July News

Back in South Africa

One of the children who has been orphaned is standing where her new home is hopefully going to be in a few months. She is so sweet and attends our creche. :-)

The boys church and community soccer team!

Storytime at the Creche. The children learn all about the Bible and God's love for them.

On March 8th Shara and I flew back to South Africa to work in Ntshongweni Village. We have been greeted by many old friends and it feels very nice to be back in a place that is now my second home.

Since we have been gone a lot has happened. Our creche, Ntshongweni Creche, is now open with 80 registered children ages 2 to 6. The three teachers we have have done a great job so far and we are looking forward to supporting them in their work!

Our church is also growing. It was great to go to church on Sunday and see lots of new faces. There were about 70 people there and it was nice to sing and worship in Zulu.

The church has also started a community soccer team. This is a great way to do outreach with the young men, and they are very talented! We are going to watch them in a tournament this weekend and we hear they are very hard to beat! Thank you people back in the U.S. who donated for the uniforms and gear. They are getting put to good use!

We are hard at work with Pastor Thwala too to address new needs in the community. One of the hard parts of this work is seeing the children who no longer have their parents struggle while they wait for housing and other basic needs. We will continue to do some building this year, and hope to bring some of the tears from sorrow into tears of relief and hope.

Shara and I have also gotten to meet with the social workers and we are getting the support groups running again soon. We are excited to hopefully add some sewing and gardening activities for the ladies this year!

Planning for the short term teams coming this year is also going strong! If you are interested in coming for 10 days or so in Shongweni to help send me an e-mail! Julia.Wehrenberg@gmail.com

There is much more happening here as we adjust and catch up on the work going on, and I fill you in soon!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support and encouragement! You are all awesome brothers and sisters in Christ, and a very important part of this mission team!

Love and Blessings in Christ,

Julia

September in Ntshongweni

Ntshongweni in September

Heritage Day was celebrated with lots of dancing, singing and traditional Zulu food at Ntshongweni Lutheran Church. The youth from our church and youth from the community came together to perform dances while raising money to help with the funds needed for the Women’s League Conference. The beautiful outfits and bright color beads made for a very fun and special day! Even I joined in for a dance.

Shara, Rejoice and me at the Heritage Day celebration for Ntshongweni Lutheran Church.

The youth in our church practiced for many days before the big celebration. Kicking the leg high is an important part of the dance.

During the traditional dances young girls often wear beautiful bead necklaces on top instead of the full outfits.

During VBS the children love looking at Bible books. Many times the children do not have books at home, so reading and looking at the pictures is a special activity.

I enjoyed spending time at Isiduduzo Crèche and learned many new songs to sing with the children.

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Sawubona family and friends! Throughout this month although Pastor Thwala, Shara and I have been excited about the future, we have spent a lot of time remembering the past. On September 24th South Africa celebrated a holiday called Heritage Day. Throughout the month and especially this day the country highlights the different cultures, traditions, music and art of the nation. It is a time to recognize how people from the past have affected who you are today and where you will be able to be in the future. As we continue to share the love of Christ while serving the thirty six families in our Orphan Project and the local community we have the blessing of looking back on what Christ has done for us and looking forward to what He has promised in the future. We are able to share the life of Christ and that through His death and resurrection we are God’s loved and forgiven children. We get to love, because God first loved us.

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“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live though him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:9-11)

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Through the joys and challenges of the mission work here, it is the hope, love and faith that we have in Christ that encourages us. This month our orphan caregiver support groups have continued and the ladies have given it the name Tholokahle, which in English means “we have found a good thing.” Whether the ladies are sharing laughter, joy or tears it has truly been a great opportunity for the ladies to build friendships and learn about helpful resources. Our sewing classes have also continued and the ladies are now able to make items to sell both in the village and to short-term teams from overseas. The church ladies even have a nice chicken project going where eggs are sold to help support the church. It has been a joy for Shara and me to see these programs expanding and making more people aware of the church.

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Our third round of Vacation Bible School took place the last week of September and was run by our future teachers for the Ntshongweni Crèche. It was great to get a glimpse of what it will look like to have children there every day starting the first of November. Many new children came for our VBS, so we continue to thank God for creating opportunities for us to teach about Jesus in a fun and safe environment when the children are out of school. It was especially nice having Cindy Rodewald who is the LCMS World Mission Volunteer Coordinator for South Africa and her son Jacob Rodewald here to help and play with the 70-80 kids we had each day.

