of driving a motorbike and since this was my first experience, I truly enjoyed driving with him through the beautiful mountains! Unfortunately, the children at the school had a few days holiday, but we were able to spend some time with the teachers and people who take care of them. The school is situated next to the "Mikon"-river, which was a beautiful site to see!
 Many of the children have to stay at the school, since their houses are too far off to travel there and back each day. Here is a photo of one of their rooms. We were shocked to see how dirty it was, and also the lack of bedding and matresses. Those children must get VERY cold at night - we felt like we were freezing so close to the river, and it was in broad daylight!
 On Wednesday the "A Team" split into two. "E",
 Jacques and Tauna left to go "tract bombing" at a monestary far away, and Sarah, "I" and I stayed behind to pray in the town. The other three had their own adventure in the mountains! The Lord pressed on our hearts to keep praying earnestly for them and we know now that it truly was a miracle when they reached our hotel 01:00 the next morning! They had to drive without lights (they only had headlamps) and with one flat tire most of the way in the dark and cold! The Lord truly came through for them and we give him all the glory and honor! Please read Jacques' blog for more information on their journey!
Once again, many thanks for all your prayers and support! One BIG PRAYER REQUEST:
The harvest in China and Tibet truly is plentiful! Please pray the Lord of the harvest to send His workers!
Baie seen, liefde en groete vir almal daar in Suid-Afrika! Volgende week is ons in heerlike, warm Thailand - kan ons warm baadjies vir eers wegpak. Ons hoop om binne 'n paar dae weer internet-toegang te he, maar ons kan geen beloftes maak nie.
Alles van die beste!
Lana
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Posted in General Articles on 3/22/2006
A SAD GOODBYE...
The time we spent in "Jee Sure Shun" has truly been life-changing for me! Seldom before have I experienced such a great compassion for people who are lost without Jesus! The genuine kindness and friendliness of the people captured my heart and I will always remember their smiles and laughter! They welcomed us "foreigners" (for most, we were the only foreigners they had EVER seen!) without prejudice and allowed us to spend valuable time with them.
 One day, as we were visiting with a young English Teacher, her eye fell on one of our Bibles. We tried to explain to her what it was about, but I was stunned to realize that she had absolutely NO IDEA of prayer, God, the Bible, or anything to do with Christianity. This was a well-educated young lady, but she did not have the faintest idea that anyone could belong to a church, or serve the Lord with all their heart. Because of the language barrier (she spoke very broken English - and we speak about two Chinese words!), we were not able to explain anything to her, and all we could do was pray that the Lord will send fulltime missionaries to this area. The harvest really is plentiful!..
Saying goodby to our "Jee Sure Shun"-friends has probably been
one of the hardest things I have had to do
 on the World Race.
I realize though, that the love I have in my heart for them, is NOTHING compared to the love of God for them! Last night, as we were saying our Goodbyes I KNEW that
He was going to stay behind. He would never leave them, or forsake them. Although they do not know Him, He KNOWS them! I thank Him for allowing us to meet these wonderful people - they truly are a people to be proud of! Oh, may they know Jesus as He knows them! PLEASE pray with us for the lives of "Jee Sure Shun"-people!
Baie dankie vir almal van julle wat nogsteeds getrou vir ons bid! Moet asseblief nie ophou nie! Ons vertrek more na Tibet, en wil regtig vra dat julle sal bid vir ons beskerming en dat die Here vir ons deure sal oopmaak om by mense uit te kom.
Baie liefde en seenwense!
Lana
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Posted in General Articles on 3/15/2006
News from the East!!!
 It's been quite a while since I've had time to update my blog, so I apologize for the silence! As you might have read on our team blog, Anita's laptop was stolen at Hong Kong Airport, and this makes communication a bit difficult. Fortunately the hotel we are in until tomorrow, is very close to an internet cafe, so I can quickly say HI to you all!
For some reason I have still been struggling with my health since Guatemala, and although this is VERY frustrating at times, it's as if the Lord is allowing me to just be a bit more quiet and spend time in His Word and in prayer. I have also been blessed TREMENDOUSLY by a Christian Doctor who has given me free medical tests and treatment for my chronic brongitis. I was SO HUMBLED by this man's life and I truly am greatful for the grace of being able to spend a little time with him. I could never have comprehended the HUGE need there is for the Gospel on this side of the world. People here are caught up in many Eastern Religions, and the area we are working in, is basically UNREACHED by the Good News. It was SO encouraging to meet this man of God in the midst of all this darkness!
