Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our friends and family!

We are pleased to be able to share our hearts as we close out this year and begin thinking forward to 2014!

While I write this, it is nearly Thanksgiving and we have so many things to be thankful for! God’s grace and love have been given abundantly to us this year! We are thankful to have been able to live in Africa for yet another productive year in ministry. Together Tony and I have trained approximately 309+ African people in Community Health Evangelism and/or our CHE specialties.

We are thankful for how the Lord has brought new expatriate workers to the field and called national (African) partners to implement Community Health Evangelism in their countries.

We are thankful for the lives of our children, Lauren and Devin, who have both entered new phases of adulthood this year. 

Lauren, as most of you know, was married to Aaron Wells this past August, and Devin had his 18^th birthday in November. Devin will be baptized on November 24, 2013 as a sign of commitment to Christ as he enters adulthood. We are so thrilled at the Lord’s faithfulness through our children and  HIS work in them.

We are thankful for our ministry team who has supported us financially and in prayer throughout 2013. Many days in Africa are hard, just like days in your lives are hard, and many times it is our praying friends and family members who have supported us through the hard days. The encouragement to keep going has been essential to our lives. We are so thankful.

We are also looking ahead to 2014!

In 2014, we expect to train 150 new and 150 existing Master Trainers in Community Health Evangelism in 12-15 training seminars. In some ways that doesn’t sound like much…but if you do the math…the total potential impact of 300 Master Trainers doing their job and teaching 10-25 local trainers for 1 year (who then each train 25 community volunteers), the potential of impact of one year of training is (drum roll, please…)…19 Million to 47 Million homes reached with the Gospel and healthy Kingdom living!!! Now multiply that times the number of people in each home! If they continue on and become more experienced, well then, the sky is the limit!

In July, 2014, Devin will graduate from Rift Valley Academy! We are excited for him and his plans to become a mechanical engineer some day! Following graduation, Devin plans to take a “gap” year to develop himself and figure out what is ahead. He will come back to Tanzania to be with Mom and Dad for a few months (Hurray!) and to visit some other ministries here.

In mid-November or early December 2014, we (Tony, Holly, and Devin) will return to the US for a time of furlough. Our intent is to get a rest from life in Africa, to rejuvenate ourselves and our relationships, spend time with Lauren and her husband, and to set Devin on a path toward adult independence. During this time Devin will learn to drive, determine where he wants to live, and pursue University or trade school options. As it is nearly a year away, we have not yet determined where we will live or many other details that will have to be managed.  Our ministry in Africa will be ongoing, and we expect will travel from the US to Africa from time to time. We’ll fill in details as they become known to us.

We know that you, our friends and family, also have plans ahead for 2014. We pray that the Lord will bring you many blessings and we trust Him to hold you in His hands through heartaches that might come your way.

Year End Giving!

As the year comes to a close, we know that there are many opportunities to invest into ministries and projects. We would ask that you prayerfully consider our ministry in your end of year giving and as you commit to 2014. Our ministry is growing fast, yet, our support is in the red. We are currently $800 short of the minimum monthly support required by ReachGlobal to remain in the mission field.  As you have read this newsletter, we hope that you can see the significance in of our work and the potential for people to be reached for Christ each year. Those projections are staggering, yet they are as real as the people they represent. Please consider continuing your support or joining our monthly faithful supporters. Special gifts significantly supplement our monthly support and increase our ability to expand our reach to other communities in Africa. Help us to end 2013 in the black and to make 2014 a life changing year throughout Africa.

To contribute to the Freitas' support, click here to print a response slip and mail to: EFCA Donor Services 901 East 78th Street Minneapolis, MN 55420-1300  Please note on your check  For Tony and Holly Freitas' Ministry Acct# 1647

May you commit yourselves anew to serving and loving him wherever you may be in 2014.

Love in HIM and Merry Christmas!

