Merry Christmas!

We'd love to wish all our Friends and family an absolutely fabulous Christmas.

As the war on Christmas rages in the east and is washed down in the west may you receive a "magnet in your hearts and a compass in your heads."

May that magnet pull you closer to God and, contrary to popular wisdom, may your head follow your heart.

We love you all.

Leon, Amanda, Alythia and Talitha.

Allow us to introduce some of our American Friends.

Some of you might have recieved this as an email earlier but as we said at the bottom, we would republish as soon as we received better pics of Jude & Cindy... So here they are.

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Lately we've been wrestling with what it is that God has in store for us and why it is we feel He sent us to the USA and for so long, BUT as the first sentence of our last blog put it, we know that "In all these things we are more than conquerors!!"

We have had some of the most amazing encounters with the most interesting people and God has knit our hearts with awesome Kingdom minded people.

True, the experience has not been everything we expected but I truly believe that it's been EVERYTHING God planned.

When one plants a seed, the seed disappears and it would appear as though NOTHING is happening to the naked eye. There is no movement in the ground there is no evidence of growth to be seen.

When growth appears everyone is excited and jumps around and rejoices BUT growth is not the ultimate goal, fruit is!

So the plant grows and then at the right time it is pruned in order to yield much fruit. The fruit has to be quality fruit that contains quality seed so that the cycle can start again. And that is what we're after. Kingdom advancing fruit that will continue to grow once it's out of our hands.

I believe we're in the pruning stage as well as the planting stage. That's the funny thing about the spiritual realm. Many things can happen simultaneously and then again it could take years for just one stage to complete. :-)

That said, allow us to introduce you to a couple of the amazing families that have been involved in God's farming in our lives during our faith adventure:

This is the Ingram family, their contribution to helping us on our Road trip to Anaheim and back was enormous! Thanks Andy for lending us your GPS it saved a lot of headaches and frustration... not to mention petrol. We love you guys.






Our Wyoming family. Mister Dave and Miss Molly, your hospitality was enormous and your hand of friendship both warm and welcome in a VERY cold state ;-)









Bee and Pat. What amazing peeps. we spent one of our most memorable outings with them in Atlanta.











One thing we overlooked in planning from this trip was... transport! Ronnie and Marcella have not only become some of our closest friends here in Colorado but they also lent us their mini van for the entire duration of our stay.
Guys, we could NEVER repay you. Your generosity has caused us to glorify God.






South Africa will find you wherever you go!
It was so refreshing meeting up with Scott & Rene who planted in Lakewood Colorado. We spent a week at their place and then spent Christmas with them as well. Thanks guys your hospitality was refreshing.
















Jude and Cindy. As I was writing this I realized we didn't have a good shot of them. They have been responsible for putting us in touch with organizations that we could share the vision of HIA with. Thanks guys we appreciate it.

In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Rom 8:37).
Dear believer, after experiencing the terrible valley of suffering, did you depart with the spoils? When you were struck with an injury and you thought you had lost everything, did you trust in God to the point that you came out richer than you were before? Being "more than a conqueror" means taking the spoils from the enemy and appropriating them in your favour in order that you might advance the kingdom of God. - selected
This will result in your being witnesses to them (Lk 21:13)
Life is a steep climb, and its always encouraging to have those ahead "call back" and cheerfully summon us to higher ground. We all climb together, so we should help each other.
"If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back -
It will cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;
And if, perhaps, Faith's light is dim, because oil is low,
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.

Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn;
That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill, He bore you and held you where the lofty air was still.

O friend, call back, tell me for I cannot see your face;
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet sprint in the race;
But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.

But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you'll say He saw you through the night's sin darkened sky-
If you have gone a little way ahead, O friend, call back-
It will cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track. (selected)

Thank you to those of you who have given us a "call back", your encouragement has meant so much to us. We too have a "call back" and that is:
When we decided to pursue this faith adventure we did not have every detail perfectly planned as we were reliant on people, we did not have all the finances that we had hoped to have, we did not have all the accomodation set out for the three months that we were going to be away from our lovely home, we did not have all the speaking arrangements for three months scheduled in detail, we did not even have an existing ministry but a new vision that God had placed in our hearts but in spite of all the things we did not have we did have FAITH in a Father who had put something in our hearts and an OBEDIENCE to act upon that faith, so with faith and obedience we were armed for our trip and we are calling back to say we serve a faithful God!
Job answered God "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans.
I once lived by rumours of you; now I have it all firsthand - from my own eyes and own ears. I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumour." (Job 42: 1-6 selected, Message ver.)
We love you all dearly.

