We are loving South Africa. We have moved into our home and are enjoying life on the mission base. We’ve been at work for a week now. Paul is working literally next door to our house in the studio. He has been undergoing training for the technical side of his job which has been pretty intense, but his “fuel” has been the stories, pictures and videos surrounding him in the studio. He’s had several moving experiences as he’s learned more about JAM’s work and it’s not been hard to find inspiration for the work at hand… wanting to get word out to the world via JAM’s websites so that more can be done for the children. In addition to administrating the sites for JAM (the relief organization) he will also do the same for Jesus Alive Ministries, the evangelistic organization. He looks forward to opportunities to write and edit as well as brainstorm on ways that the websites can be better tools.
Minda was grateful to have a week to get up to speed with Peter Pretorius’ previous assistant while Peter was away in Angola on a filming shoot with Life Outreach International (James Robison) and special guest Ruth Graham (Billy Graham’s daughter) who came out to see the work being done. Look for the footage on upcoming Life Today broadcasts. Peter is back in town now and Minda is amazed at how easy it has been to fit into the flow of things in assisting him. She has felt graced to step into her place.
Our Peter is at preschool every morning and is learning all the new ways and words in the culture around him. (They do speak English, but use some different terms and phrases). He is making many new friends and LOVES to play outside in the afternoons on the grounds surrounding our home.
God has blessed us with a wonderful African nanny for John David. Winnie is the wife of one of the builders on the JAM construction staff. She is very nurturing and gentle. Several days after she began coming into our home, we were struggling to get John David to take his nap and he was crying. Winnie put John David on her back and wrapped a blanket around him and tied it at her waist as the African women do with their babies. He immediately became calm and quickly fell asleep. This has become part of their daily routine as Winnie busies herself with other tasks. It’s so sweet.
On the ministry side of things we have visited with two churches whom we have relationship with and are setting up times for fellowship with the leadership in order to further determine where we feel to connect locally.
When we visited South Africa in September of last year, God spoke to Paul’s heart from Isaiah 61. Since arriving four weeks ago, this word has been resonating in our hearts concerning the Lord’s purpose for us in this land. According to Isaiah 61, God sends His people, anointed with His Spirit to bring good news to the poor; to heal them, comfort them and bring them liberty. According to this passage, God’s heart is that THEY then would rise up to rebuild the ruins and desolate places around them, destroyed by the generations before them.
This is certainly our heart in all we are doing here. This is the work that JAM is doing in feeding 500,000 children throughout the continent of Africa every day, in drilling holes for clean water, in the malnutrition clinics nursing the starving back to health. This is also what Jesus Alive is doing in taking the gospel to the unreached inhabitants of rural Africa. JAM has numerous development projects underway in the various countries where our programs exist to not just leave the communities the way we find them, but rather “helping Africa help itself.”
Minda was grateful to have a week to get up to speed with Peter Pretorius’ previous assistant while Peter was away in Angola on a filming shoot with Life Outreach International (James Robison) and special guest Ruth Graham (Billy Graham’s daughter) who came out to see the work being done. Look for the footage on upcoming Life Today broadcasts. Peter is back in town now and Minda is amazed at how easy it has been to fit into the flow of things in assisting him. She has felt graced to step into her place.
Our Peter is at preschool every morning and is learning all the new ways and words in the culture around him. (They do speak English, but use some different terms and phrases). He is making many new friends and LOVES to play outside in the afternoons on the grounds surrounding our home.
God has blessed us with a wonderful African nanny for John David. Winnie is the wife of one of the builders on the JAM construction staff. She is very nurturing and gentle. Several days after she began coming into our home, we were struggling to get John David to take his nap and he was crying. Winnie put John David on her back and wrapped a blanket around him and tied it at her waist as the African women do with their babies. He immediately became calm and quickly fell asleep. This has become part of their daily routine as Winnie busies herself with other tasks. It’s so sweet.
On the ministry side of things we have visited with two churches whom we have relationship with and are setting up times for fellowship with the leadership in order to further determine where we feel to connect locally.
When we visited South Africa in September of last year, God spoke to Paul’s heart from Isaiah 61. Since arriving four weeks ago, this word has been resonating in our hearts concerning the Lord’s purpose for us in this land. According to Isaiah 61, God sends His people, anointed with His Spirit to bring good news to the poor; to heal them, comfort them and bring them liberty. According to this passage, God’s heart is that THEY then would rise up to rebuild the ruins and desolate places around them, destroyed by the generations before them.
This is certainly our heart in all we are doing here. This is the work that JAM is doing in feeding 500,000 children throughout the continent of Africa every day, in drilling holes for clean water, in the malnutrition clinics nursing the starving back to health. This is also what Jesus Alive is doing in taking the gospel to the unreached inhabitants of rural Africa. JAM has numerous development projects underway in the various countries where our programs exist to not just leave the communities the way we find them, but rather “helping Africa help itself.”
Please visit http://www.jamint.com/
