Fall Greetings from the Deetlefs Family!

Hey friends,

I hope that you are well, and hanging in there as we navigate through these Covid-19 days. It’s truly unbelievable how much our entire world has changed this year! I continue to pray for you and for us that we be filled with the power and grace of God to get through this tough chapter in each of our lives.

We are doing well. My health is better, which is a huge answer to prayer. Marius has an appointment with his neurosurgeon in November, and hopefully surgery will follow soon thereafter. Emi is doing well in school and growing like a weed. She is still 10, but she already looks 14 years old! I think she is cute as a button.

 

We celebrated my mom’s birthday in August, and fulfilled her birthday wish of taking her grandkids(except Gracie who was at UNG) to the Bigfoot Museum in Cherry Log, GA. She loves that place. All I can say about it is I am happy mom got her birthday wish, and sad for Gracie who is not yet off the hook, as she will still have to visit that museum with her someday. Lol. We ate at the Pink Pig for lunch, and it was fun for all of us to be together. I say all together because even though we live right here in Jasper now and we’re not a 17 hour flight away from our family-we are hardly ever all together. Part of that is social distancing, and part has just been how busy everyone is these days.  

My brother, Kris, is the Republican candidate running for Chairman of the Board of Commissioners in our little county of Pickens.  It has been a vicious political race. I will be SO GLAD when this election is over. Igenuinely HATE POLITICS in general, but I’ve never been this closely related to an actual political candidate. I can tell you with certainty that I wouldn’t have made it through 1 week of what my brother has gone through in this race.  For those of you who know Kris, he is a police officer with a heart for ministry, and just a dependable guy. He already makes such a difference in our community. He has shown such integrity and restraint while being constantly persecuted and belittled and disrespected by his opponent. I’ve never seen anything like it (and yes, that even includes the 1st Presidential debate this week! lol) . Anyway, will you please pray for my brother - that the Lord would continue to give him the grace he needs to finish this race well. I couldn’t be prouder of him!

A few weekends ago, Marius and I finally had 2 days off together, so we took a little overnight family trip to Chattanooga. We enjoyed it so much, and it was great for the 3 of us to spend some time all together. Marius has been working 65 hour weeks since he got here, so we hardly ever get to all hang out together. We went up Lookout Mountain, and we visited the Chattanooga Aquarium, and Emi got to visit an amazing cupcake bakery there. It was really fun!

        

 

Another fun day was when we were at my parents’ place in Hiawassee. We decided to take Megan, Evan, and Emi (the 3 cousins) rafting on the Nantahala River. That was also a lot of fun. It was all of their first time rafting, and they did great!  I can’t tell you how much it meant just to get outside and go on a day trip and be with extended family and enjoy nature again. It felt like life was sort of normal for a moment you know? Like maybe we’re all going to make it through this season to the other side. I think the word I’m looking for is - I felt HOPE. In Proverbs it says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Oh how we all need to hold on to HOPE.  Our HOPE is in a precious, unchanging, loving Father, who is Sovereign over all. He will not forsake us.

I wanted to share a few photos from my friend Joy in South Africa who is one of the teachers at Oakridge Academy, the school that many of you have helped build by funding brick by brick. You can check Joy out on FB at The Joy Emporium. Joy is such an amazing, creative, artistic teacher and it just made my heart smile to see some of the ways she is reaching the kids in her classroom. She hand painted cookies with edible markers and made a pallet of colors for the kids to paint their own cookie’s unique design. I just love what she is doing!! Oakridge continues to blaze new paths in education and I’m so grateful we can continue to be a small part of sewing into those kids lives. 

   

      

I think I’m going to keep this update short and sweet. I want those of you who are still supporting us financially through World Outreach to know that we are at a point now where we can pay our monthly bills, and if you want to continue to support us, you can email and let me know how you would like for your donation to be used. We’re still providing funds for the Vitamin project in South Africa- which is more important than ever during this pandemic. Around 1500 kids are still receiving vitamins in 14 different locations. We continue to send funds to Oakridge to help with scholarships for those kids whose parents just can not afford school fees. Treasure (our project to repurpose recycled materials into beautiful products and help support vulnerable women and children) continues to thrive as well. 

