親愛的代禱夥伴:
感謝主,我們能夠仍然在網路上服事在南非的弟兄姐妹,而且果效很好。例如我們在南非時間晚上七點半的週四查經聚會,與一群散居在南非不同省份小鎮上的姐妹們查經。我們最初只認識林姐妹,是早前在自由省服侍時經白人牧師介紹認識的。之後,我們有機會就會繞道去探訪她,跟她分享福音和造就性的影音光碟、聖經、詩歌本等。其他的組員都是林姐妹在網路上聯絡的。本來不可能一起聚會和不相識的人,就因為在網路上查經而聯接在一起,現今這羣姐妹已成為彼此奔走天路的同路人、代禱的夥伴。神的安排真是奇妙!姐妹們每週都準時上線,認真學習。雖然有時會因停電和訊號接收不良而掛線,但是她們都能設法再聯接上繼續學習。由於流量的限制,我們只能用語音通訊,漸漸地大家也習慣了。若不是疫情的限制,透過網路語音查考聖經和崇拜聚會,恐怕很難被接受,也很難持久,但現在已成為新常態的選項。將近兩年以來,我們沒有被疫情孤立,卻因為疫情而擴展!我們已經查考了保羅的監獄書信,剛才開始查考福音書。請您為這羣姐妹們學習聖經代禱,也請為聚會時網路能通暢無阻代禱。
一月中,南非東岸德班城,市中心一棟華商七層批發大樓失火燒毁。因為起火在上午時份,人員得以即時逃離,僅有人受傷,無人死亡。這座大樓除商店外,還有倉庫和兩層公寓。我們從2012年5月起就住在大樓的公寓內,直到去年2021年11月遷出。在新冠疫症前有八年半的時間,我們每週在那公寓的客廳有敬拜聚會,大樓中有十幾户是教會的弟兄姐妹。一棟大樓突然就被燒毁,提醒我們世事無常,事工的機會不是永遠存在的,我們要把握機會,努力多作主工,不要拖延。
當火災發生時,有人將裝著現金的皮包丟下,落地後現金散落地上被人搶走,也聽說公寓住户不少聖誕節買賣的現金尚存在家中,起火後已經無法去取,一場火災燒去他們多年的心血和努力。求主安慰這些受災的華商,也提醒我們每一個人「不要為那必壞的食物勞力,要為那存到永生的食物勞力。」(約六27)。人應該努力追求,為著永生勞力。商人為著帶不走的金錢孜孜不倦,我們天國之子豈不更應該勤力宣揚福音。
感謝主,南非新冠Omicron引來第四波的疫情已經下降,但是每天仍有上千人被感染,百多人死亡。最主要的原因是南非目前只有百分之三十的人口是完全接種了疫苗。面對新變種的威脅,南非必需提高接種疫苗的人數,繼續做好防疫的工作。疫情使南非經濟下滑,也引發排外事件,2月14日南非約翰尼斯堡的亞歷山大區發生排外事件,南非人驅趕外籍的攤販離開,從流動攤販擴大到商店。原本的遊行抗議活動演變成暴力驅趕。暴力行為遭到外籍店主的猛烈反擊,有12人受傷,有人揚言要把所有的外國人都趕走,一時排外情緒高漲。請為南非政府維穏經濟的政策禱告。
請您為這些事情代禱:
- 感謝主,南非新冠Omicron的疫情已經下降,求主幫助政府官員釐定並執行防疫政策。
- 求主幫助南非國民遵守政府規定,做好防疫並且加速接種疫苗對抗新冠病毒。
- 南非德班批發城新華商城毁於大火,其中有一些商人是教會的弟兄姐妹,求主安慰他們的傷痛,幫助他們重新安置,引領他們前面的道路。
- 感謝主使我們能在網路上和南非兩個教會的弟兄姐妹一起敬拜和查考聖經,求主保守我們能繼續正常的運作,不被攪擾。
您的同工
克達、雅麗
二零二二年二月
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Dear Prayer Partners,
We praise the Lord for the smooth running and fruitfulness of all our Bible studies and worship services online. For example, the participants of our Thursday Bible study are from different cities of South Africa. We originally only knew one of them, Sister Lin. When we were serving at Bloemfontein, one South African minister introduced us to her. On our way to Newcastle, we would make a side trip to visit her and studied the Bible together with her. We also supplied her with Bibles, hymn books and various kinds of CD’s for herself and her evangelistic outreach. She invited some of her fellow Christians to join this meeting, and now we have bonded together as fellow soldiers of the Lord and faithful prayer partners! What a wonderful Lord! Due to the unstable power supply and internet services as well as the expensive mobile data charges, we can only meet via audio connection. Even though they will get disconnected from time to time, they remain upbeat and persistent. The pandemic did actually help us with our transition. Since meeting online has become the “norm” over these two years, there were no resistance to our remote ministering to our churches in South Africa. It has even expanded our ministry to those outside of our usual area of contact. We just finished Paul’s letters from jail and started to study one of the gospels. Please pray for our sisters in this group, especially for their internet connections.
In mid-January, a 7-story Chinese wholesale building in Durban was severely damaged by fire. Fortunately, it happened in the morning, and everyone was able to evacuate with no casualty. In addition to storefronts and storage facilities, there are apartments on the sixth and seventh floors. This is the place we called home since 2012 until we moved out at the end of 2021. We had been holding worship services in our place for 8-1/2 years before the pandemic. There were about 15 Christian families in the building. This sudden disaster reminds us that nothing is forever. There is no time to wait for another opportunity to proclaim the good news; we need to seize every moment as if it is the last chance.
We heard that some people packed their cash in bags and threw them out the window, but the bags broke open as they hit the ground, and they were quickly swept up by people on the street. A lot of Chinese merchants would keep cash in their homes, and the amount they had was a lot larger than usual after Christmas. This fire did not allow them to go back to their apartments, and their money was burned to ashes. This calls to mind what John said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life,…” (John 6:27) Indeed, men should seek eternal life earnestly. These business people work so hard for money that cannot last, how much more should God’s people proclaim the gospel with all we have.
Even though the fourth wave of the pandemic in South Africa has been slowly subsiding, there are still over 1,000 cases each day with over 100 deaths. The main reason is its low inoculation rate, which is around 30%. To be ready to tackle a new variant, more people in South Africa need to be vaccinated. Due to the adverse economic impact, xenophobic incidents have been on the rise. On February 14 th , protests and subsequent violence broke out against shops of foreign nationals in the Alexandra area of Johannesburg. Some shop owners fought back, and 12 persons suffered injuries. People were calling for the expulsion of all foreigners, no matter if they are legal or illegal immigrants. Please pray that the government can come up with the right policy to stabilize its economy.
Please pray for the following:
- We thank God that South Africa is approaching the end of its fourth wave of the pandemic. May the Lord continue to help the government in carrying out effective measures.
- May the Lord help the people to understand the importance of vaccines and be willing to get vaccinated.
- Please pray for our brothers and sisters that suffered lost in the fire of the Chinese wholesale building in Durban. May the Lord comfort them, help them in their recovery and guide them in their new endeavors.
- May the Lord continue to bless our online worship services and Bible studies for the two churches in South Africa.
In His service,
Ko-Ta & Christina