We are just finishing our fifth week down here in Cape Town, South Africa.

We are full speed in two different kinds of ministry..first, a new one for us...the poor, the displaced and those with Aids. Everywhere you look they are there. People with nothing, living in shacks, bunched together in townships (we would call them squatter camps) on land the government gave to them. Thousands, maybe millions of them. There are still those who live on the streets, some are children without obvious families. Many seem to be refugees from other countries and they speak different languages, so communication is tough.

There are a lot of drugs, too much sex among the children, and so much violence with young gangs roaming the neighborhoods...and, there we are right in the middle of it all trying to do something with meaning...talking about the love of God and the gift of His Son...naming the name of Jesus, praying with people with Aids and smiling and laughing trying to let children be children. Our main job is to encourage those who work with these people everyday! Many of those people are connected in different ways with the church where we are serving for these three months.

The church is our second area of ministry and has many programs to try to touch the people mentioned above...I am so impressed. Our hosts are pastor John and Avril Thomas. They started Living Hope which ministers to the poor in this part of the country. Amazing people. We have between 400-500 who attend on a Sunday morning, yet they staff and pay for multiple programs to these poor people. It is a great model for the churches in the west. Our pastor was just at Saddleback Church with Rick Warren talking about what they are doing in Aids education and prevention here, and, what they could do there.

That's why we are here, helping to cover for him for 13 weeks while he travels.

We just hosted an Extreme Response team that came for a week to help us. They put on events in different townships, at a homeless center, at an orphanage, in an Aids hospice, and with the staff at Living Hope. The paid staff at Living Hope do the Aids testing, teach "Life Skills" with a Christian emphasis in the public schools and run support groups. They also have many volunteers who help in many ways. The 13 people on the ER team touched over 1600 needy people in just one week with the message of Christmas.

Barb has been busy meeting with the paid and volunteer staff in different settings, encouraging them and teaching them. She is having a ball! She loves these people who are in this world everyday and who have given themselves to make a difference. In the next few days I will be speaking several times in all kinds of settings...one on the beach, one in a park, at some old folks homes, in churches, to parents, to kids...lot's of opportunities to present Christ. The adults call me 'Pastor' or 'Father' while the kids call me 'Uncle'.

Last night our partner radio station here, CCFM, another ministry of the church, hosted a night of Christmas carols in a local park (pictured above). Between 2500 and 3000 people brought blankets and chairs and spent three hours singing carols, listening to popular Christian singers and then, I got to share the power of the name of Jesus with an invitation to accept Him as their Savour. A great outreach for local radio. That's the first of three rallies they will put on around the area.

So, thanks for praying for us!

Ron and Barb