Thank you for being here with and for us!  After a 14hr. 43min. uneventful flight, we arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa one week ago today!  We have comfortably settled in our temporary room on the grounds of Calvary Chapel Johannesburg and are (somewhat) adjusted to local time.  We have been able to participate with the church body already through prayers, meals, worship, and married couples night.  What a blessing this has been for us!

Our first morning we went to check on our storage container.  Praise God it was still there and everything was in it just as we had left it!  After gathering a few items that we could reach (it is FULL), we went to visit the Care Center where we had lived last year.  We were excited to visit people there and get caught up on their lives, and update them on all the volunteers they asked about!

Our next stop landed us in Freedom Park to visit dear friends of the past several years, including Eunice, Mike and Xoli from Freedom Park, along with many children whose faces we recognized but names we could not recall!  We are blessed and excited to see many of the youth who started in a feeding program we sponsored now cooking, serving, and teaching the younger children to wash, dry and pack away their dishes!

On Friday we visited an organization in Pretoria (just north of Jo-burg) that is a skills training and development center.  We were very impressed with the people, and the organizational and spiritual aspect that this ministry offers.

On Saturday, we joined our missionary friend, Jan, for an outreach in Mountain View, a squatter camp just across the highway from where we lived last year.  A local church worship team led songs and provided a translator for Jan as she presented the lesson for the afternoon.  During the lesson, we received a phone call that the other bakkie (truck) that was transporting the second half of the ministry team had been in a car accident.  Unfortunately the truck that was carrying 10 passengers and all the food didn’t see a stopped car ahead of them and rear-ended it, tossing all the passengers inside.  Four of the ten people were taken by ambulance to the local clinic to be checked.  Because of our familiarity with the area (we served most of last year nearby), we  went to check on them and bring back the food that was to be served to the children and later were sent to the clinic to collect the ‘patients’ and bring them back to the outreach.  They were a bit shaken, but thank God no serious injuries resulted.  All in all, it was a good day with over 250 children showing up (and only 110 were expected!)

Overall, we have been able to meet up with many friends, several pastors, and a mass of children that have all been dearly missed, view a few properties, and get future appointments scheduled on our calendar.

The weather has been beautiful with warm, sunny days and cool, but not so cold nights.  Of course that is sleeping with a small heater and under 4 blankets, but not nearly as cold as it was last winter….yet!  It has been in the mid-upper 60’s during the day and mid to upper 40’s at night… very comfortable!  We have already had a short period without electricity, but that has been fixed and didn’t present much of a problem.  Actually, it made us feel like we are definitely back in Africa, and happy to be a part of whatever God brings our way.

This week we visit another center in the Pretoria area, visit ministry friends in Potchefstroom, and then leave this weekend to NorthWest Province to meet with a pastor and see the work the Lord is doing in and through him there.

We ask that you keep us in prayer with the following petitions:

for our family and friends we leave behind back home;

for God’s protection as we travel, and good health along the way;

for accommodations while in NorthWest;

for us to focus on God’s will for our ministry, and not get distracted by ALL the needs around us;

for future local volunteers to join us;

for future long-term volunteers to join us;

for God’s provision of TentMaker Ministries

Thank you for your love, your prayers, and your support for us on this journey in South Africa.  We would love to hear from you!