Witch Doctor recognizes Power of Jesus!

Our 10-day outreach to the Transkei was tremendous! God did some amazing things. I will send it in a few different blogs, but here are a few highlights:

Marius helping the team build a fence around the orphan school

Some kiddos playing a game my Nanny Stancil used to play

Anne-Marie, the founder and leader of GCEX, helping with the sandbox

Beautiful Coffee Bay

Half of the mission participants slept in tents at one site, and the other half at the chief's homestead in huts

Willam, one of our leaders, who shared with the chief

We had to pick up Emi's stroller and carry her over the river because it was high tide. She looked like an Egyptian princess being carried by her servants. That's sort of what she is!

-One of our teams stayed at the chief's house (which was several small huts) and one of the chief’s daughters accompanied the team to the local huts to translate for them. Her name is Bongi, and she speaks very good English. They shared the Gospel with one hut, and Bongi very hesitantly translated for them. They moved on to the next hut, and shared the "God Story" again, and Bongi was very animated and translated with a smile. They moved on to the 3rd hut, and Bongi practically shared the whole story herself! And very excitedly. When they left the hut, Bongi turned to the team leader and said, "Wow, I want to take this Jesus seriously!" They talked and she later came to them and asked for them to pray with her as she wanted to give her life to the Lord. They were able to give her a Xhosa Bible (no one in that whole area had Bibles in their language, and very few of them had ever even heard of Jesus. Isn't that crazy? They hooked Bongi up with a group of local believers who have a house church, so that she can continue to learn and grow. Praise be to God for this miracle! 

- Another cool thing was one of the leaders Willam (who grew up as a missionary kid in Mozambique with his parents) shared the "God story" with the chief himself. The chief is the one in charge of the whole territory and anytime there are disputes, the people must bring those to the chief to sort them out. Even though this is South Africa and there is a President, these local chiefdoms still function as a true form of leadership in the small, rural areas. The chief heard the story and was interested. And then Willam explained that if the chief chooses to give his life to Jesus, then Jesus wants everything - that the chief can't continue to worship his ancestors or consult with the witchdoctor. The chief said that then he must think this over, because this is too high a cost. In this area witchcraft is very prevalent, it is a way of life here. People always consult the sangoma (the witchdoctor) for healing, for wisdom for the future, for power over their enemies, etc.  About that time the sangoma (witchdoctor) came walking up the path towards the chief. Another one of our leaders, Clara, reached out her hand to shake the hand of this elderly person out of respect, and the sangoma jerked her hand back and said to Clara, " I will NOT shake your hand." Clara asked why and she replied, "I can NOT shake your hand." Clara asked the sangoma if it was because she was afraid of Jesus who lives inside of her and she screamed, "Yes!". The chief saw this whole thing, so we are still praying and believing that this will influence him as he saw that the power of Jesus was greater than the power of the sangoma. 

Sometimes we as Westerners can easily lose sight of the tremendous power that Jesus has. The thing you see in Africa is that these people KNOW there is power, both dark and light, and they recognize it when it is in their presence.  I will share more later……

Thanks for caring, thanks for keeping up with us, thanks for praying.

We love you,

Jodi (& Marius & Emi)

In the Bush!

Here are a few photos of us in the bush. The Global Challenge mission participants were there as part of their "survivor" training for a week, and the Global Leadership Academy high school students also got to spend a weekend out there with the Global Challenge guys! It was great. They presented the gospel message to these high school students and had "D-groups" (discipleship groups) every afternoon. An awesome week for all!

The road into the bush

This doesn't look like Africa, does it?

Marius was definitely missing our old Pajero at this moment!

