LOCK-DOWN APRIL 2020
THE ROLL-OUT
PROJECT WEEK 1:
Dear Ones,
We hope this finds you and your families well! To be sure this has
been a month like none other. For some it has been a time with much
uncertainty and possibly still is, as we don’t know what the future
might hold. But for those of us who know the Lord we know Who holds
the future which gives us a lot of confidence to stand strong
during trying times. And if any of you reading this have not yet
made the decision to accept the Lord as your Lord and Savior it is
still not too late and it will be the best preparation for the
future. Romans 5:20 says, “But where sin abounded (which is in this
fallen world), grace did much more abound!” We have definitely
experienced that this month. The grace of God, His undeserved,
unmerited favor, has definitely been upon us, and we stand in awe
of all the ways in which He has shown himself strong on our behalf.
2Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of
them whose heart is perfect toward him.” Please note it did not
says in behalf of them that are perfect, none of are or ever will
be, as long as we live in this fallen world, we will always have
the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. But our hearts can
still be perfect towards Him in the we trust and believe in Him and
His Word.
One of the greatest needs of the poor communities this month was food
and how to be able to supply for themselves and their families
during the lock-down—many who were previously able to provide for
themselves were not able to do so. We are very thankful to be able
to testify of His goodness.
The Roll-Out project: We were contacted by someone who then
proceeded to put us in touch with a sponsor (who has asked to
remain anonymous). This sponsor had an amazing Roll-Out project in
mind. We were asked help to identify 5 people in Sir Lowry’s Pass,
faithful and trustworthy, who would be able to help buy food
parcels for the people in their close vicinity. Each week a certain
amount would be deposited on their account with which they were to
shop for X amount of people (which worked out to be approx. 10) on
a weekly basis, while still able to cover their expenses such as
petrol, etc. We ourselves were also part, although on a
considerably larger scale. Seeing that we have permits as an
Essential Service due to our already established charity work, we
were able to continue to collect and distribute food, which was
especially needed this month and therefore enabled us to be an
active part of the Roll-Out project.
We mentioned our concern about a nearby township, Nomzamo, to the
sponsors and they jumped in and provided approximately 200 food
parcels a week for that community as well. It is a much larger
community that Sir Lowry’s Pass, where we delivered approximately
100 food parcels a week between the united efforts of everyone
involved in the Roll-Out Project.
However, with the extension of the lock-down this supporter was not
able to help in Sir Lowry’s Pass last week. Meanwhile the need had
not lessened, but rather increased. And we are very happy to say
that with the help of you, our partners and some unexpected additional
contributions, we were able to fill the gap and even reach into
parts of the community that had still not been reached, (about 50
families — some of which received the parcels in tears saying that
they had not yet been able to feed their children that day). And we
were able to assist again just a few days later with an addition 50
food parcels, None of this would have been possible were it not for
you our partners, sponsors and anonymous donors. And on top of that
we started supporting what is called “Soup Houses” where the women
in a street cook for the children living in that street. Several of
them turned to us for help with the needed food and we are happy to
say that we were able to reach out a helping hand to at least 5
different ones.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone!” Matthew 4:4 so we
wrote up two different tracts that we printed out and put into
every Food Parcel distributed (as much as possible). Some reacted
saying that they had been very encouraged, and would we please continue
to do so. Although it may not be the best way to reach out, in
person would be preferable, we believe that A word from the Lord is
better than none. We also let everyone know where to find us after
the Lock-Down, should they so desire. Besides that we started a lot
of What’s Up groups through which to minister, more about that
later.
WEEK 1TEAM 1 :
 WEEK 1TEAM 2:
 WEEK
1TEAM 3 :
The content shown here is the per food parcel content.
WEEK 1 TEAM 4:
WEEK1 TEAM 5:
As the village of Sir Lowry’s Pass has anywhere from 8-10,000
inhabitants, who were basically all needy, we were careful to not
distribute food parcels to the same families every week,
Joyce’s soup kitchen which used to cater to anywhere between
100-200 families iow cooking for approximately 500 offering a hot
meal every other day! Many no longer have the option of cooking at
home as they have not had been able to pay for their electricity or
buy cooking gas. Hopefully the aid from the government will soon
kick in.
For the
following three weeks this Roll-Out Project continued in full force
as show above.
