The Canipe Family
Update
Dear Friends,
Hello again from South Africa. August was actually a restful month for us after all the activities of July with the Kirkpatrick's and Della being here. We spent a great day with them in Cape Town the day they left for home. It is always fun to be in Cape Town. It is such a beautiful city and has lots of things to do. Worcester is a very quiet town and it is good to get to the "big city" sometimes.
The most significant thing for us during the month of August has been the adjustments in the Spirit that we feel like the Lord has made with us. We knew that before the Kirkpatrick's came that the Lord had spoken to Cliff and said that July was going to be a month of change. We had some sense of what this meant, and it has become more clear since Rodney and Trina left. It is difficult to put into words exactly what we feel, but we know that the Lord has us in the place He wants us right now. We feel as though we may have become a little distracted in some specific areas of the ministry that could have been detrimental to the work here. So we feel like we have made the proper adjustments and things are back on track now.
One difficult thing during August was the death of our friend, Ezeth LeRoux. Many of you prayed for Ezeth earlier in the year as we shared with you about her battle with pancreatic cancer. She ended her battle on August 17th and went to be with the Lord! She was very tired in her body, but her spirit was extraordinarily strong. She really met Jesus in a powerful way during these last 8 months and she was confident that God was at work in her life throughout this time. She was a real blessing and encouragement to everyone.
Cliff has been able to develop some new relationships this month with men in the community. One of them is Stefan Hugo. Stefan is the YWAM base director. Stefan has a heart to see the city impacted by the kingdom of God. God has given him great favor with city officials and other spiritual leaders in the city. It has been a real encouragement for he and Cliff to get together to talk about what is in God's heart for Worcester and to pray about these things.
We also began to meet with a group of folks this month who have a vision to see the church function as the body of Christ in the city. We have been meeting on Saturday nights and the times we have had together have been really good. Our heart and intention for these types of meetings is to help people understand a more biblical model for fellowship and ministry. We are expecting the Lord to really use these types of meetings in homes throughout the city to help free people from old traditional mind sets that have held them back from functioning as mature members of the body of Christ. Please pray that these meetings will be used for God's glory and that we will really allow Jesus to direct us in everything we do.
Cliff is beginning to get a few invitations for ministry opportunities outside of Worcester. He will be ministering in a seminar in De Aar, which is about five hours north of Worcester during the last week of September (Sept. 29-Oct. 3). This is a seminar sponsored by a man Cliff has recently come to know through Stefan Hugo. There will be 75-100 pastors attending and Cliff will be teaching on leadership. The family will not be traveling with Cliff, so please pray for the whole family while Cliff is away for a week. He will then be ministering two nights during a conference in Cape Town on October 5-6. We continue to pray for wisdom and direction for every ministry opportunity. We want to be obedient to do only what the Lord has for us to do.
Stephanie began her involvement at the YWAM base as support staff for the DTS (Discipleship Training School) that starts the end of September. So far the staff has been meeting to pray and hear the Lord and make preparations for the school. She's excited about the multi-cultural team God has brought together to staff this DTS (see picture below) and the ways God is challenging and teaching her already. The Lord has really given her a lot of favor with the base leadership and she has the opportunity to be involved at whatever level she feels the Lord is leading her. This is a going to be a great time for Stephanie to be back in a YWAM setting without having to make a full-time commitment. When the school starts she will be involved with the DTS daily during the week, but only for several hours while our kids are in school. She is looking forward to being involved with discipling and encouraging other believers in their relationship with Jesus and their call to ministry.
Stephanie is also increasing her involvement at the Kibbutz with the Malachi Ministry. God has given the Kibbutz favor with the authorities in the community. The Police department and Children's Services both agreed to allow the Kibbutz and YWAM to have authority over the street kids and to work directly with their families. They gave us the Moria House to use as a shelter for the kids directly off the street and after they are rehabilitated the boys will move to the boys home on the Kibbutz to transition back home with their families in the Roodewal community. This whole project is a daily miracle as we are trying to follow the Spirit in every detail and find food, workers and resources as we are building the entire program from scratch. The grace is abundant because we had responsibility for the boys before we had any system in place so the need has dictated the program, but we see the Lord's hand in the whole ministry! On Thursday the boy's mothers are coming for Bible study and prayer and we are trying to reach out to the men of these dysfunctional families and help them meet Jesus and rehabilitate them as well.
As you can see we have plenty to do! We really sense that the Lord is directing our steps. He is so faithful to accomplish His purposes. We know that He has created us in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. It is a joy and privilege to serve Him in this way. We pray that each of you will know the works for which He has prepared for you, that you may walk in them as well.
May God richly bless you all today.
Cliff, Stephanie, Camille, Natalie, and Wesley
Ministry Highlight
Cliff and Stephanie have joined a group of parents in the community that teach Bible classes in the local schools. Public schools still allow prayer and Bible study in South Africa even though it is being debated in government whether that freedom will be allowed to continue. We have been going once a week to speak for 45 minutes in the English speaking classes. Stephanie is working with 6th graders and Cliff was with the 4th grade english speaking class last week. There are kids from different ethnic groups and religious backgrounds present in each class and it is such a wonderful opportunity to teach them truth from the Bible and how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. The kids are open hearted and interested and we have a lot of favor with them because they enjoy listening to our American accents! Two weeks ago Stephanie taught on the Holy Spirit and after class two girls approached her and asked how they could know Jesus. Stephanie prayed with them and they personally prayed to accept Jesus into their hearts. Later, one of the Christian students in their class was so surprised to learn that the girls had accepted Jesus. He said, "They are the naughtiest girls in the class!" Please pray for Faron and Robin, that they will grow in maturity and in love with the Lord.
Family Corner
The family had a fun outing to play in the snow in Ceres, a city about an hour from Worcester. While our friends in the States and Europe had one of the hottest summers ever, in the Cape Region we experienced the coldest day ever on record. Winter is the rainy season, but until August we had only received 5 days of rain for the year and were in drought status. This is serious for our agriculturally based economy. Praise the Lord for the rains and snow this month. We pray that it will continue raining in the spring to provide enough water to last through the hot summer dry season.
Natalie had an exciting first this month. She lost her first tooth and was our first child to experience the novelty of receiving a visit from the "Tooth Mouse." We learned that the "tooth fairy" has regional jurisdiction and her territory doesn't extend into South Africa. So when children lose their teeth in S.A. they place the tooth in their slipper (house shoe) beside their bed, the tooth mouse visits in the night, and in the morning the tooth is replaced with money. How clever! Natalie was so pleased with her 7 Rand and we all agreed it's much easier for the mouse to retrieve the tooth from a shoe than it is for the tooth fairy to have to find it under someone's pillow while they are sleeping.
Prayer Requests
Stephanie with the moms of the street kids.
1. That God will anoint and lead us by Holy Spirit to bear much fruit as we teach and minister in different places in September.
2. For renewed discipline to study and master the Afrikaans language.
3. Pray that God will bring specific people with a heart to work with street kids who can staff the boys homes with the Malachi Ministry.
4. Pray for the gatherings we are having with the body of Christ in the city.
Some of the regular duties include washing Thabo!
"And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints
for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ."