KENYA. Pastor Timothy

Dear Bush Mission and Mama,

Just to inform you that Peter Chesoli our General Secretary had a motorcycle accident. He was in ICU ward at the hospital for 10 days with head trauma. He has now gone to be with the Lord. We need your prayer and any support for funeral expense. In Kenya the church has to stand in the gap and meet hospital bills and feed the people at the funeral....Your help will be a blessing....

God's blessings, Pastor Timothy, Kitale, Kenya

Dear Friends,

Just believe in storms! God can use them. Greetings in Jesus' Precious Name from Kwa-Sizabantu Mission (or KSB), Zululand, South Africa, where I arrived on July 25, 2012. In Zulu the name means "The Place Where People Are Helped."

It's the largest mission station in all of Africa. I've settled into a comfy guest room complete with electric kettle! KSB is a modern mission with running water and electricity. It has a supermarket, radio station, primary and high school, adult education school, dairy farm, bottling factory, and so much more. The main auditorium seats ten thousand! So if you envisioned a one-horse hitching post, forget it!

I've stayed previously in the Olsen home, but it's now overflowing with other guests. So they've just invited me to an evening meal. I'm catching up with all the mission news. I am writing to you from Cedar Teachers' College of 70 students, located here at the mission. Dr. Ilsa Vermaak, Vice Principal, graciously loaned me her laptop

Why KSB? I see God's hand moving here in quiet but meaningful ways. KSB shuns TV, radio, and worldly distractions. It saves souls who've hit bottom. Loved ones are restored to families which had all but lost hope. I see honest miracles, not hocus-pocus, blessing those who repent wholeheartedly and seek to walk afresh with the Lord. KSB chases away spiritual storms.

I've been associated with KSB over the years, sitting front-row to the incredible work of God for people from every walk of life around the globe. So here I am, being refreshed for a week, before submerging myself in spiritual warfare in the African countries where we serve. Thank you for praying and generous gifts. You will see in the months ahead how our Lord, the Master of the wind and the waves, can use the storms of life to draw people to Him. Those miracles cause me to say, "Bring on the storm!"

I have many to thank for helping with my USA departure. Praise the Lord for Natalie and her military son, Louis! I never would have managed without their help. They gave up a Saturday afternoon to pack six duffel bags and four suitcases of relief supplies outside in the carport. Fortunately, rain that day cooled the place down to bearable temperature.

My last Sunday was spent at Living Water of the Valley church, where I greeted the congregation before Pastor Bob led a special send-off prayer. That night, Laura, Captain of our USA Prayer Team, stopped by the house for extra prayer support, with a sacrificial gift of cash for Sudan, where currency must be under five years old.

Praise for the Turners, who bravely loaded their truck with ten pieces of luggage and took us to the airport! And thanks to Mark, who came to assist. How kind of him to spend a few minutes over coffee before I rushed off through security.

Praise God for a safe flight. In Heathrow Airport, after a sleepless night, I endured a layover of some 7-8 hours. The chairs with steel armrests are designed to inflict maximum torture lest anyone catch a few winks. By propping my purse on end, and bending my neck at a 45 degree angle, I got a sort of rest. My gate assignment wasn't posted until 45 minutes before the flight, so I waited at strange gates. In fact, one gentleman woke me to say, "You'll miss your flight to Scotland!" That's when I realized I was at the wrong gate!

Praise for new friendships. My flight to Johannesburg was over two hours late, but while waiting at the right gate during that last hour, I met a delightful lady of my own age from Zimbabwe. Her name was Tony, heading to South Africa for an operation.

Praise God for safe arrival. In Johannesburg, due to the delayed flight, I missed my connection to Durban. Of course, my luggage was still checked through to Durban. I had to claim it in Johannesburg and re-check it for domestic flight - no small feat! Two staff assisted me in pushing two trolleys from the International Airport to the Domestic Airport, complete with escalator ride. Fortunately, I held some South Africa currency from two years ago and was able to tip each R20. I contacted KSB regarding my new flight and in Durban was met by Uncle Friedhold, Margaret Olsen's brother. Beyond two missing nights of sleep in travel, and another packing in Phoenix, I'm none the worse for wear.

July 2012

Serving the Persecuted Church in Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa

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Please continue to pray for the many logistical challenges and funds to buy eleven bicycles in Juba and transport them by barge to Leer, South Sudan, for our Bible School students. Pray for our Bible School renovation in Leer. Funding is only halfway there.

UGANDA. Clare, teacher at Peace Church Preschool

Dear Bush Mission,

Thank you so much for money you sent to me....It has helped me to join my husband....We managed to get a new teacher [to replace me] who began her work July 11 as I was leaving. Her name is Agnes....Thank you...Bush Telegraph for the support to the orphans...to help these children learn. They are doing well except those who are total orphans who come to school weak and hungry as the cost of food is so high....Can you send a little money to Apophiah for porridge it would serve them until Sept when there shall be plenty of food brought to church as tithes.

Clare of Tororo Uganda

SUDAN. John Kong

Dear Mama,

This is to inform you that yesterday we had very good celebration of the 1st Independence Day of South Sudan. You can see some photos attached. Also on Thursday when I left Bentieu to travel to Leer, we had a car accident. Thank God no one died including the children who were with us. The mission truck is still in Juba so we are using local transport.

In Christ, your son John

S. AFRICA Mission auditorium

CONGO. Pastor Delphin and Eden Church in Goma

Dear Bush Mission and Mama,

God be Blessed...for His amazing grace through Bush Mission....The money you sent was helpful in our meeting for, "At Risk Women" every Tuesday....After the meeting we pray for them, we counsel them...and give small funds to those who in extreme need....Today I gave Madeleine $35 and Kisuba $35. They are widows....Also $30 was used for construction of the front of Eden church. We haven't finished but trust God Who provides, certain He will finish the work. The ministry is going well. Last Sunday brother Angelus came to church for the first time since I visited them for reconciliation. This Sunday one Christian from his house church will preach here at Eden Church. We...pray for them to return home definitively.

All my children succeeded at their final exams this school year for which we are thankful to God....May God bless all our prayer partners...because you are a part of this victory. Mama Elizabeth...is traveling tomorrow to Bukavu...to visit my in-laws. Please give our warm greetings and gratitude to our brothers and sisters in USA.

In Him,

Pastor Delphin

We will be sending extra funds for food until September.

Field Reports

BushTelegraphAfrica

As I write we are trying to find extra funds for this unbudgeted request.

Closing Thoughts

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

— 1 Peter 4:16

Dear Lord,

We pray that You would be with the Christians living in the midst of storm-tossed seas. We ask that You would bring Your peace to their villages and towns.

Please grant Your wisdom to Your children. Continue to strengthen the Christians and church leaders who suffer for Your Gospel. We pray for religious freedom in Africa and beyond, that Your Word will pierce the hardest heart.

May Your Holy Spirit minister to those suffering from cold, pain, hunger, or death. Comfort those souls until they pass safely through the storms of life and reach the safety of Your heavenly shore where the sun is shining and the skies are blue. Amen.

Glorifying Him,

Charlotte