A Drought in the Land

A drought In the Land. Swaziland like many other African countries are experiencing severe drought. Thousands of cattle have died, and the people are weary. Some Dams (lakes ) and rivers have dried up. Not only is there a drought from lack of rain, we also see a spiritual drought from lack of solid evangelism and biblical discipleship. Pray with us for rain and also for a spiritual awakening. 2 Chronicles 7:14New International Version (NIV) 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Diane and I “hit” the ground running after returning back home in Swaziland. The temperatures have been in the mid 90’s to 100’s. The time back in the states was truly a blessing, being able to spend time with family and enjoying our newest grandson Lincoln Elliott Hall. Even though he surprised everyone by arriving 6 weeks early he is growing and doing fine. He is now more than double his birth weight. As always, it was a bittersweet time as we prepared to return to ministry in Swaziland. I must say it was a bit harder this time. Although, the conversations were a little confused it was a blessing being able to hear my mom identify the birds by their singing and enjoyed sitting outside in the beauty of God’s creation. The other reason, of course, was we would miss so much of Lincoln growing up. Brett was 2 ½ years old when we began ministry several years ago and have missed a lot of things concerning him. But, as you all know those babies change and grow so quickly. Once again we were reminded and comforted that we are doing God’s work and know he will bless the time we are away. There are so many things happening it would be hard to write in one newsletter so for now I will tell of just a few. The children’s Bible Clubs are growing as Diane had 85 kids the first day back. This club averages 45. Adult attendance was also up. We are planning to start another Kids Bible Club and Adult study, we will return to our Hospital ministry again in a week or so. Food delivery to the 500 children in an area will be next week. As many of you know, the Baptist International mission Board (IMB) is re-structuring due to a financial crisis. They are asking for approximately 800 field missionaries to take an early retirement. What that means for Diane and I is we will be losing one of our ministry partners here in Swaziland. Wayne and Barbara Myers have been IMB missionaries in Swaziland for 22 ½ years. Second Mile will continue to work with the areas we were already working and will be helping in some areas that the Myers were working. Please pray with us that God will send laborers into the field for the fields are white unto harvest. With this ministry we also need a large ministry base. The IMB property in Mbabane will be up for sale and this property would be of the greatest of help in ministry resources. We would have more space for ministry supplies and also be able to house visiting mission teams but most importantly continue to provide housing for one of our translators Make (pronounced Mah-gay) Shandu. She has been volunteering with the IMB for 26 years and living on this property all these years. We stand a big chance on loosing her most valuable help if we cannot provide housing for her. Make Shandu is a vital part of Second Mile and Hawane Baptist Church ministry. It would be very hard to impossible to continue a lot of our ministry without her. Please pray with us about this and for Make Shandu. Again, thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are very thankful for our church and our outside supporters..