Showing the JESUS Film

One of the special joys of ministry is having the ability to show the JESUS Film.  Through monthly donations, our South Africa Tswana Team was able to purchase all the equipment to show the film anywhere.  We have a generator so electricity is no problem.  We showed the film again in a village close to town that has a small work in progress over the last year.

 As soon as we pulled into the area, we were swarmed with kid. 

They love getting their pictures taken and, of course, they immediately want to see the picture.

Setting up everything takes about 20 minutes.  The screen is about 8 feet.  We have a 250 watt sound system.  The film is translated into 8 different languages for our area.

"For God so loved the world...." We were done setting up and just waiting for it to get dark.

 

The gospel is simply "Jesus"

 Of course, before we get started we are able to talk with those that come early.

This was the second night that we showed the film.  The first night, the three boys in the back were the only ones that sat with me in the back of the vehicle.  It was a gradual process of them feeling that they could get closer to me.  They were waiting for me by the time we had everything set up.

'

The kids had a front row seat.  Surprisingly, most of them sat through the whole video.

A Tswana Wedding

A couple of weeks ago, Jody and I attended the wedding of Jody's ministry partner during our time in South Africa.  She would go with Jody everywhere and translate for her.  She is very well-known in this town and the Northwest Province.

I had the privelage to walk Lorato down

the aisle. She was widowed over 11 years ago.

At the church, during this 2 hour ceremony,

the bride and groom through the numerous

"items on the program."  This was part of the vows.

Getting ready to be prayed for.

All the Pastors praying for this wonderful couple.

This is the wedding cake --

made by none other than Jody!!!

Moruti Hans, Lorato, Jody

Moruti means pastor

This is the tent for the reception -

over 200 people sitting and eating.

Here is the kitchen for cooking

all the people.  A cow was given for

the reception meal..

With the reception lasting over 6 hours,

 half way through, we ate and they went

and changed.  Jody stayed for the

whole reception. I left when they

left to change.

.

Jody had an opportunity to share with

everyone the ministry opportunities

they had together.

September Update

Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – the giver of all good gifts. I thought that three months was enough time between updates – it’s been a whirl wind. So, here we go.



For the last 5 years, South Africa has been preparing for the Soccer World Cup. Millions of dollars was invested in infrastructure and stadiums throughout the country. The people were incredibly excited about hosting this month long soccer tournament. We were able to capitalize on the event by co-hosting a volunteer team from the States. During the day we held soccer clinics. The balls that we used were called Evangi-balls which had red, yellow, green, black, and of course, white. Each day the plan of salvation was given from the balls. At the end of the week, the balls were given away as prizes. On various nights we either showed a World Cup game or the JESUS film. Several people prayed to receive Christ. Josiah and I were able to attend a World Cup game in Rustenburg. We saw Slovenia and New Zealand play to a 1-1 tie. It was very cold. Here some links to other pubished articles  - here, here, here, here,


During the World Cup time, however, our attention was drawn back to the States as Jody’s dad was continuing to fight an infection. This interfered with his ability to get back on his chemo schedule. He would get better and then regress. Several times with looked at airline tickets to return home, but it did not seem anything was imminent. The situation changed drastically when in the early morning he fell on his way to the bathroom. Again the doctors were positive and there would not be any lasting damage from the fall. But as the days of June came to a close, we felt, along with Oakland Heights Baptist Church that it was time for Jody to return to the States. She arrived on July 1st, and was able to have one last conversation with her dad that day. OHBC provided the opportunity for me and the kids to return to the States. Many of you followed our saga through my Facebook status. We were able to find some tickets leaving on the following Tuesday and arrive on Wednesday afternoon. Long story short, we were unable to make that flight. Dad died early Wednesday morning, and we left Johannesburg that evening not arriving in Longview until 2:30 am, Friday morning. His service was 12 hours later, Friday afternoon, at 3:00 pm and burial was Saturday in Muskogee. It was a couple of days that I care not to live through again. However, I do have to say that I felt God’s grace like never before. In the 66 hours of travel with the kids, I didn’t have one complaint against them – not one single problem or incident. They were fantastic and I have nothing but highest praise for them – definitely and only the grace of God.






