Moriel Missions Southern Africa – March 2005
Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
First of all I would like to wish all our friends and supporters a very blessed New Year. I also pray that some of you managed to get some rest over the holiday period.
This Christmas was once again a time where we observed the awesome ferocity of planet Earth unleashed against mankind. In fact two years running, boxing day pictures on TV shook us to the core. In 2003 the terrible Earthquake in Iran killed 35,000 people and now in 2004 the Tsunami that has taken to date, over 250,000 lives, a huge proportion of them young children. Was this a judgement from God? Is this a sign that we are living in the last of the last days? These are the questions I hear from many sources. What do I think? Well I honestly don’t know if this is a judgement from God. God being sovereign does not preclude this and many of us know of the hundreds of thousands that have been murdered by Islamic extremists, particularly in East Timor. But I’m not God, nor has God prophetically spoken to me on the issue. Are these the last days and is this a sign of His imminent return? O’ I hope so. When I see the suffering of these young children all I can say is come soon Lord Jesus”.
Whether it’s Gods judgement or a sign of the times, that’s not the issue for the here and now. Gods people are to move with Christ-like compassion to ‘look after orphans and widows in their distress’ James 1:27. This is something that Gods people have excelled in for millennia.
The law made provision for the widow and orphan:
And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am Jehovah your God.” Deut 19:10
The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God. Deut 19:34
We have seen how James describes pure and undefiled religion as looking after those in distress and this was carried out for centuries, much to the frustration of Gods enemies. Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine said, these followers of Christ; not only do they look after their own afflicted they look after our as well.
For me, it is enough that the needs of the afflicted are met with the compassion Christ gives us through the power of His Holy Spirit. I believe a heart without compassion is a heart not yet fully transformed by the gospels power. If Christ indwells us then surely we must think, feel and act as he did?
A comparison can be made to the plight of our aids orphans. As I travel I am often approached by brothers and sisters who question the source of HIV Aids. Was it a man made virus? Was it the result of years of genetic manipulation from people who fled from Nazi Germany? Native Muti with the Green Monkey in central Africa? Plus a host of conspiracy theories speculating that world governments know of a cure but are withholding it from the common man. (I hope the death of Nelson Mandela’s son from Aids has put a stop to this theory. Surely if anyone had access to a cure it is this well known world politician?) The answer I give to my well meaning brethren is this; I don’t know the answers. To me it is of no consequence where HIV came from. In the hear and now the children suffering from this disease need the tender loving care of Christians who are outworking their faith in Messiah. And it’s the same attitude I have with the victims of the Tsunami whether Hindu or Moslem. Over the Christmas period we at Moriel put out an appeal to help our Christian brothers badly hit by the disaster. (log onto www.moriel.org to find out how to help) They in turn have used this aid in 10 villages at the time of writing, giving aid to 5000 people and rebuilding homes and prayer houses; not only to help the household of the Lord first but to also do what the body of Christ has done best for millennia, to have compassion on the alien, the stranger with the love of Christ. And to first of all share the hope that we have in Jesus our Messiah.
Was it Gods judgement? I don’t know. All I know is that through this disaster people who would not listen to the gospel are now listening and saying who are these Christians that not only look after their own but ours as well. This is something the Hindu with their Karma or the Moslem’,cannot come even close to giving. Our prayers will continue for Chanti and his wife Lilly in India and the pastors of Good news ministries who continue to show the life and compassion of Messiah as they share the gospel.
God Bless
Pastor Dave Royle
Director Moriel Missions Southern Africa
Visitors
It was good to see our brothers Dave Lister and Jacob Prasch visiting South Africa. It was also one of those rare occasions where the International board were together at the same place and at the same time.
Both Jacob and David were here to look over the existing mission work as well as plan ahead for further projects in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and India. We are truly living in exciting times.