Tony, Holly, and Devin Freitas

Additional news,

November:
    Tony spent the month of November in South Sudan developing new US partnership that will begin Community Health Evangelism training in a new ministry area called Owiny ki Bul (we don’t make up these names)! We also opened up a new airstrip for easy access to this ministry area. Welcome aboard to our new South Sudan partner, Monte Vista Chapel! Following those meetings Tony returned to Dar es Salaam for 3 days to attend an important meeting with our East Africa ministry director and potential new Community Health Evangelism team members. This meeting went very well. Once these new partners officially become part of our team then they will help with the workload in our growing ministry. A few days later, we traveled through Nairobi where Tony had the privilege of baptizing Devin during chapel at RVA. The following day we (Tony and Holly) both headed back to South Sudan where Holly facilitated a women’s cycle of life training and Tony facilitated a Business as mission or Micro-enterprise training for a group of Sudanese christian women’s ministry leaders. There were about 70 participants. On our way home through Kenya and we both had an opportunity to share about our ministry at a conference for 60 African national missionaries working under Sheepfold Ministries. Our ministry was very well received and many have asked for further training in Bi-vocational pastoring and in Womens ministry and womens health. There is no shortage of work for us here!

We then collected up Devin from School at RVA and headed home to celebrate Christmas.


Urgent Prayer Request:
  Over the past few days I have been receiving reports from South Sudan of “Coup attempt” that took place in Juba on Sunday. The conflict has now expanded into other towns. The situation continues to escalate and appears to be changing from a government issue to a more tribal issue. This change has the potential of taking the conflict to other parts of South Sudan.  Please keep South Sudan in your prayers as the country is still young and going through many changes. Instability within the government has the potential for tribal conflict to break out anywhere and at any time. There is a real fear of civil war breaking out and plunging South Sudan back into a nightmare that most would like to forget. Please keep the South Sudanese people in your prayers. Many of us will enjoy this Christmas season with our families while many people in South Sudan are just trying to keep their families safe from this chaos. Pray that they will get a glimpse of the joy that Jesus brought to this earth as a baby, the life that he lived and the sacrifice that he made for them. 

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October 2013 Dear Friends, We praise God for the work that He continues to do in Africa while allowing us to be a part of His plan. So much time has passed since our last newsletter. We are now writing a monthly update and will be posting it on our new Facebook page “Freitas Family Flyer.” Look us up, “like” us, and get more frequent updates! Our “summer” was filled with both ministry and personal praises. It is amazing how quickly we are moving in to the “fall” months of October and November!   Personal Praises: Holly spent most of July in Washington State and in Indiana hosting a bridal shower for Lauren, and then helping her with the wedding plans and preparation. It was a great time for Holly to spend with her folks, sister, many nieces and nephews, along with several friends. Devin and Tony arrived to the US after boarding school let out for Devin on July 13. They went directly to California where Tony had appointments and meetings and Devin spent several days with Tanzanian missionary friends who now live in the Reedley/Fresno area.  On August 10th, we celebrated the marriage of our daughter, Lauren, to Aaron Wells. We had a great time of blending families and building lifetime relationships. We are so blessed that Aaron comes from a wonderful Christian family. Many of our extended family was able to attend the wedding, making it a mini-reunion and great opportunity to be together. We had a wonderful time of family fun and look forward to continuing the relationships we’ve developed. One special memory was a “family blessing” that took place on the evening of the rehearsal dinner. All of the family members, from grandparents to tiny cousins, lined the pathway to the site of Lauren and Aaron’s engagement, each holding a candle to light the way. At the top of that small hill, two families became one as we surrounded Lauren and Aaron in prayer and Christian blessing. How blessed we are! Following the wedding and after a surprise fix-up of Lauren and Aaron’s apartment, Tony, Holly, and Devin drove from Ohio to Washington D.C. where we, for the first time, visited several of the Smithsonian museums and saw other historical sights and documents. Two days was a bit short for the visit, but we had a great time seeing what we could. While there, we stayed with some long-time friends and enjoyed our reconnection after several years. We were also able to meet with a key ministry partner and church that is making it possible to train many more church planters in South Sudan. Upon our return, Devin headed off to Kenya to complete his final year of high-school at Rift Valley Academy. We had such a great time with him during his break and the wedding that it made it very difficult to, once again, say goodbye. We are really missing him and counting the days until his next school break. Ministry Activities:  While in the US, Tony met with one of our South Sudan church training partners in Alabama. His task was to encourage a short-term team and help them prepare the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) lessons t they would teach in Parajok, South Sudan. This was the second in a series of three trainings that church leaders in Parajok will receive on how to reach their people by meeting the physical and spiritual needs within their communities. Generally, Tony would travel with the team to the training in Parajok, but because of the wedding he, instead, trained them and sent them on their own. The team did an amazing job and the Parajok church leaders are very excited about the new approach and motivated to initiate CHE ministry in their communities. The Alabama church was very encouraged by their experience in Parajok and has expressed their intention to expand their ministry (of training pastors in CHE and pastoral development) to many new areas of South Sudan. This was a huge answer to prayer as requests for training are constantly coming in. In early August, a group of newly trained South Sudanese church planters headed out for a four-week mission to the areas where they will be planting churches. While there, they surveyed the area, developed relationships with community leaders, and sought the Lord’s leading for the new churches that will eventually form. During the summer, Holly completed her ReachGlobal online teaching certificate. The certificate allows her to facilitate online training for ReachGlobal and other missionaries. At the moment she is developing courses in wholistic community development so they can be taught online around the world! The Internet is an amazing tool! In early September, Tony and Holly co-taught a one week module course covering “Principles of Wholistic Community Development” at Reach Tanzania's leadership training school in Dar es Salaam. The training provided students the opportunity to experience a new participatory learning style as well as to learn the principles that drive wholistic development: participatory learning, community ownership, integration of physical and spiritual ministry, and sustainability. The students enthusiastically embraced the new concepts. In the weeks after the course, they will be applying what they’ve learned in order to practice new skills. The first South African Women’s Cycle of Life (WCL) Training of Trainers (TOT) took place in Johannesburg, South Africa from September 16-20. Throughout the training, the Lord was surely with us. I, Holly, was reminded again that although participants come to the training in order to gain information and understanding about women’s lives, they too, are women with many deep hurts. The WCL training, worship, and prayer times led many of these women to reveal their deep hurts and areas of vulnerability, allowing the other ladies and Holy Spirit to minister to them. Such times allow healing to take place in the hearts of those who will minister to others. This ministry to our trainers is as valuable as any that we do when preparing them to teach others. I thank the Lord that He was able to do His work through the training and to touch the hearts of the participants. Some personal stories included one of the women (K) who has only been able to have one child. Her husband wants to have many children and has just recently taken on another young (22 year-old) wife that he brought home to the house to live together with the first wife. K is heartbroken and has felt rejected by her husband and worthless because she cannot have another child. She knows that Jesus loves her and has moved from her home to escape the situation. She is finding strength in the Lord, and knowing her value in God’s eyes has been an encouragement to her. Multiplication—as we consider the potential long-lasting results of WCL CHE training, we realize that our efforts, however small, are multiplied in God’s economy. The encouragement of both participants and facilitators cannot be underestimated as it is the empowerment of these people that will lead to community, national, and regional movements. In turn, through the CHE strategy, these CHE leaders go forth to train trainers who form the basis of the CHE programs. We modestly predict that each of the participant training team members (10) will train 10 trainers in the materials they have learned. Several of the trainers will be training entire church women’s groups. If the recipient (100) trainers, in response, train only 10 CHEs, who then teach women in 10 homes, our efforts will have reached 10,000 women with the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ and health education that could save her life and the lives of her family members and neighbors. The next Women’s Cycle of Life Training of Trainers will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, from October 16-20. Please pray for peace and safety for those who will be traveling to the venue. Tony was in Uganda October 8-10 for meetings with South Sudanese leaders to plan the schedule for the next church planter trainings. Then October 21-28 Tony will assist in hosting Bible narration training for illiterate cultures in Dar Es Salaam. He will be in South Sudan for most of November. Holly will meet him in Juba, South Sudan, at the end of the month where we will co-facilitate women’s ministry health and Micro-enterprise trainings. As always, our schedule remains busy and full of opportunities to share God’s good news and bring lasting change in communities.

