who will chase the clouds away

I wish that I could say
The world was one and fighting was a fable
And that greed would turn the table
I wish for peace
I wish for peace

I wish that I could see
A world that can be free with no more crying
Oh but some of us are trying
I wish for peace
I wish for peace

Who will hold the children near
If there’s a painful tear
Who will chase the clouds away

Why pretend that there’s no God
Why pretend that there’s no love to wrap around you
I speak justice to confound you
I pray for peace
I pray for peace

Michelle Tumes

~

Hello Friends and my family,

Peace.....those are the words echoing in my heart. Peace, yet not the words echoing in the world around me. So, let me tell you how I got to peace. To begin, I arrived safely back in South Africa December 29th at 10:00 p.m. Only to realize I had not been accompanied by my luggage, which was still in Amsterdam. So I drove home, only to get to sleep around 1-sh. I then woke at 5 to meet up with my team which was waiting for me at 6 to leave. Little did I know about my next two days. We, the leaders of c-kruis 2005 were going on a hike/adventure/rough bonding type experience. So we all left and funny enough the whole point of the hike was to only have the clothes on your back, so that solved my luggage crisis. During this two day hike we walked, sweat and burned in the sun, slept under the stars on the cold ground, and ate our live chicken (we were given as an extra team member) for food. This hike definitely served its purpose. Ok, so then January 1st came and the teams all arrived and now it's their turn to experience bonding for four days while we, the leaders, sit back and drink our coffee and watch (one of the glories of being at the top I've learned to appreciate). So the teams survived their bonding torture we call ADVENTURE CAMP which took place in Caroliena - beautiful farm land full of God's special touch. After A-Camp we all arrived at our beautiful new training grounds call Donker Hoek, which means Dark Corner. Interesting connotation seeing as we are the light of the world.

So training has been happening for an entire month already. We had our first show/dress rehearsal on Wednesday which I, myself, co-produced with my other producer, Elonie. It was a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. The first team started their dress rehearsal at 7 pm and finished at 12 am. Then my team started at 12 am and finished at 5 am. It was one of the longest nights of my life. But I am young and I have the whole weekend off at the moment, so I intend to catch up on some sleep. I have been so busy since I've arrived. I am doing alot of choreography for all the new shows, as well as co-writing and touching up on all the last minute preparations. As well, I started back with taking Ballet and will take my last exam in May. I am also busy counseling and shepherding five young first year ladies, which has been a huge challenge for me. I am learning how to live and breathe integrity. Yet, since I 've been here and jumped into this whirlwind life of mine, God has placed a peace in my heart. I often times feel I don't spend nearly enough time with Him like I used to and yet He just reminds me that He's with me all during my day. He attends every class, rehearsal, and conversation or meeting I'm in. So this peace has been my stability in my too-busy lifestyle I've chosen. Please know I do find time to miss home. I think of you so often. Often when I am somewhere watching something too beautiful to describe, I often miss you. I wish you could see what I see, and experience what I experience. To end off, I want to tell you that my passion, my dreams, my zealous love for the Lord are being fanned by his hand. The Lord is busy fanning this flame, which is extremely exciting because my vision, I believe, is in the process of being reformed again to include more of my future. This has been good for my spirit and soul. Thank you for your time. Please excuse my delay in getting this to ya'll. I trust your lives are in the Lord's will as is mine. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support and continual love and devotion of my love for dancing and the Lord! May you be blessed through this year and further! Thank you again!

Dancingly His,
MASH

~

I received this lovely email from my sister today, and it's just amazing how much I needed to hear every word that she said. Peace is exactly what I'm not feeling at the moment, but she gives me such inspiration and a desire to strive for the peace that she has searched for for so many years. It's amazing to me that the same girl who often expressed to me her fear of leaving home at the age of 16 is now at peace about her future. Mash has reminded me that the peace of resting in the comfort of God's arms and being able to completely abandon yourself to His will is the greatest peace you will ever find. I just thought it was awesome how much this email spoke to me, and how perfectly on time it was ... I wanted to share it with you all in the hopes that you will be inspired by her persistence and faith.

God bless,
lv