Soccer + Strategy = Saints

World Cup starts today, June 11th in South Africa (SA). Rustenburg, SA is one of the host cities where soccer matches will be played. Rustenburg is located in the Northwest Province of SA and is home to the Tswana people. There are about 4 million Tswana people and close to 3 million of them live in SA and most of those living in this province. The South Africa Tswana (SAT) Team is one of the teams of the K2 Cluster who seeks to minister to the Tswana of SA. This team is praying that their plans for ministry (Strategy) during the World Cup (Soccer) will equal Tswana people hearing and accepting the gospel (Saints). Pray for this team and their national partners, and partners from the US as they minister during the World Cup. Driving into Rustenburg it is obvious that World Cup fever has hit the town.

John Putman is the Team Strategy Leader and lives in Rustenburg with his wife Jennifer and their youngest daughter. Their oldest daughter is in college.

The USA team will play England on Saturday, June 12th at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg. The Bafokeng are a Tswana Clan who live in the Rustenburg area.

The entrance to the stadium.

The stadium where a number of matches will be played.

Rustenburg sits below mountains and hills like this one. It is a beautiful area.

This is a school in the village of Bobuanja which is near the stadium. It is a traditional Tswana village and are of the Bafokeng clan. John and Jennifer have been prayer walking in this village, meeting people, developing relationships, and sharing the gospel with the goal of a group starting to meet. Pray that the men and women they have met will hear and respond to the truth and be saved. Pray for Lucky, a friend of John's who has heard the gospel but not yet accepted it.

One of the homes in the village of Bobuanja.

This is Freedom Park. This area is a squatter camp where people from all over SA and Africa come to Rustenburg for jobs in the platinum mines. Most of the houses are made of sheets of tin. The people live a very difficult life struggling to get basic necessities such as water. John and Jennifer have been ministering in this area for a number of years. Ministry is very slow and difficult. Please pray for direction for John and Jennifer as they seek God's guidance in their ministry in Freedom Park.

A man walking through Freedom Park with all of his worldly possessions. Pray for men like this one to hear of the treasure that is available to him through Jesus Christ.

Dennis and Jody Janz live in Mmabatho, SA and serve as Church Planters among the Tswana along with their 5 children. They are on the SAT Team.

Dennis sharing the gospel with a man in Extension 39 a "neighborhood" of government built homes.

Wes Gestring is a professor at Northwest University in Mmabatho, SA. He and his wife Beth and their three children also serve on the SAT team.

Wes sharing the gospel with two young Tswana students.

Over 95% of the students at Northwest University are Tswana.
Pray for the Janz and Gestring families. During the World Cup they will be working with a volunteer team from the States and national partners. They will be prayer walking, witnessing, showing the Jesus Film, holding soccer clinics, and showing World Cup games in villages. Pray for them as they seek to make His name known among the Tswana.

While the world looks to SA during the World Cup may we pray that the Tswana will look to Jesus for forgiveness from their sins and become saints.

Pray for Tswana men like these two. Pray that John, Dennis, and Wes will have opportunities to share the truths of the Gospel with men and that men will accept Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. Pray that Tswana believers will share their faith with their people.

There are two great websites you can visit to see more stories of ministry going on along with the World Cup. Check out http://www.worldsoccerjourneys.com and http://www.mreport.org

Highflying Cowboys

The Maluti Sotho people live in the country of Lesotho. It is known as the "Mountain Kingdom" and the mountain range is referred to as the Maluti Mountains. Over 300,000 people live in small villages located on remote hills and isolated valleys on the slopes of these mountains. There are several K2 missionaries specifically ministering to the Sotho living here.

The people live in huts similar to this one. Lesotho is often cold and the winter will bring snow to much of the country. These huts, with their manured walls and floors, are built to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Journeyman missionaries, Korby Griffith, and Justin Morgan are about to find out if this is true.

