Weekend of Fellowship

"…what we have seen and heard we declare to you, so that you and we together may share in a common life, that life which we share with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." – 1 John 1:3

One part of fellowship is sharing together in a common life with other believers. Last Friday, Rachel and I decided to get our hair done/braided. This may seem like something very small, but it has opened so many doors for conversations with people you would not normally get to talk to. Brenda is one of our good friends who offered to do it for us.

My favorite part about this day was sitting, talking and just spending time with Brenda and Zanele, a girl that we disciple every Wednesday afternoon.

Saturday, I went with a few friends to the Lion Park. In addition to seeing muskrats, antelope, zebras, hyena’s, and cheetah’s, we got to pet lion cubs and giraffe’s.

I really couldn’t believe how big this giraffe’s head was!

Monday’s are our day off, so we decided to spend the day with two of the girls from Soweto (Sibongile and Portia). We made tacos and then took them to see the movie Tangled in 3D.

Pray that Brenda, Zanele, Sibongile and Portia will desire to know Christ more and be encouraged through times of fellowship as we continue to share life together with them these next few months.

A Changed Life

"For you died, and your life is now hidden in Christ with God." – Colossians 3:3

We hand out Challenge newspapers the second Saturday of every month. This newspaper tells stories about God and how different peoples’ lives are changed because they met Jesus.

A few weeks ago, a girl named Shony received one of these newspapers. She was very interested in learning about God and even came to church the following week and every week since.

She was very eager to learn as much as she could about God. After hearing about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, she decided to trust in Him as her Savior. The Bible commands us to be baptized once we have made the decision to follow Jesus. Baptism is not what saves us, but is a public testimony to others to show the decision you have made to make Jesus the most important thing in your life. 

Shony was baptized this past Sunday. Because she has accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior, she is forgiven and now has the assurance of salvation. Pray for Shony as she is beginning her new life with Christ. Pray that she would turn to God when faced with temptations.

My Dream Family

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 6:23

We met for our first Girl’s Club today at Hector Pieterson Primary School. These girls were in Grade 5 when Rachel started working with this school in June 2009, so they were very excited that they were now old enough to come. PRAISE God that 48 grade 7 girls attended today. Pray for consistency and openness to the gospel.

Rachel, Stephanie and I are teaching True Love Waits for the first 5 or 6 weeks at three different schools (Hector Pieterson, Thulani, Dr. Mary). This week, we are teaching about the family. Many of the kids in Soweto grow up in broken homes. Most of them live with only one parent (usually their mom) or other family member and feel unloved, unappreciated and neglected. We gave the girls a chance to act out two different family scenarios. The first scenario represented a single-parent home while the second represented a home with both a mother and father.

Every single girl said they wanted to have a family like the one represented in the second scenario. It is natural for us to want to feel a sense of unity within our families and to feel loved and cared for. We let the girls discuss in groups of two or three what they wanted their future families to be like. Most of their responses were about wanting to love their children and listen to them. Pray for their current and future family situations.

Finally, we taught the girls about sin and how it separates us from God. We explained that even though we sin and deserve death, God made a way for us to be saved through Jesus Christ. We are encouraging them to read and memorize Romans 6:23 in their own language. 

The Lost Son

“For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate.” – Luke 15:24

Last Saturday, Zach and Philani organized a soccer clinic with a few kids in Dobsonville. We ran through some drills and scrimmaged. My team won 6-2 (woohoo), although I can't take the credit for it because I probably only contributed about 1 percent. 

 During half-time, Zach and Philani told the story of the prodigal son. 

This story is about a father who had two sons. The younger son asked his father for his inheritance, but upon receiving it, he wasted it all on wild living. He was forced to find work feeding pigs. When he realized he had nothing left, he returned home to his father and asked to be his servant because he no longer considered himself worthy to be called his son. He confessed that he had sinned against his father and against God. The father quickly met his son and had a huge feast in celebration of his son’s return. The father in this story represents God, who is waiting patiently for our return back to Him. Because God loves all of his children, He celebrates and rejoices over every child who confesses his sin and returns back to Him. Pray that these kids will realize how much God loves them and is seeking to have a relationship with them.

PRAISE: 7 kids showed up at church on Sunday morning! Pray for Zach as he follows up with these families.  

What is Discipleship

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:32

One part of discipleship is spending time with other believers to study the Bible for the purpose of growing in your relationship with Christ. 

Every Thursday, Stephanie, Rachel and I have the chance to study Scripture with two amazing women. I met Sibongile (left) and Thembane (right) when I visited South Africa last May. It is such a blessing to hang out with them again and see how much they are growing. Pray that, as they continue their study of the Word, God would provide other young women for them to disciple.

This past Thursday, we talked about Jochebed, Moses’ birth mother and the faith she exhibited. She trusted God even when things seemed hopeless. As we discussed and worked through this passage in Exodus 2:1-10, Sibongile and Thembane both expressed the desire to raise their children to be men and women who love and fear the Lord. Pray for Kabelo (Sibongile’s son) and Koketso (Thembane’s daughter) to learn at an early age the power and truth of the gospel.