Well, first I can't believe that it has been six months since we last posted something on here. Not sure where the time went. Here is the long overdue report from our 2014 outreach season. This is long but we pray that you will take the time to read all that the Lord did during this outreach season!
We had fewer teams this year and for the first time in the six outreach seasons we have been here serving full time we had three weeks in June with no teams.
June 1st – 9th
team: Christ Seminary (Polokwane, South Africa)
village: Makumeke, South Africa
July 5th – 12th
teams: Boksburg Baptist Church (Boksburg, South Africa) & Lorraine Baptist Church (Port Elizabeth, South Africa)
village: Panhame, Mozambique
July 5th – 18th
team: First Baptist Church, May Texas &
Christ Baptist Church, Polokwane, South Africa
village: Mbuzi, Mozambique
July 19th – August 1st
team: PaulAnn Baptist Church (San Angelo, Texas)
village: Tchale, Mozambique
July 19th – August 1st
team: Trinity Baptist Church ( Ocala, Florida)
village: Mabuzane, Mozambique
July 31st – August 8th
Cycle Tour
This year we had five teams plus the Cycle Tour and our family was able to serve with three of the teams. Our first outreach was in Makumeke, South Africa with the Christ Seminary 4th Year Students. Almost our whole Samaria Mission staff was able to serve together on this ourtreach. Makumeke is a village located in the Malamulele area. It is a church plant of Mchipisi Baptist Church where Kenneth Chauke is the pastor and Derrick Chauke is a leader. Dinga Baptist Church and Xigalo Baptist church have also been apart reaching this community. Derrick has taken on the responsibility of leading this church plant until the Lord provides a full time pastor. As a team we were able to come alongside the work the Lord has been doing through Mchipisi Baptist Church. As a team, we were able to put the roof on the pole structure that was there so the church can have some shelter during the services. We also held the daily men's, women's and children's ministry as well as house to house visitations and evening services. We always love being apart of the 4th year student outreaches. It is great to see the men serve and share their love for Christ so passionately with the people. 
Read what a few team members had to say about the outreach to Makumeke...
"For me it was great
in a sense that we were faced with reality of reaching the people with the
gospel and only to find out that people attend church without any clue about
the message of the gospel and the meaning.
The commitment of the entire team with the student working together for
the first time was great. The Samaria Mission work seen in action, the man who built the church structure, the ladies
who continue to cook for us daily without any complain. Sleeping in the tent was awesome but the cold
in the last two days. Digging the toilet pit was a great exercise. All in all I enjoyed the camp." - Bafana
"What impacted me the most was the dedication to duty that I saw with the whole team especially in relation to the manual work! On the first day(Monday), we were faced with what seemed like an impossible task, that of digging a 2 meter whole for the pit latrine. The guys were focused and dedicated were always ready to lend a helping hand. There was an unusual spirit of love and brotherhood throughout the trip, we genuinely cared for each other throughout all the activities and chores we were involved in.