We returned to Mmabatho on August 6th just kind of shell-shocked. The month of July flew by with so many activities of trying to help Jody’s mom with life in general. We had a huge garage sale and were able to sell both of their vehicles – another touch of God’s grace. Having only been back from our Stateside for about three months, coming back again to Mmabatho was like starting over. I was encouraged, however, as I returned to my Bible studies to find my people still willing and wanting to attend. Before the World Cup started, I told them that we wouldn’t meet for a couple of weeks, as I was busy with the volunteer team. I gave them a notebook and a pen and asked them to start copying the Gospel of Mark. They did it, but did not understand that I wanted them to continue, even though they finished chapter 1. The first time we met again in August, I asked them to share what God had taught them individually. They shared for about 35 minutes. At the close, I told them that they don’t need me anymore –they have God’s Word and it is enough. God wants to speak to them individually and they don’t need a teacher! They got it – they understood.


Jody’s ministry partner, Lorato, is getting married. That is good news for her – being a widow for the last 11 years. Her burden of caring for herself and children will be lightened immensely. The bad news is that she will be moving away and so leaves Jody without a ministry partner until God makes a move. Since our return in March, God has been telling Jody to “Be still and know that I am God.” So, until God makes a move and let’s her know what to do, she is just gonna rest in the comfort of The Word.


We have started the new school year with Andy being a sophomore, Josiah beginning 7th grade, Caleb doing 4th grade work, and Bethany starting 1st grade in January 2011 at ISSA. We received our crate on the Wednesday after returning home. So, it was like Christmas in August as we enjoyed all the stuff that we crammed into a 147 sq. ft. crate. The girls got their swing set/playground – I couldn’t set it up fast enough. A special thanks to First Bossier for providing that for the girls – they love it!!!


A special thanks to all of you for remembering to pray for us. God is so good – even through difficult circumstances – when nothing makes sense and 2+2 doesn’t equal 4 anymore. God grace has sustained us and He has blessed so much. Your prayers have enabled us to return when deep down it was not our desire. You strengthened us when we didn’t have the strength to carry on. Oakland Heights Baptist Church did nothing but act like Jesus!!!! (make sure you understand that last statement) They were Jesus in the flesh – they were His hands and His feet. They loved on us and continue to take care of us!


Throughout this update, you see what you can pray about – as God leads, you pray and we will be thankful. Be Blessed.

Capitalizing on the World Cup

Check out what we've been up to during the World Cup.
Click HERE if you can't see the YouTube Video.

Just Some Pictures

These are just some pictures in no particular order or particular theme.

This was Melody's first meal at the big table.  The day before she told us

 that she was ready  to sit at the big table and not sit in her baby seat. 

You can see her high-chair in the back ground.

As part of a celebration for Andy's 15th birthday, Jody made a cake for him to

take to Friday Night Youth  at the church.  He said he wanted a cake with the

South African flag on it.  It was in no ways related to his birthday. However,

in celebration of the 2010 World Cup and in support of the South African

soccer team, on Fridays, people have been wearing  SA  soccer

jersey's and colors.  We have been supporting them.

Sleep-over at the Jones in Gaborone, Botswana.  

The boys started out in line on their pillows toward the top of the picture.

Certainly thinking some deep thoughts!!

Mother's Day 2010

It is hard to believe that Andy turned 15 on the 11th of May. 

He said he wanted a chocolate cake with green icing !?!?! 

Teenagers!!

This is just Melody being herself.  She is wearing a "dress-up" dress. 

She will start in her clothes for the day and then it is no telling what

 she  will end up inby the end of the day.  When it was warmer, she

would end the day in her swimming suit, regardless of getting in the water!

The boys playing basketball.  We were able to bring back a portable

basketball set in our crate in 2007.  The last several weeks they

have been playing with some neighborhood boys.

Melody wearing Caleb's Chargers hat.

