{"id":3254,"date":"2025-08-16T02:45:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T00:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?page_id=3254"},"modified":"2025-08-16T02:45:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T00:45:40","slug":"2023-update-letters","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?page_id=3254","title":{"rendered":"2023 Update Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

3 March 2023~Progress of the Plants<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Valdezia\u2014our second church plant, since August 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday\u2019s Attendance: 3 women; 4 young women; 11 young men; gaggle of children<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our family arrived on the Lord\u2019s Day to find the church windows open and half dozen believers waiting for us. Thabiso, a 21-year old, leads the services while I play the guitar. He has started a prayer meeting every Wednesday at a church member\u2019s house for about 10 people who come from the east side of the village. For the west side, he meets with them on Thursday at the church building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the women who was baptized last September, asked me in tears 10 days ago what to do since her husband of perhaps 20 years has\u00a0another wife and is indifferent to her feelings. Since her husband\u2019s son is now threatening her, she has moved away. We hope to see her once per month now, but she should be able to attend Trinity Baptist in Mbhokota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prayer times have been growing in maturity. I see serious attitudes and hear spiritual requests from the young people. Meshach asked us to pray for him that he would learn how to pray. Often when one person offers a good request, like fighting with evil thoughts, then I will ask the rest of the group who else would like to be included in that request. Usually 4-6 different people join in different requests. If we hope our church will be spiritual in the future, it must have spiritual youth now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years on Friday afternoon we had been meeting for a youth service, but with pressure from two of the strongest young men, we exchanged the youth service for evangelism. Now on Friday\u2019s 12-15 go with me to a new preaching point in the village. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest would give these young evangelists something for their baskets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday as Themba read Psalm 24 before the sermon, he came to, \u201clift up your heads, oh ye gates\u2026\u201d. And who could blame him for mistaking tinyangwa (gates) for tingwenya (crocodiles). As a church we have been reading the Psalms and then using them as a guide for prayer. I hope this discipline will form their habits of prayer until they meet the Good Shepherd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the service in Valdezia, our family heads to the village of Makhasa for the churchplant there. Members from Valdezia ask to go with us, so we had to cap the extras at 5 in order to have space in the bakkie for people from other villages. That means we now eat Sunday dinner at the stone church building without running water. Amy prepares a simple meal that can easily be expanded to include our 5 children plus 5 or 10 more people as the case may be. Don\u2019t read that sentence too fast\u2014there\u2019s a lot of work in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valdezia Baptist Church is slowly joining Trinity Baptist and Elim Baptist on the road to maturity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Makhasa\u2014the newest churchplant, since February 2023
<\/strong>This churchplant gathers people from 5 villages: N\u2019wamatatani, Majosi, Madobi, Makhasa, and Sundani. We actually started evangelizing in N\u2019wamatatani back in 2021 adding Sunday services in 2022. But in February, we moved the Sunday services 8 kilometers away to the village of Makhasa where people could hopefully join us from all the places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days ago 13 adults (including 5 men) from the 5 targeted villages showed up. But that baker\u2019s dozen was enhanced by a large group of Christians who came with us from Valdezia and with Pastor Nyalungu from Elim Baptist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having given away 200 Bibles in those villages, we had been hoping that more would come. But at least we have some confidence that those who are coming are committed. They have been forced to choose between the social clubs they previously had patronized on the first day of the week or a New Testament church. So far, it looks like roughly 10% of those who receive Bibles want the Author of the Book as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0families are in such disarray, and most of those who come are older, very few in their 20\u2019s or 30\u2019s. One woman from Madobi has 3 children\u00a0with different men and was never married. She does not see the fathers, and she is trying to raise the kids who are messing up their lives at\u00a0the same speed that the mother did. As gently as I could, I tried to tell them that if they want to be Christians, then they must repent of\u00a0having these children outside of marriage. I wondered as I spoke if this will be a dividing line. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our current schedule of preaching points and Sunday services is tiring, but if His eye would diffuse a quickening ray to some poor Tsonga hearts, we would find more than enough strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you would help us, then please do pray with us to this end for if we have conversions then nothing else matters. And if we don\u2019t have conversions nothing else matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seth and Amy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 April 2023~Baptism Class<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Joy of Combined Services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When believers from 5 churchplants met for a service last Friday to remember our Lord\u2019s Passion, empty chairs were surprises among the full rows in the 24 by 30 foot building. This weekend saw two more baptisms bringing the membership to 15 with an average Sunday attendance including teens and adults of 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Passion Week rose to its glorious crescendo on the Lord\u2019s Day, we gathered all the believers and interested visitors in Mbhokota at Trinity Baptist Church. If I counted correctly, 4 churches and 3 churchplants from 11 villages were represented including a dozen adults from the churchplant in Makhasa that I have referenced over the last few prayer letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lively singing, encouraging choirs, and prepared prayers marked the first half of the service before an instructive and stirring sermon that 3 different Tsonga men have spoken to me about since it was preached last week. Then we heard testimonies from three young people ages 16-20 before they were buried and raised with Him by immersion in water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These combined services are a lot of work in prayer and transport, but those who come are consistently surprised by a living vibrant church. On the way home in my vehicle, several from Makhasa spoke of their need to follow the example set by Elim, Mbhokota, and Valdezia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baptism Class<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that Lord\u2019s Day meeting, I counted up more than a dozen adults from the 25 or so who are consistently attending the churchplant in Makhasa. Thursday, I asked them if we could begin a baptism class to meet for 4-6 weeks every Thursday in order to answer questions and prepare new believers for baptism and church membership. So far, we have 6 adults who have signed up for the baptism class and I hope another half dozen will commit to come tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lessons will follow What is a church member? What is a church? What are the duties of a church member? and How can I give a salvation testimony? As I have mentioned before, we are developing a plan that might be reproduced in other villages for gathering adults and planting a church. This baptism class may serve a crucial transitional step between interested listeners and committed members. Roughly outlined the process is: Preach on the streets, give free Bibles, begin Sunday meetings, and now lead a baptism class. The classes will meet, Lord-willing, each Thursday at 2:00 PM for the next few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel at times a great weakness in my stomach at the thought that we may move forward in the flesh with only the results that personality and charisma can bring. Certainly such power should expect a group to dissolve in a short time. But we have hope that their faith would stand not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Pray that divine grace and power would be the magnet that attracts, and that New Covenant love would be the cement that bonds this little band of attendees. \u201cAll is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plastic Surgery<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days ago on Thursday, as I was leaving the preaching point in Sundani where about 25 adults had gathered, my Toyota bakkie had a close introduction to another truck who boldly thought to try driving in my lane. We thank the Lord that none of the 6 occupants of the 2 vehicles were hurt, but my ride was damaged badly. We thank the Lord for so many safe miles driven, and for taking away some metal, but not any lives. Now unable to transport anyone to church, perhaps some great good will come from this accident as the men and women must walk if they want to come to the churchplant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you could give us one thing right now, we ask for regular prayers that the preaching might have unusual power, that our lives might be free from even the scent of sin, and that sinners would learn to fear and then smile at the mere thought of our soon coming King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grateful and Hopeful,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seth and Amy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6 June 2023~Highlights from Sunday\u2019s Baptism<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sunday Matimba Siweya gave a testimony of his salvation of which I relate the most salient points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n