“I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread” (Psalm 37:25).
THE LORD PROVIDED IN A SOLAR POWER SYSTEM FOR KERUGMA!
So here we are at the beginning of 2021 with good news that the Lord has provided in an amazing way. Kerugma Productions has been graciously provided with a solar power system! We will tell you in a moment how it all happened. It took our thoughts back to the way in which our Lord has both guided and provided for us through these many years. We are very thankful.
As we mentioned in a previous Kerugma Bulletin, we were overwhelmed by the response we received from so many to our prayer request regarding the load shedding situation and our need for uninterrupted power supply to edit the DVDs and upload them on the internet.
Now we have the privilege to share the good news with you that the Lord heard all of your prayers! It is wonderful to experience this and really strengthens our faith.
Through the years we were warned by different church leaders not to live by faith. Some of these spiritual leaders whom we trusted for good counsel, seriously warned us that we should not do it to our children and to ourselves. Our only response was that we were just doing what we believed the Lord told us to do.
The truth of the matter is that no one would ever just decide by preference to live and work without guaranteed income. When you read the biographies of people like George Müller and Hudson Taylor, it becomes very clear that they themselves did not choose to live by faith. And as with us, the Lord led them through unique circumstances until they ended up in the situation where they had to depend on Him alone for everything they needed to fulfill their callings. Hudson Taylor arrived in China after six months at sea, expecting his first cheque with his arrival in Shanghai, as promised by the ministry in England which had sent him. However, during his trip, the ministry split and there was no cheque forthcoming. There was not even a letter explaining the situation. After he had gone through difficult times of war, hunger, cold and rejection by other missionaries, he eventually received a cheque that saved his life. It came from someone unknown to him, who had heard him speaking at a prayer meeting just before he left England. This person wrote that the Lord pressed the desire on his heart to send the money to Hudson Taylor. After this, for many years the Lord led this same person to support the ministry of Hudson Taylor financially.
Some of the spiritual leaders who tried to convince us not to live by faith, explained how the financial strain and hardships would impact our children negatively. However, when we sought the Lord’s face in this regard, He gave us Psalm 37:25 as His response.
I am telling you this in the hope that you may understand that this past Christmas weekend, when we shared the good news of the solar power system with our children, it was wonderful to experience their joy about it. As kids they were always so excited when the Lord provided in small things, but also in something like a photocopier or camera for the ministry.
It was our privilege to lead al three of our children to the Lord. The two boys, Filip was 7 and Rudolf 5 years of age, came to the Lord together one evening and our daughter, Johannelie, also prayed one evening when she was 9 years of age and asked the Lord to cleanse her with his blood and take control of her life.
As a veterinary science student, Johannelie became involved with a student group that drove up to Malawi Lake for three weeks every year for a missionary outreach. Since she joined a practice nearby in Bredasdorp, she uses her yearly leave to drive all the way to Malawi. Throughout the year everybody involved in the outreach collects all sorts of things like clothes, etc. to fill the vehicles for the people there.
Filip is working full time for the City of Cape Town. He studied theology after his initial studies and was recently ordained as pastor. He is married to Amy, an American missionary. Initially they could not have their own children, but in answer to prayer, the Lord performed a miracle and gave them their own little boy, Zane.
Although Filip works full time to support his family, he is part of a team in their church responsible for an outreach to an informal settlement in Fisantekraal. Regularly we hear how young people become converted during these outreaches.
Rudolf is a civil engineer in Johannesburg and is married to Beani, ʼn violinist whom he met at church where he is responsible for various things, among which is the handling of the sound system. They are also involved in an outreach to children in their area every year during the June holidays. This is something Rudolf was gifted for and Beani is the perfect match to help him with that. During the Covid lockdown he also helps with the filming and uploading of the sermons of their church.
We are telling you this to honour the Lord Jesus Christ because we were warned so many times about the negative impact it would have on our children if we were to only trust the Lord Jesus for all our income. The Lord has never let us down and has answered all the prayers that we have prayed for our children. During their growing up years they learned to trust the Lord for everything. Nothing was taken for granted. Because their parents had no fixed income, the financial strain was always there. They prayed themselves for school uniforms, music instruments, sports clothing, bicycles and more. They can tell many wonderful stories of how the Lord provided and cared. They also learned to go without so many things that their school friends took for granted. But through all of this they learned that our Heavenly Father hears our prayers and answer them!