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| Luke even took his turn in the pit |
It was my first time sleeping in a tent, and it was a wonderful experience. though we were in the bush, we were comfortable, we had very good meals and a hot shower once a day. All this thanks to the exceptional organisation of the Samaria mission team. Thank you " - Jonothan
"There were two issues that made a deep impact on me during our time in Makumeke. The first was the spiritual poverty and ignorance of the people in the area. In my own context this spiritual poverty and ignorance usually takes the form of either a self-righteousness or some intellectual denial of truth. But out there in Makumeke I found that people wanted the truth and were hungry to know about it but they did not have trusted sources where they could go to hear the truth. There are roughly speaking two or three churches in the little village of Makumeke but through speaking to the people of the village we found that not one of these churches know the Gospel. In other words not one of them preach Christ and Him crucified. People are left to grope around in the darkness of idolatry and sin while those who claim to bring light do not have any light themselves. This is not an exaggeration. In light of this reality the work that Kenneth, Derrick, Aaron and the team are doing in the area is phenomenal and demands the support and prayers of our churches. The second issue was the difficult conditions under which our friends from the area minister daily. Being a rural village the churches of these areas have very little of the technology and comfort that we enjoy. Most of the Christians from these areas also do not understand the gifts they have in these ministers of the Gospel and so they also do not tithe and support these men as they should. This creates a lot of pressure on the men in the ministry there but I can say that in spite of these obstacles they have been faithfully working and sacrificially ministering to those communities like Dinga, Makumeke, Shigalo, Jimmy Jones etc. Their example has been a tremendous encouragement to me." - Leon
"Being away from my wife for an extra week made the mission trip a big sacrifice. Yet at the end of it I felt that it was undoubtedly worth the cost. Of all the opportunities for personal evangelism the one that stood out the most for me was the opportunity Benjamin and I had to share with a “backslidden pastor” as he would call himself. Thomas evidently had a reasonable theological knowledge and initially tried to tie up the conversation with hard questions. However, when we boldly told him that he was distracted from the primary issue of his heart before the Lord we began to see a change. After we put before him scripture after scripture that spoke directly to his state of unrepentant sinfulness we could see a man who was humbled before the Word under the work of the Spirit. While we will have to wait for eternity to confirm, we have a reasonable confidence that Thomas came in repentance before the Lord Jesus Christ that day and humbly sought his grace to live a life pleasing to God. It was an opportunity in which we could see the power of the Word to pierce a man’s heart and lay bare his thoughts and intentions (Hebrews 4:12)" - Warrick
"Mission to Makumeke
village has left an indelible impression upon my heart; just being there a few
days with Samaria Missions has reinforced the importance for the church to be
mission oriented. I was encouraged by the work that Samaria Mission is doing among
the village people, their passion to see people coming to know Jesus Christ as
Lord and Saviour of their lives is definitely not in vain. I enjoyed going
house to house sharing the gospel with the village people who were very
welcoming to us. It became evident, during the interactions with the village
people, how uninformed most are of the truth of the gospel and how many are
holding on to a pseudo-salvation because of lack of solid biblical churches. We
can only hope and pray that the local church that has been planted by the help
of Samaria Mission (Makumeke Baptist Church) will be an oasis of truth in a
desert of lies." - Samuel
This next report is long but worth the read ...
“Just after 10:00 on Saturday
the 31st of May, ten Students from
Christ Seminary and Pastor Joseph Mahlaola and his family got all our luggage
into the trailers (we had to get a bigger trailer to fit in all the bags of the
guys) and we head out from CBC to the village of Makumeke. This is a little
village close to the town of Malamulele and it is +-20 Km from Thohoyandou on
your way to Giyani. We arrive at our location (Makumeke Baptist Church) at
about 14:00, where we found the well-organized camp all set-up and ready for us
to move into. I have, camped many times as a young boy, but the Samaria
Missions team really knows how to camp. From little things like taking off your
shoes before you enter your tent (to prevent you from carrying thorns into your
tent, which are no friends of your air-mattress), to the
homemade-diesel-powered-instant-hot-water-contraption they installed to provide
a great hot shower every day, it was clear these guys have done the “camping
thing”, many many times before and they are good at it.
Each of us was assigned a tent buddy for the trip and we all got our air-mattress into our tents and blown-up (a few needed patching). Then we came together to be instructed about the camp rules and the program for the 8 days we were going to be in Makumeke. This included preaching and teaching a total of 26 times, digging a hole 2.5m long by 2.m wide by 2m deep for a toilet, doing house to house evangelism in groups of two every morning, providing an adults and children program every day at 16:00. The Samaria missions men also planned to build a roof structure for the church during this time. It was definite a jam-packed schedule, which were going to require a lot of energy and tenacity, but we were well fueled by our studies at Christ Seminary and by the wonderful food produced in the camp kitchen.