Prayer Requests:   1. Continuing church planter training in South Sudan. 2. Contentment as we settle into our new, smaller home and reduce our living expenses. 3. Lauren and Aaron as they begin their new married life together! 4. Devin as he starts his senior year in high school. Pray the Lord will enrich his life this year and give him a vision and plan for his future. 5. That God will continue to bless our efforts in ministry. Contact info: Tony.Freitas@efca.org Holly.Freitas@efca.org Facebook Blog Printable Newsletter

To contribute to the Freitas' support, click here to print a response slip and mail to: EFCA Donor Services 901 East 78th Street Minneapolis, MN 55420-1300 Copyright © 2013 ReachGlobal - EFCA, All rights reserved. You gave permission to Tony & Holly Freitas to receive their email newsletter. Our mailing address is: ReachGlobal - EFCA 901 East 78th Street Minneapolis, MN 55420

           Freitas Ministry Update,

 Wedding:

Please keep us in your prayers as we celebrate Lauren's wedding in August. We have learned that one of the most difficult challenges in our lives as missionaries in Africa is not being able to be a bigger part of Lauren and Aaron's lives as their relationship developed over this past year. We have known Aaron for many years now and are certain that he will make a wonderful husband for Lauren.  Holly is currently in the US for Lauren's bridal showers and to help Lauren with final preparations for the wedding. I am currently on a flight to Alabama to meet with a church that I am working with in one of the villages in South Sudan then, on to Indiana to be with Lauren and Aaron.

Intern Update:

On July 1st we said goodbye to our 5wk intern, Hope,  who came out to work alongside Holly and get a feel for what a life of ministry in the mission field would be like. Holly kept her quite busy with language learning, understanding culture, relationship building and working through the books "Cross Cultural Connections" and "Africa Friends and Money Matters". I believe that Hope now has a very clear idea of what it means to serve God in the mission field and what the life of a missionary looks like. I have a strong feeling that Hope is hooked on missions! 

                                                                                                 

     Our New Home:

Ministry is going amazingly well! Because of our extensive travel we have decided to move into a much smaller 1 bedroom guest house on our South Africa friends property. This will help reduce our living costs and redirect those savings toward our travel into the many new areas where ministry is expanding i.e.; South Sudan, Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda as well as Kigoma Tanzania. Holly is beginning the process of releasing the Maasai to do their ministry among the other Maasai as they are eager to move ahead on their own. Over the past year, Holly and I have been developing a new ministry strategy where Holly trains the pastors wives in women's health from a biblical perspective and womens ministry while I train the pastors in CHE and bi-vocational pastoring. This combination of training has led to an amazing expansion of ministry with many new opportunities. We have to choose those opportunities wisely!  We have a saying, "If your visibility goes beyond your ability you will lose credibility"! Pray that we stay within our ability as it is sometimes tempting to go beyond!

        We have a new teammate:

We had a newly accepted ReachGlobal missionary visit our team in Dar Es Salaam last month to see if ministry in Dar would be a good fit for her. During our lunch meeting with Glennis, she became so excited about the work that Holly and I are doing that she has decided to join our CHE ministry and become a part of our CHE training team. This was an unexpected answer to prayer as we have been praying that someone would come alongside us to take on some of the workload.  CHE wasn't even on her radar and likewise, Glennis wasn't on ours. Glennis has allot to do before coming to the field and then a year of language learning, culture learning and CHE training when she arrives so it will be awhile however, the process of reproducing ourselves and the development of an actual CHE team is very exciting. 