Although we did not always know where food for the next day would come from, they never went to bed hungry. The Lord kept His promise that He gave us in Psalm 37:25!
After their schooling, when they were at university, the Lord also graciously provided for them to be able to study. I am going to mention just one example of this, namely the special way in which the Lord provided for Johannelie’s studies. The first year she had a government study loan/bursary. In the beginning of her second year she was once again approved for that, but that June when everything had to be paid, the story changed. We did not know what to do. It was of course before the time of “The Fees Must Fall”. We were with our backs against the wall. It broke our hearts, but we realised that we had to call her with the news that she could not continue with her studies. (She was not even in school when she already said that one day she would like to become an “animal doctor”, and now she was busy with just that). At the very point we wanted to call her, she called us with the news that one of her professors had just called her and asked if she would mind if he would recommend her for a bursary for needy students. We were thankful but did not know what would become of it. A few days later (she had already submitted the application papers a few days earlier), she just felt that she urgently needed to call the representative of the bursary funds that day. When she called the lady, she was informed that it was the last day for the submission of all the applications. However she could not submit Johannelie’s because she did not comply with some of the criteria. Johannelie was able to tell her that her information was incorrect and explained what the situation was. The lady agreed to submit her application, repeating that that was the very last day for the applications to go in. If she had called a day later it would have been too late.
It was so amazing that her application was approved and this bursary continued to cover the costs of her studies in full until her final year!
Isn’t our Lord wonderful?
And so likewise, He also provided in His unique way for the solar power system that you all prayed for with us. Last month, while releasing the series of six DVDs of Dr. Randall Smith, Paul, His Life & His Writings, we spoke telephonically to someone about the DVDs. Just before the gentleman put the phone down, he asked how much we needed for the solar power system. My answer was that it was very expensive. He said that he certainly could not give everything we needed, but that he had spoken to his Financial Advisor about it that morning and from our newsletters, he had come to the conclusion that we had the same Financial Advisor. His Financial Advisor told him to give a certain amount to Kerugma for the system. Because I was still reluctant to disclose the amount, I offered to email him the quotation we had received.
A day or so later he called to say that his Financial Advisor said that we can continue with the installation of the system! I was so quiet that he asked me if I had had another heart attack. The fact is that I was so overwhelmed that I could not get a word out.
The children were just as overwhelmed and I believe all of you share our joy. The Lord does not only hear our prayers, He also answers them!
The system was installed a week or so ago, with the result that I am typing this letter during load shedding without any problem. It is more than a dream come true. We can now without any interruptions, do the work of the Lord!
We thank the Lord for our children, that He is working in their lives by His grace and love. Especially when we listen to some of our friends’ heart breaking stories regarding their children, we know that it is only because of the amazing grace of our Lord that our children and their families, follow and serve our Redeemer and Lord Jesus. But it is a testimony that we can trust the Lord and although there have been difficult times, there remains only one way and that is the one of obedience to the voice of the Lord. Likewise we believe that this testimony of how the Lord provided for this solar power system through one of his children’s obedience, will serve as encouragement to all of you. A testimony that the Lord hears and answers our prayers.
With that we want to thank each of you who prayed with us and each of you who contributed spontaneously towards the system out of your obedience to the Lord. May He bless you richly.
We trust that this testimony will strengthen all of you in your faith and encourage you to draw near to the Lord with all your normal daily and also special needs.
Please thank our heavenly Father with us for His wonderful provision. It is such an encouragement as well as a confirmation that what we are doing, pleases the Lord. It is something that is not only His will, but also what He wants us to continue doing. To think that with this system, He has supplied our electricity needs for many years to come. What a wonderful encouragement!
Please pray regularly for us that we will every day do just that which is his plan and His will for that day.
Praise his Name with us, for we worship the Living God.
May the Lord Jesus bless you richly.
Greetings in His Name,
Naas and Marina le Roux
PS.: By searching on the internet for the names “George Müller” and “Hudson Taylor” you will find much information on their lives and ministries. Please read the autobiography of George Müller here: http://www.georgemuller.org/uploads/4/8/6/5/48652749/the-autobiography-of-george-muller.pdf
Please read the biography of Hudson Taylor here: https://worldinvisible.com/library/hudsontaylor/hudsontaylorv1/hudsontaylorv1tc.htm