Each of us was assigned a tent buddy for the trip and we all got our air-mattress into our tents and blown-up (a few needed patching). Then we came together to be instructed about the camp rules and the program for the 8 days we were going to be in Makumeke. This included preaching and teaching a total of 26 times, digging a hole 2.5m long by 2.m wide by 2m deep for a toilet, doing house to house evangelism in groups of two every morning, providing an adults and children program every day at 16:00. The Samaria missions men also planned to build a roof structure for the church during this time. It was definite a jam-packed schedule, which were going to require a lot of energy and tenacity, but we were well fueled by our studies at Christ Seminary and by the wonderful food produced in the camp kitchen.
Makumeke Baptist church is a church plant initiative of Mchipisi Baptist
Church and it also supported by Dinga Baptist church and Shigalo Baptist
church. All of these churches are pastored by men who studied at Christ
Seminary. It was wonderful to see how these men have been and still are putting
their training into practise. The pastoral heart of these brothers is
commendable and the work they have been doing in planting churches and pastoring
them is fantastic. The church plant was started because a few people were being
transported from Makumeke to Mchipisi Baptist on Sundays. Also there are a few
churches in Makumeke, but none of them preach a clear gospel message and we
were shocked by the general lack of knowledge of the people, even about the
gospel with in a village where almost everyone goes to church. The need in this
village is great and I am very encouraged that by God’s grace a church which
preaches the gospel will be started in this village.
On Sunday the 1st of June after having a wonderful breakfast we drove to the different churches, as six of us were preaching that morning in six different churches in the areas around Makumeke. This gave us the opportunity to visit the churches which were involved in the Church Plant at Makumeke. Then Monday we started to settle into our daily routine. On rotation three or four of us stayed in camp every morning to dig the hole. The remaining six or seven went to do house to house evangelism through the streets of Makumeke. We broke up into three groups, each with a Tsonga speaking translator as most of the people in Makumeke are from the Shangaan people group.
For me the Evangelism was the highlight of the trip. The people, though church going did not know the gospel (only on the last day my group met a few ladies who were able to explain the gospel to us), but they were very welcoming and open. We were able to ask people what they believe and why they believe it. Most of the people also accepted the bible as God’s word, which gave us a great platform to build from. I was deeply impacted by a man we met called Matthias, who said we can speak to him as long as we speak only the bible. When we asked him how he was saved, he said he was baptised and because of that he is saved. When asking him more questions we came to the realisation that he cannot read and that he did not know the gospel even though he though he has been taught the truth at church. Here is a man who wanted to know how he can be saved but he was dependent on others to tell him because he cannot read and yet the church he was going to (which is the biggest in the village) was deceiving him and leading him away from the truth. This brought tears to my eyes. We met another lady whose husband left her with a half built house and two kids. We also met a few people belonging to ZCC, and I was stunned by their lack of knowledge about the bible and the gospel and the false believes their hold on to. Many of the people we met did not believe they were sinners and by the end of the week we had become experts in using God’s word to show people their sin and their need for a saviour. It was also encouraging to see that many of the people we met during our evangelism came for the evening services at 18:00 at the camp. In general, the evangelism was a very fruitful and fulfilling time. It is great when people have the time to listen to the truth and when you can have access to people so that you can share the truth with them, both of this is lacking the our cities. Satan keeps people so busy they just don’t have the time for you to sit with them and ask them questions and to tell them truth. Also, our walls and gates have made in almost impossible to get to people. We just do have the access to each other like the people in Makumeke do.
On Sunday the 1st of June after having a wonderful breakfast we drove to the different churches, as six of us were preaching that morning in six different churches in the areas around Makumeke. This gave us the opportunity to visit the churches which were involved in the Church Plant at Makumeke. Then Monday we started to settle into our daily routine. On rotation three or four of us stayed in camp every morning to dig the hole. The remaining six or seven went to do house to house evangelism through the streets of Makumeke. We broke up into three groups, each with a Tsonga speaking translator as most of the people in Makumeke are from the Shangaan people group.
