NEWSLETTER
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March 2007
Greetings from South Africa:
Is it really possible that March could be here already? The saying must be true – “Time flies when you are having fun.” And, we have been having a lot of fun, here at the Zakariasen house. Over the past month, we have experienced much joy in many of our ministries, and it is exciting to see the continual work that God is doing among the African people.
This past month, we were blessed to have our first baptismal service for Kopano Baptist Church. Our original plans to have the service at a nearby river did not work out, so the Zakariasen’s backyard and swimming pool became the ideal location. On February 11th, the congregation of Kopano Baptist Church joined together in a very meaningful and memorable service. We rejoiced together as we saw seven brothers and sisters in Christ take a step of faith, following the Lord in believers’ baptism. It was an incredible blessing to see these seven people make a public demonstration of their love and commitment to our Lord, Jesus Christ.
It has also been a joy to see an increasing number of people in attendance at our Sunday evening services. We were blessed to have 101 people in attendance, recently. While numbers are not our focused aim, it is very encouraging to see many new people visiting from Gastaldi and other surrounding areas. We pray that these people would continue to attend the services, and that they would come to realize their need for Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of their lives.
In addition to the many joys we have experienced in ministry, it has also been very fun for me to have a few new South African experiences. I recently attended my first South African rugby game, and found it to be a very enjoyable sport. I probably would have enjoyed it even more had I understood what was happening throughout the game. Fortunately, by the end of the game, everything was starting to make sense, and the Bulls made it a nail-biter all the way to the end… This past month, we took a day off school and took a field trip to an amusement park in Johannesburg – Gold Reef City. It was a great day of fun, as the park was virtually empty and we had most of the rides to ourselves. Ben, Nathan, Caleb, & I had a lot of fun riding on the many upside-down, stomach-dropping roller coasters… With baseball spring training starting up in the United States, again, we thought it only appropriate that we get back into playing baseball, here at the Zakariasen house. Throughout my time here, I have been teaching the kids the rules of baseball and how to play. As of late, we have been putting our “lessons” into practice, and have been enjoying many baseball games in the backyard.
School is running in full swing, and the kids are anxiously awaiting their first holiday of the year, coming up in a few weeks. I am really enjoying my role as teacher to the Zakariasen kids, and am very thankful for the opportunity to brush up on some of the information I have failed to remember, since my years in school. I am still very much enjoying my ministry with the Grade 1 Sunday School class at Central Baptist Church, as well. Recently, we began working on a few songs to present to the congregation at Easter time, so that has been fun. It has been a blessing for me to be involved in this form of children’s choir, as children’s choir has always been something I have enjoyed being a part of. Throughout the month of February, I was also blessed to attend a Sunday School training seminar. I found the seminar to be very beneficial, as far as introducing some new ideas for teaching young children, as well as reinforcing, and refreshing in my mind, some of the things I already knew.
As I sit here writing, I am suddenly struck by the realization that my year in South Africa is coming to a close. As I reflect back upon my time in South Africa, I cannot help but be filled with awe and amazement at what God has done in my life, over the past several months. God has been with me every step of the way, through the good times and the bad times, and He has constantly proved faithful. I am certain that these last 10 weeks will prove to be no different, and I am very excited to see how God is going to work in my life. Although, complete and total surrender to God has been my goal throughout my time in Africa, I find myself increasingly motivated to make these final weeks really count, for the glory of God. I would appreciate your prayers, as I continue to allow myself to be clay in my Potter’s hands. I am a work-in-progress and still very rough around the edges, but I am excited to see God work, as He is continually molding me and shaping me into the woman He wants me to be.
Serving the Lord in South Africa,
Krista Smith
P.S. For current updates and pictures, please visit my website: www.journeytoafrica.org
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