30 days of prayer

What Are We Doing for Heaven’s Sake?

A 30-day Prayer Guide for Eastern Johannesburg, South Africa

We ask you to focus your prayers on Eastern Johannesburg, where masses of people are congregated yet often are isolated in the crowd.

Johannesburg, South Africa is a city of contrasts:

--financial center of the continent but home to untold numbers of unemployed people, many waiting on street corners in hopes of day work, and others hawking all sorts of wares to eke out a living ;

--high rise buildings; malls, beautiful homes, more private swimming pools than almost anywhere else in the world, and squatter camps (“informal settlements”), lack of sanitary facilities, shacks, and litter;

--outstanding medical facilities available, but hundreds dying daily of AIDS.

Here the Eastern Gauteng (pronounced how-tang) Evangelism Team seeks to bring hope and healing through Jesus Christ.

Pray with us throughout the month as we focus on aspects of this diverse metropolis and report experiences of the EGET team. What impact will God’s power have on us, and what impression will we have on our part of the world as we proceed in the tasks God has assigned to us?

Personal Safety

Homes with barred windows, security systems, walled yards with locked gates, and gear locks on cars attest to the seemingly unstoppable crime wave. These very factors tend to separate us from those we seek to reach. Church members hurry home before dark after worship services, fearing for their safety.

Parking lot attendants are employed to protect shoppers and their vehicles. At some supermarkets, guards carry automatic weapons. Moral decay has accompanied cultural change. (Television came to South Africa in 1976.)

Ministry must be structured so that no more threat is added to an already threatened people, yet be able to challenge the foundations of self-preservation in favor of a different basis of safety, found in Christ’s promises. We must restore confidence in the voice of religious leadership without compromising on biblical principle.

Theft and carjacking are everyday occurrences; our mission personnel are not immune to these. An incident: As Alicia Barrett was going out the gate of her home to accompany a field trip for her children’s school, she noticed two men walking up the street across from her house. She made eye contact with one, and he continued in the direction away from the house, so she turned to lock the gate. Suddenly she heard footsteps running toward her. One of the men was behind her and the other stepped in front of her with a gun. They demanded that she get in the car, but she said, “I can’t, I can’t!” She simply handed over her keys, and the thieves drove off with her purse and cell phone in the car.

She hurried to a business at the corner and called police. As it happened, a next-door neighbor who works with the police department was at home, had observed the incident and had already called police. From a helicopter, officers spotted the car being driven to Alexandra, a “settlement” (previously known as a township), and the vehicle was recovered within an hour of the theft. Only some cash from the car’s ashtray, a pair of men’s sunglasses, and the cell phone were missing; the purse had contained no cash and was still in the car. The mission’s Country Representative, Glen Moore, immediately had affected locks changed.

“Throughout this incident and in following days,” Alicia reports, “we had a sense of God’s peace. Just the week before the carjacking, we’d had another incident. A neighbor across the street had left his car running while dashing back into his house for a forgotten item. He had failed to engage the parking brake, and the car, sitting on a slope, rolled across the street, knocked our driveway gate off track, and stopped at the wall of a room where our son and daughter were watching a video. No one was injured, and the only damage to the house was some chipped paint. We’ve now had a heavier gate installed.

“We heard later that friends in different parts of the United States had felt led to pray especially for our safety during two weeks—the weeks that these incidents occurred.”

Another carjacking occurred at the home of Glen and Jeri Moore, where Jeri was hosting a Tuesday night women’s First Place Bible Study. Several ladies had arrived, and the street gate was open. When the dogs barked, Jeri stepped out to open the inside gate but saw three men attempting to steal the new arrival’s car. One man had a gun and fired it, striking the brick wall of the house as Jeri dashed back inside to hit the panic button, at the same time screaming, “Call Mamba!” (The security agency)

Meanwhile, the car owner had refused to get back into her car, and the men drove off with it, but the anti-hijack device was on, so the car was recovered a few blocks away, minus the owner’s handbag and cell phone. Her husband was notified and immediately began calls to cancel credit cards while Glen and a couple of her male relatives dealt with police and took her to her home. Many prayers were offered that night, and the Bible study continued; however, the crime victim was so shaken that she has not rejoined the group in which 11 others are still participating.

