Heather Windeler was an adult participant in the IWC George, South Africa project this summer. Americans and South Africans partnered to work side-by-side in ministry to the townships of the area. Here's a part of her story:

I was 19. At the time I attended a small church--tiny would be more accurate. It was at a time when I was rethinking my life’s plans and offering them to the Lord for His revision. I remember a powerful worship service one Sunday when I was praising God with my heart and soul and asking Him to tell me what He wanted from me.

A vision came to me of magnificent mountains unlike any I had seen before. They were beautiful. I heard the Lord impress upon me, “Go to _______,” but the song we were singing was concluding and I couldn’t quite understand what was said. The vision of those mountains was permanently pressed in my brain, but not the name of the location. I did recall that the name had something around 3 syllables and started with an "A."

After the service I raced home to search through our encyclopedias. (This was before the internet was so widely available.) The closest thing I could find in all the pages was a picture of some similar mountains near the Gulf of Aqabah. I left it at that and then prayed for the Lord to prepare the way for when I would go.

Fast forward 13 years. I am now 32 years old, married with 3 kids, serving with the youth ministry in our church, and still yearning to go on an international missions trip. Through the years I studied about people groups, led 30-hour famines with our teenagers, and discovered that I have a very deep seated yearning for Africa. I hadn't shared that with many people, but my dear husband knew it.

In December, our pastor revealed to us that the Lord has placed it on his heart to send 2 adults and 4 teens to Africa. My husband turned to me and said, “Well that’s you, Heather. This one is yours.” I was dumbstruck. I was scared, elated, nervous, and confused. Why now? I have 3 young children at home and I cannot imagine leaving them for 2 weeks. How in the world will we afford this? And yet all the while my soul was stirred. I could feel the thrill from 13 years of longing to go somewhere internationally for the Lord and could hardly believe it.

Now fast forward to the morning of our arrival in George, South Africa. We landed after a 2-day flight and then took a bus drive in the dark. We could see nothing of the landscape of South Africa. We arrived at our lodging, a camp nestled halfway down a foot hill and looking out towards another mountain.  In the early morning, we could only see the little clearing where our wonderful camp was nestled in.

At about 10 am, our missionary, Jeff Holder, or Uncle Jeff, as the South Africans call him, loaded us into his truck to take us up the mountain to a place where we could make a phone call home. When we reached the top, I could not decide which direction to look first. Firts I turned to one side where there was an ocean view across the mountain tops and beautiful flowers blooming despite the cold weather. Then as the haze of the morning was clearing, I looked in the other direction. The landscape flattened out and stretched beautifully in shades of browns and greens. Rolling up slowly into hills, there they were, the mountains from my vision. A vision that has not left my mind for the last 13 years!

I was in shock realizing that it had finally happened. I had arrived at a destination God had for ordained for me and revealed to me at the age of 19. It wasn’t “Aqabah” that I was to go to but “Africa.” I was in awe that he chose me to come here and now thrilled to see what else might possibly be in store for all of us there.

The Lord as usual blew us away. Every day our team would drive past the Outeniqua Mountains and I would thank the Lord for what He had done for my life through the years and for what He wanted to do that day on the mission trip. And what did He do? We had an wonderful week serving with the South Africans and other teams from across the U.S. It was an amazing to see God move as our teams were pushed out of their comfort zones to be all things to all people so that some might know Christ Jesus as their savior.

The kaleidoscope of colors and shapes was breath taking. People spoke of being color blind on this trip. I understood what they were trying to say, but deep down I felt they were minimizing the wonders and beauties of God’s creative hands. Here were 60 of us or so who were all the shades of the rainbow and it was beautiful. Within only a few hours time we were sharing deep pains, great joys, and lifting each other up in prayer. We called each other family, but it didn't even begin to describe what the Holy Spirit was doing with us. This was an act of the Lord that was born out of His design and the flames fanned by the prayers laid out ahead of this trip. His beautiful creation was meeting together in harmony and I would sit back and watch them, these teens and twenty-some things from all different backgrounds from across the world, and wonder if these were like the best days of the early church.

Since we have returned from the trip, the changes that took place with my teens have been astounding. They did not come home as who they were before we left. They came back hungry to make their One Life count at home. All but one on my team has since led a friend to the Lord. They have volunteered for other mission trips, for prayer walking, for out-reach events and they have even taught others how to lead others to Christ. All of this has happened in the months since we have returned. God is amazing. If we are willing, no matter how old or young, He will use us. I am so grateful for this opportunity to go with the IWC to South Africa. We will never be the same. Praise God!

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