Taking the Cape

Week 2 in Cape Town has been wonderful, fantastic, miraculous, and fun. Living in Obs (short for Observatory, which is our part of town) this month has made me feel very whimsical. We walk everywhere and live just down the street from cute little cafes and a bookstore. Most of the restaurants are into healthy, delicious food and, of course, there are Magnum bars here. I even found Dr. Pepper!! Maybe heaven is a place on earth...

But moving on from the temporal to the eternal, we have had the favor of God on our team since the day we got here. Most of our days are spent on the University of Cape Town (UCT for the South Africans), sharing the gospel and praying for students. UCT has been called the Harvard of Africa. It is no small accomplishment to get into this school. Students from all over Africa, India, and the Middle East come to study here. This has been reflected in the diversity of people with whom we have shared. In any given day, I could pray for a Muslim, share the gospel with a Hindu, and have a really long conversation with an atheist. I met a girl just the other day whose father is a Christian, her mother is Hindu and she is atheist. The culture shock in that conversation was that she was open to me sharing the gospel with her. While she later rejected the message, she was so kind and receptive to me. That is what I love most about this city. The people are so warm and inviting. The majority of conversations I have end in them thanking me for coming over to talk. I mean, who wouldn't want to share Jesus here?

So far we have seen 20 people make decisions to follow Jesus. These are smart, informed, life-altering decisions and they have not been taken lightly by these new believers. One man, who gave his life to Jesus a couple of days after meeting one of my teammates, was found by his wife reading his Bible. She asked him why he was doing that and his reply was, "You will not see another day go by where I am not reading this." It is so encouraging to see the kingdom come to life! We are only halfway through the trip and so expectant for what God is going to keep doing.

Jake and I are so thankful for (and so in need of) your prayers! We know that what we are doing is only half the battle and the other half is your intercession. So here are some specific ways you can pray, if you feel so led:

1) Supernatural rest. We have pretty long days and walk everywhere (and one of us is still in their first trimester). Pray that our sleep would be multiplied and we would be refreshed even as we share.

2) Continued favor in making disciples and not just seeing conversions. We want to leave lasting fruit here in Cape Town.

3) Wisdom as we lead our team. The school's director left last week, so Jake and I are leading the team now and we would love to lead God's way instead of our own.

4) And Jake would like you to pray that he doesn't lose any of his muscle since he can't work out regularly...

Cheers!

Jake and Abigail

Miracles: Great and Small

Don't let the title deceive you. All miracles are great but some come in smaller packages than others... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me stay true to my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and go in sequential order (if you guessed I'm a J, you'd be on the money).

GREAT:

As you may remember from my last post, my team and I needed $30,000 to go to South Africa. Well, not only did God provide every single penny, but he did it in an extravagant way! I'm talking $25,000 in one week! That is no coincidence, my friends. God is on the move. At this moment, I'm writing to you from the beautiful city of Cape Town. A land of mountains, seas, beautiful people, and open hearts. Even in the few days we have been here, we've made so many connections and been able to encourage students, believers, and each other. I feel privileged to be able to spend a month here. Partnering with God is the greatest adventure there is.

SMALL:

small in stature, maybe; but HUGE in God's faithfulness and provision!

So there you have it. Baby Bean Griffin due May 24th. We could not be more excited to welcome the next member of our family!

(and yes we are still moving to Baton Rouge and very excited about that too!)

I'm glad I could share this glimpse into our lives with you, but I'd be lying if I said it was just for you. It is for me, too, because I am unbelievably forgetful. I need to recall and record the faithfulness of God so that I can move forward when my vision is a little foggier.

Sending you spring-time love from SA!!