Outreach Venda 07/08-20/08/2011

We greet you in the Name of Jesus and it is a privilege to give you feedback on what the Lord did for us on our latest outreach. The Lord was marvelous to use us insignificant creations to increase His Kingdom; to take back that which Satan has stolen and to declare victory.

The journey to Venda did not start very well because the devil knew what was waiting for him and tried to stop us even before we got started. The morning of our departure I had turned the vehicle around to hook the trailer without any problem. When I started the vehicle again there was a great noise coming from the engine. I tried to switch off the starter but the noise continued for another 2 or 3 minutes. I could see nothing from wrong while I inspected the engine. When I tried to start the engine again, the battery was flat because the starter did not want to switch off. Using the jumper cables, the engine started and the engine was running.

Very glad about this, we took off with faith. A few minutes after we left, Kobie phoned to tell me there was a big oil stain on the floor where the vehicle had stood. I became despondent. We were on the highway, it was not easy to pull off the road and we had still 500km to go. Such as a person is, I kept my eyes on the meters on the dashboard to look for any warning signs but I also prayed the whole time and trusted the Lord’s protection.

 At Pietersburg we ate and we looked under the bonnet to see what surprise was waiting for us there. When we opened the bonnet almost everything was green – the colour of the water from the water coolant. A pipe cracked and water squirting from there. I was very happy that it was only water and not oil! We tied up the pipe temporarily and took off again. The rest of the journey was blessed and we arrived in Venda after 540km.

When arriving at our destination, the church at which we would be staying, was adjourning. Everybody was merry and the pastor, a woman, was excited too. Our home for the next 2 weeks was this church. Even though a few windows were missing, we quickly settled comfortably. Our mattresses were arranged on the floor, the kitchen was being organised and behold! Our home was ready for the next two weeks.

Fortunately we were not bothered by sermons during the week because the pastor was not staying close to church. On Sunday we had to pack everything away so it would look like a church again. The wind was blowing rather strongly for a few nights which made the roof creak a bit so we prayed that the roof stay put and not get blown away. But otherwise we had a good stay and we were grateful for the Lord for giving us a roof over our heads.

Ambition is short-sighted if our focus is not on God

The outreach itself was really blessed by the Lord. There were two things that stood out for me (Louis): The first incident happened during the first evening’s outreach. We were standing right in front of a certain house where a really old lady stayed. She came to talk to us but the alcohol was speaking louder. In that area there was no reception of any kind; no electricity and there is a shortage of water which only comes once a week. Then the people would stand queue to get a couple of buckets of water. So, the people would grab at anything to get the minds off their dire circumstances. Well, this old lady attended the service but showed no emotion. The next day she again came to talk with us. This time she was sober after seeing the film about Hell on the night before. I noticed she stood up and went to her house. When she reached the door she went and lie flat on her stomach as if she was dead. I became rather worried because she did not move for quite a while so I started to pray for her. The next moment she stood up, took her chair and came back to listen to the service. During the conversion prayer, she was the first the lift her hand to accept Jesus. Praise the Lord.
The second incident happened during the evening of the last outreach. The people were slow getting there so we decided to show the film first and then have the sermon. It was my turn to preach. Right in front me in the first row an old lady was sitting wrapped up in her blanket. She was really very old. She was drinking in every word that was preached. When I made the invitation, she threw her blanket off and lifted both wrinkled hands. She could only lift her hands next to her head as she was too weak to lift them farther up. She also asked us to pray for sickness and after the prayer she stood up easily and walked away: saved, healed and with new life. These two ladies are in the last season of their lives and perhaps there are others too who made use of their last chance to turn to God. In the life hereafter we will find out just how much these outreaches meant to the many old people. It was such a joy being a witness to what the Lord did in these people’s lives. All the glory to the Lord.

Another thing that stood out happened during the Sunday morning service. Like I previously mentioned, the pastor was a lady and you could see that she pulled her weight in the church. The church was full and it was a great privilege to preach during this service. After the service I made an invitation like the pastor asked me to and the reaction was incredible. Fourteen adults gave their lives to the Lord, praise the Lord!!! Then the service really began. The pastor took over and fire fell down! The Lord gave her a special anointing to help people break with their past. A lot of these people live in bondage of forefather spirits and it was great seeing the Holy Spirit working. The Fire of God was definitely present. We had church from 10am until 3:30 pm. At 4pm we left for that evening’s outreach – little bit tired but with power from Above we conquered everything.