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As beginners in the world of opening a crèche Shara and I decided that we needed to spend some time this month in other crèches to learn how to get started. God has been very faithful in opening doors for us in the process of opening our crèche, and the willingness of the other crèches to have Shara and I come has turned out to be a huge blessing. We now have very good relationships with the local crèches who have helped to answer our questions and guided our steps. I get to spend my days surrounded by little faces that love to sing about Jesus. I am truly blessed and thankful that I get to serve here in such a beautiful community.

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I want to thank everyone who has been supporting me in prayer and through efforts to raise the support I need to stay another year. LCMS World Mission has a new computer system, so records of donations are taking longer to process and are behind several weeks. I apologize for the delay in getting back to anyone, but please know that your gifts mean more than I can express and that I will let you know when I get a more up to date list. Thank you also to everyone who helped with the garage and bake sale. It was a huge success and could not have been done without a large group effort. May God give you strength, wisdom and discernment as you continue to share about the love of Christ!

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Blessings in Christ,

Julia
Hamba kahle!
(Go well!)

Garage and Bake Sale:

Friday, Oct. 1 and Saturday Oct. 2 , 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

My church family will be holding a garage and bake sale on Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2 at Christ Lutheran’s Activity Center to start fundraising for my second year of mission work in Shongweni, South Africa.

There will be a lot of great items at the sale, so I hope you can come and enjoy some shopping while helping to support the mission work here!

If you have some gently used clothing, toys, books or household items* that you want to get rid of before winter or if you are thinning out your closets and drawers, we can use your donations at the end of September. We appreciate your donations!

* We are sorry, but we are unable to take individual computer components.

Christ Lutheran’s Activity Center is at 311 N. Hershey, Normal, IL 61761

Southwest corner of the church’s property.


Donations can be dropped off at the following times at the Christ Lutheran Activity Center:
Sunday, Sept. 26: from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m **We can use volunteers until 8 p.m.
**Monday, Sept. 27: from Noon to 7:00 on these days and Thursday,
**Tuesday, Sept. 28: from Noon to 7:00 Sept., 30 from 11- 8 p.m.
**Weds. , Sept. 29: from 1:00 to 8:00 1 or 2 hours or more is appreciated!

We need volunteers to help Sunday – Thursday until 8 p.m.
Want to volunteer, have questions or need something picked up? Call Marilee Wehrenberg at (309) 830-2563.

Baked goods can be left in the church kitchen or brought to the activity center on

Thurs. , Sept. 30 from 9a.m. to 3 p.m. (kitchen) or noon to 7p.m. (Activity Building)
or
Friday, Oct. 1 during sale hours (Activity Building)

No items to donate and no time to cook? Take part in our “bakeless” Bake Sale and donate what you would spend on the item(s) you might make. i.e.: Cherry Pie=$8.00


Regardless of whether you can help with donations and/or time, we appreciate the prayerful support of the mission work God has made possible for me to do through people like you!

To be added to my e-mail newsletter list, send an e-mail
message to:
Julia.Wehrenberg@lcms.org and put the word “ADD” in the subject heading.
It is a great way to keep up with the mission work going on in Shongweni and
get my prayer requests for the mission.

Thank you and God's blessings on your week!

Love in Christ,

Julia

August Picture Book

Jesus is our ultimate supporter as our savior! Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” This is a picture from our first support group at the church community center. Shara and I assisted social workers Eldah and Primrose from Christian Social Services run the support group for the caregivers of orphans in the Shongweni rural community.

Shara, Bishop Weber, Pastor Thwala and I will continue to work together through the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa to do mission work in Shongweni for one more year! I am thankful that Shara will also be extending so that we can continue to do this work as a team. I would love the opportunity to share more about the mission work here in Shongweni with you and your church when I am back in the States!

Bishop Weber visited our class taught by Deaconess Grace Rao from LCMS World Relief and Human Care. These women came from Botswana, the Congo and throughout South Africa to learn about serving God in their churches and daily lives. It was a blessing to learn a lot from the course and very encouraging to spend time with these great women of faith!

Deaconess Grace Rao had each of the nine women that attended the ministry course lead a Bible study. It was great to learn from all of the women and be encouraged by their messages!

The support group enjoyed an exercise where they shared about themselves and learned how they are all connected.

Shara and I spent time at another crèche to learn more about how to run childcare programs in Shongweni.

