This is a story I’m sharing for the express purpose of garnering prayer support for those involved. Prayer is needed for many facets of this situation, so please pray as the Lord leads you.

In our last Reachafrica newsletter we shared about a teenage boy from the Barcelona Children’s Centre who has been “adopted” by a couple in Pinelands this year so that he can attend a better high school. This boy had expressed interest in being an engineer or a doctor someday, but the education he was receiving was going to make that very difficult. Sue and Paul (not their real names) courageously made the decision to help Thando (not his real name). They have not had children of their own. They are Americans, and Sue is here working on a cutting edge square-kilometer array telescope in partnership with a South African company. Sue’s husband Paul is also a highly skilled engineer/mathematician, but he is here on a volunteer visa with his wife. Paul is not a believer, but he was quite willing to try to help Thando.

The first term of the school year ended on April 1, and it turns out that Thando has not been applying himself at all. He failed all but one subject; he simply doesn’t seem to care about school. The reasons that he doesn’t care are very complicated, but some serious emotional issues have surfaced. We are asking that you pray for Thando, especially for healing for these issues. Pastor Ziba (who works with us at Zanokhanyo) is quite willing to counsel him, but Thando must be agreeable. Now that there have been a few bumps in the road Paul is not so enthusiastic about their involvement, so please pray that the Lord would use this situation to help Paul see his need for Him and to see God’s glory.

Another complicating factor that needs prayer is that Sue’s work permit expires September 15. She has been trying to get a 3 month extension because the school year only ends in mid-December, but the Department of Home Affairs is giving her a horrendous time with this request. She obviously has a “scarce skill” that is needed in the country, and she is dedicated to helping a disadvantaged child have a better life, but Home Affairs has told her that to get the extension she will have to go back to the U.S. for a minimum of 6 weeks and apply from there. This is clearly not a reasonable option for her, so please pray that her situation would be brought to the attention of someone at Home Affairs who can make an exception in this circumstance.   

We are not surprised that Sue and Paul are facing many challenges as they try to make a difference for this precious child of God because life is war. This battle can be won if God’s people come together and fight against the enemy in prayer. Let’s pray with the expectation that God will do amazing things far beyond what we can even think or imagine. Stay tuned for the rest of the story…