| What!!?? Only two more days!!?? |
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Its difficult to believe that we only have a couple more days here in South Africa. I'm positive I can say on behalf of the team that we are having a blast and none of us want to see our trip come to a sudden end.
I know it has a been a couple days since we last posted and we apologize for that. Its been tricky getting a different team member to a PC with internet access to post. Especially since that last couple days we've gotten home late and are all tired. I'll make sure we have another team member write later today but I wanted to play a little catch up on the events from the last couple of days. On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to visit Barcelona and meet Pastor Julius and his wife. Pastor Julius and his wife are surrogate parents to 22 orphanages along with pastoring the Barcelona Baptist Church. They has an amazing story of God calling them into the then very violent and very poor Barcelona area to plant a church. Their story includes heart wrenching sacrifice as they lost two of their children on the journey they took. The first was his son who was killed in the 70's for pointed out a teachers incorrect interpretation of Moses and Pharaoh. The teacher organized a group who stabbed and murdered their son, wiped the blood on their door step and said they were next. This was the setting they were throwing themselves into. But through pain, prayer, and God moving in their lives, then ended up in Barcelona with a church, an orphanage, and an amazing ministry. While in Barcelona, we were able to do some house to house ministry where we offered ourselves to serve and pray with the locals. We washed clothes and carried water. We prayed with many for jobs, healing, and even to be blessed with a baby. Pastor Joe, Eda, and Sierra had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a lady who stated the only thing she had in her heart was a desire for a job. She gave herself to the Lord. Praise God! Tuesday afternoon, we were able to present the Gospel using the wordless book, bridge of life, and Gospel bracelets with the 5th grade students we've been working with at Mokone Primary. It is difficult to say how much they actually grasped as their understanding of English is rudimentary and they seemed more interested in the craft then the meaning behind it. Emily's group however sat very attentive in a circle and listened as she represented the Gospel with them, walked them through the Gospel bracelet, and then led them in the sinner's prayer. Please pray for these precious souls that God will continue to work in their hearts! Yesterday, we had the awesome privilege to tour the Cape Town ministry Living Hope. If you have ever read the book Hole in Our Gospel, this ministry is noted to be one of the two churches worldwide who preaches the "whole Gospel." Obviously that statement is a bit exaggerated but it is obvious that they are living out the book of James. They not only believe, teach, and preach Christ but they live it as well. Their ministry over the last 11 years has gone from a small outreach to a few to reaching thousands with HIV/Aids, homeless, hungry, and obviously the lost. They are a faith based ministry thus every aspect of what they do is Christ centered. The cool thing is that they are completely endorsed by the government. Living Hope has worked a deal with a burdened government where they have completely taken over HIV testing for a large portion of Cape Town area. The government provides the resources and clinics but Living Hope fully staffs and operates them. This means they have direct access to who has HIV and are then able to provide follow up counseling which will obviously be Christ centered. I highly recommend that you take a look at their website, http://livinghope.co.za, as they do so much more and the cool thing is that they do it in such a way that does not create dependencies and brings many to Christ. After we toured the facilities of Living Hope, we had the awesome opportunity to have a private lunch with John Thomas the Pastor of King of Kings Baptist Church and founder of Living Hope. 11 years ago, God gave him a conviction to reach those dying of HIV in the township of Masiphumelele. From that conviction has grown an amazing ministry. It was obvious that God was working in and through him and I sensed that he was humbled by the fact that God is using him so mightily. From our conversations, I gathered that he pours himself out for the Lord day and night. He is definitely now one of my heroes. After lunch with John, we did a little R&R and toured around Cape Town. We drove up to Cape Point which had some breath taking views of God's creation. We saw penguins walking the streets and at least one whale swimming in the bay. God is truly creative and amazing. A cold front has moved in and thus weather is cold and icky out. So today most of us are preparing for the monthly Bible club held at the Barcelona Baptist Church each month. We are expecting between 30 and 50 kids to join us. Pastor Joe and Tim went back out to Mokone to finish up a few of the desks that had their table tops repaired. Tomorrow we are planning to head back out to Barcelona for a morning of house to house ministry and then join a Zanokhanyo, http://zanokhanyo.co.za, graduation tomorrow afternoon. This group has been especially special as it has been coined a "revival." It will be exciting to hear some of the student's stories and what God did in and through them during their 2 week course. Here are some prayer requests that come to mind in no particular order: * Pray for our team as we all have sore throats and some of us coughs. Pray that God will sustain us and heal our bodies from any illnesses that may be setting in. * Pray for Barcelona; that God will continue to work in the hearts of those we shared with and would be preparing the hearts of those that we will be sharing with tomorrow and Saturday mornings. Pray that God will be preparing divine appointments for us during those times. * Pray for the Bible club scheduled for Saturday morning. Pray that God will draw the kids out, that he will work in their hearts, and that many will come to know the Lord. * Pray for the Mokone Primary 5th grade students who heard the Gospel presentation. Pray that God will work in their hearts and the Gospel seeds planted would grow into fruition. * Pray for the future relationship of Living Hope and Phambili ngeThembe (the ministry of Pinelands Methodist). Pray that God would forge a partnership where they would work together to reach the lost of South Africa and provide for the needy; that they would learn from each other's failures and successes; and together, along with other local ministries and churches, would bring millions to Christ. * Pray that God will be pressing on our hearts and minds how we are to take the events from this trip and apply it to our day to day lives in Houston, Texas. Even though we are sad to see the trip coming to a close, we are looking forward to reuniting with loved ones and share personally all about what God did in and through us. With love from Cape Town, Alan on behalf the team |
The Team
Sierra Duncan
Alan, Eda, and Lydia Hartless
Pastor Joe, Kelly and Emily Schwenk
Lucas Tomazinis
Prayer Points
Discernment: Philippians 1:9-11 
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God
Spiritual Warfare: Eph 6:10-12
Finally, be strong in the Lord and mighty in His power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Boldness: Eph 6:19
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel
Protection: Psalm 91:9-10
Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place – the Most High who is my refuge – no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
Strength: Isaiah 40:31
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faith.
Restoration: Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners.