Glory Power Ministries - April 2007 Newsletter & Pictures
Dear Friends and Family,
We have never before experienced such massive prayer support as you have shown
us these last few weeks. We are blessed and honored to be connected with
you. We both have experienced healing. The doctor's diagnosis
of Myrna's prolonged illness switched from a spider bite to tick bite
fever and back to a dangerous spider bite that the doctor said could take
months to heal, but we didn't receive that. God gave Myrna strength
and faith, and she stepped out and went to the crusade/outreach we held last
week.
Pictures that will bless you of Glory Power Ministries bringing hope to Africa:
http://www.geocities.com/glorypowerministries/April2007_Page1.html
http://www.geocities.com/glorypowerministries/April2007_Page2.html
http://www.geocities.com/glorypowerministries/April2007_SquatterCamp.html
FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH:
We had an evangelistic outreach for three nights at the edge of a
city about an hour away from us. It was held at a school building right
next to Mokgoba, an extremely impoverished squatter camp. This was
our first time to see this camp. The day following the three night outreach,
we drove and walked through part of Mokgoba. This camp has more
Zimbabwean refugees than Mozambicans, along with some very poor South Africans. The
leader of Mokgoba said there were about 8,000 people in this camp, and
that Zimbabweans who are fleeing their country from starvation are arriving
daily at Mokgoba! WE COULD HARDLY HANDLE WHAT WE SAW! Many of the
tiny shacks and mud/stick structures were almost on top of each other - hardly
room to breathe. It has been raining lately, and we could clearly see
that the rain was coming through the holes in the shacks and mud structures. The
leader said that at least 6,000 people in the camp had no money and no job. It
was heart wrenching to enter their suffering. We brought mealie meal
(corn meal), veggies, fruit, soap, etc. to about 200 of some of the most desperate
ones in the camp and prayed with the sick and led people to the Lord as we
had opportunity. For the first time since we've been in Africa,
we saw very large bloated bellies on small children - severe malnutrition. Of
course, we gave them food, but we must help more. It broke our heart
when the leader and local pastor said NO ONE is helping these people in their
suffering - they go days without food. The leader said that people
in the city are afraid to go into Mokgoba - we believe there is fear but
there is also apathy among those who could help from the city. The
leader was very appreciative of the help we gave. We cannot turn our
faces away from this suffering. When we were ministering in the
camp and it started getting dark, these flying bugs came out in the camp. The
leader told us that many of the people catch these flying bugs and boil
them and eat them - I understand there is protein in these bugs, but it still
leaves their stomachs hungry and in need of more nutrition. Please pray
with us for wisdom how we can best help the helpless in Mokgoba in their
crisis situation.
We are also continuing to provide mealie meal and vegetables for five very
poor pastors and their families. It takes a real commitment here to be
a pastor, as most never receive any more than a tiny salary from their destitute
congregations. We honor these pastors for their commitment and care
for their people.
WHAT PRICE A SOUL?:
Our three day evangelistic outreach to the Mokgoba camp marked
the beginning of a church at the edge of this camp. A local pastor has
already followed up with many of the people who attended the outreach services. What
we did not know until the third night of our outreach was that another evangelist
had set up a tent at this refugee camp not long ago and had invited people
to come to his outreach - he had his tent set up there at the Mokgoba camp
for three months, and we were told that no one came the entire three months! The
leader of the camp who attended our outreach and a local pastor who
had invited us to preach there were both surprised and pleased - at least
150 people attended the last night which was very significant. During
the three nights over 100 accepted Jesus as their Savior and many were healed. Originally, the
crusade was planned to be citywide in the heart of town, which meant none
of these precious souls would have been reached. God's plan is always
best!
Don preached in three village churches this past month – a total of
95 have given their hearts and lives to Jesus in these services. Our
church in the village of Magona keeps growing so again we had to buy more chairs – 30
this time!
Don led an evangelism seminar that he presented to 15 local pastors that was
extremely well received. Evangelism is sorely lacking in this region,
and the pastors were motivated to be more bold in evangelizing.
REMEMBER THESE:
Glory Power Center – We are finalizing the location for the first Glory Power
Center. We plan to open the Center on April 28. So far there are
about ten people, including pastors, village heads, social workers and concerned
Christians whom we have named our "Care Managers." These Care
Managers have shown great compassion for the orphans and desperate in this
area. Our Care Managers have now begun, at our request, to give us names
and other pertinent information on the most needy orphans and families that
they have found. We will register these orphans and families with the
Glory Power Center. These registered orphans and families will be invited
to the Glory Power Center each month to receive food for the entire month,
clothing, shoes, spiritual counseling, Bibles, medical help, and anything else
we can give them. All the people in this community, including the Mayor
of Giyani, who have heard our plans for the Center are very excited and supportive. WE
ARE STEPPING OUT IN FAITH - IT'S GOING TO BE GOOD!
Orphan Placement - very good news - Esther, the associate pastor of
the church that we oversee in the village of Magona, along with her husband
have now taken two sweet orphans, Marcia and Gloria, into their home. Esther
and her husband have four children of their own in their home - now they have
six - they are courageous and compassionate! Marcia and Gloria, ages
13 and 9, lost their last parent in the last year or so. They lived initially
with their grandmother, but they ran away from her because she regularly
beat them. When we found Marcia and Gloria, they had no money or
food whatsoever, and we have been helping these precious girls ever since we
found them. Esther says Marcia and Gloria are the sweetest children
and give her no trouble, Marcia and Gloria love Esther and her family
and their new school; they are always beaming with smiles now.
BRICK BY BRICK:
House For Orphans: This past month we heard about and visited four orphans
whose shack had burned down. These orphans lost their parents; afterwards
the oldest orphan was raped and now has a baby. Then the orphans' shack
burned down along with their few possessions. The city of Giyani
gave these orphans a tent to live in, but it has been hard for them -
when it rains, their tent falls on them. Be sure to see our pictures
of the tent and a couple of the orphans. We have chosen a builder
and will start building a small house for these orphans this month. This
will be the first house we have built for orphans.
Toilet: We finally finished building a men’s and women's toilet
for our church in the village of Magona. It’s a long-drop toilet
and, of course, there is no running water, but it sure beats having to find
a tree or bush in the middle of the church service. This is a BIG deal
- the church members are thrilled!
HEART FOR WORK:
We helped Esther, the associate pastor of the Magona church, start her
own business. Esther had a broken down pick up truck, and we helped
her with the repairs and new tires. She hired a driver and just this
morning her business began – transporting furniture to Mozambique – she
will be making at least four times more money than she has ever seen in her
life. We are so, so happy for her! She is a GREAT woman of God,
a giving woman, a woman of integrity and strong faith, and God is blessing
her greatly. We are so thankful that Glory Power Ministries along with
you, our generous supporters, could be a part of this blessing in Esther’s
life!
DONATIONS FROM OUR U.S. FRIENDS:
You can continue to send any donations for Glory Power Ministries to:
Glory Power Ministries
PO Box 50875
Bowling Green, KY 42102-4175
If you want to give a donation by credit card, we accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, and Discover! You can call our administrator, Joan
Means, at 813-748-2815 and give her your credit card information.
DONATIONS FROM OUR SOUTH AFRICAN FRIENDS:
Banking Details:
Glory Power Ministries
Standard Bank Menlyn
Account #414510089
We are so honored to have Glory Power Ministries featured on the home page
of Pastor Paula White’s website. We understand her website gets
approximately a million “hits” a month! You can go to http://www.paulawhite.org and
see! Thank you, Pastor Paula, for sharing our ministry with so many.
Jesus told us in Matthew 25:34-40 that we minister to Him by feeding and clothing
the poor, and giving solid hope in Jesus Christ to the poor and needy. Thank
YOU for doing just that. As we often say, we are the hands, feet and
mouth, but you are literally making this possible through your prayers, financial
support and encouragement. You all are a divine connection!
On to victory,
Don and Myrna Paprocky |