Today I am reminded of Psalm 138

by | Jan 29, 2017 | Ecuador

Date: 
2017-01-29 00:00:00

For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

 

 

Rain

by | Jan 27, 2017 | South Africa

I’m not one for rain. I prefer sunshine and warmth. But when it started to rain this morning, joy filled my heart and in my head, I broke out in song:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him ye creatures here below. Praise him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

You see, we are having a very bad drought in South Africa. Our farmlands are dry; food prices are constantly going up. In Johannesburg, some schools have had to close due to the lack of water. The Eastern Cape is dry as a bone. In Cape Town, we have less than 100 days of water supply, and forest fires have been raging through our mountains.

Water is precious, so our hearts are full of joy for today’s rain. We give thanks to God.

Over Christmas break, I read the book The Circle Maker and found in it a refreshing look at prayer. The book starts by telling the story of an ancient prophet named Honi. When the Israelites were suffering from severe drought, he drew a circle around himself as he stood in the stand. Honi prayed for rain and refused to move from the circle until God sent rain. Honi was a bit audacious. When it started to sprinkle, he told Gold that wasn’t the type of rain they needed. When it started to rain hard, he told God that wasn’t the type of rain they needed. When it started to rain steadily and gently, he thanked the Lord for the rain, for providing for his people. Check out the story of Honi at http://www.thecirclemaker.com/watch

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Picture of the rain from my office window

Water is precious. Experts say that the next world war (let’s pray that it will never happen) will not be about oil, land, or ideology. It will be about water.

Please continue to pray for us in South Africa, as we need many more days of gentle, steady rain.

As clear as mud…???

by | Jan 26, 2017 | Ethiopia, Health, South Africa

We have had a few replies to our last newsletter and thought it best to compile a list of the most frequently asked questions.
Are you returning to Ethiopia? No. We went to Gambela, Ethiopia to get an Anglican College up and running for the growing church in the area. We have completed that assignment and SAMS-USA has approved our calling to go elsewhere.
Will you still be with SAMS-USA? Yes. We have not changed our sending agency and you can still give tax-deductible donations for our ministry through the SAMS-USA website. (https://give.samsusa.org/missionaries)
We have asked SAMS-USA if we could open up a separate vehicle account, as we will be travelling to seven southern African countries. This is not a project account but solely for the purpose of raising funds for a vehicle.  In order to help SAMS-USA they would appreciate if donors would please send them checks and write the checks to SAMS-USA and in the memo write Vanderbijl Vehicle.  While this is still tax-deductible, they would prefer not to have this go through the online giving page, as this account will be 100% for our vehicle.
SEND CHECKS TO:
SAMS-USA
PO 399
Ambridge, PA 15003
Please feel free to call Denise Cox at (724) 266-0669 should you have any questions.
Are you going to South Africa? Yes and no. While we will be stationed in Kenilworth, a suburb of Cape Town, we will be working in seven southern African countries, namely, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, and the St Helena island group.
Will you have a salaried position in Southern Africa?No. We will be going as SAMS-USA Missionaries to work with “Growing the Church”, hereafter GtC. Only two team members of the GtC are given a small stipend. The Anglican Church in Southern Africa has been described as poor, black, and female, many of whom are not primary bread-winners. The following documentary is focussed on a township in the Cape area, but could be true of many other areas in South Africa and beyond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoMl_G6rL9k
Isn’t the Church in Southern Africa well established? Yes and no. While the Church in southern Africa has a rich history, it is a tainted history. Apartheid divided people and fostered mistrust and animosity. In many ways, the Anglican Church led the way in breaking down barriers, but there is still a lot of work to be done before brethren can dwell together in unity. War has torn communities apart as well, especially in Angola and Mozambique.
What will you do in Southern Africa? Louise and I will be teaching basic discipleship using the J-Life model (see here: https://www.facebook.com/jlifeafrica/), as well as prayer based on Mark Batterson’s book “The Circle Maker” (see here: http://www.thecirclemaker.com/watchand here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0WsmlYWnlE), and missions based on SAMS-USA Short-Term Missions Leader’s Training material.
What will your new budget look like? We have included a document at the end that SAMS-USA has put together based on their calculations for your perusal. The bottom line is, we need an additional US$ 1,000 to US$ 1,500 per month.
How can we help? You can help by continuing to support us financially and prayerfully…we cannot do this ministry without you, as you are an integral part of the mission. We need our senders!
If you are able to increase your support, we would be most grateful.
If you know anyone who might be interested in joining us all as part of our southern Africa team, please let us know or let them know!
Spread the word any way you can!
Let us know if you have any more questions! We do not want to be as clear as mud!!!
Thanks for your love and concern…we say it often, but perhaps not often enough. Y’all mean a lot to us and we simply cannot do what we do without you. You team members in our boat or the wind in our sails…and we appreciate every one of you.
Blessings.

