Christmas 2008

Thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of the group that celebrated Christmas with us. I think we had 27 people in all. Some of the guys from the Congo that were with us mentioned that it was the first Christmas that they had ever received a present at.

Prayer Requests

1. Please pray for Sybrand and me as we begin our married life together. Pray that we will be a couple that honors God. Additionally, pray for us as we settle into ministry at a new church and with new people.

2. Pray for wisdom for Sybrand as he preaches to a wide spectrum of people and desires to make God’s Word practical to all that come.

3. Please pray that God will give us wisdom as to what to do about my house. We had thought we had sold it but some complications came up this week that have made us need to rethink this decision. We are evaluating whether we should rent it for awhile and sell it later when the real estate market has recovered some. Pray that if Lambano does purchase it, the sale will go through quickly and smoothly.

4. Please pray that God would give Sybrand and me wisdom as we decide what my ministry should entail.
   

5. Continue to pray for Martha as she takes over my responsibilities. Pray that God will use her greatly as she ministers among the people of Katlehong.

More Changes

Change in Mission’s Agency: One additional change that came about very recently was due to the news that GMI will not allow me as a married woman to stay on as a missionary. While this came as a surprise to me, I know it was not one to God and have seen His work through all of this. Shortly after I heard this news, I came into contact with Biblical Ministries Worldwide which is a mission’s agency operating out of Atlanta, Georgia. As I interacted with the field director here, I was encouraged by the passion they have to plant churches in the townships. The more we talked the more I saw that our philosophy of ministry was very similar. For many reasons, coming under their leadership seemed a natural fit and as of January all of my support will be channeled through them. This has been a sudden change and I have seen God work to bring together many pieces of the puzzle and continue to care for Sybrand and I. If you have more questions about this, please contact me. I am so grateful to God for those of you who have supported me through out the years.

Your giving has made my work here possible and your continued giving will help to make my continued ministry possible. If you would like to continue to support us, you can do so by mailing your checks to:

Biblical Ministries Worldwide
1595 Herrington Road
Lawrenceville, GA 30043-5616

Checks should be made out to Biblical Ministries Worldwide with a note attached that they are for the support of Sybrand and Beth de Swardt. Additionally, you can find information about automated giving at http://www.biblicalministries.org/support/automated.htm.

Looking Ahead

When I look ahead one word comes to mind: Change!

1. Change in status: In a little less then a month, I will be a married woman and on top of that be a pastor’s wife. While it at times in a little scary, I am thrilled with where God has brought me.

2. Change in Location and Ministry: A little over a year ago, I spoke at a women’s retreat. I came home and told my mom that it was a church I would love to be part of. Little did I know that a year later God would call my future husband to be their pastor. We are excited to become part of Lynwood Baptist Church in Pretoria for many reasons. It is a small church of about 100 people that has been without a pastor for almost three years. The unique thing about this church is that it is a mix of color and race which is very unusual for a church in South Africa. We are thankful for the opportunity that God has given us to minister at this church.

In many ways, God has uniquely prepared this church to reach out with the message of salvation specifically and to reach the black community where the gospel is desperately needed. This is especially true given the mixture of traditional (ancestral) worship, the prevalence of witchcraft, the HIV crisis, and tremendous poverty in these communities. The church is eager to get involved where very few are willing to go. Several factors have helped to lay the foundation for this kind of ministry in the church.

· The church has been involved in a church plant in the township in the past and is open to being involved again in this with the added component of training and equipping pastors in that specific context.

· The previous pastor was a Zambian who helped to lay a wonderful foundation of interracial relationships within the church. (Please note that while this is not unusual in an American church context, it is in a South African church context.) The church is well integrated both in the congregation and on the leadership and this gives added credibility as we reach out .

· The church is already involved in a ministry to domestic workers and hosts a weekly service for them.

· The leadership is desiring to develop in its outreach ministry. We have had several conversations with the leadership within the church recently where they have indicated that they believe the church really needs to grow and develop in reaching out effectively to the black community.

Sybrand and I have spent a great deal of time thinking through and praying about my potential ministry in the church. There have been many opportunities presented to us. I will just share a few of them with you.

· God has already brought people from the township to our church that are great vehicles to take the gospel to this context and so have a tremendous impact for Christ in the townships. Many of you have often heard me talk about how the gospel is really the only solution to the crisis facing South Africa’s townships. Because of the make-up of the church, I have a unique opportunity to combine my desire to be involved in women’s ministry and my passion to reach our townships for Christ. We would love to see these women more fully integrated into the life of the church which must be done through building relationships with these women and, Lord willing, to disciple some of them equipping them for the task because of the potential to have a tremendous impact for Christ in the townships. We have discussed beginning with a Women’s Bible Study specifically for them. We are thinking of starting with an evangelistic study that they could bring their friends to which would serve as a way to help them begin to reach out to those around them.

Our prayer is that God would equip these women and help us, as a church, to develop avenues into the townships they live in where we could begin to develop mercy ministries. They can serve as a bridge into these spiritually dark communities. We really desire to see our church more actively involved in meeting the needs (spiritual and physical) of our townships. These women could help us lay the foundation for this. Please pray that God gives us wisdom as to the best way to do this.

