Southern Africa and God's work

Today we learned about what God is doing in the southern region of Africa which includes, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Madagascar and the Islands.  When I first arrived in Madagascar our Region Leader shared that he felt God was pruning the Southern region in order to bring His harvest.  The statement came after several dry years with little fruit or conversions within these country.  Having come into part of that pruning with the loss of my team I fully understood our Region Leader’s sentiments.  What I didn’t know until today was that the harvest has already started to come, as a result of the pruning.  

Extract from Prayer Letter of Merril - Working in the Mountains of Lesotho.

First a married couple said they wanted to follow Jesus, then three shepherds, then another shepherd, then the old chief, then my late granny's great-grand- daughter, then her friend, then another lady, then the other chief, then another man. (whew!)

Seven of those (the younger ones) braved the frigid water of the river to be baptised. The older folks asked to wait till summer...While there four more shepherds were led to the Lord and baptised.  The Zionist priest and his family were also led to the Lord. 

How exciting.

 Prayer letter excerpt from those working in Mwani of northern Mosambique

Last week, we witnessed the baptism of Mrs. La.  Grace and Kristen had been discipling her for about 2 months and had seen her eagerness to study the Scriptures.  On the day of her baptism, she was sick with diarrhea but still wanted to go.  We were surprised because in this culture, all activity comes to a halt when you are sick.  So, for her to carry through with her baptism was a big thing.  

When we arrived at the beach during high tide, we were surprised to see the water still so dirty.  Grace didn't want to walk into the sludge but Mrs. La had walked on ahead her mind made up.  So, we all walked into the semi-sold waste, all soft and mushy beneath our feet.  Mrs. La though, didn't seem bothered at all.  It was really nice to see her eagerness, even though we wished she didn't have to be baptised in sewage water.  Our prayer is that she will continue in her faith with this same strong willed personality.  

In Mada you may remember that God brought the 5 members of the Sakalava Band following God's work through the AIM team in Nosy Be last October.  It is exciting to be a part of God's movement in Southern Africa.