Hello everyone, it’s been awhile but I’m finally getting an update to y’all about what’s been going on! I am currently in Johannesburg, South Africa after a long couple of travel days. We have been here for about two weeks and are working with a ministry called Impact Africa. It has been pretty awesome so far and I am in love with this country. I really want to focus on what the Lord has been doing in our short time of ministry, so I am going to just write about a couple stories.
A quick run-down on what we do:
In Johannesburg, there are local communities called squatter camps. These places are composed of people who has settled on government land and made make-shift houses and towns out of whatever they can find. These places are highly populated and consumed by poverty. For example, one of the communities that we have gone into, Diepsloot, has 800,000 people living in it. Impact has schools and partner churches in most of the squatter-camps that serve as launching pads into the local areas. We get to go into each different community and just share the gospel with as many people as possible. These places are rich soil for the gospel, the harvest is plenty.
Day 1 in Zanspruit:
We split off into groups of 4-5 and roamed the streets of this community sharing the gospel. As my group walked down a street in our area, we passed a compound that had a couple people sitting around drinking. We said hello, but they didn’t seem as if they wanted to talk so we kept on walking. A few minutes later, we passed by the same place and were called out to by one of the guys inside and he said, “Hey, come in and tell us about God, we know you want to.” Who doesn’t pass up that invitation, so we walked into the yard. The same man told us “I know that you are disciples, give us a message of hope.” It was as if God buttered these people up and served ‘em on a silver platter. Myself and Cy presented the gospel to all of the people and then broke off to individuals to elaborate more. I was speaking with this man, named Ndbeni, who was interested in what we had talked about. He was drinking a forty and rolling a joint as I answered his questions about God. He was amazed when I told him that he didn’t have to get himself cleaned up to come to Christ, but that God would bring the change. As we spoke more he asked me, “What do I have to do for God to change me?” He surrendered his life to Christ that moment, with a bottle between his legs and a joint in his hand. I shared some scripture with him in a discipleship moment, but was encouraged by his last words to me: “I know that God will change my heart, I believe that he can.”
Day 2 in Zanspruit:
Similar to the day before, we were walking around in the streets, greeting people and starting conversations. As we headed down the main road, Cy informed us that he was feeling the Holy Spirit tell him we were going to be invited into someone’s house. When we came to an intersection, we saw one road filled with people and businesses, and the other with homes. Trusting in what God was telling us, we went down the less populated street. The very first house we came to, two brothers were sitting outside. We struck up conversation with both of them and started to get to know them. After a few minutes, the older brother, Fortunate, invited us in to sit in the shade. Myself and Cy asked him about his beliefs and what he knew about Jesus. After hearing what he had to say, we started to share the gospel with him. In the middle of our presentation, he stopped us in order to tell us about a dream he had. In this dream, he was driving a car with some friends. He then told us how he would get into a car accident and be really injured. When this happened, the dream would reset and repeat all over again. This occurred 7 times. After the seventh time, he decided to pray and ask God for help. One of his friends, however, refused and left the car to which he was immediately killed. During the time that he is telling this to us, the story of Daniel is popping into my head, how he interpreted dreams. When he finished, Cy and I knew exactly what the dream meant (Total God Moment). The car crashes represented the sin in his life, it was injuring him and crippling his spirit. He was separated from God. The number 7 in the Bible is used many times; God created the earth in 7 days. The seventh time is a time of completion. We told him that God wanted to bring him to completion. Just like he prayed and was saved in his dream, Jesus was waiting for him to call out for salvation. Fortunate gave his live to Christ that moment. We spent some time discipling him, and I ended up trading him my Bible for his King James Version so that he could understand the Scripture better. The Holy Spirit did some cool stuff that day.
So much more has happened in the short time that we have been here in SA. God is moving like a wildfire throughout these communities. Numbers are not important, but as an encouragement, we have had 140 heartfelt conversations, seen 35 people give their lives to Christ, 19 people healed, and 80 discipled. God is so, so good. Thank you to everyone back home who helped me to get here. I truly believe that this is my calling and am living in so much joy. I am so grateful to have your support back home.
I have one challenge for you: this week, share the gospel with at least one person you encounter. There is an urgency that we need to have when it comes to the testimony of Jesus Christ. If you take a step of faith, God will move through you. I am looking forward to hearing stories after you do this, I am confident that we will see hearts changed and souls set free. Thank you again and God bless!