Also both of them took some time to bring a word in season with them both speaking at the tent campaign and also teaching. (check out the tape list for these new messages) It was great to see our two brothers and we hope they will bless us by coming again to Africa very soon.
Visit To Kenya
If ever a journey was ordained from God, this has to be one of them. Everything about our visit displayed the providence of God as he provided divine appointments for us to fulfil without our knowledge; let me explain.
When we had taken our seats for the outward flight to Nairobi, I noticed I was sat next to a very nervous passenger. A quick check told us that he was a Moslem as he counted his prayer beads nervously. In my had I was reading my pocket New Testament; Dave Lister and I just looked at each other and grinned because we new what was to come. Anyway once in the air my Moslem journeyman asked if he could look at my Bible. Of course I agreed and he spent the next two hours engrossed in the Gospel of Matthew. Later he put down the Bible and began to ask questions and I was able to share my testimony and the hope that Christians have of eternal life through Jesus. During this time David was praying for me and my new friend. Anyway the time passed quickly and I gave him the Bible to keep. As we left the airport I thought that was the last we would see of Him, but God had other plans.
On the journey back Dave and I took our seats and guess who sat next to Dave Lister still clutching his New Testament? That’s right, our Moslem friend. Well if you know Dave Lister like I do he wastes no opportunity and the next few hours saw Dave witnessing and teaching this man about Jesus. But we were also in a great spiritual battle; half way though Dave sharing the man in the seat behind began to swear, scream and shout ordering Dave to stop speaking about Jesus. But God had it all in the hand, as soon as he began to rant, an airhostess intervened and moved the man to another seat. The hostess just happened to be Born Again and had sensed from the Lord that this man would be trouble as soon as he stepped on the plane and so to allow for Dave to share about the Lord freely, she had remained close by. Praise God that this Moslem was shown the way of life and that he and Dave have exchanged emails to speak further.
The gulf between rural South Africa and the west is great; but the gulf between Kenya and the west is a chasm. Once on the road to Lake Naivashu we new we were in the third world. What would have taken a 45 minute journey took over two hours on roads devastated by huge pot holes, in fact there was more holes than road.
Our first stop after resting the night was at Ps Johns church where Dave, Jacob and I had the privilege of preaching. We then journeyed higher into the hills 9000 above sea level to the Neema Children’s Home and school. Neema means grace in Swahili and Gods grace was evident around us. Kenya has 1.7million aids infected and affected orphans. Neema has taken in 80 but the conditions by western standards are very grim. In fact I wept as I saw the conditions of 20 kids in a small room. But these are kids who would not have had a chance living rough on the streets of Naivashu. For Catherine, the founder of the home, day to day life is a struggle. The daily needs of food and clothing are barely covered. Water is only available for collection during the April rainy season, the other months means trips to a local stream many miles away. The tragedy is that through their lack of knowledge and medical facilities, children who become sick from HIV are being sent away from the only home they ever new. You can imagine te trauma this brings to these young children. But Neema is a place of love. The conditions may be grim but the volunteer staff who cook, teach and clean are full of love and commitment. Dave, Jacob and myself were moved by our visit and after a time of prayer, fasting and speaking to each other plan to help with the situation.
Another thing that became evident was the lack of basic knowledge concerning the needs of HIV people and this has caused a huge stigma among the Kikuyu tribe. Training on foods, basic hygiene and the cause of HIV infection among the people is very poor and this is where Moriel Missions can help almost immediately. I plan to take a HIV nurse up to Kenya in June and teach the leaders of the churches and the community on how they can best minister to HIV infected people. We will show them the basic foods that can be bought cheaply and locally that will help fight HIV, plus the necessity of clean water and right living. While there we will attempt to de-stigmatize the virus and show them how it is possible to Live with HIV and not just Die from HIV. This idea has been given support from local pastors and leaders and will affectively save the lives of hundreds if not thousands. The only thing we need to do is find the airfares for two people, accommodation costs and we can set the whole project up for June. (If God is burdening you to support this then please contact [email protected] asap)
We had many challenging and blessed experiences during our short stay, to many to tell here. We saw people delivered from the heretical teachings of Hinn, TD Jakes and company, we saw people saved and recommit lives to him. We also observed the people of the Kikuyu tribe who have endless smiling faces, a love for the Lord and a real optimism for the future. It was a time where Dave Jacob and I were so touched that we will not remain the same. Please pray, God is doing a great work in Kenya.
