Greetings, brothers, and sisters, in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We are joyful to be allowed to gather once again to worship God. The past few months have been challenging for us as a church. However, we continue to be grateful to God for his provision and guidance through it all.
Family
The situation at college has been difficult for our son, Ntokozo, during lockdown. Transportation costs went up and I have been without work since March 2020. All this added a lot of financial pressure on us since there is less income, but I might be able to go back to work in December 2020. As challenging as things have been, we remember to always be thankful to the Lord. We particularly thank the Lord that my wife has not suffered from low blood pressure in over two months.
Ministry
When the country went into lockdown, our contract with the previous landlord also came to an end. Sadly, we could not renew the contract and had to look for a new place, but with the lockdown restrictions in place, we were not able to find a place. Nevertheless, by God’s grace, the saints at Midrand Chapel (which is not far from us) opened their doors to us, allowing us to share their facilities for worship on Sunday afternoons. They have been a blessing to us and it is our prayer that the Lord will bless them immensely for their kindness toward us. Our Sunday services have been good, but they have not been well attended.
Moving to Midrand has also afforded us opportunity to join hands with Midrand Chapel and possibly take over the work that is being done in a nearby township called Kaalfontein. It is with much prayer and anticipation that we look to start evangelising in the area once the lockdown restrictions are relaxed, as people are still wary because of COVID-19.
We have been working toward making some changes. At present we are looking at changing the worship services from being in the afternoon to an earlier time to suit more people in the township. We have also begun changing our choice of the songs we sing and the length of our worship service. As time goes, we may also have an interpreter to translate our sermons to vernacular. We are also in the process of calling brother Shimi, our deacon, to eldership as there is a rising need and he has been undergoing training for over two years. Please pray for us as we make these changes.
Prayer Requests
Please join is in prayer.
- Pray for God to help us decide wisely as we are looking at starting ministry at Kaalfontein in partnership with Midrand Chapel.
- Pray for members who have not responded well to our move to Midrand.
- Pray for A good start as we will begin with outreach from Lockdown Alert Level 1.
- Pray for the ministry of the word.
- Pray for Shimi Masubelele as we are looking at having him as a new elder.
- Pray for us to find land or a place to rent while looking for a permanent place.
Pray for our deacon, Jacob Mnyakeni, who has started a cell group in Mamelodi, which is well attended by his neighbours. Pray for fruit and wisdom on how to handle the work.
Yours in Christ,
Bheki Bembe
Pastor-Teacher
Sovereign Grace Bible Church