The Msindisi Monthly - December 2006

"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though it be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;" (Psalm 111: 2 & 3)

The Latest News

This last month has been quite a busy one. Dave and I went to India to visit a ministry in a City called Vijayawada (City of Victory). What stood out was the abject poverty of the people. Different to South Africa. In South Africa you have 1 st and 3 rd world in the same country but over there it was 1 st and 3 rd world in the same street. I think the toilet at the airport serves as a good microcosm of my impression of the country. The toilets were manky and old, with walls cracked but the urinals had movement sensors for automatic flushing. The technology is there but hygiene and sanitation is poor. We also learned that among the hindu community, which was the most prevalent religion, which we saw, there were 4 social caste groups. With their view of reincarnation the people who are born into the lowest caste are called untouchables and deemed to be paying their Karma (like sin) of their past lives. Therefore the life of a cow (sacred animal) may be worth more than the life of a baby. There are some hindus that might do humanitarian work as a way of working off their own Karma but the pastor said most didn't. The pastor, Chanti, himself was born into a low caste family and ended up being put into an orphanage to get a better deal out of life. He studied to become a lawyer in order to get revenge on society but on his wedding day he said he committed himself to follow Jesus and now his desire is to help. You can read about what we did here. I may be visiting India next March if all goes well, and share the gospel in some of the villages around there. But that will be on my own.  

Evangelism

The week after Dave and I got back from India we saw the arrival of 5 Australians from Melbourne, well four of them are from Melbourne and one from Brisbane. They all helped with the filling of the 1000 shoeboxes for our outreach. We were able to get every single thing on our list because Colgate were kind enough to donate 1000 children's toothbrushes and toothpaste. Only about half of the children had their name on the list and so consequently only half of them got hats, because the hats were quite expensive. All the boxes contained gospel material too. On the day I made use of a fluent Zulu speaker called Zak to speak for us. I said to him that he would have had to shout because we had no amplification. But on the afternoon of the outreach I was approached by someone for the settlement who asked if we needed to use a PA system. I am really glad that they approached us because it would have been impossible to speak with so many people crammed together, with many people talking themselves. People have been praying and I am thankful to God for that. I am thankful to God for helping us with the whole event because I have never organised and done something to that scale before. The nearest thing to an enterprise like that was directing and putting on a small scale comedic play in Manchester We had a large tent erected and people packed into it. I introduced the event, then I got Zac to tell people about Jesus and then one of the Australians, Andrea who is a nurse, shared something about health and hygiene. It was a long process going through the boxes and calling out names and the event nearly turned into pandemonium, but everything worked out. I am hopefully meeting with Zak this week to see what else we can do on the informal settlement we tried to reach. An extra benefit was that we had enough boxes to take some children from KwaZulu Natal into consideration and I have set aside thirty boxes for the kids club that I used to run. A very competent and godly lady called Celani is running it now from her home and she sees more children attend than I used to. I am hoping to visit them at the end of December for two weeks and catch up with people that I spent 2 and a half years of my life with in ministry. The couple that stayed in KwaZulu after I left, Caleb and Sophie are going to move to America in April of next year.  

I have also been out with a couple of Australians and with Mike, street preaching and will continue to do so. When we went last time we met a Rastafarian who seemed to get what we shared and who we asked questions to. The initial start of singing and preaching looked like a waste of time but as the morning went on a number of people stopped to listen and got into conversations with Mike. One of the benefits of having the visitors is that we have had a couple of them at a time doing Sunday school and so we do not have to cancel it.

I will just finish off this months update by saying that the weather here has turned out very nice and hot. After 1 year and a half of colder weather it is lovely to live in summertime. Especially hearing about the summer that I missed in the UK But winter time is coming, just as the scripture indicates about a winter of discontent, of tribulation and disasters. But when we see the news speak about these things, about tribulation, one world ruler, cashless society, about the struggle about Jerusalem and the erection of a temple in Jerusalem the scripture says 'Look up because your redemption is getting nearer.

Prayer Requests

• For the people of KwaZulu that I will be visiting. For Caleb and Sophie, Phumulani, Celani and other Christians

• For the people of KwaZenzele settlement who got boxes and gospel literature, that they might understand what the message is saying

• For the possibility of more witnessing opportunities and the sensitivity, guidance and courage to proclaim God's gospel. Please pray for the individuals that we speak with, which ever names God lays on your heart.

• For our own devotion to Jesus. For that reality to be apparent in our own lives as we attempt to practice what the scripture tells us in love and humility.

• For guidance for direction now and future.

Contact Details

PO BOX: 10807, Strubenvale 1570
Springs, Gauteng. South Africa

Wesbsite: www.estisi.4t.com  
Email: msindisi@gmail.com
Phone: (+27)11 730 1719
Mobile number: (+27) 728311008