International Leadership Academy Camp

International Leadership Academy

Last week BMI hosted their very first International Leadership Academy Camp (ILA).  ILA was started by Reaching a Generation, the ministry that Shikwaru Lodge across the road funds.  They have trainings and Pastor Jonathan, Dustin and Rene all attended the training a couple months ago.  There they learned how to have their own ILA camp.  So after countless hours of organizing and planning, Rene and others pulled off a great camp for 15 8th graders from two schools in one of the villages outside of Mokopane.  These particular students were identified by their teachers as leaders.  The camp is designed to give kids a strong base of leadership knowledge and skills from a Biblical perspective.  The same kids come back every year for four years (through high school) to learn more about leadership and in the meantime, they are to identify and assess a need in their community and address it with a project.  They must complete the project to continue to take part in the camp.

The camp consisted of three or four hour-long sessions per day focusing on Biblical leaders, practical application of leadership skills, etc., interspersed with crafts, games and meals.  Matt and I were given the opportunity to lead the "My Choice" sessions, which focused on "My relationship with myself, others and God."  We had the honor of giving "The Talk" (we focused on abstinence) to the kids as well, which ended up being a lot of fun.  My neighbor, Sky, gave me some great object lesson ideas from her time teaching the "True Love Waits" curriculum in Zambia, and the object lessons really hit home for the kids.  I actually really enjoy speaking to young people about sexuality and answering their questions.  Matt had the kids break up into two groups, boys and girls, and us girls had a great conversation.  I was able to answer a bunch of great questions about sex, pregnancy and STDs that the girls had.  One thing is for sure, these kids need a lot better sex education in schools at an earlier age.  In one survey game the kids played, one group said that about 70% of the children at their school have had sex.  There were so many misconceptions in the group of girls about sex.  For example, many thought that it is impossible to get pregnant or contract an STD if you use a condom, and some didn't even know how a woman becomes pregnant in the first place.  Hopefully I was able to correct these misconceptions, or at least give them some good food for thought.  I hope that they will not become sexually active, but if they do, at least they have a better understanding of the risks.

Matt ran most of the sessions but I spoke a little.  He did a great job communicating to the kids.  He is really gifted at going up and speaking in front of groups and it was fun to watch him in action.  It was a really fun, busy week and it was a blessing to get to know these kids and pray for their futures as leaders in their schools, communities and South Africa.

Read/learn more about ILA HERE

Stella meeting some of the kids and playing with Afia the puppy.

We had teams for the week; we were on the blue team, the Superstars.  Here are the kids decorating the team flag.

Mikayla (holding the flag on the right) was here for six weeks from Iowa and she was in charge of games.  She did a great job.

Christy, Doctor Blessman's daughter, was also visiting.  We ran a small group together.

Playing a game.

Matt speaking during one of our My Choice sessions.

Wow, Is It Really Almost July!?

Wow, is June really almost over?  Has it really been over six months now that Jacinda and I have been living in South Africa?  Is Stella really a little over a month away from her first birthday?! 

Stella coloring at a local daycare center that the recent short-term team visited.

That last one is probably the most amazing.  To think about life without her in it is pretty weird.  I faintly remember a time when I did not have to constantly be looking around for a baby who might be climbing the stairs while trying to sit down and eat a warm meal.  And I faintly remember a time in my life when I could go to the bathroom without an audience.

But in the words of Jim Croce, “Isn’t that the way they say it goes?”

I see Jim.  He looks glorious!  You're my boy, Jim.

The month of June found Doc, Rene, and Dustin Blessman returning from their visit to the U.S. and another short-term team came and went. 

Having teams from the U.S. is always fun.  Seeing the excitement and enthusiasm that so many have for God and for service to others is encouraging and inspiring.  I know of many people that do not like short-term “mission” trips because it promotes the idea that missions is something you only do when you go somewhere else, instead of seeing that Christian “missions” is something that you are constantly doing as a member of the body of Christ. 

