Update from Cape Town

Gail and Ronnie are working with a refugee "church" to teach them English (Gail), train the "pastors," teach them to witness, and train them how on teaching the Bible to children, teens, and cell groups.  These refugees are from Rwanda, Burundi, and the DRC.  They have very little money, but each week they pay to ride the train twice a week from wherever in Cape Town they live to attend the English class or church and training.  These people want to learn.  They want to get jobs.  They want to know more about the Word.
Please pray for seminary students as they continue through the year.  There are a few international students from Zim, Namibia and America who are attending and are trying to adjust to a new culture and to studying in English, for many of the students.
Also, pray for the young adults Ronnie teaches each week.  Ronnie is teaching them "The Story" method of witnessing and then they hope to go to university campuses and witness and start Bible studies.
Thanks for the prayers for Ronnie's mother, Earlene.  She had a stroke on March 16th and was very confused and couldn't talk.  By the following Tuesday, she was almost back to her old self, which is still limited because she is 81; however, she is a lovely woman that people enjoy visiting.

Mapping Joburg

Urban Mapping is a method for discovering strategic focal areas for ministry in your city. Pray for 3 teams of coworkers who will be mapping Joburg over the next month.  Pray that they will have many opportunities to share their faith and that they will see through God's eyes as they explore areas where we believe there is little to no gospel witness.

Durban Ministries

Roger and many Christian leaders around Durban are preparing for “Power to Change”, a comprehensive Christ-centered media campaign that will embrace Durban throughout September through print and digital media of all kinds.  Testimonies of local believers will be shared across the city, and local churches will follow up those who desire more information.  Pray for wisdom for all aspects of preparation, and for more laborers for this potentially great harvest.

*As Roger & Meg prepare to leave Durban in May, there is much to do. Please ask God to raise up willing people to continue mentoring various folks we work with, and for someone to lead the Discovery Group training Meg is doing at World Changers Academy.

*N and T lead a Friends of Jesus Club that meets Mondays at Upper Room Lighthouse Church near Chatsworth.  Forty-five children from the shack settlements nearby attend. Ask God to grow these kids into strong Christ-followers, and to protect them as they live in great poverty, amidst rampant drug, alcohol, and sex abuses.

*Mrs. S is a big-hearted lady who runs the Drop-In Centre for Orphans in Tshelinyama (Blackstone) township.  The 45 children under her care live with either a parent dying of AIDS, or on their own. They come to Mrs. S weekday mornings for breakfast. Little ones stay for daycare while older siblings go to school for the day.  In the afternoon they receive a meal, homework help, and then go home.  Thank God for Mrs. Shozi and others who run 9 such centers, caring for hundreds of such orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). 

*“T loves kids and is starting a Friends of Jesus club for the orphans at the Drop-In Centre for Orphans that her mother runs.  Pray that Meg will be able to identify and train a mentor/co-teacher to help T learn to lead the Club well. Ask that the children, from pre-school to high-school, will absorb the teaching at their own level and learn to trust their heavenly Father for all their needs.

*S is a young mom who has begun a Friends of Jesus club for her little sister and other children in the township of Chesterville (Umkumbane). Ask that God strengthen S in this new challenge, and help her to balance caring for little 8-month old, her home, and college studies. 

*Meg is helping to forge a partnership between the Bible Society of South Africa and the Community Outreach Centre, a Christian non-profit group that caters for the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in nine townships near Pinetown.  The project will train 47 community workers to share God’s Word with AIDS-affected parents and children using the “Proclaimer”, an audio player that is solar-powered. Pray for successful training on March 27th and 30th. Ask that as God’s Word goes forth, it will empower the listeners to live upright lives in the midst of many challenges.  As many as 600 households may be reached in this way.

Windhoek

Although many Namibian profess to be Christians few live in obedience to God’s Word. It seems as if many in the country have responded to the Gospel, but that the Gospel has not yet transformed the culture. In order for the Gospel to transform the Namibian culture an emphasis must be made in teaching nationals deep Spiritual truths in a culturally appropriate manner. This is why Ron spends many hours a week preparing and lecturing in the local seminary. Four of his students will be graduating on the 24^th of this month. Please pray for S, Z, A, and E as they begin leading the local church. Pray that they might be faithful in applying the truths they have learned, choosing to be obedient to God’s Word, and encouraging those they lead to do the same.

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.  2 Tim 2:2 NKJV

Muslims of Southern Africa

A reproducing church.  Among most of our peoples, there is no church at all.  It is our desire to find believers and train them to reach their own people.  However, among one of our people groups, there is church!  We are working with a body of believers to train them to start cell groups that are reproducible and sustainable.  This outreach began in February, and by the time we return to the States in July, we hope to see 5 to 10 sustainable groups that are reproducing themselves and abundantly sharing the gospel among this Muslim people group. Please join us in prayer for this.

Soon after our Christmas visit with one lady in particular, a worker was invited to a birthday party at her house.  As the worker was leaving the party, the lost friend told how she had been reading the Bible the past 5 nights and she wanted to ask some questions.  She said, "I'm restless to know the difference between our books."  The worker stayed and talked for an hour, and in that time, was able to share parts of 3 different Bible stories in order to speak to her very candidly and ask good questions. Please pray that this lost friend will continue to be "restless" and seek Truth in the Scriptures.

Journeygals

XHOSA OF SOUTH AFRICA (KOH-sah). 
How do you prepare to serve as a missionary in a foreign land? As new Journeygals, Britnie and Sarah are finishing an intensive training of teaching, sharing, doing and praying this month in preparation to be Urban Youth Transformers among the Xhosa in Cape Town. Soon they will be saying goodbye to family and friends, boarding a plane and arriving in a land that is very different than what they have called home up to this time. How can you pray for them? Paul has this answer from 2 Thessalonians 1: 11-12, “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Cape Flats

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (KAYP town).

In 2011, Ronnie taught an evangelism course at the Cape Town Baptist Seminary.  During that semester, the students had over 250 witnessing encounters with the people of Cape Town.  Of those, 81 professed faith in Christ and were connected to Christian churches near their homes.  Since then, one of Ronnie’s students has become pastor of a church of a church in the Cape Flats area, a very impoverished part of Cape Town.  He asked Ronnie to train his church on how to evangelize the lost.  Ronnie led an evangelism conference in February.  Please pray for the safety of the people as they go out into the Flats and witness.  There are many gangs in the Flats.