Your prayers for the safety of the mission team are a vital part of our ministry.

Having your home broken into and losing many of your possessions is a traumatic experience. When it happens twice within a few weeks, it is particularly devastating. This happened to Al and Janell Moore. Even though their home is equipped with a security system, the thieves managed to gain entry through a window and somehow prevent the alarm from sounding while they carried off numerous items, especially electronic equipment. When the Moore’s returned home, they found the security system still engaged as if nothing had happened.

The second break-in occurred soon after some of the stolen items had been replaced, and the replacement items were taken. Extensive—and expensive—measures have since been taken to burglar-proof the residence.

Ministry in a Crime-ridden Area

Teams from Lyndhurst Baptist Church of Johannesburg prayer walked in various high-crime areas over a period of weeks. Some time later, a woman associated with Action against Crime, another agency which works in the area, reported to a Lyndhurst member that police had noted a reduction in crime where the prayer walks had taken place.

EGET member Ian Simms, pastor of the church, leads a Friday morning devotional at a local police station. One Friday, when Youth Pastor Rodney Pfeiffer substituted for Ian, he received a similar report: crime decreases after the prayer walks.

Please add your prayers to those of the walkers, that the Holy Spirit will move among the people to bring about a reduction in crime.

Church and Home Ministries

Discipling Believers

Missionary wives’ official assignment is Church and Home Ministries. This title encompasses diverse activities. If children are a part of the family, their care, education, and spiritual development take precedence; however, the women assume many roles, one of which is discipling believers.

Mentoring a new believer, a 26-year-old woman, is one of the commitments of Alicia Barrett. “On our first Sunday at the church we attend in Johannesburg,” she recounts, Brigitte and her sister Kim went out of their way to welcome our family. We learned that Brigitte was a new Christian, and I felt a need to become her mentor. The way opened when one Sunday she came to me after the worship service and said, ‘I didn’t understand what the pastor meant when he was talking about…’

“She has an inquiring mind, and as a result of our weekly meetings over the course of nearly two years, she has progressed from a baby stage to a level of making choices consistent with a Christian lifestyle.

“We began with the Survival Kit and then went through several First Place studies. Next we introduced My Utmost for His Highest as a guide for daily devotions, and we are now studying The Purpose Driven Life. We also have been memorizing scripture and have memorized about 80 verses.

“Another young woman, age 23, also was in need of a mentor, so she and I have started weekly meetings.” Pray for the continued spiritual development of these young ladies. Titus 2: 4-5 seems applicable: “Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

Another aspect of Alicia’s ministry is a weekly cell group (Bible study) meeting for women at her local church. These women were challenged by a study earlier this year and have started a ministry to crèches (nursery schools) in a poverty stricken area. They provide recyclable materials, and knit blankets, hats, and sweaters for these needy children.

Encouraging Fellow Missionaries

A special aspect of church and home ministries is hospitality. Glen and Jeri Moore often invite visiting missionaries to their home for a meal. On Christmas Day, 2003, they hosted three families who were staying at the Baptist International Mission Services (BIMS) guest house while in Jo’burg to help with a First Termers’ conference.

Another means of encouraging fellow missionaries is arranging conferences for fellowship, training, and inspiration. Jeri Moore has coordinated physical arrangements for clusters in the region who want to meet in Johannesburg and also has done the same for a regional women’s conference. The success of that event, in September, 2002, has inspired a regional men’s meeting to be held Sept. 8 to 12 in Johannesburg this year. Please pray for this first-time event for men.

Building Relationships

In an area where other Baptist groups are working, Chuck Barrett, Team Leader for the Eastern Gauteng Evangelism Team, says that as an IMB missionary, his role is to facilitate Southern Baptists’ being on mission with God to see a church planting movement. He notes that others, including Larry Draymann, now pastor of East Boulder (CO) Baptist Church, and D. Ray Davis, now Area Associate in Richmond, VA, had made time in the past to do church planting work in combination with other duties.

