Moriel Missions Southern Africa December 2006
Dear Friends
Greetings in Jesus name. It certainly has been a very busy ‚ few months and we are looking forward to a couple of weeks break at the end of the year. This is South Africa’s summer and so we are experiencing hot days and some spectacular thunder storms.
Visitors: At the moment we have 5 Australian’s 4 from the Romanian Baptist Church in Melbourne and one from the Romanian Pentecostal Church in Brisbane. They are out here for a month experience an African holiday and what its like on African mission. During their stay they are performing a variety of duties including work with the children, evangelism with Salvador and building work at the Ebyown property. We pray that God will continue to use them and that this will be a positive experience for them. Next year sees the return of my son aaron after a six month stay in the UK. He will be joined by Erin Fazakerly and then by Becca and Suzie from our friends at Starbeck mission. Becca and Suzie will be with us for six months and Erin for 2 years. Then in late January Dianne from New Zealand joins us for one year to work with Lyn and hopefully help set up the Bethesda project. For anyone else wishing to spend a minimum of three months on mission, please contact us at the details above.
Building work: The next 4 bed unit has been built with ongoing work on putting in electrics and plumbing. We hope for a completion at the end of January with inspection by health and social services shortly after enabling us to have 6 more children. We hope that God’s timing will be perfect and that He will also supply house parents as well. Anyone interested? Give us an email.
Children: The last two month’s has had its share of illnesses. In fact Deven is at the moment suffering with chicken pox and Johannes has another dose of Shingles that have left his very sore. Prudence has also been unwell and we think that both her and Jo will be candidates for anti-retrovirals very soon. Luke has now progressed from just toddling to running and getting into all kinds of mischief. Baden is also mobile scooting around in his baby walker, in fact he is a menace to all our toes first thing in the morning. Paulina is growing up fast and is well on her way to independence. She can now go to the loo by herself and is walking beautifully on her walker. We hope that she will be able to start learning household chores soon so that when she reaches her teens in a few years she will not have to depend on too many people. N’tombi and S’phiwe continue to do well on their ARV’s and are in good health at the moment. I think all the kids are looking forward to the school end of year break.
As I mentioned before, Aaron will be back on the mission field soon, Christopher continues to grow in stature as my admin guy. Its incredible to se him first up at 5am and usually last to bed. He’s become a young man I can depend on when I have to travel. My eldest son Anthony and his wife Liz are also returning to the mission field. They feel a call from God to go to Rome and have just returned from a short term mission there. (report with my India report at the end of the newsletter)
Lyn is doing well and like the kids looking forward to a rest from schooling. Next year though is in the planning and she can already be seen putting together the 2007 curriculum.
Aletheia Community Church : Praise God that we continue to grow. Numerically we have grown by several people. This month the men went away for a fellowship weekend to the Vaal River fishing. It was a great time for building relationships. We meet on Sundays at 10:30am and 7:00pm and Mondays at 7:15pm. Salvador also takes some people out evangelizing twice a week if anyone wishes to join them?
Bezaleel: Allen and Sue have a new member of the household. His name is Themba Vincent N’kosi. He’s four years old but is very tiny due to his illness. He’s a quiet little boy but is settling in well. The new cottage has its first residents on december 23rd. A young mum with twins will be joining the Bezaleel family.
India Trip
I think every one of us will remember where we were the Tsunami struck Asia on Boxing Day 2003. I remember watching the story unfold on SKY News and the incredible death toll rising every hour for the next few days. This led to an overwhelming burden as to what we could do for the poor souls who had survived? Especially the Christian brothers and sisters who in many of the lands affected would find themselves back of the aid queue because of their faith. It was my friend Martin Lloyd who pointed out to me that a ministry in Southern India who’s people had suffered greatly in the Tsunami was in need of assistance and with that Moriel supporters across the world dug deep to lend assistance.
Nearly three years had passed since I was introduced to Ps Chanti, his wife Lilly and Good News Ministry and I thought it was time we sealed our friendship with a visit and investigate the work they have been doing and so November the 9 th Salvador and I arrived at Chennai, once called Madras airport for 8 days that would open our eyes to the realities of India Mission.
First of all it has to be understood that out of an estimated One Billion people only 3% are termed ” ˜Christian’. Out of these even less are born again. That places the true believer in the vast minority, the majority being Hindu. So the reality, is that if you want to know what its like to be a marginalized people? Just ask Chanti and Lilly and their children, they have first hand experience.
