Just a quick note. We are currently in Croatia, but have been through Hungary, Serbia, and Kosovo in the past bit. It has been so wonderful to be working with a few other missionaries again. I am able to unload some of the memories and burdens of the past year with people who can understand on a missionary level, and that has been such a blessing. The other thing that God is allowing me to re-learn is how to laugh. To share a sense of humour with people from my culture has been very freeing in a way. Perhaps this doesn´t make sense, but know that I have been surrounded by the comforting embrace of the Lord as I have embarked on this transition.

“I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people; I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth”
Ps. 57

The past five days have held within them some of the deepest pain and the nearest peace I can recall in my life. The day I left my South African home there were some extremely painful circumstances that I’ve considered writing about, but every time I sit down to do it, I can’t: they are too near to me. These things have been a heavy burden to carry with me, but even my first day away I was penetrated by the peace of the Lord. I know that many of you are to be thanked for that, because you were in faithful prayers for me that day. But greater than our prayers united was the mercy and grace of our God to grant me a peace which truly passed understanding. Such peace, I found, requires ultimate trust and confidence in Him Who bestows it, which in turn offers assurance. What rest I have been granted in the Father of the nations!

For the great part that you have played in this peace and rest, I thank you. It is a blessing to serve with brothers and sisters around the world and be united in prayer before that ever-ready Helper.

For those at NSA, good luck on this graduation day. May your time with family and friends be a blessed reunion.

The Big Kids

Thulani

My dearest boy

My Lindiwe

I have arrived safely in England. I will be making a short pilgrimage around the country and then leaving for Eastern Europe on the 19th.

Yesterday I said goodbye to part of myself. It’s hard with children: they are so dependent upon you for everything that it seems their very existence is linked to yours, so leaving is not possible. It was a very hard day, but our gracious Lord filled it with such thankfulness that I was quite overwhelmed by the honor I was given for the past ten months to care after these children who, though abused by the world, were created according to His good purpose. And part of that purpose involved me – in over an hundred children. Our God is truly amazing. After many tears and hugs and kisses, I saw the dust of Africa no longer beneath my feet, but beneath the clouds.

As I make this trip in the UK over the next ten days or so, I will have time to reflect and write and meditate on the good things of the Lord in my life over the past while, so I hope that shortly I can share those things with you. Until then, thank you for your continued prayers and love. I would ask that you keep Ntombifuthi also in your prayers, as she has found my leaving particularly difficult.

In Him Who created the expanse, Nicole

Perhaps I first opened the pages of “Holy the Firm” with skepticism due to whom it came from, a normally white-collared fellow who read Karl Barth’s Systematic Theology for fun. With expectations of a perfectly dogmatic short novel holding with all orthodox thoughts, I began a journey into Puget Sound.

I rocked. I rolled. I listened with my whole being to the creek-like words of Annie Dillard. Rock ahead! Slight curve and gracefully she passes. She touches upon the infinite between two earthen banks. She flows but not as a river. As the creek by the house where I grew up, no easy path to take. Is she a heretic? She dodges herself back into orthodoxy. A Philosopher? No becomes my answer as nihilism flows into the current of idealism which both run into realism in some banded rush.

She becomes creation to portray creation. She is the creek outside my door.

This child is one that stopped breathing when he first came to us, and has my air in his lungs. He has become precious to me with his Moon-Face and beautiful smile. Last week he found a family to be adopted into and is now receiving the blessing of a forever-mother. But I am blessed to have taken care of him for the first four months of his precious life.

Here is the address for sending donations, thank you for your support of the Lord’s work here in both finances and prayers.

ARM Ministries
PO Box 141324
Dallas TX 75214

USA

Within the envelope specify “Nicole de Martimprey”.

The other option is to go to: http://www.armmin.org/giving.htm and make a donation online. You will receive a hard copy receipt for both options.