She loves the camera!

Andy and Josiah were in a skit at church.  Andy played Jesus

in the skit. We are praying that this becomes a reality in his life!!

Josiah was also a "character of disrepute" in the skit. 

He loved being able to wear a hat and sunglassess in church!

Dennis preaching at the Easter Conference in Mafikeng the

Saturday night of Easter weekend.

Saying our 'good-byes' to the cousins in Oklahoma

before we came back to South Africa.

On the way to our annual meeting in Tshipese this year,

we spent the night in Warm Baths

Back in States, we found a playground for the girls to

play on one afternoon in South Texas.

Bethany receiving a Scripture and her "5-year" pin from

her "Aunt" Lisa. She has 5 years on the field.

April Update

Hello Everyone – I figured it was about time to let everyone know the latest news – so here it goes.

First of all, we just have to rejoice in the watch-care that the Lord has provided for us. It has simply been incredible. Everyone remains healthy without any major incidents. All of our travels have been without any dire situations. We are incredibly thankful for all the safely travelled miles in the States (7000+) and now over 3000 kilometers while back in South Africa. We just have to praise the Lord. God has been incredibly gracious to us in those aspects.

We continue to receive good news from Jody’s dad’s situation. There should be a meeting in mid-May that should reveal how the last months of treatment have gone and what kind of treatment regimen should begin. We pray that whatever happens, he will be able to get the needed treatment in Longview and not have to travel to Little Rock every week and-a-half or so. Don’t stop praying for supernatural healing, though!

One week after arriving back in South Africa and traveling to our house on March 18th , we packed our bags for a week-long meeting in Tshipese, South Africa. While it was nice to see all of our friends, it wasn’t necessarily that nice to pack up again and travel some 850 kilometers in two days. But God is good and our travels were without incident. The weather was beautiful, and it was good to be back in that area of the country. It was our first meeting there since 2006.

After arriving back home, we pulled out the measuring stick and measured everyone. All the kids had grown at least one inch while in the States. We figured so since clothes that we bought at the beginning of our time in the States were not fitting as well when we returned. Andy is in the middle of his 9th grade year. I told him when we were getting on the plane for our return flight that this was the last time he would be returning to South Africa with us. We were both stunned at the comment. When we go back to the States, in 1177 days, part of our plans will be to put him in college somewhere. Wow!!!! Josiah will finish 6th grade by the end of July. He is doing his typically excellent work. Caleb wanted to be homeschooled, so when we returned, he did not go back to the International School of South Africa. They won’t be without a Janz for long, however, as Bethany will start 1st grade in January 2011. She and Melody continue to be best of friends. They play so well together. As Jody and I are busy teaching the boys in the morning, they are relegated to keeping themselves busy. They do a pretty good job playing together, playing a game or watching some TV – usually Dora, Wonder Pets or the BBC children’s channel called Cbeebees.(CBB’s).

You may or may not know that we, the IMB, have been going through a massive reorganization these last 8-10 months. With the reorganization have come a lot of changes. With those changes have come a lot of new forms and procedures. Getting back on the field when we did, we got back in the middle of when all these forms, goals, budgets, and meetings were due. So needless to say, I have been on the computer for what seems like forever. Fortunately, I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and now we can get back to the main things. Jody has returned to Moshawane a couple of times and is reconnecting with her ladies. It is her goal to finish work in that area by the end of the year and see what else God has for her – wherever that will be.

I was asked to preach at the Easter Conference here in Mafikeng the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. I had a great time re-establishing some relationships with pastors that I had not seen in some time. Easter is bigger than Christmas here in South Africa. Each year they have a 3-day conference on Easter weekend – it’s their biggest gathering of the year. I have been out to Extension 39 a couple of times to kind of see what happened, if anything , while we were away. I tried to make contact with Pastor Michael this morning by driving to his church. At 10:30 this morning, there was no one there, so I was unable to see him.

