December Newsletter

Greetings from South Africa! Praise God that our travels to Pretoria, South Africa went smoothly. All our luggage arrived safely, and we passed through customs and border control without any issues. The kids handled the traveling very well, and God was very kind to us. 

Prayer Requests

For the orphan care ministry: Please pray that the babies get a new case worker and can be placed in Godly homes soon.  About half the kids' cases are not moving forward because the social worker mishandled their documents. The missing and incorrect documents have delayed the process for months up to a year. Pray that these kids get homes and their cases can move forward.

For the Living Hope church plant in Limpopo: Please pray for a smooth transition for Akani and Lerato Hlungwane. They moved into their almost-finished home this month but have run into some electricity issues. There is no quick and easy way to get electricity to their house. They're currently using an extension cord that runs to Akani's brother's house about two football fields away.

Also, pray for their strength as they plant the church, especially since they are isolated from the rest of Living Hope Church. Pray that the Gospel would take root in the hearts of the people of Ka-Bungeni. The majority of people in the area belong to the Zionist Christian Church. The ZCC holds to very unbiblical doctrine, more on that later. Pray that the people in this area would have their eyes opened to their need for Christ, even when they believe they're already saved.  

For our family: Please pray for Kerry's strength through her pregnancy and that her morning sickness will improve soon. Also, pray that we will be able to rest in God while we are still in transition. 

Updates

Baby Home:

Right now, the two baby homes are functioning well. However, in the past, we would take in newborn babies and typically have them placed in a family by the time they were 1 or 1 and a half. Due to the complications with the case worker, the one-baby home has a 1-year-old, three 2-year-olds and a 4-year-old! The other baby home has two toddlers as well as 3 infants. While the toddlers are being well cared for, it's vital to get them into homes as soon as possible. There's a big difference between a one-year-old going to a family and a two or three-year-old. It's a very crucial transition as far as discipline, learning, speech, potty training, and everything else that goes with raising toddlers. So be praying for the cases to move forward quickly and with us having to retool for toddlers versus infants. Our position here is to receive kids and get them into homes and bring in new babies to find them homes, so the fact that the current children are unable to move into homes puts a halt on us helping more children in need. 

Over the last five years, small things have been piling up in the houses themselves, like leaking pipes and doors that don’t hang properly. So, we have a growing list of maintenance we are trying to work through. Thankfully, there have been some volunteers to help with this, and we’ve made progress, but there’s still a lot of work to do to make the homes safe.

Kerry and I have our forms in and our interviews done. Just pray that it runs smoothly so we officially take over the place of safety (baby home). 

Church plant:

Akani and Lerato have been training and planning to plant a church in Akani's home village for years. Akani finished seminary last year, and they’re getting ready to plant this December. God has placed a strong burden on their hearts to go back to their home to preach the Gospel and make disciples. There are several good gospel-preaching churches in the area. Looking at a map it may seem like they are right by the village and if were driving from these churches to the village it would take just over half an hour. However, the vast majority of people do not have vehicles which makes the distance between churches quite significant.

They've been building their house for 4 years. The process is very slow because they have to pay cash for each stage of the build. It's not possible to get a mortgage in this area because the land is transferred through the tribe and the chiefs. This process does not come with any formal deed that can be taken to a bank. Without a mortgage, they have been building slowly when they can save up money from Akani's job and from some donations.

Despite the setbacks, there is a lot of excitement from the church to be able to send them. Akani is a very gifted preacher and evangelist with a huge passion for God. Lerato has a big heart for women and children. She just finished her teaching certificate so that she can teach kids in the area. 

The Zionist Christian Church is the dominant religion in the area. The ZCC is a syncretistic religion that blends some Christian beliefs with a lot of tribal beliefs. The ZCC is deeply intertwined with the everyday life of its members. This dynamic means it will be challenging to get people to attend formal services. ZCC members will be concerned about being ostracized if they go to a non-Zionist church. There is such a massive need for the true Gospel, and people are stuck in their sin and don't even realize it. Or if they do realize it, they try to assuage their guilt by giving money or doing good works. Most likely it will be a long and slow process to grow this church. But we know that God's word does not return void so please pray for countless opportunities for the word to be shared and preached in Ka-Bungeni.

Our family:

It’s been over 4 months since we arrived in South Africa. We have been able to get all set up with bank accounts, phones, vehicles, and insurance. So most things we need to operate on a daily basis are in place. Kerry found a wonderful co-op for the children, so we're going to be able to continue to homeschool, which is a huge blessing. The co-op is a wonderful group of people who are affiliated with our church here in Pretoria. The kids are getting acclimated; they miss home but they're also enjoying being here. On top of homeschooling, they're doing PE through swimming lessons, and the boys have just started doing a rugby clinic.

We've been very blessed that while we're waiting for all the paperwork to come through, God’s been providing housing. We were able to rent a house for a month, and then stay at a missionary’s apartment while she’s on furlough. We are currently in a two-bedroom apartment with air conditioning which has been a massive blessing that we will miss. 

Kerry has been quite sick because she's pregnant. Thankfully the baby is healthy. Just be praying that the morning sickness soon ends. Kerry has been able to gather some people to meet and figure out how to care for the toddlers, since the home is built around infants. She and Bongi, who is one of the baby home managers, are starting to think through how to handle the toddler’s development.

I've (Vinson) been able to do some much needed repairs and projects around the baby homes while also starting on some long-term admin projects. I have also been able to make a couple of trips to Limpopo to help Akani and Lerato with their move. It's been great to jump in and just provide a little help to move some projects forward and provide a little bit of time for the elders.

We’ve been very blessed to be warmly welcomed into Living Hope Church and the One Hope team. We also have a life group (they call them Gospel Communities here), and it's been a huge, huge blessing to be meeting on a weekly basis and be encouraged and to be plugged in.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. 

-Vinson Sensenig and family