Ebyown Childrens Village
First of all thank you for your prayers regarding the pre-registration inspection that took place on Jan 13th. The meeting went very well with very few concerns and the report will be considered by Social Service head office in the middle of February. Please keep this in your prayers in the hope that the registration will be issued soon.
During January we had several news worthy events. Bernard and Mabel’s new baby Abigail, born on Christmas day, was taken into hospital for a heart operation related to her Turners Syndrome. Abigail is doing well but at time of writing she is still in high care with no indication as to when she will be released.
Secondly we had a Gospel Tent Campaign for two weeks. Speakers included Jacob, Dave Lister, Myself, Bernard and a couple of local pastors from Brakpan, Tsakane and Kwa-Thema. Please pray that the gospel seed planted will bear much fruit.
Kwazulu Mission
Caleb and Sophie have been at the mission station now for two years. Since they arrived Kwazulu Mission has grown with many important projects and the planting of the church that serves the community. Over the Christmas period they decide that is was time for a change in their ministry to focus on commentary translation and to disciple local Pastors and have therefore moved from the house on site to a house in Vryhied 45kms away where they now commute to the station.
This has led to an opening for two evangelist/church planters to be called to work full time at the mission. The work will include :
* Evangelising the area
* School mission
* Hospital visitation
* Church planting as the Lord leads
* Chaplain to MONDI workers at Tygerskloof
* Building relationships with local people
* Organising Mission campaigns in the area
* Overseeing short term mission with overseas visitors
The people we are looking for must have the following attributes
* Mature Christians
* Preferably a married team
* Missions and similar experience
* Willing to stay for two years
* Agree with Moriel’s statement of faith
* Team players who can work under the covering of Moriel’s Africa board
* Self starters with lots of get up and go
* People who love being around other people
* Self funding
* If the applicants are not African then the capacity to learn Zulu
What we can offer
* A newly build thatched double story African house
* A kitchen and bathroom area
* The facility includes warehouse, accommodation for visitors, bore hole, clinic area, office area and 4 Hectares of land
* An opportunity to work in a challenging mission field
Moriel Missions College
Over the Christmas holidays we have picked up some more students from as far away as Australia, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya as well as local students. This has led us to begin the process of opening up Missions colleges in some of these areas and then possibly actual missions. This is an exciting development with over 40 students in Tanzania alone.
Also the terrible Tsunami has allowed us to not only help with aid for the brethren of Indian churches but also links with like minded people. Please pray that when I travel to India, hopefully later this year we may see the start of a Moriel Missions Extension College.
Course development also continues and we are hoping to add a module on witnessing to cults and other faiths by the end of the year. We will be looking at Mormonism, Jehovah’s witnesses, Islam, Hinduism, Christian cults and Roman Catholicism. Lecturers will include Jacob Prasch, Dave Lister and others.
If you are thinking of studying by distance learning then contact us for our current prospectus at the address provided. Also if you want to study with our big sister college in the UK, Midlands Bible College and Divinity School, log onto www.midbible.ac.uk ‚ then contact our friend DR Calvin Smith at: [email protected]
Ebyown Pilot Project
First of all thank you to those who sent our children gifts for the holiday period. It was great to see their faces with smiles as wide as a mile a they opened their presents. And the thought and care that you took in choosing the gifts touched our hearts.