I get that and I believe that!  As someone trained to be a pastor I believe that as a Christian I am called to 1) proclaim the good news that Jesus Christ offers salvation to all who believe in him no matter where I find myself and 2) serve those around me with mercy, grace, compassion, forgiveness and love, again, no matter where I find myself.  

The recent team doing an "optical clinic" in a village in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

However, short-term mission trips, in my opinion, are a tremendous tool in the church toolbox to promote growth and discipleship.  It takes a lot of faith and trust in God to raise the funds needed to go on a mission trip, especially an international one.  It also takes a lot of faith and trust to overcome many of the fears (flying, talking to strangers, etc) and obstacles (maybe a physical ailment) that stand in the way.  Does that mean that people who go on mission trips are better Christians?  Absolutely not.  My point is simply that not only has my relationship with God grown in the trips that I have participated in and led, but I have seen tremendous growth in the faith of others, as well.

Last July I was privileged to take the high school youth group from Emanuel Lutheran Church in Lodi, CA on a mission trip to San Francisco.  It was not the most glamorous trip in the world for these students because Lodi is about 2 hours east of the Golden Gate city.  But being exposed to the reality and life of other people so dramatically different than theirs, yet so close to where they lived, I think, had a tremendous impact on how those young people look at the world and the people around them that are all made in the image of God. 

But the best part about that trip was seeing the faith of the seniors in the group just explode (I saw it in the others, too!).  I have to give a lot of credit to the leadership team that was in charge of the whole week.  It was a team of four young adults either recently graduated from or currently in college.  They were awesome.  Their faith stories and struggles in life connected in a powerful way with our group.  But the way that they told their stories and related them to the Bible during that week glorified God and ignited a fire within our group.  I was just along for the ride and I loved every moment of it (especially the pudding episode).  It encouraged me to see the seniors walk away from that trip excited to see what God had in store for their lives.  

I believe that happens here at BMI, too.  I have heard people talk about their experience here and I know that God is making disciples through these trips.  This last team was no different and I was glad to be a part of it.  

She is walking... EVERYWHERE!

So... I am sorry if I did not give a whole bunch of particular information about what we have been up to.  I guess I was in more of a “pastoral” mood hoping to encourage anyone who reads this to check out a mission trip.  See what they are all about.  See it not as something that you can do for God, but as a small step in learning to trust him and have faith in him more and seeing what he can do for you!  

Hope you are all well and enjoying the summer months after such a long hard winter.  Jacinda, Stella and I love you all so much and thank God continually for your prayers and support. 

Yours in Christ,

Matt                 

June 5, 2014

It has been a while since we updated the blog, I know.  Part of the reason is because we took a little break to spend time with family.  We were blessed with the presence of Jacinda’s parents the last several weeks.  They came over in the middle of May and stayed until June 2.  It was very nice to be able to spend time with them and allow them to spend some good quality time with Stella.  I think at the very beginning she was a little hesitant, but she warmed up very quickly.  She even started really walking while they were here.  I say “really” because she had been taking five or six steps at a time for about a month now, but over their visit she would just let go of our hands and take off walking for 20-30 steps!  It is amazing to think that she could not even sit up well by herself when we first came over.  Now Stella’s favorite thing to do is say, “Hi!” and wave to everyone she meets.  She will even give kisses when you ask her which was very nice because she gave Nana and Papa Rodino lots of kisses when saying goodbye at the airport.

Stella and Nana at Blyde River Canyon, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Hope Christian Church continues to move forward.  Numbers are fairly solid, not growing but not retracting either.  Every week is so different.  Part of the challenge so far has been to simply sit back and learn.  One of the biggest things I have learned is that the people who work on the farms in this area do not see this as their “home.”  Home for them is wherever they grew up.  Therefore, “home” could be a half hour, an hour or several more away from the farms where they live during the week.  Many of the people here even leave their children back “home” with other family members to go to school.  This means that every weekend many of the farm workers in this area travel “home” on the weekend to be with their families and also to worship at their “home” church.  This means that on any given Sunday there may be 30-50 people worshiping here at Hope Christian Church in the farm area.  But this is just the beginning stages of planting the church.  

