Moriel Missions South Africa May 2008

Dear Friends

Greetings in Jesus name.

The last month or so have been quite busy and there’s lots of news to catch up on. But first of all thank you for your ongoing support. We cannot reach out with the Gospel without your prayer and financial support and we do not take them for granted.

This last month also saw Dave preaching in the UK. Thank you for all who supported his meetings, Dave is also visiting the UK from June 25th to July 15th if you want to meet with him. His UK contact is 0161 737 2996 or Cell phone 07771544456.

Our health has not been too bad. Dave though has been diagnosed with Arthritis on his C spine and Lumber spine areas and is undergoing hydrocortisone treatment. Lyn is having a course of Antibiotics at the moment so please pray for them as the winter months arrive.

Chris will be taking leave from July 16th to visit friends and family in the UK for three weeks. Again please pray for Chris as he takes a well deserved rest.

One of the best gifts we have received was the gift of a generator that we reported last year. With the South African power crisis now in full swing this has been a life saver keeping our medicines cool and ensuring the whole plot works well. Power is down every other day and on top of this there are the regular breakdowns and electric storms that interrupt the service.

We had visitors the last two weeks. My son Anthony and his wife Liz, our grandchild Levi and Liz’s Gran Barbara. Anthony preached the two Sundays he was here and it was a joy to see how his teaching skills are being developed under the guidance of Ps Leonard James from Woodhill Baptist Church Colwyn Bay. (If you are holidaying in North Wales give them a Sunday Visit)

Our youngest son Aaron and his fianc ƒ ©e Erin celebrated the British round of engagement celebrations. It was good to receive photos of the event and everyone looked glowing from both sides of the family. It was a great shame that we could not have been there.

Thank you once again for your prayers and help
In Jesus
Dave, Lyn, and the mission’s team

Jacob’s SA Tour 2008

It is our privlidge to have our International director and friend Jacob here in South Africa from the 5th of June leaving on the 23rd. At present the following has been arranged and we are just waiting for final venue addresses and times to be confirmed. As soon as this happens we will send out a special newsletter with all the details in the very near future. Jacob’s time will be spent on several important things. First of all teaching at various venues to help build up the body of Christ and secondly looking at Moriels growing mission field. Here is his itinerary so far.

Saturday 7th June Elijah ministries
2pm & 330pm & 5pm
Sandwiches and Tea will be available
Venue: Elijah Ministries corner of Scott and Stirling Street, Waverly, Johannesburg
Contact number for Ps PJ Contat and Doreen is 011 783 5082 Cell 0824532662

Sunday 8th June Elijah ministries
9.00am & 1100am
Brai on the day
Venue: Scout hall, cnr Scott & Stirling street, Waverly, Johannesburg
PJ or Doreen Contact 011 783 5082 ‚   Cell 0824532662
Contact Ps PJ and Doreen Contat

Monday 9th of June till Thursday 12th June Tanzania mission

Friday 13th till Sunday 15th Port Elizabeth Contact

Monday 16th till Thursday 19th ‚  Natal

Mon 16th June ‚  – Stanger
Contact: Mark Van Niekerk 082 920 4407

Tues 17th June – Durban
Contact: Scott Wheeler 083 275 3671

Weds 18Th June – Howick;
Contact: Scott Wheeler 083 275 3671

Thurs 19th June – Pietermaritzburg
Contact: Scott Wheeler 083 275 3671

Friday 20th till Sunday 22nd Cape Town
Evangelies-Gereformeede Kerk ” “ TYGERBERG
Corner of Hendrik Verwoed Drive and Deodar Str.
Loevenstein
Parow
Sat 21.06 ‚   at 1900pm
Sun 22.06 ‚   at 1000am + 1900pm
Contact
Erwin & Marion Hortnagl:
Home: ‚   021 979 5698
Cell: 083 459 9356
Denis Clarke:
Home: ‚   021 7888 601
Cell: ‚   082 5574479

Teaching

Chapter Four
Falsely Accused

1 Thessalonians ch 2 v1-6; For yourselves, brethren, know our entering in unto you, that it hath not been found vain: 2 but having suffered before and been shamefully treated, as ye know, at Philippi, we waxed bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God in much conflict. 3 For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts. 5 For neither at any time were we found using words of flattery, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness; 6 nor seeking glory of men, neither from you nor from others, when we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ.

