When I was five my parents moved to the UK from Zululand where they had been missionaries for 16 years. I’m embarking on a kind of pilgrimage to visit for the first time the place I was born and the places my mum and dad ministered.
  The place I was born is called Vryheid. 

I believe places and names have significance over our lives and our heritage is important in how it shapes us, both positively and negatively. 

At the time of Jesus doing his stuff people wanted to know where he came from… Some thought he was born in Galillee and people questioned whether anything good could come out of that town. (It didn’t have a good reputation!) 

As we know, the scriptures prophesied that the Messiah would come from Bethelehem, the place Jesus was born. 
So, here I am in Vryheid which  

 means ‘Freedom.’ Today I trekked to Vryheid Hill to pray over the town and the 70+ churches that meet here.  (I also saw lots of amazing wildlife!) 

There is something deeply significant about being born in this place that I didn’t anticipate that I would feel so keenly. I suppose in its simplist form I desire more freedom for those who desperately need what I’ve got.