much work done

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5/21/06
Today was a very busy day. I woke up around 7, which is 1am your time. We ate breakfast and got ready for the army. It is so cold here, I think that my feet are in a constant state of frozen. The military was very nice, but unfortunately I forgot my camera. There were about twenty men who came this morning and Bruce taught a lesson on salvation. The singing was very nice to listen to although I wish that I could sing along, my Zulu is lacking (I have yet to learn more than mehh, which is like misses). Each ministry I have a new opportunity to introduce myself. After this mornings service the men took a copy of John and Romans printed in their language, the people here are very open to the literature that we have to hand out, it is a nice change form the states and I pray that it is effective. A few were playing pool and I could not understand why they were have such a difficult time getting the ball in, so I tried…there must have been something wrong with that pool table because you had to shoot the wrong way to get the ball in. I was able to talk to one of the gentlemen though. He was very nice and spoke good English. He asked me what kind of psychology I was studying and told me that I must visit Capetown while I am here. Unfortunately Capetown is very far away and that is probably not likely but he insisted that I must see all of the technological advancement which Capetown possesses.
The military base is about two blocks away and we got back in time for tea and to turn on the heaters in the church. Bruce spoke on the Lord being our light. We were not sure how many people were going to come out due to the cold weather but we had about 25 in church. The entire church with the exception of two or three are children and most of those children reside in the hostiles in this town(there are two). The hostiles hold children of police officers and teachers who live in the outer towns. The school in this town is better that the schools in the surrounding area and the people who can afford to send their children to the hostiles to live. These children are unsupervised while they are there and only go home at the end of the month for a weekend. Please pray that these children would not be influenced by the world and that they might be a positive influence on the other children who live in the hostile, also that more boys would come to church as most who come are girls.
The mountains are absolutely beautiful; Bruce and Doris said that there is the most snow that they have ever seen up on the top, they were covered this morning. This is just the beginning of winter, at this point I am not sure if I want to see what the brunt of winter looks like.
In the afternoon we went to a local farm where we are able to hold a Sunday school for the children whose parents work on the farm. This was lots of fun. The children are adorable. We hold the service in the schoolhouse and there were about twenty children who attended. They have been working on the verse John 14:6. Most of the children don’t speak much English so Cornelius, the boy that I told you about in the last blog who just lost his father worked as a translator and he did a wonderful job. The hardest thing was that the children were trying to talk to me and I had no idea what they were saying nor how to respond to them.
5/22/06
Today was a busy day but there were no ministries. Monday’s are for office work and preparations for the rest of the week. Breakfast was at 7 and then we were in the office printing out 2600 mailers that we disperse in the nearby towns in mailboxes and businesses. We also got together stuffed animals for dispersal to children in the hospital tomorrow for we will be going into Bethlehem. Bethlehem is where we will get all of our groceries and tomorrow we need to take the car in for its yearly appointment and they will do a thorough inspection. Doris and I got some clothes together for Letta (the mother of Cornelius and siblings) so that she can sell them and make some money to support her family. I did some organization of the messages and mailers within the office. A lady who served with her husband in Zimbabwe as a missionary stopped by today and I was able to hear a little more about the corruption that goes on around here. Corruption is huge. First of all the tax on everything is 14% and when I say everything I mean EVERY money transaction that takes place, but you don’t see it, it is included in all of the prices. But specifically today Esther was talking about how she works with children who has cerebral palsy. Every week milk is donated by a local store for the children and the government was donating bread and margarine, 5L of milk and 12 loaves of bread but Esther noticed that the children were not getting the whole 12 loaves of bread and when she asked about it, the lady said that the children got the bread. She later found out that the lady was giving the bread away to people who came in. Esther has also cooked for the children but the children’s parents also come in and she has found that the parents benefit more than the children do. Esther also helps with crafts for the children so that they can learn something, which they like to do with the potential to earn money from it. She has worked with the children and the parents to teach the children crocheting but then when she comes back a few days later to see how the children are doing with their crocheting she finds the parents to be crocheting but the parents say that the children can’t do it. She has come across this issue with several projects that she has attempted and asks the question of what to do. Bruce and Doris find the same problem when they supply things to the church and then one day go to use them and find that they are gone. This is the way that the next generation of South Africa is being brought up. Please pray for a breakthrough. God gives us encouragement in this matter in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And in Colossians 2:15 Paul says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a spectacle of them, triumphing over them.” We can find hope in this for the fighting of all battles and trials of this world for in the death of Christ on the cross He has defeated Satan and all of the evil forces that he sends our way. Hallelujah!
Today as I was listening to the radio God layed the girls of this country on my heart. Prostitution is huge in this country and they are recognizing it in Johannesburg and questioning what to do about it. They are finding girls as young as 12 and possibly younger on the streets. There is also a known rate of 30% HIV infection and they were saying today that the rates of the young girls is probably as high as 70-80%. They are saying that the reasons for this are the fact that the girls do not want to be told what to do and they want to be able to make their own money to purchase things. As I was thinking about the days activities I have decided that I am going to start a crafts group with the girls at church. We are finding that the older girls at church are no longer coming and I would like to see them come back and I would also like to teach the girls something that they can use to occupy their time, make some money, and this will also be a great opportunity for fellowship. Please pray that the girls would take advantage of this opportunity and the Lord would bless it beyond my imagination.
I have decided that I cannot attach pictures to my blog until I get home, this is a disappointment to me as I know that it is to you also but it is just not feasible for me to send these huge files and spend excessive time on the internet when it is so expensive, I know you understand.

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