D-group time

Global Challenge Leadership praying about the day

Marius by the staff tents

Emi and our friend Hanna ( the Drama teacher at Global Leadership Academy)

Our bush baby on the way home from her adventures in the bush

Please keep us in your prayers as we leave tomorrow morning for Transkei, which is a very rural, poverty stricken area. Our 42 Global Challenge participants will be helping on 2 projects for the orphans there. There are also many AIDS orphans in this area as there were in Swaziland. Marius is helping with the content of this time, so pray for him as he prepares to touch on topics like cultural sensitivity, servant leadership, and flexibility (something we will also be applying during the outreach!). It's about 8 hours away, so please pray for everyone's safety as we travel tomorrow, as well as an amazing 10 days in Transkei that the Lord uses to prepare them for their journeys around the world!

We REALLY appreciate and love you guys!

Jodi, Marius and Bush Baby Emi

Training in Progress.....

As you guys know, since we moved to South Africa we are focusing our efforts more on training this year, and using what we learned in Swaziland for the last few years to help teach young people as they commit for a year to serve all over the world. The  44 Global Challenge students arrived a little over 2 weeks ago.  There are young people from 19-26 years old from South Africa, the USA, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. They are preparing and being trained for their one year journey which will take each of them to at least 10 countries in the next 12 months.

Marius is part of their training. Last week he taught for 3 hours on "God's Story" which was a big picture of God throughout the Bible, mixed in with stories of God's faithfulness in his own life. He did a great job. This week the students are in "the bush" testing their gear and doing a bit of survivor training. They don't have much food and it's raining on them, so it's a tough training week, but good prep for the journey ahead.

Next week we will go with the students to Transkei, which is about 8 hours away. It is a very rural, poverty stricken area.We'll be doing a construction project at a school and Marius will be in charge of the content of their teaching which will mostly focus on cross-cultural sensitivity, adaptability, humility, and flexibility. That's a mouthful huh? 

Please keep our family in your prayers as baby Emi and I are feeling a little under the weather with colds. We will  be in a remote area next week on this outreach, so please pray for us to get well before we travel there, and for safe journeys for everyone. Also pray for me as I have MANY ministry opportunities in front of me - teaching English, Bible studies, working with local orphans, and African pastors in the area. I need to really have wisdom about what to take on and what to say no to. The same with Marius - the wisdom to take on the right things and leave the rest to someone else. There is definitely no end to  the need which we already learned in Swaziland; we just want to be obedient to do what we believe the Lord wants us to do.

A sweet picture of Emi with her favorite person - Dad!

This is one of my dearest friends in the world -Anna Contival. Anna was my outreach leader on my very first outreach with YWAM in Papua New Guinea in 94. We have remained friends through the years, even though we haven't gotten to see each other in 8 years.  She and her husband Scott have been missionaries in Taiwan for the last decade. Anna was in South Africa for her brother-n-laws wedding. She contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know she was going to be on the same continent as me,  in Port Elizabeth. She thought I was still far away in Swaziland. I let her know that I now live 40 minutes from P.E.! We got to spend a great morning together, catching up, laughing, and praying for one another. What a gift from God to spend time with my precious friend.

We will continue to be in touch. Lots of love from sunny Africa,
Marius, Jodi & Emi

Making our home in South Africa!

We are finally here in Jeffrey's Bay, South Africa. It was a great start. We arrived a week ago at about 3 pm. We drove to two rental units, signed a lease at 5pm, and moved in the next day! We love our little 2 BR townhouse, and Emi is loving to live so near to the ocean. We had a chance to go to the beach yesterday for about an hour and she was a hit in her red Radio Flyer wagon (they don't sell them here - I can see a serious market to import those Steve....)

We have been in lots and lots of meetings with the staff here as we are praying and prepping for the students that will arrive on Tuesday. We both have lots to prepare for as Marius will be teaching on Ephesians, Corinthians, and Galatians, and I will teach 5 sessions on Worship. I will start my work at the Community Center for orphans and vulnerable children next week - starting with 1/day a week to start until I figure out a good schedule for Emi. Then, we'll be going on an outreach to Transkei in about 3 weeks to help orient the students to outreach, as they'll be doing a construction project in a poverty stricken area.  We just wanted to say a great big thank you for staying in touch, for your prayers, for giving, for caring. We pray that we continue to make a difference here in Africa in 2011, and we're excited about the journey! From now on this will be what our blogs look like. Please stay in touch!

