CHICKEN AND BIBLE MINISTRY IN VENDA Warm Greetings from South Africa!  We would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all who gave financially and supported us through your prayers for the Chicken and Bible outreach. This outreach in Venda brought much more to the village of Khomela than just food and a Christmas gift. It brought them Jesus, the TRUE GIFT of Christmas. Many people prayed and asked Jesus into their hearts and lives. We received an email from Pastor Jeremiah saying that the whole village is talking about the day Jesus came to visit them. We gave a very simple salvation message and talked about seeking God first. One man came to us afterward saying that he had gone to church for years but never heard the things we were sharing from God’s Word and wanted us to show him where to find them in his new Bible. The people of Khomela were thrilled to receive God’s Word—some danced and others kissed the cover of it with much affection. It was an exciting day. Some of the women decided to dance and sing for us to show their appreciation. They found old plastic buckets to use as drums and took turns dancing. They made up songs about receiving a chicken and a Bible and how they were happy now because they have Jesus in their hearts. This is not the end of the story, but only the beginning. We urge you to continue to pray for the people of Khomela village. There is so much for the people to overcome culturally, spiritually, and also in their battle with their health. Each of these 500 hundred families that received a chicken and a Bible are all ones affected/infected by HIV/Aids or other serious illnesses. In the photos (on page two and on our weblog) you can see many children that came to pick up the chickens and Bibles because many times they are the ones caring for their sick parent(s). Please pray for understanding as these precious people read God’s Word. Pray that God would separate the truth from the darkness in their lives. Due to your generous giving we will be going to another village in Venda, Tshikombani, at the end of January to distribute another 200 Venda Bibles and live chickens to the sick families under the care of Pastor Jeremiah Mathelamusa’s Home-based Caregivers ministering in that area. Thank you again for your giving to this ministry outreach. We pray that God will bless you many times over for your kindness and concern for those in need. (Matt. 25:37-40) MINISTRY TO THE ORPHANS IN VENDA There is a very compassionate lady in the village of Ramavioya that opens up her home to the orphans of her village. She has about 10 volunteers who come different days to help her. On Saturday, December 22, we went there with the children’s gifts some of you sent and 6 large buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken. There were about 45 children waiting for our arrival. The chicken was a real treat because these children rarely get any meat to eat. Tolu and Rejoice taught them a new song and dance about Jesus. We took along our puppet stage and had a small puppet show. Most of the children had never seen puppets before and they loved it. Many of the children prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord. ***NEW POSTAL ADDRESS*** Rev. Wayne and Delight Peercy PostNet Suite 61, Private Bag X9676 Polokwane 0700 South Africa E-mail: wayne.peercy@agmd.org ***THE OLD POSTAL ADDRESS (IN FLORA PARK) IS NO LONGER VALID*** Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support as we endeavor to change lives with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Province of Limpopo. Know that we are also praying for you! SEE PHOTOS FROM OUR MINISTRY IN VENDA IN THE PHOTO GALLERY FAQ's "How did you decide who to give the chickens and Bibles to and how was it organized?" The outreach was targeted at families with Aids and other serious illnesses. We had previously ministered in the remote village of Khomela in Venda with Pastor Jeremiah Mathelamusa and learned of his Home Based Caregivers ministering in this village. We asked the Home Based Caregivers to distribute numbered tickets to each of the families that they visit on a regular basis. People were told to bring this ticket to the Khomela Clinic on the 21st of December to receive a special Christmas gift. If they were too sick to come to the clinic then they were encouraged to send a relative, trusted friend, or neighbor to receive it for them. "What are Home Based Caregivers?" Home Based Caregivers are usually women volunteers who are trained to go into the homes of the very sick that need help. These Caregivers go into the homes and check-up on these precious people; assisting them with cleaning themselves up, with deliveries, assisting them with medicines or food, or helping in any way they can; sharing the love of Jesus. Pastor Jeremiah Mathelamusa trained volunteers to do this in five different locations in Venda. "Did you have any problems?" One week before the distribution day of the 21st of December, the chicken farmer we had a verbal commitment with to buy and deliver 500 chickens reniged on our deal. God had blessed this chicken farmer with 500 very plump, large chickens. Greed must have been too great a temptation for him, because he began selling them at an inflated price to other customers. He sold 300 of them before even telling us! When he was confronted, he said he would sell us the remaining 200 chickens NOW. We had no place to store/feed 200 chickens. The circumstances were "ripe" for a miracle and we began to pray... God led us to another chicken farmer who said he could sell us 500 chickens at a reasonable price which included delivery. God provided the chickens for us! The second problem we encountered was that our "replacement" chicken farmer could only deliver 250 chickens per trip to Khomela village. Khomela is a 2-3 hour drive from his chicken farm; we had a 3-hour gap between distribution times, waiting on the remaing 250 chickens. The truck broke down on with the second load. There is no cell phone reception in this area, so we had no way of knowing what had happened wand when the farmer would come with the rest of the chickens. We had aldready distributed the first 250 chickens and Venda Bibles, but the remaining people had to wait... Many of these people had come as early as 6:00 a.m. due to inadequate public transport in this area. They had walked or caught a lift to get to the Clinic. By 4:00 p.m. we were very concerned. This area of Venda is so remote that there is only one bus that comes back to that area; once in the morning going out and once in the afternoo coming in. When the bus came, the remaining people would not leave without their chickens! Many of these people lived very far from the clinic on the other side of the mountain or in other "nearby" villages--but still much too far to walk in one day. Again we began praying and God came through with another miracle. The bus driver decided to come back to pick up the remaining people he had left behind at 4:00 p.m. It was a very long day of waiting for these dear people, especially for the mothers with babies and the older grannys but they all left with a smile and God's Blessing! | 
