June 11, 2005 - This Little American Went to the Market
Greetings from your friends in South Africa! Thank you for your prayers and for your encouraging e-mails. We are so excited to be here and are fervently seeking the Lord's direction and will as we serve among the Zulu speaking community of Johannesburg and Germiston.
My heart goes out for these people. The community we are working in is built over the Gold Reef and most of those who are employed are in the mines looking for riches for their employers. Others beg for work; others just beg. During the winter, their lean-tos and tin homes hold no heat so they collect trash dumped on the streets by others to keep themselves warm at night.
A few weeks ago, a group of Zulu speaking Africans gathered together on the hill above the church complex to watch the white people dig ditches. Quite a site in post Apartheid South Africa that created great conversation for the community. Later one of these men came into the facility to ask what was happening, "Is there going to be a church here?" When told yes, he excitedly promised to be here that Sunday.
Homes are packed tight and crime is high. No church has existed in this community until now and the people are looking for something in this life that will bring some security. Witch doctors are available for many who are seeking their security in the supernatural, but this offers no hope. Last year, a fire broke out and spread so quickly that a hundred were dead before anything could be done. Security and safety is something we all look for, but true security will only be found in Jesus Christ. Pray for the lost in Germiston and that the gospel will be spread among this precious people.
Tomorrow, we will have the opportunity to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ at Mercy Bible Church. The service will be in Zulu, but our salvation is in Jesus Christ. Afterwards, we will share in a Braii (BBQ) and if Pastor was able to find some for me, we will also be able to share some Mopani Worms over a nice meal. The team doesn't know yet though, so please be praying for all.
Thank you again for your prayers. I can't tell you all how much we value every petition on our behalf and how valuable your requests are. Today was a bit of a change of plans. We are currently waiting for some brick layers from Pretoria to show up on the work site whom we will help and work with. So far we've built a fence, laid some sewage line for the AIDS Hospice center, extended the foundation, and cleaned up the land quite a bit. Pastor Vuyo and his wife, Violet, are excited to move into their new home and we laid out the lines for the brick layers on Friday, but we are still short the needed help.
Currently that means that the work is short for this weekend. Therefore we switched our Saturdays, went into Joburg to do some shopping and will work next Saturday instead.
Praise God for the work at the Lambano homes. What precious children. Some are very sick; others just need a family. What a wonderful opportunity to love these little ones and to demonstrate the love of God.
Please pray for the brick layers! Much of the work we have planned to do relies on them being here (or so it seems from a human perspective). Also pray that we would be wise in seeing where God is at work and how we can get involved more effectively Pray that we would be wise in the use of our time. Unbelievably, we have a little over a week to be here. If building the parsonage is not what God has planned for us, we want to be busy doing the work that God does have for us here. We are trusting in his might hand.
God's Grace to you all,
Music at the Mall
