South Africa Newsletter 01/10

Pastors for Africa
Summer Newsletter 09

We once again thank you, the partners of Live Connection for your commitment in helping us support the rural pastors of Africa. We take this opportunity to wish you all a merry Christmas and God’s very best for the New Year.

This past year has been a very exciting year and one of consolidation, rather than expansion. We enter the New Year in a good place and with great expectations for what lies ahead in 2010. Of course, soccer fever, is becoming an important matter in the media, with South Africa hosting the first ever Soccer World Cup in Africa. Already many schools have shortened the Christmas holidays so that the kids will be off during the soccer cup season. This will ease a massive pressure off the infrastructure and make for a successful event.

We are all well, the Children, Church and Judi’s Design Studio keep us busy. To help unstring the bow I have started keeping wild birds, (African /Australians finches) again as a hobby. We have also recently acquired a little Jack Russell puppy, like having a baby in the house again, but he brings us all much joy.

Highlights of 2009

This year we have had a massive focus on building strong relationship among the Zulu Tribes to the north and the Xhosa Tribes to the south of Durban. We have built up a strong team which ministers to the Churches in these regions. A few months ago in my daily prayer time Holy Spirit showed me that we were to send out a ‘Day Mission’ to a new or struggling church every Sunday. The target is 300 kilometres around Durban. It has been amazing to see how the folk have adopted the vision and we now have 5 teams that rotate in fulfilling this call.

We have assisted a number of Churches who do not have a Church building to purchase tents. We normally buy the tent and they then pay us back half the purchase price. Once they have done this they then own the Tent. We have also tried to help each church to own a small PA System, 2 microphones and a keyboard. In Africa these resources are essential if you are to remain in business.

Flagstaff Project

We have just purchased a Church site in Flagstaff in the Transkei. It is well situated amongst this rural community and has an old mud house on it, which can be used to house the visiting mission teams.

There is a beautiful view over the dam below and forests as a background. In the next few weeks the electricity will be connected and we will then in business. Early in 2010 we plan to erect a 12m by 6 m structure for Church meetings This will be a strategic centre to reach out to the region.

Mandini Project

The Church in Mandini is growing well and is now well established with a strong leadership. We helped them to buy a tent and that is now filled to capacity. Our next step is to erect a gum pole and corrugated iron structure and they can then build the walls into it. This is one of the building projects planned for the Aussie Mission Team to Africa in January 2010.

Aussie Mission Trip 2010

This is the seventh Africa Mission Team that Paul Ravesteyn has led to Africa. They arrive in Durban on January 15th and depart on February 2nd. It will be a nonstop time of ministry, building and sight seeing. They will experience the real Africa, the team will sleep in first world suburbs, urban townships and squatter camps, as well as rural villages. This year they will do some renovations on the Eagles Rest Mission’s Chapel and erect the structure in Mandini, Zululand. We have booked the rustic but beautiful Silverstreams Campsite for the Drakensberg experience. After that we head deep into the Transkei for ministry before returning to the Mission Base at Eagles Rest for yet another ministry trip to Zululand.

Zambia Mission

A few months ago I had a very successful ministry trip to Zambia. I was based in Lusaka the whole time and the pastors travelled in for a 3 day pastors conference at the YWAM base outside Lusaka. Our main topic was God’s Vision is Our Mission. We had some in depth discussions on the Kingdom of God and how the DNA of our Churches needed to change. The seniors on the team there each assisted with some teaching and ministry. I am always amazed how gifted the Africans are with their oratory skills

It was great to spend a few days with the senior pastors in their homes and see how they have grown over the years that we have been supporting them. Most of the Churches were meeting in class rooms when we first met and owning a church site was a pipe dream. Now they have lovely Church buildings, a solid leadership in place and the most dynamic worship teams.

Zambian worship is something else. Ps Ackwell uses the usual western style band as well as a singing and dance group supported only with traditional drums

In December we see two of the Zambian pastors who were widows getting married. Evaristo from Ndola gets married on the 1st December and Ackwell from Lusaka gets married on the 12th December. We offer our heartfelt congratulations for the new season which begins in their lives.

Charles Ingwe has just e-mailed in to say that they had been held up and robbed of much of their household valuables by armed robbers. The family has been shaken by this ordeal and traumatised. Do lift them up in prayer.

Yearly Assessment

Each year we assess our continued support for the local pastors. There are a number that have now grown to a point that their support would be better invested into new Churches and their pastors. Others have moved on into Church movements and are being supported there both spiritually and physically. Again we have run our leg on their journey and need to pass the baton on to more needy situations where the finances will be a better investment on your behalf. We do humbly ask for your continued support in these transitions.

Pastor Training

We continue with the Day Seminars on the first Tuesday of each month at Eagles Rest Mission. There are a constant 20 to 25 pastors who attend each month. Some travel over a 100 kilometers and others in excess of 200 kilometers to get there.

Each quarter we get 5 teams of pastors together for a regional ministry trip. We have great fellowship and bonding time while we travel and as a team have a powerful impact into the rural community Churches. We also fund pastors coming to Eagles Rest Mission for a week of training and they also minister amongst the Churches here. Just experiencing the life in the other Church has a huge impartation into their lives.

A Zionist Movement of over 35 churches recently approached Ps Mike Zondi to assist them in a much deeper way than the current friendship. This is very strategic as the Zionist Movement in Southern Africa is the largest of the indigenous Churches and is a sleeping giant. There is a Mission called Zema that has a ministry to this scattered movement. Renee Ravestyns dad has been involved with Zema for some years now. Well worth a look their website on the net.

As you can see there is a lot going on.

Warm Christian greetings from the PFA Team.

Gary Dee, Mike Zondi and Michael Dua