One project that I am excited about is beginning a new Bible study soon.  When my in-laws came to visit they brought with some Bible study materials that Wendi Cihacek and Candice Vander Tuig of Lutheran Church of the Cross in Altoona, IA had sent to them.  (BMI does this type of thing often.  By sending and receiving donations in the U.S. BMI can have people traveling to South Africa bring those donations over when they fly reducing the cost of international shipping tremendously since these people are coming over anyway.)  The materials they sent are by Crown Financial Ministries.  It is a video based series that focuses on God’s sovereignty even over the possessions and wealth that we earn and think we own.  It is called “God Provides.”  The hope is to be able to teach this material to several people at Hope Christian Church so that they can in term learn to teach it themselves.  The rationale is that even though people might have less financial wealth here in rural South Africa we all need to know how to handle what God has blessed us with in a good way to honor him and better use those to provide for our families.  Money management, credit and debt are big issues here, too, just like in the States.  

Another issue concerning church attendance is that many people actually must work on Sundays.  It is a reality because of the type of work in the area.  Several of the “farms” are game farms that host guests on the weekends since that is when people from the big cities of Polokwane, Pretoria and Johannesburg are able to get away.  By offering some Bible study opportunities we hope to give people an alternative to Sunday morning so they can stay connected to a faith community. 

In late March we welcomed onto the Hope Church team a seminary student named Romeo Naciyaya.  He is from Malawi and is a PK (pastor’s kid) just like me.  He has been mainly playing the keyboard for worship, but has also been taking on some small roles like doing short children’s messages.  He has been such a great team member so far and will be a wonderful pastor of his own church someday.

We continue to show movies every Saturday evening.  There is very little entertainment in the surrounding area.  Even in town, a half hour drive away, there is no movie theater.  Some people do have satellite television, but not all.  The movie night is a nice entertainment “getaway.”  We have been showing “The Bible” miniseries that came out in the U.S. on the History Channel early last year, but that is over now and last week we showed “The Lion King” for something fun, especially for the kids.

Playing in a stream on top of a waterfall!  At the Blyde River Canyon.

Personally, Jacinda, Stella and I are all doing well.  Jacinda recently bought access to online lettering courses and has been spending time on her artwork.  Many of you already know how talented she is and have even purchased some of her drawings so it is great to see her continue to grow in that area.  She has also been teaching art once a week at the school where we hold our services on Sunday.    

They have a good teacher!

Stella as I mentioned is talking and walking more and more.  She has also made good friends with the toddler next door, Privilege.  “Privi,” as she is most commonly referred to, was very excited to see her the other day and even came over to play at our house for a while on Tuesday.  The funny thing is when she sees me she gets very nervous and watches me very closely until I leave again!  It is funny to watch, but she is getting more and more used to me and will even smile once and a while. 

Stella and Privi

I recently found out that I will be graduating from Luther Seminary earlier than I had expected.  There was some miscommunication on the Luther website about the number of credits I had left to earn, but the registrar informed me that I only needed one more .5 credit class instead of the 2 credits I thought I had left.  So I graduated “in absentia” a few weeks ago with the Luther Seminary class of 2014!  But I will officially finish in August.  I have a tremendous amount of gratitude and thanks for all those who helped me through seminary, but most of all I am extremely grateful to American Lutheran Church in Rantoul, IL for their scholarship support throughout the last four years.  Without them it would not be possible and God has richly blessed me and my family through this congregation.

Some people have been asking for more pics of the area around where we live... well here is one of our campus companions checking out the garbage.

I think this is a good place to stop for now.  There is more I could say but that means I will have more for another blog later, which I need to do more often.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.  The Shields family misses you all and we are so very thankful for how you have blessed us and given us the opportunity to work here in South Africa as part of Blessman Ministries.  May God continue to bless you and lead you each day.

