Dear Friend of Second Table Ministries:
With the New Year just around the corner, I know you’re busy. So I’ll be brief. I just wanted to connect with you during the holidays to express my deep appreciation for your friendship with Second Table Ministries. What a great blessing it is to have your support and prayers.
As I was thinking this week about the ministry we share half a world away, a very special young man came to mind. Like so many of the believers we’re working with in South Africa today, he represents the unshakable hope of those who have little else to hold onto.
And here in this season of hope, I’m wondering if you’ll take just a moment to read his story:
Pastor Bradley Stoffels is a young dynamo pastor (we call this kind of guy a “Champion”) who serves a desperately poor little congregation in Aliwal North. In 2009 he showed us a foundation beside his church building and told me he had a dream – to build a small community center addition to his church so he could house a foster care home for orphans, a day care facility, a meals program for kids, a social worker, a center for women to do and sell arts and crafts, and a community hall for neighborhood events.
My unspoken reaction was, “Yeah, sure!”
His question, “Will you help?” He had no money, only volunteers, a good dose of ambition, and neighborhood good will. The photos below show what he and his congregation were able to do in less than a year – on an absolute shoestring. Our total STM contribution was only about $20,000 – in bits and pieces as he went. This facility is up and operating and there is no debt!
In addition to the community safety net this center now provides, can you imagine the satisfaction, the pride, the self-assurance this little congregation gained from this experience, this amazing accomplishment?
Beginning January, 2010
Completed Building December, 2010
This is Second Table Ministries at its finest. In reality … its a poor South African church at its finest – with just a little help from STM.
We are working with four other churches just like Bradley’s which are motivated to help themselves. We call them champions because that’s what they are – champions of hope. And during this season of hope … they’re eager to reach out in Jesus’ name to their communities. They just need a helping hand. Their needs range from deep hunger, to replacing a tin shack with a new hall or other usable space to serve the community, to having clean water available.
We ask you to put yourself in their shoes (often just bare feet) and imagine what your financial support could mean to these people! STM has so much to offer and to encourage them, but our resources are limited – we need your help! Please dig in and join us to “help them help themselves.” Your contribution will be significant to help us alleviate some of the great needs in South Africa. Thank you!
Wendell Verduin, President