“Let them praise the Name of the LORD, for His Name alone is exalted; His splendour is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up for His people a horn(king) – the praise of all His saints, of Israel, the people close to His heart.“ Ps 148 13-14

It is with a deep and profound sense of awe that this Missions Report is being compiled for the Committee Meeting .  How good God has been to us! How gracious toward us! How He has blessed our feeble endeavours in the Mission to the Amazioni.

ZEBS Curriculum

By the grace of God, and His enabling, the past 3 months have been very full, and very productive.

 The new material required for the ZEBS curriculum has been completed :

  • Exegesis of Romans  Ch 4 to 16. (21 new lessons).
  • Exegesis of Hebrews Ch 1 to 13. (12 new lessons).
  • Church History (12 new lessons)
  • Biblical Counselling ( 10 new lessons).

Graduation

Teaching is now completed for the year, with Graduation taking place in Mthatha and Queenstown this weekend, and in Berlin and Magusheni next weekend. It is our great joy that Pastors Marc and Michael will be speaking at three of these events. Praise God for their support and encouragement!

New developments – items for prayer

  • Next year ZEBS classes will commence in Grahamstown and Willowvale. 
  • We have been asked if we could provide ZEBS Classes in English !  A group of people in Queenstown are interested in attending ZEBS, but do not understand Xhosa sufficiently to do so.
  • This has caused us to consider the possibility that there may be other venues that need teaching in English. Should we have an English ZEBS at Beacon? Apart from South Africans, the high numbers of foreign nationals in our towns may present an opportunity in this regard. What a thought! That we teach the gospel here in English, and they take it home to other parts of Africa! Is God showing us the way?  Praise His Name!
  • A bible study with Nompumelelo Zionists is now in it’s 12th week, with over 40 people having registered, and some 25 likely to fulfil all the requirements to receive certificates of completion at a church service on 8th December in Nompumelelo. There is a strong likelihood that this class will continue in 2020, and that some of the students will register for ZEBS. If there are sufficient numbers, a ZEBS will start in Nompumelelo. Praise the Lord – many of these folk are saved – and God has set before us an open door…on our very doorstep!
  • I have been invited to preach (on 1 Dec) at a very large Zionist church in Middeldrift where one of my graduating students is a pastor. A great opportunity, as he says “all our branches” will be there – from all over the country. Praise God for His grace!

Translation of Resources

I have contacted publishers regarding permission to translate materials from English to Xhosa and have received this response from 9Marks:

 “It was an encouragement to receive your e-mail and to hear about the gospel work happening amongst the Xhosa speaking people. It is a privilege to do anything we can to assist you in your labours to make sound, gospel resources available to the churches there.

Regarding Xhosa translations, we are more than happy for you to engage in translation of any of our titles. Please let us know if there are particular books in which you are interested and we can draw up a sample translation agreement and send you any files you need (free of charge) for the process. From our standpoint, much of what we do is to help make these translations available on-line for people to access and download for free. You can see many of these free resources on our Translations page.

We also help local publishers with the licensing process to print copies of the books for libraries, schools, and distribution such as you describe. We can help with all the legal contracts and pieces needed before you go to print. It would be our pleasure to help.

I look forward to hearing back from you and learning how we can serve you well in your faithful labours.”

 I await similar responses from other publishers.  Praise God for our partnership in the gospel!

We praise the Lord for Edna Botha, Angi Hugo and Marj Saunders  who are working hard at typing, formatting and proof reading of our transcriptions and translations. What a service they provide! And they testify to how much they are being blessed by their reading and by being involved.

Three books are in the pipeline of translation :  9 Marks of a healthy church by Mark Devers; Foundations of the Flock by Conrad Mbewe; and another  is the Xhosa translation of “Leading little ones to God” – a classic book on which many Baptists were raised. This needs to be formatted, and to be prepared for publication. We need appropriate artwork, pictures, or photographs for inclusion in the book. There is an opportunity for someone to serve the Lord.

Another concern voiced by many of the saved pastors is that they need a hymnal with good theology!  They want to teach their people to sing what they believe –but find the hymnals currently available unsuitable. We are investigating … and praying for wisdom!

Transkei ZEBS

In the New Year we will become more involved with the ZEBS in the Transkei, as God gives us opportunity.

Pray for wisdom, so that we do not over extend ourselves – but that God will give us grace to do what we can. 

New Areas

There are still many calls for ZEBS that are not yet being addressed. Burgersdorp and Barkly East, Needs Camp and Mooiplaas – far and near – the needs are enormous.  Pray to the Lord of the harvest!