Connecting with
National Afrikaans
Church & Mission Leaders

_________________

Church & mission leaders from South Africa, Gideon Jacobs and Anthonie Kruger, paid us a visit during a recent US tour. Based in Smithfield, South Africa, "Uncle Gideon" ["uncle" is a respectful and personal title when addressing South African "elders"] heads the ministry of Kwasizabantu Mission in that region. Periodically, he and some of his church leaders tour the US. Their work has recently been coming into connection with holiness churches.

The warm and friendly fellowship shared with "Uncle" Gideon is very refreshing. He has again extended an invitation to us to visit his work and to work with them for a month or so in leadership training at various points throughout South Africa. This is another wonderful opportunity to impact national leadership!

Accompanying him on this trip was the principal of their Christian school, Anthonie Kruger. Although this was our first time meeting, we quickly became fast friends. Anthonie was in our area for several days after "Uncle" Gideon continued his tour. It was great to get to know him and to develop mutual respect and appreciation.

For your information, Joy's sister, Carol Witter, is now serving as a missionary under Hope International Missions at Ladybrand, South Africa. Ladybrand is approximately an hour and a half drive from Smithfield. Sometime before Carol and her team began their school year, she connected with the Smithfield mission school as part of her training for the school set-up in Ladybrand. Our new friend Anthonie is the principal of the Smithfield school with which she connected! It is definitely a small world!

[l-r: Steve Mowery, Gideon Jacobs, & Anthonie Kruger]

Our Prayer Card

Here is a view of our prayer card for the various ministries we have among holiness missions [for more details, see BLOG Entry 09/06/06].

To receive a hard copy or multiple copies of this prayer card, e-mail us at Missions@PVBI.edu with your request.

Moments for a
Missionary Meeting

Missionaries needs some moments to encourage one another. Thus, this brief --albeit refreshing-- meeting with others of like mind. What a joy is was to see once again Filipino National Leader David Yucaddi [photo above] and his co-worker veteran missionary Timothy Keep (Field Supervisor for Bible Methodist Missions: Philippines)! During their quick US missions tour, they had a brief stop at the Emmanuel Wesleyan Church in Gratz, PA. For that evening church service, I was accompanied on my visit to Gratz by my South African friend, Anthonie Kruger.

Brother David has a genuine vision for his people. He is serious about evangelizing this nation. He has developed an evangelism training center there in Banaue, Philippines. The effectiveness of his ministry is seen by the steady church-planting progress being made in his region. He and his ministry comrades are establishing churches in remote mountainous areas which are neglected by other missions. His ministry has even impacted the lives of some of our Penn View Missions Division interns during their internship training in the Philippines.

After the service there at Gratz, we had a few fast-and-friendly moments as we mutually shared our appreciation, love, and support as comrade-in-arms. Our hearts throb with the same "missionary heartbeat!"

[l-r: Anthonie Kruger, Steven Mowery, David Yucaddi, Timothy Keep]

Ukrainian Pastor Tours the States
____________

For the past few years, Steve has assisted one of our Ukrainian pastor friends (Nicholay Mironenko) in trying to get his brother to the US to visit some Ukrainian churches as well as to visit with our missions students. Each attempt was met with some type of hurdle.

The purpose in getting this brother to the States is not to have him re-locate to the US, but to strengthen him and his Ukrainian work as well as to edify the Ukrainian churches here in the US which are connected with him.

Finally, after several tries, Steve and Nicholay were instrumental in getting Pastor Vasil Mironenko [see photo above] into the US for a ministry tour. The US State Department granted permission for Vasil's visit. They did not merely provide him with a one-entry visa, but a FIVE-YEAR, multi-entry visa!

Nicholay and his Slavic church host our Summer Institute for Missionary Orientation each year in a cross-cultural worship experience.

In November, we (Steve & Joy) took our children and most of our Penn View missions students to a special service where Pastor Vasil was among the speakers. The congregation was made up of Ukrainians, Slavic people, Americans (our group), plus a friend of ours from South Africa! What a variety of nations were represented in that meeting. That is what the grace of God can do for mankind!

The service was almost FOUR (yes, 4!) HOURS long! The reason for this was the fact that during the service four different church leaders spoke and were followed by English translation. One of the speakers was an elderly man who had escaped from the notorious Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald during World War II!

Following the lengthy --albeit culturally enlightening-- service, we had a time of eating a variety of ethnic Ukrainian and Slavic quisine. The food and the fellowship were so enriching. ...And it was great to finally meet our brother in the Lord --Vasil!

Vasil is now back in Ukraine rejuvenated and encouraged to advance the local churches in his own country.


[l-r: Vasil, Steve, Nicholay]

Persecuted Church Leader

Granted His Request for

Political Asylum!

Brother Joshua --pastor of many persecuted churches (see BLOG 09/07/06) who is seeking political asylum here in the Unites States due to the ongoing persecution in his country-- called us recently and indicated he has received his political asylum paers from the US State Department!

Presently, he has applied for permission to relocate his wife and children here to the US.