Carols by Candlelight

Every year, here at Village Bible Baptist Church,

we host a Carols by Candlelight Service.

It is a special service where we sing the hymns of Christmas by candlelight and hear preaching about the true meaning of Christmas.

Below, I have posted pictures and a video from our service.

Between each photo, I have put meaningful Scriptures that go along with the acronym for CHRISTMAS (this was adapted from http://www.homeschooled-kids.com/christinchristmas.html). 

 May you be blessed as you read these verses 

that remind us of that Light that came to us so very long ago.

C- is for the Christ child who was born long ago in a manger in Bethlehem. Luke 1:31  "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb,  and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS."

H- is for the hope that Jesus brings to all who believe in Him  and trust Him for their salvation. Romans 5:2  "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,  and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,  thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. "

R- is for the resurrection of Jesus Christ who was born of a virgin,  lived a sinless life, was both man and God, died on the cross for our sins, and then was raised from the dead (resurrected)  and is now sitting at the right hand of God in Heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:21  "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;  that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 

I- is for Israel, who God chose to bring forth  the promised Saviour of the world. Acts 13:23  "Of this man's seed hath God according to His promise  raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:"

S- is for the salvation that Jesus offers to all who are willing  to confess their sin, believe in Him,  and confess their belief in Jesus with their mouth. John 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Romans 10:9  "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

T- is for the empty tomb. Matthew 28:6,7  "

He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. 

Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

 And go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead;

 and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; 

there shall ye see Him: lo, I have told you."

M- is for the mercy God has shown the world by sending  His only Son to die for our sins. Hebrews 4:16  "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,  that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

A- is for the amazing grace He shows us every day  by loving us unconditionally. 2 Corinthians 9:8  "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye,  always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:"

S- is for the shining Light that Jesus is to the world. This is the Light 

that we ha

ve shared with the people 

in Hillcrest,South Africa 

during our Carols by Candlelight service

.

John 8:12 

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: 

he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life."

Visiting the Kids on the Last Day of School & Abambo Baptist Classrooms

Down in the Valley of Thousand Hills,

is a Zulu area called Abambo.

Last week, we visited the Abambo Primary School 

on their last day of school for 2013.

While we were waiting for assembly,

some of the children were outside playing a game

that is like jacks, but they play it with rocks.

Robbin & I were inside a classroom with the principal and others 

filling out end of the year report cards.

It sure was fun to help!

I am amazed that the principal let us help with such an important job.

When the paperwork was completed,

the principal assembled the children.

Pastor Jeff was given the opportunity to share the Gospel with the children

Then each of the children got a "sweet".

Our visit, this time, was not just to see the children.

We also went to see the 2 classrooms that they are allowing us

 to use in 2014 for church services & Bible Studies.

The rooms we will be using are just behind the main part 

of the school and up this hill.

Both rooms need alot of work.

We will be painting, cleaning, fixing benches,....

We are so thankful that the Lord has provided a place for us to meet in soon.

I shared these pictures so you can see what the Lord is doing.

Please pray for us, as we prepare for ministry here and 

for every soul that enters these buildings.

view from the Abambo Primary School

Blessings in Disguise

For a while I was hunting for a small desk for my home.

You know, the "small, but functional" kind.

I have seen a number of possibilities here at second hand shops,

but I was not willing to pay the price they were asking.

Furniture in South Africa is expensive!

I continued to wait and trust that God would provide exactly what would meet my needs.

On one of my outings, I found the cutest desk.

It was small, with bookshelf beneath, and the top opens into a desk - PERFECT!

Huh!  The price was far from perfect.

It was so tempting to purchase because I had never come across 

something like that which would fit my needs perfectly.

Did I mention, it was perfect?

Well, being the thrifty spender that I am, I walked away from the desk.

my desk

The very next week, there was a desk listed in the online second hand site.

It was almost identical to the one I had seen earlier.

The best thing is - it was half the cost of the first!

Praise the Lord, I phoned the man and it wasn't purchased yet.

Of course, I snatched it up!

Thank you , Lord for providing for our needs!

The man only lives a few streets from me,

so he volunteered to load it in his van and bring it over.

my desk (check back in a few weeks to see what I do to update it)

 I make it a point to share the Gospel with every one I meet, 

so I planned talk to him when he brought the desk over.

In talking with this man, 

I found that he was also a christian.

As an American in South Africa, I can never hide my accent,

so he was curious to why I was here.

I shared my testimony of salvation and 

then in how God burdened me to come here to serve Him.

Then I shared with him what the Lord has been doing in our ministry.

He also has a burden for the "unlovely" people 

and has been on a number of mission trips throughout Africa.

I told him how difficult it is to reach the whites here too.

As a white South African he agreed that in areas like Hillcrest, 

it is very hard to reach the people because they feel they have no need for the Gospel.

He was very encouraging to me as an outsider,

 to keep sharing the Gospel with whoever will listen.

At the end of our talk, he revealed that he was a buisnessman.

He told me how the UShaka Aquarium in Durban

 gives his buisness free tickets for nights at the aquarium.  

 He gave me 5 tickets to take some of the children from our ministry to see the aquarium.

It was truly a blessing in disguise!

~~~

Below are pictures from the night that Robbin & I took

 the 3 most faithful kids from church to the UShaka aquarium.

Enjoy!!! (we did!)

The kids loved this fish and called him the "grumpy fish"

kids inside the aquarium with the fish

This guy was my favorite.  He looked like a puppet.  He makes me smile just looking at him.

During the evening, I shared with the kids 

how I used to want to be an Oceanographer.

In my teen years, while other girls had pictures of cats and horses on their walls,

I had charts of the ocean, shell identification posters,

 and aquariums with fish, crayfish, and frogs.

Then my pastor had a burden to start a Bible Institute 

to train people to serve the Lord.

Between taking Bible Institute classes and serving at year-round camp, 

the Lord showed me that ministry is much more meaningful.

I still love the ocean and if I could,

I would live by it and visit the aquarium as often as possible,

but my burden for the lost around me is a bigger need.

Hopefully, my testimony will be something that the children will think about.

Maybe, just maybe, He will change their heart's desire, 

as they grow older, to being used of Him in ministry.

Ladies Christmas Tea

my front door

This year, I had the blessing of hosting our

Ladies Christmas Tea.

Like all good Baptist churches,

our ladies bring some delicious treats.

Thandiwe

Ladies gathering for the Tea

Lisa & Thandiwe

We had a wonderful group of ladies who came.

Our time together started out with some chit-chat.

Then Robbin stood in front of the group and said that she wanted to recognize someone for something special.  While she was talking, I got up to get my camera to take a picture of whoever she was going to recognize.

Funny thing is, it was me!

She presented me with roses!!!

Robbin giving the challenge

Then, Auntie Robbin gave us a challenge from the Word of God.

She spoke from Psalm 33:20,21 & Psalm 34:1-11

"Our soul waiteth for the LORD: He is our help and our shield.

 For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name."

Psalm 33:20,21

After our challenge from God's Word,

we had game time.

We played 2 games-

the Left-Right Game (see pg3)

and

Christmas Carol Trivia.

Finally, came the food.

Everything was delicious!

We each brought a gift and went home with a gift,

a handmade Christmas soap from Auntie Robbin,

and a gift bag with a homemade ornament & hand cream.

We praise the Lord that every woman who attended

has accepted God's free gift of salvation!

~~~

Please continue to pray for us as we minister to these and other ladies.

We are asking the Lord to give us wisdom in how to guide them in their spiritual lives, so that they can have a closer walk with the Lord.