The all American Roadtrip

My spirit soars and leaps within me as we pass one extraordinary view after the next...
"I can understand why they call this "Big Country"", I say to Amanda as yet another awe inspiring mountain covered in snow passes in the distance.

The snow covers everything blurring the boundaries put in place by man made fences and roads and unites a landscape into one beautiful white woolen blanket.
It doesn't matter what lies beneath, all that's seen is the beauty that was deposited on the ground by heaven itself the
night before reminding me of that awesome scripture where God says to his people, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
Last time one of the things that I mentioned was that we were not to let what was wrong with us stop us from worshiping what was right with God. If we could raise up our eyes and see the landscape the way God sees it we would live differently. We would ski over the boundaries that seem to hinder us and snowboard over the mountains that seem so unfriendly knowing that God has washed away the boundaries placed by men (Mt 19:6, "with God all things are possible.") and has set us free to live a life of adventure with Him (Jn 8:36, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.").

Our point of departure was from an awesome family in Colorado Springs,

Andie and Wendy Ingram, who gave us their beautiful basement apartment to stay in for a couple of days.
TIME TO KNIT: I have been wanting to knit for ages, I dont think Leon has ever seen me knit in our 12 years of marriage! I went to the Wal-Mart and bought some needles and funky wool and knit the girls each a scarf. I can only remember Pearl & Plain so the scarves are various versions of that. I think the internet is amazing, I couldn't remember how to cast off my stitches so Leon googled it for me. Making pom-poms to sew onto the scarves took me back to my primary school days. The girls laughed when they saw me knitting and said I looked like a cute little ol' granny!

As we left, Andie lent us his Christmas present - A GPS!! without which we would have had many needless headaches. This gadget was soooo cool!!! It even listed hotels and places of interest as we travelled so that we didn't have to drive around asking prices. All we did was ask it to list the hotels in the town with their phone numbers and once we decided on one we would hit the "Guide me" button and it would take us directly to the front door. Sweet!
They also lent us some skiing equipment which came in handy.

Mands posing in her ski clothes.


















Yip we're going skiing!!! Yay!!
A friend of our's (Seth Jnr.) uncle (Whom we've never met may I add) said that we could spend a weekend at his condo near a ski resort called Winter Park.
Well lets' just say that it's not as easy as those good looking models make it look as they carve up the mountain side with those frozen smiles on their faces ;-) The sad news is that I didn't want to get my camera ruined on the mountain so there's no pictures of Amanda's petrified face as she came careering down the bunny slope or of the kids showing their folks how it's supposed to be done or of me plowing face first into the rather hard turf...
The good news? Here are some pics of afterwards ;-)













After we spent a couple of days in the mountains we headed towards none other than the one, the only, the ever elusive.... (Drum roll here...) Disneyland!!

What was so exciting about this was that it was done entirely in Faith.
Let me explain... we were expecting some money to come in but it hadn't arrived yet and we couldn't wait any longer or else the timing wouldn't have worked out. So off we went.

The trip was part of the experience which made it absolutely exciting.
Amanda said something that I would like to put in here... she said, "Families need fewer holidays and more adventures together"

Selah.

So with Andie's trusty GPS on board and a sense of adventure in our hearts, we decided to brave the back roads of the "New Tame West"... and set a heading for Anaheim California. It ended up taking us three days to get there but it was three days well spent. Our first port of call was Steamboat Springs. (A tourist trap of note with an awesome ski hill in the background). But not without first stopping in the mountains to frolic in the half meter deep ice cold snow.













It was snowing out so we being the tourists we are went for walk ;-) Met up with Abe Lincoln also enjoying the fresh fall of snow.

