Here are the mostly unedited letters I have written over the years. Each date drops the entry below it without leaving the page.<\/p>\n
ENGLISH MINISTRY<\/strong> MUSIC IS HARD WORK<\/strong> \u201cTSWARIWA RA VUMBIRHI\u201d<\/strong> ITINERANT PREACHING<\/strong> HOLD THE ROPES IN PRAYER<\/strong> Blessed beyond desert,<\/p>\n Seth<\/p>\n <\/p>\n MOFFAT\u2019S RIDE<\/strong> MY FIRST BAPTISMS!<\/strong> TWO NEW VILLAGES<\/strong> DISTINCTIONS, PRECISION, AND PERSUASION<\/strong> PERSONAL NOTES<\/strong> My new truck is now in its third inaugural week.\u00a0 The red Ford earned a place in the \u201cThorn-in-the-Flesh\u201d Hall of flame for breaking down once a week for 6 weeks in a row after I replaced the engine, transmission, and fuel injector within the first 6 months.\u00a0 My new chariot is a 1998 4×4 Mitsubishi, and I have higher hopes for this one. This Sunday I am hoping to preach again in English in the city.\u00a0 Please pray for those I\u2019ve invited this time: Beauty and Elise (landlord and family), Low and Milda (neighbors), and Mehboob (a young Muslim who described himself as \u201cnot very devout\u201d).<\/p>\n Ever grateful to the Almighty,<\/p>\n Seth<\/p>\n Here are two opportunities to hold the ropes in prayer.\u00a0 May our praise be unusually loud when we see God\u2019s answers in two weeks.<\/p>\n NESTLED IN THE MOUNTAINS<\/strong> His hut is some distance from his village, so last Monday I went to his village and set up March 28th as the day the chief will gather all the people in this place to hear our message.\u00a0 This cluster of 50 huts or so, is so far back in the mountains I wonder if the Gospel has ever been there.\u00a0 I am hoping to find a warm reception and many open hearts in two Monday\u2019s.<\/p>\n 7 DAYS TO PREPARE FOR SEMINARY<\/strong> Praying,<\/p>\n Seth<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TEACHING THEM ALL THINGS<\/strong> NEW VILLAGE<\/strong> ORIANA FROM MOZAMBIQUE<\/strong> MY FIRST TSONGA MAN!<\/strong> FRUIT FROM THE OPEN AIR<\/strong> Thrilled and tired, I thank you for the prayers that are reflected by this letter.<\/p>\n Seth Meyers<\/p>\n <\/p>\n COMING HOME!<\/strong> THE NEXT GENERATION<\/strong> GOOD GROUND<\/strong> PERSONAL CONVICTION<\/strong> Trying unsuccessfully to out-give God,<\/p>\n Seth<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Four years have slowly dwindled until now just a few busy days are left before our wedding.\u00a0 This Saturday at 2:00 the wait will be over officially!\u00a0 Our plans are to start visiting churches immediately; from now until the end of August we only have one Sunday at Bethel.\u00a0 We will start studying Tsonga together on the honeymoon\u2014well, maybe not, but we will be teaching a class for NBT as soon as we return.\u00a0 At this time especially we are grateful for your united prayers for wisdom, success and Christlikeness as we start our marriage.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our first Tsonga title is hot on the press as we speak.\u00a0 The first 10,000 copies of a Chick tract in Tsonga and Venda will be at our house before we return from the honeymoon.\u00a0 We have some other titles that we are putting through the same process, but they are a little further behind.\u00a0 Please pray for all these little seeds that they will find good ground.<\/p>\n Reaping the Harvest,<\/p>\n Seth and AMY!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE FIRST TWO MONTHS<\/strong> D-DAY: SEPTEMBER 6<\/strong> SEEDS AND SAPLINGS<\/strong> AMY\u2019S FIRST SPEAKING MINISTRY<\/strong> Walking by Faith,<\/p>\n Seth and Amy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TRAVELING ADVENTURES<\/strong> VENDA LESSONS<\/strong> YOUTH MINISTRY<\/strong> PREACHER AMY<\/strong> HUNGRY FOR MORE<\/strong> OUR FIRST VISITOR; OUR FIRST TRIP<\/strong> Settling In,<\/p>\n Seth and Amy<\/p>\n THE CONFERENCE<\/strong> UNEXPECTED EXCITEMENT<\/strong> MOZAMBIQUE<\/strong> To the regions beyond,<\/p>\n Seth and Amy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE INTERIOR OF MOZAMBIQUE<\/strong> First let me introduce the key figures on this trip.\u00a0 Kevin Brosnan and John Moore, two missionaries from Johannesburg, agreed to join us with a second vehicle for our trip in case one broke down.\u00a0 The other four you should already know: Amy, Paul, Godfrey (our translator for the Tsonga areas) and myself.\u00a0 Tuesday morning, October 11th we pulled out of Louis Trichardt and got to the Mozambiquan border just before they closed.\u00a0 However, we (Seth and Amy) couldn’t cross because we didn’t have certain paperwork for our vehicle that was required to cross the border.\u00a0 So back we drove to our home that we had left 7 hours earlier.\u00a0 The other men just crossed through into Mozambique and camped a few kilometres in at the first village they could find.<\/p>\n The trip back to Louis Trichardt that night was long and hard, and we got lost after a long detour through the Venda mountains.\u00a0 As the stars came out we were on the highest peak in a very mountainous village area of South Africa.\u00a0 Our frustration levels were peaked, our jug of drinking water was nearly hot enough to steep tea, and our energy level was as low as the mountain was high.\u00a0 On a positive note, however, this unexpected leg of the journey enabled us to see dozens of villages in SA that we never would have known about without providentially stumbling off the right road.\u00a0 Finally, we got home, collected our paper, fell asleep for a few hours and started out at 5 am the next morning for the Mozambiquan border.<\/p>\n We reached another hardship at the border when the South African official accepted our car paper, but then the Mozambiquan official didn\u2019t want to give us visas.\u00a0 Not only was he the lone worker, he was very uncommunicative.\u00a0 Now add these details to complete the picture: no phones, barely any cement, hours from home, unable to contact our friends who were who-knows-where inside the border, and he didn’t want to let us cross.