        Church Planting Movement:

We have just completed the first of six trainings for new church planters in South Sudan. These church planters will be trained in Effective Church Planting, Pastoral/Congregational Development, Bi-vocational Pastoring, CHE, and Bible Orality for Illiterate Cultures. We currently have 25 potential church planters who are being trained. I expect that this training will take approximately 1yr. Holly will be facilitating a Womens Cycle of Life / Womens Ministry class for the wives of these pastors and other potential women's ministry leaders. We are excited to see the beginning of this important movement to plant churches in new unreached areas.

   Ministry continues in our absence:

July 30th - August 7th A team from Gadsden Alabama will be traveling to Pajok South Sudan while we are in the US for Lauren's wedding. Tony would usually travel with the team however, we have wedding plans so the team will be on their own. Their pastor, who has been to this village before,  will lead the team so the team will be in good hands. This well trained team will be completing the final level of CHE training, "TOT" (trainer of trainers) 2&3. The churches in Pajok have embraced this training and have already been using what they have learned so that they can meet both the spiritual and physical needs of their community. Historically, the churches in South Sudan have been seen by the communities as only caring for the spiritual needs of the people and that the church does not care about their physical needs. Jesus clearly cared about both!  These churches will now have the tools that they need to be a reflection of Christ's ministry to their community.

Holly and I appreciate your commitment to our ministry and ask that you stand with us and lift these important requests before our Lord.

           

                The

"Long" Awaited Update

I am sorry for not updating this blog sooner. To say we have been busy would be an understatement. Since my last post in late July we have mostly been on the road (and in the air). Our training schedule has been very busy and will continue to be that way for as far out as we can see. It sometimes means that we travel together while other times we travel separately. Although we prefer to travel together we are trying to be good stewards of our resources and time in a way that would accomplish everything that we believe God is calling us to do.

  Community Health Evangelism is expanding across Africa faster then we could have possibly hoped for. Through CHE, pastors are coming to realize that their calling goes far beyond their Sunday morning sermons. They are learning about how the Jesus has called us all to address a person's spiritual, physical, emotional and social needs. They have been trained to address the spiritual needs of their people but never had the tools to address their physical, emotional and social needs. They are seeing CHE as the tool to meet those needs and as the keys to opening the doors for sharing the gospel in their communities. As one man said "We are so glad that you have come to teach us that we are fully capable of solving our own problems and God has already provided the resources that we need to do so.  Why weren't we taught this in Bible school?" They are also asking for their wives to be trained in addressing the many issues that face women in African culture. Together these Pastor's and their wives are looking forward to ministering as a team in their communities. This is a whole new paradigm shift for Africa and we are very excited to be a part of what God is and will be doing through these leaders.

 What have we been up to?

     Since our last update, I have been to Uganda many times over the past three months where I have been meeting with the Evangelical Free Church of South Sudan leaders to help develop their organizational structure and develop their next five year goals. They are a great group of leaders and I am very encouraged by their maturity and motivation.

  August:

 I facilitated a Community Health Evangelism Vision Seminar for 20 pastors in Bujumbura Burundi. Some of the participants came from as far away as Congo. They have asked for me to come back and give them the full CHE training so that they can expand the ministries in their areas. They have also asked for Holly to come and train their wives in CHE and the Womens Cycle of Life training.

 I facilitated two Community Health Evangelism Vision Seminars for Congolese Pastors in Nyrugusu Refugee camp and in Kigoma Town Tanzania. Although this is just an introduction to CHE, these Pastors and church leaders have already begun training other church leaders and Congolese refugees in what they have learned. They are ready for me to come back and give them the full CHE Training and for Holly to come and train their wives.

September:

Training Tanzanian Missionaries

  I continued the Bi-Vocational Pastors training with the Tanzanian pastors many of which have already put what they have learned into practice and begun small businesses to support their families and their ministries. A good example of their business creativity  is that one of the pastors began a ice making business. He purchased a freezer and went to all of the restaurants in his community to offer his service and create a business route. He now supplies ice to many of those restaurants and shops that want to sell cold sodas. He saw the need, did a market analysis and began his business. Some of the others have done similar small businesses. These are sharp guys.