After that we headed into the desert in Utah...

No American road trip is complete without going through Las Vegas. With it's miriad of chappels and bright lights... This city truly is Sin City and to be honest Mandz and myself couldn't wait to move on.

Next came Los Angeles, Anaheim and the reason for our trip in the first place... Disneyland.

We decided to go scope out the land the night we arrived to make sure we got the most of our stay here. The price of the tickets were shocking! While we were in the queue contemplating how we were going to afford this, a lady walked up to us and asked if were going to Disneyland? We said yes and she then handed us 2 tickets to the value of R1500.00!!
Being the true South African's we are we immediately thought that this was some sort of scam ;-) But it wasn't, it truely was our heavenly Father wanting to just bless us.
Yes we all know that God can bless us but we sometimes struggle with the fact that He WANTS to. It was exactly what we needed. Without that blessing there would have been no Disneyland.
Do we serve an abundantly generous God or what?
So without much further adu, they say a picture speaks a thousand words...

We sapped Disney Dry... 15 hours later...

The next day we went to the Beach... much to Talitha's dismay. "BUT why we're here so short?"

The way back was rushed, but we did manage to pop by that big gash in the ground called the Grand Canyon... It was VERY impressive!!

To see more of the photos that didn't make it onto this blog head on over to Facebook and see there. www.facebook.com Look for Leon Laubscher.
(We also name our pics there as well as coment on what they are etc.)

Going after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention

So stepping out in faith is supposed to be this BIG WOW right?
Then how come Amanda, the girls & I are so homesick right now?
Getting emails & comments on the blog are very welcome at this point in time. (hint hint)

Worry:
Isn't it funny that even when things don't work out the way we planned they ALWAYS work out the way God planned?
I know that that sounds like a cliche but it's really where we're @ right now.

So far the Blog's basically covered what we've been doing and not really how we've been feeling.
We realize that most of you reading this blog have been on this journey with us before we even considered going to Colorado, and that just telling you what we're doing and not sharing with you what we are feeling too could rob you of the joy of coming along side us on this faith journey.

Our travels have not all been smooth sailing. Yes, it could be A LOT worse, but that is no comfort when dreams, fears and emotions are concerned.
Some of the fears that we have had to work through are "What if we don't get the students we need to make this work?". "What if life falls apart at home while we're away and we have a lot of legalities to deal with when we get back?" "What if we dont have the finances to finish this trip?"... " What if we fail?" alot of "what ifs" ... Yes, we've been worried, (that's a confession not a brag) and Jesus has gently reminded us of who He is... That's enough to stop anybody in their tracks look up to the hills and say "my help comes from the Lord". (Psalm 121:1-3)

Did you know that the word "worry" in the Greek is "merimneo" which means to "divide the mind". In James we're told: "a double minded man gets.... Nothing" - Worrying is being double minded. We say we trust Jesus... yet we worry?
Worry is the opposite of faith in that it elevates our human strength and ingenuity above God's strength and His purpose. We're double minded when we worry or fear.

Worry causes health issues, makes us fat and has many other negative effects on our body and it NEVER helps in achieving or averting ANYTHING in our lives.

Ps 118:24-26 says the following:
"24 This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

25 O LORD, save us;
O LORD, grant us success.

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you."

Some thoughts:
1) This day is ALL God has given us - not tomorrow or next week. God made it so let's choose to rejoice while we're in it and maximize it to His glory.
2) What we have today is what God's led us into - if we messed up yesterday He will save us from past mistakes, hurts and disappointments. Not only will he save you, He will not leave you there, He will PROSPER you - grant you success.
3) We come in the name of the Lord. We are His ambassadors we are his children, therefore we are Blessed. And being blessed in God's house, we will be a blessing to both God and man.

And when all hell breaks loose against us we can stand and say with Paul that we are "pursuaded" that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

WHY?

Because "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (see Rom 8:31-39)

What prevents us from following God-sized dreams?
Are we worried that we will fail, that God will not come through?

At church last Sunday this quote was given to us and we'd like to share it with you...

"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God.
Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking some risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. And remember, If God is for us, who can be against us?"

