Moms Group

Yesterday my sister and I went to a Moms' Bible study that we have recently begun attending. We learned about it from another missionary friend here. The group is a real eclectic mix of women - old and young, South Africans, Africans, Europeans, Americans, and even a Guatemalan. Some homeschool, some have adopted. Some are missionaries/missionary wives, some are South Africans involved in full-time ministry here, some have simply moved here because of their husbands. All have such interesting stories. It is like no group we have been to in the States. We really feel like God picked this group for us. Everyone is so different and everyone has something to offer. Right now they are studying Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. In the three groups we've attended, I have learned so much from the book and from the discussions with the other women. As one of the moms, a lady from Nigeria, prayed to close yesterday, my  heart felt full and fed. Sometimes as a mom it's difficult to feel like I am getting fed - I can't sit through every church service because of the baby (here they don't have nurseries, only moms/babies rooms until age 1), and with all that's been happening with moving and adjusting to life and ministry here, I really need spiritual filling up, besides my time alone with God. At the Moms' group, we can set our babies on the floor, nurse or put them to sleep all while we study and discuss together. That's church for us right now!
Being here I feel like I'm meeting so many interesting people. I realized, its just that they all are people who have heard and obeyed God, and now have stories of what God has done in their lives. Like a lady from Holland who is married to a white South African - they have three kids that they homeschool, and they have made the decision to live in a Coloured township for the purpose of doing ministry through living among the people. Or a lady from Germany whose husband is studying social upliftment so they can return to Germany as missionaries. Or the American family who host the group, who never ask for money - her husband just preaches here and preaches when they visit the States, and God has provided through churches for them to live with all they need here for 9 years. They lost their youngest daughter here a few years ago, and yet they continue to live here by faith, serving God with such joy. Or the Kenyan family who have lived here 10 years as the husband teaches Bible at a local college in the town where we live. We have shared dinner with them a few times and love hearing the stories of how they met and how God led them to come here. I feel like my faith is being stretched and challenged and encouraged as I meet these people. God is showing Himself in new ways and I hope my family can be an example to others like these people are to us.