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Greetings from sunny and beautiful South Africa! Another month has flown by that was filled with lots of opportunities to grow in my faith and service. I am happy to share that all of the paper work for the crèche has been handed in to the government, and we are on track for opening the crèche in November! I am looking forward to having the church provide a safe and caring environment where the children can be taught about God’s care for them daily. I also had the opportunity to learn a lot this month when I attended a two week course at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Pretoria about various ways women are able to support ministry in the church and community. Throughout this month it became very clear that learning never stops and that the more that we are able to learn the better we can be at
supporting one another.
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“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 2:3-4)

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All of us support various people and things in our lives. We support our families and we support our favorite sports teams. Being a source of support can be a lot of hard work, but it can also be a lot of fun! Whether we show support by listening to someone going through a challenge or by decking out in our team’s colors for the game, we know that our encouragement is needed and appreciated. This month, my missionary partner Shara and I joined forces with local social workers from Christian Social Services to provide support groups for the caregivers in our orphan project and the local community. These groups are designed to help the caregivers address the challenges that they face, while also providing time to socialize and develop friendships. Over thirty of us gathered at our first meeting and enjoyed sharing a little about ourselves and what topics we would like to have for the group.

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The support group is now taking place the first and last Monday of the month and looks at how other people and local resources can help, but points first of all to our biggest supporter, Christ. Not all of the people who attend are Christians, but they still want to be a part of the group and are being shown God’s care by the other people. As the group meets in the church community center the members begin with praise songs and prayer. Pastor Thwala also comes down and greets everyone, so I am happy that these groups have become another opportunity for the church community to open its doors and invite people not just to the church building, but also to encourage them in their personal relationship with Christ.

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I want to thank you for the support you have given me throughout my time as a missionary. It is with great joy that I want to share with you that I have been asked to extend my time of service here with the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa. I have accepted and will remain serving under Pastor Thwala with the Shongweni Orphan Project for one more year! I have been blessed to develop many relationships in the rural community, and am thankful that doors have been opened to care for spiritual, emotional and physical needs during this next year.

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I will be coming back to the United States to fundraise in December and January and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider continuing to support me this next term of service. One of the upcoming ways of supporting the effort to raise the funds needed is to be involved in a garage and bake sale being held at Christ Lutheran Church in Normal, IL on October 1st and 2nd. Donations, volunteers and shoppers are all needed and greatly appreciated. I cannot thank you enough for your help and care as I prepare to serve again!
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God’s blessings on your day now and always,
Julia
Hamba kahle!
(Go well!)

July Picture Book

July was a wonderful month! Enjoy the pictures and stories that show a few aspects of the culture and mission work going on here in Shongweni!

The kids enjoyed the story and song about Zacchaeus being a little man who Jesus cared about and forgave. After tracing a lot of hands to make the tree the kids drew Jesus coming to get Zacchaeus and celebrated God’s forgiveness and love for us too! During VBS the children enjoyed drawing and taking pictures home for their caregivers. I assisted in the seven year old and under classroom until VBS ended
July 9th.

In the Zulu culture the tombstone unveiling ceremony is a big celebration for the lives of the deceased. Here four tombstones had just recently been purchased for family members that had died in the last few decades. Tombstones are very expensive so how long a person waits to have this ceremony can greatly depend on the financial resources. Unlike a funeral, this is a very happy event!

Before the tombstones were unveiled there was a worship service with logs of singing, dancing and thanking God.

Once the tombstones were unveiled family members gathered around for pictures and talked about the life of their loved one.

There were several hundred people who attended the tombstone unveiling party, so lots of cooking was done in the large iron pots and on the open grill.
Shara and I joined social workers Eldah and Primrose from Christian Social Services in designing and creating support programs in Shongweni.

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July was a very busy and exciting month here in Shongweni. Although there were no big gatherings with fireworks and cookouts for the 4th of July, my missionary partner Shara and I have had a lot of experiences to celebrate! The month started out with a final week of Vacation Bible School where the children continued to learn about Christ’s saving love for them through Bible stories and activities. Pastor Thwala, Shara and I have also been progressing in getting the crèche registered and staffed for the upcoming months and have developed a lot of local contacts to help with this process. The sewing classes that we have on Wednesdays for ladies in the community also continued and one of the women has now become the main teacher! It is great to see the programs become self-sustaining and enjoyed by the people in Shongweni. Although each of these programs has various obstacles to work around, God has opened so many doors for this ministry. Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement!

