New Life and New Revelations

I feel closer than ever before to two significant stories in the Bible, ones that I've learned about throughout my life: the birth story of Jesus, and the Resurrection of Jesus. With Ava's birth in December, I pondered a lot about the Christmas story, and especially the long trek that Mary took while pregnant to the little town of Bethlehem. I imagined her and Joseph getting the doors closed in their face for their ideal birthing spot and having to opt for a lowly stable. It made me really appreciative of the short drive we had to our hospital, and the sanitary and modernly resourced environment we had for labor and delivery of Ava. It was a miraculous natural birth without epidural or induction, and we feel so blessed for the beautiful experience.

We've had a lot of things to celebrate in this past season! Along with the birth of our daughter Ava Grace, my mom flew in to Cape Town and got to attend Ava's baby dedication and to celebrate Easter with us. It's been a very special visit as my mom also celebrated her birthday here too. Due to my mission work overseas in the Dominican Republic and South Africa, I haven't celebrated my mom's birthday with her in person since 2017!

less than a week to go

Golden hour!

Hugging my mom at the airport

Mom's birthday!

She loves her little bible!

Easter morning with the gals!

Ava being dedicated in MP!

Around two months after Ava was born, I rallied myself to get to church in person, and there were baptisms happening at that service. I absolutely love witnessing baptisms. I stopped to consider the after effect of when a person comes out of the water, washed clean. The old has gone, and the new has come. A person who has been baptized will agree that the things of their past, they no longer "long for," or crave (as it should be). Since giving birth to Ava, a lot of my life before she was born feels as though it's melted away and disappeared in the same manner. My priorities have shifted since she has come into my life, and the former things of my life have "grown strangely dim." Reminding me of the the hymn, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" (Author: Helen Howarth Lemmel (1922)).

Turn your eyes upon Jesus Look full, in his wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim In the light of his glory and grace

Early on Easter (or Resurrection) Sunday morning, at 6:24am, Ava finally rolled from her back to her stomach! I kind of freaked out because it was still dark, and I had just finished a diaper change. I put her in her crib so I could throw away her poo-diaper and wash my hands, only to find her lying on her stomach when I returned! I thought “Did I lay her down like that?! ...No way!” And then I realized, she rolled!!

I now have a new understanding of the shock that the women felt who had found the stone had been rolled away, and an empty tomb where Jesus had laid. We serve a God of miracles!

[Luke 24:1-32 NLT]

(Notice how there is 24 appearing twice to me in one morning!)

There are so many parallels, and every single day I've been raising little Ava, I get a new understanding of the power and sanctification that the Word of God has for our lives, and now I get to see from a new lens; just a glimpse of the way in which God loves and cherishes us as His children.

As I reflect on the end of 2023, and this first quarter of 2024, I am ever so grateful for the God of the Universe who sees each of us, and cares deeply for us and protects us through our storms. I like to say, "Ava is the calm in our storm." She brings joy and peace into the household, and even when life and ministry gets chaotic, she is as happy as a clam!

WATCH OUR TEAM'S VIDEO HERE

This video premiered at our 'Heart for the House Sunday' in September. By December 2023, our end of year stats were:

• 37 services. (21 @ male centers and 16 @ female centers including 3 Sisterhood services with the female centers!)

• All together, we served 2628 clients, and 131 officers throughout those services.

• 944 men and women raised their hands for salvation!

• 70 men and women got baptized!

• Our team of 55+ continues to grow.

• We served at Pollsmoor, Drakenstein Maximum, and Goodwood in the Cape Town region; and Kgosi Mampuru II in Pretoria.

• We held the STRENGTH course for men at Pollsmoor Medium C’s (Pre-release) center. We were able to bridge the gap for multiple men who became returning citizens as they re-entered society. We've journeyed with them in our Aftercare pathway with the help of our Pastoral Care teams across our locations!

In this season of caring for Ava full time, I focus on leading our prison ministry team in administration, pastorally caring for our team, strategic planning, preparing our equipment for services and events, curriculum consulting for programs, and special event planning (Sisterhoods, Christmas, Easter, baptism services, team related workshops, and any events we host for the correctional officers or wider prison ministry community). Basically everything I was doing before, except for physically going into the correctional center facilities where Marco and the rest of the team continue to serve the clients. My role is to organize and set up our team for a WIN when they serve on a Sunday or midweek.

Marco will continue to lead our prison ministry team "boots on the ground," and oversee the facilitation, development and weekly continuation of our midweek Bibles studies and Hillsong Africa Foundation programs, and the Sunday services our team hosts behind bars. Marco facilitates the Aftercare Pathways for each Returning Citizen that we work with. He helps see that they have access to helpful resources and tools for reintegrating back into society. Marco loves having his boots on the ground in the ministry field, and no pun intended, has been key in helping jump start an Agricultural Training Program inside of one of the correctional facilities!

Our family relies on your support, which allows us to continue serving in Prison Ministry full time and helps us pay for everyday living expenses. I am unable to work in South Africa due to the status of my spousal visa (which is in part due to the extremely high unemployment rate in South Africa already- it's above 30%). We are currently also raising finances so we can purchase the house we're living in by the end of 2025. So right now literally every penny (and prayer) counts. It is on our hearts to provide a safe and consistent space for Darren, Raeez, & Ava to grow up in so they do not have to change schools again. Our current location also allows us to be close to the prisons we work in (saving in transportation costs). This home allows us to host our team for gatherings and meetings and raise our children in a safe neighborhood.

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Prison Ministry is a calling for Marco and me, and we are so passionate about helping those that society has tossed away. We love ministering to the correctional officers, and pastorally caring for the volunteer team we lead. We believe that through Christ, lives can be changed and impacted! We've witnessed time and time again the individuals we work with change their ways from evil to good, show true remorse, and turn away from a life of crime.

We want to invite you to join our support team. Monthly donations are very helpful in planning and budgeting (though we joyfully receive once-off gifts too)! Check out our support link here! ⬇️

FOR TAX DEDUCTIBLE GIFTS:

1. DONATE ONLINE!

(USA & Int’l Cards accepted)

https://www.worldoutreach.org/975

2. MAIL CHECKS:

World Outreach Ministries, Inc.

P.O. Box B

Marietta, GA 30061

(designate for #975 Lodewyk)

3. BILL PAY: free option via your Online Banking

(use the same info for checks)

In a future blog, we will share more about the biggest root problem incarcerated men and women face, and a podcast in which Marco was a guest speaker. As I post this the seasons are changing and we're currently experiencing some gale force winds, heavy rains, and some thunder & lightening.

We hope you had a beautiful Easter weekend and first week of April!

With Love,

The Lodewyk Family

P.S.: Check out ways you can support us and pray alongside us on the Support Us tab above!

P.P.S.: Follow our ministry social media pages:

@HillsongPrisonMinistry

facebook.com/HillsongPrisonMinistry