Year 2011 In Review

Dear Brethren, family and friends

Brief Introduction

Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In this year 2011 in review we give all our worship and the Glory to our Great God who worked wonders in and through His servants. It was a year where Gary Crous also stepped out in faith on 1^st April 2011, giving up his secular occupation as a paralegal estates’ administrator with a legal firm of attorneys in Pietermaritzburg in which he was employed during two periods of time spanning about 15 years, since starting there in October 1993. He was called into the evangelism ministry and without a pension or any monetary hand-out from this company, he committed himself into the Hands of God to lead him and provide for his needs and those of his family. God has been good and faithful in that at the time of Gary answering the call, this ministry took over from Brother Michael Rogers who headed up the Living Waters Africa gospel tracts and material branch of the Living Waters USA ministry, to go into full-time pastoring in northern Johannesburg. Gary also does a little attendance work at the High Court for a trust company in Durban whilst his loving wife Tammy is still in employment for a season and we are presently living on less than half of what was previously available. It certainly has its trials, but Praise God!



God’s Mercy and Grace is Sufficient

There have been many trials, tribulations and some persecution along the way, both in private and in public affairs, and with much prayer we continue seeking the Lord’s face and His will with many tears being shed along this path. Throughout, the journey has by the Mercies and Grace of God our Father been sufficient, sustaining us in this wonderful, fulfilling and learning experience, adventure and blessing. We can think of no other way to experience life than to do the will of God. It has not always been plain sailing, though, and there have been many times when we have stumbled and fallen, but God was there to lift us up, to carry us, correct us, chastise us, comfort us, provide for us, heal us, forgive us and truly love us – we could not do anything without God our Father. Praise is to God alone!

Gospel Tracts and Distribution of Scripture Materials



This is a Gospel booklet titled

YOUR LIFE: GOD’s

SOLUTION

TO YOUR RELIGION.

Created by this ministry

During this year, much of the work was taking the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the streets. As street evangelists, open-air proclaimers of the Good News, we have had the opportunity of distributing thousands upon thousands of Gospel tracts, booklets and other scriptural materials personally as a ministry and we have also been blessed to be a provider where materials have been purchased and posted, at times, to the corporate Body of believers who have laboured together in our Lord’s harvest fields, both locally and internationally. We have also sought the Lord in this regard through much prayer, and it has now come to pass that the stewardship of the provisions given to us have not always been used as wisely as it should be. The main reason for this has been an adverse Rand / Dollar exchange rate that has worked against this ministry in the latter months of 2011, in that it has – as at present – deteriorated from about R6.80 / R7.00 to a top heavy +R8.00 to the US Dollar. We have been ‘burdened’ at times with the freight postage costs from the US where the costs are sometimes double the cost of the actual materials purchased, especially where heavier items are ordered, like books and Bibles of which we have ordered a few hundred or so of the WOTM Basic Training Course Study Guides. Over and above this, manifest costs need to be paid by the ministry when the parcels arrive from the US to clear at our local postal office. With immediate effect, the ordering of Living Waters’ Gospel materials is being discontinued until further notice. All pending orders, will be refunded to the recipients who have made payment already and we request your banking details by e-mail. We apologise for any inconveniences this may have caused you. Further, we are blessed of God to advise that we have started designing our own South African version Gospel tracts and booklets and other Biblical literature will, Lord willing, follow. We have also printed the first batch of 250 of the 16-page A7 booklets titled: “Your Life: God’s Solution to Your Religion”

(http://www.4shared.com/document/Cit3UVQS/Luke_923_Evangelism_Your_Life_.html),

which did not last long before they were all given away upon the streets and in shops. Brother Lungisa Zondi has also kindly completed the isiZulu translation of the text which hopefully should be compiled by the printers and be printed in January 2012. Our Brother Sello Rasephei is also busy with the Sesotho and Xhosa translations of the aforementioned booklet tract. We also hope to have two other projects hit the printing presses in January 2012 which are the following: 

• “Creation vs. Evolution: Do Not Let Darwin Make a Monkey Out Of You” 20 page A7 Booklet. We hope to labour with Brothers Derrick King and Rory in using this particular booklet to reach out into schools and universities. Another project to be linked together with this one would be a booklet for “Abortions, Sex, Drugs, Alcohol and Pornography”. Please commit this to prayer.
• “Ten Grand” money bill – the 360^th Anniversary: 1652 – 2012; any takers wish to answer why? Yes, on the 6^th of April 1652 Jan Van Riebeeck landed at the Cape of Good Hope with three ships: Reijer, Dromedaris, Goede Hoop. Two other ships later arrived, named Walvisch and Oliphant, after attending to 130 deaths at sea.

