Miracles of provision! Lock-down 2020!

LOCK-DOWN APRIL 2020 THE ROLL-OUT PROJECT WEEK 1: Dear Ones,              We hope this finds you and your families well! To be sure this has been a month like none other. For some it has been a time with much uncertainty and possibly still is, as we don’t know what the future might hold. But for those of us who know the Lord we know Who holds the future which gives us a lot of confidence to stand strong during trying times. And if any of you reading this have not yet made the decision to accept the Lord as your Lord and Savior it is still not too late and it will be the best preparation for the future. Romans 5:20 says, “But where sin abounded (which is in this fallen world), grace did much more abound!” We have definitely experienced that this month. The grace of God, His undeserved, unmerited favor, has definitely been upon us, and we stand in awe of all the ways in which He has shown himself strong on our behalf. 2Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” Please note it did not says in behalf of them that are perfect, none of are or ever will be, as long as we live in this fallen world, we will always have the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. But our hearts can still be perfect towards Him in the we trust and believe in Him and His Word. One of the greatest needs of the poor communities this month was food and how to be able to supply for themselves and their families during the lock-down—many who were previously able to provide for themselves were not able to do so. We are very thankful to be able to testify of His goodness. The Roll-Out project: We were contacted by someone who then proceeded to put us in touch with a sponsor (who has asked to remain anonymous). This sponsor had an amazing Roll-Out project in mind. We were asked help to identify 5 people in Sir Lowry’s Pass, faithful and trustworthy, who would be able to help buy food parcels for the people in their close vicinity. Each week a certain amount would be deposited on their account with which they were to shop for X amount of people (which worked out to be approx. 10) on a weekly basis, while still able to cover their expenses such as petrol, etc. We ourselves were also part, although on a considerably larger scale. Seeing that we have permits as an Essential Service due to our already established charity work, we were able to continue to collect and distribute food, which was especially needed this month and therefore enabled us to be an active part of the Roll-Out project.              We mentioned our concern about a nearby township, Nomzamo, to the sponsors and they jumped in and provided approximately 200 food parcels a week for that community as well. It is a much larger community that Sir Lowry’s Pass, where we delivered approximately 100 food parcels a week between the united efforts of everyone involved in the Roll-Out Project. However, with the extension of the lock-down this supporter was not able to help in Sir Lowry’s Pass last week. Meanwhile the need had not lessened, but rather increased. And we are very happy to say that with the help of you, our partners and some unexpected additional contributions, we were able to fill the gap and even reach into parts of the community that had still not been reached, (about 50 families — some of which received the parcels in tears saying that they had not yet been able to feed their children that day). And we were able to assist again just a few days later with an addition 50 food parcels, None of this would have been possible were it not for you our partners, sponsors and anonymous donors. And on top of that we started supporting what is called “Soup Houses” where the women in a street cook for the children living in that street. Several of them turned to us for help with the needed food and we are happy to say that we were able to reach out a helping hand to at least 5 different ones. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone!” Matthew 4:4 so we wrote up two different tracts that we printed out and put into every Food Parcel distributed (as much as possible). Some reacted saying that they had been very encouraged, and would we please continue to do so. Although it may not be the best way to reach out, in person would be preferable, we believe that A word from the Lord is better than none. We also let everyone know where to find us after the Lock-Down, should they so desire. Besides that we started a lot of What’s Up groups through which to minister, more about that later. WEEK 1TEAM 1 : WEEK 1TEAM 2: WEEK 1TEAM 3 : The content shown here is the per food parcel content. WEEK 1 TEAM 4:  WEEK1 TEAM 5: As the village of Sir Lowry’s Pass has anywhere from 8-10,000 inhabitants, who were basically all needy, we were careful to not distribute food parcels to the same families every week,              Joyce’s soup kitchen which used to cater to anywhere between 100-200 families iow cooking for approximately 500 offering a hot meal every other day! Many no longer have the option of cooking at home as they have not had been able to pay for their electricity or buy cooking gas. Hopefully the aid from the government will soon kick in. For the following three weeks this Roll-Out Project continued in full force as show above. THE ROLL-OUT PROJECT WEEK 2: For lack of space we will not show what each of the local teams shopped, but as mentioned it was five teams shopping for approximately 10 families each. Altogether we managed + 100 food parcels a week. THE ROLL-OUT PROJECT WEEK 3: ROLL-OUT IN NOMZAMO: Although we ourselves were not directly involved in the Roll-Out project in Nomzamo we were instrumental in bringing the needy community to the attention of the sponsors and to make the needed connection which resulted in approximately 200 food parcels being distributed there a week. The Lord loves the poor and wants