Hey everyone! I thought it was high time for me to let you know how things are going down here in Joburg! We’re now finishing week two of our ministry in Skoonveld. We’ve met several girls, and our first week was spent mostly just getting to know them. Now we’re turning our focus more toward getting to know where they are spiritually.
This question is a little more tricky to answer than it would be back home in the States. They’re highly involved with churches and Bible studies, they can quote all kinds of scripture and know the Sunday school answers to the spiritual questions that come up in conversation. So the problem for us is that in the culture here in South Africa, most students are so exposed to Christianity that it’s hard to figure out if they are indeed true Christians. I think the key in sharing the gospel with them is going to be showing them that involvement in spiritual activities isn’t what saves us, but faith alone in Christ is what does (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Another challenge in sharing the gospel is that we have to overcome is the Health, Wealth and Prosperity “gospel.” A lot of students choose their course of study because of the money they’re hoping it will bring them. So one thing Lawton and I are striving to make really clear is that being a Christian and persevering in the faith doesn’t mean that your life is going to turn glamorous. It doesn’t mean that you’ll start getting good grades and become wealthy, all your relationships will go smoothly, etc, and that life will be perfect. But, what we do get is eternal life with the Father. In brief, we’re trying to show them that our treasure becomes what is in heaven instead of what is on earth.
On Thursday night, Lawton and I had the opportunity to share some truth and wisdom and address these issues. We found out the night before that we would be leading the Bible study our CO student leaders, TK and Beulah, have been leading for a couple weeks now (by God’s grace, they’ve laid a really strong foundation for ministry in Skoonveld – praise Him!). Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” so what we felt we needed to explain to the girls was how to receive eternal life. Our answer to that was that you have to surrender your will. The whole evening, girls kept cramming into the dorm room we were meeting in. I think there were about 15 in all, so it was definitely a privilege to share the gospel with so many girls at once.
Our next step will be following up with Bible study to see what the girls are thinking and feeling about everything we said. According to TK and Beulah, I don’t think these girls are used to such direct teaching and explanation, and I think it was also challenging for them to hear that you don’t have to do any works to receive salvation. I see their frustration when we talk to them about spiritual things and that they’re wanting to understand the gospel, but they just can’t yet. A lot of these girls are first year college students too, so I see a lot of myself in them because I struggled to understand the gospel at that point in my life as well. I’m asking the Lord for the opportunity to share my testimony with a girl during the next couple of days we spend on campus.
Bringing it back to our joy, the motivation and source of everything we do, I pray that they would see the beauty of the gift that’s been given to us. That is, that the Creator of the entire universe loved sinful man enough to give His only son for their atonement, redemption and sanctification, and is writing this amazing story to reconcile all things to Himself to the praise of His glory. Stay tuned! Last Saturday, a couple days ago, we had CCP Vision Night where we got to hear about what’s been happening for CO Johannesburg and all the other projects in Joburg and Praetoria, so I hope to be filling you in soon!
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