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Camps Near & Far

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It’s been a while since our last update and so much has happened since we arrived back from furlough. Thato took a trip to Zimbabwe to help with some camps alongside the WOL Zim team, we assisted with our church’s Holiday Bible Club (VBS) as well as a winter camp alongside one of the churches we partner with in the East Rand.    Our team also continued with our annual camps happening at Potchefstroom (True Word Bible Church) and Mozambique (Trichardt School). The biggest thing that has happened over these past few months though it that we welcomed our third baby girl, Aliyah Mphonyana (translated ‘little gift’ in Sotho) 3 weeks early. We are thankful for the smooth delivery of our sweet Aliyah on Thato’s birthday (June 4) The pastors cooking for the campers Zimbabwe I had a privilege to go to Zimbabwe after coming back from furlough to help teach at camp. The trip was great ias we were able to meet with Pastors and have fellowship with them as well as teach the word of God to the teens
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There & Back Again

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It's been a month now since we returned to South Africa and have been settling back into a normal rhythm. We are so thankful for the time we had on furlough to reconnect with friends, family and supporters. It really was such an encouraging time and though it was quite busy with lots of traveling, it was also refreshing. We started out our time with some downtime with our family over the Christmas holidays. It was a wonderful and special time especially since it was the last time we were able to spend with Ashley's Pop Pop before he went home to be with the Lord in March.  We officially began our furlough the first week of January as we caught up with friends and supporters and shared in churches in Abaco, Spanish Wells and Nassau (3 different islands). We were so overwhelmed by the love, generosity and care we felt as we visited with different people and churches. It was also encouraging to see God at work in each person's life and their own spheres. Our time in the US was
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Ending the Year Right

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We finished off 2023 with a bang as we finished final prep for and had our summer camps along with closing out our various ministries with end of year events. It was definitely a sprint to the finish but it was a great end to the year. Summer Camp We are thankful for a fruitful and encouraging end of year camp as we had many outside volunteers as well as more campers than we've had the past few years, many of which were first time campers.    Our theme for camp this year was ‘Crossroads’.    We challenged the campers to filter their decisions in light go God’s truth rather than the world’s so called wisdom. It was a blessing to see God working in their lives through our various speakers and counselors as some made decisions to trust Christ as their Saviour and many others confronted their own crossroads to make choices glorifying to Christ. Another highlight of camps was having my dad as the main speaker for the teen camp and mom as part of the worship team. It was a blessing to se
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Investments

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It’s been a while since our last update and we sure have a lot to share. These past several months have been nonstop with several leaders trainings, an alumni reunion, our staff retreat, a camp, and lots in between. We have had so much opportunity to continue to build and invest into leaders, teens and young adults who will continue to make disciples where they are. Leaders Mid-Year Training Our mid-year conference is always a great time to see how the leaders are doing at the halfway point in the    year. We are thankful for the opportunity to continue to train and learn from how they are doing things as well.   T hato had the opportunity to share about how to intentionally reach out to Gen Z youth and we had some great discussions amongst the leaders as to how to continue growing in how we minister to youth. Hazyview Leaders Training We also had the opportunity to do a leaders training with several churches in Mpumalang organised by one of our alumni. it is always nice to see that h
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Camps, conferences, missions & everything in between

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The last few months have been action-packed and filled with different ministry opportunities. Throughout the months of June and July we were able to hold 2 conferences, 2 satellite camps, host a missions team from the States, and serve at our church's Holiday Bible Club. Women of Worth Conference We started off the month of June with our first Women of Worth Conference for the year. As always it was an awesome time gathering with about 60 women young and old from 20 different churches. Our theme this year is Priscilla: Preserver of the Faith. We focused on practical aspects of discipleship and apologetics and how it should look in our daily lives and in our churches. It was so encouraging to receive feedback on how they were challenged in these areas and are seeking to grow and implement the things they learned. Holiday Bible Club At our local church, the last time we had Holiday Bible Club was before COVID started so it was great to have it again. I was able to lead a team of game
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Come & See

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The last 2 months have been spent doing camp in Mozambique, preparing for upcoming camps and events, and spending some special time with Ashley's family in addition to our weekly ministries and discipleship. Mozambique Missions Trip The trip to Mozambique went great. We had 60 campers who came from Trichard School and 10 trusted in Christ Jesus as their personal Saviour. The theme for camp was “come and see”. The speakers were me, two of our alumni, Paulo and Xolani, and Pastor Thiago who partners with Word of Life Mozambique. At the end of camp at we have the campers work together with their team to present a song on what they have learned from camp. The teams always do great in presenting their song to other campers. When school re-opens, Miss Wilma, one of the teachers we work with, would ask the students who went to camp to present their songs at assembly to the whole school. I wanted to share one of the song’s lyrics with you. Here are the lyrics: Verse 1 Come and see, the One
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Long-term Investments

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We've had a great start to the year with our staff conference, several leaders training conferences, and starting up all our various ministries for the year. Staff Conference We started off the year with our annual Staff Conference where we gathered with our team from both locations for a week of encouragement, brainstorming, and preparing for the year ahead as we also spent time together. The Lord has really challenged us as a team to make sure that as a small team, we are focused on the things the Lord wants us to focus in on and that we serve whole-heartedly and with excellence. We are so thankful for the team the Lord has blessed us with and excited for the year ahead as we continue to come alongside local churches, raise up the next generation of leaders, and reach youth and kids with the gospel. The harvest is plentiful. Leaders Kickoff Conferences In the month of February we had an opportunity to do training for youth leaders in four different locations. We focused our train
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