What a huge blessing to see all of these things continue on, as they were God’s heart for those precious people-and I was but a spoke in the wheel for a short time. It continues to roll on into the future! Thank you Lord, and thank you friends for your support and love. Let me know if you want to designate to a specific area of ministry and I will make sure it gets there. Thank you so, so much for helping us get to this point. 

With so much love to you

The Deetlefs family

(Marius, Jodi, & Emi)

Our contact details:

The Deetlefs Family

260 Jacobs Way - Unit C

Jasper, GA 30143

770.547.9047

To send support:

www.worldoutreach.org/490

A Time for Faith...

Hey friends,

This has been a TOUGH season for our family, but we’re hanging on.  If there ever was a time that the Deetlefs family must live not by sight, but by faith - that time is now. 

I am sorry for my lack of communication lately, but the truth of the matter is I have been pretty overwhelmed. Marius and I have both been hanging on by a thread, and thankfully that thread is tethered to our Faithful God!  Here are a few of the bigger things going on in our lives at the moment:

• Our house in South Africa didn’t close as we were assured it would, so we signed a new contract last week and the house is expected to close in March 2020. This means we are now carrying 2 mortgages.  This while making less than half the salaries that we made working here 14 years ago. This requires Faith.

• Marius’s job at Reformation did not work out as we had hoped it would. His already injured back simply can’t sustain the heavy lifting and bending that job requires daily. God has provided another job for him as Assistant Manager with Bojangles, which will start in January. He hopes to be managing a store sometime next year…. We have Faith.

• We are headed to Jacksonville as I type this message for Marius to get a 2nd epidural steroid injection for his back. This will buy him some time until he he is eligible for medical insurance. He has been in alot of pain, with sciatica going down both legs every day now. This pain, coupled with the lack of finances has been tough for Marius, and he has been in a tough place mentally as well. Marius’s friend in South Africa committed suicide last week, the day before Marius’s birthday. As we cried and prayed for peace for his wife and son, Marius and I both acknowledged our own desperate need for God and our need to live by faith and not by how we feel.

• Our World Outreach support account last year at this time was $4,000 - compared to THIS November in which it was $286. We understand that we can’t expect our supporters to continue to financially support us as we are no longer on the ground in South Africa- but it means that this is a time we have to have FAITH in God to be our provider. 
•  
• I started a job working at CARES ( https://pickenscares.org) a community non-profit that provides counseling, food, and emergency financial assistance for people in extreme need.  I really like my job, and my boss, Chris Rumble, is the nicest boss I have ever worked for. It is a non-profit, and is only a  part-time job which pays for 20 hours/week, but I’m working about twice that many hours. I really want to stay at this job and help people in our community, but it requires FAITH to be able to pay the bills. 
• 
  
• I was calling around trying to find a place for Marius to get his 2nd injection and I found that on average it would cost around $1500 out of pocket, which was shocking in itself, but when they heard that he didn’t have insurance for another month, I was told “We don’t accept self-pay patients”. Basically the general message at most places I called was  "No referral, No insurance, NO service.” It was bad enough that we were going to have to charge his procedure on our credit card, but even worse to be told that that we weren’t allowed to see the dr. unless we had an insurance card. I can not understand where the hippocratic oath fits in to all of this? How in the world do normal, working Americans afford to go to the doctor? ***Just happened - this amazing dr. just did Marius’s 2nd injection at no charge- Thank you Lord!*** Another reason Marius applied with Bojangles -aside from the fact that the owners are Christians and are doing so much good in the communities where they have stores, they also have good insurance benefits. Right now, only Emi and I are insured, and the cost of that monthly premium is more than our mortgage. So, basically from strictly a financial standpoint, it’s as if we are presently paying for 3 mortgages with 1/3 of the income we had before.  Thus, our need for FAITH.
• 
  
• Emi misses her friends in South Africa, and she still hasn’t made a real friend here yet, but she isn’t crying in the car every day before school anymore- so that is definite improvement. We’re hoping her new recreation league basketball will help her make some new friends.
• 
  
