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A wedding on the beach and a healing in India

With our toes in the sand and the sound of waves crashing close by, we had a very beautiful experience on Sunday, 30 June. Stefan had the joy of marrying his younger sister, Melissa and her husband Richard, on the beach in Kosi Bay. What made this intimate family wedding so special was the fact that all Stefan’s siblings were together for the first time since December 2011.

Family reunions is just one of the many wonderful things about our visit to South Africa. Another highlight is seeing all our partners and sharing with one another what God is doing. 

Speaking about what God is doing – we heard a great story from one of our church planters in India last week. It reminds us of the privilege we have to serve together for the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Rejoice with us as you read it.

“Rahina* saw a woman struggling with an incurable physical ailment touching Jesus garment and immediately getting healed. She was watching the JESUS film in her village in India. Rahina’s hope was revived! 

Rahina, a mother of two boys was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue and had been under treatment for a year. During a religious festival, she was possessed by an evil spirit. As her troubles increased, her family took her to a village sorcerer with the hope of finding some relief. However, their efforts were futile. 

Since the family was struggling to make ends meet, they could not afford to go for surgery as advised by her doctor. They were desperate.  

At this point, Rahina’s sister in law, a Christian, asked the family to take her to a Prayer, Care, Share group (PCS group), an initiative of our church planting strategy. Sensing the pathetic situation of Rahina, Pardo* a PCS group leader, prayed for the work of the Lord in her life. After the prayer, Pardo arranged the screening of JESUS Film. That day marked the turning point in Rahina’s life! She accepted Jesus as her Lord and Saviour and began to trust Him for a miracle to happen in her life too. 

After a week’s prayer, she experienced release from the bondage of the evil spirit. The PCS group continued to pray for her and they began to see her health being restored. After seeing the wonderful work of God in Rahina’s life, her husband and sons received Christ. Now her family is regularly attending the PCS group and sharing their testimony with others. As she began to learn the Word and grow in the Lord, she started a small Bible study group with 12 people.”  

*Names changed for security reasons

Prayer Requests:

Pray for Rahina and her family as well as all our church planters to walk closely with the Lord.

Pray also for us to have good connections with our partners as well as potential new partners.

Another family reunion, this time with Marie’s family.

Argentina, Albania and Adios Florida

Argentina – Marie attended a global gathering of our digital missionaries

We listened with rapped attention as missionary after missionary shared how God is opening doors for them to reach people for Christ using digital tools around the world, especially also in places that we traditionally have limited mission activity due to opposition. Sammy from Ethiopia told how their small little team led a social media campaign for one month, inviting people to an event where they would train people how to do evangelism. Twelve thousand people showed up!

I taught two training sessions and just enjoyed the interactions and also the great Argentinian food and tango!

Marie and her helpers explaining the taxonomy framework we are using to tag all our content so that it can be used over all our platforms.

Albania – Stefan joined our Eastern European church planters for planning and training

It’s been a roller coaster two weeks as I have been connecting with our church planting leaders across Europe. We were discussing training of churches, the challenge of a post-Christian/post-modern society and the lingering results of communism on the church today. We concluded that God is at work, even though it is harder here to see fruit than in other parts of the world. We look forward to seeing how God will use our strategies to see the harvest come in.

Stefan and Bekele Shanko (our vice-president for church planting) looking out over the city of Kruje

Adios Florida – Goodbye Florida for the next few months

We left the hot and humid Florida for sunny South Africa. We look forward to connecting with our family and ministry partners over the next two months. We hope to make some stops in the Vaal Triangle, Secunda, Cape Town, Durban and Gauteng and it would be lovely to see as many of you as possible.

Wow! You can watch the “I am” series now

We have often spoken about the Jesus Film, the most viewed and
most translated film based on the Gospel of Luke.  But there is a new
film available! It is a dramatization of the Gospel of John and is
produced by one of our partners. 

On the Jesus Film Project website and app, it is available as the full
film and in 49 segments.  The segments are short, anywhere from 2
to 7 minutes long. 

As Easter approaches, as a family, we’ve been watching a segment
each day of the “I am” series. It’s been powerful and the short
questions afterwards have sparked good conversation with the
children. It really brings John’s gospel to life in a new and
meaningful way. 

We’d like to challenge you to use this Gospel of John film series in
your devotions in the days leading up to Easter.  We pray that you
find fresh insights into the meaning of Easter.  

Click to go to the full version of the Gospel of John on the Jesus Film website.

Alternatively, you can download the Jesus Film App on your phone
or tablet. Here is what the Gospel of John looks like on the Jesus Film
App.  
Prayer Requests: During Easter our missionaries will have many
outreaches, both through face-to-face interactions and on-line
efforts. Please pray that many will be drawn to Jesus through these
events. Marie departs for Argentina tomorrow where she will attend a global meeting of our digital missionaries. Pray for fruitful
interactions and that the Lord will accelerate our efforts to equip
many to use digital tools to spread the gospel.

May you have a special Easter as we celebrate the Risen Lord! Thank you for your part in ensuring the Easter message is spread through
our work.

We appreciate you.
Stefan and Marie Dell

Hurrican Matthew

√ All bathtubs and containers filled with water

√ Kitchen stocked

√ Flashlights and extra batteries ready

√ School and offices close till Monday

We are preparing for our first hurricane, and it is a big one, projected to be a Category 4.

We would appreciate your prayers for Florida. We know that God has us, our neighbors and friends in His hands.

Also pray for the countries that have already taken the brunt of Hurricane Matthew – Haiti, Cuba, Caribbean Islands and Bahamas.

We hope to give an update on Saturday if conditions allow.