Johann and Louise
 
SUMMARY BUDGET FOR MISSIONARY FIELD SERVICE WITH SAMS
Johann and Louise
Southern Africa
ANNUAL RECURRING EXPENSES (BASED ON SECOND YEAR):
  SALARIES
$35,682.44
  HOUSING (BASED ON ACTUAL RENT OR RENT VALUE)
$11,340.00
  FICA  (7.65% OF SALARY AND HOUSING)
$3,597.22
  PENSIONS
$5,173.95
  HEALTH & LIFE INSURANCE AND SUPPLEMENTAL HEALTH
$7,644.20
  MINISTRY & RELATED FIELD EXPENSES
$109.20
  GREAT COMMISSION FUND (15% OF EACH GIFT PROVIDES
$11,214.18
    ADMINISTRATIVE AND PASTORAL SUPPORT FOR THE
    MISSIONARY AND HELPS FUND THE WIDER MISSION
    OF THE SOCIETY.)
TOTAL FOR ANNUAL RECURRING EXPENSES:
$74,761.19
TOTAL FOR ONE-TIME EXPENSES:
$3,600.00
  (TRAINING, DOCUMENTATION, TRAVEL TO FIELD, TRANSPORT
  OF GOODS, LANGUAGE SCHOOL, FURNISHINGS AND/OR AUTO)
MONTHLY FINANCIAL NEED OVER  FULL LENGTH OF TERM:
$6,295.50
NAME: 2013 Two salary template
01/26/17

Back in Davao for a Time

by | Jan 23, 2017 | Indonesia, SAMS Missionaries

As our last newsletter explained, we are returning to North America for the sake of Sora’s health and our kids’ education and well-being. But we are stopping in Davao until the 3rd of February to see old friends, resume old ministries, and enjoy a place that is full of happy memories for our family.

We worshipped with Davao Covenant Reformed Church on Sunday. Hosanna was glad to see Ate Flor and Ate Juvie, and they were happy to see her:

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Matt got together with some of his former Greek students. They plan to meet five or six times while we are in Davao. Here they are reading Romans 3 and 4 together in Greek:

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Hosanna loves Abreeza Mall, so we took her there. She has a big heart:

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Matt has been asked to preach at Davao Covenant Reformed Church next Sunday. He’ll be preaching on the book of Jonah.

Sora also is back in the saddle. She’s teaching a class on herbs to the student midwives at the clinic where she used to work.
As we prepare to leave the mission field for the foreseeable future, we are delighted to be here in Davao, and fully expect to return again in later years.

The challenge to evangelism in mission…

by | Jan 22, 2017 | Ethiopia, Health, South Africa

“More than one-half of the world’s people are still without the simplest knowledge of the good news of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ. There is no greater challenge to evangelism in mission than that. Christians are rightly concerned about the grievous imbalances of wealth and food and freedom in the world. [But] What about the most devastating imbalance of all: the unequal distribution of the light of the knowledge of God in Jesus Christ?” 


Samuel Hugh Moffett, The Leading Partner – Perspectives Reader, 2009, 599-600.