Huge church mobilization progress

We have also made massive progress on other areas here in church mobilization.  Our church network has continued to rapidly expand and this has enabled us to really expand our follow-up programs.

Our first year here in South Africa, Mike and Mawande wrote and taught the Faith Discovery program and the follow-up process to that program.  On the average every 6 weeks out of 30 students about 10-15 make first time commitments to follow Christ!!!  Since that time my heart has been passionate about building a “church placement” program, where after our follow-up program we can place these students into healthy local churches where they will continue to be this process for that person.

So we are very excited to announce that we have successfully implemented this new program with our current students who recently graduated.

Using software, we geocode the locations of the students’ home.  So yeah, that's where it gets a weebit technical but thankfully I have a techy savy husband who drove to all the church locations to get the correct GPS location.  Cuz that's how he rolls.

So we looked at our students in the current class and based upon where the new born-again student lived, we invited local pastors to come and meet these students during our 9 weeks program that we teach at Hope Africa.  We gave them a chance to get to know each other in a non-threatening environment.

Part of the teaching the students get is about what the scriptures teach about “church” and then we work with them to choose a good local church where they can grow.  We then follow up for 18 weeks with the student and at the same time with the churches to ensure these new relationships with the pastors and students are flourishing.  I am so excited to see these new believers placed into healthy churches!

Leadership Gatherings

I am constantly, blown away by how God continues to use us to reach, encourage and equip the church.  Tuesday we had another pastors training and prayer morning; we call them “Leadership gatherings.”  Our topic this time was “Timothy – lessons learned from a disciple.”  I could not be more excited and encouraged by how well these monthly training sessions are going.

Our seminars do not follow the typical format of these types of events here, but despite that, I really sense the pastors have come to understand and appreciate in a new way the things we are trying to accomplish as we gather.

For example, culturally in schools where our Xhosa pastors all grew up, the environment if very different than in North America.  You come, you sit, and you shut-up and listen.  Most seminars here follow a similar formula where an “expert” teacher comes to impart to the gathered church leaders.

We have very intentionally from the beginning said we will not do it that way and instead we encourage the pastors we believe that God has spoken and taught each one of you, and as we gather, we seek to bring that wisdom out for the benefit of all the others.  The pastors no longer hesitate during the discussions, instead they are eager to share and ask questions about our topics.

From my last teaching, my 3 large group questions were:

1.            What is a disciple, and who is a disciple trying to become like?
2.            Is every born again Christian a disciple?
3.            When you picture a mature disciple of Jesus, what characteristics do you picture?

We had such amazing conversation on these questions as we wrestle with these issues and we seek the Lord together in prayer for one another.  In my small group a few of the pastors were from a large denomination.  They asked, “How do we begin to do discipleship in our churches when our denominations are against it?”  We prayed that God would soften the hearts of the denominational leaders in this regards.

Most of the pastors are from independent churches, and they were challenging one another on how to not just preach, but to start doing 1 on 1 ministry and bible studies with their members so that the people of the churches can ask questions about the Bible and together they can search the scriptures for answers.  One of our major emphasis this week was on sound doctrine, as sadly there are constantly problems here with churches and pastors that have gone astray.  We talked about opening up churches to encourage the people to go directly to the Word instead of just trusting the pastor to tell them what it means.  It is very difficult to capture in black in white text the joy and passion in these pastors eyes as we go through these topics.

Young Pastor training program

We have just recently started a new training program aimed at young pastors.  Please pray for us in this new and exciting ministry that I believe is very needed.

There is a strong culture here of young leaders rebelling against their older pastors/mentors and splitting churches to create new “movements” and churches.  We believe that it is close to the heart of God to see reconciliation between these parties and we are uniquely positioned in that we as Hope Africa have programs that reach the young leaders, but my personal work is training the senior pastors.

When crime becomes normal

Turns out the things that happen here in an average week have become our "new normal,” and so since these things don’t surprise us as much anymore, we have been lacking the ambition to write about them!  Eeek, we are the "sorryest".

A significant part of “normal” life here is crime.  In the last 5 days my sister Char and her new husband Mawande had their place broken into and their copper piping was stolen so they had no water when they woke up Sunday morning.

On Tuesday morning when we arrived early for our pastors training morning, we found one of our windows at Beautiful Gate (the ministry we rent space from) had been smashed and the office broken into during the night.

On Wednesday morning we found out one of our 4 hair salons that we have built for our new small business students was broken into and her hot water tank, chairs and various items were stolen.

Yesterday night a local business in our small suburb we live in was broken into and robbed.

