The Msindisi Monthly - December 2007

"For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself, He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by having put to death the enmity." (Ephesians 2: 14 - 16)

The latest News

Well Di and I have decided to combine our newsletters into one. We got married on the 24th November in the garden of our friends Morne and Vicky Rabie and it lightly rained but mostly stayed dry which was good for us. We appreciate all the cards and emails we have and still are receiving. Some people in Moriel pulled together and opened the way for us to spend our honeymoon in Cape Town.

During the wedding ceremony we both took communion together and a fresh appreciation was brought about concerning the faith of Christ Jesus. The Bible compares Jesus' relationship with the Church to a marriage. It is the marriage of one man to one woman and the man is the head who is supposed to lay down his life for the bride. Just like Christ in the Church. The taking of communion symbolized this laying down of Jesus' life for His bride. Thus it demonstrated Jesus' death on the cross (and His resurrection) making possible the 'marriage' between Jesus and His church.

In another sense it also was what was needed to make our marriage together possible because outside of Christ we would never have gotten together. Cape Town was a marvelous experience, especially as it has so much history linked to it.

Seeing the city from the top of Table Mountain made it possible to imagine what it must have been like at the time of the first European settlers. These people saw the birth of a new white nation, the Afrikaner.

The Afrikaner made the huge mistake of equating themselves on the same level as the Israel of the scriptures. They interpreted Israel's promises of having a land, in light of their own situation and as being a nation chosen of God. They saw the native peoples as the Canaanites, (that would include the Philistines, Jebusites etc) being under the Canaanite curse and treated them as such. Yet these African tribes were not under that curse being from an entirely different lineage.

Also Jesus spoke to fulfill the promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed when he said to go into all the world to make disciples. Not all Afrikaners and Europeans thought like this but there were many non the less. This is said simply to say that these feelings, though not expressed as they once were, are still tied into the hearts of people in South Africa.

This keeping alive of past sentiments is not just from the whites but there also has been a stripping away of white history and memory with many place names being changed (Johannesburg Intl. Airport – OR Tambo Airport, Pietersburg – Polokwane, Northern Transvaal – Limpopo etc) and a discrimination against white people gaining employment from South African government itself. The idea of Apartheid was to keep the cultural groups separate in order to preserve culture. We now see apartheid, in part, reestablished with the difficulty of white people being able to foster black children for the preservation of culture.

However in Christ we see the Gospel bringing an end to division based on earthly and temporal differences and see a unity and division based on the fact of Spiritual birth and heritage. These are issues that face us as we try to witness to, share with, help and visit people. Not seeing them according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. The Gospel is for all, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Chinese and Japanese and Jesus is embracing of all who truly believe from all cultural and racial backgrounds; and He treats them all as equal in His sight.   

For those of you who don't know what Salvi does, he is an evangelist and a preacher / teacher at the local Church we go to. He teaches very basic Hebrew lessons for his Hebrew teacher who is in America with Jews for Jesus until next year. For those who do not know much about Dianne, she runs Bethesda. Bethesda is a ministry that goes on to the local informal settlement, forging relationships with people, helping to meet need and trying to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. We run a bible study in one lady's home there.

Evangelism

Salvador has been to Tsakane a couple of times this month and witnessed with John. He has seen a couple of people who have been really interested in the Gospel and we met a few people who have seemed to be really interested but lost interest. Salvi has been handing out tracts by himself and got into conversations with people. He was joined a couple of times by one of the Swedish people who were visiting Ebyown called Jonathan.

The first time Jonathan came he didn't enjoy it so much as his English is not as strong as he would like but the second he stayed by Salvi and observed Salvi's conversations with people.

On that day there were people who didn't want anything to do with the Gospel but there were about three people who did. Wilton, Siphiwe Jordan and Buli Mapota. They all seemed to take in so much without wanting to get into commitment.

The other week I spoke to a Roman Catholic called Oscar who prays to Mary and believes he is saved because he is in the Roman Catholic Church. We had a great conversation together. There have been others this month that we have been speaking to.

We listened to a message by a guy who said there are 4 good questions that we can ask and we should be able to answer as Christian believers when someone says they believe in a particular belief or religion.

1. What do you mean by that word/phrase/doctrine?
   
2. How do you know that that is true?
   
3. What difference has it made in your life?
   
4. What happens if you are wrong and you die?

Even in Cape town there were three people who I could ask questions about. The biggest thing for us believers is where do we find our identity? If it is in anything above the Lord then we are playing at being believers. Jesus said that if we deny him before men He will deny Him before the angels. When we meet people, they inevitably ask us who we are and what do we do. In one sense it is easier being a missionary because you can't hide behind a secular job but those are great opportunities to share with people the great gospel that we believe in.

Bethesda

Dianne wants to thank everyone for your encouragement and support that you have given her over the year. The gift boxes were all received with big smiles, Hannah, Jonathon, Lorraine and Di took them over to kwezenzele in the combi due to the fact that people can surround you in great numbers. We had a list with the names of the girls who played netball with us and they all received a box each. (17 in total)
The rest went to 6 families in real need who we had formed relationships with over the year. All the workers of Ebyown received a food parcel with a small gift for their families as well.

Due to the fact that the jumpers didn't arrive in time from Aussie, Lorraine and Dianne will go over later in the year with these special gifts. It is important that we're not seen as a Santa Clause. Our aim is to get to know these families and girls on a personal level so we can share the Lord with them. Many of the girls are reaching the stage of becoming sexually active therefore Di would like to be able to speak into there lives before a situation may arise where an abortion is considered an option. She is also very careful not to push the western lifestyle. These kids lead very simplistic lives and I don't want to create a longing for materialistic things that they don't need and have managed fine without.   

Many homes on the settlement have veggie gardens which is a wonderful way of feeding their families. Di is trying to encourage this with the families she may working along side, we have given out seeds and seedlings so far this year. She has been able to do this due to the generous gift given to Bethesda by Judith and James who came to visit Ebyown earlier in the year. Thank you and God bless you both

Next year she will be working over on the settlement, Both she and Salvi want to continue this work after we are married and are both prayerful about our future.

Other news

As we approach the end of the year we are looking forward to a short mission trip to KwaZulu Natal which we will keep a journal of. This will be typed up in the new year for anyone that is interested in reading it. Next year we will be visiting New Zealand, as Di was already booked to go back and now with the recent wedding, her family and friends are looking forward to meeting Salvi in the flesh. This month we plan to do a gospel puppet show in Zulu for the children of the informal settlement. Salvi is hoping to meet with a good friend called Joe Rumley who went on a short term mission when he was in KwaZulu Natal and his family are active participants in Salvador's ministry though they are in the UK. Joe is visiting a family near Johannesburg for a month. Other than this we both wish you all a great new year and that God's true and everlasting blessings will rest on all through His Gospel and His Truth.

Prayer Requests

• For Di and Salvi in their life and ministry. That they would keep their eyes on the Lord, that He would direct them in their future together. That they would hear His voice and know His will concerning where they are to live and that He would open the right doors.
  
• 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 the Royle family and kids at Ebyown and their future.
  
• For our relationship with Pastor John in Tsakane and the door and opportunity for more rigorous evangelism in Tsakane.

For those who God leads to support us financially:

Contact Details

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

Y'varechecha Adonai