to see them taken care of! LOCK-DOWN WEEK 4: Through the extra support from some of you and even new donors we were able to put together 40 food parcels in the beginning of the week. These 40 parcels were all distributed in new areas of Sir Lowry's Pass that had not yet received any help, Some of the people seen in the two photos below were in tears when they received the packages. A few days later more donations came in and another 50 food parcels were distributed (see the photos below). We are very impressed by your outgoing concern and that of others. Through our united efforts many hearts very deeply touched and comforted. We are so very thankful for the team in Sir Lowry’s Pass that always cheerfully help us with the packaging and distribution, a big blessing to us! "SOUP HOUSES" LOCK-DOWN WEEK 4: With the ever increasing needs as the Lock-Down was extended for another two weeks, the villagers organized “Soup Houses” as a feeding scheme for the children of the village, the aim being that every street has a lady or two that cook at least one hot meal per child living in that street. Sadly there are still about 10 street without a “Soup House”, resulting in some of the other streets being overrun with children coming for food —sometimes 50-60 kids (they roughly estimate approx. 25 children per street) and thus end up sending some away empty handed. Another thing that has been of concern to us is that the “Soup Houses” generally speaking prefer to feed the children late afternoon, early evening to prevent them having to go to sleep with an empty stomach. This however at times coincides with the time when the police makes their patrols and rounds up everyone in the streets. The children fear the police and flee, running back home where they hide out about an hour or until they think it might be safe to try again. Seeing that most, if not all, of these children get only one meal a day and that often under very stressful circumstances is very concerning. And twice a week the Primary School cooks for about 800 children to allow for a break for the Soup Houses. However walking to the school is a very long walk for many of the little ones. Our prayers are that everything may soon return to normal and that more help will be provided for all meanwhile. When there is  no food in the homes there are also no snacks for the children to be had. All very heart breaking! But we are very thankful to you our partners and donors. With your help we have been able to assist the Soup Houses to a certain extent as well. Thank you so much! One mouth fed is one less child left hungry! WOOLWORTH DURING LOCK-DOWN: WEEK 1: A BIG Shout out goes to Woolies who have been an exceptional big help during the Lock-Down period. Due to the Daycare Centers being closed down during the Lock-Down a lot of the food waste was redirected to the soup kitchens, for which we are extremely thankful, as the people looking for help from the kitchen in Sir Lowry’s Pass more than doubled. When the people attending the kitchen usually lies somewhere between 1-200 people, it has now risen to 500 and above. Week 1 we collected so much food that we had to also store it behind the front seat and under my feet on the passenger side. And as you might be able to tell each week was a full bakkie of supplies. We have never received this much food a week from Woolworths, but never has the need been this drastic before either. We are extremely thankful...also please bear in mind that the kitchen is assisted twice a week and that we have divided the pick up between us so that we collect once a week and Joyce collects the other day of the week. So again a great BIG THANK YOU to Wollies for the big difference they have and are making and continue to make to the especially needed. Many have been greatly helped!      WOOLWORTH WEEK 2: WOOLWORTH WEEK 3: WOOLWORTH WEEK 4: ADDITIONAL HELP DURING LOCK-DOWN; 100 liters of milk was collected and distributed! We thank Sonnendahl for their continued assistance.  Three large boxes of Weet-Bix! We also distributed 10 food vouchers of R 250 each! On an especially quiet day the Lord drew our attention to a group of homeless people camped out on a field. Realizing that they had little or no chance of coming upon  a bite to eat seeing that the streets looked very deserted we went home, made some nice cheese and ham sandwiches, and also got together a bag of plumbs for them. When we went to deliver the food we were greeted with big warm smiles and many heartfelt thanks. Needless to say we made sure to let them know that Jesus loves them and has not forgotten about them. FACEMASKS: We were approached for funding for face masks for the Developmental Forum (A total of 130 in all for the leaders and some of the elderly) of the village the Sir Lowry’s Pass community. We thank Lions Club for sponsoring these masks. Thank you so much! We, Force4Good (which includes you, our amazing partners) sponsored an additional 70 masks for different villagers. We also assisted about 10 families not from Sir Lowry's Pass, with additional food parcels/finances, although only with a once off. GORDON'S BAY: A team in Johannesburg contacted us and asked us to please assist them in being able to reach out to a nursery school in Gordon’s Bay. They had two teachers and sixteen families with children in urgent need of help. It was all funded from them, and we were happy to be able to be their hands and feet making it possible for more people to be helped. During times like these it is wonderful to see people joining forces in being able to reach out and make a difference. We are honored to be the Lord’s and your hands and feet as well as that of others also. Philippians 2:4 says, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Together we are able to do just that!  