Dear Friends,
You have really been in our prayers the past weeks, especially our brothers and sisters in the US with the huge challenges and onslaught that they as a country are facing. With the world facing a second, third and even possible a fourth wave of Covid 19 we hope 2021 finds you all safe and well. But let us take courage with the firm foundation that God is always in control and nothing will happen unless it is in His divine will and plan.
In this month’s newsletter we like to share some of the recent developments and challenges that we are experiencing here in Onseepkans.
Rain
As many of you are aware, we experienced an extreme drought for the past six to eight years in South Africa. The areas most affected are the Northern Cape and southern parts of Namibia. In some areas nearby to us the veld became so dry that it was difficult to believe that it is a livestock farm and not an arid desert! Many farmers suffered greatly and were at the end of their resources.
Then, just before Christmas, in answer to prayer God sent good rain for one day over a wide area of the Northern Cape and Southern Namibia. Though we were deeply thankful we knew that the veld needed to follow up rain to really start to recover from the drought. Many people prayed and asked the Lord to please grant us more rain.
Then the weekend after New Year’s Day, we received more rain. The peak came on Monday afternoon when we really had a hard rain. We are deeply grateful. Driving to Kakamas to buy groceries we could see how the veld is recovering. We could see the grass starting to grow and dry bushes turning green.
We thank the Lord for the rain that He granted to us. We would appreciate your prayers that the Lord in His mercy may send us more rain to completely break the drought in this region.
Bakery
During 2020 we reported how we planted vegetables to help the community. Unfortunately, we lost the field that we were renting and we prayed and asked the Lord how we can continue to help the people. Then ITMI helped us to launch Project Joseph. We could successfully help a number of households that the Lord laid on our hearts. It is difficult to discern who to help since the need is so great. Unfortunately, some do not always have the same good intentions with the food provided to them. In Onseepkans we have an ugly habit among the people called “insny” (to cut in). It basically means people receive food valued at a certain price, and then they go to a smuggle house that illegally sell alcohol. There they exchange the food (of a much higher value) for alcohol (of a much lower value). That is why we needed great discernment in helping people through Project Joseph. We decided with Project Joseph to only help those that are not known for “insny”. However, we still prayed and trusted God for a plan on how to help the broader community.
Over the years we witnessed how many times there is a shortage of bread in Onseepkans, and if the bread is available, it is of not such a good quality and very expensive. We realized what a great need there is in Onseepkans for fresh bread. For many months now we baked cakes for the community, sometimes for funerals and sometimes for birthdays. We decided to also start baking bread on a daily basis at an affordable price. Some days we bake an average of 20 to 40 breads a day, other days less. The community can now always have access to fresh bread, at an affordable price.
Bread at the shops, if available, could cost up to R15 (1 US $). We supply freshly baked bread daily for R10 (0,66 US $).
We go once in the afternoon and deliver bread to different customers, sometimes people also come to the mission to buy. Our main aim through the bakery is to serve the community by daily providing freshly baked good quality affordable bread, a privilege that Onseepkans did not have thus far.
Covid-19
Covid-19 have now entered Onseepkans. Through the Lord’s grace and mercy, the town was protected until now, but the first positive cases were reported over December and some people got sick. Our fear is that many of the people of our community are at risk because of malnutrition, unhealthy diets, and TB and AIDS. We can only trust and pray that it will not spread very quickly or affect a lot of people. Onseepkans is not ready for Covid. There is no field hospitals, no oxygen availability and hardly any ambulance services to hospitals that will soon be overcrowded. We really will appreciate your prayers for the time ahead.
In Conclusion
We thank the Lord for the opportunities that He gives us to serve the community, especially in this difficult time of Covid. It is our prayer that through these opportunities we can bring hope to the people. We trust God to also lead us in the way ahead.
Our prayers are with you as we know you also pray for us. Let us press on with our eyes fixed on our Lord Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Now, more than ever, He is our Rock and our Hope.
Gerhard, Elmane and Children
