Daniel Centre

The new Counsellor, Anna Moldovan, started on November 26th.  She is well qualified in social work though she has most recently been involved in managing a McDonalds restaurant.  Abraham, who shared night supervision duties with Sergiu, continues alone but is helped by the fact that the current crop of lads is very well behaved with no drink or drug issues.

The depot has now started receiving regular income from being rented out.

Balazs is now in the middle of co-ordinating this year’s shoebox distribution of about 90,000 shoeboxes delivered from the UK by 14 trucks.  On November 26th, he was online with 30 partners scattered through Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Hungary, Romania and the Ukraine, with greater emphasis this year being placed on the Ukraine.   On December 9th, he revisits Odessa with Jeremy, the Blythswood CEO, and Neil with the camera, to film the distribution of shoeboxes in preparation for their 2026 appeal.  The situation in Odessa is very tense with Russian drones coming in over the city.

This year, there will be a survey of all shoebox recipients to make sure that safeguarding and accountability are as good as possible as to who receive these boxes and how they are received.

Balazs’ wife Agnes is recovering well from an operation for varicose veins 2 weeks ago.

Talita Kum

Balazs was also to spend 30 minutes online with Adi on 26th November for their quarterly report on the running of Talita Kum.

Hugenote College and NetACT have given Fraser a workable way forward to find an alternative server setup.

We arrived safely in the UK with our luggage and are recharging after a hectic 2 months and a long journey.

Fraser was informed this morning that there is a final change required which he will have to do overnight tonight. Please pray that everything will go smoothly.

May Fraser’s colleagues in the colleges he helps see his need for a break and be surprised by their own abilities.

Pray for good communication with NetACT and Hugenote College regarding our accommodation and Fraser’s office when we return to South Africa.

Dawn’s still having no success in finding an appointment at the visa centre in Manchester.  On the one occasion where there was an opening, the system repeatedly got stuck and refused to allow her to book it.

Please keep praying for the men in Drakenstein Maximum and Medium A Bible studies to make God-honouring choices in their lives. Many of the Bible study regulars are witnessing to other inmates, verbally and in the way they react to prison life and challenges. Pray for protection, encouragement and a strong desire to grow closer to Jesus through prayer and Bible reading. Pray that they will be forces for light in the dark places.

We will probably be sending these prayer notes monthly rather than weekly whilst we’re in the UK.  But get in touch if you’d like to meet up in person (distance permitting) or via videochat in 2025.

Steadfast Global, 22^nd November 2024

Uganda:

Recent convert to Christ, Wanjala Hamidu, was beaten to death by his four brothers on October 21 after they learned of his conversion from Islam following an evangelistic event near his home in Masita, Eastern Uganda. Prior to his death, Wanjala served as a school- teacher, and according to one source, after learning of his conversion, his head teacher was planning to fire him at the end of the school term because of his decision to follow Jesus. 

Egypt:

A vicious attack involving bladed weapons has left three Coptic Christian men receiving treatment in hospital in Minya Province, Upper Egypt. According to CSW, the three Christians were attacked on 5 November by four Muslim men armed with knives and machetes, inside a pharmacy in Ashruba village.  In a separate incident, which has not been widely reported, 21-year-old Coptic Christian girl Julia Atef, was abducted on 26 October while walking to a function at St. Mark’s Church in Shubra Al-Khayma. Her frantic parents have heard nothing from her, or those responsible for her abduction.

Fraser has projects which colleges want him to complete before we leave. Pray he gets everything accomplished.

Pray he can change the Hugenote College library website setup so the librarian can keep it updated in his absence.

The Restorative Justice week at Drakenstein Medium B was nearly 4 weeks ago with still no arrangements for the follow up sessions – a let-down for the participants. Pray for a time to be fixed and enough team members available to go on with the young men as they change their lives.

In the Medium A Bible study we looked at “Why does God allow calamity to happen?” One man, troubled by this for weeks, summed up his feelings: “I understand why bad things happened when I was doing bad things but now I’m following Jesus and my life has changed and bad things still happen. I wanted to give up. I wanted to die.” The last 2 weeks looking at Job have helped him figure a few things out (2 more sessions to go on the subject).

Pray for greater understanding for him and others who struggle, especially when confronted by “pastors” who tell them bad things or ill-health happens because they’re not in right standing with God, their faith isn’t strong enough. Such comments cause a lot of heartache. Pray that Dawn can explain things clearly and accurately.

Thank God He’s reassuring us of things fitting into place step by step as we prepare to leave. Pray we’ll get all documents submitted or gathered before we must go.

Steadfast Global, 25^th October 2024

Central Asia:

This week we have been travelling in Central Asia with some of our partners. Thanks to those of you who have been remembering this trip. As well as visiting some of our ongoing projects, we have met with Christians in their small house groups. Their faithfulness continues to inspire and challenge us. We hope to share more about the visit in a future newsletter.

Sudan:

CSW has reported the arrest of 26 men, many of whom are members of the Sudanese Church of Christ, between 6th and 11th October. The Christians were detained in Shendi, an area north of Khartoum, after fleeing ongoing fighting in the city. Fourteen of the men have since been released but twelve remain in custody. Also in Sudan, there have been reports of the forcible conversion of Christians in Gezira region which is controlled by the Islamist Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

China:

House church pastor Ma Yan (32) of Ningxia Province has been arrested on suspicion of “organising illegal gatherings.” The detention came on 20 August, the same day that a ten-day period of administrative detention ended. The period of administrative detention was imposed after Pastor Yan and three other leaders were arrested during a police raid on the venue of their church service in Yinchuan.

Daniel Centre

They hope to have a new Counsellor in the next week.  They have temporarily taken back in an old resident of 20 years ago, Anil, till he finds alternative accommodation, as he is incapable of surviving on his own.  André also came back but they had to let him go as his attitude had not improved.