One of Chuck’s goals is to compile statistics to identify places where new churches are needed and to work alongside existing Baptist groups to start churches. “The Baptist Union of South Africa keeps good statistics” he reports, “so we know what that group is doing, but four other groups don’t have statistics.” (These are the Baptist Convention of South Africa, Afrikaans Baptist Convention, and two East Indian groups, Baptist Association of South Africa, and Baptist Mission.)

Part of Chuck’s work is visiting pastors and establishing relationships so he will have credibility when asking questions without killing those relationships. “I have a sense of urgency in crossing convention and denominational lines. We have a limited amount of time to evangelize. I want to walk alongside pastors, and after forming good relationships, encourage them and provide tools for evangelization.

“We still have barriers, one of which is ‘historical missions,’ he continues. One agency from the United States came in saying, ‘We have all the answers; let us show you how it’s done.’ They didn’t stop to build relationships.”

Chuck gives an example of a successful crossing of social and economic barriers. While he was visiting with a white pastor, he learned that the pastor had a volunteer team from the U.S. working with a black pastor to help him build his church—people, not a building—by providing him with pioneer evangelism training. This has resulted in starting eight different home cells which from the beginning are to be reproducing. This black pastor is being salt as a partnering Baptist church in a huge area of four formal and informal areas teeming with people. “Drive down a dirt road, and you may find a big house occupied by a black family, comparable to a nice Jo’burg house, and next door may be a shack,” Chuck says.

“There is an advantage in having Jo’burg friends,” Chuck continues. “Two large churches are providing training for black pastors and God-called men and women without the resources to attend seminary. We support this ministry with teaching materials. The goal is to establish churches and trained leaders so the church-planting movement will sustain itself.”

He would like to see area Baptist churches come together to form a missions committee. However, he says, there is a danger of going too fast.

Serving in Local Churches

EGET members are active in various churches in eastern Gauteng. Chuck, with approval of the International Mission Board, SBC, is serving as an elder in the area of evangelization, in the Lyndhurst Baptist Church in Johannesburg.

Glen and Jeri Moore are members of Grace Baptist Church, where he serves on the Finance Committee, and Jeri has a role in music ministry. She coordinated the music for the service in which their pastor was installed as president of the Baptist Northern Association in May. She also was asked to sing at their church on Mother’s Day, and in September will be a soloist during the Baptist Women’s Department meeting during the induction of the president.

Al and Janell Moore belong to Boksburg Baptist Church. In April, they traveled with others from their church to Lesotho to distribute eight tons of food provided by the Dorcas Society, an African relief organization.

The Boksburg church, after discovering a deed to some property in one of the settlements, started a new work there about two years ago. This church held its first baptismal service April 18 for 10 new Christians after they had been discipled. A team from Silverdale Baptist Church of Chattanooga, Tenn., had assisted in an evangelistic effort in recent months, prayer walking and conducting a door-to-door survey as they shared the gospel.

A phenomenon facing many churches is emigration of members to other countries, particularly Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Pray that leaders will be called out to replace those leaving, and that partnerships will result in the establishment of many new churches.

Poverty: How Do We Minister?

The poverty of so many people with ongoing needs of accommodation, food and employment poses a continuing challenge in ministry. How can we discern genuine need from sin-fuelled need? “The choice in ministry so often feels like being taken for a ride as opposed to being hard-hearted,” says a team member. Some churches are finding ways to help alleviate poverty.

The Creche (Nursery School) Ministry

A special ministry has developed between a white church of Johannesburg and a black minister in a settlement about 30 minutes away. The white pastor told of Ella, a woman in his church, very gifted in early childhood development, who is working with a black pastor, Alfred. She brings together ladies wanting to start “crèches,” or nursery schools.

