16 November 2011
...for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. Phil 4:11b
Dear Friends,
Our year of learning Afrikaans is coming to an end and it is time for us to begin working with Word and Life, the ministry to/with farm workers. We have learned much over the past year, much more than Afrikaans. We are so grateful that God does not simply leave us to our own devices but uses circumstances to teach us about his faithfulness.
Tomorrow is moving day for us. We'll be moving to Weltevrede, a farm in the Northern Cape province of South Africa about mid-way between the small towns of Laingsburg and Sutherland. Weltevrede means “well-contented” - something that Paul learned and we are learning. The world is such an uncertain place but we have such a certain God. There have been many circumstances over the past year that help us remember this crucial fact.
The farm house at Weltevrede will be our new home, Lord willing, from November 17th. We will be working with the farm workers in the area and the house is in the midst of those farms. Our nearest neighbor is over 10km from us. We're staying at Weltevrede because the town alternatives would about 100km away (and there are no places for rent in either nearby town, anyway).
We are quite excited about the work we'll be doing in this area. We'll be working with 12 farms (we're hoping to reach more – there are about 30 or so in the area). There is a small group that meets monthly for worship (about 20-30 farm workers from 5-6 farms; especially exciting is the fact that the farmers worship with their workers). We hope to soon start weekly worship. Each farm is visited, now, about every month or two. At these visits, the workers have a brief Bible study and some singing. We also hope to increase the frequency of these studies.
Our prayer is that ultimately there would be a church in this region where the people “show and tell” the gospel to the glory of God. As we settle in, we'll be learning who is who on the farms and what the gifts and interests God has given this group. Out of this, we'll be meeting regularly with the workers to develop leaders and a vision for what community development looks like in a rural community.
We truly appreciate your support – financial, prayer, and encouragement through word and deed. We praise God for his provision to us through you. We would appreciate your continued prayer for us in these coming days. In particular:
- Please pray for the move tomorrow (November 17). The house at Weltevrede is 3 km off of the main road (and the main road is a gravel road that hasn't been graded in years). The road to the house is very rough. The mover believes he can make it down this road but if he can't, we'll have to off-load and shuttle our things to the farm. This will be a lot of work.
- Please pray for our settling in to a new living situation. It is very rustic – the house is not connected to the electrical grid so electricity comes from a diesel generator. We hope to install a solar generator but there are some details yet to be worked out. Also, we are city people. We never imagined that God would have us living in such a situation. Pray that we can adapt.
- Pray also for our “well-contented-ness”. We find it ironic that we're moving to a place named Weltevrede while we often struggle with being content with where God has us. We thank Him that every time we say the name, we're reminded of how we can be content in God.
- Bert continues to preach in Gouda and Saron. This is a wonderful opportunity to grow in our ability to speak in Afrikaans as well as minister in these farming villages. He'll continue to preach there for at least a few months after the move. Pray for the continued growth of these small congregations.
- We are thankful that Nancy's shoulder is healing well. When she fell, she also injured her knee but the pain of the shoulder kept her from thinking too much about the knee. But it isn't healing properly. She will be seeing another orthopaedic surgeon in early December to see what needs to be done next. Pray for wisdom in this.
In another week is the American holiday of Thanksgiving. As we look back over this past year, we have much to be thankful for:
- We thank God that Gregory graduated from Geneva College. We thank Him that we were able to attend the graduation. We also thank Him that Gregory was able to begin 2011 with us here in Cape Town.
- We thank God that Emily was able to spend much of her summer with us here in Cape Town. It was especially a big help given Nancy's injury.
- We thank God that we have a great church home here in Cape Town – Brackenfell Community Church. We are very glad that they also are catching a vision for our ministry. Before we went back to the US in May, they called us forward to pray for us as we return to the US to minister there.
- We thank God for the ministry we're working with here. Word and Life, led by Johnnie Tromp, has a passion for evangelism, church planting, and development that fits very well with what we believe we're called to do.
- We also thank God for the MTW team here in Cape Town. We don't work together as much as many teams but we meet monthly for prayer and encouragement. It has been a blessing to be able to do this.
For the time being, we are going to have a small place here in Cape Town as we'll continue to make regular trips back (twice a month) for work purposes. Our landlords have been living in a small flat behind our home. Next week, we'll be moving back to their flat while they move forward to the house we've been living in. We are grateful for the place to stay here in Cape Town and especially grateful to Nowell and Rose Africa (our landlords) as they have reduced the rent for us to stay back there. They consider it a contribution to our ministry.
Since we'll be staying in the same location, basically, our mailing address remains the same. For the time being, we'll also have the same Vonage number. Both of those are listed at the end of this email. Since we'll be mainly at Weltevrede, we won't have easy email access. It may take a week or two before we see your emails after Thursday.
This is a longer than usual email. I hope you have been able to read this far. In case you have forgotten already, we truly appreciate all your support.
May God richly bless you with all the blessings that are in Christ Jesus!
Bert and Nancy