I don’t know if you notice as you read this chapter that the style of Paul’s writing seems to be on the defensive. He seems to be almost preparing the Thessalonians for a defense of his character. And it’s here in chapter two that we begin to see in full that Paul is indeed writing in answer to accusations given against him, false accusations, which he feels bound to answer in full.

Chapter two is unique for another reason. As Paul defends his ministry we also see a description of the work of a Christian minister almost unparalleled in New Testament scripture. And this is important to all of us because unlike the Hebrew tradition of the Old Testament and the tradition of many churches today, we see in 1 Peter 2v9, the declaration “You are a chosen race, a Royal Priesthood. A Holy nation, a people of God’s own possession.”

We are indeed a priesthood of believers, possessed for God’s own purposes and in so much, when Paul describes the ministry in the church, he is not just talking of people with a Pastoral gifting or men in funny collars but to all of us believers. So chapter two, I will divide into several segments to aid our understanding. But first of all I want to look at the false accusations Paul had to endure. What did they say about Paul to cause him to respond with this letter to the Thessalonican church? We have to admit here that we do not have the exact words of the accusers available to us but what we can do is look at the answers Paul gave and it’s easy to conclude what was said. It’s similar to finding a letter of mine, which may have said

“I take great exception at your remarks and would only preach a gospel of Grace”.

You would conclude by my remarks that someone had accused me of preaching a gospel of another kind, probably works, but nevertheless an ungracious gospel. When we apply this simple technique to Paul in chapter two, we basically find several areas directed at him. I want to concentrate on five, which we find in v3-6.

For our exhortation is not of error, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: 4 but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts. 5 For neither at any time were we found using words of flattery, as ye know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness; 6 nor seeking glory of men, neither from you nor from others, when we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ.

So Paul was accused of

1. Error,
2. Impurity,
3. Deceit,
4. Flattering speech,
5. Greed.

Serious allegations, but even more serious when you examine the words one by one in the original language and cultural context. And when you do, you become aware of why Paul had to respond by letter.

The first accusation was that Paul was in error. Now in the time of writing these words, doctrine and morality were linked together and couldn’t be separated. So the accusation of error could also be labeled against Paul’s moral standard. The word here in the Greek is ‘Plane’. It means a wondering or forsaking from the right path. It’s where we get the word planet from. As I said- doctrinally and morally. Strong has this entry:

plan’-ay; feminine of (4108) ‚   object fraudulence; subject a straying from orthodoxy or piety: ” ” deceit, to deceive, delusion, error.

Wandering from the path. It’s a concept that the body of Christ fully understands and indeed today we have many examples of leaders and organizations who have wandered off Gods straight road.

Billy Graham who once declared that the biggest enemies of the church are Islam, Rome and secular Humanism we find meeting the pope and speaking at Jesuit colleges. Barnadoes and World Vision abandoning their gospel foundation. I even believe that such heretics as Ray McCauley, Jimmy Swaggart and company once started on a straight road but wandered off into deceit many years ago.

These are just a few examples of what happens when we wander off track.

Secondly, we see that the accusations get worse when the accuse Paul of impurity. The Greek is ‘Akatharsia’ and it can mean filth in a physical sense, lewdness. It was a word with deep sensual undertones. Strong has the following entry

ak-ath-ar-see’-ah; from (169) impurity (the quality), physical or moral: ” ” uncleanness.

So we can see by the first two alone that these accusers were trying to do a public demolition job on the great Apostle. Not only on Paul’s doctrine but also on his moral character. They were accusing him of being sexually perverted in some way and we all know how accusations like that can stick, whether they’re true or false. That’s why it’s so important that in the process of Christian ministry, we hear the advice of Paul to young Timothy, that “An overseer then must be above reproach”- 1 Timothy 2v22. He goes on to advice Timothy to “flee from youthful lusts and preserve righteousness”- 2 Timothy 2v22.

We should never put ourselves into a situation, no matter how innocent we may believe it, where those with evil hearts and tongues can discredit us and the Lord. That means, whenever possible, men council men, and women council women. If you have to council someone of the opposite sex you must be in full view of others or at least your partner is present. It means that the laying on of hands is in full public view and not on intimate areas.

It all seems common sense and I’m sure common sense often prevails. But you would be surprised how many disregard sensible practices and we see the fruit of this by the number of leaders who have fallen in a sexual manner.