Secondly, with the worship of over 300 million gods, the demonic is in your face with caricatures of their deities ornately painted onto walls, made into statues and decorating their many, many Temples. Even from an African perspective were N’songomas are consulted and ancestors worshipped, this was a bit of a shock to the system as their religion seems to dictate every area of life including art and education.
Nether the less once we had boarded the small propeller aircraft and were making our way across the paddy fields towards the coastal city of Vijayawada, these things seemed a million miles away. In fact from the air everything looked lush and green, the evidence of recent rain and localized flooding evident below us, reminding us of the volatile nature this country can throw at its inhabitants. Salvador mentioned that from our perspective in the clouds it looked as though we were going to land in paradise. Vijayawada has only a modest airport, little more than a landing strip and a small departure and arrival lounge. Everything is low tech and man handled and was really quaint. I think the first impression was the friendliness of the people. Nothing was too much trouble, service was prompt, and it was nice to fly once again with this in mind instead of being treated like mindless cattle as we have become accustomed too in the west due to the worldwide terror crisis.
The short trip from the airport to Chanti and Lilly’s home was also an eye opener, our first look at Indian life and first experience of Indian driving. Indian driving is a cross between dodgem racing and motorcross, with Cattle, Donkeys and people thrown in as obstacles. From a UK perspective to see a truck heading you way on the wrong side of the road just because he couldn’t get by on his side is a bit worrying. Little yellow automated rickshaws with horns that sounded like demented Rubber Ducks also weaving in and out of the traffic made a very interesting time. Anyone knowing me will not be surprised that every road trip found me white knuckled on the back seat.
On arrival we found their home to be large, bright and immaculately clean. The ministry has invested in a large property which they have converted into a guest house. Each room is fitted with its own bathroom and air conditioning. Any guest coming to serve at the mission is made very welcome and comfortable. Lilly is also an excellent cook. I don’t exaggerate when I say if she went to the UK and opened an Indian restaurant she would make a fortune. Every meal was a real treat. This basically ended our first day in India, after 20 hours of travel it was time for some shut eye.
The next day was to see us visit both the boys and girls orphanages out in the village of Nunna. Little did we know what was in store for us as we stopped the car outside the village at the girl’s orphanage? Waiting for us, as neat as new pins in their school uniforms was the orphanage welcome committee, banners and all. After being greeted by the staff and children we were given flowers to wear and then began the procession through the streets of the village led by an Indian band. This was not just a welcome committee but also an advertisement to the community that the village had guests and that everyone was invited to the gospel meeting. The procession took us to Zion City, the HQ of Good News ministries and home for the orphans. The place was very impressive, in fact usually when visiting third world orphanages I am left a little depressed by the poor institutional conditions I see. But on this occasion the children looked clean, well fed and obviously very happy.
Situated on 5 acres, Zion City is a work in progress; we could empathize with them concerning their struggle with government on developing the various projects. Building permission has up to date been refused on the grounds that the property is situated on a nature reserve. However this has not stopped them giving permission for a mill and a community of shacks. It seems as usual that when the gospel is being faithfully preached opposition comes against the weakest members in society.
The other reason we were visiting India was to take a leaders conference with the hope of bringing some encouragement. As I said earlier this is a nation where the Christian is in the minority and these faithful people have far more to teach me about shepherding the flock of Christ than I could ever teach them. However the people were very gracious as we looked at the areas of Gods vision and the tender mercies of Christ. The final evening saw a gospel outreach to the community and this was very well attended. Salvador stepped up to preach the gospel and the Lord was again merciful with over 50 people responding to the preaching of the gospel.
Our final day saw us visit the Nightingale home for widows. This was another humbling experience as most of the ladies were rescued from the most desperate of circumstances. The home was again neat and clean and really felt homely. Chanti and Lilly have set up the home to cater for widows over 60 years of age. Everyone is a committed Christian and a prayer warrior. To listen to these ladies pray was awe inspiring and they are really committed to upholding Chanti and Lilly in prayer and also helping with the discipleship of younger women in the community.
So at the end of our brief visit what were our thoughts?
Well first of all, India is huge, One Billion souls in need of the gospel; next to China it has the largest population. It is obvious that with such a need there must come as much support as possible from the West in terms of helping the indigenous Indians share the gospel.
