Prayer Letter_August 2023

 

 

Shalom!🫶

Dear partners!
 
Recently, we have been hearing some very heartbreaking news from everywhere, 

and we continue to hear some very frightening news from where I am.
 
However, I pray that your lives and homes will always be at peace and enjoy the presence of the Lord,

who will turn our anxiety and tears into joy because of his Good News.
 
In Christ Love, 

- Paul Stella Irene Eden -

 

 

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 Western Cape SLM Planning 

(SLM: Student Led Movements)

Amazing Team members✨_Eddie Henk Esmari Stella and Me

❤️‍🔥
From 18-20 July, We had a three-day meeting with the South African staff I work with. It was so enriching to be with these staff members who had just experienced an intense summer conference in Korea and returned with a vision for campus evangelism. It was an important meeting to share a unified vision, make monthly plans, and decide on disciple-making criteria, training materials, and more. 
 
🗣️
Thankfully, everyone came to the meeting with an open mind and we got to know each other's thoughts better. We've been training in different cultures and experiences, and we've had to have a lot of dialogue to get on the same page and use the same tools.
 
📈
We also lacked training for our students last semester, so I was so thankful that we were able to set up a schedule for training and specific steps for our students to take. I'm really looking forward to the ministry ahead😆

 

Outing after the meeting

 

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 Michael growing up 

 

 

🙌

I caught up with Michael when he returned home for the long school holidays. As we chatted on Solarium, I heard about his home, his culture, and how he grew spiritually over the holidays. He told us that he had read the Bible on his own and wanted to learn more about Jesus and God's Word.

 

🏋🏾

"I want to grow spiritually through CCC," he said of his expectations for this semester. I believe that God has been keeping him safe and growing him through our prayers.

 

🏃🏾‍♂️🏃🏾

Not only that, but he also invited a friend to church on Sunday, someone I had met once and invited to a meeting, but hadn't heard from since. We spent time together praying for him to come to church and be settled in. I also encouraged and prayed for him to share the Gospel with his classmates. 

 

🌱

Michael's desire to grow spiritually, as well as his desire to bring others to Jesus, was so precious to me. I pray that the seeds God planted in his heart will bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. 

 

 

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 Taxi Strike 

 

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-08-03-western-cape-taxi-strike-begins-immediately/

 

⚠️

Recently, the area where I am located has been experiencing taxi (bongo) protests since 3 August. Bongo taxis, the outlaws of the road, are one of the country's bane. Taxi drivers are reacting badly to the City of Cape Town's new traffic policy of impounding vehicles instead of fines. 

There have been violent protests, including occupying roads, throwing stones at cars, and burning police cars. The taxi drivers are said to be mostly gangsters.

😰

While I was on the freeway, returning from the meeting, there were people throwing stones at me. Suddenly, my heart skipped a beat and fear gripped me. Later, I heard that a car had been hit by a rock near my home, which was even more disconcerting because it was on the route I usually take with my children to and from pre-primary school, and which I had travelled on my way home earlier in the day.

😢
A missionary who lives in the same complex as me was also involved in an accident while entering the ministry area. He said that 20-30 taxi drivers stopped his car, demanded money, and threw stones at his car. Fortunately, he was not injured. 

The protests will continue until 11 August. Please pray that there will be no accidents during that time.🙏

 

 

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💌   Prayer Requests   💕

 

Personal and Family

1. To be filled with the Holy Spirit in every moment.

2. Pray that the family would settle well into South African life and learn the language and culture with an open mind.

3. Above all, keep us in good health for our ministry. We are always suffering from colds. Please allow us to slowly adjust to our new surroundings.

4. Give us wisdom in the emotional development and education of our children and guide them in the right direction.

5. Protect the family from violent protests by taxi drivers.

 

Ministry

6. May Michael be a true follower of Christ and a multiplying disciple who leads and teaches others to Christ.

7. Let the South African staff team be united in one heart, one mind, and one love, and dream together of campus evangelisation and national evangelisation in South Africa.

8. Let the spark of the prayer movement spread in every faculty of the South African campus, so that each faculty will blossom, and the campus will have a spiritual movement and multiplying disciples.

9. For the sending of short-term mission teams from South Korea, and for the partnership between South Africa and South Korea to go smoothly.

10. Protect all the staff, Korean missionaries, and ministers of the Lord in South Africa, and fill them with the Holy Spirit every day. May new staff members continue to be raised up, and may the dream of campus and ethnic African evangelisation be fulfilled.

 

Finance and Community

11. For visa. Please make sure that all the documents are in order, that the visa is extended on time, and that we have enough money for this (about $1,800 including insurance). 

12. Pray for a new vehicle for our family, and for God to provide for our needs. (Approximately $23,000)

13. Help us to not only fit in well with the local church community, but also to blend in with the local people. 

 

Country and Nation

14. Have mercy on South Africa. Please stop the frequent violent protests in various parts of the country. Let there be a wave of forgiveness, reconciliation and repentance.

15. Let the taxi protests end peacefully. Let violent acts against the population cease, and protect the property and lives of innocent people.

16. Protect the safety and lives of missionaries in South Africa. Increase our compassion, prayer, and love for South Africa. 

 

 Thank you so much for your partnership