Every Saturday she meets with the crèche leaders at the warehouse training and ministry center where the pastor lives. She conducts a question-answer session, provides lesson outlines for the coming week, and teaches ways to develop fine and gross motor skills using tools at hand. For instance, a young boy was using pebbles to make piles of 10, developing fine motor skills while learning number and quantity correlation.

Ella also teaches the women to manage money so the schools they start can be successful. Once Ella has supervised a woman at the training center, the trainee will be placed back in her home community. Ella and the pastor make rounds on Wednesdays, developing relationships with parents of children in the nursery schools. They begin cell groups, thus leading to new churches. “They are redefining church,” Chuck explains. “They don’t buy land and build, but lead the church to meet in whatever setting works.”

The crèche movement seeks to alleviate poverty, create jobs, plant churches, and meet needs of children. Youngsters can’t enter first grade without preschool, so this enables them to go to school. These children are very successful in the public schools.

Pray for this work which brings hope and help to many families.

Administration’s Role in Ministry

Not all the EGET members minister directly with an assigned people group, but they are fully engaged in the overall ministry. Two of the team members provide administrative support for missionaries in the region. They are Glen Moore, Country Representative, and Al Moore, Treasurer. Although having the same surname, the men are not related except as brothers in Christ.

Glen, a career missionary, is the IMB business manager for South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho. His work includes providing housing and transportation for fellow missionaries, dealing with governmental officials on such matters as work permits and vehicle licensing, arranging for repairs on property or vehicles, and dealing with hundreds of e-mails on a regular basis. These duties often entail travel, causing him to be away from his family. Pray for safety, both for Glen as he travels and for Jeri and their children as they go about regular activities in his absence.

Relationships established through business contacts sometimes provide opportunities for personal evangelism. As Glen was involved in arranging for the regional men’s conference, his conversations with a hotel manager revealed that the man was a doubter, questioning whether there is a God.

It happened that Glen had just read a brief book, The Case for Easter, written by an investigative reporter who was an agnostic but had become a Christian after researching the authenticity of the Biblical account of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. During a business lunch, Glen presented the hotel manager with the book, asking him to read it and then meet with him the following week to discuss it.

Seeds have been planted; pray that God will give the increase.

Al Moore was an environmental specialist, a job which took him at various times to Alaska, California, Japan, and Kuwait before he answered God’s call to missions. He and his wife, Janell, are Missionary Associates, on probationary status during their first four-year term. At the end of this term, they will become eligible for career appointment.

Al is serving as Treasurer for a wide area which includes Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, and the Indian Ocean Islands, accounting for about 60% of all IMB missionaries in the Southern Africa region. Missionaries in each country submit their budgets to the office in Johannesburg, from where they go to the regional office and then to the IMB home office in Richmond, Va.

“The volume of paperwork is a challenge,” Al says. “We support the whole region in many ways, taking care of the medical bills for those who come to Johannesburg for treatment as well as handling the regular finances for the missionaries.”

Janell, certified for grades K-8, was a teacher before coming to Africa. She and Al have no children. The couple had originally been assigned to Angola. After arriving in Johannesburg and awaiting their household goods, they lived for a time in an apartment which had been set up for a single person. Janell needed some items, so Glen Moore sent her to the BIMS warehouse to find what she needed. Someone else came in and needed an item which Janell remembered seeing, and she was able to direct the person to it. Soon she was needed to gather items for setting up a house for a missionary family. This led to her fulfilling a much-needed role. She sorted the household items in the warehouse, labeling and shelving them for easy access; shopped for supplemental items; set up a spread sheet of comparison prices, and now maintains the system. She tries to color coordinate curtains and other furnishings and have room accessories gender-appropriate for children. She has become a shopping consultant for people who like items and want to buy their own.

Pray for those in administrative roles supporting the work of others.

Building Relationships

Hospital Ministry

A hospital ministry was not something Janell Moore had envisioned being involved in. “That wasn’t in my comfort zone,” she says, recalling her feelings when she was invited to go with a group on visitation to Edenvale General Hospital. However, a fellow missionary needed a driver, so Janell agreed to help. “Now I love it,” she reports.

