Moriel Missions South Africa September 2008

Dear Friends,

This has been a very busy and exciting few months with so much good news happening. First of all though my time in the UK and Australia was really blessed and I would like to thank Reddish Christian Fellowship Manchester, Church of the Redeemer Swansea and Normandy and Tongham Christian fellowship for their hospitality and support during this time. I would also like to thank Aunty Marg and all the Australian churches who hosted me during my stay. I was also able to spend a substantial amount of time with my two sons living in the UK and of course our grandson Levi who get bigger every time I see him. Good news, Ant and Liz are expecting child number two.

Secondly our 6 year wait for registration is finally over. While I was in Wales I received a phone call off Lyn and Chris saying it had arrived in the post. This has come as a pleasant shock as we had almost given up. What it does mean though is that we must take on some more staff to come up to standards. First of all we need our own social worker. Praise God we were able to take one on board immediately on a part time basis. Her name is Yvonne Brandt, a lovely believer who was social worker for a local hospital until she retired in June. So Gods timing is perfect. Secondly we need to take on a Nursing sister with a license to dispense medicines. Up to now all we have is one interested party who could only give limited time so we are still praying for this. Thirdly we could also do with a cook and a teacher as we are to register as an independent school.

The above staff recruitment will take finances to pay a salary so this is a very important point for prayer and need for support.

Since receiving our registration we have been approached to take on ten more children. We will have firm news on this in our next newsletter. But it just shows us that Gods timing is not our timing and we thank God for his provision and goodness that enable us to place these kids in a loving home.

The children are doing quite well with just a few increased viral loads to report. The DR has found that Luke has a heart murmur which will mean a consultants visit if it doesn’t improve by his next visit.
We would also like to welcome our new house mum Julia to our team. Julia is a local Zulu lady from Kwazinzele and has been a real blessing to the ministry. If the new children come soon we are looking to employ two more mums.
Congratulations to our Brother Zak who has announced his wedding for November the 2nd. I will be taking the service and I am sure it will be a great event.

Tanzania

Work is in progress on the children’s village with one major change. We (that is Norbert and I) have decided to move its location nearer to Arusha. First of all for easier access to clinics and amenities. Easier transport of building material and finally the government have given us extra land to grow crops. Work will be under way to strip the equipment from the former site and transport it to the new location. Another reason is the security of the children. Since Jacob and I visited 2 more girls were raped and one is pregnant. In the next village two albinos were beheaded and two children skinned for muti. This is obviously a security issue and takes precedence.
Thank you once again for your gifts that have enabled us to move forward. I will be up in Tanzania in late October and November with a possibility of December and report back to you all.

Bible College and Teaching Ministry

We have ready to order all Jacobs tour teachings as well as Calvin Smiths teachings from the last two weeks. Just email Chris [email protected] We also have our catalogue at your request. You can drop us a line at 0823739297. Remember the office will be only open part time 9-1pm from Sep17th to Oct 16th

Jacob’s Tour

I would like to thank everyone who worked with us to make this tour a success.

Dr. Calvin Smith

Calvin came to South Africa at the end of August for two weekends and has just gone back home before flying to tour Australia. Calvin was such a blessing and during this tour made visits to new venues and also made good contacts for next year. While here he wrote a report on the missions progress over the last 12 months and here is that report.

Dr Calvin Smith’s Report on his Trip to South Africa

I last visited the Ebyown mission in South Africa in September 2007. Dave Royle and his board invited me over again this year to speak, teach, and to evaluate the mission, which is detailed in this report.

Since my last visit Dave and Lynn have taken care of two new children, Siphiwe and Letty, both of whom have cerebral palsy and are wheelchair-bound. The old stable has been taken down and in its place a lapa (thatched structure) has been erected as an outdoor classroom for the children. Meanwhile, a four-bedroom wooden chalet has also been erected on the plot, kitted out for disabled children, which includes a ramp. Since my last visit, a large steel container (of the type found on cargo ships) has also been installed on the plot to provide a secure storehouse for equipment. A ramp has also been installed giving wheelchair access to the main house.

Concerning the church work, Aletheia meets in a tent in an area of the plot which has been fenced off. The church is predominantly attended by poor blacks who live on the Kwazinzele squatter camp, or informal settlement, which is just across the road from the Moriel plot. This is a desperate place, where people live in abject poverty. It is also the location of various shabeens (illegal drinking houses), where loud music, drinking and drugs are the order of the day. It is predominantly to these people which the church, housed in a large tent on the plot, ministers. The church work is overseen by Dave, who is training a Swazi called Zak to take it over eventually. He is an enthusiastic young man eager to serve the Lord and will completely take over the church ministry when Dave feels he is ready. Also working at the Kwazinzele shanty town are Salvador and Di, a married couple who work closely with Dave and Moriel. Salvador is fluent in Zulu, while Di is taking lessons. Their work on the settlement includes evangelism, Bible studies and helping the poor and sick. They especially have an intense heart for the people of KwaZulu Natal, where Salvador was based for several years, and they carry out mission and church planting there regularly. Their calling is to move there as soon as God permits.

After six years, Ebyown has secured its registration certificate with the government (despite constant bureaucratic opposition). The ministry currently has eleven children in their care, with several more on the way soon. Ebyown can accommodate up to twenty children with the accommodation currently available on the Moriel plot. The growth of this aspect of the ministry has meant the need to employ their own social worker.

