Living Open Faced
"Whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:16-18

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4:16

I recently received an email from a friend with this verse from Hebrews and he was sharing with me about how many Christians fail to understand the full impact of the grace of God in their lives as children of God. Then recently I was spending time with a group of young people when the Lord directed us to these verses in 2 Corinthians. As I contemplated these verses together the Lord began speak to me about how important it is for us to walk in a full understanding of what these verses teach us about our relationship with God.

Unfortunately many believers struggle to experience victory due to issues in their lives that continually prevent them from moving into maturity in Christ. The main reason this happens is because so many people don't behold the Lord with an "unveiled face," or live open faced before God. Through the work of Jesus Christ, we who believe, now are able to look upon the Lord with an open face. Paul tells us that as we do this we are being transformed into the image of the Lord by the work of the Spirit in our lives. It is the Father's divine purpose for each of us to be transformed into the image of Jesus. This transformation process demands radical changes in our lives and we must submit to the work of the Lord in our lives to bring healing, deliverance and restoration. However, many christians have never allowed the Lord to work in these deepest areas of their lives. This process can only happen as we look intently into the glory of the Lord with our face open before Him. This means that we do not "hide" behind veils or masks as we look to the Lord. While God obviously removed the veil that keeps us from understanding the foundational work of the Lord that brings salvation, we can still be hindered in our maturing process by not living open faced before the Lord in all areas of our lives. Our ability to live this way is wrapped up in the grace of God. It is the grace of the Lord that allows us to come before His throne with confidence so that we can receive mercy from the Lord in our time of need. What is this time of need? This is the time when we, faced with the glory of God, realize that we come up short! We need to be transformed. In this time of desperation we realize that the grace of God is abundant and available for us. God is full of grace and accepts us right where we are and lovingly takes us on to maturity. This only happens, however, if we choose to look openly and honestly upon His glory. Many of us find this very hard to do. The enemy has lied to us and told us that we can not really come openly to the Lord due to all our shortcomings and weaknesses. All the while, it is God who knows these shortcomings and weaknesses and says, "My grace is sufficient, come and look openly at my glory and be transformed."

So we can all find encouragement and hope in these wonderful truths. All we must do is be open in our hearts as we relate to our gracious, heavenly Father. We don't ever have to fear the transforming work of His Spirit in our lives. This work will always lead us into a deeper level of intimacy with the Lord and a greater understanding of His purposes of in our lives. So let us all make a resolute decision to walk in this truth and not allow anything to stand between us and the Lord as we walk in His grace to make us whole in Him. As we do we will be transformed into His image and we will experience the liberty that only comes in His presence. Whenever we choose to live open faced before the Lord, His Spirit is free to work in our lives fully and we experience His liberty and grace.

Ministry & Family Update

As many of you know Stepanie was in Australia for two weeks in November. This was a very significant time as Stephanie was able to spend some special time with a dear friend, Shirley, who is battling the late stages of liver cancer. Stephanie traveled with Ivan Williams and Erena van de Venter from South Africa and the time spent with Shriley was very special. The three of them stayed for two weeks on the YWAM base in Adelaide. Because of their time there, a DTS outreach team is coming in January to help us with the boys camp and work with the Street Children's Project. While staying at YWAM, Stephanie was able to participate in an outreach day with about 40 teenage refugees from many different nations, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Stephanie was also able to make many new friends and we believe the Lord will reveal His plan for these relationships more in the future. We are continually amazed as God enriches our lives through relationships with people from all over the world.

Cliff traveled to Durban in November and ministered for a long weekend there. Through a friendship that Cliff developed during a DTS at YWAM last year with a young man, Isaiah David, Cliff has joined together with a group of young and passionate believers who are hungry to see God glorified in their lives and in the church. They spent the weekend ministering in a youth conference and were able to visit an area orphanage as well. During his time in the Durban area Cliff stayed in Stanger, which is the place of the original home of Tshaka Zulu, the famous warrior leader of the Zulu people (see pictures below). Cliff will be returning to Durban after the first of the year to help in the work in that area.

The Lord continues to work in the lives of the street boys here in Worcester. We are currently preparing for the boys camp that will be January 8-18. Please pray with us for this camp. We are trusting God for great breakthroughs in the lives of the boys during this time and that they will meet with the Lord and hear His voice.

November was a whirlwind for our family. After three years in South Africa we have realized that November is the busiest month of the year! The school year for the children comes to an end and there are many year end activities. The children participated in the school plays and did great. Natalie received the Drama Award for the Junior Primary (Grades 1-3) for the second year in a row. She really enjoys her acting. Camille will be part of the Senior Primary (Grades 4-7) next year as she starts grade 4. She is excited about this new step as she is part of the "big kids" now. Wesley continues to grow and mature quickly. He will be in kindergarten next year and his teachers are very pleased with all the growth they have seen in the second half of this school year.

Please pray for us as we will be submitting our application for permanent residence here in South Africa this month. We believe this is an important step in our long term plans. We will really need the favor of the Lord on our application for it to be approved. The immigration laws here are very strict, but we are trusting God for a miracle. We will keep you updated!

Also pray for us as we seek the Lord for 2006. We just want to be obedient to do what He wants us to do. We are also trusting Him for a greater increase in our financial provision so we can be involved in even more ministry opportunities throughout Africa.

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and that you know and experience the blessings of His presence in it all.

With love,
Cliff, Stephanie, Camille, Natalie and Wesley