Dear Friends and Family,
I'm sitting in our little flat, it's cool outside tonight from the rain we've had the last few days, for the most part it has been really warm and sunny since we've gotten here... The team arrived in Durban, South Africa on the 7th then we drove 2 hours south along the coast to Margate where we're based for the 6 weeks that we're here. We came not knowing for sure where we were staying or if we were going to have a vehicle to drive but when we got here we met a couple over the internet from here who we prayed for and they loaned us their car for the first week we were here and Pastor Martin a friend of Dennis from the last time he visited provided us with a 2 bedroom flat for 2000 Rand for the month we're here and also found us a truck to drive which would normally have cost us 8000 Rand but we were able to get it for 4000 so God has been amazingly providing everything we need.
We were even given a maid to clean for us a few times a week which only costs us about $10 or $15 per person for the entire time we're here so we don't have to spend a lot of time in the house cleaning and doing laundry and are more free to do as much ministry as we want to. We were off to a bit of a slow start but were all restless to get going and now we have almost more ministry opportunities than we can handle in the short time we're here.
We were even given a maid to clean for us a few times a week which only costs us about $10 or $15 per person for the entire time we're here so we don't have to spend a lot of time in the house cleaning and doing laundry and are more free to do as much ministry as we want to. We were off to a bit of a slow start but were all restless to get going and now we have almost more ministry opportunities than we can handle in the short time we're here.
The first few days over here were pretty relaxed, we made a house call and did Sunday service and Mighty River Ministries. Pastor Martin, is a very passionate fiery man, he's been so welcoming to us and is helping us with a lot of connections for ministry.
Ealier this week we spent a few days in Masanenga, a squatter camp about 10 minutes from where we're staying. There are around 8000 people living there, some people only live there during the week cuz they work in the area but for many of them it's their only home, the houses are made out of tin, bricks, cardboard or anything they can find to make a structure, they are all tiny, most only one small room and some have up to 8 people living in one, hundreds of them stacked together in a small area with. Every day we went we had 10-15 little kids following us around everywhere we went, holding our hands and begging for attention, they are some of the happiest most beautiful children I've ever seen, I wanted to just adopt them all, I had so much fun with them but it about broke my heart sometimes some of them were half naked, I saw 3 year olds squatting in garbage using newspaper to wipe their little behinds after going to the bathroom.
The first day we walked around got to know a few people, prayed for some and saw a few get healed of knee and back problems. The second day we were able to gather about 20 people who had hiv, tb, deaf ears, strokes and all kinds of sickness, we saw pain disappear, a deaf ear opened, knees and backs healed, huge improvement from a stroke and countless other things, most of them knew Jesus but four of them did not and they all got saved. The third day we went a guy walked up to us who had his knee bandaged up the day before and told us he was healed, we got to pray for a lady who had intense pain through her entire body from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, she could hardly move and she was instantly healed completely, she broke down crying she was so happy!!
We are building relationships there so we can go in and disciple them.. Ministry over here is really different then in the states, most people are very open and easy to talk to and are hungry to learn...
Ealier this week we spent a few days in Masanenga, a squatter camp about 10 minutes from where we're staying. There are around 8000 people living there, some people only live there during the week cuz they work in the area but for many of them it's their only home, the houses are made out of tin, bricks, cardboard or anything they can find to make a structure, they are all tiny, most only one small room and some have up to 8 people living in one, hundreds of them stacked together in a small area with. Every day we went we had 10-15 little kids following us around everywhere we went, holding our hands and begging for attention, they are some of the happiest most beautiful children I've ever seen, I wanted to just adopt them all, I had so much fun with them but it about broke my heart sometimes some of them were half naked, I saw 3 year olds squatting in garbage using newspaper to wipe their little behinds after going to the bathroom.
The first day we walked around got to know a few people, prayed for some and saw a few get healed of knee and back problems. The second day we were able to gather about 20 people who had hiv, tb, deaf ears, strokes and all kinds of sickness, we saw pain disappear, a deaf ear opened, knees and backs healed, huge improvement from a stroke and countless other things, most of them knew Jesus but four of them did not and they all got saved. The third day we went a guy walked up to us who had his knee bandaged up the day before and told us he was healed, we got to pray for a lady who had intense pain through her entire body from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, she could hardly move and she was instantly healed completely, she broke down crying she was so happy!!
We are building relationships there so we can go in and disciple them.. Ministry over here is really different then in the states, most people are very open and easy to talk to and are hungry to learn...
Friday and Saturday night we went to tent meetings out in the rural villages it was one of the most unique meeting experiences I've ever had, the sound system is cranked waaayy up to the point you can hardly hear and everybody sings and yells at the top of their lungs it's deafening but they have really happy worship, everybody sways and dances even the pastors and the old people...
The first night Dennis preached and we called all the sick people up front and the next day they called us all excited cuz a bunch of people had gotten healed and they wanted us to come back so we went back Saturday night they had a white hellfire and brimstone preacher yelling about sin and how God judges people's sin which is totally contradictory to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:19 says that God does not hold our sins against us.. It was completely opposite from the grace that Dennis taught about the night before. It wa sad cuz he protrayed God as a harsh controlling dictator who only loves us if we do exactly what he tells us..
There was an alter call and about 10 kids came up but our team got to pray with them which was really good even though we had to yell to be heard over the music and singing. One lady was limping and had a lot of pain in her left leg and foot but after praying for her it all left. It was all a really good experience but soo different and a bit of a culture shock lol
The first night Dennis preached and we called all the sick people up front and the next day they called us all excited cuz a bunch of people had gotten healed and they wanted us to come back so we went back Saturday night they had a white hellfire and brimstone preacher yelling about sin and how God judges people's sin which is totally contradictory to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:19 says that God does not hold our sins against us.. It was completely opposite from the grace that Dennis taught about the night before. It wa sad cuz he protrayed God as a harsh controlling dictator who only loves us if we do exactly what he tells us..
There was an alter call and about 10 kids came up but our team got to pray with them which was really good even though we had to yell to be heard over the music and singing. One lady was limping and had a lot of pain in her left leg and foot but after praying for her it all left. It was all a really good experience but soo different and a bit of a culture shock lol
Sunday night at the church Travis, Brandon and Sue led worship it was amazing the presence of God was so thick in the room like most people had never experienced before, encounters with God and reconcilations made, it was an incredible night!!
So that's some of what's been happening so far. Easter weekend is coming up, a huge conference, street ministry the streets are going to be packed!! Trips to Durban, Johannesburg, East London and Zululand coming up so we'll be traveling and impacting a lot of different people groups. I'll be writing more blogs to keep you updated about the awesome things happening:)
Much Love Maria
