Greetings! Wed, 19 May 2004
The latest 'happenings' from here are:
1. I finished the 'Fresh Bread' course last week;
2. I had another very good counseling session today with two ladies; this is very enjoyable work with people so thoroughly prepared by the Holy Spirit!
3. Tomorrow evening I will be teaching again in the 'Healing Group' at the Methodist Church, and have been busy preparing some written materials for them.
4. I preached on Sunday at the Presbyterian Church.
5. Tomorrow I'm finally getting a lift to the mall to use the gift certificate I received from doing a service for the women's group at the Methodist Church.
6. Last night at the Board of Management meeting at the Presbyterian Church I got all the lifts to and from Johannesburg for the Namibia and US trips arranged (Hallelujah!).
7. Erton's cousin Joyce received her Ph.D. on Saturday - from the University of Montana (it IS a small world).
8. I am off to Namibia in a few more days, and have been busily preparing the MANY things they have asked me to teach.
The attached pictures are from an area of Rustenburg called Sunrise Park, which is where Erton and Lydia lived before they moved into this house with me. The first picture of the small house is the home of a good friend of theirs who has supported their ministry for some time. This is the home of one woman and her baby. Not too long ago (not their most recent house, but earlier) Erton and Lydia lived in a house that was considerably SMALLER than this one.
Three out of four Sundays Erton and Lydia hold their service outside this house - the people just sit on the ground, in the sun. On the fourth Sunday we bring one bus load of them here to the house, where they can sit on chairs (borrowed from the Presbyterian Church) in the garage, out of the sun. We also serve them tea and coffee, and try to feed them a little.
The next picture of the men all dressed in white is the
outdoor meeting of a pseudo-Christian religious cult called "Zion Christian
Church (ZCC)". Each pastor in this church is a demi-god, with church members
having his picture on key chains, up in their homes, and often worn on their
persons. Without people like Erton and Lydia ministering in places like Sunrise
Park, THIS is what often happens (there
are MILLIONS of ZCC members in South
Africa).
The next two pictures just show people living near Erton's friend in Sunrise. It is easy to love these people.
The last one just shows the area. I hope these pictures give a glimpse, not so much of what life here is LIKE for us, but what life here is ABOUT for us.
I hope to be able to send out emails with pictures from
Namibia, but if not I will catch you all up on the trip when I return here. So,
the next message could be in one week, or three.
Stay tuned. . .
Love from Africa
Lary