· We have also been encouraged by the contact we have had with a missionary couple relocating to South Africa from where they have been serving in Germany. They are part of a work called Thandanani (http://www.thandanani.org/default.aspx). Thandanani, from a Zulu word meaning "love one another," is a ministry begun by Biblical Ministries Worldwide-South Africa to foster a church-planting movement in the rural villages of South Africa, villages shattered by the AIDS epidemic and struggling to cope with the orphans that the scourge is leaving behind. The ministry they are involved in could be a wonderful one to partner with as we begin to reach out to the townships in practical ways.

· Additionally, Sybrand and myself have been approached about the opportunity to become involved in the Christian school that uses our church property. They are in the process of re-evaluating the purpose of the school and are thinking of using the school as an outreach into the community by providing children with a solid Christ-centered education. These children would then be equipped to go back into their communities and reach them with the gospel of Christ. We are working on building some bridges with the school by teaching some Bible classes once a week. The school is a mixture of black and white students and we hope in these classes to help deal with some of the issues that they are facing in a daily basis including issues like racial tension, AIDs, sexual purity and how to stand for Christ in a pagan world. Potentially, especially given my background in education, there are many opportunities for ministry at the school.

· I have been asked to help some with the administrative work of Grace School of Ministry (The counseling training program my father has started.) which is modeled after the counseling program I administrated for many years at The Master’s College. This year, they have 60 students involved from all over Africa (whites and blacks) and even parts of Europe. It is a great way for me to use some of my previous experiences to help in the training of nationals- many of whom will minister in the poorest areas. Given it is a distance learning program, there has been a need for someone to help in the area of student contact. I will be involved in helping to encourage the students in their studies and providing help in keeping them on track with their studies and helping to answer questions that arise in the course of their studies. Additionally, I will be helping with some of the grading.

· If you are aware of anything that is happening in Southern Africa, you know that things are a mess. Just look at Zimbabwe for example. Many are fleeing to South Africa and we have a unique opportunity as we minister to them to potentially not only influence South Africa but all of Africa. Our church has many refugees from various parts of Africa. Many of these refugees desire to go back to their home countries. As they are equipped, they have the potential to go back and influence their countries for Christ. It is a tremendous opportunity for our church.

Please pray that God would give Sybrand and me much wisdom as we decide what is the best investment of our time for the sake of the kingdom. Our first priority is settling into church life at Lynwood and focusing on our ministry there. Please pray for us as we get to know the people and especially for Sybrand as he begins to shepherd them.

There are many possibilities and we do not want to neglect what we believe to be our first priority right now – the church. Figuring all of this out will take some time to figure out especially has we settle into ministry at a new church.

Highlights of the last few months....

1. Teams: One of the biggest highlights was the two teams that came to minister here. The first was a team from The Masters College. They came primarily to minister at the two primary schools that I have been involved in. They were here for six weeks and had an incredible impact with the students and teachers at the schools. I can’t tell you how many comments I had about their attitudes and servant spirits. I was also told by a teacher that for the first time they saw what a Christian should look like. They were an amazing testimony to those they came in contact with.

The other team was the combined team from Grace Community and Calvary. They were a blessing and had many opportunities to share Christ and the gospel with many of the various schools in Katlehong. Keisha Reed who has been here ministering for a year along with our Malawian interns at the church have followed up with a Bible Study in one of the schools.

2. Martha: A real joy for me these past months has been to spend time training Martha to replace me in Katlehong. She and I have spent a great deal of time together and she is a real encouragement to me and a great asset to the ministry at Lambano. A particular joy for me has been the fact that Martha has started taking the Biblical counseling courses my father is teaching here in Pretoria. Seeing her grasp these truths has been thrilling and it is especially exciting to be leaving someone biblically trained to continue the ministry.

3. Evangelistic Bible Study: We started and have completed the evangelistic Bible Study in Katlehong. I taught the first week and it became clear that I was more of a hindrance then a help because of the language issues. Martha stepped in and has taught the class while I handed out food parcels so our worker could come. One woman made a profession of faith and about 10 others heard the gospel. Pray as Martha continues with this study in the New Year.

4. Katlehong Church: Many of you know that I have been praying for a church to be planted in Katlehong. Well, I recently found out that God answered my prayer 4 years ago and I didn’t know it. Through some new contacts, I heard of an American who has been ministering in Katlehong. I meet with him and his wife a few weeks ago and was encouraged by their love for the Lord and their selfless ministry to the people of Katlehong. It is even in the same area that the people we help live in. Martha visited the church and it seems solid. How exciting to finally have a church to send people to! Martha plans to go one Sunday shortly after Christmas with some of the children we sponsor in Katlehong. The pastor has offered to pick up the children for Sunday school in the weeks following.

5. Other opportunities: Other the past few months I have had many opportunities to minister to various women’s groups at several churches. Included in this was an opportunity to speak to a group of pastor’s wives on my favorite topic: discipleship. Additionally, I was able to be involved teaching a women’s class at Grace School of ministry (my father’s counseling course.) It was a real joy to be able to work with women from various parts of Africa.

Apologies....

I have been a very bad blogger and to the two of you who still read my blog, I am about to update. I'm not going to post pictures right now but will soon.