Before

Before you get entangled in the Christmas lights

Run to The Light of the World

Before your inner glutton feasts on Christmas lunch

Run to the One born in the House of Bread (Beth-lehem)

The Bread of Life that will always satisfy 

Before you panic over christmas gifts and what to get

Think about the Greatest Gift of all time

Your Redemption

Before you panic over guests coming over

Think of those who have no one

Before you get caught up in the hustle and bustle

Sit quietly at the feet of the King, 

Ponder on the miracle of Christmas

The King of the universe, born as a baby

Riana Odendaal

December 2015

Bread of Life

On that blessed morning

As Mary gave birth to her baby boy

and lay Him in the manger

the Bread of Life, born to give us life,

in the House of Bread (Beth- lehem)

The star pointed wise men from the East

to where the Light of the World,

 the Bright Morning Star

lay in human flesh

to come and Worship the newborn King

May we also now come

and Worship Him

as we reflect and ponder on 

the miracle of Christmas

The Messiah born

to bring us Life

- eternal life with Him.

Riana Odendaal

December 2014

God's olives

An Olive
Perfect, round, purple
Purple for Royalty.
Crushed, pulped
Oil oozing out
precious oil.
olives galore crushed together
for the oil needed.
Oil to go into lamps
to light up dark corners of the world
Jesus placing us olives
(or had-been olives)
in strategic places
to shine His Light
in a dark world
that need to see Him.



Riana Odendaal
November 2015

Rahab

Rahab

A lady of the night
part of a pagan culture,
homemade gods
and little to none eternal sight. 

In the world around them strange things happen
three days of darkness in Egypt recorded some years ago
just before that, bloodrivers and flies galore
The deep Red sea split
Egyptian army drowned, whilst
Millions Israelites with camels, cows and all in tow
walked safely to the other side.

These strange folks are now moving closer
closer to her city, her comfort zone
the Jordan river went to stand on a heap
and overflowed its banks further upstream

She sits and up and take notice of these Israelites
and their God that does all these strange and wonderful things
Their God is so unlike their homemade gods
Like someone she can believe in, have faith in. 

Forsaking her idols
and trusting in this new God
not really knowing Him but starting the journey
a journey of a lifetime
forgiven and set free
to love and follow after,
from now and forever more
the God of Israel
the God of the universe

Her story can be yours too.
Put your trust in God, and God alone. 

Riana Odendaal

September 2015

Prayer (Philippians 4)

All around me I see things that need be prayed for

a friend is ill, another looking for work, 

yet another we pray they seek You,

and so my prayer time became a shopping list

and my heart feels that prayer is so much more

Yet your servant Paul wrote to us

to remember You are near

You are with us

and in light of that amazing truth

to bring our requests

with thanksgiving

to the One who knows all 

and is ultimately in Control

We need to consider our heart,

our motive, when we bring again our needs 

Do we believe You are near us, and in control

and leave our requests at your feet?

or do we continue to fret

and not accept Your peace

Your peace that surpasses all our understanding

Riana Odendaal

2015

Isaiah's glimpse of God's holiness

I stood in the temple
a glimpse of glory caught my eye
blinding brightness of glory
A God greater than all
The Lord sits on His throne and in control

Seraphim
flaming angelic beings fly around
constantly declaring to one another
God is Holy

Isaiah saw himself in light of who God is
and his shortcomings
and in confessing
God's mercy was displayed

The heavenly altar of sacrifice
holy coals of mercy
the flaming angel
used tongs to carry a coal
to touch Isaiah's lips

Free and forgiven
he could hear the call so clear
and answered without hesitation
Here am I, send me.
what can I do for you, Lord?
anything to display my gratitude....
use me.



Riana Odendaal
August 2015

Hope

the mundane, everyday, grinding of life

on other days disappointments, despair creep in

the news tell more bad news, strifes

war between families and war between nations

such is life

and so it continues

hope is what we seek

hope is what we need

and hope is to be found

One day The King of Kings 

will come back

in can be in the twinkling of an eye

at the sound of the trumpet

any moment, any day

You will have hope - if you are on His side

so get to know Jesus today

to get the gift of eternal hope

extended to today's grinding life

and hope to face tomorrow

because Jesus is alive

and will come back One day 

as King of Kings which everyone will acknowledge. 

Riana Odendaal

August 2015

Tsakani Na Mina

Tsakani na mina

Tsakani na Mina. Rejoice with me. Rejoice with me in what the Lord has done, and is still doing in Mozambique.