• Emi’s mom, however, IS crying in the car every morning. Ems gets out of the car to go to the bus, I listen to my worship music in the car, and the tears start flowing. I can not describe the tremendous sense of loss I feel in this season. I miss South Africa. I miss our church so much.  I miss leading worship. I miss my friends!  I miss the kids I was ministering to. (Even though things are continuing on without missing a beat -Praise God!). I miss being creative and making crafts for Treasure.  I miss Oakridge Academy and the incredible environment that school was for Emi to learn in.  I miss our house, and Emi's trampoline, and my Kitchen-Aid that we had to leave behind.  I miss my life there…    BUT, I realize that this is truly where the rubber meets the road when it comes to faith. I can not see with my eyes the way forward - but neither could the children of Israel as they stood by the Red Sea about to be annihilated by the Egyptian army.  So, I remind myself that my faith can not be in our supporters,  in myself, or in Marius.  My faith is in the same Faithful God that parted the Red Sea and led His people through without their sandals even getting wet.  This is a time for me to grow in Faith, and I declare it - My faith is in the Faithfulness of God,  and I am gonna believe come what may.  My faith is in the Faithful One. 

At first glance, this may seem like the single- most depressing newsletter I have ever sent out 😂 but I hope that you can see the silver lining - the encouragement that we must all hold on tight to our faith. We have to stay tethered to the Faithful One, even if we’re only holding on by a thread. He is faithful, has always been faithful, and will forever be faithful!! 

I saw a Target commercial last week that pretty much summed up what I see all around me in this season here - somehow the world has managed to camouflage Christ in Christmas. I, however, want to shout from the rooftop -

 Emmanuel.

God with Us.

Jesus.

This IS Christmas! Christmas is God stooping humbly to be with us and fill us with hope. My hope  and the hope of the world lies in Him alone - the Faithful One. And it is this message that the Deetlefs leave you with this Christmas - We wish you a Christmas full of hope and full of faith!!

We would love to invite you ~~ Marius will be preaching and I will be singing on Sunday Dec. 29th at the Jasper United Methodist Church at the 8:30a.m. and 11:00a.m. services. 

Sincerely,

The Deetlefs Family

(Marius, Jodi, Emi, Clemmie the Cat, and Zoe the Dog who doesn’t know she’s a dog)

The Deetlefs Family

260 Jacobs Way - Unit C

Jasper, GA 30143

770.547.9047

www.worldoutreach.org/490

***Important October Update*** - Deetlefs Reunited after 3 months!

Team Deetlefs Reunited!!

Finally some news to report! 

Thank you for bearing with me in these past 6 weeks with little communication. I sent my last report just as I was about to head to Montana for a missions debrief week, which was absolutely incredible. I also got to re-connect with so many friends (Cat, Schramm, Suze, Anna, Nancy, the Briggs, the McDonalds, the Ogles, Wilkie, Mariska, and many more. It was cool water to my thirsty soul!!!)

         

  

Next, we moved mom and dad out of their Main St. house into their new rental house, and the week they closed we also found a small townhouse for Marius and Emi and I to live in (just 2 doors down from the one we lived in 14 years ago when we were first married!!) It is tiny and needs a lot of work, but it's going to be beautiful, and we're so very grateful to have a place to stay!  This is the kitchen/living room/dining room and it's what I've been working on day and night. My parents have helped so much too. I will send you pics going forward as I gradually DIY my way through. 

   

Marius arrived this past Saturday, October 5th! We're very happy for our family to be together again! Emi is so glad to be with her papa again!. Please continue to pray for her. She is in a great school. She loves her teacher. She loves her bus driver. She loves the school janitor. But she hasn't made a real friend at school yet, and the girls in her class have not embraced her, so her transition has been pretty tough. She says it is like the schools in American movies with cliques, and this was not what she was used to in South Africa where she was in class with her best friends.  She misses them terribly. I also dearly miss my friends and church and leading worship. I have been like a fish out of water here, and it's getting a little bit easier each day, but I still can't type this update without a steady flow of tears. I had just not envisioned God moving us back here again, and its so hard to assimilate back into my own culture. Weird I know, but it's true. Reverse culture shock is a very real thing!

Marius also accomplished alot in the past 3 months since we last saw him. Our house in Jeffrey's Bay is under contract and the buyers are set to move in November. Things take forever to happen in SA, so it will be mid-December before everything is finalized, but they will pay occupational rent until the title paperwork returns from Capetown. All of our household stuff sold to friends and neighbors.