   Holly spent a week in Chad training women on Womens Cycle of life. The training was very well received and Holly was very encouraged by their participation in the training.

October:

  We took a couple of weeks of vacation time to relax as a family with Holly's parents. No internet and no email! Just family! It was a much needed, very relaxing and restful time.

  Upon our return home we trained a group of Tanzanian missionaries, who are working with the Maasai in how to implement the Community Health Evangelism strategy into their ministries. This was an amazing time with amazing people. Our overall goal is to have National's reaching out to National's. These guys are doing just that! PTL

Shelter Cove Team after landing in Nimule

  Immediately following that training, Holly and I boarded  our flight to Entebbe Uganda where we prepared to receive a team of 6 peole from Shelter Cove Community Church in Modesto Ca. After completing the two day process of getting our visas for South Sudan we all boarded a small airplane "Cessna Caravan" and headed off to Nimule South Sudan where the team facilitated four different trainings for 20 Sudanese pastors and their wives. Three of the team members conducted an in-depth analytical approach to studying the bible and effective sermon preparation. These pastors have never had this kind of training and were very blessed by Garth, Scott and Walters training. Holly Joy and Lori  conducted a training on the Womens Cycle of Life for the pastors wives. This is the first time in the history of the EFCSS that Pastors and their wives have been brought together for this type of conference. One of the women told me, every day, "This has never happened before, I love this". Myself and Mike conducted and introduction to Community Health Evangelism and What is a Bi-vocational Pastor. These Pastors and their wives had a very full five days.

November:

Vision Seminar in Mundri South Sudan

  As soon as the Shelter Cove team left for the states I met up with another team from an organization called NeverThirst and headed back to South Sudan where together we introduced the CHE strategy to the  community of Mundri. This training was very well received and I was asked to stay and complete all the trainings so that they could begin a CHE program now! One of the people in the training was a Member of Parliament government official. He was so impressed with the CHE strategy and teaching style that he wants to implement CHW at a government level. He sees it as a very effective and new way to approach the communities about their Spiritual, Physical, Social and Emotional health. This is a great opportunity for the Gospel to be shared to a huge number of people.

   When the Shelter Cove team left Holly headed off to the US to speak at the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville Kentucky and to meet with coworkers to discuss a new program that we will be starting in Congo this March. She will be returning tonight. Yay!



As I said, We have not been letting any grass grow under our feet. God is truly blessing our efforts and many Godly leaders are ready to begin reaching out to their communities in ways that they never imagined.  God is so good!

   We are blessed to be here in a time when ministry is changing for those who we are working with; Pastors are wanting their wives to work alongside them, Bi-vocational pastoring is becoming a reality for many pastors who were living at a poverty level below those in their congregation, Pastors are getting the training that they need to effectively preach the gospel, Communities are seeing the need for taking ownership of their own problems and not waiting for someone else to come solve their problems for them... the list goes on!

Thank you for your prayers and for partnering with us. Many of you give sacrificially every month so that we can be here and we appreciate your commitment to our ministry. Its only because of your prayers and support that we can be here.

Brief Home assignment    January 2nd - Febuary 6th 2013

   We are scheduled to come home for our Home Assignment (furlough) this summer but because of Devin's year round school schedule we have determined that it would not be wise to take him out of school for the summer. Because of this we have been given permission to come home in January and try to accomplish as much as we can in this short period of time. Below is our schedule and prayer requests for the things that we will need to accomplish while there.

CHE Conference!
  Initially we will be attending the Global CHE Network Conference in the Phoenix area. Holly will be Speaking about the Womens Cycle of Life program and I will be attending in place of our Africa leader Kevin Kompelien. My official title will be "ReachGlobal Africa Representative."  Sounds impressive doesn't it?