When delivering the food parcels we ministered to the people, and Philip led them in a salvation prayer. We offered to continue to minister to them via What’s Up. 3 signed up this far. ....MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE: Matthew 4:4, But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God! We entered this month thinking that, due to the lock-down, we would finally have time to get some of the many things, that have been put off due to time restraints, done. But (to our joy) we found ourselves again very busy with things that were much more important. Besides the food distribution, shown on the previous pages we also completed two training courses—one of them quite intense over the span of one week—Accelerate! The other course was already in process, but needed to be completed with a lot of assignments that came with it —The DMM (Disciple Making Movement) Both via our Gracelife church). And we also attended a lot of online meetings and teaching video teachings...besides the courses. When looking at life through the perspective of eternity the most important is really people and their welfare, not only in this life, but especially in the one to come. So although we have not been able to meet in person we are presently ministering with weekly meetings via What’s Up to 3 groups 4 times a week. Besides that we are also sending out feeding material via What’s Up on an almost daily basis to over 30 people. Most of the people on the receiving end are folks we have known, but not really been able to minister to because of the distance and time restraints. But the lock-down, the training we attended, etc. has woken us up the fact that where there is a will there is a way. We have had many really heartfelt and appreciative reactions through this. During this month we also sowed seeds of the Word of God. We produced two tracts. One called Covid 19 –Good News, based on Psalms 91 and the beautiful promises of protection found therein. There were good reactions and request for more so we wrote a second tract called, “Who Are You?” Based on 1 Thess. 5:23 –Spirit, Soul and Body, with a salvation message (which the other tract also had) and a brief touch on our identity in Christ. — If you would like to receive either one of these tracts/or both, please do not hesitate to ask and we will send them to you. In closing we want to send a BIG THANK YOU to all of you, We would have not been able to accomplish all that was done without your backing, help and encouragement, With love and appreciation, Philip and Rita CONTACT DETAILS: Force4good.ministries@gmail.com or force4good.fvs@gmail.com And if you are new to our work and would like to partner with us on a monthly basis we invite you to please contact us for further details. We look forward to hearing from you!

Happy Easter 2020, Force4Good, including the Roll-Out Project!

HAPPY EASTER 2020 Dear family, friends and loved ones,              We wish you a very Happy Easter! Yes, our circumstances may not be ideal and we may be missing the opportunity to gather with our friends and loved ones in order to celebrate, but we would like to remind you that when Paul was imprisoned he wrote the letter to the Philippians and in that epistle he spoke of joy and rejoicing more than any other time. This shows us that his circumstances did not dictate whether he was able to rejoice or not, but rather true joy comes from within and is born of our relationship with the Lord. We pray that you will be enjoying the Lord’s love and care and rejoicing in all He has done for us that is of eternal value and cannot be taken away from us, regardless of the condition of the world. We would also like to take the opportunity to give you a quick glimpse into this month as it has been unfolding this far. THE ROLL - OUT PROJECT: We are very happy to let you know that the Lord has gone above and beyond in reaching out to the especially needy, and we are so happy to be an instrumental part of it together with you our precious partners. Also, the Lord, through Lions Club and their connections, raised up even further help. Since we have a permit as an essential service which allows us to be out and about in connection with our work of collecting and distributing food, we were asked to help with a project called, Roll-Out. Part of the assignment was to identify five “leaders” (faithful, diligent and trustworthy people) in Sir Lowry’s Pass that would each help buy and distribute food parcels to the most needy in their immediate vicinity. Through this we have been able to distribute food parcels to approx. 100 families a week for the past two weeks. The longer the lock-down remains in place the greater the need. We therefore seek to rotate the recipients to the best of our knowledge of where the greatest needs are at the time. The Roll-Out project has been a tremendous help and blessing to an already impoverished community. We mentioned our concern for Nomzamo and it needy families as well. The sponsors got in touch with the councilor of Nomzamo and a big Roll-Out initiative is taking place there as well. We are so thankful for people who deeply care and for those of you who have been partnering with us for a while and have given above and beyond at this time. May you all be richly blessed. Our prayers are that the Corona Virus will soon be a thing of the past and that life may resume normality.  Shopping at Cash and Carry.                                          40 families received generous food parcels from this.  