Yours In Christ,

Matt Shields   

    

      

Worship

Matt and I love being a part of Hope Christian Church.  When we are there, we are refreshed and renewed.  The worship is different from the hymns and organ music we are used to, the language is different as most of the people who come do not speak much English (we are working on getting a translator), and the people and culture are different.  And it is wonderful.  We love the people who come to worship on Sundays.  We are praying we can continue to serve them even better.

Here is a rundown of how things work on Sunday morning at this little church.

Matt and I are usually up pretty early regardless, because we have a baby who wakes up early.  Because we worship at a school that is not super-secure, we store everything for worship (besides the chairs) here at the Blessman campus.  We used to keep everything in our house, but the supplies are multiplying and that was no longer practical, especially since we had to carry everything downstairs to load it and back upstairs again after church.  So we moved everything to the office, which is much more convenient.  So we load everything into our cars around 8:15 am.  This includes the keyboard, keyboard stand and bench, the speakers and soundboard, the poles for the speakers, microphones, stands for the microphones, about 50 teacups, spoons, coffee, tea, creamer, sugar and cookies for coffee hour, a hot water boiler for tea and coffee, etc.  The list goes on.

We arrive at church at 8:30 and start setting up.  Romeo (our keyboardist) and Matt set up all the mics and sound equipment while I strap Stella on my back and set up the chairs, walk to the water spigot and fill up the boiler with water, and set up the cups and everything for fellowship time.  Once everything is set up, Matt or I drive back to the farm where we live to pick people up.  Another staff member, Maxwell, drives to a nearby farm to pick people up there.  Transportation is a major issue as cars are extremely expensive here in SA and most people do not own them.  We must pick people up if they want to come to church.  We need to get more driving help so we can fetch more people.  It's great that there is now a church in this area for all the farm workers, but the problem is that the farms are so spread out that we must drive many kilometers to pick people up.  And with only two or three people picking people up, there's just not enough time or space for everyone.  So we go to a couple different places now, but we're hoping to expand that reach to bring more people to church.

By the time Matt returns with his carload, it's about time for worship to begin.  The worship team, consisting of Romeo, Hilda, Rutendo and sometimes Doris, begin singing.  Worship begins at 10am.  We usually have between 40 and 50 people, and I am convinced that once we get a translator, we will have more.  We sing a couple worship songs and everyone dances and sings out loudly.  Matt begins the service.  He does a confession of sin, more music, a children's message, a scripture reading, a sermon, and offering.  We do communion as a church on the third Sunday of every month.  The service ends with a lot of singing.  It usually lasts an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half.

After the service, we have fellowship time with tea, coffee and cookies, which are gone instantly!  It's a really nice time to visit and get to know people.  The men pick up all the chairs and clean up all the equipment and load up the cars again.  The women sweep the floor and clean up any messes.  Then we drive everyone back home.  I wash all the teacups and communion cups if it's communion Sunday, and then we put everything away in the office again.

Then we relax the rest of the day, as all that really takes it out of us!

Here is a video of one of the popular worship songs, taken this past Sunday, May 18.

It's May already?

My, how the time flies.  We have been here in South Africa for almost four months now.  It has been a whirlwind four months.  It's been awhile since we've posted (we promise to post more often from now on!) so I'll fill you in on what we've been up to.

First, we are responsible for overseeing the new church plant, Hope Christian Church, and Matt is the pastor.  When we return home in October, he will be replaced by an African pastor, but for now, he is enjoying the joys and challenges of ministry in another country.  He is learning how to navigate the tricky waters of language barriers and has been getting better and better at preaching sermons that are understandable and hopefully relate to people from a totally different context and culture.  Most of the people that worship at Hope do not speak much English.  The main language spoken in our area is sePedi, which is spoken by only about 9% of the entire population of South Africa.  In addition, many speak Afrikaans either because they learned it growing up under Apartheid or they need to speak it to communicate with the farmers/landowners they work for.  Finally, the Zimbabwean language Shona is widely spoken because there are many Zimbabweans living and working here, as we are only a few hours from the border and there are many jobs in agriculture, hospitality, etc. in this area.  We had an interpreter a couple of weeks, but have not found someone to translate every Sunday.

