Tin with a Treasure Project

For the past two and a half years, Salem Danville - a non-profit organization  nr: 080-720 – has been touching people’s lives in the West of Pretoria. We started with 6 people under an open roof and we have grown to a hundred adults, 70 children and 30 teenagers.

Currently we are fellowshipping in an old pub that we have renovated into a church, in one of the poorest areas in Danville.  

For photo’s en newsletters go to  http://salem-danville.blogspot.com/

https://picasaweb.google.com/109453928130736494752/August312011#

Every Christmas we aim to give every family in our congregation a bag full of food to also make the festive time a special occasion.

This year we also want to combine it with a message and want to give more privileged children the opportunity to feel they do something for the unprivileged people of Danville.

We want to ask you as an individual, school or Sunday school to get involved by asking each child to donate a can of food. The message part is where each child pastes his own picture or message over the tin. His name and the name of the school or church are also written on the paper. For practical reasons we also ask that you would write down what is inside the can, so that one family would not only get baked beans J.

Our aim is to collect a thousand tins with treasures!

These tins will be handed over one Sunday in December to the precious people of our congregation! All churches and schools that get involved can even send a representative on that day. Otherwise photo’s of this day will be available!

Thank you very much that you consider getting involved with this project. We cannot do this alone, and people like you make it possible to show God’s hand to these people!

May you and your family be richly blessed!

Kobus & Anina Homan

Senior leaders

Salem Danville

083 651 2157

(Any other donations, especially old clothes are always welcomed – please contact us any time!)

Salem Danville

Absa  cheque account

407 416 5727 

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If we sing, they will hear!

 

Psalm 89:1(NLT)

 ¹ I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!
      Young and old will hear of your faithfulness.

Sunday evening, almost in the middle of the praise and worship, a lady and her son peeked into our church and moved into one of the back rows.

She started to cry during the sermon. She was obviously going through a very tough time! We allocated some prayer time for people that needed a miracle in their lives. Almost everyone came out for prayer, including this precious lady.

I prayed for her, but she cried so much that we had to go into a prayer room where she shared her story with me. A story of pain and hurt, but also a choice to come back to the Lord a few months ago. This specific Sunday she was however despondent and without hope and she decided to search for some alcohol just to numb the pain.

She and her eleven year old son walked past the church just as we were worshipping. Her son was the one who encouraged her to walk into the church.

She told me that she believed God let her hear the singing and because of that she turned to Him again for hope and healing!

Sometimes when you sing of God’s love and His faithfulness, you are not even aware of the fact that people might be listening to you! Even more miraculous, that maybe a person`s life can be changed.

There are many broken people in this world. Some of them just need to hear that God is still a loving and faithful God. Although God can send a legion of angels to praise His name, He chooses to use our voices!

Will you sing of His unfailing love? Young and old will hear, and some of them will turn back to Him!

Shalom!

Kobus & Anina

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News from Salem

It is such a privilege to stand in His service and see how He changes people!

We have been really encouraged about what have been happening in people’s lives these past few months!

Our Feast Dinners

This with no doubt has been one of the highlights for us as pastors of Salem Danville! For six Wednesday evenings we have been inviting about 25 people that are part of the congregation for a lovely dinner. Initially, we thought we will give each person a “boerewors roll”.  But God spoke very clearly to Kobus: “What do you serve your family and friends when you invite them for dinner?”

Kobus is one of the best “braaiers” you will ever know and his specialty – T-bone! So God challenged him – to give each person the biggest nicest T-bone… We complained with God, because T-bone is kind of expensive. The first evening it seemed that there were more people than T-bone. We just prayed… when the last person got his T-bone, the T-bones were finished! For the next five weeks, God provided enough meat for each and every person in our congregation to taste Kobus’ specialty! We serve a God who still does miracles!

We ended off with a big celebration feast one Sunday morning with Corli le Roux and her team ministering praise and worship and Manie and his team made “potjiekos” for all! Thanks you guys!

Salem’s First Missionary

We are so excited about our first missionary – Innocence and his family came from a Northern African state as a political refugees. But God had other plans – to use him as a missionary in Danville. He and his family really went through allot of trauma, but God’s healing brought restoration and he is standing in His service, glowing as he work for the Father! Thank you for the people that sponsor him and his family so that they can keep on doing this work!

People Giving Gratitude

We have been so blessed by people overflowing with gratitude towards God. Most of the people in our congregation really don’t have much. Like Amy – she got a small job and for the first time in a long time can afford her own “Wendy house”. She brought us a small, little book of her own, just to say thank you. The little book is about “Footprints” and other inspirational quotes. We just realized that a small gift from someone with so little leaves big footprints in the heart!

Baptism…

Eighteen people have been baptized. Because we don’t have the facilities to baptize people we had to take them to Kempton Park to be baptized. One of the newly converted men was so touched by God that he decided he is going to build a “baptism bath” for our church!

