NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA - TIM & LESLIE BLACK

The past six weeks have been quite full. Life whips into a frenzy this time of year here, as early December marks the end of the South African school year and the beginning of the “Festive Season.” By mid-December most organized activities grind to a halt and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief, but we aren't there yet!

Politically there continues to be some turmoil as various government officials are being exposed for fraud and corruption and the ANC Youth League leader has been suspended for 5 years from the ANC. Lately there has been a lot of distress over the passing of what’s being termed the “Secrecy Bill.” Many fear that this bill will be used to censor and silence the media on issues of corruption in government. Time will tell, but for now South Africa remains the most stable and progressive African nation. However, as we mark World AIDS Day, we can’t get past the fact that South Africa has more people living with HIV (5.6 million) than any other country in the world. India comes in a distant second, with 2.4 million of its over 1 billion people being HIV+.

MINISTRY FRONT—Phambili ngeThemba

In November we ran our last Zanokhanyo Job Readiness training for the year. The class was fairly small, but had a few real characters in it, and the Lord did some amazing things in their lives. Three of the class members had heard about the course through a presentation that was made at their church, Langa Methodist. Several said that the course had brought them back to God, and others were encouraged in their faith. One lady said, “Thank you for not promising jobs, but Christ.” Another graduate said that he realizes now that using his own power is like wasting his time. All of the graduates said that they would encourage many others to come to Zanokhanyo in 2012.

Our work at Mokone Primary School has come to an end for the year. An end-of-year party was held for the Umthombo After School Volunteer Program. It’s difficult to measure how beneficial our efforts were over the past few months, but the children definitely appreciated the love and attention. For some of the children the personalized attention did help them to gain a better grasp of certain concepts. We hope to be able to make the program more comprehensive next year.

The orphan program that Phambili has been running for the past six years, first at Chris Hani School and now at Mokone Primary, is drawing to a close. There are a number of reasons for this, one of them being that singling out orphans from their often equally needy peers causes a lot of social tension. We would rather put our resources and efforts into a more holistic approach at the school so that all of the vulnerable children can be assisted in some way.

The lady who has been most involved in the orphan program organized a beautiful Christmas party for the children, while shoebox Christmas gifts were simultaneously being distributed to the other school children. The shoebox gifts were given by children from the International School of Cape Town and members of Pinelands Methodist.

Leslie and Pastor Ziba finished out their teaching of Life Orientation to the Grade 8 classes at Mokone Primary. These students will now move on to various high schools. We pray that they will remember the principles they have learned for making wise choices .

The Bonanis at Barcelona Children’s Centre have been granted “interim” custody of several of the children, which includes some financial support, but much still needs to be done by the Social Services Department to finalize the situation. The children continue to thrive with Pastor Julius and Irene, and we love being able to spend time with them once a month.

MINISTRY FRONT— OTHER NEWS

In our last newsletter we asked you to pray for Sihle as we are trying to get him into a vocational training center. After overcoming an incredible number of obstacles on the day he had to apply, we got there and got his application in. He has since been interviewed and taken placement tests. Now we’re just waiting to hear whether or not he has been accepted, so please keep praying!

Tim has accepted the position of Society Steward at our church. The Society Stewards are the leaders of the church, serving 3 year terms. There are 8 Stewards, some new and some who have already been serving. Please pray for them as they beginning meeting and seeking the Lord’s vision for the church in the year ahead.

The annual Youth Camp is right around the corner, and although Tim is not officially involved this year, he has been very involved in helping hand-over the reins to the new leaders. It looks like there will be a large turnout of high school students, and we pray that the Lord will move mightily in their lives.

We are planning to be in the U.S. for Christmas this year, arriving in South Carolina on Dec. 11, heading to Michigan on the 19th, and then to Blacksburg, VA on the 28th. We are scheduled to return to Cape Town on Jan. 12. We would love to see as many of you as possible, so please don’t hesitate to contact us via e-mail so that we can make a plan.

As we move from Thanksgiving to the Advent Season, we thank each of you for the pivotal role that you have played in our lives in 2011. May God bless you richly as you celebrate the birth of Christ.
 

Colossians 1:6—”This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day you heard and understood the truth about God’s great kindness to sinners.”
 

Attachments:

reachafricadec2011.pdf

[December '11 Original Newsletter]

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