Prayer is the place where burdens change shoulders.

We also visited a school to give HIV education and training and the results were excellent! All the glory to the Lord!
 Regarding the vehicles, we still had one or two challenges. We had to replace one vehicle’s celluloid at the starter. This same vehicle’s cooler started to leak a few places and we had to fix it at Thohoyandou. The cherry on the cake was when this vehicle’s engine cut out one evening on our way to an outreach. We were in an area where there was no reception of any sort and I had to ask Boesman our mechanic, who was with the other team, to come and help us. However, there was no signal on my cell phone.
Someone needed to walk around with the phone until they get a signal; it was night, dark and wooded.
The next moment I heard one of the team members talking to Boesman on the phone, asking him to come and help – a miracle by itself. When he reached us he had to find the problem and it is night. Fortunately the flashlight kept. After a few tests it looked as if no fuel was reaching the engine – the fuel pump was broken. At a previous outreach when we were in Messina we installed an external pump which sounded like a tractor. It sucked the petrol from the tank and then pumped it into the carburettor. The one in the tank pumped and the external one sucked the petrol in. Boesman quickly fixed a wire to the pump, moved the pipes and we were on the road again. The clack of the engine pump underneath the engine is not a nice sound but it was working. All the glory to the Lord who is so good to us. We experience His goodness everyday.
We will return on 4 August 2011 for our next outreach because we haven’t finished in this area.

Statustics

People reached: 3930    Conversions: 3706
School students: 124    Conversions: 118
Children reached: 435     Conversions: 422

Places where we reached out:

In front of a shop, alongside the main road, on soccer fields, in the streets, close to a tavern. One evening was very cold but still the people came and were very pleasant.

Testimonies

A little girl told the people how terrible Hell is and encouraged them to accept Jesus. Another one shared how she accepted Jesus.

A young boy said it was terrible to see the people crying in Hell.

A born-again Christian woman said she has learnt a lot through the preaching, information about prayer and the film about Hell. She encouraged others to accept Jesus.

A boy asked the people to respect the outreach gathering because the Lord has sent his servants to them; he also asked his friend to come and share what the Lord has done for him but his friend was too shy. Boys and girls came to share how the Lord changed their lives.

One lady said she was afraid to come as she thought it was a Satanist gathering. She has heard the Word being preached and realised we were children of the Lord; she also learnt one needs to accept Jesus otherwise one will go to Hell.

A boy shared that he was not a church goer but he came nonetheless to listen to the Word en watch the film and it spoke to him – he realised he could not continue in his ways and needed to change. He accepted Jesus.

A young man said he was touched by the story of Lazarus and the rich man; he also accepted Jesus.

An alcoholic shared the film about Hell shocked him; he accepted Jesus and just wanted to live for Him now.

A lady accepted Jesus and said she wanted to go to church now and serve the Lord.

A boy accepted Jesus and said that he wanted to put all his trust in Him, like with his school work with which he struggled.

Another lady shared that she used to live a very bad life but has accepted Jesus now and encouraged others to do so too.

Quite a number of people shared that they have learnt a lot during the outreach.

A member for the ZCC church accepted Jesus and urged others to do the same as it is only by the blood of Jesus that you can be saved from sin.

A young boy accepted Jesus and said that if you die without Jesus you will be lost forever.

A woman said that she did not believe that Hell really existed; she was very grateful for God for sending the team there as she was able now to accept Jesus as her Saviour and Redeemer.
Sunday’s service was an experience by itself. Fourteen people accepted Christ.

Quite a number of people, who had been attacked through witchcraft, had been delivered by the Holy Spirit. 

A certain man who had been in-and-out of jail had been persuaded by his wife to go to church that morning. He opened a door to Satan through tattooing on his body. He and 28 other people worshipped Satan overtly in prison. We prayed for him.

Don’t spend your time, invest it.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Thank the Lord for every person who accepted Jesus; they now need not to go to heaven
• His wondergul protection.
• Thank the Lord for healing the sick.
• We thank the Lord for every person who offered their homes for ust to stay in on outreaches as well as the hospitality shown  by people in the villages.
• We thank the Lord for every person praying for us during outraches and thereafter. Please do not stop praying for us.

Thank you so much for praying for us, the Lord provided for us. And for those who made this for us financially possible, may the Lord bless you. You have invested precious souls for the Kingdom and your reward would be great.

Shalom until next time.