February travel and Valentine's Day

"Lo, I am with you always. . . Matthew 28:20"
Today is Valentine's Day, but my Valentine and I have an ocean between us!My mother is almost 80 years old and her health has become a matter of concern. I am in the USA for four weeks to evaluate Mama's needs. I left on Sunday, February 6, after teaching Sunday school. Last month Tony took me our for an "early Valentine's meal." The Deck is an outdoor restaurant about 15 minutes' drive from our home. The food was good and the weather was perfect. Late in Januray when Tony had a "home project" day for preparing the wood on the carport for refinishing, he called me to come out to see how the job was going. He had sanded a "valentine" for me on one of the beams! I took a picture since we thought it better to sand the entire beam.

The Sunday school ministry requires a good bit of my time as I prepare the curriculum in Afrikaans, as well as worksheets for the children in both Afrikaans and English. For the first 9 months of 2011, we will be teaching the life of David. I train our teachers to communicate the central theme of the passage and to present the gospel. Last month I spent several evenings at June's home to allow her "practice" teaching her lesson from I Samuel 17. Unfortunately, I missed her lesson yesterday. The Sunday that I left, we had new family in the service. Pray that the Lord will cause this young couple and their adorable 4 year old, Carlyle, to come back. Pray for Jeremy as he witnesses to Karl at work.

Youth and Men's Meetings and New Faces

" . . . commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. II Timothy 2:2"

Our youth have two meetings a month on a Friday evening. One is held at our home with the youth from Eindhoven Baptiste Kerk. One of the outdoor games that our young people enjoy in the summer months is volleyball.

Two weeks ago, Tony introduced a new version of "puff" ball, blowing a pingpong ball on the floor around a beacon. This indoor game provided some great laughs.

A relay race involving opening a sweet with "sock-gloved" hands was a real challenge for these brothers, Jason and Brandon!

Mgoduse and Damian also found it to be a challenge.

Jason brought the message from Proverbs 4. Pray for our youth to acquire God's wisdom and be kept from the many spiritual "land mines" of this world.

For months now, Tracey (below, with me at youth meeting) has been attending church regularly along with her younger siblings. Pray for God to open her heart to the gospel.

On the last Friday of the month we gather with Pastor Kevin and Pastor Delphin's youth in Eersterivier at Immanuel Baptiste Kerk. This past Friday we were able to introduce some new games to them, including the floor version of puff ball.

The "new rule" volleyball, allowing the ball to be hit continually until it goes over the net or is whistled "dead" by the referee, got the teens who generally participate less, more involved.

The LRC blocks, representing Left, Right, Center, is a die game that is UNPREDICTABLE!

Simone (in brown top in lower left of the photo below) won although she'd lost all her tokens VERY early in the game!

Two of the new faces at youth and church are Brian (in foto below taken at the combined youth)

and Shawn (below, helping carry chairs). Brian, Shawn, and Bradley (in striped top dusting chairs) show up early on Sundays to help set up the classroom for the service.

These young men are a blessing to Jeremy and Jason, who have been faithfully preparing the classroom for services for almost two years.

The men's monthly meeting on the last Saturday of each month is a great time of challenge and fellowship and prayer. The men have been working on a draft church constitution which they hope to have the assembly adopt in March in order to incorporate as a legal non-government organization.

Pray for the new faces we are seeing regularly on Lord's Day. We are averaging 25-31 each week.