USA: Photo update

Thought I'd upload a couple of our pics from the last couple of days that never made it into the Blogs: (they're in totally random order)


Mands @ thermopolis hot springs.










Kids above the minerals deposited by the hot springs...








the Rocky Mountains viewed from "Western frontiers" a ministry of YWAM







on our way to Wyoming we came across this mountain view... one of many impressive landscapes.









A crow evangelist from the Reservations...

















The group that helped build the orphinage
















Leon playing Rythm section in the crow worship team.








so how do you keep a whole wack load of kids busy during a Thanksgiving dinner speach time??

















Pretty Eagle Point... named after the indian chief burried there. Chief Pretty Eagle.














Two pretty girls @ Pretty Eagle Point

USA: How much wood would a wood chuck chuck?

It all depends on how much time he has! ;-)

It's unbelievable how much has happened in these last couple of days....

We headed off to Col. Springs and had an awesome time of ministry there @ Gary Blacks home cell. The Lord led me to preach on "growing up" and then the Lord moved in a most prophetic way. It was an awesome blessing. A couple of the peeps prophesied over Mandz and I... very cool stuff BUT nothing regarding location. :-)

While we were there we got to see a place called "Valley of the gods". Amazing landscape with these huge outcrops of Red and White rocks. The next day we got to see "big" snow as we ascended a mountain peak nearby that's over 14000 feet above sea level. (That's a couple of thousand meters... most of you have phones that can convert that ;-))

We came back to Denver only to rush off to Montana where we spent the entire weekend ministering to the Native American Crows.

When we arrived a couple of the local Pastors invited us to join them in a "Sweat" (That's sweat as in perspire!!!) What they do is place you in a tiny weeny little dome made originally from animal hide but now made with army canvas ;-) They place 8 of you in it along with a whole pile of glowing red hot rocks... that in itself is way way hot but they make it worse they then proceed to close the door so you're in pitch black darkness then they pour water on those there rocks and bath you in steam... I was able to last all of 15 mins... they lasted nearly an hour. While in there you're breathing pure team. your nasal cavity is burning your skin is burning and EVERYTHING is sweating profusely!! Did I mention that you had to get in there with ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on?? Oh yeah!! they corrupted me... I was in a tent with eight naked Christians talking about life the universe and everything... quite intense. (In the unsaved arena they use a drug called Peyote which induces "visions" - It's an hallucinogenic. I'm kinda glad they were Christians.)

Our Purpose for being there was to help build an orphanage for the crow children who are left to their own devices...

We as a family had a very significant first Thanksgiving in that:

1stly they asked me to share with them about Culture and the Gospel... man god showed me some really cool stuff - Look here for the notes.

2dly we practiced it the same way the original pilgrims did... with the Natives (they object to being called Indians). It was very special.

On our way back we were told to head on down to "Yellowstone National Park" the one where "Old Faithful" is. We ended up staying in Wyoming State in a town called Matseersee. Population 300 'n somein'... What a God moment!!!

We stayed at the YWAM base called Western Frontiers - previously Cowboys with a Mission (CWAM) and we met two amazing peeps in the form or Mister Dave and Miss Molly with their 2 kids Brooklyn and Joshua.

It turned out that Yellowstone was snowed under & we couldn't get in so we went to Thermopolis and soaked in the World's Largest Hot springs. We were aalso able to see the Bison feeding grounds. What awesome animals... it's a good thing their horns aren't bigger. Their heads would fall off with all that weight.

The next day Dave took us on an out ride on REAL cowboy horses with authentic cowboy saddles... what an amazing experience!

We tore ourselves away from them not wanting to ever leave there and headed back to Denver where we spent the actual thanksgiving day at an inner city outreach that fed the homeless and gave them a concert. Mandz and I were asked to sing an African song with the band... so Jabulani came to the fore... Yip. It sounded pretty cool accompanied by a croup of truly pro Muso's...

God is moving in this country in a strange way... I still haven't been able to put my finger on it??

Getting people to sign up for Hope in Africa is proving to be a little more challenging than we anticipated. But if this is a God thing then God will build the house because as y'all know, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labour in vain".