1 Cluster, 8 Teams, Multiple Unreached Peoples - K2 Cluster

Daren is the Cluster Strategy Leader of the Kingdom 2 Kingdom (K2) Cluster. The K2 Cluster is made up of 8 evangelism teams. Each of those teams is lead by a Team Strategy Leader (TSL). Daren and these 8 TSLs provide leadership for the K2 Cluster. Daren organizes a meeting at least once a year to provide training and encouragement to the K2 Cluster leadership team. This years meeting was planned for Lesotho. So Daren called Tom Melvin.

Tom Melvin is the TSL for the Basotho Team. He and his wife Cindi did an excellent job of organizing the logistics for this meeting and providing a fantastic location for the leadership team to meet. Pray for Tom and Cindi as they develop strong relationships with national believers. Pray for their 16 year old son Eli who is busy homeschooling.

The Basotho people are a beautiful and intriguing people. Their home is in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. Much of the year is cold and yet the sun is strong. As a result they wrap blankets around their shoulders to keep warm and don interesting hats to block the rays of the sun. Pray that the Basotho will experience the grace offered to them through Jesus Christ. Pray that Basotho believers will take the gospel to their own people living in remote locations in the mountain kingdom.

Next in the planning stage Daren called the Fortenberrys. Robert and Margaret Fortenberry have over 15 years of experience serving the Lord as Church Planters in Lobatse, Botswana. Daren invited them to lead us in our times of Bible Study each morning and evening. In addition, Robert lead us in considering the topic of "Church Planting in Resistant Fields." He did a great job challenging us to remember that spiritual work requires spiritual people operating in spiritual power. We cannot accomplish our vision apart from God. John 15:5 reminds us that apart from Jesus we can do nothing. Please pray that the missionaries of the K2 Cluster will operate in spiritual power. Thanks, Robert and Margaret, for ministering to us.

Todd Jones and Kelly Carruthers live in Gaborone and Francistown, Botswana respectively. Todd is the TSL for the Tswana of Botswana Team and Kelly is the TSL for the Kalanga Team. Their wives were unable to join us so they were our resident bachelors for the week. Pray for Lisa Jones and Ann Carruthers as they care for their children and meet the demands of ministry in the home and in the community.

Our meeting was in a quaint lodge with a real home feel. Our meals were served in this dining room where we were able to fellowship with one another, discuss strategy, as well as best practices and plans for the future. Pray for all the TSLs of the K2 Cluster as they take back what they learned to their teams.

Shawna Davis and Sky Scott worked together for 4 years in Western Zambia before Daren and Shawna moved to Botswana. Sky was about 8 months pregnant during this meeting. We were thankful she made the extra effort to travel the extra distance and ride over rough, rocky roads to attend this meeting. Pray for Daniel and Sky Scott as they care for their newborn daughter River Belle who is now just less than a month old. Pray that the gospel will spread throughout the 1 million people of the Barotse Kingdom of Western Zambia.

Daniel Scott is the TSL of the Upper Zambezi Team. Pray for him as he provides leadership to this team.

It was an extra blessing to have Micah Davis, Daren and Shawna's son, with us on this trip. Since he is homeschooling his 11th grade year he was able to join us for this trip. He enjoyed hiking the nearby trails when he wasn't studying.

Gregg and Donna Fort are missionaries serving in Zimbabwe. All of these TSLs balance planting new churches, working with and training existing churches, working with national conventions and coordinating strategy to take the gospel to people groups who have not heard the good news. That is a big job description, and that is not all of it! Pray for Gregg, the TSL for Zimbabwe, as he provides leadership for the ministry going on throughout Zimbabwe. Pray for Gregg as he ministers to the leaders of the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe.

Micah really enjoyed hiking with Gregg because, "Uncle Gregg stayed in front of me the entire hike and usually no one likes to go as fast I do". Micah enjoyed hiking in this beautiful area.

Here are a few photos Micah took while on a hiking "field trip".

The water eroded interesting patterns in the rocks. Pray that the word of God would erode the Basotho's resistance to the gospel and that they would turn to Jesus.

Beautiful flowers growing among the rocks and grass in the valleys of these mountains.

Stains left from where water sat before it evaporated.

Stagnant water giving way to the algae. While Micah was either doing school work or hiking the rest of us were....

...meeting! We met with the Lord in worship, (thank you, Daniel & Sky), in Bible study, (thank you, Robert), we met with Lucy Driggers to talk about people groups and keeping track of who is hearing the gospel and who is yet to hear! We met with Daren to discuss best practices, budgets, and learn what is happening around the Sub-Saharan Affinity Group. We met around the coffee pot, we met outside for bocce ball and ladders, and we met in the evenings after dinner to play "Ticket to Ride". Multiple boards helped!

We also took one afternoon to go prayer riding. Many of the Sotho living in the mountains get around on horseback. Cindi Melvin printed a small but specific prayer guide that we could use to pray for the Sotho people as we rode.