\u00a0 Thank the LORD, for an unknown reason, he returned silently with two visas to the two stressed out Americans who were patiently waiting alone at this desolate entrance to the war-ravaged, lonely country.<\/p>\n Intensely dry, Mozambique was plentifully punctuated with prickly thorn trees, enormous Baobab trees (large enough for a one room apartment if hollowed out) and the rockiest “roads” a truck could drive on.\u00a0 Averaging 25 miles per hour was fast for long stretches on end.\u00a0 We did eventually meet up with Paul, Kevin, Godfrey, and John at a village about 12 kilometres (45 minutes) into the country.\u00a0 It was refreshing to meet them, but even better to realize that in the time we were gone, Paul had organized a preaching service at this village. (see the picture)\u00a0 When we arrived, he was just starting to preach through Godfrey to a group of about 60 people.\u00a0 Only 20-30 adults came, but then the village couldn’t have had more than 300.\u00a0 It was a shabby collection of huts located on the narrow path we had been crawling along.<\/p>\n Since we have arrived at the \u201cchurch\u201d in this story, I need to make one theological comment at this point regarding African village Christianity.\u00a0 The disguised poison of syncretism has saturated these rural \u201cchurches\u201d.\u00a0 Syncretism is the mixing of different ideas about God regardless of their origin or even contradictory tenets.\u00a0 For example, a group of people who pray to their ancestors and look to the witch doctor for help will simply add a doctrinally minimal message about Jesus to their lives and then call themselves Christian.\u00a0 I thought the Christian scene of America was ravaged by doctrinal blur, but Africa seems to be even further down the creedless, mushy road where doctrine is left at the last exit ramp and the travelers careen optimistically toward Hell all the while saying they are \u201cbelievers.\u201d\u00a0 I think the cure is missionaries who will stay, learn the language and invest in a long-term attempt at growing mature disciples of Christ rather than short-term efforts at mass evangelism by evangelists who don\u2019t know the language.\u00a0 Armed with this information, I hope you will pray more knowledgeably for our ministry.<\/p>\n The trip had just begun.\u00a0 We travelled well into the interior, camped out in villages as long as we could find one that spoke Tsonga, but sometimes we couldn’t so we just pulled the trucks into the brush and set up camp.\u00a0 We didn’t get to preach anymore, because very shortly we were out of Tsonga territory and into the Ndau, Xona, and Makunde people groups.<\/p>\n Wow, I\u2019ve got quite a wife!\u00a0 Amy had to be the first white woman ever to enter some of the villages we were in.\u00a0 She washed her hair from wells on the side of the road and in a shallow bucket we brought.\u00a0 She slept in a tent and made food over an open flame propane cooker.\u00a0 She also made friends instantly with the women and children even with only a few words of Tsonga at her command.\u00a0 The picture of her is from the village of Masangena where the children melted her heart by initiating with their hands in hers.<\/p>\n We did find a city in the central area that had electricity and other modern conveniences.\u00a0 We also discovered that maps are not always accurate as none of our 3 different maps agreed completely.\u00a0 A few times we were greatly frustrated by finding out that a road doesn’t exist any more where the maps say it does.\u00a0 Kevin brought a Global Positioning Satellite device which gave us the road more than once.\u00a0 Our second vehicle wouldn\u2019t start twice due to bad gas, and we got a flat tire, but other than that, there were no vehicle problems.\u00a0 We returned with an equal amount of exhaustion, filth, and gratitude for the Gospel light we have been given.\u00a0 There is so much more to say, the beauty of the mountains and valleys\u2026\u00a0 The friendliness of the people\u2026\u00a0 Scores of hut clusters separated by mile after barren mile\u2026\u00a0 But the climax of all these impressions is the overbearing weight of the millions in the interior who live in awkward places with pitifully low potential to hear of their responsibility to repent and believe the Gospel.<\/p>\n THE LADIES\u2019 CONFERENCE<\/strong> For the past weeks we have been praying for Mzamani\u2019s wife, Murunwa, to be saved.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t come Friday night, but we picked her up for Saturday\u2019s sessions.\u00a0 Do pray for her eyes to be opened and conviction to do its work.\u00a0 Amy\u2019s messages brought to life women from the Bible including: Rahab, Ruth, and Martha. (Mary was planned, but not proclaimed because time ran out.)\u00a0 Rahab and Ruth heavily emphasized salvation and Martha\u2019s life taught the critical priority of personal worship.\u00a0 I must admit she is becoming quite an expositor.\u00a0 She can figure out the point of the passage as well as many young preachers.\u00a0 Interestingly, Pastor Philemon wanted to end with a Q and A time so the women asked several rather difficult questions including divorce and remarriage issues.\u00a0 It was kind of like an ordination council for women.\u00a0 Thanks for laboring with your prayers\u2014please continue as we follow up the contacts from this event.<\/p>\n I hope you understand the reason for a lengthier update this time and enjoy reading the details of these two busy events.\u00a0 We value your prayers and are strengthened by your friendship.<\/p>\n That we may win Christ,<\/p>\n Seth and Amy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THANKFUL ON THANKSGIVING<\/strong> LIKE MRS. SPURGEON<\/strong> SOULWINNING<\/strong> CONTENT<\/strong> Content?\u00a0 How can I be, Content?\u00a0 How can I be, Content?\u00a0 How can I say, Content?\u00a0 How can I be, Content?\u00a0 One day I\u2019ll be Discontented but thankful,<\/p>\n Seth and Amy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THIS MONDAY NIGHT: ANDRE<\/strong> SOULWINNING IS STUDY<\/strong> OTHER NEWS<\/strong> After translating a song into Venda, Amy began a youth choir in Mashamba last week.