Thirdly, they said he was deceitful. The Greek is ‘Dolas’. It means to lay bait in a trap. So not only is Paul’s doctrine dodgy, not only was he a bit of a pervert, but “watch out for Paul, he’ll trap you with his words”. Strong comments in the following way:

dol’-os; from an obsolete primary (probably meaning to decoy; compare (1185) a trick (bait), i.e. (figurative) wile: ” ” craft, deceit, guile, subtilty.

They were attempting to create distrust in the mind of believers. They were telling them “if Paul says black he really means white”, “be careful his words have double meanings”, “He’s a con artist, he’s deceitful”.

Fourthly, Paul is again accused concerning an area regarding his words. He’s accused of ‘flattery’ or ‘kolakia’ in the Greek. Words which are motivated by self interest in the literal meaning. Again Strong has the following entry:

kol-ak-i’-ah; from a derivative (a fawner); flattery: ” ” x flattering.

In other words “he’s looking out for himself”. Paul will butter you up, say the right things to get a foothold, he will cause you to believe your own press, just help himself. It’s a powerful area of seduction that can use our own pride against us; after all everyone likes those who butter us up and say nice things but beware if it happens to often.

This leads into the fifth accusation that comes with the pretext of Greed. The Greek word is ‘Pleonexia’. It means to covet. The basic desire to have more than ones self. It’s a very serious word as ‘covetousness’ was seen as the root to all sin and was related to the crime of extortion. Strong writes:

pleh-on-ex-ee’-ah; from (4123) avarice, i.e. (by implication) fraudulency, extortion: ” ” covetous (-ness) practices, greediness.

What accusations- error, impurity, deceit, flattery, greed, all laid at the feet of a man of God. But Jesus predicted it. John 15v20.

Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you;

And what was it they said about Jesus and even John the Baptist? Matthew 11v 18-19.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon. 19 The
Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

But it’s always happened. Look at the lives of John and Charles Wesley. It was the religious people of the day, who accused, slandered, condemned, forced them out of the Church of England. Why? Because they preached the full council of God without compromise. George Whitfield preached to tens of thousands in the open air so the poor could hear, both in the UK and in the USA. What did they do? They took him to the Church of England court. They accused him of all kinds of things. Charles Spurgeon had vendetta’s against him; accused of blasphemy; accused of error and greed; accused by the religious people of his day because he dared rock the comfortable boat of Christianity.

But amid all this, we need to remember how Paul responded to the accusations. First of all we see in v1 “for you yourselves know brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain”. Jesus also says in Matt 11v19 “yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds”. The Thessalonians were the living “deeds” of Paul. What better way of addressing false accusations than appealing to those who knew Paul personally, those who had firsthand knowledge as to whether Paul was in error, sensual, deceitful, flattering, and greedy.

He was saying “You may hear these things about me; people may come to you saying such and such, but you know me, you know and experienced my ministry among you.” What better appeal can you have than with the people who really know? Their knowledge will stand in complete contradiction to the accusations when all the evidence is examined. They knew Paul, they saw his example, it was such an example that they followed it as much as he followed Christ’s example. They saw his sacrifice. He wasn’t a burden to them. He asked for nothing even though he was entitled as an Apostle to eke out a living.

Secondly, Paul did not let the false accusations dissuade him, discourage him or disarm his ministry- why? Look at verse four.

“but even as we have been approved of God to be intrusted with the gospel, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God who proveth our hearts”.

You see, they were God pleasers not men pleasers. The Greek for pleasing is ‘Aresko’. A word in the continuous tense. It means to intentionally, deliberately, consciously, behave correctly towards the one you are in relationship with. Strong writes:

ar-es’-ko; probably from (142) (through the idea of exciting emotion); to be agreeable (or by implication to seek to be so): ” ” please.

Didn’t mean Paul couldn’t give a hoot about what was said. It meant that despite the hurt, despite the accusations, he would continue pleasing his God and his Lord Jesus Christ in the face of all that the religious people of his day could throw at him..

Let’s remember those words of Jesus ‘If they persecute me, they will persecute you”. Today, we live in a world that will judge you and I by the unholy standards of people claiming to be in Christ. They money scandals, the sex scandals and other scandals taint us all with the shame of the few. You will have family and friends who have become so cynical concerning the present state of the body of Christ that they will judge you by the standards of a few small men. Or maybe it’s more personal than that for you? Maybe as you read these words; brought to mind is the unjust sting of a lashing tongue and a reputation unjustly torn to pieces. And indeed you yourself have become one of the cynical multitude that languishes in pain on the fringes of the body of Christ, determined never again to trust or love another human being again. Then look to the great Apostle in fact look to Christ, a man of sorrows, unjustly accused and yet free from bitterness.

