Winning and Discipling, Sharing and Spending

"[One] planted, [one] watered, but God gave the increase."
I Corinthians 3:6

A little over a week ago, Tony made an appointment for us to visit a young father and mother and their lovely 3 month old daughter. They received us warmly and the Lord gave a wonderful opportunity to share a cup of tea and the gospel with Chris and Natasha. We limited the length of the visit since we didn't want to rearrange Baby Chloe's evening routine, but we made an appointment to return the next Wednesday. However, the Lord arranged for them to visit us in order to bring Tony the electronic diary that he forgot and left on their couch. After having tea, I had the opportunity to share with Natasha how Christ seeks a decision of our will and doesn't play with a person's emotions or force them to trust Him, when we took Chole to the bedroom to put her down. During this time, Tony and Chris were able to discuss the nature of saving faith. When Tony asked Chris if he would like to trust Christ as his Saviour, he said that he would. After they prayed together, Tony asked Chris what "confess" in Romans 10:9 means. He said, "I need to tell Natasha." It was a precious moment to witness Chris telling Natasha that he had asked Christ to save him and that they both need to follow the Lord. This past Wednesday, we held the first discipleship lesson with them in their home in Bellville. Natasha told us that she had trusted Christ shortly after Chloe was born. They eagerly talked about what they have been reading in the Word and how the Bible now make so much more sense.

Yesterday we held the first Bible study on Frazerstraat in Jeremy and June Louw's home. Jason Morta braved the weather and came to the study from nearby Surburban, Delft. These three are the nucleus of believers who are praying and working with us for God to raise up a work for His name in Eindhoven, Delft. There were others whom we have witnessed to that had indicated they wanted to attend, but were perhaps were deterred by the cold temperatures and the raging winter rains. We plan to hold this weekly Bible study each Thursday. When unbelievers join us, the direction of the study will be evangelistic and as some become believers, the weekly study will be a discipleship course. Jeremy and Jason will begin doing door-to-door evangelism with Tony this next week.

This past month, Tony preached in Tableview and in Northpine. We also had the opportunity to visit with Isaac and Sheila Balie in Genadendal and share in their work. Tony preached on Sunday and brought a presentation on sharing the gospel with the men on Monday night. He also had opportunities at the museum to witness to two men at their jobs. I enjoyed teaching the afternoon Sunday school and the ladies' Tuesday meeting. Sharing in the work of this sincere and godly brother is a great blessing to us. We were received so warmly and on our departure, we were laden with gifts of love and appreciation.

As elsewhere in the world, the cost of petrol continues to rise in South Africa. This week's price hike of 74 cents took the price per liter to 4 digits, causing a real problem across our peninsula because many of the older petrol pumps only have the capablity of showing a 3-digit prices. R10,40 per liter means we are now paying almost R40 for a gallon of petrol. Even though that translates to nearly $5.20 a gallon, God is faithfully providing for us to take the gospel wherever He opens an opportunity for us to make His name known to the glory of God.