\u00a0 They are good singers and she\u2019s doing a great job even without a piano.\u00a0 Next week we are having a Christmas party for the faithful teens.<\/p>\n One last thing, Amy and I were reading The Holy War by John Bunyan, and I remembered again why it is one of my all time favorite books.\u00a0 As I thought of the spiritual benefit it was to me, I wanted to recommend it to you as well.\u00a0 Either the updated English version or Bunyan\u2019s original are both easy to find in bookstores or the internet.<\/p>\n Merry Christ-x,<\/p>\n Seth and Amy<\/p>\n IMPORTANT PRAYER REQUEST<\/strong> Yesterday Lerato confided in Amy that their father will not allow them to come to church anymore.\u00a0 He claims to be a Christian, yet still visits the witch doctor (which he calls the herbalist) and is urging his children to get a special \u201cblessing\u201d from him.\u00a0 The kids are even concerned that if they continued to come, they might lose their home.\u00a0 Once before I have talked with Ken Mukhola, the father, about the Gospel, but he said he was not prepared to be born again.\u00a0 These teens are a great blessing in our youth group, and an example in the villages.\u00a0 As a case in point, Eric recently lead his 14 year old brother Tsepo to the Lord, and the next week Tsepo was mysteriously not allowed to come to church.<\/p>\n Friday, Mr. Mukhola has agreed to meet with me at 11:00 to talk about the children, but I sense a real spiritual battle here.\u00a0 Pray specifically for his conversion and for the kids to return to church on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n AN UPDATE ON ANDRE<\/strong> As you know, we do not typically bother your box with so much mail, but the importance of the first request especially needs your participation the next few days.\u00a0 I felt it was necessary to use the immediacy of e-mail, but if our e-mails are reaching the wrong address, please let me know by replying with “Remove” in the subject line.<\/p>\n Thanks in advance,<\/p>\n Seth and Amy<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Here are the mostly unedited letters I have written over the years. Each date drops the entry below it without leaving the page. 16 January 2005 ENGLISH MINISTRY Last Sunday I thanked God for the opportunity to finally minister in … Continue reading
\nLast Sunday I thanked God for the opportunity to finally minister in English again.\u00a0 A small Baptist church in Louis Trichardt without a pastor asked me to preach in their morning service.\u00a0 With January 9th as my target, I invited a number of people I have been working on over the last few months.\u00a0 Ten of my friends showed up that morning, and at the conclusion 5 requested prayer that God would save them.\u00a0 Since then I\u2019ve met with two of the families and a mother has been converted!\u00a0 Incidentally, she said it wasn\u2019t my preaching, but a tract I gave her\u2014so keep passing them out.\u00a0 She also asked that I have a weekly Bible study with her and her family.<\/p>\n
\nOver the last few days my little printer has been working at maximum output trying to create a songbook for the Mashamba Baptist Church.\u00a0 Repairs and collating have reminded me of how blessed American churches are, so the next time you sing at church remember to be grateful for the \u201clittle things\u201d.\u00a0 And speaking of music, I am now playing the only musical instrument (that I know of) in the village of Mashamba.\u00a0 Godfrey received a guitar, and since I know the rudiments I am now the church accompanist.\u00a0 For those of you who know my dubious musical ability your prayers are appreciated.<\/p>\n
\nLast night my eyes were again blurring over from Tsonga as a visitor showed up at my house.\u00a0 Moffat works on the farm on which I rent my house, and he came with divine interest.\u00a0 He puzzled my expectations by not asking for money, food, or a ride, and within 5 minutes he got to the meat of his concern: \u201cTswariwa ra vumbirhi.\u00a0 How do I do it?\u201d\u00a0 That is Tsonga for \u201cborn the second time.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently he has been reading his Bible and this question was one of many that he couldn\u2019t understand.\u00a0 For nearly two hours he bombarded me with the kind of Bible questions a seminary student asks.\u00a0 Moffat\u2019s first language is Venda, but he understands Tsonga.\u00a0 My Tsonga is still very poor, but I was amazed at how much suddenly came back to me.\u00a0 Phrases and vocabulary words starting clicking in place, and before 9:00 Moffat had experienced that mysterious \u201ctswariwa ra vumbirhi.\u201d\u00a0 On Christmas day I had helped him, and it may have been that little seed of kindness that germinated into a desire to be saved.\u00a0 Praise the Lord for unexpected reaping.<\/p>\n
\nThe photo shows one of the mountain villages in which I want to preach.\u00a0 Many villages are situated similarly with precarious roads and breathtaking backdrops.\u00a0 LORD-willing, this Saturday I am planning to start an itinerant preaching ministry in some surrounding villages.\u00a0 My Tsonga is slowly getting better, and I\u2019m sure it will help me to practice.\u00a0 A teenage boy named Eric will translate for me.\u00a0 As we travel he can help me while I help him.\u00a0 He is a gifted, young man that wants to be in the ministry, and presently I look on him as a Timothy.\u00a0 Maybe in a few months he can do the preaching as I watch.\u00a0 I had hesitated to preach in the open air through a translator because I was hoping to speak the language fluently by now, but that level is still further down the road.\u00a0\u00a0 This technique might help my Tsonga as well a train a national.<\/p>\n
\n1.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Vhlengwe\u2019s conversion and closed tavern
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Itinerant preaching in the villages: My Tsonga and Eric\u2019s spiritual growth
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Spiritual growth for Wilma (the mom) and Moffat.
