Following the Lord in Capetown - Day 5

::Praying On Top of the Lion's Head::

So, we asked people: "How long does it take to climb up? - "oh" they said, "it will only be one hour up, and if no picnic on the top, less than one hour down - two hours easy"---------------"Perfect!", we said.

David, the best taxi driver in the world, dropped us off at the base of the Lion's Head hike at 10:30 am and we got ready for the climb. Water packed, runners on, bible, backpack complete with shofar - you know, all the usual hiking gear and up we went.



So the climb began. Both of us were very excited anticipating not just the beauty of the view, but also anticipating God giving us the prayers to pray over Capetown. We were already confident that the Lord had a prayer assignment for us today. We had already been given clues a few weeks before we left home. At that time, the word "gates" kept coming to us in different ways - the Gate Beautiful in particular (Acts 3:1-10)

Then, on our travel day to Seattle, we decided to take a detour to the BC Endowment Lands. Karen was particularly drawn to go back to a stone gate she had seen the week before. As we walked to the gate, we couldn't help but notice apartment buildings on either side: one was named Southgate and the other Westgate.

We tucked this away as possible clues. Once in Capetown, even before our climb began we were receiving additional clues and confirmation. One thing our cab driver told us was that Capetown has a very strong southwest wind that is called "The Doctor" because it blows all the pollution out of the city. Also as we were hiking up, a man passed us coming down, and said some words to us as confirmation that only the Lord could have given him. The closer we arrived to the top, the more we realized we were at a spiritual gate called Beautiful.

The hike itself, ranged from an easy path, to stony steps, to steep rocky crevases, to ladder and chains. With a heavy pack, lots of picture taking, and a little huffing and puffing we arrived safely on top of the Lion's Head at 12:20pm.

There are no words to describe what we saw, only pictures.....

I can't believe Karen managed to capture these two butterflies
that were flying around us for some time!

Once we had revelled in the pure wonder of where we were, Cathy found the perfect spot for us to pray....the highest, furthest Southwest ledge she could find. There is only one picture from this exact point, because the photographer was concentrating on breathing, and staying put on the platform.

The prayer time was easy and exhilarating as we began with Isaiah 61. Each piece of the prayer flowed into the next by the Lord's leading and design. Siting on the edge we felt the Southwest winds blowing and we named Jesus as Capetown's southwest wind - a wind that would bring healing to the land and its people. Before we left the ledge, we asked a fellow siting a fair distance behind us if he would take our picture. Check these out!

Shortly after that we found a more secluded location to build a small altar to the Lord. Cathy had brought a few rocks from Bonniebrook Beach in Gibsons and had also brought some annointing oil called "Oil of Gladness". We poured the bottle of oil over the altar dedicating this place to the Lord.

Afterwards we prayed together for specific people that had either requested prayer, or prayer for people that the Lord had laid on our hearts.

Hiking down the mountain was much easier, and once at the bottom, we found David waiting for us. Sweet!

Driving to the waterfront area, two things to note happened:
1) both our stomachs were roaring like lions
2) a scorpion like insect somehow got in the back of the cab landing on Karen leg. After some rather frantic manouvers, and a scream, we managed to flick it onto the floor...and you shall tread on serpents and scorpions...
Yes, Karen unmercifully stomped it to death!

Our day ended with a fabulous but very reasonably priced dinner at Capetown's waterfront [the food here is very cheap and the servings are large - and the people here have a tremendous gift of hospitality]. We also enjoyed some local music:

We are looking forward to meeting in the Bellville Velodrome Stadium tomorrow with a few thousand other delegates from over 100 different countries praying the prayer for the world and inviting the Lord to send his fire. Its going to be another full day, and our last day in Capetown before we head out to Gordon's Bay for a bit of R & R.