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“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2 Corinthians 2:3-4)

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In addition to the continued programs, this month has also been filled with a lot of firsts. I attended my first Zulu funeral, and went to my first tombstone unveiling ceremony and family party. As I am becoming a part of the community I am being invited to more events, which helps me to better understand some of the Zulu traditions. I have had many unique experiences that have already allowed me to talk more about how faith plays a role in the traditional customs here.
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Another exciting first occurred when Shara and I met with all of the social workers and helped to plan a support group for the caregivers of the orphans. We are looking forward to hosting these programs at the church community center as another way to reach out to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the families in the orphan project. Throughout the old and the new aspects of the mission work here, God has been faithful in providing opportunities to witness about Christ, and to work as His hands and feet with wonderful local partners.

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One church that we Skyped with this month asked what Shara and I do as missionaries here that they could do in their community. The answer was that they could do the same things. Perhaps the culture, population or location is different, but the need for all people to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior is the same all over the world. You do not need to leave your world to impact the world of someone in your life. As you go into your week find strength and encouragement in knowing that God calls all people to be missionaries in their daily life. Whatever experiences you have God will help you use in your witness. From one forgiven sinner to another, I can say that perfection is not a quality God requires of us by ourselves. The perfection of Christ is our hope, our strength and our salvation message. Please know that as you pray for me I am also praying that you would be in God’s Word, in prayer and being shown how God is with you and leading you in His will. Dearly loved sibling in Christ, thank you for your ministry and blessings on your work as a missionary.

June Picture Book

All hands in! After making beaded salvation bracelets the kids and I joined in for a team huddle to celebrate being on God’s team. Each color represents the story of our salvation, from our separation because of sin, our forgiveness by Christ’s blood and finally our eternal home in heaven with God. The kids loved wearing them and saying what each color meant!

One of the main goals of the Vacation Bible School was to equip the volunteers to lead so that the camps can become self-sustaining. The children loved to answer questions about the Bible lessons and Nonhle was one of the helpful members from the church that taught the Bible lessons in Zulu for the seven and under classroom.

I was able to continue to build trust and friendships with the children while having a ton of fun working on crafts and doing games.


The children seven and under started out each day with singing Sunday school songs and fun learning activities.

After learning about the three men in the fiery furnace the children made angels to remind them that God cares for us.

On June 11, 2010 it was South Africa’s time to shine as the month long FIFA World Cup began and brought people here from all over the world. There were 32 countries represented in the World Cup and although they spoke different languages and had different cultures they all shared the same vision and goal; to watch their team take home the title as the soccer world champions. It has been a wonderful time to be in South Africa and to experience the pride and joy that the Africans have in their ability to share this beautiful country and their culture. In a country that is still recovering from strong racial discrimination, it is exciting to see nearly every nationality and race standing together cheering and celebrating. Isn’t it great how passion for a common goal can break down barriers that once seemed impossible?

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During the World Cup, God opened opportunities for members of the Lutheran church, volunteers, and my missionary partner Shara and I to create and run a three week long Vacation Bible School. Since the schools closed for the entire month of the World Cup, we were able to use the time with the children to share Bible lessons and give the children a safe place to learn and play. We had 60-100 children each day ages 2-14, so we were able to build many more relationships with the youth in the community.

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Throughout this time the youth learned about God’s power by his creation and miracles, Christ’s love for us in the way he treated people and taught during his life, and ultimately about Christ’s power as God when he took away our sins on the cross and then rose from the dead on Easter. Many of the children are not familiar with commonly shared Bible stories, so it was great to see them learning, acting out the lessons and taking home crafts to share with their families. Daniel in the Lion’s Den as well as the parables of the lost sheep and Good Samaritan were among some of the children’s favorite parts of the Bible to learn about and helped the children to see how God has always been faithful throughout time. We also learned about Christ’s baptism and how the Holy Spirit helps us and several of the little children wanted to know more about how to get baptized!

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No matter what challenges these children face our goal is to always show them how incredibly valuable they are to Christ. Whether or not they have been orphaned, face discrimination or other challenges due to poverty, they are God’s dearly loved children. By grace through faith these are our brothers and sisters in Christ and how awesome it is to share with them that they are victorious, because Christ won the battle over sin, death and the devil for us. Even when we go away from that truth God calls us back because God is faithful.
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When we unite around the passion of sharing God’s love, forgiveness and salvation we get to celebrate the fact that we already are victorious and our prize will be celebrated throughout eternity. May our churches look as diverse as sports stadiums, and our passion to share salvation through Christ, give us even more excitement than the winning goal of the World Cup! Thank you for your continued prayers and support throughout my time here. I am very blessed to have you as a partner in this ministry!

Love and blessings in Christ now and always,
Julia
Sala kahle!
(Stay well!)


“However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
(Acts 20:24)