English Newsletter September 2011

Dearest Missionary friends:

We glorify the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness. In His grace He uses people who are weak and small to do work of everlasting importance. We re-ceive so many blessings from the Lord and He gives us the grace and the strength to do His work! We know that your prayers have a lot to do with this. The Lord is using you in a magnificent way to keep our hands uplifted. Also the finances that comes from some of you who are willing to bring an offering to the Lord, is so very important. We cannot be on the mission field without you and what you are doing. May the Lord bless you richly for what you are willing to sacrifice. We can only say: thank you, thank you. What you are doing is a great encouragement to us.

Left to right: Ben Booyens, Gretna Conradie,

Yvonne Conradie

“...Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” (Revelation 14:15) &

“ Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send workers into His

harvest field.” (Matthew 9:38)

Dr Booyens, one of our trustees visits the Philippines: On the 20th of July 2011, Yvonne, Gretna together with Dr Ben Booyens left South Africa for the Philippines. It was the first time that anyone from the South African committee were interested to go to the Philippines; and he spontaneously asked to go with the two ladies. This was a big encourage-ment for Yvonne and Gretna.

...Ely, our co-ordinator put together a very intense schedule for Dr Ben, and this kept him very busy for the two weeks he was here, and we quote some parts of his report here: “I was surprised to see the extent of the work which the late Dr Conradie had started. The work is much bigger and vast than what I could ever have imagined. I would ask you all to seriously pray for this cause and to pray earnestly that the Lord will supply the necessary funds in order for the work to proceed. One day in heaven we will see thank-ful faces of people who have met Jesus Christ as Saviour and Redeemer because of this Organisation. Please also pray for Yvonne and Gretna that their needs will be met. They were a great inspiration to me and to think that Yvonne at her age (77) still sees fit to carry on with this work and to continue with her part which she is doing. This is praise-worthy!”

Dr Ben also gave us more insight in his day to day pro-gram and to which parts of the Philippines he went. One of the places he men-tioned was Lingayen where Pastor Magno and his wife is working. A door opened for Dione Magno which en-ables him to have a 45 min-ute slot on Mondays at the Police College. This time the chance was given to Dr Ben to speak to the police-men. We see him on the photo where he is address-ing the almost 100 police-men. What a wonderful op-portunity! More doors opening in the Philippines We have already reported in a previous edition that Ricardo is allowed to teach “Values Education” in one school, but this was only in the primary section; but now the situation has become even better, because the doors of the High School is also opening for him. And this is where Gretna comes in. She is now seen as their “music director”. They

Main: Ben bringing a message to the policemen

Cecile (also one of our Filipino team) also wrote an interesting report, and she reports that her place is now also used to have a Prayer Meeting and Discipleship Bible Study for College Students. She mentions: “we are using Dr Conradie’s compilation Bible Study guide. We are now in Bible Study no 7 part 1 on prayer. The rest of the days were our regular classes in School with our 17 little children – 11 boys and 6 girls. They love to hear Bible stories and memorise verses. I have two volunteer teachers. Pray for God’s provision for our daily needs. Also my mother is with me for almost three months now. She needs prayer and medication.”

Main insert (Left to right): Gretna Conradie, Martin Napeek [the principal] and Ricardo Arcino

have been busy for about three weeks at this stage and so far everything is going very well and the pupils are responding beautifully. The photo shows Gretna with the Principal of the school, Mr Martin Napeek and Ricardo. Please pray for this wonderful opportunity that The Lord has given them and that they will make the best use of it. Many other things are also planned to reach the youth and to help them to get out of all the wrong things many of them are involved in.

Photo left to right: The children at the school enjoying a meal together.

...We also quote from some other workers’ reports. This is from Virgie Ket-eng’s report: “Our Bible Studies are very much alive. The Wednesday Bible Study is OK. Present are one family with 2 small kids. The husband reads the verses in the Bible while the wife asks questions regarding ‘The result and implications of salvation.’ She is very inter-ested. The Saturday Bible Study composes of two old people, husband and wife. They are already 86 years old but very eager to listen to what the Bible says ‘How to become a child of God.’” And further we also read what Espino writes about his bible studies. “Bible study with the youth where my wife has been handling it every Saturday. She had to start again with Bi-ble study 1 because some of them were new and for the others she does not think they have mastered it yet. We are also starting a bible study in Alumit. This is the result of my wife who was waiting at my son’s school and started sharing to other mothers who were waiting also. Please pray for the success of the new Bible Study that it will really take off. Yes, this is a long and tedious work that may stretch over months and years, and needs a lot of commitment. Is it for this reason that discipleship making (in the true sense of the word) is not a real option for many Christians and churches? It is not as exciting as evan-gelization actions or revival services, but it is the strategy of the Lord. For this reason we do it. In the long run it will bring up much more fruit as the man made actions and plans for church growth, etc. The most effective way to do church planting and church growth on a healthy basis is to follow the slow, tedious and less interesting way of making disci-ples. The Lord God does not make mistakes and there are no short cuts to becoming a true Christian. Unfortunately, some of the bible studies that have been started and even went on for some time, for many reasons did not continue. People loose interest, move...