They hope to receive their completion certificate for the depot today to start having income from renting it out.

Balazs profited from his visit to Ukraine with Christian Aid as it gave him vital experience of their due diligence passporting programme for Blythswood’s own work in future.  CA will now work directly with the Ukrainian partners rather than through Blythswood.  Balazs does a further due diligence programme with them in Odessa in early November and revisits Odessa with Jeremy, the Blythswood CEO, in December to film the distribution of shoeboxes in preparation for their 2026 appeal.

The parents of Olga (the Ukrainian lady who has been Blythswood’s go-between for the Ukraine) are now renting one of Blythswood’s apartments in Cluj.

 Talita Kum

The Romanian government had given up plans to provide after-school activities and have now also given up their after-school meals for underprivileged school children.  So Talita Kum is back in the cockpit for both activities.  Adi is still challenged financially in recruiting new teaching staff for Talita Kum but both of his charity shops in Jimboliya are currently doing well.

Fraser has workable protocols in place to improve the backup procedures for both Hugenote and NetACT servers.  If they fail, not all the information will be lost.

Someone is willing to stand in for Fraser as treasurer at our church over the six or so months we’ll be in the UK.

The Hugenote College management are supportive of our decision/need to go back to the UK and will write an invitation letter for our new visa application.  They are willing to give us the same accommodation on our return.

Dawn led a session on Darkness and Light at Drakenstein Medium A Bible study today. Some have been satanists, others come from a background of African traditional religion, heavily involved in ancestor worship and spell/curse-making.  Knowledge of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit has freed them from the chains that bound them. The Number prison gangs are connected with the occult. One man, freed from such things several years ago, said that when he goes to “Number rooms” to share the gospel, he can feel the oppression and resistance.

Once he and his colleagues start talking about Jesus, it’s as if the real power comes into the room and subdues the enemy.  Pray that His power will continue to change and equip his followers to bring light and salvation into the dark places. We ended the meeting today with the challenge to live in the joy of Jesus, throwing chaos into the dark – pray that Medium A will be shaken up by joy in the Holy Spirit.

Keep praying that we can collect all the visa-related documents we need from South Africa before we leave.

Steadfast Global, 11^th October 2024

Iran:

Close relatives of Christian convert, Mojdeh Falahi (36), who is still being held in the Pelak-e-100 Detention Centre in Shiraz, are very concerned for her emotional and psychological state after her mother managed to visit her briefly on 30 September. During the few tightly monitored minutes they spent together, Mojdeh wept uncontrollably. Because she was unable to speak freely during the visit, the reason for her detention is still not known.

Nigeria:

Seven people have been killed in an attack by Muslim Fulani herdsmen on a predominantly Christian village in Benue state. The incident took place around 5 p.m. on 1 October when the raiders entered Egwuma village in Agatu County and started shooting sporadically at villagers as they encountered them.

China:

Almost two years after being detained by police and charged with fraud, Wang Qiang of the Linfen Covenant House Church in Shanxi Province was reunited with his wife and two children after he was released under a “residential surveillance at a designated location” order on 30 September. According to source China Aid, Wang was tortured while he was in detention.

India:

Please join us in remembering and giving thanks for the work being done through our Sewing Schools in south India. Recent videos shared with us by our partners demonstrated the effectiveness of the programme as it brings holistic transformation into marginalised communities. This week we also encourage you to pray for our micro-loan recipients who are all producing fruit in their own villages and areas.

Daniel Centre

They are still looking for a new Counsellor for the Daniel Centre.  Balazs and family had just returned from a very encouraging trip to Kenya yesterday to visit the school that Blythswood supports there.  He has consequently not been able to catch up on the negotiations for the renting out of their depot in Cluj.

Despite the increase in tension over the Ukraine’s recent invasion of Russia, Balazs, along with Jeremy Ross and Christian Aid personnel, still hope to visit their partners in Kiev for the first week in September.   He asks for prayer for a brother of one of their partners with Heritage Ukraine.  He was injured during a Russian attack on Kiev and is currently in hospital there on breathing support.

Balazs hopes to be here in Scotland later in September to meet with management and trustees of Blythswood.

Talita Kum

Adi is facing a challenge in Jimboliya as the Romanian government is now offering after-school meals to underprivileged students and plans to launch a 4-month pilot plan in September to provide after-school activities for them too. 

Adi is not sure how this will impact his work with Talita Kum which has been offering these services to mainly Roma children in the area for many years.

Thank you for your prayers – we arrived back at our house in Wellington at 11:30pm on Sunday after an uneventful journey. Since then, we’ve had many problems with the car battery (bought a new one today) so we’re very thankful that nothing went wrong on the journey to and from Cape Town airport. Thank God too for several kind friends at this end who’ve helped us in all sorts of ways.

It always takes a while to settle back in (jumping between two worlds whilst still having one foot in the old one is never easy) but we know who is with us and that he never changes, he is the constant rock on whom all our hopes are founded. Pray that we’ll be alert to the old and new ways in which he directs us.

Just now the 2 cats and 1 dog are in the house, 3 tortoises have been spotted, the substantial indoor termite mounds have been swept away and sprayed and the incipient ceiling mould has been bleached. Fraser’s gone back to his office and is thankful that so far, he hasn’t been buried under an avalanche of emails (perhaps that’ll be next week). Dawn is wearing her keep-warm ski suit around the house and starting to put together material for the next prison Bible studies whilst being glad the car is now reliable, so she’ll be able to visit contacts soon – life is getting back to normal in Wellington!

Please pray that we’ll keep our attention fixed on the Lord in all aspects of life and know his joy.