Secondly, Good News ministry is a ministry run well, with lots of vitality and zeal and worthy of support. I would recommend any ministry or individual desiring a unique insight and involvement in mission to contact Ps Chanti. Good News ministry has built a guest house that can cater for a dozen or so people and so if the Holy Spirit is guiding you, then just enquire with Ps Chanti.
Thirdly, we recognized a real need to train Indian leaders and encourage them in their studies. To this end we have already left training material with Chanti and are in the process of sending further material. A conference next November for up to 1000 leaders has already been penciled in.
Fourthly India has many physical needs that can act as a bridge for the gospel in rural villages. On project provides boreholes and thus safe drinking water. We have already committed ourselves at Moriel Missions to provide one for a local village. This will be opened and inaugurated with a gospel meeting on our next visit in November 2007. Again if you or your fellowship can help Chanti fulfill his vision of 100 wells and 100 churches in 100 villages this would glorify God.
Finally we would like to thank Chanti, Lilly and the leaders at Good News Ministries for the hospitality they exhibited and the warm welcome they gave. On this visit we learnt a lot and found new friends. Africa and India have different problems but the people have the same need; the Salvation only to be found in Jesus Christ.
Rome Mission
Dear friends,
It is a privilege to be writing this report and communicate to you the work of the Lord in Rome and in our lives. It is by God’s grace alone we can be called His and share the gospel, by which we are saved, with others. It is by grace we have had the opportunity to visit Rome and God has opened the doors.
During the time Liz and I were engaged we decided to take a year out of ministry to spend the time we would be very busy together and lay the foundations for our marriage according to Deuteronomy 24v5 When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken.
As many of you may know, the ministry is a war zone and the enemy attacks families and marriages as this is the root of our ministry. So from March we have been resting and using that time wisely. During this time we have also been praying about our future and asked God to give us direction in the ministry He wanted us to do. Through searching the Lord’s will according to His Word we began to see the Lord was calling us to the mission field. We looked into alot of options as we knew God will open doors and close doors and direct our path giving us wisdom and understand in the process instead of taking a shot in the dark, putting names in a hat and picking some random
place out. So we prayed and looked into various missions to see what doors God would open.
PRAYER REQUEST: Liz and I as we continue with our year out of ministry and for the future ministry the Lord gives us.
After e-mailing Pastor Brent Harrel who pastors Calvary Chapel in Rome he invited us to go and visit the church and view the ministries they have there and see if it was God’s will for us to help with the mission there. Our visit to Rome was only short because of the amount of time we could both get off work. We landed on Thursday 16th November and came back Tuesday 21st November. Unfortunately there was miscommunication between ourselves and Pastor Brent and our trip clashed with his trip to the US, so we did not get to meet him but we met with the other elders of Calvary Chapel Rome, Pastor Robert and Pastor Vincenzo, who were very hospitable and very helpful in giving us a realistic picture of life in Rome and the current state of the church there. Pastor Robert is a lovely man from the Congo who has lived in Italy for 16 years. Pastor Vincenzo is Roman born and bread and does a lot of translating for Calvary Chapel interpreting sermons by Chuck Smith into Italian.
PRAYER REQUEST: Pastors Brent, Robert and Vincenzo and their families.
Calvary Chapel Rome is a fairly small congregation that worship in a room that they rent for two hours a week in the center of downtown Rome. Unfortunately they have not been able to find a property of their own as renting and buying properties and buying land is expensive, especially for evangelicals as most land and property are owned by The Vatican. If Calvary Chapel Rome move location there is a choice of keeping it in downtown Rome where there are a lot of tourists and visitors can find easy or having the church in the suburbs 30 minutes outside the city center where most of the congregation live so there is a more sense of community. As you can see there are positive’s and negatives to both decisions but we pray God will give the church wisdom to make the decision. However, they may come a point where true Christians will have to worship and meet in their homes.
