Trick or Treat

So we may have missed Halloween in America,
but we far from missed out! My teammates are pretty creative and hosted a “Fall Into Jesus” party this last weekend. We
laughed a good bit at the name considering that it’s Spring here and South
Africans don’t celebrate Halloween. But we went for it and decided to have a
costume party and play good ole American games such as bobbing for apples,
limbo, and beanbag toss. Haha we all live such different lives now that we get
excited at a beanbag toss! And of course we can’t have a party without inviting
some of the locals. So on Saturday night we had a house full of friends dressed
up in all types of costumes. By the way, South Africans call their bathing
suits “costumes” so you must imagine their faces when we told them to wear a
costume! J
We all had a really great time and laughed at all the crazy costumes and seeing
our South African friends doing the “ChaCha Slide” and bobbing for apples. It
was a hit and our friends keep talking about how much fun they had. I shouldn’t
be that surprised because of course my team knows how to throw a party!

This is myself as a cat for our “Fall into Jesus” Party and gangsta T-money (Tiffany)!

My internship is still not completely set but my
frustrations have ceased completely! Thank you for your prayers! Yesterday was
a wonderful day. My team visited a sweet lady named Norma. I have visited her
once before and was anxious to see her again. She has HIV and AIDS and is quite
sick but she was having a good day yesterday. We brought ingredients to make
“Chocolate Oatmeal No-bake Cookies.” Her
sweet daughter was excited to walk home from school to a house of American
girls cooking a “biscuit.” Norma husband
was not home because he had left early that morning for the hospital to run
tests on his lungs. He has TB and is unable to work because of his lungs. In Africa,
it is a socially unacceptable to have HIV or AIDS. Most people hid it and lie
about being positive. They will just blame it on the TB. It’s very common to
walk through the townships and ask people if we can pray for anyone who is sick
and they will tell you that no one is sick, but really their husband or brother
or sister or mother is in the back room lying in bed unable to move because of
AIDS. How ironic life is here. AIDS is so shameful that people believe they can
fool you by saying they are sick by TB. Yes that’s true that they most likely
have TB but they have it because of being positive.

My first week of ministry I met a man named George. We were
doing house visits in the townships with Auntie Matilda (the craziest old
colored women in all of South Africa!)
and a neighbor saw us walking down the street and led us to a house to pray for
this man. We went inside and met George. I would guess that George is probably
in his 40’s. He was lying in bed with
the covers pulled up to his chin. They
said he was sick with TB and we needed to pray for him. Auntie Matilda asked
him to pull the covers off so she could see him and her jaw dropped when she
saw how skinny he was. She told us that George was not this sick and skinny the
last time she had seen him (only weeks before). He was very sick and he was
obviously dying of AIDS. When we asked him if he was able to get his ARVs
(antiretroviral- medicine to help expand the lifespan of those living with HIV
and AIDS) he was highly offended that we assumed that he had AIDS. He adamantly
explained that he only had TB. My heart broke that the world is willing to
outcast those with this deadly disease to the point that he is unable to cry
out for help in the state he actually is in. I cannot express how lifeless this
man was just lying in bed dying but unwilling to admit how sick he truly was
(what a spiritual analogy…). We prayed over George and left him in higher
spirits then when we first saw him. He does not know the Lord. I believe that
George was interested in the Lord but merely for the hand of the Lord to heal
him…not for God to become his Lord (again how true is this of how we treat God
in our spiritual lives?).

I found out that George died last week. It sits very heavy on
me…very heavy. We were told that one
morning he asked his wife to find us to come back and pray over him. He died
later that day. I’m not really sure what to say or even how to pray for this
situation. All I know how to explain what this feels like is that it hits you
hard and settles in you very heavily. I’m realizing that I’m up against an
Enemy who is crazy evil and his wickedness is so dark.

Isn’t it ironic that the title of this blog is “Trick or
Treat”? How crafty the Enemy is, and he dresses himself up as something that we
think we need or we really want. But it’s all a trick…

Please take time today and lift up George’s family. I can
only imagine what they must feel and even the disbelief they may have in God.
Pray against those lies.

I say this often but I will never be able to say it enough,
but thank you so much for your prayers and love. You bring such life to me by
your sweet comments and emails. I am so grateful!

Prayer Needs:

Sandra and ways to minister to her

Nikki’s salvation

Spiritual growth and unity for my team

Chris, Christina, Tag, Holly, and Heather as they lead my
team
My teammate Cassie as she fights off this crazy sickness

My teammate Hilliary’s (yes she spells her name like this)
father is having surgery Friday

Much love to all of you! Cheers!

HE Provides,

Amber

Here is my PO Box:
Amber Mullins
PO Box 921
Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa 6330