Marvelous Monday - Westoak Woods Baptist Church in South Africa - June 17, 2015

Update from Westoak Woods Baptist Church

by Roxanne Fry | June 24, 2015 12:14 PM

We traveled to a local Primary school bright and early this morning to start another beautiful day in South Africa. Last week and this week "the learners" (as students are referred to here in South Africa) are finishing "writing their exams" for their winter break. We're so grateful to be able to spend time with them before they completed their mid-terms. The team returned to the church mid-morning and split into groups: one group prepared the medical clinic that would open at 10:30, another group joined a member of the church for a Prayer Walk throughout the community, and Christy and Rich spent time meeting with PPM staff and Pastor Josiah to review the schedule for our last few days here. The group that did the Prayer Walk visited and prayed for the prosperity of local businesses. They also prayed for a woman who wants to find a Godly husband, and as they turned a corner, they found a man who sought prayer for employment as well as to find a Godly wife. The Prayer Walk included a visit to a local daycare, where team members prayed, sang, and shared Bible stories. The walk also included prayer over another church in the area and for the new library in Evaton that hasn't yet opened. For lunch, the women of the church treated us to Hake fish prepared with their custom rub/spices. Pastor Josiah's wife, Mary, was shocked when she checked on us toward the end of the meal and found the fish completely GONE! We told her it was clearly a hit among the team. In fact, we heard comments from team members that it could very well be the best fish they'd ever had. The good news is that Mary has promised that the ladies will make hake fish for us one more time before we leave. Jeanna again poured her heart into the medical clinic, with the total number of people seeking help during this trip climbing to 90. At the same time, child upon child poured toward the church for another fabulous VBS experience. The beautiful day (is EVERY day in South Africa as beautiful and sunny as we've been experiencing??) was the perfect backdrop for seeing the children lift their love and praises to the Lord. The team had a most JOYOUS dinner celebration when they presented Pastor Josiah with a big surprise: the gift of a generator!!!! Rather than worshiping in the dark or having to frequently rent generators, the church now has a generator of its own to meet its needs as "load shedding" continues for the foreseeable future (see one of the previous posts for explanation of "load shedding".) Praise God for generously providing! Witnessing Pastor Josiah's look of shock/surprise and his heartfelt expression of overflowing gratitude on behalf of his flock was a highlight of this trip. The evening brought another opportunity for an evangelism service. Terry spoke on the topic of planting God's word in your heart, and Chad portrayed this with an amazing painting of a man planting a heart into the soil. Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be similar to today in terms of scheduling. However, because schools will be out of session for mid-term break, we will re-visit the beautiful children at the orphanage rather than going to a school.

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