Dear Friends,
We hope you are all doing well and that you had a blessed Easter. Here in South Africa we are nearing the end of our five week national lockdown (before the Easter weekend, our president extended the lockdown for another two weeks). Although the lockdown is ending end of April, there will be a gradual lifting of restrictions. Movement will still be severely restricted in the months ahead.
Though we were blessed by the wonderful message of Easter and how our Lord came to give His life for us, it was still a strange Easter weekend due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We could not meet with our congregation members and have our regular Easter services since the Police is very strict and orders the people to stay at their homes. Nevertheless, we are thankful that we could encourage them over the telephone.
After the extreme heat of the hot summer in which everything struggled to grow, autumn is our growing season in Onseepkans. We already harvest lettuce and spinach leaves in our mission garden, and hope to also harvest other vegetables in the weeks ahead.
Although our movement in the community are restricted, we can still go to the irrigation field opposite the road next to our house. We are putting in much effort there. We expect a food shortage and rise in food prices as one of the possible long-term effects of the COVID-19 lockdown. We are planning ahead for this crisis by planting as much vegetables as possible. Lord willing our main focus will be to distribute these vegetables for free to those in need and also to sell at reasonable prices to those who can afford it.
We are thankful that there had not been major food shortages in our area thus far, but many households in Onseepkans are suffering financially. Many people could not go to work at the vineyard farms, government initiated work projects, solar farms, and date farms in the area because of the nation-wide lockdown. Now they must rely on pensions, childcare, and disability grants from the government. Food parcels are distributed by government agencies and big businesses such as mines and solar farms. As a mission, we also try to help where we can. We assist our congregation members and others who are in need with food and vegetables.
Since our president, Mr. Ramaphosa, has banned the selling of liquor and cigarettes during the lockdown period, the crime rate in our country has fallen with nearly 70%. This has an enormous positive impact on our community!! Many of the people in Onseepkans struggle with alcohol addiction. To stay without alcohol even for one week is a major struggle for them. Now with the order from the President they must do it for 5 weeks! We hope and pray that it may influence our community for the better.
The police and health workers are really working very hard. We try to reach out to them and to encourage them as we can. We also run a Corona Info and Support WhatsApp group to keep our community updated on the latest developments.
A Birthday gift for the Clinic Sister and cupcakes to share with her staff
We sincerely want to thank all our brethren and sisters for their unselfish service during this time to help and bless others all over the world. You are in our thoughts and we pray that the Lord may bless and protect you all.
Gerhard, Elmane and Children