Each Tuesday afternoon, three or four women, and sometimes five or six, visit three wards at the hospital. Two are adult wards, one for men and one for women, and the third is a children’s unit. During the hour allotted to them, the ministry team members try to touch the patients, smile at and speak to them, and pray for them if they are willing—and they’ve never been turned down for prayer.

The children’s ward has many sick babies, children with broken bones, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases. The hospital has many sets of premature twins, about 65% of who do not leave alive. The volunteers offer blankets for babies who often are wrapped in towels because the mothers have no blankets.

A communication error brings blessings

Even a mistake in communication can result in extra blessings when God is at work. A church in Alaska had prepared 100 blankets to contribute to the hospital ministry in Edenvale, a Johannesburg suburb. (A side benefit of this project was that it revived the church’s faltering Woman’s Missionary Union.) Hoping to save on shipping costs, Janell Moore sent an e-mail to a Tennessee church which would be sending a volunteer team to Johannesburg, asking that they bring the blankets. Somehow the recipient misunderstood the message, did not contact the Alaska church, but instead sent e-mails to numerous contacts and got more than 200 blankets to bring to South Africa.

“We were thrilled with this response,” Janell says. “The Alaska church finally boxed and mailed their blankets directly. We had no problems with theft or customs.”

In addition to blankets, the hospital ministry team began making stuffed animals for the children’s wards. Churches in the U.S. wanted to help, but stuffed animals are bulky for shipping. Now women in the States are sending cloth animals to be stuffed in South Africa. Also, small toys such as those from McDonald’s happy meals are coming from the States, to be given to older children. Coloring books and crayons also are supplied to the hospital social worker for distribution, as well as four- or five-page booklets of colorful pictures for visual stimulation.

The volunteers are welcomed freely in the children’s ward, but they are more cautious when visiting the adult wards, where the head nurse isn’t receptive, having had an unfortunate experience with another group who had brought a bus load of about 30 people to preach to the patients, causing some problems. Gradually, our volunteers are building positive relationships with staff, resulting in further witnessing opportunities.

Among the adults, TB, pneumonia, and AIDS are prevalent diseases. The hospital has only two visiting hours during the afternoon and evening, so the volunteers must make brief visits on the 24-bed units which have only one private room. They give bags of peanuts and a gospel tract, The Four Spiritual Laws (available in several languages), topatients and also give tracts to any visitors; however, nuts are given only to patients and staff. “The tracts are not discarded,” Janell reports. “We see the people reading them as we leave.”

One team member had visited a bed with an older Indian lady lying there. Her daughter and a friend were visiting, so the volunteer interrupted only long enough to give each a tract. She was unsure as to how the women would react to the tract about Jesus. The following week, again she came upon the older woman, who was being discharged, and her daughter. “The daughter informed us that they are believers, and her friend who was not, eagerly read the tract, being sure to put it in her purse. The friend asked to be taken to church and seems to be searching. Praise God for such a little thing as a Biblical tract!”

Pray for wisdom and spiritual insight for this ministry team as they share the message of hope with hurting people.

KMC—Kangaroo Mother Care

KMC is a program that has proven to prolong the health and life of a premature infant. The mother must wear a special wrapping, which makes into a “pouch.” The baby is wrapped closely to the mother’s body to receive warmth. It has been proven that this position helps to nurture the baby. The mothers also are taught to use breast milk even if they are HIV positive. They are told how to sterilize the breast milk in containers that are readily available in the settlements or the villages. This may be a jar or a can, heated over burning wood.

The hospital ministry team members are sending out patterns for the KMC pouch, and most of the help with this project is coming from churches in the U.S.

Remember to pray for the hospital ministry team on Tuesday afternoons and for the patients and staff with whom they have contact.

Spiritual Challenges: “Life behind the Dwelling”

Although they are not visible on city streets, ancient rituals and customs, sometimes referred to as “life behind the dwelling,” continue as an undercurrent of the black culture. Some of those who profess faith in Christ want to cling to the old ways. Charms are seen on the wrists of children and adults.

