Ryah Greear, dancing during a South African sunset
As many of you know, Pastor J.D. has been in South Africa for the past few weeks on an extended mission trip. Earlier this week, he resurfaced to send a brief update about what he and his family have been doing there:
I don’t have much time, since we’re using an internet café here in Johannesburg. We just got back from “Zulu land” (yes, that’s what they call it here). It’s about as far as I think you can get to the ends of the earth. Incredibly remote. We did pure, raw, door-to-door evangelism. It was awesome. The people here are so hungry for the gospel.
I preached at three local churches, two of which are connected to the Summit. One of them is led by our former staff member, Amber Lunn, and her husband, Trent Ayers. And the other is the church where Kurt Holiday worships. Most of you probably don’t know Kurt, but he was the first missionary that the Summit sent out. It was such a joy to worship with our missionaries and an honor to share an encouraging word from Scripture.
We camped out for nine days in “the bush.” With no running water. With four kids. (Let that sink in.)
I preached at a Zulu church, which was phenomenal. I have never heard people worship like that. No instruments, but so, so loud. It was pure heavenly praise, and gave me a glimpse of Revelation 5:9, when every tribe and tongue and language will gather around God’s throne to sing his praises.
My time with our Summit City Project students has been awesome. I’m so proud of them. Many of them are sharing the gospel for the first time, and I’ve seen them grow into an incredible boldness. Yesterday, in fact, one of the college students here led someone to Christ. It was her 21st birthday!
We also spent some time with Somali Muslims, most of whom are refugees. Some of our church planters are working with them—much needed work among a hurting group. There are some incredible young men that our planters have gotten to know, many of whom are hearing about the gospel for the first time. I talked with a bunch of them yesterday for several hours. Pray for “H,” whom I share the gospel with for quite a while.
That’s about all for now. I appreciate your prayers. Keep them coming! I’m about halfway through, and want to see God continue to move for the rest of my time overseas.
On to Central Asia!