Our business partners will carry on business as usual at the coffee shop/restuarant in Jbay for now, and Marius managed to do all of the necessary training, and transfer job responsibilities to the necessary people. Our car in Jbay also sold, and with that money we were able to purchase a car in the States.

Big prayer request:  With the stress and the physical demands of the move, Marius injured his back pretty severely - so much so that we weren't sure he would be able to make the flight last week. In the end, he did fly, and we are busy trying to get him some pain relief as he is in ALOT of pain right now. He had an MRI done yesterday, and based on the results the dr. recommends that he have an epidural steroid injection. All of this is very expensive here in the States and unfortunately we are having to pay out of pocket as our South African insurance does not cover us here, and we won't have American medical insurance for another month. Just the last 2 days alone have cost over $1,000 and that is before we find a specialist to do this steroid injection. Please pray with us that God will continue to direct us to the right care, as Marius is not able to function and work with this level of pain. Our friend Nick has offered Marius a job at Reformation, but he needs his back to be strong in order to do it, so please pray with us for his total healing. 

Now onto the subject of support. I know that several of you who have been supporting us have probably received an email from World Outreach explaining their new credit card processing system, and that it is necessary to re-register in order to support us via credit card. This comes at an extremely bad time as I'm sure some of you are debating whether or not you should still support us since we are now Stateside. I want to ask you to prayerfully consider sticking with us at least until the end of this year.

Going forward in 2020 I will still be working on this side of the ocean to champion and empower the vulnerable children of South Africa. The vitamin project continues to flourish, with well over 1,000 kids served daily. There are still scholarships in play at Oakridge Academy, and there are upcoming school supplies that need to be purchased in January for the same kids that we've helped for the past 8 years in South Africa. I don't feel like we should discontinue their education and nutrition just because of their government's decision to not renew my visa. Please consider continuing to send your monthly support to help make sure these needs continue to be cared for, and these kids don't fall through the cracks. I won't be able to fund all of these things without your continued help. November and December have always been the biggest months for people's giving, and that helped us buy all the necessary school supplies for several children, so please don't forget them. If you do wish to support us going forward, please go to www.worldoutreach.org/490  or send checks with Deetlefs #490 in the memo line to:

World Outreach Ministries 

P.O. Box B 

Marietta, GA 30061

Treasure, our single mom empowering, fund raising, skills training, recycling, repurposing project continues to go forward as my dear friend Mich takes the helm. She and Zanele are sewing and marketing our beautiful re-purposed items that are selling in South Africa.           

    

I have a possible ministry job opportunity that I will share more about when it's a for sure, but it would allow me to continue to help hurting, vulnerable people right here in my own community. Now, isn't that a God thing?

I know this is ALOT of info, and I'm sure some of you gave up several paragraphs ago. I just had so much to catch you up on. I have a U.S. phone number now (770-547-9047) and hopefully Marius will get one this week. Please let us know if you have questions or would like to connect. We appreciate each one of you so very much, all of your love and support and care through this unexpected relocation. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. 

With so much love,

Team Deetlefs

Marius, Jodi, Emi, Zoe (the doxiepoo), and Clemson (the Maine Coon)

New Video from Emi Deetlefs!

Hi Guys!

We so enjoyed being in the States this summer to celebrate with many of you our 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of working with orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa.  If you weren't able to visit with us at Trinity Church or Jasper United Methodist Church, please  CHECK OUT OUR NEW 4 minute VIDEO by clicking on the link here: 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=y8LrX4UYMdA

If you are receiving this blog then it means that somewhere along the road in these last 10 years, you have been a part of our support team back home. We are humbled and incredibly grateful to all of you, and we are keenly aware that without your help we certainly couldn't have grown into helping over 1,000 vulnerable children! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for partnering with us!! We know that life takes us in different directions and it ebbs and flows. If you are currently supporting us financially, please know how grateful we are.  To those of you who have supported us in the past, would you consider being part of our support team again? 

Right now, we are living on about 64% of the financial support we had when we started working in AFrica 10 years ago. And that means we really  NEED TO RAISE SOME MONEY to be able to continue here. It has been our goal that through the coffee shop/restaurant we could support ourselves, but the reality is that we are not there yet. 