For me the Evangelism was the highlight of the trip. The people, though church going did not know the gospel (only on the last day my group met a few ladies who were able to explain the gospel to us), but they were very welcoming and open. We were able to ask people what they believe and why they believe it. Most of the people also accepted the bible as God’s word, which gave us a great platform to build from. I was deeply impacted by a man we met called Matthias, who said we can speak to him as long as we speak only the bible. When we asked him how he was saved, he said he was baptised and because of that he is saved. When asking him more questions we came to the realisation that he cannot read and that he did not know the gospel even though he though he has been taught the truth at church. Here is a man who wanted to know how he can be saved but he was dependent on others to tell him because he cannot read and yet the church he was going to (which is the biggest in the village) was deceiving him and leading him away from the truth. This brought tears to my eyes. We met another lady whose husband left her with a half built house and two kids. We also met a few people belonging to ZCC, and I was stunned by their lack of knowledge about the bible and the gospel and the false believes their hold on to. Many of the people we met did not believe they were sinners and by the end of the week we had become experts in using God’s word to show people their sin and their need for a saviour. It was also encouraging to see that many of the people we met during our evangelism came for the evening services at 18:00 at the camp. In general, the evangelism was a very fruitful and fulfilling time. It is great when people have the time to listen to the truth and when you can have access to people so that you can share the truth with them, both of this is lacking the our cities. Satan keeps people so busy they just don’t have the time for you to sit with them and ask them questions and to tell them truth. Also, our walls and gates have made in almost impossible to get to people. We just do have the access to each other like the people in Makumeke do.
At 16:00 we had an adult and kids program where we started to teach the
people about the beginning and God for Genesis 1. Disappointingly the adult
study was not well attended, but the kids program, which also included some
games, grew and grew till there where over 80 kids there. Every day the kids
came earlier and earlier to play games and to learn from God’s word.
The whole digging started well and
by the end of the first day of digging we were about 60 cm deep and we were
hopeful that we will finish it with-in the next two days. We then decided to
poor some water in the whole to make the sand softer. The next morning, when we
when to the hole, we had a great surprise. The water did not drain at all. It
was all still there. This make it clear that we were not going to have it as
easy as on the first day and for the next four days we battled with compacted
clay and rock. It was back breaking and blistering work, yet the spirit in the
whole great and the local pastors set the example for us. Kenneth, the Pastor
of the Mother Church at Mchipisi said, “I learned at school from Oom Johann
Odendaal that a Pastor’s hands must not be like a baby’s bottom, no a Pastor
must work with his hands”. And I can testify that the Pastors of these Baptist
churches have leathery hands because of hard work.
Wednesday night four of the students led the bible studies at the different churches and Friday night four others led the youth groups at these churches. These were great experiences to meet God’s people from a different area and a different tong, yet we serve the same God and the same Saviour.
Day by day the hole went deeper. The rock and clay was shovelled out of the hole and then onto William’s good old faithful Nissan and offloaded where the temporary church building was being constructed. By Friday the hole was deep enough and the final squaring off was completed. Friday night we showed the Jesus’ film in Tsonga and many many people from the village came. By Saturday the roof of the church was completed and we were able to have the Sunday service under the new roof. By Sunday we had also been to more than 80 houses and have presented the gospel one on one to more than 120 people, most of whom did not know the gospel before.
Wednesday night four of the students led the bible studies at the different churches and Friday night four others led the youth groups at these churches. These were great experiences to meet God’s people from a different area and a different tong, yet we serve the same God and the same Saviour.
Day by day the hole went deeper. The rock and clay was shovelled out of the hole and then onto William’s good old faithful Nissan and offloaded where the temporary church building was being constructed. By Friday the hole was deep enough and the final squaring off was completed. Friday night we showed the Jesus’ film in Tsonga and many many people from the village came. By Saturday the roof of the church was completed and we were able to have the Sunday service under the new roof. By Sunday we had also been to more than 80 houses and have presented the gospel one on one to more than 120 people, most of whom did not know the gospel before.
