02/21/12 by Jeff & Bethany | Blog | No Comments »
Hi Friends, below is a blog update from John and Jenni Gillespie. Last year we passed off the DTS leadership to them and they are best friends as well as family. Enjoy.
Johnny’s sister Beth and her husband Jeff (and their three boys, Elijah, Carter, and ‘Riah) live in Cape Town, South Africa and we stayed with them while we were there visiting our Community Transformations DTS outreach team. Jeff and Beth and a group of friends are pioneering a few different initiatives in the nearby community, their main focus is the people of Masiphumelele (we call it “Masi” for short, it is the same place where we have a DTS team currently doing outreach, and it’s the same area where Johnny and I led a team about 4 years ago). Here is a rundown of just a few of the things that are going on there!
False Bay Hospital
South Africa has very different health care structure and standards than the states, and shortly after arriving in Cape Town, my friends Debbi and Hannah found out that the nearby hospital offers free care to expectant mothers. The only problem is that there is such a high volume of women who need this support but very limited resources for them. One morning a week the hospital offers free appointments for these ladies. Many of them get there very early in the morning, wait for hours, and never see a doctor. They are all ages, many of them are teenage girls. So Debbi and Hannah go there on that particular morning each week and get to know the ladies, whoever God highlights to them. I was able to go with them once while I was in Cape Town, and Hannah and I got to pray for a girl named Charity. We felt like there wasn’t much we could offer her, but it’s so evident that prayer moves God’s heart and so we believe our prayers had an impact on her, and on the precious baby she is expecting!
Discipleship and Bible Studies
Our friends in Cape Town just continue to meet people, share the love of Jesus with them, and invite them to learn more about living life as a disciple of Christ. Through relationship, they disciple new followers of Jesus and include them in lots of community gatherings. It was amazing to watch so many of our friends meet with local people, grow in friendship with them, read Bible stories with them, pray with them, and show them what it looks like to walk like Jesus.
Community Eats
A few of the crew who moved to Cape Town with Jeff and Beth are ridiculously skilled in the kitchen. They inspire me. They have started a blog that features the recipes from meals that they share as a community (and step by step “how-to” details). Their intentions are to begin training people in Masi, equipping them with skills to feed their families nutritious and affordable meals. Check it out!
Scrubs
Bethany, and her friends Isaac and Debbi Aho (who are originally from the states but moved to Cape Town with Jeff and Beth last year) are in the process of launching a line of designer scrubs. Yes, that’s right, hospital scrubs for nurses and doctors that will actually look flattering on them and will be made from high quality materials. They are currently refining their design, looking for the fabrics they want to use, and building a team of skillful sewers. The sewers will be people from Masi who will be provided with job training to teach them the trade of sewing. They’ll be paid for their work making the scrubs. It’s an amazing way to create jobs for people in the midst of tough economical circumstances. And the Aho’s are looking for buyers in the states who will order these scrubs and use them in their hospitals. Join us in praying for this initiative!
Below is a photo of Bethany with the scrubs team.
02/21/12 by Jeff & Bethany | Blog | No Comments »
Dear friends, it is a joy to write you again from Africa. These are such exciting times we live in. As I have recently returned home to Africa from a teaching trip, it was clear to me that the Lord is moving everywhere on the earth right now. Below I will give you our highlight of the month, plus an update on Community Transformations here in Masiphumelele and beyond.
Vuisi (pronounced Vu-See) is a local young man in the township of Masiphumelele. We had met him a few times and he was hungry to know God, but addicted to Meth. A couple of weeks ago, his addiction got the best of him, and while our team was gone from the Jesus house here in Masi, he broke in, managing to take multiple computers, phones, jewelry, etc…
We did not know it was him. Shortly after the Local enforcement (similar to the mafia) heard what happened and began to track down the theif. Before they found him, Vuisi came to our house. He was broken. He asked for forgiveness and gave all the info of who he sold the things to. We forgave him. The few days after that we continued sharing the gospel with Vuisi.
One night that week, at the beach, one of our team explained to him that following Jesus is not something to consider. He is Lord whether you want him to be or not. He presented Jesus to Vuisi and asked him if he would follow Jesus. Vuisi said yes. As they were already at the beach, Vuisi decided to get baptized. After coming up from the water, he took his belt off, and threw it into the ocean proclaiming “I stole this too.” We are on a long road of discipleship now, and excited to see what happens with this man. What the enemy intended for evil, the Lord redeemed.
Here in South Africa, there is much going on. Take a look at our blog to get an idea of some of the things happening. We believe the Lord will bring Revival and transformation to this place. We now have a medical scrubs company and as well as a company that makes furniture from used pallets. Both of these will employ and disciple Africans from Masi. We also just had 6 teams from around the world here in Masi. We have seen many come to the Lord, many discipled, and many miracles as these teams have walked like Jesus on our streets.
Jesus House
This house that once belonged to a drug lord and is now a home that represents Jesus is often full of people, getting trained as revivalists, being discipled, eating meals, and more. We believe the Lord wants us to buy this house. We have already seen a good portion of money come in for it, but need more to secure it. The total cost is $35,000 USD. Please pray with us for this amount to come in so we can secure ownership of the Jesus house.
Travel
I had a wonderful time early January teaching in DTS as well as the Fascinate Transformation School. On that trip, I was asked to come back in teach in another transformation school and a church. I will be in California, Vancouver washington, Oklahoma, and D.C. If you are near there I would love to see you. The Lord seems to be opening hearts more to Jesus centered transformational community. That is what I will teach on while traveling.
Home
Almost every evening our home is full of people around the table, telling of what the Lord is doing. Our children are growing in the Lord, and regularly share what they are thankful for. Bethany is regularly discipling, and hosting gatherings centered around Jesus as well as pioneering Community Eats, a project to inspire people to make their table a discipleship center. Check it out under our blog tab.
Thank you again friends for the way you partner with us. We are still not at our monthly goal financially, but are stunned at the provision of the Lord monthly through you.
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