On the 27th of June we were very early in the morning on our way merry, long, winding and bumpy way to Mozambique. Some of us for the first time, and some of us for the umpteenth time - almost feeling like we are going home, even though the place is in the middle of nowhere. A bunch of folks from different backgrounds, and churches come together to serve the same Heavenly Father, and in essence have become family. We were blessed to be able to share God's good news with others, and to see that the Lord is doing a work in the people's lives. Some have heard the gospel many times before and others for the first time. Being faithful in going to the same place has its rewards in that you can see in a small way the work that the Lord is doing. 

Yes there are still many people that think being saved means that they are saved from a small trouble now, or an illness or whatever, and don't yet get that we are talking about saved from eternal damnation and a relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to continue praying for these persons. And then there are others that have truely come to saving faith in Christ Jesus! And about them and with them we rejoice. We rejoice that we will see them in heaven with us, dancing and singing praise to our God of grace, we rejoice in that our work in the Lord is not in vain, and He allows us to see some of the fruit of the work we are doing.

We, as a team had communion together before we left to Moz. 5am is probably the earliest time we had communion ever, but there is no time frame as to when you may have it. The Lord blessed it and blessed our union in that too. It really struck me a lot. Christ came to gave His life, so that we may have life in Him, and have us communion as a symbol of his death and resurrection. In that we have unity, as he came to die for all of us. And yet because of that He told us to go to the ends of the earth, all the forgotten corners of the earth to tell people that He has paid the price. We can find forgiveness in Him, and enjoy an eternity of fellowship with Him. It is such a holy and blessed moment. It was something that I really pondered about much. Communion poem

And here we are having communion on the last day on our way out. 

 I was involved in the woman's ministry and hut-to hut (or river) visitations. On the Thursday morning on our river visitation time, we first met with a couple of ladies busy with laundry and sat with them a long time sharing the gospel. 3 different people in our group shared with them the same message from different view points. It was as if we were talking to a wall. We then decided to simply pray with them and to leave and go find someone else to talk with. Then we walked a long distance through the river sand and the shallow dry (very dry!) Limpopo river, and eventually came upon a mom and daughter also busy with laundry. We sat with them for a long time, sharing the gospel, which they accepted. After we prayed with them, Derrick Chauke (our translator) said, when we prayed, the daughter covered her face with her hands, and on Amen she opened her face and it looked different, she was smiling like never before. He could see the change in her eyes. The mom then said that we were God-send. We directed them to go to Mfundizi (pastor) Pedros' church so that they will have somewhere to go to where they can grow in the Lord. It was really God directed our path to them.   

At the men's ministry there were also persons that came to know the Lord, and on Friday we were blessed to see 3 men getting baptized on their confession of faith in that Jesus is the only true Saviour and King.

Men's ministry

Some of the young men that had more questions and were discussing this. Some of them got saved, and were baptized on the friday. Dzunisa Hosi! Praise God. 

 Women's ministry. 

In my part of the woman's ministry I taught on the monday and friday. Through the years of going there we could all sense the thirst they have for God's word and learning, and this year we could sense that there is a breakthrough. It was as if they suddenly understand and accept it. All our seeds planted, watered, prayed over etc have, some at least, started to do something. On the monday, I shared my testimony, and did a short review of the lessons we have done thus far, and the lesson was on the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. Aunty Marj and Paloma also shared their testimonies on the days they did lessons, and we also asked the ladies if any of them wants to share testimonies with us. There were 2 that shared their testimonies on the monday, and we are grateful and rejoice with them. The lesson I did on friday was on the tabernacle. I explained that it was only temporary for the Israelites and that the sacrifices were only pointing towards the fact that we need something for the forgiveness of sins, but it is not something we can do. At the end of the lesson, I put the question to them, "Why don't we still offer goats and bulls etc for the forgiveness of our sins?" In a brief moment of silence my heart almost sank to the ground, but great was our rejoicing when they answered that "Jesus Christ has paid the full sacrifice for our sins, we don't need to sacrifice goats anymore!" I then shared with them Hebrews 9: 11-14 & Hebrews 10:11-12. 

Heb 9:11-14 ESV  But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)  he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.  For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,  how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Heb 10:11-12 ESV  And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.  But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, 

he sat down at the right hand of God,

He sat down, the work is finished. Hallelujah!!!


Please continue to keep these precious souls in your prayers, especially those that have confessed their faith in Christ as they will be shunned away by the community when they no longer participate in ancestor rituals and whatever else not. May their faith be kept strong, and they finish the race triumphantly. 

As the fish-eagles were singing so loudly and joyously, the angels in heaven sang louder still. 

