Furlough – Stefan and Marie Dell

Your Story Can Count

On our last Friday in South Africa, our youth pastor allowed us to share with 45 young people how effective their testimonies are to help others find Jesus.

Many Christians think they need theological or evangelism training before sharing about Jesus. But we all have a story of our lives before we became Christians, how we became Christians, and what our lives look like now (after receiving Christ).

While the young people were practicing their stories in pairs, we prayed for them to have many opportunities to tell their testimonies in the future.

One of the youth leaders reported that his sharing buddy confessed that he had not yet become a Christian but was moving closer to making that decision. We prayed for that young man to take that vital step.

Back In Orlando

We returned to Orlando with our hearts filled with African love and memories. A particular highlight was Marie’s sister from the UK, and her children, were also in South Africa. It was a sweet reunion for the Ferreira family. All the siblings were home for the first time in 6 years. We had precious times of fellowship and lots of “swallowship” – great braais and desserts!

We loved our time in South Africa and reconnecting with friends and family.

Prayer Requests:

Monica started her Matric year. Pray for stamina and guidance from the Lord as she starts applying to universities.
Kenneth continues his engineering studies. Pray for diligence.
Marie has two projects she is working on that are way out of her comfort zone. Pray for the Lord’s wisdom and creativity as she leads these projects.
Stefan has several people on his team with family members with health challenges. Pray for him to be a good ear and support to them.

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.

Less Than One Week…..

Passports – Check Winter clothes – Check Excitement – Check, Check

Less than one week to our departure for South Africa on 3 June, and we can’t wait!

Please continue to pray for our furlough preparation, and especially our emotional readiness. A lot has changed in our lives and in the lives of our family and friends over these two years. Pray that despite the changes, we would be able to reconnect with everyone.

Stories like the one below fill us with joy! Thank you for playing your part.

African Woman Shares Faith Against All Odds

[Collecting “changed life” stories like this one is a way Marie’s Team support the global leaders of CCC. We find and edit stories that show multiplying disciples as we try to illustrate and document our progress toward the goal of 10 million multiplying disciples by 2020. This greatly encourages others to keep sharing the gospel and making disciples (Matt. 28), and helps our national leaders continue to press on toward the goal of 10 million multiplying disciples.]

Growing up in an African nation where Christians face persecution for their beliefs, Teresa felt isolated as a new follower of Jesus. Her community has no churches. Believers who meet together must do so discreetly. Despite challenges, Teresa felt called to grow in her walk with Christ and to share the love of Jesus with her community.

It’s unsafe to discuss such topics openly, so Teresa turned to the internet for answers and found HabeshaStudent.com, the Amharic version of EveryStudent.com. She began emailing volunteers and staff who provide support to the website. Her primary concern? How to share the gospel without access to a printed Bible.

Efram, a volunteer with HabeshaStudent, introduced her to an Amharic Bible app for feature phones that he developed during an Indigitous event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She now uses this app to share the gospel with her friends and family.

Teresa is especially concerned about helping family members know Jesus. “If I don’t share the gospel with them, who will?” she asked. Upon her urging, Teresa’s family has started reading one chapter of the Bible every time they meet.

Though unsafe to meet in groups larger than three or four, Teresa leads a Bible study out of her home. She’s passionate about evangelism, knowing what is at stake. “Whenever I think about eternity, I get shivers,” she says.“It is not good that our brothers and sisters will go to eternal death as a result of not knowing the truth.”

Because of Campus Crusade’s digital strategies ministry, Teresa now has the evangelistic materials that fit her context and that she couldn’t get locally. “Nobody around me was able to give me advice on how I could serve and do ministry, but even if you are 1,000 kilometers from me, God used you ( Digital Strategies) to equip me for this work.”