Salvi & Di’s Msindisi Monthly October 2009

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your loving kindness, because of Your truth.”
Psalm 115: 1

As of late we have been asked a few questions by various people which we take to be indications of the kind of questions many people are asking. So this month we thought we would answer them in our newsletter for all to read. They are answered according to the most asked question first and the least asked question last.

1. Where do you get your support?

   We are solely funded by free will offerings from individual supporters who feel prompted to give either one off offerings or regular support. Occasionally we have had churches from Australasia and the UK also give free will offerings. A couple of friends have also donated textbooks towards Salvi’s Theological Studies. And, thank the Lord, He has prompted a couple of people to contribute towards Salvi’s bible college fees and it is just enough to cover the rest of the certificate level of the course. Salvi is applying for a bursary so as to lessen the costs of the course. Sometimes it can be quite tight but we have seen the Lord move people’s hearts to contribute to the building of our hut, and towards our weekly living and ministerial expenses.

2. What is it missionary life like?

   On a weekly basis Salvi has preaching, preparing bible studies and theological studies. Di does Zulu, helping locals with things like taking people to the clinic or helping Gogo at our Kraal as well as maintaining the home, hand washing clothes most days. On a Monday we both take the truck to fetch 85 litres of drinking water from the communal tap. This is a hand pump bore-hole tap and the water is used for cooking and drinking. Salvi also fetches eight 20 litres containers of river water a week used for everyone at the Kraal for washing and bathing but Phumulani’s family still want to fetch water from the river themselves. Di has yet to master the art of carrying water on the head! Salvi also empties out the porta-loo about 2 – 3 times a week and Di takes the liberty of using up left over river water in giving the car a good wash or washing mud caked shoes as they become after it has been raining. Suddenly shoes become platform boots! When it is hot Di will fill our solar shower, otherwise we bucket bath.

3. How long do you intend to stay?

   We are here for as long as the Lord will have us. The good thing is that the hut we have built will not go to waste as it is on Phumulani’s land. Whenever we would leave the hut will go to him but he said that he would not use it for himself, but keep it for visiting missionaries, like Caleb and Sophie, and as a possible venue for church meetings. The focus is not upon us being the ones to do the work but that the work is done of which we play a part. We pray that the Lord may bring in other people who preach the Truth to evangelize and disciple the ‘whosoever’ in these areas. That people who speak Zulu and speak the truth will be sent to work in God’s vineyard, not to build up our particular bible studies or church groups but Jesus’ Church.

4. Is it hard staying there?

   Like many things there are pros and cons. It can sometimes be frustrating being without having running water or electricity, especially for Salvi when he wants to do research, lectures or assignments for Bible College. Living here can be hard for Di when she wants to share more but the language is a barrier at this stage for her. It can also get monotonous when people think that because you are white you are to give them work or money and other such things. The life style though is quite laid back and so we are not having the burden of hectic schedules which is a plus.

This month we have had the arrival of Lorraine and her 3 girls to give them a weeks holiday. While we were in Springs we had arranged with her to come over during the school holidays. We said that if she could find her way here we would pay for her ticket home again. As you may already know, Lorraine and Di worked closely together in Springs. After Lorraine’s husband, Sam, died we wanted to support her in whatever way we could. When she called about coming to visit us we were overjoyed but when we heard that the total for all their tickets was R699 we immediately thought that we did not have the money to provide her ticket home. So we prayed about it. During that week someone had given us R100 and so we put that aside for Lorraine. Lorraine was arriving on the Monday, when we would have to purchase her ticket home to guarantee that she would have three seats booked for the following Sunday. Though we told nobody about the need we prayed. On Sunday the Church decided to give us the offering which had been being collected over a couple of months. They had no idea how timely it was. When we counted it the total was R590 which gave us a total of R690, just R9 shy of the total. All glory to the Lord. But that was not all. When Lorraine arrived the day after she told us that she did not have the money to come here either. But a visiting pastor, knowing about her, had supplied her with the means to purchase the ticket to come here! We pray Lorraine and the girls had a refreshing stay and were encouraged in their walk, even though the weather was drizzly all week.

While here, Lorraine got to meet the people from the Tuesday night bible study as it was our turn to host it. Salvi has been teaching on the ‘first foundations’ from Hebrews 6: 1 – 2. This week he was teaching on washings and baptisms. It is wonderful to see the Lord working in their lives. One of them hasn’t been baptized as a believer, having been sprinkled as a baby in the Dutch Reformed Church which they are still attending. But he has now said that he wants to be properly baptized and will be arranging the day where we will baptize him in his dam. This will probably be in a couple of weeks.

