I'm not a fan of bugs! Creepy, crawly things give me creepy, crawly feelings. Someday I'd like to ask God exactly what He had in mind when He created some of these things.

So I wasn't exactly thrilled when I found we'd arrived in South Africa in the "season" of a very creepy, crawly little worm. They are everywhere! They're dark colored, wiggly little things. We are house-sitting in a home built on four levels. They are on the lowest level.......and all the way to the top. I often wonder how something so little can crawl up so high. Our dog, Sossy, has eaten a couple of them and promptly threw up. I have the same feeling just looking at them!

And then there's snakes! We heard they were around. We were looking at a house for sale the other day. I looked out in the back yard, and there was a good sized black snake crawling across the yard. I'm told it was a puff adder. Needless to say, that certainly put me off that house!

Floyd keeps reminding me that this is Africa. I keep saying I don't like creepy, crawly things.

"God made.....everything that creeps upon the ground. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25 I think God and I disagree on this one!

While our friends and family were eating turkey dinners, watching Macy's parade, and arguing over football games.......we had a different kind of "celebrating" here in South Africa. There was nowhere to go for turkey and dressing, but we decided to take an American friend to lunch. We went to a quaint cafe at a vineyard nearby.......nestled up in the hills with a view of the ocean. We enjoyed the fellowship, and agreed that we have so much to be thankful for!

It's only been 8 months since we returned from a visit to South Africa and made the decision to move here. We would have never dreamed that our home would sell in less than 24 hours, that we could sort everthing/get packed up/sell things/and be out of our home in about 5 weeks. We would never have thought that we could get everything done for moving internationally......including the very involved visa application process......and be back here in South Africa in 7 months.

After we returned from our lunch, a neighbor called. She's an American lady married to a South African man. She had made pumpkin pie and had 2 pieces for us. Such a special touch to our first Thanksgiving away from the U.S.! We enjoyed every yummy bite. :}

I couldn't help but think with nostalgia about previous family Thanksgiving celebrations, but I couldn't be sad because my heart was filled with such gratitude. God is so good and has been so faithful to us!

"I will magnify Him with thanksgiving." Psalms 69:30

Baptizing men who have been transformed by the power of God is am awesome privilege. It has been like a kiss from the Lord for our arrival here in South Africa. The three pictures of the baptism capture people's faces but not the emotions we experienced. The three pictures are of me baptizing Earl, one of the inmates and a leader on the church behind bars, the entire group of guys who were baptized, and the courtyard where we held the baptismal service, right in the center of "maximum", as it is called.

I've always been a little claustrophobic. I don't like small, closed-in spaces. I like bright, cheery, open, airy spaces. I've never panicked in a small, tight space (doing an MRI was challenging!), but I feel like someone is squeezing and pressing me when I'm in one. We've sometimes lived in very small spaces (especially in the inner city in Amsterdam), and God's grace was there for that season.......but it wasn't easy on my sense of space.

We are on a journey to find a home here in South Africa. Houses are expensive to both buy and rent.......so we've looked at lots of them, trying to find a bargain, and trying to find what the Lord has just for us.

We've looked at so many that I'm beginning to feel like I'm in a giant maze of houses!!! They're all around me......pressing in on me. It's hard to see the way out of the maze. I realize we're making a decision that will affect the rest of our lives. This will be our home for a long time. So many options / decisions / questions / concerns....... the maze just twists and turns. It's hard to see the "answer," the end of the maze.

We recently submitted our application for our permanent residence permit to the Dept. of Home Affairs here in South Africa. There were a couple of significant obstacles to this process. Because of these obstacles, there was a possibility that the application wouldn't be accepted into the system for processing now. As it is, it will take 12-24 months for the process. If we had to wait to submit the application, it could take several years. It seemed like the Lord put us with just the "right people," and our immigration lawyer had such wisdom in saying just the "right things." In only and hour or so we left the office with our application "in" and the process started! It was truly quite amazing. When we looked at the crowds and lines, we knew we had just had a miracle! (A week earlier some people had become so angry and frustrated with the difficult process, that a brawl had broken out!)

Our next stop was the shipping company that is organizing our furniture and belongings coming into the country. We received word a week ago that the ship carrying our container will arrive on Christmas day - a nice gift. :} When we walked into the offices of the shipping company, a manager greeted us and introduced himself. He had read some of Floyd's books, and said he would do everything he could personally to make the process go smoothly for our belongings to clear customs and be delivered to us. This can be a difficult and confusing process. The Lord sent us a "man of peace" to help us along! Another wonderful miracle!

"....I will make straight all his ways." Isa. 45:13 God has been doing that in truly miraculous ways! We are very grateful.