Thank you, Nicole

“The path of the just is as the shining sun, shining ever brighter until the coming day”

We serve a mighty God, and the God Who created our days before time, and what a comfort that has been these past few weeks. That season has come again which serves to refocus on our crucified Lord, encourageing Lenten knees and a penitent heart. In this time I have offered up prayers for direction and guidance, and I am assured that yours have mingled with mine before the Throne. In accordance with the counsel of my parents and some wise brothers and sisters, the Lord allowed me to see the wisdom in returning to school for a Nursing degree. With this in heart and mind, I began to prepare my fellow workers that my time here was coming to an end. This decision having been made, my departure date set for 04 May, I found my heart filled with sorrow. What a struggle to leave these little ones who have been given to me when their earthly parents rejected them. And now I was to leave them, preparing other workers to care for them. I was truly heavy-laden with grieved love.

It was during this time that I began considering spending a bit of time in England before returning home, to re-acclimate and have a good time of rest. I presented it to my parents, and after praying about it, we decided that I would throw out some lines and consider some options of working there for the summer months. What we didn’t see was that God was preparing us for His plan, which would involve me not returning to the States quite yet.

On the Sat/Sun I formally presented my plans to attend Nursing school in the Spring to my brothers and sisters around TLC. On Monday and Tuesday I found much time for prayer and contemplation, and had such a peace that if the Lord desired me to work in England for a while, He would prepare the way and teach me how to walk in it. On Wednesday I received emails from the president of my Mission Org. (Alan Mezger), and from a good friend, and fellow missionary, in Ireland. The former presented me with the option of a return mission trip to Kosovo, and new mission work in Bosnia and Croatia. The latter was a request that if I was in England, would I “please, please, please [go] visit” her, and have a prayer retreat with her in Northern Ireland for the purpose of encouragement and edification. Then I looked at a calendar, and the flow of the dates was amazing: Arrive England 05 May. Ireland 07 May. Leave for Kosovo/Bosnia/Croatia with fellow missionaries 18 May. After this I would still have a bit of time to spend in England before needing to return home. According to this plan I would probably arrive Stateside in early August.

This plan was so far beyond anything I was thinking that I was just amazed when it all came together on one day, I was filled with gratefulness and excitement, and after speaking to my parents, they shared in my excitement and saw that God had given clear direction and they would be behind me all the way. The timing was perfect. First, I think that God had used the idea of me staying in England for a while to soften my heart and the hearts of my parents for me being gone a while longer. Second, I was in need of confirmation that my time at TLC was finished according to the Lord’s plan, and this gave ample confirmation. And third, having the assurance that I was and would be doing that which the Lord had prepared for me relieved some of the burden of sorrow I had in leaving, filling me with trust that He would ready me for going, and provide TLC with someone to fill my place. God is truly good and gracious to His children.

On the financial side of things, all the trips up to England will cost around $2000 (including airfare), which has not yet been covered. Once I get to England, there are a few options, and I await the Lord’s direction there. The first option is to primarily work with some ministries there (both for children and adults) at a lower intensity than at present, and the other is to get a medial job to cover expenses while I am there and work with the ministries on the side. However my path has been laid, when I arrive in England I am praying for a restful time in meditation and prayer, receiving again the blessing of being in a Church, and re-acclimating to the first world.

It seems that so much has happened since my last update only a month ago! For those of you who didn’t hear, Ntombfuti had an healthy baby girl, and they are both well. Thank you for your prayers in that situation, what a relief I felt the night she delivered, and I had a deep sleep for the first time in two weeks. As for new prayer requests:

– Someone to fill my place at TLC

– Thanks and praise to our God for His clear direction and assurances in the past couple weeks.

– For my departure: preparation for me and the children.

Thank you for your prayers, and for sending me your prayer requests. Though We are many, We are one. In expectation of our risen Lord, Nicole de Martimprey

Ntombifuti filled out her birth certificate this week, and the name of her child is “Mbali Nicole”. Mbali is a traditional African name for “flower”. I am delighted.