 Looking for help!
  Because of the rapid growth of our Community Health Evangelism ministry we are looking for one or two couples who might consider joining our team here in Africa. Please pray that God will connect us with the people that he has been preparing for this ministry.

Raising Support!
  Along with ministry growth comes cost. God has blessed us with all of our needs and we trust that He will continue to do so. We also believe that we need to be transparent with you as to what those needs are. Our expenses each month are exceeding our income. We are required to raise all of our training costs and everything that is associated with those trainings. This is a good need to have because it means that our ministry is growing. While in the US we will need to raise our support level so that we can continue ministering in the areas where God has called us. Please pray that God will provide through His people $800 per month to bring us back into the black and to maintain the growth of our ministry. $800 seems like a difficult task to complete in such a short amount of time  but we know that it's really nothing in Gods economy!

Other Needs:

Vehicle Maintenance!
  Our vehicle is 21yrs old and in need of repair. One of our workers says that I spend more time doing repairs than I spend driving it. I think he might be right!  Unfortunately, the parts are getting harder to find and getting more expensive.  We aren't looking for a new vehicle but to maintain the one that we have. At this point the transmission is in need of replacement, the AC needs replacement parts and the diesel injector pump needs to be replaced.

Devin's Schooling!
  At the end of Devin's 10th grade year of High School we had to make a very difficult decision to send Devin (at his request) to Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. The schools here in Tanzania operate on the British system and for someone that has spent their life in the western school system it can prove to be a challenging transition to the British system. Devin tried very hard, for two years, to adjust and just could not do it. His grades were failing as well as his self esteem. After much prayer and many tears, in August we  took Devin to begin his first year at RVA. Since August he has maintained an A,B average and loves the boarding school life. This was an expense that we never expected, or planned for, when we came to the field. The cost per year for school and boarding at Rift Valley Academy is $6000. The cost for Devin to attend  HOPAC (Haven of Peace Academy) here in Dar es Salaam was $2000 per year. We need to raise an additional $4000.00 for Devins Senior year.


Thank you for your prayers in the above areas.

Travel schedule 

Jan 2-6 Seattle
Jan 8-11 Phoenix
Jan 11- 28 San Jose/Modesto
Jan 28- Feb 3 Indiana
Feb 3-6  open (Possible East Coast)
All dates are subject to change according to requests (this is just a rough draft)

We would love to meet with you for coffee and share, in person, what God is doing through our ministry. Please e-mail us to schedule a date and time. Tony.Freitas@ efca.org

If you would like to become a part of our support team then you can send your tax free donation to:

EFCA Donor Services 901 East 78th Street Minneapolis, MN 55420-1300  Note on the memo line Freitas #1647

                                             OR

YOU CAN GIVE ONLINE BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW...... (at the bottom of the blog page)


  







  

CHE at Work

COMMUN ITY HEALTH EVANGELISM AT WORK!

What does it cost $ to develop a community for Christ ?

answer: Love for the People and Time! Neither of which run out!

Tony and Merle

I have just returned from a 14 day trip to South Sudan with our Africa Leader Merle Wiens where we took part in the EFCSS 2012 conference where a new Moderator, Vice Moderator, Secretary and Treasurer (1st woman in EFCSS leadership) were chosen. I spent much of my time traveling to many different EFCSS ministry areas with Pastor Moses. The ministry in South Sudan is continuing to grow and the pastors of the EFCSS are showing great spiritual maturity. The trip was truly a blessing for me and an encouragement as well.