Pastor Robert is working with another Pentecostal church outside of Rome that are wanting to join Calvary Chapel. He is working with them on their statement of faith and putting right some doctrines they have. Calvary Chapel Rome are hoping to do this with a few other churches and be a church for the others to imitate in the same likeness the church in Thessalonica imitated the church in Judea (1 Thess 2v14). This is something we feel called to help with as we see that true believers are very few in Rome and it is good to find other born again Christians and edify the true body of Christ there. Because Rome is 90% Roman Catholic, CC Rome have a hard task reaching out to the lost and the confusion of Catholicism brings as a pseudo-Christian religion. CC Rome truly is a Misgav Ladacha Hebrew term meaning “shelter for the oppressed”. There are other ministries within the church you may look at on their web site www.calvarychapelrome.org/
PRAYER REQUEST: Calvary Chapel Rome and its ministries.
During our time in Rome we tried not to just observe the needs of the church but for the needs of every day person who lives in Rome. From my previous visits to Rome I had been surprised by the poverty in Italy and how many women with their children were begging on the streets and outside Cathedrals. If we gave 1 euro to every person who asked we would have been broke. There will always be poor people wherever you go in the world but unfortunately this has been caused mainly by the false church (The Vatican) and an opportunity for the true church to witness and care for these people. Most of the housing is own by The Vatican and are very expensive. This causes not only financial problems for people but moral problems too. As no one feels they can marry because they have no house so they live with parents until they can buy a house by this time have fallen into sexual immorality.
PRAYER REQUEST: Oppression of the Vatican and people leaving Roman Catholicism.
We also saw a Palestinian protest asking for the Italian government to boycott Israel. As I observed this it weighed heavy on my heart as where ever you look there is little voice for Israel. This is an issue definately for the church to deal with.
PRAYER REQUEST: Against Palestinian protests and that the Italian government will support Israel.
After visiting Rome and Calvary Chapel and after praying for guidance and wisdom we propose that for now we will be starting with short term missions as we are still looking for a place to live in Rome and still need to master Italian. Next year Liz and I are hoping to visit Rome twice. The first time we wish to visit when a team from Calvary Chapel Boise from America (their supporting church) will be having an outreach in Rome. We want to go and see how they do things and gain advice from them on how to run short term missions in Rome. On this occasion it will just be myself and Liz going, however, on our second trip we hopefully plan to take a team from the UK. We hope the second trip will be around October when Roger Oakland will be doing a Creation vs Evolution conference. We are hoping that ex-Catholics and/or Italian speakers will come along with us but we are open to any mature Christian will come along. On this occasion we are putting an age-range of 18+ because of the inexperience of ourselves but in future mission we will lower the age range for discipleship purposes as this is a good opportunity for people to be discipled in mission. So please pray about these missions and if you feel called to come along with us in October please feel free to contact me.
PRAYER REQUESTS: The two short term missions next year. Fellow labourers in Christ called to help with mission in Rome. That we learn Italian.
During these outreaches we hope to share the gospel with the local people as well as tourists (areas like the Colleseum and St Peters Square are always filled with tourists). We want to expose to Roman Catholics and their priests the false religion they are in and show that they are being deceived and present to them the true gospel. We hope to build up and encourage the true believers in Rome and bring a few good teachings to help stir there hearts. And, God willing, feed the poor and destitute with soup and the Word of God.
We obviously would like to make the mission to Rome a more permanent one and pray that God will open the door on this matter. Liz and I would love to stay there and help with the church planting and help lead worship and work with young people. When we believe God has opened the door for this to happen we will put a budget of the weekly bills that will be needed and I am sure you will be surprised.
PRAYER REQUEST: Finances towards missions in Rome and supporting churches and believers.
Most of all we value your prayers and encouraging support.
Shalom and God Bless
Anthony Royle
Contact details
Postal address: ‚ ‚ ‚ Flat 2, 21 Lloyd Street
Llandudno
Conwy
LL30 2UU
North Wales
United Kingdom
Telephone: ‚ 01492 874 523
E-mail: ‚ Anthony_royle1@hotmail .com or [email protected]
Prayer requests
- Please pray for His strength and supply
- For safety during this Christmas period when the squatter at Kwazinzele go wild
- For the health of the children and ourselves
- For His vision and power for 2007
Support:
For Royle family and ministry support
Brenda & Baden Royle
2 Cressington Close
Off Derby Road
Salford 6
Manchester UK
0161 737 2996
Email: [email protected]
Or contact our Africa address or any Moriel office world wide www.moriel.org
Finally:
Everyone of us wishes you a happy New year. Thank you for your prayer and material support. God has used you to supply 100% of the ministries’ needs for which we Praise the Lord.