Labouring and Meeting with Brethren



Jesse Boyd preaching while the evangelism team stand

around ready to speak to souls passing by:

Durban beachfront outside Joe Kool’s restaurant

We have had the privilege of God introducing us to our brothers and sisters in Christ from various walks, cultures, races, language groups and countries. This year we also had the privilege of meeting up with dear Brothers Jesse Boyd and Ricky Springer – of Full Proof Gospel Ministry (http://www.fpgm.org/) – as they sojourned through Southern Africa on their way to continue their evangelism ministry in Nepal. These American southern boys spent some time with dear family in the Lord, Grenville and Ruth Phillips and their family in Birchleigh, Gauteng province before joining us in KwaZulu-Natal for a week. During this time we ventured into the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho taking the Gospel of Christ to the near villages of the Basotho peoples of Africa – our base being Sani Pass, into small surrounding Midland towns like Bulwer (on our way to Lesotho) and Howick, and we also met up with Brother Vincent Piater and his bride Sister Kelsey – a beautiful newly wed couple now residing in the United States of America. We also stayed at the home of Brother Peter and Sister Catherine McGregor, met Vincent’s brother, Brother Jeremy and also a lovely newly converted Indian family during a ‘house’ church meeting on a Friday evening. Later, the evangelism team of Jesse, Ricky, Vincent, Kelsey, Jeremy and Gary took to the streets over that weekend taking the blessed Gospel of God to the unsaved souls of the eastern sea board city of Durban.

Here is a video of encouragement compiled and produced by Brother Jesse: More from Africa

Street Evangelism and Open-air Preaching



Lungisa Preaching

 During this year our Father has also blessed the coming together for the labouring in His Son Jesus’ harvest fields of KwaZulu-Natal and beyond, Brothers Lungisa Zondi and Gary Crous. During our great times together fellowshipping in the Lord, we have been far and wide in the “Seed Sower” – a Ford Bantam 1.6i van (GAL3V24 ZN) – and we have had the boldness to open our mouths and preach the only unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of mankind, to Sangoma witchdoctors selling their ‘muti’ wares (witchcraftmedicines) upon the streets in downtown Pietermaritzburg, to Muslim’s outside a mosque during their month of ‘Ramadan’, in streets and homes in townships and informal settlements, outside the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court and the High Court’s buildings, outside (and inside a waiting room for a short season) the Master of the High Court – Pietermaritzburg offices on regular occasions (by the Mahatma Gandhi statue – a good place to preach about false religions and idolatries). We also preached opposite the City Hall – the Mayor’s office – outside the Msunduzi Municipality A.S. Chetty offices and the Public Library, taxi ranks and upon the streets to every tribe and tongue of peoples passing by or groups sitting around. This has been a truly blessed time as we have had many persons engage us in conversation, and we have also had the opportunity, not of us, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit, of pointing some lost souls to Christ. We rejoice at the many who have heard the Word of God being proclaimed to them and having distributed Gospel literature into many of their hands.

2011 Ficksburg Cherry Festival

This year, as with last year in 2010, we were at the “Cherry Capital of the World” in the eastern Free State. So they say! We were there not to entertain our flesh, but to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Lord of all. This year Gary took his family along together with Lungisa and we stayed at our family’s home, Koos and Jan Kruger (Tammy’s sister) who showed hospitality towards us by opening their home to us and serving us. We met up with Brothers Sello Rasephei and Ndumiso Mndayi who travelled from Pretoria, Gauteng. It was a blessed time to have four tribes

 

present to labour [L – R: Ndumiso (Xhosa), Lungisa (Zulu), Gary (Afrikaans – so says Sello .  I agree) and Sello (Sesotho)] come together, who have One Father God Almighty. We, soldiers of the Cross were there to preach one True Gospel of One Lord, One King and One Saviour Jesus Christ! We also met up with another Brother Gill Neves and his wife who also laboured and served us with love, making sure we were hydrated with refreshments and snacks (it was hot!) – a truly loving couple who loves our Lord. Oh, and he is from Portuguese descent! The Body of Christ is truly colourful! Praise Jesus!

Prayer Requests

In closing, we ask that you please join us in taking our petitions before the Throne of Grace and committing all that this ministry says, think or do to our Great God:

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. (2) All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. (3) Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. ~ Proverbs 16:1-3

Some prayerful needs for 2012 and beyond are:

• That all our works are established by two or three witnesses and that we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit;
• To supply sufficient funds and provisions for the printing of the Word of God – in Gospel tracts, booklets, Scripture portions and faithful translations of Bibles. To supply our travel costs and to maintain the ministry’s “Seed Sower” vehicle;
• To bring true and faithful brethren to join with us in the Lord’s harvest field. That we will be obedient to God to be discipled and to disciple with our faithful witness of Jesus Christ. In all matters, including the application of God’s Word that we will not compromise the teachings and proclamation of the written Word of God;
• To provide sufficient Gospel resources so that we can travel the length and the breadth of this nation South Africa and beyond its borders to make distribution and take the Gospel of Christ  to all who God leads us to;
• To bring forth fruit of our labours, that many souls will come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit;
• To enlighten our knowledge and understanding in designing Gospel material and letting God move us in bringing to pass the materials that He ordains; and
• To provide for our physical and spiritual needs to sustain the work of the Lord which He has prepared before us.

(24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, (25) To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. ~ Jude 24, 25

Until the nets are full, for the Word of God and the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Crous Family and Lungisa