We are so humbled by these people that have so little but want to give so much back to God. Most of them cannot give money – but they give what they can…

Volunteers

Here we have to mention a few names:

-       Christell, Antionette, Martin and Karina (Sunday School)

-       Danie and Margie (Teenagers)

-       Braam (Logistics)

-       Kiewiet, Mitzie, Nikky and all the other committed Danville volunteers

You give up your time, money and energy for your specific ministry. You have not only opened your hearts to them, but you also give a hand – every week!

Even more than we appreciate you… we know the Father smiles over you!

Thank You

We always say it – but we can never leave it out:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, AND THANK YOU!

Thank you for each and every prayer, words of support and financial support. This is a ministry that will never be able to function without all the support of the people that support us. It is not always easy, but you make it possible for us to work for the Father in Danville!

A Last Word

Proverbs 22:9(NLT)

 ⁹ Blessed are those who are generous,
      because they feed the poor.

May you be blessed beyond measure – because you are generous to the poor!

Shalom!

Kobus & Anina Homan

Pastors Salem Danville

This newsletter and all other newsletter will be posted on the blog:

salem-danville.blogspot.com

You can visit Anina’s twitter sight:

Annie4HisWord

Also read Anina’s blog for the church and daily devotionals: pastorforthepoor.blogspot.com

Ask whatever you will…

Yesterday evening Kobus had a very interesting sermon – to be filled up with the Word of God.

One of the Scriptures he used is one of those that I have always wandered about:

John 15:7b(AMP)

…ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

If the Bible says, we can ask whatever we will, and it shall be done, why is it that we sometimes ask some things, and it is not done…?

The problem with this Scripture, like many others, is that it is read out of context. The beginning of this Scripture it vital to the understanding:

John 15:7(AMP)

⁷If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

You have to live in Him and His Words need to live in your heart!

You might say: “Well, I am in Him and I read His Word! Now I can ask whatever I want to!”

The way you will know that you are in Him and His Words live in your heart, is that your prayers will be in alignment with His will. You will not ask anything that is not His will, because you will pray according to His Word! You will pray out of your heart, and your heart will be full of the Word of God!

How do you live in Him? By asking Him to dwell inside of you through His Spirit!

How does His Words remain and continue to live in you? By reading the Word of God daily and allowing the Word into your heart!

Live and remain in Him and His Word! Then you will be able to ask according to His will, and it will be done for you!

Shalom!

Kobus & Anina

A little book that speaks

Do you believe that God can use anyone to speak through?

Yesterday I told you about the lady that has very little in life, but she was so thankful about her new job and small wooden home, that she gave us a little inspirational book, to show God her gratitude!

The little book is about the well-known “Footprints”:

Although these words are familiar to us, God used it to speak to us, God said to us through this little book: “I AM carrying you My children!”

Even if you are in fulltime ministry, you sometimes need to hear words like these! It is just so much more special if the message comes in a special way!

God can use anything or anyone to get a message to you. In our case, a woman who seemingly has nothing was the messenger from God. Although she gave a little book, God changed it in a message!

Are you missing a message from God through a seemingly unimportant person or gift?

Or maybe you need to give a “little book” that will give a message to someone else!

God is alive and well. He speaks to His children – you just need to listen to the hidden messages that He brings through people and things you don’t expect it from!

Shalom!

Kobus & Anina

A thank you that touched the heart!

To work among people that are poor is not always easy, but we have learned that the rewards you receive make it all the worthwhile. This past Sunday was one of those days that makes it worthwhile!

We have been praying for one of our ladies that did not have a job and sometimes even stayed on street. Sunday she came to us and testified that she got a job and a “Wendy” (a small wooden house, +/- 3 meter by 4 meter). She was extremely excited about her new “home”!

She wanted to thank us for our prayers and support and from her pocket she took out a small little book… A lady that owns almost nothing gave us one of her little inspirational books! She wanted to give something to show her gratitude towards God!

My heart was touched deeply and it made me think about the ten lepers in Luke 17 that cried with one voice to Jesus to heal them. Jesus heard them and responded with a simple command, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” On their way to show themselves to the priests, they were healed! People that once were required by law to always keep their distance, and if they would come near clean people, they were required to shout out “Unclean! Unclean!”

I can just imagine the joy and excitement of these 10 men. One however, a Samaritan stopped and returned to Jesus, falling to his knees, thanking Him for his healing!

Jesus had two reactions to the Samaritan at his feet. The first was that He wondered where the other 9 were. “Weren’t there 10 of you?” he asked. “Where are the others?” “Weren’t they made clean too?” It was as if Jesus expected all of them to return to say thank you!

Sometimes we take the blessings like a house to live in, for granted and we only appreciate it more when we don’t have it anymore. We have so much to be thankful about!

When last did you say thank you? Sometimes you need to stop and turn around to give a word of thanks like the leper. Sometimes you need to give something, even if you only have a little, to show your gratitude!

Tomorrow I’ll tell you what the little book is all about!

Shalom!

Kobus & Anina

Bible freedom

The Bible is God’s revelation of His heart to His children. There is not a book in the world that is more inspiring, uplifting and full of truth than this Book!

