Jesus is on the move!

Date: 18/3/2025

Thank you for being a part of this ministry. Thank you for opening this email and taking the time to read it. 

Friend, we have exciting news to share: we are seeing Jesus move in the Eastern Cape! Though the soil seems hard and dry, it is no match for God’s love! As the old song goes: step by step we’re moving forward, little by little we’re taking ground. 

On Sunday the 9th of March, our little congregation in Stutterheim joined another, new local church for worship. We believe we have received an invitation from the Lord to take hands with other members of His Body who might express their faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God a little differently, but just as sincerely. After the meeting, Renée met a local teacher at the school in whose run-down, tired, “rustic” hall the church meets. 19-year-old Ntombi is a grade one teacher at the school. She wanted to show Renée her classroom. Renée inquired what she might be in need of. Her immediate answer was: crayons! Friend, crayons. Not a Mercedes, not a laptop, not a house of her own (she lives on the school premises). We felt like the Lord invited us to help her, and so Renée asked for a longer list of needs. Here it is:

 

And so we reached out to our closest friends, sharing with them the need that exists in this grade one classroom, with 7 learners, in a little school, in the small town of Stutterheim. As Renée and I prayed that evening, we received a notification that an American friend had just paid in 18 TIMES what we had originally budgeted to help Ntombi with. Thank you, JESUS! Now we are able to support Ntombi with her whole list, and we are able to help members of our little Stutterheim fellowship who have outreaches of their own - THE GOSPEL IS ON THE MOVE! 

Now friends, as you may know, Renée and I serve with Henk and Marise Kleinschmidt of Aflame Ministries. It has been such an honour to witness how intensely their hearts burn for Jesus and for His revelation to be taken to the darkest corners of our country. One of Aflame’s most dear ministries is to orphaned children. Friend, the Lord is jealous over the orphan and the widow. It is everywhere in the Bible. And so Aflame has started an NGO called Bambanani Projects, an Article 18A organisation with the sole aim of getting orphaned children home. Did you know that, according to Stats SA, around 5% of South Africa’s population is orphaned at the moment? Friend, that is 2.8 million children. Please read that again. 2.8 million people is the entire population of the Tshwane metro area. Imagine that whole city filled with fatherless and motherless children. Friend, is it any surprise that our country is facing the challenges it currently is when we consider this? 

BUT WE HAVE A HOPE AND THE ANSWER: JESUS!

Through Bambanani Projects, Henk and Marise are fighting for not just roofs over heads, but Christian places of safety, responsible foster parents, and parents looking for adoption. 

And friend, THEY ARE FINDING THEM! 

Meet the Golela family:

They (all five of them!) are willing to take in three siblings as foster parents. Three children off the street, into a loving, clean home, with parents, and siblings to play with. We know the parents well and see them regularly and so we can support them.

I can hear you asking: “That’s great, so why the newsletter?” Well, we need help. In order for these children to be allowed to live with this family, we need to renovate the Golela family’s home to make space for these three little children. These renovations will create a 3 bedroom house with a family room, kitchen and bathroom.

We have calculated after careful consultations and on-site measurements that this project will run R75 000. 

These are the building materials we will need: 

Building materials:

• Cement: 94 bags

• Stone: 4.5 cubes

• Sand: 6 cubes

• Mesh (2.4m x 6m): 2

• DPC (250MIC x 3m x 5m): 2

• Blocks (M6 190x390x140): 672

• Brick-force (150mm x 2.8mm x 20m): 5

• Timber (50 x 152 x 6m): 5

• Roof sheets (.3 x 610 x3.6m): 20

• Timber treated (38 x 76 x 6m): 5

• Washing basin (1200 x 480 double): 1

• Bath plug, trap and overflow: 1

• Bath mixer wall mount & H/shower: 1

• Rhino-board (9.5mm 1.2m x 3.6m): 24

• Door (2 panel safe door): 3

• Doorframe (70x45 813): 3

• Window Aluminium: 3

Dear friend, if you feel led to contribute a bag of cement that you have lying around, or a donation towards this cause, please reach out to Henk Kleinschmidt at info@bambananiprojects.co.za or at 082 782 4960. 

This was quite the newsletter. Bless you for sticking to the end! We are excited to see Jesus have His full reward in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We are praying for His love to reach these forgotten millions of our country. For hearts to turn to the Good Father who loves them as no man ever could. Child by child, step by step, we hope to further the Gospel by getting these children home. 

Love and Light, 

Willem and Renée