Hammett Updates
January 21, 2008
Brethren
This will most likely be our last update, until we see you face to face in a few days!!! We are overjoyed at the thought to reconnect with each of you again in a short matter of time, as we prepare to head home for furlough. We are moving the house into storage tomorrow. Wednesday we will head down to Johannesburg with the Wilhites, and on Thursday we will fly out for NY. Our flight is scheduled to arrive at JFK on Friday around noon.
Our departure from Africa is not all excitement though. We are leaving our hearts here with the dear folks that God has allowed us to influence with the Word of God over the last 3 years. Today was a bittersweet day, as it was a last day in the villages here, ministering the Word of God and discipling men. We met again this morning at Mhlaba Cross Village, where David finished lesson 3 about repentance and faith. I attached a picture of some of the folks that were there this morning. After lunch, at the house, we met together for the Lord's Supper service with the baptized members here. What a sweet time together as we remembered our Lord's Death and Victory over sin. Isn't it great to know that the blood of Jesus Christ still cleanses people from sin and changes folks lives???!!!!!!!
This afternoon we were back at Fel's house, with a good group returning from last week. Some were missing, but we still had 10 adults and 10 children, so we praise the Lord for that. Please pray as these men seek to carry on by themselves with all of the open doors and opportunities.
We will see you all this weekend, Lord willing!
For Souls,
Bro George
January 14, 2007
Brethren
Thanks so much for your prayers for us. We have had a full week of packing and preparing to come back to the States, and yet imparting so many important truths to the men here before we go. The Lord blessed us with tremendous services today both in the morning and afternoon.
This morning we were back again to Mhlaba Cross Village, where David taught the 3rd salvation Bible study. There were 14 Africans there today for the study, and most of them seem to be very interested and listening well to the Scriptures. Please continue to pray for Jeanette and her family, friends, and neighbors for salvation.
This afternoon we went to Fels' house, near Motupa Village. There have not been many 'visitors' to work with at Motupa over the last several weeks, so Fels asked if we could try to organize some folks at his place, and take our group there on Sunday afternoons instead. Now, I know that I should have told him "no...we can't do that....we are starting a church in Motupa". Really, it was a blessing to me to see his initiative and desire to reach people. So we went there today for the first study. As you can see from the picture he really did the work this week in preparation to get the folks to come. In all there were 27 Africans this afternoon....2 men slipped out before we took the photo. What a blessing to see God give Fels the opportunity to preach the Gospel with boldness to his mother, aunt, sister-in-law, and neighbors, at his own house! My heart was blessed today watching our faithful band of men doing all the teaching, preaching, inviting, and organizing of all the details.
There are some other blessings to share from the weekend as well, as we have seen God developing some special things in some of the men's lives here. We will wait to share with you in person though, when we return to LVBC!!!
We must finish packing the house this week and closing things down. Sunday will be our last services here; Monday we move out of the house; Wednesday we head to Joburg; Thursday night we board the plane; and Friday the 25th we will (Lord willing:-) land at JFK.
We appreciate you all and look forward to seeing you soon.
For Souls,
Bro George
January 5, 2008
Brethren
I have been intending to get an update off to the church over the last several days, but we have been a bit preoccupied tying down some of the final details and packing the house before we head home to the States in less than 3 weeks. Our plane leaves here on the 24th, and we will arrive in NY on the 25th around 12 noon. We appreciate your prayers for us in these last few days to have wisdom to know exactly what else we need to impart to these men before we leave them for a year. We are planning a special Lord's Supper service with the baptized folks here on the 20th, and that should be a special time.