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Johan\u2019s conversion (the son)<\/p>\n
\nwebsite<\/a>\n<\/div>\n21 February 2005 <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nIf you have been praying for Moffat (I mentioned him in the last letter.) then praise the LORD!\u00a0 He has proven his conversion a number of times now over the last month since he asked me on January 7th how to be born again.\u00a0 Sunday he rode a bike nearly 20 miles to come to church in Mashamba.\u00a0 When I asked him if he would have done that 6 months ago he replied with \u201cNo, but since then Moya lowu Kwetsima (the Holy Spirit) has come in.\u201d\u00a0 He has gone through a number of personal Bible studies with me, is ready to be baptized, and wants me to come preach to his village.\u00a0 Continue to pray for his understanding of doctrine and opportunities to win his family.<\/p>\n
\nTwo Sunday\u2019s ago I was able to baptize two girls and a young man from my youth group\u2014Voni ~ 13 years, Lerato ~ 15 years, and Takalani ~ 20.\u00a0 The baptistry took several days and numbers of buckets to fill.\u00a0 Thankfully, there is a water tap only about 100 yards from the church.\u00a0 Do you have any idea how many buckets of water it takes to fill even a small pool for baptisms?<\/p>\n
\nWith Eric\u2019s help, I am now preaching in the open air in two different villages on Sunday afternoons.\u00a0 The crowds have varied from 3 to around 40 (only counting adults).\u00a0 Yesterday, the Gospel was proclaimed for the first time in Wayeni as nearly 20 teens and adults listened.\u00a0 One key goal for these open-air meetings is to discover men that are potential for church leadership.\u00a0 Already I have learned that gathering a crowd is not too difficult, but finding solid men to take the helm requires divine activity.\u00a0 My constant prayers now are for teachable men to step forward.\u00a0 The picture was taken last Sunday at Wayeni for the first time.\u00a0 I like preaching in this village because of the shade!<\/p>\n
\nCan a sermon exist without these three qualities?\u00a0 I am greatly frustrated by my inability to wield this trichotomy of communicative swords when I talk in Tsonga.\u00a0 Pray, with all passion and belief, that my words in Tsonga will manifest elements of each of these three categories.\u00a0 Presently, I preach at least 4 times per week, and twice without a translator.\u00a0 Those two times are to my youth group; the teens understand a little English because of the schools.\u00a0 Attaining these is my greatest desire right now.<\/p>\n
\nBy now I\u2019ve killed my first two snakes.\u00a0 The first was nearly 5 feet long, and the \u201cexperts\u201d told my neighbor and I it was a Mozambiquan spitting cobra.\u00a0 I still feel safe though because both snakes were on my neighbor\u2019s property not mine.<\/p>\n
\nMy motto, This Is Africa, is nowhere more evident than in the phone service.\u00a0 For the past 2 \u00bd weeks my phone line has had assorted faults, and every other month since I\u2019ve been here it has spontaneously taken a Sabbatical from its duties.\u00a0 That is one reason why this letter was not delivered two weeks ago.\u00a0 But that slight inconvenience is so far from persecution that I only mention it to give you some local flavor.<\/p>\n16 March 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nWhile taking a few hours on a mountain with my bike, I found a hut where a man named Phinehas stayed.\u00a0 He agreed to study the Bible with me if I would bring back a translator, and so the next day he was waiting for us.\u00a0 Ripe fruit has never fallen so smoothly into a reaper\u2019s basket.\u00a0 And praise God the next week when we returned, he said that his wife wanted to know what happened to him because he had stopped drinking!<\/p>\n
\nMy calendar shows that I was planning to have a mini-Bible institute for some of the teens and men from surrounding areas each weekend in April.\u00a0 However, that all changed last Saturday when I learned that next week the schools are closed and my main pupils will be more free than on the weekends of the following month.\u00a0 So I write asking for your prayers for the students to understand and the teacher to communicate well because next week, March 21-25, I will be teaching about 35 hours of courses to several young men.\u00a0 LORD-willing I will send some photos after these next two weeks are done.<\/p>\n28 March 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nLast week I taught 4 courses: Hermeneutics (how to interpret the Bible), Homiletics (preaching), Interpreting the Proverbs, and Soulwinning.\u00a0 I prepared notes and tried my best, but the language barrier was a definite frustration.\u00a0 Two-three students attended and seemed to profit a great deal from the lessons.\u00a0 Please pray for Eric, my translator.\u00a0 He is a gifted 17 year old and a growing Christian who fervently wants to enter the ministry.\u00a0 His father would not allow him to attend the courses last week, but last night I spoke to Eric\u2019s dad for over an hour about the new birth.\u00a0 Originally, I had planned the teaching just for this boy, but it seems God had other plans.<\/p>\n
\nToday was the appointed day to return to the still-unnamed village high in the mountains above Louis Trichardt.\u00a0 Philemon, a Venda speaking pastor came as my translator and is in the picture with the tiny, but influential village behind him.\u00a0 We met a very large, well-spoken man who was clearly the leader of the village.\u00a0 Mr. Phopi talked with us for nearly two hours and was a great contact to meet; he is not saved, but very influential\u2014what great Christian he would make!\u00a0 We did not preach, but Philemon told me that several meetings like this would probably be necessary before we will have a chance to address the whole village.<\/p>\n
