THE NUTURE OF NATURE.
I love being out in nature, it makes me feel relaxed and refreshed and I find it so easy to talk to Jesus when surrounded by the beauty of trees and sunlight while in the forest or the sound of a running brook as I was along the path.
However, we do not live near a place like this, and I often must close my eyes and put on a soundscape from my calming app on my phone and use my imagination. I think back to being able to go for walks while staying in Pleasant Prairie in the USA. It was such a treat for me as well as going to the Rec-Plex to pretend I was an Olympic swimmer in the BIG pool.
It is hard to believe that it has been a year since I went to the USA on Furlough. Family life has been super tough this year, leaving us all feeling quite shattered and in survival mode. This is one of the reasons I have been taking so long to write our newsletters. My apologies for that.
Ministry remains so good, with Jesus being faithful in changing people’s lives with His presence and Word as we spend time in Motherwell, in Life Groups, in Bible Teaching and Mentoring sessions, selling Bibles, and serving in our local church community.
JARS OF CLAY.
We had our annual Missionary Conference this year at the end of June. It was so different getting together half way through the year instead of in January and it felt strange. The one thing I really did miss was swimming, June was too cold for that, well at least for me. The rest of conference was busy and good.
Nathan had a good conference, which was a huge answer to prayer. We are thankful for the folk that God used to encourage him. We were once again reminded of the incredible privilege it is to be part of God’s family as we were well cared for and loved.
PE MINISTRY.
Soup kitchen has been going well, even with the price of things increasing as much as they have. The ladies of the church are growing vegetables at the local clinic. One of the reasons they use the clinic is because it is a fenced property, so the gardens are protected from livestock. The folk from the church have five garden patches each as big as a single car garage. They work in these gardens during the week, tending the vegetable plants. On a Wednesday morning they harvest what they can use as ingredients in the soup kitchen.
It has been incredible to watch this small little church, and this small group of ladies’ work in the garden, prepare and serve a meal to the needy in their community. They also have a sewing class after soup kitchen where they teach folk how to cut out a pattern and make their own clothes.
Louise has not been able to go to Motherwell each Friday with things being so hard at home for the kids and so she stays connected via the phone with the soup kitchen ladies and flower lady, and they hope to meet once things settle again at home.
Tata B has also been having a tough time as his wife died a few months ago. He is finding the adjustment for himself and his daughters to be hard. We attended her funeral and joined the church and family at the grave side where they buried her. The graveyard was such a traumatic experience as the land is rocky and barren and was just so harsh. There were around twelve different funerals all happening at the same time. It all felt so impersonal and left us feeling extra sad.
Barry and Tata B have been working through a Bible Study on grieving, and that Christian’s grieve as well, and it has been such a good time for them both.
Barry continues to enjoy teaching and engaging with the folk at ZEBS. We do not have a packed classroom, nevertheless we still have a wonderful time. During this last ZEBS one of the questions asked was why some people in the classroom were not saved. We got interesting answers. The most common answer among the AmaZioni is “what will the family say.” This is because the folk are syncretistic and mix ancestor worship and Christianity. Their decision to follow Christ has an impact on the greater family and because of this they decide not to follow Jesus.
CLOSER TO HOME.
Barry’s knees are fine. He just needs to be careful not to fall or get any kind of infection for the next year or so.
Nathan is now trying out the GED. We had him assessed by a Life coach who works with Autistic kids, and she has picked up that he is socially burned out from school. For now, we are slowly introducing him to GED and getting him to research things he is interested in. He has been in a much better space and so we would appreciate your continued prayers for him. In a previous newsletter we mentioned the Jars of Clay. For the new folk. We have “projects” for which we are raising specific funds
Educate the Nate. $5000 for Nathan to finish his GED with a Life Coach for kids on the ASD scale.
If you would like to give once off towards this project, please give online and let us know it is for this fund. www.zema.org there is a donate link there.
Peta-Jade is back home and has had an extremely hard year thus far. Please pray with us that we will be able to find a solution to her pain as it renders her unable to do life. She was able to visit a pain specialist again who has given her ideas on how to live “around” the pain and this requires big life changes.
Please pray that Louise would be wise with her self-care as well.
Thank you for your prayers, we appreciate you all.
Barry, Louise, Peta-Jade, and Nathan.
Giving in South Africa:
Bank details.
Standard Bank Current Account; Acc name: ZEMA; Acc no: 081047401;
King Williams Town; Branch no: 050419; Ref: “Your name/ Adkins
