Life Lately

Thank you all for your prayers for Beautiful Gate, the staff, the children and the volunteers.  The past few months here have been full of many emotions that are hard to explain in words.  I am grateful for the encouragement and prayers from the body of Christ all over the world.  At times it is hard to catch my breath because of the situations I have faced, but I am focusing on the 68 children that we care for each day and the many events that will happen this fall when I am in Michigan. I am choosing to claim the promises that God gives us as His children.  Promises full of hope, love and grace.  With each day God shows me more and more of His face, through walks with a friend, the laughter and trust of the children, the fun times with the staff and the moments of worship while living in community. 

Last night I was hanging out at the Geurink's house, and taking in the amount of love and worship that we have as God's children.  Some people were playing games on their iPads, the children were running and playing games, some were doing the daily duties that needed to be done and I was playing guitar.  It was great to hear people sing along while doing whatever they needed to do in order to unwind from the day.  Community living is a good thing, because honestly I don't know how to describe my feelings about the things I have faced, but I live with people who walked through the exact same thing, and they understand it without me even speaking.  It is nice to have people around that know exactly what you are feeling.

I can't believe I only have two more months to go in Lesotho and then I will be back in Michigan.  My time here has flown by and I know the next 8 weeks are going to fly with the amount of work needs to be done as well as some moments of play too. 

My fall is already filling up with trips planned to Denver, Vancouver, California, Ohio, and many places around Michigan as well as possible trips to Florida, Minnesota and Texas.  Also, there is a 5K event in Holland, Michigan on September 21 that I am currently organizing.  I don't want to miss anyone while I am home, so if you would like to hang out, please contact me and we will get a date on the calendar.  Also if you would like me to do a Beautiful Gate presentation at your church or to a small group of people, I would love to try and make it work.  My email is christina.terpstra@gmail.com.