\nA month ago I had asked you to pray for my opportunity to preach at the Baptist church in Louis Trichardt.\u00a0 That morning (Feb. 27) Oriana, a college-age Catholic from Mozambique was in the service.\u00a0 After the service I talked to her about salvation, and it didn\u2019t take her long to ask me if she could be saved that morning.\u00a0 A few days later we did a Bible study with her before she was suddenly forced to return to Mozambique.<\/p>\n
\nOnce again, the stores closed while I was trying to shop, so I decided I would at least talk to the security guard.\u00a0 Mzamani was just thrilled that I could speak some Tsonga with him, and within 5 minutes asked when he could hear me teach the Bible.\u00a0 After several days and some providential circumstances, I finally found his three huts far away from town late on a Sunday night.\u00a0 Because of the hour I assumed I would just say \u201cHi\u201d and teach the Bible later.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t hear of it.\u00a0 For nearly two hours we went through the Bible while he copiously inscribed in his little notebook every passage I used.\u00a0 \u201cMzamani, are you ready to receive Christ the Bible way, or do you need time to think about it?\u201d\u00a0 An affirmative answer found him praying in Tsonga while I caught the phrases I could understand.\u00a0 He works 10 days on and 5 days off, so hopefully he will be in church this Sunday.<\/p>\n
\nThat was last Sunday night.\u00a0 That same day an 18 year old had come to the open air preaching in Wayeni and was very interested in the Gospel.\u00a0 After discussing with Michael until I had to leave for Mahatlane, he agreed to meet with me on Tuesday (March 22).\u00a0 When I returned last Tuesday with one of my students, he had gathered his whole family together to hear what I had to say.\u00a0 Praise the LORD, I found another one of the elect!\u00a0 Yesterday, Michael came to Mashamba for church, to the open air service in Wayeni, and to the open air preaching in Mahatlane as well.\u00a0 When I left him he assured me he would be back next Sunday.<\/p>\n3 May 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nLord-willing I will leave my house Friday morning early on the first leg of a trip to see Amy graduate from PCC.\u00a0 In case you didn\u2019t know, she won first place at PCC\u2019s big music contest for the second year in a row!\u00a0 Hopefully, marrying a less-gifted husband won\u2019t disappoint her.\u00a0 We will be returning near the end of August or beginning of September after preaching in a number of churches.\u00a0 If you are in the Schaumburg area, I will be speaking there May 15th.\u00a0 My phone number in the States is (847) 882-0442, and I hope that e-mail will be working as well.\u00a0 Because I don\u2019t know how to transport my address book, this will probably be the last ministry letter until I get back to Africa.<\/p>\n
\nThe teen group was my largest area of pastoral ministry over the last 4 months.\u00a0 Presently, there are about 8 of them in the core of \u201cnever-missers\u201d at Sunday school and Friday teen preaching service.\u00a0 Our average attendance is the same 12-15 at both weekend services.\u00a0 Saturdays we evangelise hut to hut in different villages, and Sunday as many as can fit in my bakkie go with me to the open-air services.\u00a0 The photo shows my teen Sunday School class in which I have been teaching the book of Acts (Timhaka) using as much as Tsonga as possible.<\/p>\n
\nOf the four soils given in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13), Mzamani and Michael look like they are the good ground.\u00a0 Perhaps you recall these names from my last update; since that time, both have consistently attended church.\u00a0 Michael (18) has brought his other siblings, and Mzamani (36) has to stay at church with me from 8 am until 7 pm because he lives too far away.\u00a0 I have met about 6 extra times with Mzamani for prayer, Bible questions, and Tsonga instruction.\u00a0 He loves to read and has borrowed several books from me which should greatly aid his spiritual growth.\u00a0 If you have prayed for these names in the past, redouble your efforts now seeing that this paragraph is written in answer to your prayers.\u00a0 If they should fall away it will be in the absence of our prayers.\u00a0 Also, Wilma (mentioned in the January letter) has been growing and has her whole family of 5 people listening to our Tuesday evening Bible studies.\u00a0 Right now she is the only one saved, but as tonight is our last Bible study before I leave, I will press the urgency on the others.<\/p>\n
\nOn the eve of leaving this area, I feel a deep deficiency in my own burden for the lost.\u00a0 Why is it so hard to fuel a brighter flame for evangelism?\u00a0 With a Savior like Jesus, a future like Heaven, and their future in the Lake of Fire, what is the impediment to full-flowing tears, boundless sacrifice, and a thick stream of new recruits for Christian evangelism?\u00a0 I find that my emotions are more quickly excited by any number of physical, earthly situations before Christ\u2019s love or the fierceness of eternal damnation.\u00a0 The fact needs a greater Christian audience that many millions\u2014no, billions will enter a lake lapping with flames and no remission for unending days.\u00a0 If true belief is that thing that is most real to us, then how often do we believe in the reality of Hell?\u00a0 Jeremiah and Jesus both wept for those they knew were about to face God\u2019s wrath.\u00a0 Paul and Moses wished to accurse their own souls in exchange for the conversion of Israel.\u00a0 Can we relate to this love?\u00a0 I share this devotional thought to edify you as the Holy Spirit tightens the conviction on my own hard heart.<\/p>\n21 June 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
