A New Church Building in Honor of The Lord
March 3, 2025
While I’m not usually one to spend much time or energy reflecting on the past, this month has been so special to me it seems warranted. We have enjoyed our lives in America, and we love the life that God is giving us here in Africa. I cannot imagine missing the joy of what we’ve experienced over here the past 20+ years. I celebrated my 80th birthday the entire month of February with family, American guests, and hundreds of African children at multiple locations. Though I would typically prefer to not have all this attention, with this milestone birthday, it felt appropriate, and I appreciate everyone who joined us. Our daughter Kelsey and our 10-year-old granddaughter Juni came over from America, which was one of the best things that happened, but there were so many wonderful blessings that I cannot count them all! From the children and staff at our Del Cramer Children’s Campus, I received a beautiful new donkey cart and 4 donkeys. I’ve been asking for this for many years, wanting to give the children a fun ride to church. At that party, we had several cakes and gave 200 children a nice sugar high before sending them home to their caregivers. My heart is still overflowing with joyous thanks.
Our son, Dustin managed the recent construction of Hope Christian Church, which was dedicated Sunday, February 16th. It is a beautiful new 450-seat facility built to replace the school hall that we had outgrown. I am so proud of Dustin for the magnificent work that he and his construction team did in building such a large, high-quality worship center that will stand for generations. Our South African leaders and amazing staff handled the logistics, which included organizing and planning the program, speakers, musicians, transportation, ushers, parking attendants, and so much more! Mark and Tammy Blaede came over from the US to assist with the new sound system. 700 cupcakes and bottles of water were served at the conclusion of the dedication. Thank you to EVERYONE who made this happen!
Pastors Johanney and Jonathan, along with dignitaries from the Global Methodist Church, dedicated the church and congregation to The Lord and His work. Hope Christian was built in memory of our late friend and neighbor, Neil Barnard. Neil’s family attended and his wife and young son each gave moving tributes in Neil’s honor. Many friends from here in Africa drove more than three hours to get to the service. This included Board members, Rotarians, and Catholic Bishop Jeremiah Masela, who came and participated in the service to both fellowship and in appreciation of the Catholic church that we constructed last year. Our hearts were full as we all joined together in praise and unity.
In a few days, Dustin and I doing a charity bike ride to raise funds for women to receive mammograms to detect early breast cancer. The ride is 109 km long (about 67.73 miles) with some long steep hills along the coast of Cape Town and through beautiful wine country. Please pray that I will have the stamina to complete the 5-hour course. Even if I do not last for the entire ride, I anticipate a wonderful experience with our son. I typically ride my bike every day in America, and here in Africa, but not this far nor in the mountains. Beth and Alex will be with us for support. For my birthday, my family gave me a GoPro and I hope to take some beautiful photos and videos of our ride to share.
My podcast, “Doc’s Adventures in Africa,” is up and running. I interview our ministry partners who have travelled to Africa with us, and they share their experiences. I’ve enjoyed learning how to do podcasts and Perfect Chongani (Maxwell and Hilda’s son) helps me with the tech details. Wendi, from our Iowa office, is advising, and assisting by adding and editing photos and videos. It was a joy to have her and Rick Burger here in South Africa this month filming and assisting us in telling the story of what God is doing. They both work extremely hard and deliver high quality media to tell our story. We are so grateful.
Please check out: https://www.youtube.com/@AdventuresWithDocInAfrica
Prayer Request: We are now down to just a few weeks left in Africa for this season. Please pray that we can complete the important tasks we are working on. One that is near and dear to my heart is to launch a quality research program to monitor and then demonstrate the beneficial effects of adding eggs to the meals of malnourished children in our child feeding program. It is essential that we document the progress of the children’s health as we serve.
Lastly, our 13th Annual Gala will be on Monday, April 28th. Please save the date. Tickets will be available to purchase on our website starting on March 10th. Beth and I, along with our USA team, look forward to reconnecting with our donors that evening.
Thank you for reading this month’s blog. God bless!