Mission Update #2

Where to begin.  It is amazing how much can happen in such a short space of time.  Ok firstly:

Sunday
We went to Freedom Ministries Church in Harrismith on Sunday morning.  They meet in a school hall in town.  There were about 40 members of the church and then 22 of us.  Simon and Jane both gave their testimonies and they really allowed God to use them.  Not only did they share what Jesus had done in their lives but they both really encouraged the people to allow God to do a healing work, and a transforming work in theirs.  Roy preached about wanting to know Christ and the power of the resurrection and people really responded.  During the time at the end when people were being prayed for one lady came with two little girls aged about 7 and 9, and one small toddler clinging to her skirt.  She told me her husband was ‘not a good man’ as tears ran down her cheeks, she needed Jesus to help her be a good mother and to protect her children.  I understood.  As her tears hit the floor I prayed over her, and her children.  I held them all close in my arms and they huddled together – and as I prayed I could feel God’s peace flowing into her situation.  She became calm and I prayed that God would bring tremendous wisdom and protection, and that her husband would find Jesus.  And if his heart was hardened that the Lord would provide a way out.  Please pray for this woman and her children.  Sunday afternoon we spent in the park with the church encouraging them and playing sports (well some of them were playing sports, others were sitting in the shade chatting).

Monday
We woke up to 8 of the team having a sickness bug!!  We are having devotions each morning, so 16 of us gathered and prayed hard for those that had spent the night revisiting their dinner!  We divided the remaining 16 into two teams – a smaller group that went into Hope House the orphanage, and a larger team that went to Mkoulegekene (this is a township that the church has planted a smaller congregation in).  Mkoulegekene is 13 miles away from the town and could be a world away in comparison.  There is no running water just one spring that gushes out of the ground for 12,000 people.  One spring that waters the cattle, one spring that provides water to wash clothes, one spring that everyone drinks from.  When we arrived we were greeted by Darnell the pastor who has transformed a cattle shed into a church.  The last time Net Church came here on mission we left some money behind and it was great to see some of it had been spent on benches and a PA system for the church plant!  Darnell took us over to Scutty’s garden, an african lady aged 77 who has a large plot of land that was in a bad condition.  The plot was about 20 metres by 10 metres and Scutty wanted to plant vegetables to feed 500 people in the township.  It was hard to believe looking at the plot of ground that it would feed 500 people – it certainly would feed 500 english people.  The team did a brilliant job, we turned over the soil, we cleared stones, we raked, we dug, we planted and we hoed.  Even Rohan was taking piles of weeds to the compost heap.  By the end of the day we had even managed to build a beautiful gravel path lined with stones up to Scutty’s house (wait to you see the photos).  A job well done.

The team came back from the orphanage rejoicing, they had falled in love with the babies and children (impossible not to).  Especially with one little baby called Valentine who had been found on valentine’s day in a plastic bag newly born.  In the evening we attended a service at the township church.  It was truly amazing, the singing was tremendous, the dancing outrageously brilliant (oh the pictures of the team taking part hehe), and then we took part – with songs, drama and testimonies (Stevie D from Bury and Rachel from Net Church).  Darren preached and by the time we all got in the bus we were overwhelmed with what God has done.

Tuesday
The whole team was better!  Which was a miracle – some of the church had the bug and they had been wiped out for 2-3 days.  Again we divided the team into two, one set going into Hope House (this time we sent two guys to also do maintenance – there were many diy jobs that needed doing and we bought tools, screws etc to just get a few practical things mended, put up etc).  In Mkoulegekene the team divided again into three, some went to prepare food for the feeding containers that feed the orphans who still live in the townships, some went to the vegetable gardens and dug over another huge area to plant spinach, and another team got up on the church roof and mended it (it was full of holes).  I cannot tell you the satisfaction everyone felt when we came back together in the evening.  So many stories to tell you when we get back.  We went to Sedibe hall in the evening, in another township, and after the team took the programme we had around 30 people come forward and respond.  Many cried.  The team cried.  You can see lives being transformed before your eyes, hope arising in a hopeless place, hope that only Jesus can give.  And everyone has the sense that God is using them in the smallest conversation to the big events.  And we are not even halfway through.  Watch this space!