25 August 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nToday we are celebrating our two-month anniversary.\u00a0 Since leaving and cleaving, we have traveled well over 6,300 miles, changed beds 26 times, and paid over $60 in tolls.\u00a0 I have preached 23 times, Amy has ministered 22 different times with music, and we have only left items behind seven times!\u00a0 We thank God for a smooth beginning to our marriage, in part due to the generosity and kindness constantly expressed to us by many of you.\u00a0 Thank you for caring about us and investing in our new life and ministry together.<\/p>\n
\nOur tickets are bought, our visas are in hand, and our personal belongings are somewhere over the Atlantic.\u00a0 Lord-willing, we will fly out Tuesday night September 6th.\u00a0 Our last chance to preach and say goodbye to our Bethel family will be Sunday evening the 4th.\u00a0 If any of you are near enough to come, we would love to see you there.<\/p>\n
\nAmong other things we are shipping the first 20,000 tracts in Tsonga and Venda.\u00a0 Hopefully, this will be just the beginning of a Gospel deluge in literature form.\u00a0 When we return, one of our first missionary duties will be to see the new converts Wilma and Mzamani.\u00a0 I think every missionary can relate to the concern I feel about where these two will be spiritually when we return.\u00a0 Thank you for your prayers.<\/p>\n
\nWhere else but in Africa would a 22-year-old newlywed without children be asked to be the speaker at a women\u2019s conference?\u00a0 While adjusting to the culture, married life, and the languages of Africa, Amy will also be preparing five different seminar sessions for a conference scheduled by a national pastor, Philemon, for Venda-speaking women in the Limpopo province in October.\u00a0 She\u2019s in greater demand than me!\u00a0 Please do pray for discernment and prepared soil.<\/p>\n23 September 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nOn our flight to SA, a 10-hour layover in London allowed a very tired couple to explore the major sights before completing the journey to Johannesburg.\u00a0 We arrived here two weeks ago, and the house is finally feeling and looking like home.\u00a0 However, our shipment (including Amy\u2019s piano) has not arrived yet and is the source of no little amount of concern.\u00a0 Thanks for praying about all the issues regarding our move\u2014God has been very good to us.\u00a0 Our phone line\u2014This Is Africa (TIA)\u2014underwent triple bypass surgery and is finally working, but the very hour we heard a dial tone, our hot water heater exploded.\u00a0 Once again, TIA.<\/p>\n
\nAfter much deliberation, we have decided to place our first efforts on Venda, not Tsonga.\u00a0 Though I am going to continue Tsonga on the side, Philemon (“fill-a-mon”), a national pastor, has already begun teaching us the difficult tongue that uses mainly v\u2019s, z\u2019s, w\u2019s, and a very hard to pronounce \u201cl\u201d sound.\u00a0 We have finished our first week and are fluent now\u2014in greetings.\u00a0 Our reasons for beginning with Venda were the following: Venda is spoken by nearly 1 million people who live near our house.\u00a0 Furthermore, the Tsongas around us most often speak Venda as well, but the Vendas don\u2019t usually learn Tsonga in return.\u00a0 Another important factor in choosing Venda was our inability to find a Tsonga teacher, whereas Philemon was willing to help us Monday through Thursday, three hours per day.<\/p>\n
\nFor the last two Fridays, we have picked up the teens and continued the Friday preaching and Bible quiz meetings from 4:00-6:00.\u00a0 I began a series on Revelation on Friday nights; and in Sunday School, I am teaching New Testament Survey.\u00a0 The core of teens that I left in May is still strong, although the oldest young man is struggling.\u00a0 Do pray for Takalani to follow Christ consistently.<\/p>\n
\nOctober 7th and 8th are the dates for the women\u2019s conference at Shalom Baptist Church.\u00a0 Our Venda teacher, Philemon, started a church among the Venda people in the nearby village of Tshikota.\u00a0 Amy will be speaking there Friday night and Saturday to a mixed group of ladies from all over this area.\u00a0 Interestingly, though Philemon started a Venda congregation, he has actually had to change to English because villagers who speak Tsonga, Sotho, and Xhosa have also joined his church.\u00a0 Friday night will be an evangelistic message, and Saturday\u2019s 3 lessons will focus on Christian growth.\u00a0 The series is biographical from women of the Bible, and who knows, it may be her first book someday\u2026\u00a0 Please pray for comprehension, conversions, and growth in the LORD among the Venda women.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhat do you think we should pray for today?\u201d I asked as we closed our second Bible study.\u00a0 \u201cFor my wife and children to get saved,\u201d Mzamani replied.\u00a0 I nearly jumped out of my chair.\u00a0 Last April he bowed the knee to Christ, but I was eminently concerned for him while I was gone these last four months.\u00a0 Apparently though, He who began a good work was faithful in continuing it in my absence.\u00a0 I now meet with Mzamani, at his request, for Bible instruction several hours per week.\u00a0 One indicator of spiritual growth that I was observantly watching for was any understanding or concern for his unsaved wife and children.\u00a0 Praise the LORD, during our third meeting since I\u2019ve been back, and without my coaxing, he asked us to focus our prayers on their salvation.\u00a0 Their names for your prayer list are: Murunwa (angel), Nyeleti (star), and Ripfumelo (belief).<\/p>\n
