We have just finished a trip to the northern Drakensburg area in our home state of
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. This is our primary ministry to the Zulu community and
one of the most rural areas that we visit. Pastor John Mkulisi has a significant ministry
both as a shepherd to the local community and to other ministers in the area. He is
well versed in scripture and an excellent translator between Zulu and English. When
we met he and his wife, Irene, five years ago, they asked us to help them reach out
to other shepherds in their area and we have continued to do so ever since.
Trina has a wonderful relationship with Irene and from the
beginning of our time together
they have encouraged one another and worked
to help the women of the area see their
value in Christ. There are cultural
hurdles among Zulus that often keep women from
fully participating. Trina's
gracious, unassuming style is very effective at bringing many
of these
precious ladies out of their shells!
Isaiah 41:8-9 (NASB) says, |
8 "But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of Abraham
My friend,
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, 'You are My
servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you."
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We had one testimony from the ministry times that was
particularly encouraging. One
of the messages referenced the above scripture
and highlighted the "chosen" place of
anyone who takes Christ into their heart.
Many people were moved and one young
man tearfully closed the service in
prayer when he was asked. The next day this boy's
mother stood up and said
that her son had been secretly consulting with witch doctors
and had told her
that he wanted nothing to do with God because of his disappointment.
He then had a dream the night before our service and there was "a man who told him
that he was chosen and not rejected." When the message came he knew God was
speaking straight to him and he completely rededicated his life to the Lord! It
is the
reality of God's goodness that we love to see come through when we
work with people.
Please pray for our ministry in the Indian areas of Durban. We believe that this particular
area is important for us to
concentrate on and we've already been to a number of churches
in the area this
year. Not only are there a large number of Indians in Durban, they are
very
influential with the Zulu population. We will highlight this work a bit more
in next
month's
news update.
We are currently planning a trip to the USA in late May and the schedule will be very tight.
We have family to see and
very many churches to visit. Please pray for us as we work
toward this over the
coming two months.
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Blessings in Christ,
Rodney, Trina and Bridget |
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