Main Insert: Cecile with the children she teaches in their class room

...away or even go back into the world. This is of course a great disappointment for our workers and since Pieter & Yvonne also went through this earlier when they were here in the late 90’s. At this stage Yvonne, who is still around, knows all about it, and has experi-enced it. Now Yvonne is back in the Philippines and tries to encourage them to PERSE-VERE! But, then there are some bible studies that work out so beautifully, that those who participate “.... shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father”. (Matthew 13:43)

Main insert: Maela and Yvonne

To end with, we have this wonderful story to tell. Not far from where the Conradie ladies live, there is a lady, living on her own. Her name is Maela. Yvonne was introduced to her and had the opportunity to share the gospel with her. The next day she accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord. We have to mention, however, that there were other friends, one day ahead of this meeting who was trying to lure her into the religion of Taoism. This wasn’t the only time that people tempted her to go into false religions. There were other times when she weigh up her options in converting to Buddhism, Hinduism and even oth-ers. Even, though she was not a born again Christian, until a few days ago, the Lord kept His hand on her in a wonderful way - keeping her seeking heart. Whenever any-thing happened, and through most of her life, she had one verse holding, as if like a shield in front of her: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me”. (John 14:6) and this has kept her from going along with the False Religions. What a testimony of God’s faithfulness.

How to Pray for Missionaries? www.allaboutprayer.org

Our prayers for missionaries should always be that they stand in God's armor and that their service as servants of God be not in their own strength but in the grace and strength of the LORD. We can pray for the missionary's protection from evil and that their daily needs be provided. Here are some specific, practical areas of missionaries' lives to pray for: • Solid family relationships. The tasks of full-time ministry, often in a foreign culture, can cause a strain on the relationships within a family -- husbands and wives, parents and children. Pray that the Lord would strengthen these family bonds and draw them close together.

• The well-being of family members from whom they are separated. When missionaries leave their homes to serve God on the mission field, extended family remains behind, and children sometimes leave their parents for schooling. Pray for the health, safety, and encouragement of these family members.

• Strength in the "inner man" (Ephesians 3:16). Loneliness, discouragement, despair -- these struggles occur in the lives of missionaries, and sometimes frequently. Pray that their hearts are encouraged and strengthened.

• Provision of physical needs. Missionaries depend on others for their financial support, and at times, that can be burdensome. Pray that God would supply their every need (Philippians 4:19)

• A strong personal walk with God. Pray for daily faithfulness to spend time in God's Word in the midst of ministry busyness. Ask God to protect and strengthen them spiritu-ally and cause them to grow in their relationships with Him.

• Good physical health. In foreign lands, good health care can be hard to find. Pray for physical strength on a daily basis and long-term good health.

• Strong relationships with co-workers. Sadly, personality conflicts and relationship strug-gles happen among missionaries as they seek to work together to bring people to Christ. Pray for unselfishness, kindness, and humility in these cooperative efforts (Philippians 2:3-5).

• Ability to speak accurately. Ask God to cause them to speak with clarity and precision as they declare God's Word (Colossians 4:3-4).

• Opportunities to relax. Servants of God are just like anyone else--they need a break sometimes! Ask God to provide them with recreation and rest.

• Wisdom in all they do. Pray for the wisdom to make good decisions in their personal lives, as well as their ministry lives (James 1:5.)

In short, the model prayer that the LORD Jesus taught the disciples in (Matthew 6:9-13 is a good guideline for our prayers for missionaries. However, the key is not so much what we pray but that we pray and how we pray. In other words, prayers for missionaries should be a part of our personal worship time. Our prayers should be fervent, and come from a righteous heart that is in full relationship with God (James 5:16).Effectual prayer is prayer in an attitude of fellowship and agree-ment with God's will. When we pray "Thy will be done" in specific areas of need, God not only changes us but He uses our prayers for it is the power behind His armor. "Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere" (Ephesians 6:18).

Standard Bank: Montana Branch Account No: 020175876 IBT Code: 015945

Design by ear2hear Ministries - website: www.ear2hearministries.za.org

ABSA Bank: Kempton Park Branch Account No: 9064970731 IBT Code: 50444244

E-mail: asia2000@global.co.za

(South African Mission Office)

conradiesbaguio@gmail.com (Philipines Mission Office)

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Telephone: (012) 332 2601 or (012) 332 2602

Fax: (012) 332 3665

Postal Address: P.O. Box 31192, Waverley, 0135

The work in Cambodia: A while ago we had some very good newsletters and e-mails from our workers in Cambo-dia. We are so thankful to report that the work there is going from strength to strength. In our next newsletter we will give a detailed report about the work over there. We can only say at this stage that there are things happening there that will make our readers jump for joy. Thank you once again to each and every one of our dear missionary friends who are praying so faithfully for us, communicate with us, and giving your offerings to us. The Lord’s blessing will be upon you. Would you please pray for every need that we have mentioned, for new and old projects that we are busy with and if at all possible, for each of our working team, separately. With all our love in the Lord - Yvonne, Gretna, Ely and the two teams