\nOne of the first phone calls we received when our line was fixed was from Paul Schlelein, a friend from PCC.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s passion for the unreached people groups has been growing exponentially; and through a series of unusual circumstances, he has discerned God\u2019s hand guiding him to preach among the Tsongas of Mozambique.\u00a0 After much prayer, we have mutually agreed on and begun to plan for his visit in just two weeks.\u00a0 LORD-willing, we will survey the villages of Mozambique for 7-10 days in preparation for his return in July 2006.\u00a0 Many details must go into a trip like this\u2014especially since I\u2019m new at leading such excursions.\u00a0 Our desire is to map out villages for future visits and ministry, and to that end we covet your prayers for our safety and success.<\/p>\n10 October 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nThe commentators and authors of a real expositor have become my wife\u2019s most frequent associates over the last few weeks.\u00a0 This picture shows Amy at her post where I have become accustomed to seeing her.\u00a0 The dates for the conference were changed so she will now be speaking October 21st and 22nd (Friday night once and Saturday thrice).<\/p>\n
\nLast Saturday, we planned a relaxing time for Paul who had only been here for 3 days.\u00a0 Together we met up with Eric and a few other teens from the village of Tshivhangani to hike a mountain out in the bush.\u00a0 When we reached the top we were playing around with the teens but were interrupted by a sickening accident I hope to never repeat.\u00a0 Paul had somehow slipped from a tree and fell about 12 feet onto some rocks below.\u00a0 He was unconscious for a while and broke his wrist.\u00a0 With some effort we got him down the mountain and to the doctor where he was kept for observation over night.\u00a0 Praise the LORD for his protection as we thought Paul\u2019s injuries would have been worse.\u00a0 He is fully recovered now and we are looking forward to some great experiences as we venture into Mozambique.<\/p>\n
\nTomorrow morning we finally end a very busy time of preparation for a trip to Mozambique to scout out the unreached peoples of that country with Paul Schlelein.\u00a0 The picture shows Paul packing our truck for the journey in the morning.\u00a0 We will be gone through Thursday night the 20th and would covet your prayers for open doors to preach, safety, and wisdom for future planning on how to reach the numerous people groups.\u00a0 Let the brevity of this e-mail tell you how busy we have been as I typically like to be a little more descriptive.<\/p>\n24 October 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nOn 10 occasions Hudson Taylor took evangelistic journeys into the interior of China at the beginning of his ministry.\u00a0 Our trip to Mozambique that ended last week was my second such excursion.\u00a0 From the outset our goal was knowledge.\u00a0 We wanted to know what language groups lived in which parts as well as the condition of the roads and Gospel background of the people.<\/p>\n
\nAmy\u2019s speaking engagement at Shalom Baptist Church\u2019s ladies\u2019 conference was moved to this past weekend because of our travelling schedule.\u00a0 The church meets in a school in the poor area outside Louis Trichardt, and the conference assembled in that same room.\u00a0 This elementary school had no lights so Friday night we had one lamp in the corner of the classroom you see in the picture.\u00a0 That evening we started with 6 and by the time Amy finished, 11 women had gathered.\u00a0 Saturday, the plan called for 3 teaching sessions, lunch and Q and A time all conducted within the modest framework of 10 am through 4 pm.\u00a0 But we decided to wait until people arrived before starting, so 11:15 was good enough.\u00a0 It all started with six women, but by lunch the number had tripled, and the last two sessions had more than 25 adults present.\u00a0 Unfortunately, our conference was also the nursery and Amy had to compete for well over an hour with two indomitable babies.<\/p>\n23 November 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nBoxes lie strewn about hoping to be put away shortly, and that is quite a welcome sight even though neither of us likes clutter.\u00a0 Just before leaving to do a home Bible study tonight the truck arrived with our things from home!\u00a0 I\u2019m sure Amy\u2019s hope was set on the piano, but mine was for my Tsonga and Venda literature and my tools.\u00a0 We each got something we wanted because Amy\u2019s piano is fine and the tracts look great.\u00a0 The bulk of everything we shipped arrived safely, but we did have a few boxes lost that God knew weren\u2019t essential to our ministry.<\/p>\n