“Street kids” come out at night in downtown Johannesburg, and many children are beggars.

Diverse religious groups vie for followers: Zionists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and Christians have their temples, mosques, synagogues, and churches.

While English is the predominant language, followed by Afrikaans, at least 11 native languages are recognized officially, and French, Portuguese, and other languages are heard. How can ministry be tailored to reach the many subcultures? Pray that spiritual darkness will be dispelled as we seek ways to take the good news to all.

Divine Appointments

Glen thought his only appointment was to meet with a fellow board member of a local Christian organization that afternoon. The original meeting was at a restaurant some distance from his office and usual business area, so it was a surprise that a man at a nearby table called Glen over after the meeting had finished and he was about to leave. The man, Gunston, said that Glen looked familiar and wondered where he had seen him before. After talking about possible meeting places and hearing the different accent, Gunston asked a usual question about what would bring him to South Africa. That is a question a missionary enjoys hearing because it opens a natural way to share Jesus and his love for all peoples. What started as a casual question led to a 2 hour discussion with Gunston and his friend about many spiritual topics. Glen is planning to invite them for a follow up meeting after challenging them to read the book of James during the week. Pray that these two men would understand the difference between some religious knowledge and a vibrant relationship with the living God.

Chuck was new to Johannesburg and Glen was willing to introduce him to the pastors he knew in the area. Guy de Swardt, pastor of Boksburg Baptist Church, was brought first to Glen’s mind because Glen had just spoken at a men’s missions breakfast for the church. Though the meeting was informal, God’s Spirit was present as the men set out to get acquainted. Guy told Glen and Chuck of a preaching point at which the church was working to get established in a formal settlement area known as Vosloorus. The new church needed a structure to meet in and immediately the idea of a tent came to Glen’s mind. A tent would work for the new congregation; Guy agreed and knew that in time it could be used for other evangelistic outreach campaigns in other areas, once a permanent structure was built. Funds were requested and received, the tent purchased and erected and the tiny congregation began to grow!

A volunteer request was written and filled by a team from Silverdale Baptist Church of Chattanooga, TN. The team came and prayer walked around the area of the church, did door to door evangelism and surveys. We all felt the need to abandon our evangelical outreach to concentrate on prayer walking and allow the Holy Spirit to free the area from the spiritual oppression. The next day we again began our evangelistic efforts. We noticed a group of men the previous day sitting in their driveway gambling. This day they were preparing goat heads for the evening meal. We would never had approached this group had it not been for the freedom felt in the spiritual realm to do so. As we approached, room was cleared for our comfort and we were welcome to sit on their Coke crates. Because of that time of sharing, doors were opened and these men have come to the local pastor with many questions; questions which we pray will lead to eternal life! God appointments were around us all the time waiting for us to act on them - God was already there.

Chuck was shown many ministries in the area by a friend he had made through another mission agency. Vision Ministries is a ministry to assist women in learning the skills needed to start and run a nursery school (crèche) from their homes. Through this ministry we learned of the great need among the formal and informal settlements, for this kind of training and the basic necessities for the children attending these crèches. Glen knew of another pastor who had access to outside nutritional food sources for children, who was looking for a ministry outlet. I knew of a ministry needing nutritional supplements but had no contact with a sponsoring agency. It didn’t take us long to get the ladies running the two ministries together and allow them to move forward.

Since that time, I have shared with our local church the needs of the crèches for simple items, which would normally be thrown away, to assist them in teaching the children arts, crafts, fine and gross motor skills and number recognition. The Wednesday Ladies Cell (Bible study) Group that Alicia leads took up the challenge to collect such items and to knit caps and blankets for each of the nine crèches. We did not even keep track of all the items, caps and blankets we delivered, but we know they were all received with great joy. The ladies have taken a trip to visit the crèches that they are supporting with money, recyclables and knitted items. Everyone was so blessed by this visit! God is in the business of showing love in very real and practical ways; we are just blessed to be able to be a part of that demonstration.

