The Msindisi Monthly - February 2007

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. " (Philippians 3: 8 - 11)

The Latest News

This last month has been a different month. I went to KwaZulu Natal for 2 and a bit weeks and it was an excellent time. It was great to see the endless friendly faces that I had known while living there. My friends, Caleb and Sophie, had seen the birth of their second child, Abigail Charlotte, in October and they are planning to move to the United States of America in April. So it was good to catch up with them before that time. The church group now meets in Celani's house and on the first Sunday we saw a young girl called 'Cebisile' give her heart to the Lord. She testified that she had been struggling for months under conviction but not wanting to commit herself to Jesus. Now she had decided to repent and to get right with Christ. So we baptised her the following Sunday. I visited the children's club and arrived with many gifts, including 30 shoeboxes with the donated materials from a number of you and others and wrapped by Geta who visited in December. I also brought some toy diggers that were donated by a guy called Tony as well as tons of teddy bears. While in KwaZulu, my friend Phumulani and I went out with gospel literature but it was amazing to see the amount of people who didn't take, not because they didn't want it but because they thought we were selling them. I had to keep telling people that it was for free. Yorke Hinds from Australia visited the church in KwaZulu and shared about his experience of sharing the Gospel in Australia and how harder it is where he lives.

Back at Aletheia, Springs I have been still going through the book of Romans and 1 John in the church meetings and bible studies. It always fits in to something current. Romans with the daily slug of being a Christian and 1 John with the apostasy of Gnostic Christianity influxing the church again. As Ecclesiastes 1: 9 says, 'There is no new thing under the sun.'

Evangelism

We have just acquired a guitar amplifier, microphone, car battery and power inverter to aid with street preaching. There have been times where my voice has been struggling to carry, probably because I am not projecting properly and using my breathing properly. But this equipment will make it easier and can also be used in the future for outdoor church meetings. Dave is a quite pragmatic person and one of the phrases he likes to say is 'Let's make hay while the sun shines'. Unfortunately our friend Zakhele Malaza has been forced to go back to Mpumalanga to look after his sons there. This makes is difficult to do some work in a township. However I have met up with a nice pastor called John, who is evangelical and is seeking to do things biblically. He lives in a township next to KwaThema called Tsakane and Mike and I will be visiting some of his congregants on Tuesday about doing some open air meetings there. I get a very good impression from him and he has been eager to meet up since mid December when Mike and I met him on the street while handing out gospel literature. I hope that on Tuesdays we will go to Tsakane and on Thursdays we will do what we usually do in Springs. We are also thinking about visiting students at Springs college again and seeing what may come of that but we will see.

Other Things

This month we will see the visit of a couple of girls called Becca and Suzie from Yorkshire come to help out, plus the return of Dave's son Aaron and a girl called Erin who has been here before. All these will be able to help with the Sunday school and will help to lighten the burden. At the moment Lyn Royle has graciously intervened and has been covering the weeks when I am preaching. For this I am grateful. I am hoping to do short term mission trips to KwaZulu on a semi regular basis in the future and it would be an opportunity for people to experience rural mission where they would really have to rough it. But saying that it is mission in a really beautiful part of the world with friendly and hospitable people and it is well worth the experience. For those who haven't received it, I have written a journal of my time in KwaZulu this month which describes what it was like. If you are interested in receiving a copy, just email me and I will be pleased to email it to you. If you would be interested in doing a short term mission to KwaZulu later in the year, please email Dave Royle at moriel.david@gmail.com and you can find out more details.

Prayer Requests

• For the people of KwaZulu that I will be visiting. For Caleb and Sophie as they prepare to go back to the States and for Phumulani, Celani and other the  Christians who are staying back in KwaZulu.
  
• For Zakhele as he settles in Mpumalanga
  
• 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.
  
• For the Royle family and kids at Ebyown as those various illnesses come up frequently.

Contact Details

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