\nCharles Spurgeon\u2019s wife managed a fruitful ministry of distributing thousands of good books while her husband was busy writing them.\u00a0 With that in mind, we shipped 36 boxes of books and literature including two large printings of tracts in Tsonga and Venda.\u00a0 These tracts along with a number of books we procured this summer have a temporary home in our guest room before finding their right owner.\u00a0 Our prayers are asking the Spirit to convict, save, enlighten, and challenge those who are blessed with these printed pages.\u00a0 The first study Bible has already been awarded to Mzamani, and both Godfrey and Philemon have enjoyed other second hand works.\u00a0 I wish you could see the looks on the faces of those who are hungry for sound Bible knowledge and can\u2019t get it so easily.\u00a0 Please pray for this ministry to take the shape and have the impact God would be pleased to open up for us as I have been looking into some other possibilities in this regard.<\/p>\n
\nBetween listening to good sermons and reading some inspiring books, Amy and I have both been laboring to be more conscientious about soulwinning.\u00a0 Do pray for your missionaries to be good initiators for the Gospel\u2019s sake\u2014it\u2019s as easy to get carnal and lazy over here as anywhere.\u00a0 In answer to our prayers, a number of new contacts have steadily emerged.\u00a0 Chioti is a Hindu woman who has shown us good interest.\u00a0 My premonition is that her family keeps her from any further steps in the right direction.\u00a0 Musa is a school teacher living in Mashamba.\u00a0 Last week after praying for him at church we were surprised to see him on the side of the road on the way home.\u00a0 After exchanging pleasantries, Amy interjected an invitation to hear me preach on Sunday.\u00a0 His response shamed me: \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting for Seth to ask.\u201d\u00a0 Last week he came to hear the clearest Gospel presentation I know how to make.<\/p>\n
\nPaul passed this poem on to me before I left the US.\u00a0 Its author is Jim Cooper a faithful pioneer missionary pilot to Nassau, Bahamas in the 50\u2019s and 60\u2019s.\u00a0 He wrote this as a college student, and I really like it.<\/p>\n
\nWhen all earth\u2019s kindred tribes do plead
\nThat God perchance in His great plan
\nWould heed their cry to send a man
\nThat the Savior they might see.<\/p>\n
\nWhile Satan gloats and laughs with glee
\nAnd ushers countless souls to Hell
\nMany because I did not tell
\nChrist gives the victory.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve done my best for Christ today,
\nWhen not one soul to him I\u2019ve led
\nNor to a sinking sinner said,
\n\u201cJesus paid the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhen Jesus gave His all for me
\nSmitten and scorned\u2014was crucified,
\nNaked and bleeding freely died
\nTo set the sinner free.<\/p>\n
\nWhen at last my Savior see,
\nAs He in stately splendor stands,
\nTo welcome me with outstretched hands:
\n\u201cPraise God for Calvary.\u201d<\/p>\n10 December 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nJust one hour ago, Amy and I have met and had our first conversation with an interested atheist.\u00a0 He claims to have been a Christian, but then changed to atheism.\u00a0 His interest showed, however, in that he requested to meet with us again.\u00a0 We decided on Monday night after I asked him if he was sincerely interested in learning.\u00a0 Please join us in united prayer for his salvation.\u00a0 He is 30 and has been drinking the defiled cups of infidel authors for many years, but doesn\u2019t our God convert men like this?<\/p>\n
\nVenda is going very well in some respects.\u00a0 Last week Amy and I both wrote stories and delivered them as speeches to Philemon.\u00a0 Amy scored better than me, and Philemon said that her grammar was better than many Vendas!\u00a0 Armed with our newly translated Venda tracts, Bivhilis (Bibles), and phrases like \u201cNo bebwa hafhu?\u201d (Are you born again?) we are moving our study outside the classroom by going door to door in Tshikhota on Monday.\u00a0 As always, our #1 need is greater dexterity in understanding the people and framing our responses in Venda and Tsonga.<\/p>\n
\nLast year rain was not to be found as the Northern Province reached drought conditions, but praise the Lord, for the last few weeks rain has been cooling the temperatures and feeding the crops.\u00a0 The rivers filled to overflowing, and at least one bridge I use was swept away.\u00a0 Yesterday, with 16 people in our truck heading to church, we pulled two different trucks out of the mud.\u00a0 Unbeknownst to us, one of the trucks was the chief of Mashamba.\u00a0 You never know who is watching.<\/p>\n19 December 2005<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nAbout 2 years ago Pastor Godfrey from Mashamba Baptist Church met some teens at a local school who had a lot of questions about the Bible.\u00a0 Justice, Eric and Lerato Mukhola began walking approximately 10 kilometres to church because they could see the difference between Bible teaching from a true church and the unchristian activities\u2014dancing, yelling, praying to ancestors\u2014at the \u201cchurch\u201d their parents attend.\u00a0 Last year these three teens and a number of their friends began riding with me from this out of the way village to church every Friday and Sunday.\u00a0 All the kids are good, but Eric really has promise as he \u201cdesires the office of a bishop\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nDo not cease praying for this deluded young man.\u00a0 At 30 years old he is so heavily involved in New Age \/ post-modern thinking that he is almost trying to evangelise us.\u00a0 This is the gentleman I told you about in the last letter.\u00a0 We talked for nearly two hours tonight, and Amy and I were greatly weighed down in spirit when he left.\u00a0 However, he did agree to another meeting next week to discuss Creation and evolution\u2014we\u2019re not giving up.<\/p>\n2006 Journal<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n