WOOLIES: Due to the Daycare Centers being under lock-down the soup kitchens are receiving more food than usual. This is a very welcome help as more people are now depending on the kitchens to assist them than ever. We have also collected 100 liters of milk from Cape Town (thanks to  Sonnendahl/Lancewood). FACE MASKS: Also, with the help of Lion’s Club we were able to sponsor 130 face masks for the developmental forum leaders of Sir Lowry’s Pass. We ourselves since sponsored an additional 30 this far as we have been concerned to see the close interaction seemingly still taking place in the townships especially. MINISTRY: Since we have not been able to meet in person with our various groups we have formed What’s up groups. This far we have 4 groups that we minister to. We tried to keep the groups small in order to do What’s up calls, but we have found that it does not work that well for us. Therefore we mainly use voice notes and text, but it has enabled us to stay in touch with many of our friends and to continue to minister to them. As you can see we ourselves are not under lock-down as far as ministering essential needs and the life-giving Word of Jesus! In closing we would like to share an Easter message with you which we hope will be a blessing to you and your families! With much love, prayers and appreciation for your help and support and enabling our ministry to keep going during these trying times. Philip and Rita Philip and Rita   Easter Story Highlights from Bible Verses Understand the following is abbreviated version of the Easter Story to just capture the highlights.  We'll begin from the night before Jesus' crucifixion because His example of being a servant is so important! Using the New Living Translation, we have taken Bible verses from the Gospel of John highlighting main events of the Easter Story. We chose the Gospel of John because he was an eyewitness of these events.  John was one of the three of Jesus' inner circle. John, James and Peter were present at events such as the Transfiguration and the closest to Jesus as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved" in John 20:2 not because of feeling pride that he was better than the others, but because he valued the love of Christ above all.  It was amazing to him as it should be to us! The Passover Supper & Jesus Washes Feet Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the disciples the full extent of his love.  It was time for supper, and the Devil had already enticed Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to carry out his plan to betray Jesus.  Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.  So He got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist,  and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around Him. (John 13:1-5) Jesus' Arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees.  Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had gone there many times with his disciples.  The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a battalion of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove. Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him. Stepping forward to meet them, he asked, "Whom are you looking for?"   "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I am he," Jesus said. Judas was standing there with them when Jesus identified himself.  And as he said, "I am he," they all fell backward to the ground!  Once more he asked them, "Whom are you searching for?" And again they replied, "Jesus of Nazareth."  "I told you that I am he," Jesus said. "And since I am the one you want, let these others go." (John 18:1-8) Jesus Is Tried & Beaten Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.  The soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal purple robe on him.  "Hail! King of the Jews!" they mocked, and they hit him with their fists.  Pilate went outside again and said to the people, "I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty."  Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, "Here is the man!"  When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, "Crucify! Crucify!" (John 19:1-6a) His Crucifixion Carrying the cross by himself, Jesus went to the place called Skull Hill (in Hebrew, Golgotha).  There they crucified him. There were two others crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.  And Pilate posted a sign over him that read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."  The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.  Then the leading priests said to Pilate, "Change it from 'The King of the Jews' to 'He said, I am King of the Jews.'"  Pilate replied, "What I have written, I have written. It stays exactly as it is."  When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.  So they said, "Let's not tear it but throw dice to see who gets it." This fulfilled the Scripture that says, "They divided my clothes among themselves and threw dice for my robe." So that is what they did. (John 19:17-24) Jesus' Death Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures he said, "I am thirsty."  A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips.  When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:28-30) His Burial Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus' body down. When Pilate gave him permission, he came and took the body away.  Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing about seventy-five pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes.  Together they wrapped Jesus' body in a long linen cloth with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial.  The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before.  And so, because it was the day of preparation before the Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.  (John 19:38-42) The Resurrection of Jesus Christ Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"  Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see.  The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.  He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.  Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,  while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.  Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed -- (John 20:1-8)

Our mailing address is: force4good.fvs@gmail.com

Our mailing address is: force4good.fvs@gmail.com