July 23, 2007
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South Africa Update #6
Hello again,
We have come back once again to DHQ in Vryheid from
another half week of ministry out in the Khambi
circuit. This was another great stop on our travels
although it was very short. On Monday night, we
arrived at the corps which is in a rural mountainous
area. Rising up from behind the officers quarters,
there was a tall mountain. As it was still daylight
with plenty of time before dinner, the guys just had
to go up there. Alberto, Grant, Bongani and myself
started climbing and saw some incredible views of
mountains and fields. When we came back down, Grant
wanted to walk to the only store in the area to get
some batteries so the four of us went through the town
(it would be more accurate to think of it like a
series of camp sites with one dirt road and lots of
sandy trails through woods). When we got to the store,
we greeted all the people inside in Zulu and told them
we were from the Salvation Army. After Grant got what
he needed, the gogo (grandma) behind the counter asked
us to pray for her diabetes and sing so we did. There
were some men who asked us to buy them alcohol and we
had to tell them that we wouldn’t support that and we
could pray for them. It is really cool to me that
Christians don’t just have errands to do. Anything as
mundane as buying batteries is a ministry and has a
purpose.
Tuesday was a packed day. We got up and after
breakfast, we went around to many of the houses in the
area and shared bible verses, choruses and prayers
with all the people. Some were soldiers and some were
not, but it was a really great time and they were all
very welcoming. We did that straight until lunch and
then prepared for a Kidz Club meeting. This was a
massive Kidz Club with 108 kids all under 13. We
played ‘what time is it Mr. Fox?’ and then sang with
them. Then we had them act out the story of Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace. With so
many kids, we were worried about having enough
supplies to have them all make paper plate
tamborines, but like fish and bread, the plates
lasted and every kid got one. Then we went straight
into a prayer meeting for adults. After that we ran a
youth meeting for a very excited youth group. We
played the ever popular ‘zip-zip-boing’ game and Katy
led the dramatic presentation of king Jehosaphat’s
victory over Moad and Ammon from 2 Chronicles 20.
It was a very busy day, but everything went really
well and we all enjoyed it.
On wednesday, we walked to the outpost at Velaphi.
This wasn’t just a short walk, but at least a 45
minute hike through woods and mountains. There were
some spectacular scenes along the way. After walking
down the mountain, we came to a wide open valley of
tall yellow grass where we walked some more until we
arrived at a cluster of huts where women in red home
league uniforms welcomed us in their homes. We shared
scripture and sang together. Then the Captain Ziqubu
led us to the site where the soldiers are building
their own corps building. They are making their own
bricks and doing the construction themselves. We stood
inside the structure and prayed for its completion.
Then we all had tea and biscuits at the corps
treasurer’s house. On the way back, the guys saw
another mountain that we had to get to the top of. We
asked Captain if that would be alright for us to split
up so the girls went the way we came and the guys did
some pretty steep mountain climbing. Eventually, we
found our way back down the other side of the mountain
back to the corps. It was exhausting but very worth
all the work. We were able to relax for a while and
enjoy the Captains and their two year old’s company.
This was a really great stop and we wish it could have
been longer. Tomorrow we head to our last location of
the summer (winter), Ezakheni. We were able to meet
the officers there at Y-connexion and are looking
forward to seeing them again. Thanks for all your
prayers,USA Central South Africa Mission Team