I am always struck by the sheer hard work and commitment of this family to provide a loving home for the marginalized in society who desperately need help. Consider, for example, Letty, who is a recent Addition to Ebyown. She is fourteen (though in her frailty looks far, far younger), very thin and suffering from cerebral palsy. Yet it is clear her life has been transformed. She is cared for lovingly by one of the house mums, and she laughs constantly. The other children, too, have come on in leaps and bounds, for example, little Paulina is full of confidence (and demonstrates a strong dose of cheek!), while Prudence and Ntombi are growing up fast and are confident, responsible, and so helpful around the house. I was in South Africa when Prudence first came to Ebyown, and I recall so well this ‚   orphaned girl who could barely speak, introvert, and deeply sad. She was indeed a lost little soul. But now, after nearly four years at Ebyown, she is so grown-up, confident, helping around the house, happy, and even learning to cook (she makes delicious chocolate cake!). By giving her a home, Ebyown and the Royles have transformed her life. And she is just one of eleven children they currently care for. This is a home where the children are loved, taught the Bible, and really enjoy life. There are numerous scriptural references to God’s care for and love of the orphan, and this is indeed a worthwhile ministry. It is hard work bringing up children with ailments such as HIV and cerebral palsy, but Dave and Lynn, together with their family and those working on the plot, have made a tremendous difference, and for these reasons I would urge readers to support this ministry.

The needs are specific and urgent. First, the increase in the number of children given a Christian home means Moriel Missions requires a nursing sister and also a schoolteacher. Both posts could be filled by overseas missionaries willing to commit themselves for at least a year. Meanwhile, the few places available at Ebyown for children with desperate need for care will soon be taken up. With seven places available Dave and Lynn have already been asked to take on another ten children. Therefore, Ebyown is looking to build two more four-bedroom chalets equipped for disabled children at a cost of 150,000 Rand each (around ‚ £11,000). Considering the low cost compared with erecting such facilities in developed countries, here is a way in which a gift can have a tremendous, lasting impact and transform these children’s lives.

The ministry also desperately needs to resolve a transport issue for the sake of the children. Ebyown have been using a VW Transporter minibus for the past six years, which has served the ministry well, running up 300,000 kilometers. But now the vehicle needs replacing, ideally with a minibus that has wheelchair access. Currently, the family have to take the children to their various medical appointments in Dave’s small Ford Fiesta which, with wheelchairs, can sometimes mean several trips and is hardly satisfactory. A purpose-made vehicle with wheelchair access will cost around ‚ £20,000. On another note, Salvador and Di are selling their old car to buy a pick-up for all their mission and church-planting work in the rural and mountainous areas of KwaZulu Natal. But even after selling their car they will have a shortfall of around ‚ £2,000 to buy a second-hand pickup. Other needs include ongoing donations to cover salaries for the mission’s social worker, handymen, cleaner/laundry. The ministry also needs a cook for the many people who work there. Dave and his family do not take a salary from such donations, raising their day-to-day living costs from speaking opportunities in the UK and elsewhere.

The Ebyown ministry is a rural-based, hard-working ministry in a country where there is great need. It means leaving to one side such things as comfort and security which the rest of us take for granted. Yet by doing so, this ministry has provided a Christian, loving home to children whose lives have been transformed. I have seen the changes in these children’s lives with my own eyes over the past few years. Without Ebyown their situation would have been very different. Some would have undoubtedly died before now. For this reason, I have no problem asking readers to consider prayerfully what God would have them do to support the work of Moriel and Ebyown in South Africa. Thank you.

Dave’s UK Itinerary September/October

Lyn and I are going to visit the UK for a month from the 17th September. This will be a combination of preaching and annual leave. We will be leaving the mission in the capable hands of our team. Below is our itinerary.

September Sunday 21st 10.30am
Grantham Misgavladach
Gonnerby Hill Foot Grantham
CONTACT Mr or Mrs Fall 01476 561763
Thursday 25th 7.45pm
Pendlebury Evangelical
431 Bolton Road, ‚   Pendlebury, ‚   M27 8TD
CONTACT Peter Wilson [email protected]

Sunday 28th 10.30am
Hopefield Evangelical Church
Hopefield Avenue, Fresheville
Sheffield S12 4XB
CONTACT Malcolm Allan 0114 2584088

OCTOBER
Friday 3rd 7.30pm
Light and Life Mission
Swan Street, Iver Village
Bucks
CONTACT Jackie Boyd 07973442649

Sunday 5th 10.30am
Crawley New Life Church,
The Glade, Furnace Green,
Crawley, West Sussex RH10 6JL.
CONTACT Jim Cottington ‚   01293 531317/07941 513939.

Sunday 5th 4.00pm Mens Meeting
Light & Life Mission, Hills Rise,
Lanes End, Darent, nr Dartford
CONTACT Bob Friends 07970320417

Wednesday 8th 8.00pm
Ainsdale Evangelical Church
Woodvale & Ainsdale Community Centre,
Meadow Lane, Ainsdale, Southport.
CONTACT Steve or Linda Fazakerley 01704 876427

Sunday 12th 6.30pm
New Life Pentecostal Church,
436 High Street, Winsford, Cheshire
CONTACT ‚   Malcolm Betts 01606 592176

Prayer

• Praise God for His sufficiency
• Praise Him for our health ” “ God is good
• Pray for us while we are in the UK and for Chris as he looks after the work with the staff and Sal and Di
• Pray for Zaks wedding
• Pray for a disability minibus
• Sal and Di need a utility vehicle for missions
• Pray for the ongoing and increasing costs

Contacts UK

Mr & Mrs B Royle
2 Cressington Close
Off Cedric Street
Salford M55JS
Tel: 0161 737 2996
Email: [email protected]

Moriel SA

PO Box 10807
Strubenvale
1570
Emails
Dave Royle [email protected]
Chris Royle [email protected]
Lyn and Ebyown [email protected]
Web Site: www.moriel.org & www.ebyown.org.za
Fax 086 640 2879
Cell: 082 3739297

Psalm 68:5-6