Prayer Alert

Today was a little bit unusual of a Sunday for us. It started last night when I got a phone call at 8 pm, from a lady that we know in the village of Mhlaba Cross. Her 2 year old granddaughter had gotten sick and died suddenly this week on Wednesday night. Best we can tell, it seems that she died from dehydration.....very sad! In any case, the family wasn't regularly attending any church, so they just called around and found a 'preacher' to come and do the funeral. However, on Saturday, the 'preacher' backed out on them....he must have decided that he didn't want to work on Christmas weekend. So they were left without anyone to do the funeral. I am glad that Jeanette thought to call me. I was able to go with one of our men early this morning and preach a 15 minute Gospel message at the graveside. It really was a very sad ordeal. In African tradition, when a little baby dies, the men are not allowed to accompany the funeral procession to the graveside. They allowed us to be there, since we were preaching, and the father was there. When we finished preaching, they asked everyone to leave, including the father, and then they carried on with some ritual to cleanse the mother of the dead child from evil spirits/bad luck. They believe that if they don't do this, then the mother may not be able to have any more children. After they finish their rituals, then a few men are allowed back to finish filling the grave with dirt. Every funeral here is surrounded with a great deal of fear, but especially the funeral of little children. It is sad to see the people with no hope, groping for answers in the darkness.

Please pray for these folks at Mhlaba Cross village. We still have contact with them, and will be trying to see next week if we can get a group of folks together to study the Scriptures. It does seem that God has opened a door to work with them, through many various circumstances over the last several months. It was undeniable that the Lord wanted us there this morning, and I trust that our show of concern will open the door further. Please pray to that end.