Would you please consider making a tax-deductible, one-time gift or monthly donation to help us help children in South Africa? You can do so by clicking on the secure link below or by mailing a check with Deetlefs #490 in the memo.

https://worldoutreach.org/cc/donations.html?fCode=00490.   

   World Outreach Ministries, Inc.

    P.O. Box B

    Marietta, GA  30061 

We need 30 people who would donate $12.50/week. Will you consider being one of them? A little bit of money could help us do a LOT of good!

We are so grateful to have been here serving God for the past 10 years, and look forward to the next 10!

Lots of love coming your way from S. Africa!!

Marius, Jodi, & Emi 

Come Celebrate with us - 10 years in S. Africa!

Hi Guys,

This day, and Jesus giving His life for us on the cross mean that we are Free! I’m so grateful for the life and freedom and hope we have in Jesus!

AMAZING things have been happening here in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa! So amazing that i haven’t had time to slow down and tell you about them. So, here is a catch up for the last couple of months. See for yourself all that God is doing here...

1  Thanks in large part to my GENEROUS friends in the USA, we were able to get the occupation certificate and open our new school on time in January. It was nothing short of a miracle! Thank you so much to those of you who gave to make this school a reality. Three of the four buildings are now completed, with only 1 log cabin left to finish.  We still need to finish out the insides, but they are functional and  little lives are being changed at our new Christian school Oakridge Academy!  Here are some construction progress pics:

            

  

2  We have started construction on the new playground which will also be able to accommodate kids with disabilities. This playground has already brought so much joy to the students, especially little Chad who has cerebral palsy and has never been able to play on a playground before now.  THANK YOU to those who gave towards creating this playground! 

3.  The Emi’s Closet Vitamin Project has just reached the 1,000 mark!!  That’s right - 1,000 vulnerable children in our community are now receiving immune boosting vitamins every day. A church friend of mine who teaches at a brand new school asked if we could provide vitamins for her class. When the principal found out, she phoned to ask if we could bring vitamins for the whole school - so now we’ve added King’s College and their 400 students as recipients of Emi’s Closet daily vitamins. Glory to God!  These little lives are going to be changed! After having a great talk with the school principal and finding out more of their needs, we want to try and raise enough money within this year to be able to offer a full 4 year high school scholarship to Global Leadership Academy to the top student at Kings College in 2019. If you would like to help us with that, details of where to give are below. Help us break the cycle of poverty by helping a bright child continue at the best high school in town!

          

4.  And last but definitely not least…. Emi got baptized!  This has really been strong on her heart over the past year and she continued asking when she could be baptized, so this December when all of the grandparents were here, our 8 year old daughter Emi was baptized in the Indian Ocean with our pastor Murray and her dad. Our close friends and family had a very special time of praying for her afterwards. Watch out world because it is still her dream to be a rock star for Jesus! We are so grateful that our daughter loves Jesus and is shining her little light bright!

There’s much, much more to tell you, but I’m trying to keep it short.  Hint. Hint…. We look forward to seeing you face to face.

**Marius is preaching  & I will be singing this Sunday, July 8th, at Jasper United Methodist Church - all 3 services. 8:30 a.m./9:45 a.m./11:00 a.m. (www.jasperumc.org)

**Marius will also be preaching & I will be singing next Sunday, July 15th, at Trinity Church both services, 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. (trinityonthenet.org)

Lots of love and gratefulness coming your way from…..

Jodi, Marius & Emi Deetlefs

Here are a few giving opportunities where you could really make a difference.  Just click on the blue link below.  Even $5 can help! These are current needs here:

*the finishing touches of the 3 school buildings (floor tiles, light fixtures, furniture, paint for the walls)  $3400

*increase of 400 vulnerable children to receivie vitamins App. $4600/yr

*money for a 4 year high school scholarship for the top student at King’s College in 2019 ($150/month x 4 years) = App. $7200

*personal need: airfare for our family to come to the States in June (We are coming to celebrate with you 10 years of God’s faithfulness  of our partnering here in South AFrica - more on that in the next update) App. $5800

www.WorldOutreach.org/donations

checks can be made payable to World Outreach Ministries with Deetlefs #490 in the memo 

Mail checks to :

    World Outreach Ministries, Inc.

    P.O. Box B

    Marietta, GA  30061