Easter Sunday at Hope was a wonderful celebration.  Matt purchased some Easter lilies and a new cross for the "sanctuary" (we worship in a small country school classroom), so it looked quite nice to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord.  During the sermon, the entire church walked out to the road where the large cross is placed and prayed around the cross.  It was a powerful time of worship and was a joyful day.

Walking as a church out to the cross.

Prayer at the foot of the cross.

Before church, we were able to have a huge Easter egg hunt with twelve kids thanks to the generous hearts of Judy Bertsche and Kacie Rodriguez-Hall, friends of mine from Illinois.  A few weeks before Easter I happened to mention on Facebook how I wasn't able to find plastic Easter eggs and wanted to have an Easter egg hunt.  Almost immediately, these two ladies commented that they'd love to send over boxes of Easter goodies.  They sent their boxes brimming with treats to Iowa and the next short term mission team brought them over to give to us.  (It's much cheaper than mailing packages.)  We had 8 kids living here on campus participating, plus 4 kids on a short term team.  So I stuffed over 100 eggs and hid them before dawn on Easter morning.  It was so much fun to hear the squeals of excitement from the kids when they began the hunt.  I also hid some eggs for Stella around our house and she was crawling all over "finding" them.  We had a little Easter basket for her as well filled with books, toys, and snacks.  We really enjoyed making memories and traditions with our daughter.

Giant bag of Easter eggs

The hunt begins!

We've had a lot of cute but mischievous visitors lately.

Children at the school I teach art at once a week show off their paintings, along with Juliana, a member of the most recent short term mission team.

I teach art to this bunch every week.

We had a farewell braai (cookout) for the other ambassadors, the Bettinger family a couple days before they departed for America.  It ended with a dance party!

Some adorable lambs were born recently at the farm next to us.

A stunning sunset.

Campus has been very quiet lately because Doc, Beth, Dustin and Rene are all back in the States for over a month and there have also been many national holidays so the staff gets the day off.  We've been keeping busy with various small projects around campus.  I've been able to go to the sewing center a bit more lately, mostly helping cut fabric for bags and purses.  I really enjoy spending time with Hilda, Maria and Hellen while I'm there and Hilda's daughter Privilege and Stella are learning to play together nicely.  

I was going for a long run yesterday across the road at Shikwaru Game Reserve and it was really foggy and kind of spooky.  It was fairly early in the morning, and shortly after I got home the sun burned off all the fog.  Anyway, as I was running, I saw dozens of really cool cobwebs that were parallel to the ground, spun onto blades of grass instead of the vertical ones that are more often seen.  I have run past them before but have never been able to see them because the sun shines directly on them and they become invisible.  But the unique quality of light yesterday made them suddenly and brilliantly visible.  Even though it was foggy, I saw something I'd never been able to see before.  It just made me think that sometimes when everything is sunny and going well, certain things are unseen.  It's not until things get foggy and cloudy that those things become visible and show their beauty.  Although the world around is dark, those formerly hidden things give beauty to the darkness.  "How far that little candle throws his beams!  So shines a good deed in a weary world." - William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice.  Maybe that doesn't make sense to you, dear reader.  Maybe it makes perfect sense.  I just wanted to share those thoughts.

Palm Sunday

Blessman Ministries has been hosting several different groups of Americans recently.  One of the groups was from Iowa, another is made up of medical students doing a type of "exchange" program with hospitals here, and the other group, though originally from Iowa, came from Switzerland.  The group from Switzerland, who is still here, is a family with four children of different ages.

Last Saturday we took the Iowa group and the family from Switzerland to Hope Christian Church, the recent BMI church plant, to do a work project.  The walls of the school that we worship in were a little dirty and beat up with nail and screw holes and blank spots where bulletin boards used to be.  The project was to clean the walls and then paint them.