When we left Makumeke, after the
Sunday services, we left behind Pastor Derick who will be taking care of the
people and who will continue, with the help of the other Baptist Churches, to
establish a strong gospel proclaiming church in the village of Makumeke. But,
we were also deeply impacts by our experience in Makumeke. A strong brotherly
spirit formed among the students which became stronger in one week than it has
been from three years of studying together. Serving the Lord together really
brought us closer to each other and gave us a greater appreciation for the
gifting God has given each of us. We also could see the value of the training
we have been receiving in ourselves but even more so in the pastors of the
Baptist churches we came into contact with. And we were also deeply impacted by
the Samaria Mission team. What a great example of team work, camaraderie in the
Lord and a willingness to serve other people and make things as comfortable as
possible for us, even in the bush. I now have a much better understanding and a
greater appreciation for the work of Samaria Mission. And I hope that many of
you will also take the time to join the mission and to be on mission for God in
the “Samarias” of South Africa." In Him
- Frank
Another great thing about being in South Africa for this outreach was that Gordon, one of our fellow missionaries, is also a Gideon and he was able to do Bible placements in the local schools.
Our second outreach took us to Mbuzi, Mozambique! We were so excited to be back in Mozambique for this outreach season (last year we were not able to take teams to Mozambique due the border being closed from the January 2013 floods). We were scheduled to go into Mozambique on Tuesday, July 1st so that camp could get set up and we could use the new drill rig to drill a well in Matsilele before the first team arrived. Well, long story short, the drill rig was not registered yet and we postponed our trip until the Thursday. Thursday there was hope that the much needed paperwork would come through within days but that meant Sean and Gena needed to stay in Polokwane and wait. So, on Thursday morning the Vaughan's, Derrick, Cornelius, Amu, Moses, Nehemiah, Mark and myself (Brit and Luke stayed in Polokwane until Sunday because of Holiday Club or VBS) headed into Mozambique. We did experience HUGE delays at the border trying to get two trucks full of equipment in. We arrived at Mbuzi just before dark and quickly ate our dinner and began to set up the kitchen tent and a few personal tents sporadically over the "camp" to keep an "ear" over the equipment through the night. The next morning (Friday) William, Sharyn, Derrick, Amu and Moses headed to Panhame to set up camp for the other team and that left Nehemiah, Mark and myself to set up camp for the team arriving on Sunday. We were thankful for the help setting up the kitchen tent and five of the needed 22 tents on Thursday. Because there was a last minute change in Sean and Gena staying in Polokwane until the paperwork was complete on the rig, that meant we had some much needed equipment on the truck that Sean was to drive in ... like water & the filtration kit and fuel. We made a plan and William and Sharyn left us with 70 L of water before they left and Mark headed to Punda Maria Rest Camp in Kruger on Friday to get fuel for the generator. We were able to get water from the well in Mbuzi. Limon Baloyi, the pastors son (Limon is in his 50s) was a HUGE help to us. Since Mark was gone for most of Friday, it was just Nehemiah and myself. Limon gathered some kids to help clear land and set up some tents with us. We were able to have everything that we had with us set up by the time Sean and Gena arrived with the rig and the truck with the rest of the equipment on Sunday. We praise the Lord that by the time the team arrived later Sunday afternoon we had camp set and ready for them. We were exhausted but so excited to begin the outreach in Mbuzi with the Christ Baptist Church (from Polokwane) and the May Baptist Church team (from May, Texas)
We must share a huge PRAISE.... the CBC team was lead by Mark and Brad. It was a team from our local church here in Polokwane. They were going to combine with a team from May, Texas. These two teams would form ONE TEAM in Mbuzi for the outreach. It was our prayer that there would be unity between these two teams that would not meet until the CBC parking lot the day they would travel to Mozambique. We are so happy and thankful to say that these two groups blended in a way that only the Lord could do. They camped together, studied the Word together in morning devo, worked together and served together like they were ONE! ONLY THE LORD CAN DO THAT!!!!! It was so evident through our time there that the Lord had called each specific person to this time in Mbuzi. The CBC team left on Sunday to head back to Polokwane and the May team stayed until Wednesday in Mbuzi finishing the outreach. On Thursday night, we used our house the Lord gave us to host the WHOLE team CBC and May for a pizza dinner. The excitement as they were reunited with each other was so great. There were pockets of fellowship all around our house. People making sure they were connected on Facebook and email and LOTS of laughs. Again, ONLY THE LORD can combine total strangers to serve together for a common goal of bringing the Gospel to Mbuzi.