Justin and Korby will live in the remote village of Matsiele. Here they will develop relationships, share the gospel and be an incarnate missionary presence as they live among this people group. To get in and out of this village they can either walk over 4 hours to the nearest road or be flown on a Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) plane.

Home sweet home for Korby and Justin for the next two years. They will move into this hut next month just as winter is getting started.

Justin Morgan and Daren Davis.

A birds eye view of Lesotho.

K2 Cluster missionaries Larry and Sally Pepper live in the town of Maseru in the lowlands. Dr. Larry Pepper visits this village regularly to share the gospel and meet the physical needs of the people. The people from this area walk for hours to come to the clinic. Pray for Dr. Pepper as he ministers to the physical needs of the people of Lesotho which has the second highest rate of HIV/AIDS of any country with 23.2% of the population suffering from HIV. Pray for the Peppers and the Journeymen as they share the gospel with the Sotho people.

A regular sight for the flying doctor.

Medical supplies are flown in by MAF flights to clinics throughout the mountains.

The Pepper's and the Journeymen are not the only ones seeking to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the Sotho people. K2 missionaries, Jim and Teresa Flora and their three girls also live in the mountains. Teresa uses her nursing background to hold clinics in remote villages.

The Flora Family

Roads are difficult to find in these mountains so travel is either by walking or horseback.

Hands On missionary, Jonathan Bundrick (JB) hiking to a village after being dropped off by airplane.

Jim Flora and Daren Davis on horseback at about 9,000 feet above sea level praying for the Sotho villages. Join them in praying that God will prepare the Maluti Sotho to hear and respond to the gospel.

Join the Floras by praying for 100 Basotho men to be equipped to take the gospel to the people living in the Maluti Mountains like this man. He spends most of his time alone tending to his animals as they graze on the mountain side. Pray that men like this one will become a follower of Jesus.

A Rainy, Muddy, Wonderful Journey

One of the people groups within the K2 Cluster area is the Lwena, also known as Luvale, of Angola and Zambia. They traditionally make their living by a variety of means. If they are near a river they prefer to fish, but they are also successful hunters and cattlemen. In years past they have been warriors, guarding their families and land during the tribal wars with the Lunda people. Eventually getting pushed south and against the banks of the Zambezi River. The people groups surrounding the Lwena also credit them with being successful with very strong magic. Even though the Bible has been translated into the Luvale language, less than 2% of them have accepted the gospel message. Instead they choose to believe that evil spirits are “their ancestors” and as long as they keep these spirits happy they will be protected and can use these spirits to harm their enemies. Pray that the Lwena would truly know that the Lord God is Creator of all, All-powerful and All-knowing, that He wants to be their Savior and Protector. Pray 1 Peter 2:25 for the Lwena “For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

Pray for career missionaries, Jeff and Robyn Lowe, as they finish language study and move to Lukulu, Zambia, a district populated with both the Lozi people and the Lwena people, that they would find people of peace to open the doors of ministry with both people groups.

We were able to travel with the Lowes on a rainy day trip to Kalabo District. Here we were on the pontoon crossing the Zambezi River. We were blessed to see friends and believers in and around Kalabo where we served for a number of years. Mapungu Baptist Church, within Kalabo District has a lot of Lwena/Luvale believers. Kalabo District borders Lukulu District where the Lowes will be living soon.

Daren and Jeff check out the "road" across the floodplain before driving it.

Daren had the opportunity to be a good samaritan.

Kingdom 2 Kingdom

From Western Zambia to Lesotho,

from Botswana to Zimbabwe and northern South Africa -

the Kingdom 2 Kingdom (K2) Cluster is

nestled in Sub-Saharan Africa.

From snowy mountaintops to waterlogged floodplains

to burgeoning cities of all colors of peoples -

and all the stretches of dusty roads in between -

the K2 Cluster is full of people for whom Jesus Christ came to save.

This blog will highlight the specific stories and prayer requests of

the people who live in the K2 Cluster.

People just like you...