Hey Folks – thought I’d send out an update on Steve. He just finished a three-month ministry in Africa and is getting ready to leave for India in a couple of days. Here’s a recent blog he wrote…
Hello to everyone back home. It’s been awhile since I blogged last, but the internet at Durban went down as soon as we got to the missionaries house. Things have been going very well this month, and we are getting ready to move on to India soon. Thanks for all of your support.
This past month, we worked with Missions Ablaze. This is a missions organization located about half an hour outside of Durban that focuses on the poor. They feed about 50,000 people a week. Also, they are busy building an orphanage that will house one hundred children and give jobs to ten widows. There are about twenty people that are missionaries here, and it was amazing to be a part of their lives for the past few weeks.
Our team mostly helped out with the orphanage. We were busy building beds and tiling walls. Tiling can be difficult, and several times I was very tired from the day of work. I had a lot of time to think about the work that we were doing and I was overwhelmed many times about the significance. There were three areas of ministry that stuck out to me, even though in actuality I was only doing one thing.
The first and most obvious was the children. These children currently were being fed, but their living conditions were less then suitable. They were all crammed into a small house, and it definitely gets cold here in the winter. I was excited to know that these children will have a nice place to stay. It’s one less thing for them to worry about, and they can focus more on growing into strong and intelligent adults.
The second area I saw myself being used in was in helping the widows. I can’t relate too much to a widow at this point in my life, but I know that being connected is important to me. These widows will be connected with each other, the children, and the missionaries at the base here. Besides that, they are crucial in these children’s education and health. I know that a hard day’s work is actually a blessing, and I am glad that these women will be able to live better.
The third area that I saw myself, and to a much greater extent the missionary that I was working with (Peit) was with the workers I was with. Some of these guys knew how to build things while others didn’t know anything about building. Peit showed me that these guys need to learn how to make a living, and he was teaching them what he knew about building so that they could earn a living on their own. Along with that, he was also telling them about the gospel. It was encouraging to see.
Sounds amazing doesn’t it? We are going to try to connect live via internet with Steve this Sunday during church. He’s at a place where there is internet access. That should be fun! Praise!! Steve recently received enough support to get him through the next phase of his trip (he’s currently at $12,000 and needs about $2,000 more by Sept 1st to finish the race). Thanks to all who are giving and praying for him!
Also this Sunday, we are going to be hearing a report from Anna Wright about her recent mission’s trip to Africa last month. She has some great pictures and stories to tell! We’ll be seeing a brief video presentation in the morning, and then have a full report from her in the evening. Please come! The Mission’s Committee has asked everyone to bring a dessert to share. We’ll be meeting in the Fellowship Hall at 6:00pm. All groups will meet together.
See you tomorrow!
Pastor Bob
P.S. Here’s some pictures. Enjoy! You can follow Steve’s team and travels (and give toward his support) at www.theworldrace.org
No comments:
Post a Comment