We have a volunteer team coming in June to do some work during the FIFA Soccer World Cup. South Africa is the host country and people are abuzz and have been for the last couple of years. It is like a month-long Super Bowl-type atmosphere. It is going to be crazy. Team USA plays England two hours away from us, in Rustenburg. Unfortunately, we don’t have tickets.

We would ask you to continue to pray for Jody’s dad as that is on our hearts every day. Pray for both of our ministries that God would simply lay before us where He wants us to be. Pray that we would see what He is doing and hear what He is saying. Pray for spiritual understanding and discernment in our lives. Thank Him for our health and well-being. Pray that our hearts would remain tender toward the Tswana people and that we understand their ways of life and how to bridge the Gospel to them.

We are thankful for your prayers, emails, and mailings.

Happy New Year! I thought it was about time to post to the blog. When I started this blog, I never intended to go so long without a post. However, there is no New Year’s resolution to make more entries to the blog.

We were able to fly home to Texas the week before Thanksgiving. That was nice. I was able to catch 2 Cowboy’s victories in 5 days! One of the downers of this Stateside happening has been the ongoing cancer treatment saga with Jody’s dad. Between the treatment for multiple-myeloma and colo-rectal cancer, our schedule has been turned upside down. The good part is that there is treatment and it is ongoing. We have made several trips back and forth to Little Rock. We’ve put over 3000 miles on our vehicle since 21 December.

We have had the opportunity to share about the Lord’s workings in South Africa in many churches. Our first opportunity was at FBC-Tecumseh. It was good to reconnect with the many people who pray for us. They are one of the churches that we had contact with before we went to the field. We stayed in their newly remodeled mission house – what a blessing that was. We then traveled to FBC-Stonewall for their evening service. Though nothing “official” was planned, I was able to share for about 15 minutes in their evening service. It is always good to go back to Stonewall. I was also able to share at a church in Kilgore, TX. Of course, we had the morning service at Oakland Heights Baptist Church on Lottie Moon Sunday. The love we feel there is over whelming. Being able to stay in their mission house is an incredible blessing. We also had a wonderful opportunity to go to a Global Impact Conference at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Ft. Worth. What a wonderful weekend to share our story with so many listening and interesting people. An honoring engagement we had was speaking at the Diamond Set meeting at First Bossier. Many of these people were involved in my life while I was in the Youth Group at First Bossier. A reoccurring comment that I received was “Wow, you did grow up!” I really have no idea what they could be talking about?!?!?!

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering Each year, the International Mission Board encourages people to contribute to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering which supports Southern Baptist missionaries around the world. For us, the Lottie Moon funds provide our salary, health insurance, a place to live, a vehicle and petrol and many and various ministries. If it were not for the Lottie Moon offering, we would be responsible for personally raising thousands of dollars each year to be able to serve overseas.

Last year, the IMB set a goal to raise $171 million dollars to support more than 5,600 personnel serving internationally. Last year giving fell short by more than $30 million dollars and was $9 million less than the previous year. The shortfall in giving prompted IMB leadership to make some difficult cuts in budgets across the board including:

*Long term apprentice personnel – 300
*Journeymen – 100
*2+2 personnel – approximately 50; sent in partnership with SBC seminaries
*New partially self-funded Masters – 30
* suspending appointment of more than 200 new missionaries
* reducing the number of new positions worldwide from more than 1,200 jobs to 300
* budget cuts of up to 60% for strategy leaders on the field
* medical care no longer being covered 100 percent
* canceling of stateside debriefing conferences and also some regional meetings and prayer retreats on the field which are so meaningful for our missionaries.
* indefinite suspension of some critical short term missionary programs.

Despite not reaching the 2009 goal, the IMB still received the third largest Lottie Moon Offering in history. This year, the IMB has set a goal of $175 million in hopes to return to a stronger budget and ability to send more missionaries into the world. We humbly ask each of you to prayerfully consider giving sacrificially to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year.

Right now the plan is for us to remain in the States until mid-March. I am looking forward to returning to South Africa and getting back to work. Thanks for your prayer - they are so meaningful to us.

Blessings!