Due to the ties we made with the crèches, the pastor who works most closely with them was introduced to us. He explained his role in the ministry was one of assisting, guarding and follow-up. We asked how that worked. He explained that as a new crèche was started, he would contact the parents and ascertain their spiritual condition. Then he would ask if they would like to attend a Bible study. If there were enough interest among the parents the same building used by the crèche could be secured for such a purpose. After time, three different groups were formed. He needed to give himself full-time to study and teaching, but with nowhere else to go he continued to live in a warehouse, used by the largest congregation, that a local tile manufacturer had donated for the use of the ministry.

Again, a group of volunteers was requested and this time filled by a group of five singles from Euless, TX. They came to do surveys, prayer walking and street evangelism as well. We wanted to support, encourage and strengthen the work in and around these crèches. I cannot begin to count the number of divine appointments that took place in that week, but I can provide a few.

We started across the filthy dirt road from the warehouse in an area occupied by shacks of varying size and degree of repair. The group was able to pray with a young woman whose life had been destroyed by AIDS. At the end of their tearful time together another was received into the kingdom of God with great rejoicing by the Angels!

We traveled to an area where we were assisted for the day by another local pastor who took us around his area which was changing from informal (shacks) to formal (government built small houses). As we were standing and taking in the scene, a well dressed man happened by and asked us what we were doing; door opened. We gave him an answer which seemed to satisfy him and then we turned the tables and asked him. Turns out he was the site developer! He knew everybody in that vast area and had set up an office across the street from the church with show homes built for display. We asked if we could take time and see these models. He assured us if he had time he would show us through. When we arrived to see the homes he was not there, but returned soon afterward. We asked of we could share with him the reason for our visit and he began to make excuses. Two of us began to pray that all the barriers to the Gospel would fall away. He agreed to give us a few minutes and no time was wasted in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with this man. As the two of us continued to pray we noticed the pastor had not come into the office with us. The developer came to trust Jesus that day in his office and told us this was a message that his family needed to hear. That is another story. We went to tell the pastor the great news and he shared how he had been praying for the man. It seems that when the developer moved into the area several months prior, he wanted to take over the church lot, as it was the only clear lot in the area. It was the beginning of great striving for that pastor to show patience and demonstrate Godly character to this developer, a character that would one day lead to the man’s salvation, but the pastor was not the one to deliver the message, it took an outsider to slow him down long enough to hear the message, not ignore the messenger.

When we went to visit the man’s family, we had written the wrong address. The address given was for a large mosque from which we heard the many calls to prayer throughout our week. But because of the wrong address we were able to meet and share the gospel with the leader of the mosque that day.

On our last day, we went still to another area. We parked the car, got out and as seemed always to be the case found ourselves on the busiest of roads. We didn’t have to walk far before people came to us. One such person was a youth of about sixteen. After he heard our message he burst into tears saying, “I’ve always heard of Jesus but I didn’t know how to get to Him, I’ve got to share this with my friend!” Not long after, the tearful lad returned weeping over his friend that did not want to hear this great news. The heartache and joy of evangelism is that though many may enter the kingdom, all will need to be discipled and it will not be this group of evangels that see the results.

When volunteers come we always hope that they will both receive and be a blessing. This was just the case for a group from the Baptist Student Union of the Mississippi State University. Several schools had been booked for their presentation, but wouldn’t you know it, the word of God’s activity was most quickly received from the school that seemed least receptive at the time. Edenvale High School is the largest of the schools in the area and invited the group to present during a free break of the students, but attendance was not compulsory as it was in the other schools. As a result, the crowd was much smaller than anticipated. The word received after the group left is that the Christian student body had more courage and freedom to share in their classes, and the organized activities for them were increasing in number.

Have you made yourself available for any divine appointments recently? You don’t have to move 8,000 miles from home to experience them, but sometimes the move makes you more expectant for them. As you pray with us and for us, won’t you pray that you will be more open to those divine encounters and perhaps they would include coming on a volunteer trip?