Since the beginning of this year, we have been motivating the people of our congregation to really get into the Word of God! Reading through the Bible in one year, studying and meditating on Scripture!

We however realized that there is a difference between reading the Bible under law and reading the Bible under grace!

What exactly do I mean by this? Some people started to read the Bible because they felt they had to, thus operating under the law. Thinking they must read the Bible to please God, feeling guilty if they missed one day of Bible reading. It became an obligation that brought condemnation.

Whereas under grace, Bible reading is something you do because you want to read His Word. Not because you want to please Him, but because you want to know this wonderful God better. It gives you a feeling of liberation and the result is life and joy!

Galatians 5:1(AMP) says:

 ¹IN [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].

Stand fast in your freedom. Let the study of God’s Word bring you freedom. Read it because you want to read it. I promise the more you read it, the more you will want to read it!

Shalom!

Kobus & Anina

Barefoot Christian

 

Romans 16:20(NIV)

 ²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet…

Satan is defeated, but he still roams like a roaring lion, trying to deceive and destroy us. The Word however says that God will crush him under our feet.

Are you crushing satan under your feet? Be careful not to do it with bare feet!

Sunday we reflected again on the prodigal son. We focused on the sandals that the father gave him. It is interesting to note that in those days slaves did not wear shoes. God showed us that in our congregation there is still allot of Christians with bare feet! People who still have a slave mentality and has not yet put on their spiritual shoes of sonship!

Shoes are there to protect and keep warm. A slave and a son that will walk the same road will have different experiences. The son will walk upon thorns and stones, but will not feel the pain. A slave on the other hand will feel every thorn and sharp stone, this will make him complain and question the pain and ultimately question God’s goodness!

Never attempt to crush the devil under your feet without your spiritual shoes! Decide today to put on the shoes that come from your Father:

Ephesians 6:15(NLT)

¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.

It is God’s peace on your feet that will destroy the devil! Get His peace on your feet and satan will be crushed in your life!

Shalom!

Kobua & Anina

Salem Danville

How I know God is real

This morning at our prayer and care group, the following question was asked: “Why do you believe what you believe?”

What would your answer be? If you believe that God is the Creator of heaven and earth and that Jesus Christ is His Son, why do you believe this?

Many people believe out of tradition. Others believe because they are afraid to go to hell. Most people are however unable to answer why they actually believe in God.

While we were discussing this, one of the ladies stood up and said: “I believe, because a few months ago I used alcohol from morning till night, I was depressed and angry! But one Sunday at the church, I decided to invite God back into my life. Since then everything changed, neither my husband nor myself are using any alcohol and we are free!”

There are many reasons why I believe in God, but the realness of God is the most tangible for me in the way He changes people. People down and out, touched by His grace, transformed from nobodies, to somebodies in Jesus. Victims that testify of victories! Misery changed into a Message!

People cannot change in this way by themselves. Only God, through His touch, can radically change people. This makes our God a real God!

If you need some change, open your heart to the real God, He will truly change you!

Shalom!

Kobus en Anina

Spiritual victory

This Sunday we had the most amazing services! The Him Team blessed us with worship out of heaven.

While we were worshipping, I looked at the precious people of our congregation. Despite their circumstances, their hands were in the air, giving it all to their King. Most of them are without work and live with just the bare necessities.

At that moment I was reminded of Jehoshaphat and his singing men:

2 Chronicles 20:21-22(NIV)

²¹ After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

   “Give thanks to the LORD,
   for his love endures forever.”

 ²² As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

If we could see into the spirit when we worship, I think we will worship more! Through our praise, the Lord set up an ambush against our enemies!

Thank you Johan, Corli and your whole team, for leading us into spiritual victory!

Shalom!

Kobus & Anina Homan

Salem’s make-over:

These past few weeks we have been very busy:

Our church was moved in a more practical way, to minimize distractions during service time. We hung some curtains and moved the audio-visual equipment in such a way that if one person would get up, the whole audience would not be disturbed. Unfortunately this will always be a problem in a small area where you try to put in a whole lot of people, but it’s now much better – there is now less distractions during the service and more sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

We were also privileged to receive some tables for our Sunday school – we drew some pictures and painted Biblical themes on these tables to give a make-over for our Sunday school room as well.

All our leaders helped in all the make-over processes and we want to THANK EACH and EVERYONE! This was a team effort and the end result is amazing. THANK YOU also to Kruik Secunda who sponsored the tables and is currently sponsoring our community meals – It means so much!

It is wonderful to give some excellence in an environment that is used to second best. We are proud of Salem Danville!

We also want to thank Ingrit they came in and painted our Sunday school wall with a Biblical theme, and sponsored plastic tables and chairs

Our children were spoiled with a lovely Easter outing – although it was a rainy day, they still enjoyed the day – experiencing the real meaning of Easter and eating lots of chocolate. Thank you for the Potato Foundation and every other sponsor who made this day possible.