Pastor Richard

Pastor Richard

Kerepi, South Sudan

Kerepi Primary School

Six years ago Calvary Church in Trumbull CT began a partnership with a South Sudan community called Pageri. They sent a team to that community twice a year for the first three years and once a year until present. Pastor Richard, from a neighboring community attended every CHE training and began to implement what he learned in his community. For pastor Richard, it wasn't just a training on how to develop his community but it was a totally different way of thinking. Pastor Richard had what he calls "Poverty of the mind". " I have nothing, therefore I can do nothing". After realizing the resources available to him in his community, and with no outside funding Pastor Richard built a simple church from tree posts, mud bricks and thatch for roofing. Completion of the church building encouraged him to reach out to the people in his community to build a primary school. Together, he and the community built six classrooms (shade structures with thatch roofs). Currently 300 children attend the school. The South Sudan government took notice of what he and the community accomplished and is now paying the teachers. Each day, Pastor Richard holds chapel in his church for the children and also teaches them Christian values in the classroom. He is using the funds that he raises from school fees to feed the students a morning breakfast of oat meal and maintain the school.

   Pastor Richard watched what others were doing with what they learned in CHE, discussed their successes and failures, and used that information to improve the lives of the children in his community. Pastor Richard is helping his community in a very Physical and Spiritual way. 

Pastor Moses

Pageri, South Sudan

Leader from Pastor Moses Church

  His church is doing very well; however, getting men to attend has been challenging. Alcoholism is very common among South Sudanese men. Pastor Moses is looking to begin a men's ministry in Pageri that reaches out to those with Alcohol addiction. Using the Micro-enterprise CHE training material that I used in training the pastors for managing the Seed Bank programs, he hopes to begin a business training course that will teach men the basics of business management. Upon completion of the course the men will receive the basic tools to begin a business together. For example, a block making press that they can use to produce and sell high quality compressed construction blocks. If anyone attends the class drunk then they will be asked to leave. After three dismissals they will be asked not to return and their spot will be given to another man. I plan to work closely with Moses on this as he begins the first class.  

  Moses would also like to offer to the women of Pageri, the opportunity to store bags of maze from their harvest (early in the season) and then sell the seed at the end of the season and at a higher price when the demand for maze rises. The women will then make a good profit on their seed and have money for school fees or clothing for their children.

Guest House

  As you can see from the picture of the Guest house, it is coming along very nicely. Considering that the only outside contribution was $2500 for doors, windows and roofing sheets, you would have to agree that it was money well spent.

The Pageri women's groups are meeting in the Guest House for their revolving fund program which has expanded to 5 groups of  25 women in each group.

Moses' Seed Bank

Moses has also begun the first Seed Bank and is doing very well at managing the business. Many have benefited from the Seed Bank and expressed their gratefulness while I was there.

This is just two stories of what Community Health Evangelism is doing in South Sudan. As word spreads about CHE then so does the demand for trainings. Along with the trainings come frequent travel to the training locations. Please pray for my (busy) travel schedule.

July 31-Aug 6 Travel to Burundi to facilitate a CHE vision seminar to 30 pastors and church leaders.

August 13-15 Travel to Kigoma to facilitate a CHE vision seminar to 30 pastors.

August 16-18 Travel to  Nyarugusu Refugee Camp to facilitate a CHE vision seminar to 30 Congolese refugee pastors.

Sept ? Travel to Uganda to meet with the new EFCSS leader to discuss organization of the Churches in South Sudan. 

Mama Christopher

Holly is currently on the road, traveling to Olbili (Maasai village) to continue the women's health trainings and will return on July 23rd.

HELP!

It has been said that, "If your visibility goes beyond your ability, you will lose credibility!"

We are at a point where our ministry is outgrowing our resources that cover our travel to the areas where we have been asked to serve. As you can see from the stories, Community Health Evangelism is doing amazing, life changing things in the places where we can take it. Unfortunately, travel into these remote undeveloped areas has become very expensive. We have current requests for trainings in Liberia, Congo, Nigeria, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ethiopia but are limited by our travel funds. We need your help! If you would like to contribute to our travel so that we can share God's Word in a very practical way while helping communities break the bonds of poverty. Please send your tax deductible contributions to: 

EFCA Donor Services 901 East 78th Street Minneapolis, MN 55420-1300  Note on the memo line Freitas #1647

OR YOU CAN GIVE ONLINE BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW...... (at the bottom of the blog page)