Let us start with an update regarding the registration of the church. We mentioned that last month, and many of you promised to pray. Please keep praying.
The Good News
The good news is that Samson Shandu was able to submit some documents that, we hope, will allow the church to be recognised by the government. He submitted them some time ago, but they were not examined until February 18. We have not heard the reaction of the committee that received them. But Sam was optimistic.
Also, in the category of good news, Thayer is not spending time trying to write a constitution for the church. For a couple weeks he worked hard at that. But then we learned that the person who had requested this was mistaken. Brother Shandu already has a constitution that appears to satisfy the government. So there really was no need for Thayer to spend time on this.
Bad News
The bad news item is that we have still heard nothing regarding our application for new resident permits. We submitted our application in October and were given no indication that there would be a problem. But here we are, months later, with no response. The last time someone checked for us, it seemed that our file has been misplaced. Our previous documents expired in mid-December. We need new permits. If we do not get them soon, lots of other things become difficult. For example, the bank might put a hold on our account. Or we might have trouble renewing the license on our car (that comes up in May).
Bob and Annette Whittaker had an even worse reaction. When they took in their application for renewal, the clerk refused to accept it. They were told, “Until your church is recognised by the ‘Council of Churches’ you are not allowed to apply for a new permit.” That happened just before Brother Shandu’s documents went before the Council of Churches. So we hope their situation will be resolved quickly.
These are definitely matters for prayer.
Progress Reports
Progress has been slow on writing. Some important decisions about how to structure The Climax of God’s Mission (Vol 2) have slowed us down lately. But, having made those decisions, we believe progress will pick up soon. Twenty lessons are now in first draft form. About 12 to 15 more lessons will be needed. Then the narratives must be written (only one narrative is drafted). Then, of course, there will be lots more proofreading and checking to be done.
The recording work is moving more quickly. Brother Maseko has recorded The Mission of Jesus and God-Centred Bible Study in both English and SiSwati. He is currently about half-way through God’s Mission Begins (Vol 1) in English.
There are two matters for prayer related to the recording work.
1. We need copyright permission before we can publish an audio book of The Mission of Jesus. We have tried to reach the copyright holder by both email and LinkedIn, but we have not received a response.
2. Brother Maseko is good at making the recordings. The sound quality is excellent. But none of us have the technical skill to turn these recordings into usable audio books. We are searching for someone with those skills. One contact we have in South Africa has been unavailable lately. If we had our residence permits, we might drive over there to speak with him face to face. But so far, we are just playing tag via email and WhatsApp.
A Special Visit
We were blessed last week to be able to visit in Lushikishini for the first time since we have been back in this country. It is a long drive and once we left the paved road the road was just as terrible as it was all those years ago, lol! We went to visit our friend, Fikile, who recently moved back. We first met her when she was a young widow raising two young children. At that time her son was deathly ill. Fikile has recently gone through cancer treatments and has received a good report. We praise God!
You will notice in the background a house being built. When Fikile lived there as a wife there were two small structures on the property. Those have since fallen down. Her son is in the process of building a new house for his mother and his family. He is doing all the work himself. He has mixed the cement, molded the blocks, and done all the building. There is one room completed and Fikile and one of her young grandsons are living in that room now.
African Textbook Ministry – Church of Christ, 5130 Flanders Road, Toledo, OH 43623