Dear brethren,
Please find below the latest ministry news from Makhaza Reformed Baptist Church in Khayelitsha, South Africa.
Family
The Lord has been gracious to us as a family, with good health, stability, and spiritual growth. My wife, Sethu, and our son, Nakuwe, got a bit of a flu because of the changes in weather, from which they have recovered. Other than that, we can’t complain about anything. The kids are growing and still doing well at school.
Ministry
The Lord has been helping us as the church, as we trying to cope with the usual issues of commitment and financial challenges. After many months preaching through the book of Revelation, we have concluded the book. We thank the Lord for his blessing through this book. Our men’s ministry continues to make time to meet and read a book together for our spiritual nourishment. Bulelani continues to lead these meetings. Ayanda, one of our young men, had his first preaching opportunity at a Sunday service, and he did exceptionally well. He is hoping to complete his theological studies next year. We continue to pray that the Lord will help him as he continues to assist in church. We are also praying that the Lord will continue to help our men as they are sometimes presented with opportunities to preach in some of the vigils in our communities.
We are still praying about the church building and still appeal for your support in this regard. Below are the banking details for this project:
First National Bank
Account Name: Makhaza Reformed Baptist Church
Account Number: 7477 0085 171
Branch Code: 250 655
Reference: Building Fund
The Lord has been helping in continuing with the radio ministry opportunity. I have been looking at the theological movements that have arisen in South African black communities, in particular. This month I looked at black liberation theology: its history and development, its socio-political and philosophical influence, and its hermeneutic. These talks are highly appreciated, since these movements have been on the rise and, with social media, people have been exposed to them. The church has been heavily criticised by this movement and blamed for deceiving people with Western theology. They conduct some seminars to try and win young believers, and churches and pastors do not know how to respond to this movement. So the talk was appreciated, as it aimed at equipping believers in order to be able to respond to it. We got another opportunity with Bulelani again at another local radio station; Bulelani took that one, and they gave him the topic “What is a Preacher?”. He did very well in dealing with the topic.
Since the schools and universities are beginning their final exams, we had to wrap things up our weekly Bible studies with the CPUT preachers’ forum, and even set an extra day during the week so that we may complete the book of Romans.
Prayer Items
- We still need prayers to be able to acquire the church building.
- Pray that we will be faithful in preach and teaching God’s word and that the Lord will raise up men who have a zeal for truth.
- Pray that the Lord will touch many with the ministry opportunities and that the Lord will continue to open these opportunities.
- As the students are busy with their exams, let us keep them in prayer. We will not be able to meet for the next three months, since they will be going back to their homes in various provinces. Some are not coming back since they are completing their studies. Pray for those who are coming back—that we will continue next year with these Bible studies and that we will see new faces that we can work with.