The two youngest children with us (not counting Stella) jumped right in to paint with all the rest of us, about 13 total.  They took the rollers and brushes and with smiles on their faces they started slapping thick layers of paint on the plastered walls.  They did not know what they were doing.  They did not know how much paint was too little or too much.  They did not know how to hold a brush or how to stroke the brush back and forth or up and down to make a nice smooth and even coat.  They just painted.

I know that some people might have watched in horror, but I LOVED it!

To the left you can barely make out where a bulletin board used to be.

It would have been easy for any one of us adults to ask them to stop and go play outside.  It would have been easy for us to tell them to leave the painting to the "grown-ups."  But that would have been wrong.  

There is a reason why Jesus said we need to have faith like a child.  It is because children do not need to be perfect.  They simply try with all their heart and with a smile on their face, but the most important thing at the end of the day is that they get to be present with everybody, that they get to participate in what others are doing.

Sure, we had the luxury of not having to worry about be extremely precise or clean which they gave them the opportunity to try something new.  But it was also a wonderful experience for us adults to work alongside them and share in their fun and joy.

Working hard.

My point is this.  Kids give us a glimpse into what it means to truly be human and have a relationship with God.  Life is not about perfection, whether being a perfectly moral person or being a perfect painter.  Life is about living in the presence of God.

As Easter approaches I am reminded that the promises of God are not to make us perfect, but to bring us into a better and closer relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The resurrection is not a glimpse at perfect morality.  It is a glimpse at a new life lived with God in child-like wonder and excitement.  It is a day to remember that God did not create us to be perfect people, but to simply pick up our paint brushes and start painting WITH Him in freedom and love!

Getting Hope Christian Church off the ground has been a bit nerve racking.  I can easily get caught up in the problems of cultural and language differences that make being a pastor here so much more difficult.  It has been difficult to really develop strong relationships with people at church because it is hard to simply have a conversation with someone who barely speaks English and I speak about three words of Sepedi (the most commonly spoken South African language in this area).  It is also a bit discouraging to think that half the congregation might not understand the sermon or the Bible readings that are in Enlgish.

But watching those kids paint reminded me to simply pick up my brush, put a smile on my face and start working.  I don't have to be the perfect pastor or a perfect preacher.  God simply wants me to participate. He will take care of the hard stuff and He has!    

Ready for worship on Palm Sunday

Like the walls that we painted last Saturday, that turned out beautiful, God is painting a beautiful picture of a new congregation called Hope.  A congregation filled with South Africans, Zimbabweans, Americans, and even someone from Slovakia!  
    

Walking to the cross as a congregation.

This past Sunday our congregation traveled to the cross.  We did not have palm branches to wave.  We worship in a country schoolroom with half the ceiling missing.  We still do not have a cross in the "sanctuary." But a team from America recently erected a cross outside the church by the nearby road.  So we traveled to that cross as a congregation to remember the journey that Jesus took from that Sunday of celebration to that "Good" Friday of pain and suffering.  We gathered at the foot of that cross to lay our lives down once again for our Savior.  The cross is the place where all our messes and all our sloppiness is made into something beautiful and at the foot of the cross the beauty of God shines through take the sloppy paint job that is our life and turn it into a glorious work of art by giving us forgiveness.  This Sunday we remember that the cross is empty because Jesus is RISEN!  He is alive and offering us resurrection and new life.

May your Holy Week be a time of comfort and peace as you gaze upon the cross and see the deep, deep love of Jesus at work in your heart and your life.  May God take the pain and suffering that you are going through and turn that into joy, peace, and hope.  And may God continually resurrect your life and bring you into a deeper relationship with Him!

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."  - Romans 8:14-17


   

Hope Christian Church

I am sorry that I have not been better this past month about keeping up with the blog.  We have been much busier now that the church has started!

