September 2023 Update

Dear Friends,

These words from the author of Hebrews were a great encouragement as I read them recently. They provide such a stabilizing truth in the midst of our ever-changing world: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”

Much has happened in our ministry here in South Africa and in our lives personally since our last update in March. Here are some short ministry updates . . .

We are thankful that the Lord allowed the Oser family to join our ministry team here in George back in April. They are joining in the ministries of Life Fellowship Church and the Inspire George non-profit organization as we strive together to see the gospel advance further in our city.

The Inspire George Business Centre officially opened on June 5. We are praying that the business center will provide open doors to help us build additional redemptive relationships within the business community in our city. We are thankful that the Lord has already brought several folks to the workspace, even as we pray for the Lord to bring more people who need Christ to the business center. We are also thankful for the unique opportunity to provide a managerial position to a young man in our church family who we are discipling and mentoring.

Life Fellowship Church is a central focus of our ministry. The church has been meeting weekly now for over four years, and we continue to thank the Lord for the work He is doing in building a multi-ethnic church family. We are currently engaged in a study of the book of Daniel, focusing on the glorious reality of the sovereignty of God over all things. We are also in the process of identifying and establishing South African church leadership (elders and deacons) from within the church family. Please pray for us as we continue in this essential and important step in the life of the church over the next couple of months. We are hoping to have these leaders in place by the end of October.

We also want to praise the Lord for providing the money necessary to help the Bybel Baptiste Kerk in the township community of Pacaltsdorp purchase a property for their church building. We are grateful for a couple of our supporting churches who helped us with the funds necessary to buy the property. The next phase will be helping the church raise the money necessary to build the church building.

We hope to make some decisions even within the coming week regarding this property search, so your specific prayers this week would be a tremendous encouragement.

As you pray for us personally, please continue to pray as we seek to remain engaged in the lives of our children who are all living in the States while we continue to serve here in South Africa. We were able to be home in July for the wedding of our son, Drew and our first daughter-in-law, Amanda. We were also able to help our youngest son, Grant, get enrolled and settled into college life, which was a huge answer to prayer. We thoroughly enjoyed the time with our family, and thank the Lord for the opportunity we had to be with them all for a short time. We would also appreciate your prayers as we seek to add a few additional supporting churches and individuals to help with our increasing expenses and the impact of inflation.

We continue to be encouraged by all that the Lord is doing here. It is His work, and He deserves the praise for what He is doing. While there are definitely ups and downs, we know the Lord is accomplishing His purposes and that He remains committed to glorifying Himself here in George, South Africa. Thank you for helping us be part of what God is doing here.