lots of love,
Jodi, Marius, and Emi

Goodbye USA - Goodbye AIM

This is our last day in the States, and we fly out to South Africa in just a few hours.  It has been such a wonderful time in Georgia, connecting with so many friends, hanging out with family, and enjoying our first WHITE Christmas! Emi had so much fun here – especially with her grandparents and cousins.  She has grown up a lot here. In the last 2 ½ months she has learned to walk, then run, then climb. She is saying lots of new words and making a ton of animal sounds too. We want to thank all of you for showing us so much love and hospitality while we were home. So many of you have graciously continued supporting us, and we say again that we could not do this without you.

This will be our last blog from AIM. Our two-year commitment has ended, and we are now being sent out by our good friends at SERV (www.servintl.org).  We’ll be hitting the ground running, and joining forces with Global Challenge (www.gcex.org) as soon as we get there. We’re very excited about helping to train these young leaders as they serve orphans and other needs around the globe.  Jodi will be working in a local community center with orphans and refugee children, and she’s very excited to be a part of that.

Please pray for our safe flight (and equally important a peaceful flight for little Emi as 15 hours is a long time for a toddler to be still!)  Please pray for us as we will also be finding a rental house and moving in the first 3 days we arrive, right before training starts.

We love you and appreciate your partnership with us in making a huge difference in orphans’ lives!  We hope you have an amazing New Year and that 2011 is Full of love, joy and the awesome peace of God in the midst of whatever you’re going through.

Love,

Marius, Jodi, and Baby Emi

www.jodiandmarius.com

Come See Us on the 14th!

It is so nice to be with family for the last few weeks, and we’ve been able to connect with friends at Trinity, and His House, and at our friend Kelly’s small group. Also, I celebrated my birthday on the 26^th, our anniversary was yesterday, and Emi’s 1^st Birthday is TODAY! There’s so much going on, and so many people we want to see in the short time we are here in the States and not enough time to get everywhere, so........ you can come see us!

YOU ARE OFFICIALLY INVITED to Dessert Night with the Deetlefs on Sunday, November 14^th at 6:30 p.m. at Sharptop Cove in Jasper, GA. For those of you who knew us then, this is the location of the Young Life camp where we got married 5 years ago. We know it is a busy time of year, so we want to give you fair notice that we would REALLY love it if you could come to this evening. It’s free dessert and coffee and a time for us to share pictures and a few stories of our last two years in Swaziland, Africa.  I will also be singing for the first time in a long time, so don’t miss that. :}

Many of you have been partnering with us with your prayers and finances, and we want you to see what YOU have been a part of, and hear what is next for us in South Africa. Feel free to bring a friend along too –the more the merrier.  More details and directions below.  Please RSVP to jodideetlefs@yahoo.com by Nov. 10^th so we know how much dessert to prepare. 

We love you and want to see you, so please come!

Jodi, Marius & 1 year old Emi

What:  Dessert Night with the Deetlefs

When:  Sunday, November 14^th, 6:30pm

Where: Young Life (Sharptop Cove) Jasper, GA

How:  By Car, Bus, or Helicopter

Why:  Because it’s going to be an awesome night and you don’t want to miss it!

Directions coming from I-75 North (Marietta/Atlanta)

I-75 North to I-575 North

I-575 North becomes I-515 North

At 4^th traffic light on 515 North, turn RIGHT onto 53 East in Jasper.

Turn LEFT onto Burnt Mtn. Rd. (at light by Walgreen’s)

Turn RIGHT onto Cove Road at 3-way stop sign (by Citgo Station). Go 2.3 miles

Turn LEFT onto Grandview Road. Go 2 miles

Turn RIGHT onto Windy Ridge Rd. Go 0.5 miles

Stay RIGHT at fork and turn RIGHT onto GA Baptist Rd. Go 2 very curvy miles.