We prayed for this young shepherd's salvation as we rode past him. We prayed for the Jim Flora family. They live in these mountains and are ministering to shepherds, just like this. Pray that the Sotho men would come to know the voice of the Good Shepherd.

It was so great to spend one afternoon outside in God's creation, praying specifically for the people living in Lesotho. We all arrived back at the lodge in one piece.

Shawna's prayer guide was in one piece, but barely. Near the end of the ride as we were going up a very steep, muddy slope with lots of big rocks, her horse decided to fall down, gravity prevailed and she went with him. BUT...she held on to her prayer guide!

John and Jennifer Putman live in Rustenburg, South Africa and work with the Tswana of South Africa. John is the TSL for the South Africa Tswana Team. Pray for John and Jennifer as they minister in the village of Pella to chronically ill AIDS patients. Pray that a church would start through the many relationships the Putmans are developing in this village.

Lucy Driggers is the Strategy Research Associate for the Sub-Saharan Affinity Group. She helps identify people groups who are unreached or unengaged with the gospel. She helps Daren and the other Cluster Strategy Leaders identify areas of need.

One afternoon a group of Basotho dancers and musicians came to perform for us. Their songs and dances told stories about the Basotho culture.

This is the gum boot dance and tells the story of how the Basotho men work in the diamond mines found in Lesotho and South Africa. These boys somehow made music with these boots. Pray with the Flora family that God would give them 100 Basotho men who they could train to share the gospel with their own people.

These girls danced while the girls sitting sang and played various instruments.

Here are all those who attended the K2 Cluster Leadership meeting. Two of the TSLs were unable to attend due to being in the US. Brian Beadle is the TSL for the Northern Kalahari Evangelistic Team. He is currently on Stateside Assignment. John David Thompson is the TSL for the Pedi Team. He and his wife Lori arrived as new missionaries 2 weeks after our meeting.

Leadership in Lobatse and Beyond

Developing leaders is crucial to the future advance of the gospel throughout the K2 Cluster. Robert Fortenberry and Pastor Jack Ronto from Lobatse, Botswana have started a practical based, theologically focused leadership training program. It is designed to train men and women to learn how to share their faith, disciple new believers, and provide leadership in their local churches. Men and women throughout southern Botswana as far away as Kang are attending and benefiting from this training that meets at Lobatse Baptist Church.

Pastor Jack Ronto is the pastor of Lobatse Baptist Church. This Motswana man is truly a man of God and a great leader of both this local church and the convention of Baptists. Here he is leading the students of the leadership training program in worship. His joy in the Lord is contagious and young men and women are benefiting from his mentoring of them. His influence is evident not only among the Batswana people but also among the Kgalagadi people of Kang.

Jones, wearing the black shirt, gave his life over to Jesus in the summer of 2009. Students from Mississippi College were partnered with Robert Fortenberry and Pastor Jack Ronto, in the village of Kang where the Kgalagadi people live. This Kgalagadi believer is growing strong in his relationship with Jesus. Just last week Jones accompanied Daren and JB in a village north of Gaborone where he effectively shared his testimony and the gospel with a family. Pray that Jones will continue to be an effective witness for the Lord Jesus. Pray for Jones as he completes his education in Agriculture.

These ladies from Lobatse are serious about growing in their faith. Pray that these ladies will teach others the Word of God, be examples of godly women, and live out their faith among the Batswana people.

Andrew recently graduated from the University of Botswana and instead of securing a job he decided to work alongside of Andy Pettigrew in the student ministry at the University. He meets several times a week with students to teach and disciple them as well as sharing his faith on campus regularly. He is also leading a team of Batswana students to a remote village in Lesotho for a mission trip. Pray for Andrew and the other students as they prepare to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the world and share their faith with the Basotho people. Pray for Andrew as he applies all that he is learning from the leadership training.

Pray that the hearts of the Tswana people would be good soil, that when the gospel seed is planted, it would produce, 100, 60, 30 times what was sown. International research continue to show that less than 2% of the Tswana people in Botswana are evangelical. There have been missionaries in this part of Africa for 90 years. Pray for pastors and missionaries like Jack and Robert, that they will persevere in doing the work of an evangelist and disciple.

In addition to the Tswana of Botswana being less than 2% evangelical, the Kgalagadi people are also less than 2% evangelical. Pray for Lobatse Baptist Church and Robert and Margaret Fortenberry as they seek to start a church among this unreached people group.
Pray that Kgalagadi believers will follow the example of Jones who is taking the gospel to his own people.

Build Your House Upon the Rock

Justin and Korby have recently graduated from college and are now serving as Journeymen in the mountain village of Matsaile, Lesotho. Here they are standing in front of their home (a rondavel) where they will live for the next 2 years. Inside this hut is a futon sofa, two sleeping cots, a very small fridge and two burner stove top, both of which run off propane, as well as a water filter and a small table with two chairs. Their water source is a spring 1 kilometer across the mountain from their rondavel.

They use a wheel barrow to haul over 50 liters or 120 lbs of water once every 4 days. In this picture Micah is going to the source to fill up these containers. Once these containers are filled the real work begins as they now have to push the water back up the hill to their home. Just as Jesus spoke the truth to the woman he met at the well, pray that Justin and Korby will speak truth to the people they meet at their well.