Tanazania Mission Report

Our trip to Tanzania was long overdue. Allen Wells and I had looked forward to this for months and it was with great anticipation that we boarded the plane to Dar Re Salaam and then onto Kilimanjaro. I had first met Ps Norbert two years earlier while on Mission in Kenya and he had willingly agreed to take on the role as our mission’s representative in this vibrant yet poor country. I went there to see the progress of Moriel Missions Tanzania, now an official government Non Profit organization, and I was really impressed with the progress under Norbert’s leadership.

Our first day was a trip to the Moriel HQ. 20 acres of land given freely by the Tanzania government is being developed into a mission station that now has a school for vocational and biblical training. The journey there was not easy and everyone winced as the underside of the vehicle was scraped by the terrain and the exhaust almost ripped off. The 30 kms took nearly two hours to travel in the blistering heat with seemingly no air. ‚   One of my duties was to give certificates to the hard working students most of who are orphans. Here they learn agriculture, computer skills, tailoring, English was made at the church run by Ps Nelson, a lovely man of God.

Not only is the land being developed for growing but a mill has been purchased that strips the maize kernel from the husk and then over to the milling machine for flour production. The Moriel land is next door to a village and the ladies have formed a cooperation that helps one another with the milling as well as funding a mini credit union for the poorest amongst them.

As well as crops, it is hoped that they can raise cattle, goats and chickens to feed the growing number of orphans and widows. A cattle shed has already been erected and we hope to be able to encourage donations of animals for the upkeep of this needy community. ‚   One of the nicer duties was to pray for the local pastors and leaders so that they could be set aside as ministers of the gospel with Moriel. Although we are not a credential giving mission (most of us are wit CMFI) it was with a sense of occasion that we were able to set these men aside. The final act of our time on site was to meet with the government and villagers who expressed their support for our work.

The next visit of the day was to a village down the road where Moriel supports a substantial orphans and widows project. The local community has given us 2 acres of land to develop and although we could not get to see the land due to the rains and road conditions, Norbert’s vision for the place is truly wonderful. Most of the people here were Masai and it was heartwarming to be received with song by both widows and children.
The next day we were to set off to Tabora were Moriel has churches plus a radio program that reaches over 2 million people on Radio Tabora. The ministry here is struggling to pay the $160 per month it takes to host the show and it is our hope that a sponsor may be found very soon so we can preach the gospel and broadcast some good bible teachings from the likes of Jacob. Unfortunately we could not arrange transport to this area (about 10 hours by car)

So the next day we were taken to another remote region to visit a Masai village. Our purpose was to undertake house to house evangelism and to set aside the villages Pastor of our Moriel church. The road to the village was even worse. At one time we had to get out and push the vehicle that had got stuck in mud. The local farmer was not happy as we had to push onto his land and his Panga looked very menacing. Most of us got covered in mud but eventually we were free to go on with our journey. The village was made up of simple mud and straw huts. This village had no power, no running water. The people collected orange rainwater that had collected in wheel ruts on the dirt road. They used this water for washing, cooking and drinking. Theirs is a desperate situation. Infant mortality is high, HIV infection growing and the children looked to be malnourished and sickly with opportunistic diseases evident. But despite the lack of water and desperation we were welcomed from house to house to share the gospel and not only was there a lot of interest among the majority of pagans but we had the honor of leading one Masai lady to Christ. The afternoon ended with a meeting at the church tent. The pastor has built a wonderful construction paid with donations of wood and material from Moriel. The praise and worship was awesome and it was great to lay hands on the new pastor. The ladies of the church came and gave us food at the end of rice and beef. However, even though it tasted great we couldn’t bear to eat it with so many hungry children looking on and so we asked could the food be taken and shared amongst the children.

Our next trip was to the church of Ps George. Ps George, his wife and 5 children were in a desperate situation. There small congregation are so poor they cannot support even the building. Ps Georges house costs $20pm and the Church also $20pm. In fact they were on the verge of being kicked out penniless onto the streets. At this church we preached the gospel and also were introduced to government leaders. Ps George and his family are good people. We enjoyed their fellowship and hospitality and despite the desperation, they never complained once but were in fact so passionate about the Lord that you sensed they would have it no other way.

So what did we learn and what are our recommendations for your prayer?

