Dear Friends and Supporters
I write to you at this very troubled time in our country and especially here in Kwazulu-Natal. A former President, Jacob Zuma has been imprisoned for contempt of court and his followers started a violent protest, burning trucks on our national highway on Saturday. This quickly spread to the larger cities and more of the general population joined in. Shops in the malls and smaller towns were looted and the buildings set alight. Unruly people plundered the shops and warehouses – not only for foodstuffs but also for household goods. The damage to the infrastructure in our area is huge and it is estimated that over 129 000 jobs have been lost.
The cost to Missions Ablaze will be felt long term. Some of these retail shops were our source of food for the various soup kitchens, old-age homes, orphanages, and schools who receive their weekly crates from us. Our feeding at our gate had to stop when we ran out of food to make up the food parcels last week, but due to the donations that have come in since the weekend we are back on track. There will be shortages in the weeks to come.
Tongaat, our nearest village, has been burnt and looted and the shops in nearby Ballito are still closed and although they were not looted, they are restricting the purchases as there is a shortage of basic food items. We trust and pray that this will ease in the following weeks.
South Africa is currently on level 4 lockdown due to the surge of Covid-19 cases. We have also lost a few dear friends to this dreaded virus but are very blessed that none of our missionaries have contracted it.
In level 4 lockdown, our churches and all social gatherings are not allowed so we hold our Sunday services on the property.
We are busy repairing one of our VW Caddy vans after having the engine redone. These vans have served us well in the past and I am sure will do again in the future. Once the workshops re-open we will complete the work.
“We feed the poor in spirit, soul and body”
Father We thank you for 26 years of “blazing” the mission fields of southern africa! how favoured WE ARE to serve the poor!
we cannot wait to see what YOU, Father, has in store for us to fulfill our calling in the next 26 years!
Jesus is lord of missions ablaze
Some Recent Activities:
Brenda and I celebrated our official wedding ceremony with many of our Family and Friends on 6 March. My friend of many years. Ivor Tremlett officiated at the ceremony – we were privileged that he was able to travel from Johannesburg to be with us. Both our families and friends from as far as Cape Town, Nelspruit, and Johannesburg were here as well.
Our family also celebrated the occasion of Hester’s (my daughter) graduation. She obtained her Masters in Alternate Medicine. Many years of hard work and study are now behind you Hester, may you be abundantly blessed in the future.
One of the organizations receiving weekly food from Missions Ablaze is “House of Life” in downtown Durban. They look after many ladies and children in-house as well as feeding those on the streets on a daily basis.
We have been out feeding and ministering to the Creches in our area. We take warm soup, bread, veggies and fruit to them on a weekly basis
Kids helping to offload the van at the Creche eager for the food parcels.
We also provide a daily food parcel to those who come to our gates. The numbers range from 35 up to 60 hungry people who walk up from the village to the farm for a packet of food to eat.
WE ARE BLESSED…..
We have been tremendously Blessed with the supply of a fully equipped Bowser by Flowbins SA. This will enable us to have bulk fuel on site for our vehicles.
Many thanks to Jaco from Flowbins and Hennie from Missions Ablaze who collected the bin for us.
On Sunday we collected fresh veggies from Rae and Grace Family Church in Ballito. We were able to send this out to the ladies in Tongaat who have no means or shops to buy anything from at present
Tuesday, 20 July, a private plane arrived at Virginia Airport Durban, loaded with donations for three charities of which we were blessed to be one. All this was sponsored by “KZN food parcels”- ordinary folk who got together to make this donation for the needy in our area. We received much needed nappies, formula, flour, spaghetti, tinned food and non-perisables which will alleviate the immediate need in many households
Wednesday 21st July all the vans/trailers/cars that we could muster left early for Freshmark Depot – supplier to Shoprite Checkers – to collect vegetables and fruit
JUST THE BEGINNING!
Our Soup Kitchens have already started to collect so tomorrow there will be plenty more full stomachs!!
Thank you to Freshmark as well as all the farmers – the needy people appreciate your generosity. May you be blessed abundantly during these dark times.
For God gives Wisdom and Knowledge and Joy to a man who is good in His sight……” – Eccl. 2:26
For everything in life there is a season and it works with timing. As the years passes by from cradle to grey hair you realize that there are certain seasons that have to happen in your life. Do you still remember the season of being in school, for some it was great, for others it was a drag! How about the season of looking for a life partner? Depending on how picky you are plus compatibility this can go on for years without finding “that one” And then you enter the season of joining yourself to another human in an intimate relation, not always knowing how to respond, not always understanding that person clearly! In that season there is a lot of learning taking place as well as a lot of teaching by you, yet as years pass you find that you have become one and are building a family with a couple of kids and you realize the season is a great season like summer in Durban or Hawaii!!!
Yet there remains a season that every man and woman or child gets confronted with somewhere in their lives, that is the season of the great spiritual awakening, that you need to respond to! Throughout your life there will be times that you can remember that pull in the spirit that you knew God was calling for you to join His Kingdom. For some it was a quick and easy decision to make and for others it was a long and drawn-out road to walk until the decision was made. To go further there are some that never come to finality with the issue of their spiritual walk with God. What a sad state of affairs that must be, not knowing what happens in the afterlife and not being prepared if there is an afterlife!!
Alternatively losing out on a great life filled with “agape” love between you and God and learning to walk with Him, learning from Him and having His great Word with you all the time, our handbook of “life”. You see He said in John 11:25 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
One of the wisest men in the Bible said:- “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Prov. 14:12.
There remains then in many of our lives the most important decision to be made! Are you up to it?
Contact me if you want to know more and I will do my best to help, Shalom, Tinus.
You do not always know or see what it is that you mean to this ministry. We are forever thankful and aware of the fact that your part in the calling God has placed on our lives, is immense, and we cannot thank you enough for all you have done!
If you are one of the people reading this letter and are still not involved with us in this plea for the poor and needy, we want to give you an opportunity to become a part of it!
Go to www.missionsablaze.org.za or Facebook/Missions Ablaze check us out there and contact us to help however you feel you could.
Prov. 11:30. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that wins souls is wise”