PLEASE pray that our team will be COMPLETELY obedient to the Lord during our time here. I KNOW
 that lives here will be changed "not by might or by power, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit". Pray that the love of Christ will DRAW people closer to Him and that they will SEEK the Truth until they find it! Pray that our lives will be a
 testimony wherever we go, and that the Lord will give us pure hearts and pure hands as we walk the streets of towns where there are NO bornagain Christians! Also pray for the language barrier - we cannot understand a WORD of the language, and it is mostly the young students who are able to speak (a little!) English. Pray that if the Lord wills, we will meet such people and that He will give us opportunities to share the Gospel in a way that the local people may understand the Amazing Grace of Chist's life here on earth.
Once more, thank you all for your constant and faithful prayers! We long to hear from you! Please e-mail us at mxpworldrace@yahoo.com
Groete en liefde in Jesus Christus,
Lana
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Posted in General Articles on 2/26/2006
Adios, Guatemala!
Wow,
the first leg has come and gone! UNBELIEVABLE as it may seem, we are now
 finished with our work here. I know I´ve been saying it a lot, but the Lord has TRULY been faithful in EVERYTHING! In spite of being quite sick most of the time, my heart has broken for these people in their GREAT need. I am so thankful for the chance we had of making a small difference in their lives. These coulorful people will always stay in my heart, as I was HUMBLED by their generosity and hospitality! The children are BEAUTIFUL and one can so easily grow to really LOVE them! Thank you so much for all the prayers and support from all who are following the World Race! We have seen many come to Christ, as well as many who where encouraged in their faith. Most of all, I think WE have grown. What an absolute privilege!
Towmorrow we are leaving for Los Angeles and hope to be there by the 3rd of March. Please pray for safe travelling (for all the teams) and that the Lord will prepare us along our way for China.
Gloria Adios!
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Posted in General Articles on 2/21/2006
Ola!
Thankfully our team is doing much better healthwise and although it's been a trying and frustrating time in recovery, I am glad to say that God has been faithful as always.
I have been struggling with a bad cough these past few days and ask that all will pray with me for a quick recovery. I am feeling much better, but trust the Lord for COMPLETE healing.
It really is a wonderful blessing to be in this beautiful country and I am thankful for the many wonderful people we have been able to meet. Our team has been blessed by MANY free meals and cheap accommodation and we thank the Lord for this! Our time in Guatemala is running out and our prayer is that the people here will be able to keep building better lives for themselves and that others will follow after us to continue in serving these communities who are in such great need.
Lots of love and hugs to all my family and friends back home! Thanks to all who have been praying so faithfully for us - please continue!
Greetings in Christ from Guatemala,
Lana
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Posted in General Articles on 2/9/2006
Hello Friends!
Since our arrival in San Pedro we have been asking the Lord where He wants our team to minister for the following weeks. Our Canadian friends, Michelle and Elena, introduced us to two daycare centres, both with great need.
We will start working tomorrow at the centre in San Pablo, where we will upgrade the toilet, build a playground and improve the kitchen and one of the classrooms. Next week Tuesday we will start working at another centre in the mountains, close to Santa Clara, where there is a great need for swings, etc. for the children to play on. We are very excited about the opportunity and have already grown very fond of the children.
Here I am playing ball with some children at the daycare centre in San Pablo. This photo was taken yesterday and I felt exhausted when we came home. I think all the travelling is starting to take its toll, since our team has not had a chance to really just take a break and recover. Today is a bit more quiet and we are preparing for our work at the two centres.
You can really pray for our health since the food around here is not at all what we are used to. I am in charge of the team's meal times, and it is a GREAT challenge to find nutritious food for fair prices.
 Here the children at the daycare centre at Santa Clara are washing their hands before lunchtime. It is hard to comprehend the difference in basic facilities between here and what we are used to in South Africa. Our 2 Canadian friends, Ellen and Michelle have truly done a great work here. We thank them for allowing us to continue after they have left.
To my parents at home: I love and miss you a great deal! Thank you for your support and prayers! To the childrend at Strelitzia High School, hold on to Jesus! Thanks to all our friends for praying and supporting us! You are the best!
Greetings in Christ,
Lana
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