And as you might have read on our Hope Africa: Mike & Marie-Eve Facebook page, the Pastor I work with, Bishop Nyanga was robbed at gun point last month, as he pulled into his driveway in broad day light.  This has been a hard time for him and his family who was also with him during this incident.  Please continue to pray for them.

Meet Portia

Meet my friend Portia.  I met her in March during street team.  She was helping her neighbor who is renovating her house.

Portia has been coming to our Hope Africa office for some time now, visiting our prayer room for much needed prayers, counsel and love.  She told me: "I always feel so much better after [they] pray for me and can sleep."  She also said how she feels "happy and able to not focus on everything that is going wrong for a few hours" after receiving prayers from our staff.

Portia has a 6 year old son, who's father chooses not to be in the least involved.  He wanted nothing to do with the child since he found out Portia was pregnant.  You see, dads don't have to help their children financially here as they do in Canada.  They can just pretend they don't have them, leaving the women to take care of their children alone.  

Portia lives with her son in a small shack with no running water, no fridge & hardly enough space for the double bed they share.  When I visited her, there was no place to sit inside, so we ended up chatting outside, sitting on the ground.

Without a job or a way to make money & desperate to be loved, this leaves Portia at the mercy of not-good-for-you-men.  It's not hard to understand why a woman like her would stay in an abusive relationship(s) "just not to be alone" or for the few dollars this person might provide.

Helpless situations birth hopeless choices.

For Portia, her life is at a cross road right now.  We have offered for her to join our programs at Hope Africa, so that she can learn skills and get a job.  During her time with us, she would also grow as a person, and learn to stand on her two feet better.  She would meet Jesus in a new way as well.  But for many students like Portia, when their lives have been in pieces for so long, it's not as easy as one would think for them to take hold of the hand that is trying to help them. Truly help them.

There are always more obstacles than we can foresee.  Some real, some not.  People like Portia are so used to things not going their way, so used to failure, that sometimes it's easier not to try at all. Especially when it sounds too good to be true.

After discussing our programs and having her promise to come on the following Monday, the day our Life Direction course started, we left at peace.  I felt confident that she would come, despite the obstacles, which we had talked through (I thought).

But Portia didn't show up on Monday.  And it is hard for a person like me, who's never ever faced the kinds of challenges she has faced, to understand why not?  I want so bad for her, and many like her to know freedom from poverty.  To be able to stand on their 2 feet and tell those no-good-men to get lost.  To hold their heads high.  To feel loved by the King of Kings.

Because they are indeed loved.  And completely loved.  And as I write this I sigh.  A LOT.  Because I don't know the answers to my questions. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.  To my knees I fall and pray and ask my Papa for help, on behalf of all the people, like Portia, who are suffering, feeling their obstacles so heavy on them they can hardly see past.

With hope I say this story is to be continued.  Because you bet I will storm up to heaven's door for this woman and I know you will too!

Seeing new things or seeing differently?

It was a Thursday afternoon when I met her in the streets of Philippi, during one of our street team outing.  She looked at me and I looked at her, trying as hard as I could to hide the many questions popping into my head as to why she had a yellow-looking-mask all over her face.  And why, if it was indeed a mask, was she out of her house walking around as if nothing?

credits:https://misseuphony.wordpress.com/

But our street team stopped and started talking to her. She never mentioned it, and neither did I.  I used up all of my missionary politeness on this one, for I am very curious in nature.  And honestly, if I had met someone in the streets and invited them into my house while wearing a face mask, I would have certainly explained myself to my guests.  "Sorry guys, it's a bad time for my skin so I must..."  But this lady, nothing.

She was completely unapologetic.  I had to sit on my hands with the question burning up in my throat, trying to focus on what she was saying.  She was speaking in Xhosa, which makes it 100% more difficult for me to follow!  She did use hand gestures a lot, so it helped greatly, as she spoke to a fellow staff member (Sam).

One hand waived to the stairs and she made a lot of "BOOM" sounds, making me believe that she had fallen down the stairs and her repeatedly pointing to her sound system, while shouting and flailing her arms, made me believe that someone had possibly attempted to rob her recently. Having been here over 2 years now, I have stopped assuming that someone is mad just because they are yelling.   It did take me a full 2 years (and even now and then) to realize that Xhosa people just like talking very loud and even though they sound mad, they rarely are.  And this woman was proper-yelling!

All in all, I was only guessing, and now hearing the word "surgery" and perhaps "infection", I was gathering enough to know that this woman needed prayers.  I first thanked the Lord that Xhosa is sprinkled with English-like words that help me follow along in these types of situations, but also thanked Him that He knew her needs more than any of us ever could!