Here is what some of the team members had to say ...
"A real highlight for me personally has been the personal growth I have experienced in the Lord. Knowing that I have enjoyed the privileged of joining God in HIS work. God is truly at work her in Mbuzi. He is working in the hearts of our local people and in the hearts of the missionaries on outreach. I loved the teaching ministry and I know in my heart, God called me for this seeing the joy of understanding and experiencing His work in our midst and amongst the village women GLORIFIES HIM OUR FATHER." - Lynne (CBC)
"This is my 1st experience and a very blessed one. All the people who put the trip together have blessed me. I enjoyed getting to drill water wells and repair older ones. Become a blessing for others and you will be blessed." - Eddie (May)
"It was so amazing to see the villagers take part in the teaching and activities as well as the CBC/May team actually having fun during the teaching/activities. Even though our cultures are worlds apart it amazes me how the Lord, through out common belief in Him, allows us to be united. The Lord by His Grace, makes many villagers thirst for His Word - it was incredible to see this!" - Charles (CBC)
"Ministering in the Women's Bible Study was a great blessing! Getting to know them and enjoy their music, dancing, and enthusiasm was such a joy! They loved our role plays, coloring balloons and bubbles as we shard God's Word with them." -Vicki (May)
"It was so amazing to see the villagers take part in the teaching and activities as well as the CBC/May team actually having fun during the teaching/activities. Even though our cultures are worlds apart it amazes me how the Lord, through out common belief in Him, allows us to be united. The Lord by His Grace, makes many villagers thirst for His Word - it was incredible to see this!" - Charles (CBC)
"Ministering in the Women's Bible Study was a great blessing! Getting to know them and enjoy their music, dancing, and enthusiasm was such a joy! They loved our role plays, coloring balloons and bubbles as we shard God's Word with them." -Vicki (May)
"Thank you for the privilege of being part of thew ministry. A highlight was to actually SEE the light of the Holy Spirit in people's eyes and the deadness in the eyes of other women. What a joy to be part of bring a bit of joy in these women's lives. This afternoon it felt like there was a bit of bonding just starting and now we're going - that's sad!" - Cornie (CBC)
"I saw 2 people sincerely come forward and except Christ. I watched Sean humble himself. I had a great time in camp and made new friends. I also experience the power of prayer at the river." - Jeff (May)
"I really enjoyed life in the village and it is such a joy to join with CBC and Samaraia Mission to share God's love with eh the amazing Mozambiquian families we have met. I have been reminded that it is such a blessing and privilege to have a Bible teaching church to attend and to be surrounded by other believers.l Many of the believers in rural areas like Mbuzi do not have the support and teaching that I am blessed with. I feel God's calling to continue to praying for these people and their spiritual growth." - Jenny (CBC)
"I really enjoyed the fellowship with all the people involves as well as with the native people. I enjoyed working together on drilling water wells, some of the best times were the devotions and Bible sessions." - David (May)
"Ben!!! To see someone coming to salvation and then as the whole group came around him with support and advice on the way forward. Keep Ben in you prayers daily." - Gideon (CBC)
"This was my 7th trip to Africa. ti was my 1st time to drill water wells. It was my prayer that we would be used by God to bring not only clean drinking water to Mbuzi but also Jesus Christ the Living Water. I saw the Lord moving in the people and they were touched by the Holy Spirit. This trip ha special meaning to me as we dedicated the 1st well in the memory of my son, Scotty. he spent nearly one year with Samaria Mission in 2002 and loved Africa. I think he would be very proud." - Scott (May)
Please take time to watch this video highlighting the Mbuzi outreach. Even though this video highlights this specific village, it is a good video showing what a team will experience on outreach with God serving through Samaria Mission.
Please take time to watch this video highlighting the Mbuzi outreach. Even though this video highlights this specific village, it is a good video showing what a team will experience on outreach with God serving through Samaria Mission.