Soli deo Gloria

Riana Odendaal

July 2015 Mozambique

Psalm 133:1 ESV  Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Psalm 113:3-5 ESV  From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!  (4)  The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens!  (5)  Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,

Holy, Compassionate, Loving God

A holy God

filled with deep compassion and love

came down to earth to dwell among men

the Highest became the lowest of the low

rejected, beaten, despised, crucified

the cruelest death imagined by wicked men

He died to pay the sacrifice for wicked sinners

that He loves so deeply

Risen from the dead

Hope, we have now. 

Hope that will never disappoint.

Not in this life or the one hereafter

A command He gave 

to go into all the corners of the world

and share this good news

Redemption and forgiveness

A new friend we now have

One that will never leave nor forsake us

not in this life or the one hereafter

Across the globe, in all the small forgotten corners of the world

a brother or sister we will find

if we have the same Father above

A symbol He gave us to remind us of his sweet death

bread and wine

we now take to remember we are one

One in Christ

Riana Odendaal

Mozambique

July 2015

Drought

All around us we see needs
No rain, no crops, no food
dry ground
and our hearts break
we pray for rain
and more than that Lord
We see the drought in their lives
Putting their trust in vain things
worshiping the dead and shunning the Living One
We pray Lord
that You would open their eyes
and touch their hearts
May You fill them with streams of Your Living Water
Before it's too late
and they live in drought and flames. forever.


Riana Odendaal
Mozambique - July 2015

Pilgrim on the Sola way

Pilgrim on the Sola way

Pilgrims walked down the mountainous road called life

Their destination: A Glorious Fellowship Party in Heaven.

However, the road forks ahead and ...

only one way goes the right way,

Not all the roads lead to Rome.

Most pilgrims carried on and took the wide way,

The easy way, or so it seemed.

Yet, A few pilgrims stopped,  looked and asked.

They asked the Ancient of Days for the ancient way

Where is the good way, the right way?

Their eyes opened to see a narrow ledge

On the side of the mountain

Jesus stood by the start of the path

Only by His Grace can you go through

And by placing your faith, in that He has done it all.

There is no space for bringing any good work

The only map-book for the journey: The Bible,

His ancient words, Yet still living and active

Sharper than anything else in the universe

The grass fades, people fade away,

Yet the Word will stand and live forever.

And when the few pilgrims get to the other side

And the myriads of faithful witnesses before them

welcome them in by the Gates of Pearls

All would be singing 

Soli Deo Gloria

Riana Odendaal

May 2015

Jeremiah 6:16; Acts 4:12; Eph 2:4-9; 1Tim 2:5-6; 2 Tim 1:9-10; Isaiah 40:8; 1 Tim 3:16-17. 1 Thesalonians, 1:17. John 14:6. 

Philippians 3: An example to follow.

As part of the bible study homework in Philippians, were asked to write a poem on chapter 3.


Here's my take on it.

Philippians 3:      An example to follow.

An example You gave us

Paul.

He had everything man can wish for

To gain eternal life

In the thoughts and ways of men.

Born in the chosen nation and tribe

The law kept flawlessly

Zealous for what he does.

Then he met his Messiah

You opened his eyes

He realised he believed in lies

Confidence in self, so vain, and empty promises.

With the same zeal he had

He now follows after you

Eyes fixed on heaven

All others things counted as nothing

This is the example you wants us to follow

To keep our eyes fixed on our Messiah

Eternity burning in our hearts

And all others things counted as nothing

In light of Who you are

Riana Odendaal 

May 2015

Cry the beloved country

Cry the beloved country

South Africa, South Africa

What are you doing?

Your brother's blood

is screaming out to Me!

Lord, help me!

Why do you keep on fighting?

You take out your revenge and thunder

on a statue of a person

hundred year six foot under

... and when the piece of cement is gone...

you carry on to kill and plunder

those from here and another country.

Can you not allow the sun to shine 

on one another?

The one thinks he's better

than someone else

of different race or culture

Yet before the Holy Lord

the Creator of us all

we are all condemned prideful sinners

that need blood

.... The saving Blood of Jesus Christ

who will set us free from our need to fight

When will you see

that you will never be free

unless the Son Jesus Christ

sets you free?

O Lord, open our eyes

and heal our hearts

heal our country

We need You here. 

Riana Odendaal

April 2015

Garissa

One peaceful night

yet it awaits fate
some days before Easter

Students going their about

not knowing that

soon they would breath their last

Suddenly faced with a gun in their face

Terrorists shouting

"whom do you belong to?"

Are you with us or

with the man of Nazareth called Christ?

The terrorists may think they have won

They wiped out more Christ-followers

and the world is in tears and fears

thinking by shouting allah akhbar 

that they won, and we all now think 

that allah is great. 

Yet in the end Christ will show them

Who truely is greater than allah

Friends, family and loved ones

cried on hearing shots echoing down halls

Angels were singing when 

Christ-followers came Home

in this fateful way

and for the rests of us here on earth

longing to be Home

Yet asking Why

Why do they have to go that horrible way?