I know that many of you prayed for the funeral service of the little baby, that we were invited to preach at 2 weeks ago in Mhlaba Cross village. Last Sunday, due to some of the 'holiday complications', we were unable to go to Kujwana village in the morning for our normal Bible study. So, I called Jeanette, the one who asked us to preach the funeral, and asked her if we could come in the morning and have a Bible study with some of the folks in her neighborhood. This was on Saturday night last week at 8:30. She readily agreed and gathered some 15 folks early the next morning to come and hear the Scriptures. We had a great first study with them, and are going back tomorrow morning. David, Fels, and Godfrey are taking care of everything (preaching, praying, song leading, etc.), which is all the more important since we are only here for a couple more weeks. Please pray for the folks in Mhlaba Cross, there is no doubt that the Lord has opened this door. We pray that they will respond to truth!
The guys are continuing to work with Silas and Sam. Please keep praying for their salvation. The holidays have sent them to visit relatives in other places, and therefore, time with them has been scarce. Sam is supposed to be at Motupa tomorrow though it sounds like.
We trust you have a great day in the Lord's House tomorrow.
Lord Bless,
Bro. George
December 23, 2007
Brethren,
Thank you to those who prayed for the funeral service this morning. I was able to go with David early this morning and preach a 15 minute Gospel message at the graveside. It really was a very sad ordeal. In African tradition, when a little baby dies, the men are often not allowed to accompany the funeral procession to the graveside. They allowed us to be there, since we were preaching, and the father was there. When we finished preaching, they asked everyone to leave, including the father, and then they carried on with some ritual to cleanse the mother of the dead child from evil spirits/bad luck. They believe that if they don't do this, then the mother may not be able to have any more children. After they finish their rituals, then a few men are allowed back to finish filling the grave with dirt. Every funeral here is surrounded with a great deal of fear, but especially the funeral of little children. It is sad to see the people with no hope, groping for answers in the darkness.
Please pray for these folks at Mhlaba Cross village. We still have contact with them, and will be trying to see next week if we can get a group of folks together to study the Scriptures. It does seem that God has opened a door to work with them, through many various circumstances over the last several months. It was undeniable that the Lord wanted us there this morning, and I trust that our show of concern will open the door further. Please pray to that end.
We hope that you all have a very Blessed Christmas and that there will be many opportunities to speak for the Savior. We are looking forward to visiting with the Wilhites tomorrow, a quiet day together on Tuesday, visiting with some of our folks here on Wednesday, and then visiting with the Kuzels on Friday. So it should be a full week of fellowship!
Lord Bless,
Bro George
December 16, 2007
Brethren
Thursday, David went to visit with Roger in Burgersdorp. It was a good opportunity to share Christ with him again, but sadly, Roger was not really much more receptive than before. We praise the Lord though for being able to give him yet another chance to hear the Gospel. Please keep praying for those dear folks in Burgersdorp, that God would remove the blinders from their hearts.
Fels was visiting with Sam (from Motupa) again today and preaching the Word of God to him. He exhorted him strongly to get this matter of salvation settled tonight before it is too late. Sam told him that he is planning to come tomorrow, but it is Christmas time, and he didn't know if somebody might drop by to visit him. I thought that Fels advice to Sam was well beyond his years in Christ....he replied, "Just tell them, not today, I have to go to church today....maybe another time we can visit together. Sam, don't let the devil steal your chance to hear the Word of God."
I know that many of you prayed this morning for these 2 fellows, Sam & Silas, so I wanted to let you know how the day went. We had torrential rains again last night into the morning, so we were unable to meet with the folks at Kujwana today. But, Silas still met us in town, and David and Fels took turns tag-team preaching to him after lunch. I do believe that he knows he is lost, and even under conviction at this point, although perhaps trying to run away from the conviction. Please pray for the hand of the Lord to be unrelenting in drawing him to Christ.
Sam also came this afternoon to Motupa. Fels did a great job teaching the lesson, and David finished it off with a powerful salvation application. Sam is also under conviction, and I believe perhaps even closer to getting things settled than Silas is. Sam is off work now until the new year, so Fels already has plans to go and find him again this week.
The time for furlough is drawing nigh, and we have already begun the process of packing things up. We appreciate your prayers as we try to balance all of the packing up/closing down, yet pressing forward with the work and the spiritual needs here.
For Souls,
Bro George