Dear Friends
The past weekend God opened the door for me to visit our fellow brethren and sisters at Môreson Mission, near Malmesbury, in the Western Cape. The mission is situated approximately fifty kilometres from Cape Town. This mission is especially dear to me since I helped to co-find the work in 1995. Currently a young man, Tinus Loots, is heading the work. I can still remember how he came to the mission in 1998 for help. Through the years he steadfastly persevered to be a faithful servant of our Lord Jesus, and when Uncle George Osche became sick nearly a year ago the Lord chose Tinus to head the work. I left the mission seven years ago to start the work at Onseepkans in the Northern Cape and was blessed this weekend to see how the work has grown. Many drug addicts and gangsters from the Cape flats area come to the mission for help. Please keep our brother, Tinus Loots, and the work of Môreson Mission in your prayers.
We would like to update you about our activities at Onseepkans Mission the past month.
Children Ministry and Visitors from the Cape
You will remember that in a previous newsletter we wrote about some young boys that came to visit us. These boys, nine and ten years old, walked nearly eight kilometres to be with us. Some of them got to know us seven years ago when we first started in Onseepkans. At that time they were still toddlers of three years old.
In the recent school holidays a good friend of our mission, Piet van Konijnenburg, came to visit us. He is good with children’s ministry. When a group of twelve of these boys visited us, he ministered to them and many of them came to me to pray with them about their sins. I was thankful to the Lord for each prayer that I could pray for these precious young souls.
Some of them also attended church with us on Sunday. A week ago four of them came for a pottery class and since I was away for ministry my children attended to them. Please remember these boys in your prayers.
Pottery class for the young boys
A few young men asked me if I did not have any job opportunities for them. I used the opportunity to minister to them and was surprised when one of them shared how he could still remember the children’s ministry of Piet van Konijnenburg nearly seven years ago. As a young boy, he partook in the ministry activities and can still clearly remember what Piet had taught them. Testimonies like these are a great encouragement to us, knowing that our labour is not in vain.
We also had Christians visiting us from Cape Town area who were in need for a time of rest. We thank God that our mission can also serve His children in this way.
Update on our Garden and Seed Production Projects
A Spanish Community Upliftment project approached us to assist and train them to grow seedlings for their community gardens and organic vegetable farm. We agreed to help them and one of my children, Elizabeth, is heading this project. She is good with plants and also runs our nursery. Once a week, she trains and helps two ladies from the Spanish project to make seedlings. For these ladies, it is an opportunity to learn new and valuable skills and for us, it is an opportunity to build relationships and have an input in their lives.
It is growing season in Onseepkans with the worst of the summer heat behind us. We try to incorporate new vegetable varieties in our garden. Two of these are Thai yard long beans and Bangladesh pumpkins. They are fast growers with good yields.
We always try to experiment with new vegetables that work well for the area. We do this with the hope that we can encourage the community to start vegetable gardens on their own that work. The nutritional values of the daily diet of the people of Onseepkans are very low since they hardly eat any fresh vegetables. Add to this alcohol abuse, smoking, high sugar intake, and one can understand why the mortality rate is so high. We also trust that this year we will manage to produce enough vegetables to also supply some to the children’s home in Pofadder.
In Conclusion
Hebrews 10 verse 16 and 17 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
As we approach Easter, we wish you all a blessed time in remembrance of what our Lord Jesus did for us on the cross at Calvary. May your faith be strengthened and renewed as you draw closer to Him. We thank all of you for your faithful prayers and support.