The last couple of months have been busy with guests visiting (John & Collette, Jacob Prasch and Dave Lister) and at the same time building work happening. To give the kids more room and Dave some office space, a large Wendy house has been constructed in the garden. Also with Aletheia community church resident at the Royle’s we needed extra space for church activities and so the central courtyard was roofed giving us enough space for a few more people. The property now has enough room for 60-80 people, offices, college library and guest quarters. With all this going on it was a bit noisy and dusty for all concerned.
This year we are budgeting for some more improvements to help the children with their education by giving more comfortable facilities. One thing we would like to see is a larger school room and so I plan to erect a 4X4 Wendy house near the play area and we will use the existing school room purely as a store area for education material and a computer for the children. The cost of the project will be R7000 about 650 pounds.
Lyn continues to fight the fight, although a very generous church in Australia has given her a gift to take a break from the kids for the weekend. This was Dave and Lyn’s first away break together in 5 years.
Aaron will be returning to the UK in April to attend college interviews for 2006 and hopefully will be studying Sports coaching.
Christopher is now studying part time and working along side Dave as the College admin person as well as recorder of all materials onto DVD, CD, audio and video tape.
Prudence, PTL is getting stronger day by day and has put on 4.5kg in weight since coming out of hospital at Christmas. We are praying that we may have turned a corner with this lovely young girl. We have though had to take her off her anti-retroviral which seemed to be the cause of her pancratitus. When her TB medicines are finally finished next month we are going to place her slowly back on them again.
S’phiwe has his good and bad days. I think Dave Lister was surprised at his out bursts and the way he lives in his fantasy world. He is getting physically stronger, in fact his escapades as his alter ego ‘spider man’ see him climbing all over the house, even up door frames.
Johannes, no real news apart from a small flare up of his shingles which set him back a day or two.
N’tombi is physically fit and very noisy. As with all the children her treatment is going well and the latest lab results show no detectable viral load for the third time and her CD4 count hovering just below normal.
Paulina is also doing fine, we made the decision to take her from special school for several reasons. First of all they did not have the facilities to give her the physiotherapy she needed. Secondly she was the only child in the class that could talk and so she was not being stretched n her vocabulary. Thirdly the language she did hear was Afrikaans and we are English speaking at home. Although the school was excellent in other areas we decided it would be best if we home schooled and take her to a private Physiotherapist. This decision has already bore good fruit with Paulina now able to walk round the coffee table with her callipers on.
Prayer Items
* For Bernard, Mabel and their new daughter Abigail
* Head office meets later this month to hopefully give Ebyown its registration
* For our projects in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and in the future India
* For Kate as she prepares Ebyown for opening
* For Caleb, Sophie and Malachi
* Missionaries to take on Limpopo Mission
* A Pastor for Aletheia Community Church
* For Jacob Prasch, Dave Lister, Dave Royle and our admin Allison Dodd as we lead the work internationally.
* That God would continue to meet all our physical and spiritual needs
* The continued good health of all our children
How Can You Support
For Royle family support
Brenda & Baden Royle
2 Cressington Close
Off Derby Road
Salford 6
Manchester UK
0161 737 2996
Email: [email protected]
For Caleb and Sophie
For ministry support please contact
Pastor Phil Baldwin
25 Engels House
Trafford Road
Eccles
Manchester UK
Tel: 0161 789 3203
Email: [email protected]
Our South Africa Details
Pastor David Royle
Po Box 10807
Strubenvale 1570
Springs
Gauteng
South Africa
Tel/Fax: 011 362 1026
Email: [email protected]
New Convenient Way of Giving
You can now make a donation via your credit card by logging onto www.moriel.org and going to the USA site. Go into the shopping section on the left hand menu and you will see the various ministries.
You can also give by contacting your local Moriel Office. Visit our website at www.moriel.org
Important New Law
FISCA, a law passed in South Africa to stop money laundering has asked if address details of financial supporters could be written on the back of any cheques made payable to the ministry. Your help in this matter would help us speed up the banking process. Thank you for your help in this matter.