Huts like this one surround the Journeyman's hut. Living behind Korby and Justin is Thabo. Thabo started asking questions about God and so Korby and Justin, using "The Proclaimer", a solar powered digital audio player, began listening to the Bible in Sesotho. They were able to teach Thabo using their broken Sesotho and Thabo using his broken English. After meeting daily to discuss the Bible for a week Thabo invited them to his house for "church" where he played a chapter from Mark on the Proclaimer and then taught what he had learned.

Thabo with his written copy of Scripture and his oral copy of Scripture. Pray that Thabo would receive Jesus and give his life to Him. Pray that he would continue to desire to learn the Bible. Pray that he would be used by God to start a church in the village of Matsaile.

Peach trees are everywhere in Lesotho and they were in full bloom in early September. Almost every hut had a least one.

The Basotho use horses to travel these rugged mountains. These two men were on their way to the circumcision camp. This rite of passage for boys is a camp where they learn what it takes to be a Basotho man. In addition to being circumcised, they learn a variety of skills like stick fighting.
The Basotho men carry a Mulamu. This is a stick that is about 2 1/2 feet long and at this camp the boys learn to fight with them. On this particular day the men from the village joined the boys who were in camp to practice stick fighting out in front of the village. All the kids and women came out to the edge of the village to watch.

Justin and Korby had a good seat to watch the festivities. Pray that the young men of Matsaile will see the difference Jesus is making in Thabo's life and that they would become serious followers of Jesus.

Boys like these will grow up learning about raising sheep, riding horses, witchcraft, and ancestor worship. Thank God that Justin and Korby have been obedient so that they will have an opportunity to learn about Jesus.

Do you see his Mulamu (fighting stick) on his back?

Pray that the Basotho men would hunger for God's truth.
Their kitchen was small but the food was good. Sunday morning Daren Davis and Tom Melvin cooked French toast for all the guys.

It gets cold at night in Lesotho. Korby and Justin staying warm in bed.

Their drop toilet sits just outside their hut.

There is no such thing as a quick trip to the grocery store when you live in Matsaile. Justin and Korby have their food and other essentials flown in every few weeks. They also get a break every 4 to 6 weeks and they fly to the capital city of Maseru and have a few days of much needed R&R. Left to Right: Justin, Tom Melvin, Eli Melvin, Micah Davis, Daren Davis, and Korby Griffith. Ask God to give these two young men the endurance they will need to persevere for the sake of the gospel. Pray God gives them more young men like Thabo and that a church will start in the village of Matsaile.

How Blessed is the FOOT!

John Thompson lives in the village of Tati Siding just south of Francistown. He works with the Kalanga Team to reach people in his village with the gospel. Romans 10:15 says "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!" This verse is speaking of men like John but for John it needs to be changed to "foot" not feet.

John lost one of his legs due to an infection when he was 12 years old. When he became a follower of Jesus a few years ago his foot has carried him to bring good news of good things to the people of Tati Siding. John is currently working with Randy Windham as they share the gospel with people and disciple new believers in this area. They currently have approximately 25 people meeting weekly to learn the Word of God.

John became a follower of Jesus when Kelly Carruthers shared stories from the Bible to explain the gospel. John realized that he wanted to follow Jesus and from that day he has visited schools, friends, and family members to tell them the good things that have happened to him because of Jesus. Join Randy Windham and Kelly Carruthers and the rest of the Kalanga team in praying for John as he is an example to those in Tati village of one who seriously follows Jesus.

Ladies are seeking to understand and apply the Word of God to their lives. Pray that they will seek answers to their questions and that the Holy Spirit and leaders like John will provide answers from the Word of God.

Kids sit on the perimeter waiting for their parents to finish discussing the Bible. Pray that the parents of these and other kids will teach them about Jesus.

Kelly Carruthers explains the importance of each believer sharing their faith with their family and friends. Pray that these believers will be bold as they share what they are learning with those in their village. Pray for Kelly as he leads the Kalanga Team. The Kalanga people live along the border of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Kelly also ministers in Zimbabwe to the Kalanga living there.

Kelly and his wife Ann have served as church planters in the Francistown area of Botswana and into Zimbabwe since 2000.

Their three kids keep life fun and exciting for Kelly and Ann. Kayla is starting her senior year at Rift Valley Academy. Pray for her as she is deciding where God is leading her to go to college. Namon, 14, and Noah, 8 are homeschooled. Pray for the Carruthers family as they prepare for Stateside Assignment beginning in July of 2011.

Randy and Kim Windham have been serving as International Service Corp since 2008. Their term will conclude in late November when their daughter KB graduates from high school. Pray for KB as she decides which college to attend. Pray for Randy, Kim, and their son Luke, 14, as they prepare to return to southern Africa in late 2011.

We are thankful for men like John who are sharing their faith, teaching the Word of God, and impacting the lives of Kalanga men like this one.