Our last outreach was in Tchale and we were able to serve with a team from our sending church, PaulAnn Baptist Church, in San Angelo, Texas.
This is always a highlight to our year as it is a connection to our home church family. We loved seeing old friends and meeting new ones. One special thing that happened on this trip was that my parents, Bob and Gayle, were able to join with the PaulAnn team and then stay for the whole month of August! They were able to surprise Brit and Luke. The surprise was to happen in Mozambique. Mark and I took the May team to the airport and picked up the PaulAnn team, including my parents. The kids were supposed to stay in Mozambique with the rest of the Samaria staff BUT Luke was sick and needed to come out and go to the doctor. So that meant Brit was in Mozambique for the first time without any us or her brother. This actually turned out to be great for Brit as she was able to step up and drive our bakkie across the Limpopo River (which had more water than normal for this time of year). She was also a huge asset to the set up team in Tchale. We are so proud of the young lady she has grown to be. Luke recovered and rested at home while Mark and I took the May team and over nighted and picked up the PaulAnn team. We did not arrive home until LATE Saturday night or early (Sunday morning). Luke found out the surprise on Sunday morning when he came for breakfast and found his Grandmom and Pop Pop standing in the room with him! He was shocked to say the least. We had some delays and ended up not going to back to Moz. until Monday. We arrived in camp just as dark set in. We hugged Brit as it had been 6 days since we had been with her. She greeted her PaulAnn family and then was so surprised when she was told to help an older couple out of the front of the SAMIL truck. She was helping the "older" lady with a box she was holding. Once Brit took the box she discovered the surprise. Let's just say a few tears were shed!
It was a joy to have my parents on outreach to experience part of what we love about serving with Samaria Mission. They got to experience everything from smooth river crossings, camp life, devos, hut to hut evangelism, teaching ministries, evening services, helping me as well as Gena cook for the team, well drilling, camp life responsibilities like getting water and heating the showers, and even river crossings that are not so successful.
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| heading out for hut to hut visitations |
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| Children's Ministry in Tchale |
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| Women's ministry in Tchale |
It was great to be back in Tchale serving alongside Pastor Highway and
his wife Emmalina. PaulAnn has developed a great relationship with this
church and village. One of the highlights for everyone was the amount
of men that came for men's ministry. In most villages, including Tchale
in the past, very few men actually attend the men's teaching. Well,
this year they had up to 17 men attend!!!!! Amazing. The team also
brought two games with them ... horse shoes and washers. They felt
strongly that they were to not only teach the TRUTH but to build
relationships together while playing these games. It was a huge success
and we praise the Lord for allowing this to happen.
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| men's ministry in Tchale |
While the team was there we were able to help Highway transport brick he had made for the church from his house to the church. They were able to complete almost half of the walls to the church structure while we were there.
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| building the walls for the church |
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| Sunday Morning service in Tchale |
Here are what a few of the PaulAnn team members had to say about the outreach ...
"I have a place in my heart for the women of Tchale.
While we were on outreach one morning, we were sharing the gospel with
the women at this particular hut. They knew what we were talking about.
They said they were going to a church in that area. We prayed with them,
and we told them that as long as their church lined up with what the
Bible had to say, they were on the right track. However, I'm always
amazed at what these women do to take care of their families. While we
sat and talked with them, I watched one of the women continuously scrub a
plastic grocery bag for at least ten minutes. She scrubbed that bag
inside and out. She then took the bag and wrapped it around some pumpkin
she had cut up. She placed it in the pot and put it on the fire. I
remember thinking "Wow! And we wouldn't even think twice about tossing
that bag into the trash when we've emptied it." The things we take for
granted these women embrace and use for everyday necessities." - Debbie
"One of the highlights for me was hearing Derrick say
that Pastor Highway was on fire and that when he was preaching, he was
"firing on all cylinders". That's exciting to me because it means that
the church in Tchale will get to hear the word of God all year, not just
when we are there." - JakePlease click here to watch the video from the PaulAnn team ...
Romans 10: 13 -15 ... For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how
are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are
they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach
unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of
those who preach the good news!"
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