And Now... A Word To Our Sponsors:

There were two organizations that contributed items for our ministry in South Africa, so we wanted to take a moment to recognize them and what their involvement meant to the people we came in contact with.

Freedom Women's Center
A Zulu individual, when involved in ancestral worship and animal sacrifice, will wear a bracelet made from goat leather from the recently sacrificed animal. Often, when Jesus is shared with them, they just "add" Him to their "ancestors" and no real commitment is made. We have long tried to find a way to help paint the picture of the change that needs to occur. We knew these bracelets were the key, but what to replace it with that would be culturally relevant? Enter the Freedom Women's Center. They have a leather workshop where they build leather work belts and with the scraps, they created a bracelet for us that has "Jesu" (Zulu for Jesus) and a cross written on it. What an amazing privilege it was to cut off the old bracelet and put on the new...


Thank you to the ladies of the Freedom Women's Center!!

CityTeam Ministries: Flip Flops for Little Souls
When word of my upcoming trip got around, the marketing department came to me and asked if I'd like to take 100 pairs of flip flops to hand out- sensing the fun and the need- I said yes! Every where we went we handed out these sandals- they resulted in many shy smiles and thank you's. It also gave us the opportunity to share the love of Christ in a fun and tangible way. One woman, when handed the sandals, got up to go wash her feet before putting them on- you could tell she had probably never worn shoes before!

Thursday, February 26

It is the day before we leave, and so it is time tie up loose ends and... go shopping! Glenda and Tracy took us girls to Howick and Pietermaritzburg to do some souvenir shopping. Let me just put it this way... the American economy may be in a slump- but South Africa's February economy hit the roof!! My feet still haven't recovered!
While the ladies bolstered the economy in SA, the guys went and did some heavy lifting out at the Dalton Bridge project to help Erlo with the irrigation system.
Then we all started packing for our return... we will leave bright and early Friday morning!

I Can See!

Tuesday, February 24th
Today we brought the gift of sight to the residents of Ntabamhlope! It was so much fun to watch faces as they discovered they could see the little things again! But most importantly, it was an opportunity bring the Gospel to those in need. It was a day of celebration in heaven: two witch doctors accepted the Lord and and the tribal chief invited Erlo back to preach on a monthly basis, and several ancestral worship bracelets were taken and replaced with bracelets with the name of Jesu (Zulu for Jesus) written on them (these were a gift from the ladies at Freedom Women's Center)- talk about ground taken from the enemy!! This was an exciting day! We went home tired... but jubilant!

Giants Castle

Today was Tourist Day! Erlo took us up to Giants Castle to view the early Bushman's Paintings. We got to see an amazing array of ecosystems on our way up to the caves- it was quite a long hike! Enjoy a couple of pics:

Friday-Sunday

From Jennifer Rickabaugh:

Friday.
Earlier wake up. Devotions with Rich.
We did the ECA assembly where Ron introduced the team and then Ritch addressed the students.
Off to Day Spring with Mfundisi as our guide and translator. Day Spring is a preschool in Ntabamhope. The kids were ages 2-5. They were adorable. They had where shy and timid. A lot of them were sick with colds and had very sad eyes. We sang songs and enjoyed each other for a while and then they went back to their individual classes where we got to pass out a stuffed animal to each grateful child. It was so incredible to watch each of their faces light up as they each had their own gift.

Erlo then picked us and we went out to huts in the area. The hut that broke each one of us on the team was a 27-year-old man who was dying of AIDS. He was in tremendous pain. There was a peace in the house but there was a sense that death is getting ready to knock on the door and claim this young man. It was so real and so sad. I think each of us on the team was brought to or close to tears watching his man in pain. We prayed and laid careful hands on this boy. Singing song of amazing grace as we left. When we got back to the Land Rover Erlo and Deli were extremely emotional and thankful for the team’s willingness to be there and minister to the people who are in need. It was so painful to watch how AIDS and HIV is taking over this area and claiming lives. There is so much heartache in this neighborhood that opens the eyes of each individual who enters and interacts with the locals.

After the hut to hut visits, we climbed a mountain in the Land Rover to a beautiful view. From this mountaintop you can see all of the Dalton Bridge community. We went up to this place so that we could spend time in prayer. Erlo has been working in this area for over 2 years and tomorrow we will be the first time that he will bring them the good word and preach to them. We also are going to do an eyeglasses clinic there. It was a great time to reflect on what God has done for us already and pray for Him to continue to be with us as we reach out to a new area.