The picture of Sally and me was taken last week while we speaking at Harvest Church in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. We had a great week. We also got to know Ray and Cwyati, a lovely couple who are praying about becoming part of All Nations.

Sally and I are loving South Africa. We spent this week doing the practical things we have to do to live here. One of our adventures was going to the very famous Department of Home Affairs to apply for a permanent resident permit. That are some horror stories floating around about how long, hard and difficult it is to go through the red tape at Home Affairs. In fact, the week before there was a fight between some officials and someone who couldn't take any more delays. Chairs were flying and people were throwing punches in the waiting room!

We also visited the ship handlers to start the process of clearing the container bringing our furniture through customs. The manager was a believer who had read some of my books. They gave us a very warm welcome and made us feel at home and certainly in very capable hands. The container is scheduled to arrive on Christmas day!

The rest of the week has been spent looking at houses to rent. Houses are very small here - our home of 2000 square feet in Kansas City is considered a huge home here, on the luxury side of things. Pray we will find the right home! We would love to have a home office for both Sally and me and extra space for guests and entertaining.

Thanks for your love and prayers!

Personal disciple making is the Jesus way of influencing people, launching a movement, doing ministry and engaging the culture. No one is exempt from doing it his way. We cannot improve on how Jesus modeled ministry for us in the word. Though he came to reach the whole world he did it one person at a time.

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As we have begun the search for where we'll live here in South Africa, I have found myself frustrated/discouraged/anxious at various times. Houses to buy are expensive. Houses to rent are small and expensive. I miss my cute, cozy, little house in Grandview! I keep telling myself that God has it under control and that He has a plan. I need to be patient and keep looking to Him. The "nester" in me wants to find my "nest" and get settled. I'd especially like to have a place so that our furniture can go directly in there when it arrives. We've been told the ship will dock on Christmas Day. That's a nice Christmas present. :}

Yesterday morning I was looking out at the deck (we are house-sitting for a friend right now) and saw 2 birds - a male and female. They both had something green in their mouths. I thought at first it was a big leaf, then I looked more closely and saw it was a big green grasshopper.......breakfast! I was struck by the thought that our Heavenly Father was caring and providing for them. I immediately knew He was saying to my heart that He would do the same for me.

"Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself." Psalms 84:3

I'm sure God has a "nest" for us here in our new country!

I want to tell you a short story. It is a story about men who have paid a price for their crimes, and a story of redemption.

They were a rough looking bunch. All of them had multiple tattoos. A tattoo on one man's leg read, "My mother was an angel, my father was a devil, and that's why I am a criminal."

I noticed one inmate had knife scars and bullet wounds across his chest, stomach and back. Another man was lifted out of a wheel chair. A third man told one of our team members after he greeted him, "You are the first person to greet me from outside this prison in the eight years I have been here."

To baptize the men, I knelt on my knees in the children's inflatable swimming pool and they sat in the pool. Scores of their fellow inmates gathered around us as they were baptized one at a time. Several hundred more were in the courtyard, listening to the singing and preaching. Quite a few of those looking on were Muslims.

Greg was baptized, and so was Earl. These two men have led many of their friends to Jesus in the last eight months. They are the leaders of the church in the prison. Bible studies are held daily among the 1600 inmates in maximum security. Regular worship services take place on Sundays, led by Earl and Greg. They are family for each other.

Twenty-four inmates were baptized. When we gave the invitation after the baptizing had finished, three men made commitments to follow Jesus.

It was a good day at the maximum security prison. Jesus was celebrated. The good news story of creation, sin, redemption and fulfillment was told again. And brothers gave witness to their faith in Christ.

The unsung hero in this story is a young woman named Maritza. She is a social worker who has been working in the prison since 1997. Because of her faithfulness and witness, the church in the prison has been established and is growing. It is because of her love for the men, and her fearless courage to move among them in every section of the prison, that their lives are being transformed.

Thank you for praying. It was one of the highlights of my life.

Yours,

Floyd and Sally

Recently I spent time with Rufus and Almarie Luttig. They lead a ministry called Hunt SA. Their aim is to mobilize American hunters to South Africa to give them a good time hunting on their 20,000 acre farm, but more importantly, to take them into the villages of the Eastern Cape to share their testimony and get involved in meeting the practical need of the people. They have helped start a Bible school and a Jesus film project, and now they are trying to get a center going that will care for children impacted by the AIDS epidemic. I got a quick picture with Rufus, which you can see.

If you are a hunter, or know a hunter, please encourage them to visit the website of Hunt SA and check out the hunting and ministry opportunities. Their web address is www.huntsa.com. I will lead a one week hunting camp the last week of May with Rufus. If you are interested in joining us, please let me know by e-mailing me at floyd.mcclung@gmail.com