We are amazed at what has been done in such a short time by Norbert and his team. They are to be commended for their vision and energy.

While at the Moriel HQ we met a retired nurse whose vision it is to set up a mobile medical clinic. This is desperately needed and could save the lives of many children. The following link is to a USA company that could supply the ideal vehicle ‚   for the kind of terrain at a cost estimated at $7000 with transport to Kenya and fitting of back box

• Clean water is an issue. The people are desperate.
• Energy is an issue. We could easily set up a solar station that could serve the village.
• Pastors if they are to travel and preach the gospel and look after their families need some source of income. Even if it’s only a monthly gift to pay the house and church rent. This could be done by creating a ministers account administered by the Moriel Tanzanian board to help out when needed.
• Equipment such as sewing machines, electrical generators and of course animals are needed.

We also had the privilege to meet our Kenya administrator PS Moses who came with John his board member and also our new admin for Rwanda, Burundi and DRC Ps Deo. PS Moses relayed the awful events in Kenya and how Moriel is helping feed and meet the needs of some of the 600,000 people displaced through ethnic violence. Please pray for the brethren there who are being stretched to the limit. PS Deo comes from a country that after the awful ethnic cleansing is having a new start. He related how the Lord is working and the planting of churches is going ahead. We hope to visit Rwanda in the future.

All this takes money and of course the expertise to implement these things. But I am sure that this is doable and that through these measures we could see the sustainable growth of this ministry that blessed our hearts during this brief visit. I will be going with Jacob in June and I pray that in the meantime the Lord will burden hearts to enable us to help Moriel Tanzania to reach the Pagan people of the Masai with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to save the lives of countless children.

In Jesus
Dave Royle
Director Moriel Missions

Kenya Update

Thanks to our Missions supporters we have now purchased land for Moriel Missions Kenya. This has come at the perfect time as the rains for planting have just arrived and so Ps Moses and his team have begun to plant quick growing crops to help feed the growing number of orphans and widows

Ebyown

The new Unit is now built and ready to have the final touches completed. This is a four bed unit for disabled children and will house three children and house parents. It has been designed with the extra room needed for wheelchairs and also ramps at the front of the house and at the rear emergency exit. We have Geza.com coming to fit bathroom and kitchen units and our electrician Rudy will wire the place ready for use. Then it’s just a matter of fitting wardrobes, painting and then people can move in. Thank you to all concerned who have made this possible.

The children are all doing fine. We now have Deven and our new girl Siphiwe on a new regime under the supervision of Heidleburg hospital. Once a month they go for a visit to the dietician, Speech therapist and physiotherapist.

We also welcome to our team our new House Mum Mary from Lesotho. She will be working the opposite shift to Victoria after some training. We are hoping that the unit will be ready to move into at the beginning of June with some help from our American visitors from Pittsburg.

Aletheia

Since the move from Strubenvale in Springs to Ebyown which is on the edge of the informal settlement Kwazinzele, the fellowship has started to show steady growth after initially losing some families. Dave and Salvador are busy training Zack to become Pastor and services are now fully bilingual. Aletheia is a very interesting place to be for Sunday morning worship. At present we only have one Sunday meeting at 1030am and Zack and Sal with his wife Di take Bible studies on Kwazinzele during the week.

One of the needs identified is for Zulu Bibles. We have had a kind donation from supporters in Australia and we hope to add to this in the near future.

Prayer Items

• For strength and health as we work with the children
• For the completion of the new house and the successful moving of Deven, Siphiwe, Victoria and Mary
• For Jacobs tour to South Africa
• For David’s tour to the UK
• For the meeting of all our daily needs
• For Zak as he trains as an elder
• For Di and Sal as they work with Zak on Kwazinzele and for their mission trip to Kwazulu Wednesday the 30th

How can you help?

• Prayer is important, but also the helping hands and the finances that enable us to do what we do. So please consider the following.
• Receive a regular News update either by email or hard copy. Just send your address to us and we will pop one in the post for you or email it to you. (although email to save mail size will be without pictures)
• Secondly you can apply to be a long term missionary. ‚   If the Lord burdens you and you want to investigate more please contact us. Unfortunately we are not taking any short term missionaries at present due to space but those willing to take a year or two out for the Lord are welcome to apply
• Finally you can give a one off gift or a regular monthly amount to cover the costs of mission. This is simple to do. Just contact the following people or you can contact any Moriel office and they will assist you.

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