And as the Xhosa staff listened and ministered to her, I quietly prayed and cried out to God on behalf of this woman and her family.  She was an important woman in the community, I found out, while she dashed out of her home to go get her neighbor lady who had a terrible illness.  She described it as something similar to tuberculosis.

And then it happened.  Her neighbor was also sporting the same facial mask as her.  I had to double bite my tongue again and well...

Let me completely honest, as I have grown accustomed to be with you, when I say that in that moment I also prayed for my own safety and physical strength against this terrible disease.  I felt guilty for my own selfish reaction, although very human, and resumed my prayers for this frail lady.  As I prayed and sensed an overwhelming darkness, I feared her ailment was possibly more spiritual than physical and in my soul I began to pray and intercede on her behalf.

I have often prayed for God to give me wisdom, to give me eyes that see what He sees.  For Him to give me a heart like His.  Yet for some reason, every-time a moment like this happens, where I feel like the Father is showing me glimpses into a person's soul, showing me how He sees this person, somehow I'm always surprised!  Did I not just pray and ask for that very thing?  Then why, oh why, am I surprised that my Father is answering by showing me these things and allowing me to feel such deep emotions and compassion?

Our Heavenly Father is so good and so compassionate, and loves deeply and freely.  He lavishes His love on us.  And when I'm overcome with a flood of love for a complete stranger, I know it's from my Father in Heaven.  He gives me words that I could never know to speak in such foreign situation. He gives me insight that I wouldn't have on my own.  As a girl from a far away land, I shouldn't dare speak up yet He empowers me.  He makes me bold.  He speaks through me when I choose to completely abandon myself to Him and trust Him.  I sometimes feel foolish, like I might not be saying the right thing, yet time and time again I see light and understanding from the other person.  That can only be from God.

So today I praise Him for the lady who had a strange facial mask on, who brought her sick friend over [to perhaps do another facial?].  For I have seen the Lord work in mysterious ways and perhaps it was more to minister to my soul than to theirs, but I doubt it.  He is so good.

Oh, and it turns out it wasn't a face mask.  It was...  a mix of white clay and Umemezi, that Xhosa women [especially older women from the Eastern Cape], apply to their faces to protect them from sunburns and harsh weather.  It is also used a "makeup" and regarded as a symbol of beauty by the women.  Now since our students are younger, I wasn't familiar with this practice, but now I know!

I'm not only seeing new things, but with the Lord's help, I believe that He allows me to see people differently.

Bishop Nyanga

HUGE answer to prayer!!!  Last month we asked you to pray for God to send the right person to our ministry.  We were looking to hire an older local pastor who can work with Mike in ministering to the local churches.  The person who was previously helping Mike with this has moved on from Hope Africa at the end of his term (December 2015) and we now have found someone amazing to replace him.

Mike greeting the Bishop at our first staff meeting with him

We are very excited to be able to introduce you to Bishop Nyanga.  He is a local pastor that we worked with a lot in 2015 and have a strong relationship with.  We will give more information about him soon.

Bishop Nyanga telling our staff a little bit more about himself

• The boys are back into the school daily grind of homeschooling (after the holidays) and things are going well.  
   
• The boys enjoy playing soccer on Friday afternoons in a little kid's league near our house.  Vincent is rather fierce and Raphael is more "calculated" & tries to do fancy moves.
   
• We have been enjoying our first actual ever garden.  It's a lot more work and a lot harder than one would think!!!  The soil here is well... sandy.  And the wind is a big problem, never mind the snails!
   
• I [Marie-Eve] broken my toe at the gym by dropping a whooping 20 kilo weight plate on it.  Not my brightest moment ever. he he.  I guess I didn't want to have to do "leg day".
   
• Mike has been enjoying playing tennis on a weekly basis with friends and has even started running. He (not so secretly) misses hockey, snow & everything attached with winter.  I, on the other hand, miss none of it.

Staff retreat blessedness

Mike and I (Marie-Eve) had the opportunity to go with our staff to a work retreat for 2 days and spend quality time together to dream, pray and refocus ourselves on this wonderful ministry the Lord has called us to.

Even with a broken toe, I attempted to participate in as many events as possible!

This nail challenged seemed nearly impossible, until we figured it out and gained speed at doing it :)

Jeremy became really intense and wanted to win so bad.

The pool was a relief as the heat was almost unbearable.

I was the saddest at not being able to do this rope challenge, but everyone did so fantastic.