Youth group.
Each one of us was tired from the day and none of us was excited to go to youth group tonight but it turned out to be the highlight of my trip thus far.
God worked through us to start a change today. Greg started by asking them why did they come tonight. “Why did they come?” the boys came because the girls would be there :)
We played the knot game. The youth stand in a circle and then have to grab hands across the circle and then have to untangle the knot. It was fun and a tangled mess at the same time. Then Ron shared a word about what is truth. He used a glass and a mug to illustrate the difference between truth and same. When he held up a glass and a glass that was the same and that was truth. When he held up a glass and a mug that was not the truth. He told the youth that people would come into their lives and tell them that a glass is a mug but that is not truth. They will have to seek truth and have friends or mentors who will help them discover the truth. I followed with a visual of how the world can control our lives. I showed the youth group the video “Everything by Lifehouse” from U-Tube. The skit shows the power of love (sex), money, fashion, alcohol, drugs, cutting, and suicide. It is a powerful visual message that gave the crowd goosebumbs. Joanne followed the skit by sharing her testimony. Her testimony is an eye-opening story on how the world had control of her life and now she relies on God. It is inspirational. Mfundisi then challenged the youth with the truths that were presented. I then followed with prayer and then asked the youth to spend a few minutes praying. The girls could come to the girls on the team to receive specific prayer and the boys could go to the men on the team for prayer. It was a good time to encourage the youth. There were so many of the youth who wanted and need the prayer. It was amazing. Many things happened tonight: three girls came to Christ, two admitted to cutting themselves and wanting to stop, we had one boy cut off an animal sacrificial bracelet off, and all of the boys got the bracelets that say Jesus and have a cross on them. The men on our team did a great job of challenging the boys to change Africa! They can stop the spreading of HIV and AIDS. It is all about them and their choices. Greg came up with a visual for all of the men. Picture a gun that can hold 10 bullets then load the gun with 7 bullets. Every time the men drop their pants they need to put the gun to their head and pull the trigger. That is the percentage of AIDS right now in Africa 7 out of 10.
It was a great night, to God be the glory!

Saturday
The whole team woke up renewed! Youth group was like water that revived our souls for the next day. It was amazing.
Greg did devotions.

We packed up the trailer for the eyeglasses clinic in Dalton Bridge. A big group gathered: the D4J kids, Brenda, Deli, Erlo, two more translators (Siyanda and Mamosa), a couple from the church and the team.
We circled up and prepared for the day by going through what it would be like when we got there and then we prayed for the day.

It was a beautiful drive out to Dalton Bridge. When we got there we prayed and set up. We had three tables and lots of chairs. We set up the chairs in rows for a service, which also ended up being the line.

The time at the clinic started with Erlo preaching to the people. He did a physical demonstration of the blood being poured out. Once he pierced the fake blood pack inside his shirt the people saw the sacrificial blood and they actually cried out in shock and awe. It was powerful. Deli then preached to the people in their native tongue. When she preached she gave me goose bumps. She has such passion and vigor.

Today’s lesson was the blessed people bless people and the touched people touch people. It was a good lesson.
We started the eyeglasses clinic. The very first person to sit down was demon possessed and she screamed and fainted and ran and it was incredible how many demons came in and out from that woman while she was there. Many people were praying over her and Ron was reading scriptures. It was a powerful way to start the clinic.

In the end we helped about 100 people to get eyeglasses. About 50 individuals accepted Christ today. God was there even though it was clear that there were 3 individuals there who were witch doctors and demon possessed.
Before this trip we had a women’s shelter make leather bracelets that say Jesus and have a cross on them. We used these bracelets as a tool to get individuals to give up their ancestral animal bracelets and trade them in for Christ. On this day we had over 5 cut them off and about 3 more promise to cut them off when they returned to their homes. These bracelets are so much a part of their culture and fear that it was amazing to see how God used these new bracelets affectively to help rid these people of ancestral worship and fear.

After the clinic we went down to the area that Erlo has been cultivating and harvesting for the last 2 years. Erlo is a farmer. He has created a crop of maize, tomatoes, and peppers. The crop this year has been a testimony of how great God is and how He is prospering in this area.

The day ended with a Braai (BBQ) at Shacks’. Shacks is the most incredible chef and Christian woman. She has a gift for entertaining. We had lamb chops, steak, and a meter long sausage as well as potato salad. We finished the meal with homemade Kolfi (ice cream) made of carmine, saffron, rose, coconut, almonds and pistachios. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!