Lorraine helped Di with kid’s club on the Saturday she was here. Our numbers are growing and that week we had it in our hut and Di counted 22. Please pray that the Lord will give the children hearts to understand the gospel as Celani, Khetiwe and Di take it.

On the Sunday that Lorraine left we were blessed with a couple from Paulpietersburg who have been listening to Moriel and Ariel teachings and experiencing change by them. They also attend the Wednesday nights with our friends in Vryheid and been encouraged by the fellowship. They have left the German Lutheran Church and were attending Elijah Ministries in Sandton, Johannesburg once a month to get good bible teaching. When they arrived they said that they had come to get baptized as Salvi had shared from Scripture a few weeks back about the importance of it. This took us by a little surprise but it was a wonderful surprise and we got our bath out of the storage mud hut, plugged up the hole and filled it with water. It was a privilege to share in this occasion with them. They came with us to Church afterwards where Phumulani preached a cracking message in English and Salvi translated into Zulu. Phumulani was speaking from 1 Peter about the trials on faith. Salvi said he was amazed by Phumulani’s clear presentation of election which he put forth as follows: “God chooses people to salvation, but the bible does not tell us the basis by which he chooses. Yet man must come freely and willingly to God.” It is amazing that this topic has been debated endlessly and theologians have come to no satisfactory conclusion and yet Phumulani, from the middle of rural KwaZulu Natal put it so simply and yet profoundly that God is both sovereign and that we must come willingly and the beauty being that it portrays a two way relationship where God calls and man freely responds. After the meeting we shared in a meal at our home and then we took Lorraine back to Vryheid to catch the bus home.

A week later our friend Sue Wells will be visiting us with 7 of their foster children. Allen and Sue Wells run a ministry called Bezaleel which is a family home with 11 children that they parent. These children were from various African tribal backgrounds. Allen has started a Wi-Fi internet business to provide a future for some of his children, however it is still in its early stages. The family live relying on free will offerings of people who feel moved to support them. Please keep them in your prayers and especially regarding Sue’s visit. If anyone would like to learn more about their work, receive a newsletter or to support them in any way please feel free to contact them on these details. Email: bezaleel@saol.com Phone: +27 (0) 11 815 3900

Salvi continues to evangelize three local areas. In Eastmine a couple of weeks ago he was waved down by a family who wanted him to share the scripture with them. He started a study and then they asked him to come again. They still want to continue studying the scripture and so this could be the start of a small bible study in that part of the community. The ladies on Saturday’s bible study in Steiland have been asking wonderful questions and it is faithfully continuing. Please pray for these studies. If any one has any questions or comments please feel free to email them. Our internet time is very limited so we might be slow in replying but we welcome any correspondence.

The Principle of Godliness

By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”

The fact that Jesus was vindicated in the Spirit means that He was wronged in the flesh. You can only be vindicated if you have wronged or have been wronged. As Jesus was sinless we know that He did no wrong so He could only have been wronged. Jesus was never really seen for who He was while He was on the earth. It was a rare occasion that someone like Peter would say, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.’ But Jesus was seen by angels. He only preached to the people of a tiny country, Israel. He said that He came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. God had promised Abraham that through his seed all nations would be blessed. But in His vindication Jesus was proclaimed among the nations. We read about that in the book of acts. In the flesh no one really believed in Him. 5,000 people followed Jesus for the food but left at His teaching. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, no one believed that Jesus could do it. Even Martha’s faith failed. She had displayed faith concerning the fact that God would give whatever Jesus would ask, and concerning the fact that Jesus was the Christ, the son of God. She had also believed in the resurrection on the last day. When it came to the actual raising of Lazarus, her faith failed. But in Jesus’ vindication He was believed on in the world. And lastly Jesus died a cruel, shameful and humiliating death. He died the death of a convicted criminal, though He did nothing wrong. But in His vindication He was taken up in glory. Jesus did not snatch at His vindication but He trusted on the Lord. He waited for God to initiate it and He responded to God’s leading.

The Gospel shows a relationship between God and man where man is helpless to save himself and has no righteousness of his own. Therefore God, out of His own initiative, stepped in and initiated salvation by what Jesus did on the cross and by the Gospel call to repent. God offers salvation and man must respond. This is not only true of salvation but is also true with all our blessings. And this is true spirituality; that I respond to what God is telling me and showing me in faith. The idea that we can initiate anything in our Christian walk is pseudo-spirituality. Everything that we do in our Christian walk is in relation to what God has already done. We believe because He has told us and we love because He loved first.

Personal Details

PO BOX 1481
VRYHEID 3100
KWAZULU NATAL
SOUTH AFRICA
+27 (0) 728311008
msindisi@gmail.com salv.di@gmail.com
Moriel KwaZulu Mission Website http://morielzn.googlepages.com
Personal Website: http://msindisi.googlepages.com