The June Bustle



WOW Conference 

At the beginning of June, we held our annual Women of Worth Conference. As always, it was a fantastic time as women from many different churches came to be encouraged in God’s Word. This year, we looked at the life of Mary and what it looks like to sit at Jesus’ feet on a daily basis. We look forward to opportunities later in the year to take this conference to ladies at churches in other parts of South Africa and are excited to see this ministry continue to grow.


Satellite Camps

Later in the month, we had the opportunity to run two weekend satellite camps. The first was in Potchefstroom where we held our first ever satellite camp last year and the second was in Hamanskraal where we partenered with two DTC alumni at their local church. Our theme for both camps was ‘DO SOMETHING’ and Thato had the opportunity to challenge the kids & teens at both camps to start being active in their faith. They responded well to the challenge & we had the privilege of seeing 11 trust Christ in Potchefstroom & 34 in Hamanskraal.

Before one of the meetings, I (Thato) had the opportunity to share with one of the youth groups present at the camp. They asked about why we do camps which led to another question about my own testimony. After sharing about what Jesus had done in my life, someone asked about ancestors & how that plays into the picture. That’s where I got to clearly share what the gospel is all about – Jesus plus nothing which eaquals everything. Through this discussion, one of the youth leaders trusted Christ as her personal Savior. She finally understood that Jesus alone could save her.

Holiday Bible Club

This past week, we had the opportunity to serve at our church’s Holiday Bible Club. We were both group leaders for grades 6 & 7; Thato for the guys and myself for the girls. The week definitely did not come without its challenges, however, we definitely saw God working in their lives & are grateful that we could invest into their lives during that week as they gradually opened up & allowed God’s Word to work. On one of the afternoons as I was waiting for one of my girls to be picked up by her mom, I began talking with her about her salvation story. She claimed that she was unsure of her salvation & could not remember a time when she made a decisions to trust Christ. After re-explaining the gospel to her, she decided to trust Christ as her Savior! I also had a girl in my group who lived with her dad who is a Hindu. She expressed that she hid the fact that she was a Christian from him because she was afraid of what he would do. It was a great opportunity to encourage her & on that Sunday, she showed up at church with her little brother.

Bosasa

Every Monday, I (Thato) have the opportunity to minister at a boys juvenile prison. It has been a great privilege to share the gospel with & disciple the guys there over the past 4 years. Please be praying for Bosasa ministry. It has been a bit hard this past month with the changes that are happening there. They almost shutdown the religious side of the program & replaced it with other activities & church meeting place into a TV room. But the Lord is good in that the Boys saw the changes and asked what was happening with the discipleship on Mondays and the church as a whole. When they saw that Bosasa had no intention of keeping the ministry, they asked for it to come back & now they gave us a new room to meet again. The love & hunger they have for the Word is amazing and in spite of the struggles that they are fighting, I can see the Lord Jesus is working in their lives. Please continue to pray for the ministry and the boys as he heart of the leadership at Bosasa.

Thank you for your continuous prayers and support through ministry, it is what keeps us going to be able to reach the youth in South Africa. Thank you for praying for the Camps that just happened two weeks ago; it was a great time ministering to the teens & kids & great to serve alongside my wife.

Prayer 

-That the Lord would help us as we continue to learn & grow in this new chapter of married life
-Thato & I along with Arthur & Lucy (fellow WOL missionaries) will be ministering in Cape Town for some pastor & leader training & various meetings. (July 16-24)
-Pray for the kids that attended Holiday Bible Club that the Lord would continue to work in their lives.
-Thato’s weekly ministry at Bosasa (juvenile prison)
-Continued growth in those we disciple


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