Why so rudely ripped away from their loved ones life's?

We can ask books full of questions 

and never have an answer

Simply Lord, we ask

Give your Comfort and Peace

Peace beyond all our understanding

to those who lost loved ones 

Ones that are now with You

May it be etched in our hearts

that they can take away 

all from us, even our earthly lifes, but....

they can never take away our Jesus our Saviour. 

We will be followers of the Nazarene

and follow You Home. 

Prayer points for July 2015 Outreach

Thanks for being willing to pray with me and for me and for the dear folks in Mozambique, and our outreach in July.



I have over the years come to love these dear women in Moz and I am thankful that I am Lord willing able to go back again to them this year.

Rev 5:9-10 ESV  And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,  (10)  and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."

As Newsboys sing in He reigns
It's the song of the redeemed rising from the African plains ...... It's all God's children singing, Glory, glory, hallelujah, He reigns, He reigns. 

Yes some of these dear folk are not yet part of the great choir of the redeemed, and that's why we go there. And that's one thing you really need to pray for, for their eyes to open to see the need for the Saviour that we are telling them about. Then there are some that are part of the great choir of the redeemed, whom we go to encourage and equip, teach them and hug them. They also need that and they are so encouraged to see our familiar faces pop up again in their valley in the middle of nowhere. 

Here are some prayer requests, for the outreach but also for other outreaches taking place around this time in nearby villages. 

- There are plenty of people there who have heard of Jesus, and possibly even through Samaria Mission's trips there and the local believers there. But they want to add Jesus to their ancestor worship and whatever else they believe in. From 1 Tim 2:5-6 and John 14:6 (and many other verses) we know this will not work ever. Pray that they would understand it's Jesus only and will follow Him only. Pray that God would work in their hearts to follow Him and Him alone.  Pray that they would see that God is the only Way and follow Him, that He is the true Life and find their life in Him. 

- Pray for the believers there, that they would be strengthened and encouraged in their faith, that they will stand firm to the end and hold fast to the Truth of God's word. That they would be examples to those around them and share God's word with them. That they would grow in a deeper relationship with God and be rooted and grounded in His love for them. (Eph 3:16-21). 

- Pray for those we would meet, and share the Good News with, that God would prepare their hearts to receive His word, that they would receive it and their life's transformed. 

- For the health of the team members, unity among team members, pray that we would anew have a vision of reaching the lost to tell them about Christ. We are simply the messengers, God is the One doing the work, but we still need to go tell. Pray for us to follow God's nudgings and directions to where we should go and what we should share. For divine appointments. 

- For our preparations, for the trip in all ways: For the finances to go, from spiritual preparedness, preparing bible studies and for the preachers that would be preaching at the evening services, and going on hut-to hut and sharing testimonies and God's message with them. To be physically and mentally prepared too. 

For creative and true ways to use teaching aids (pictures etc) to make the message clearer. That we would spend quality and quantity time in our personal devotion time.

- Pray for the translators that they would not grow weary in their job of assisting us that don't know the language;  and that the rest of us would learn more and more of the language. That the message would be shared clearly through them. 

- and Pray for whatever the Holy Spirit lays on your heart to pray for. 

They have a beautiful song they sing, which one day will be true, and we will all sing together. 

Siku ri wandza Hosi Yesu U ta vuya (One day Our Lord Jesus will come back)

Hina cina cina Hita cina cina na Yesu (we will dance with Jesus)

Hina Hita yimbelela Hi Yimbelal na Yesu (we will sing with Jesus) 

What a great day that would be when we all, of all tribes, languages, nations and people groups would sing and dance together with our Saviour. What a day to look forward to. 

Beer lahai roi

Beer lahai roi

The God who sees.... me

You are the amazing God
who stretch the stars out
like a curtain on a rod
yet you know my biggest fear and doubt

The earth but a pinprick small
in the majestic universe
and we but dots on the earth
yet You taught the swallows to play swiftly
in the summer sunset sky
and know when one of them fall from on high

You hold the stars steady
and touch our beating hearts
You knew about my needs
before I knew about them
and provide abundantly in time
By your great grace

In the midst of wilderness
You saw Hagar, crying over a mess
she was part of, but didn't create
You send an angel
to point to the well
She named the place
Beer lahai roi
For you are Elohim chai
The living God, the God who sees... her

And now millenia down the line
You see us, me, your children
Crying in our various wildernesses over messes
In Your grace, You point us to the well
Your well of living water
and bid us, come, drink
and you will never thirst again.
..........................................


Riana Odendaal
January 2015