Hope Christian Church held its first worship service as a congregation on March 9, 2014.  The church building is a small country school about 3 miles down the road from where we live.  The first week we had an attendance of 56.  The second was 76!  The last two weeks we have been around 60 because of a holiday weekend and last weekend being "month's end."

It's blurry because people are... dancing in church!  This picture is from March 9th, 2014, the first Sunday of worship at Hope Christian Church.  

"Month's end" is a South African phenomena because of the vast amount of poverty in this country.  South Africa is very wealthy with vast amounts of agricultural and natural resources.  However, that wealth lies in the hands of a relatively small number of people.  Add to that the 30+ percent unemployment rate and you have many people left with almost nothing.  But because of the nation's resources they have the ability to provide some financial assistance to those in need.  "Month's end" is when the government support checks are given out so people must go into town to cash their checks and buy groceries and other needed supplies. Since Hope Christian Church is in the country (aka, "the bush") many people are gone for the weekend around the end of the month.

But despite some people being gone for the week not only was worship this past Sunday fun, energetic, and strong, but we also had congregational participation in a "work day" to clean up the inside and outside of the church a bit.  The school/church-yard had been overgrown with grass and the trees were quite shaggy.  The headmaster at the school had asked us to cut the grass for the safety of the children because he had seen snakes around the yard.  So, a member of our Blessman Ministries team in South Africa, Talent, and Matt went over Saturday morning to mow and trim around the yard (Talent and his family have also been attending church there every week).  Later that day Rene and Beth Blessman along with Jacinda, Matt and several members of the congregation came to rake grass, trim trees, pick up trash, and clean the classroom floors, windows and chalkboards.  It was a wonderful effort and such a tremendous blessing that we could give back to the school for the use of their facilities.

Kaalleegte School before...

... and after with all the grass piled high and some volunteers washing windows.

 

 

Lemon and Guava trees.  Rene and Beth helped remove much of the brush you can see underneath them in this picture.

A "mama" helping out!  (The trees are much cleaner in this pic).

Cleaning the floors where we hold our "fellowship time" with coffee, tea, and cookies, which are called biscuits in    South Africa.

Jacinda making sandwiches for the work crew.

Everybody loves Stella!

On Saturday nights we have been hosting a community movie night.  Doc Blessman had thought it would be a good idea to help get the church going and an easy way to invite people to come.  We have been watching "The Bible" mini-series and typically have about 30 people who come.  We just finished the third episode about Joshua and Samson.  We are only three episodes in though we have been doing it for four weeks because one night the power was out at the school.  It was a bit frustrating but the group simply told a little about their own testimonies and sang praise songs.  

Rati, Talent's daughter, with Jacinda and Stella at Hope Christian Church movie night.

This last weekend I continued the sermon series on the book of Romans.  In Romans the Apostle Paul lays out the basics of Christian faith for people he had never met.  Although many of the members of Hope are already Christians (previously without a church within 30+ miles), starting a new church with mostly people I had never met it seemed that Romans would be a great place to begin learning about the Christian faith.

One of Blessman Ministries strongest projects is the sewing center.  It employs several women who make products that are sold mainly in the Blessman Ministries office in Iowa, at ministry events in the U.S. and to the American teams that come over for short-term trips.  The manager of the sewing center is Hilda Chongani who also happens to be one of the leaders of our worship team at church!  Her team at the sewing center recently put together a beautiful curtain that we hang at the front of the "sanctuary" to cover the school chalkboards.  It was such a beautifying piece this past weekend and really makes the space feel more like a place of worship rather than a classroom.    

The worship team (Hilda is in the grey) with the curtain in the back.  See the first picture above for what it looked like before the curtain went up.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers.  We are so blessed to be a part of Blessman Ministries and we are excited to see what God has in store for the future.  Please feel free to contact us.  If we are slow to respond we apologize.  We will respond and we want to!

May God bless you and may you continue to be a blessing to everyone you meet in the name of Jesus Christ!

Yours in Christ,
Matt