THE ROLL-OUT PROJECT WEEK 2:
For lack of space we will not show what each of the local teams
shopped, but as mentioned it was five teams shopping for
approximately 10 families each. Altogether we managed + 100
food parcels a week.
THE ROLL-OUT PROJECT WEEK 3:
ROLL-OUT IN NOMZAMO:
Although we ourselves were not directly involved in the Roll-Out
project in Nomzamo we were instrumental in bringing the needy
community to the attention of the sponsors and to make the needed
connection which resulted in approximately 200 food parcels being
distributed there a week. The Lord loves the poor and wants to see
them taken care of!
LOCK-DOWN WEEK 4:
Through the extra support from some of you and even
new donors we were able to put together 40 food parcels in the
beginning of the week. These 40 parcels were all distributed in new
areas of Sir Lowry's Pass that had not yet received any help, Some
of the people seen in the two photos below were in tears when they
received the packages.
A few days later more donations came in and another 50 food parcels
were distributed (see the photos below). We are very impressed by
your outgoing concern and that of others. Through our united
efforts many hearts very deeply touched and comforted.
We are so very thankful for the team in Sir Lowry’s Pass that
always cheerfully help us with the packaging and distribution, a
big blessing to us!
"SOUP HOUSES" LOCK-DOWN WEEK 4:
With the ever increasing needs as the Lock-Down was extended for
another two weeks, the villagers organized “Soup Houses” as a
feeding scheme for the children of the village, the aim being that
every street has a lady or two that cook at least one hot meal per
child living in that street. Sadly there are still about 10 street
without a “Soup House”, resulting in some of the other streets
being overrun with children coming for food —sometimes 50-60 kids
(they roughly estimate approx. 25 children per street) and thus end
up sending some away empty handed. Another thing that has been of
concern to us is that the “Soup Houses” generally speaking prefer
to feed the children late afternoon, early evening to prevent them
having to go to sleep with an empty stomach. This however at times
coincides with the time when the police makes their patrols and
rounds up everyone in the streets. The children fear the police and
flee, running back home where they hide out about an hour or until
they think it might be safe to try again. Seeing that most, if not
all, of these children get only one meal a day and that often under
very stressful circumstances is very concerning. And twice a week
the Primary School cooks for about 800 children to allow for a
break for the Soup Houses. However walking to the school is a very
long walk for many of the little ones. Our prayers are that
everything may soon return to normal and that more help will be
provided for all meanwhile. When there is no food in the
homes there are also no snacks for the children to be had. All very
heart breaking! But we are very thankful to you our partners and
donors. With your help we have been able to assist the Soup Houses
to a certain extent as well. Thank you so much! One mouth fed is
one less child left hungry!
WOOLWORTH DURING LOCK-DOWN:
WEEK 1:
A BIG Shout out goes to Woolies who have been an exceptional big
help during the Lock-Down period. Due to the Daycare Centers being
closed down during the Lock-Down a lot of the food waste was
redirected to the soup kitchens, for which we are extremely
thankful, as the people looking for help from the kitchen in Sir
Lowry’s Pass more than doubled. When the people attending the
kitchen usually lies somewhere between 1-200 people, it has now
risen to 500 and above.
Week 1 we collected so much food that we had to also store it
behind the front seat and under my feet on the passenger side. And
as you might be able to tell each week was a full bakkie of
supplies. We have never received this much food a week from
Woolworths, but never has the need been this drastic before either.
We are extremely thankful...also please bear in mind that the
kitchen is assisted twice a week and that we have divided the pick
up between us so that we collect once a week and Joyce collects the
other day of the week. So again a great BIG THANK YOU to Wollies
for the big difference they have and are making and continue to
make to the especially needed. Many have been greatly
helped!
WOOLWORTH WEEK 2:
WOOLWORTH WEEK 3:
WOOLWORTH WEEK 4:
ADDITIONAL
HELP DURING LOCK-DOWN;
100 liters of milk was collected and distributed! We thank
Sonnendahl for their continued assistance.
Three large boxes of Weet-Bix!
We also distributed 10 food vouchers of R 250 each!
On an especially quiet day the Lord drew our attention to a group
of homeless people camped out on a field. Realizing that they had
little or no chance of coming upon a bite to eat seeing that
the streets looked very deserted we went home, made some nice cheese
and ham sandwiches, and also got together a bag of plumbs for them.
When we went to deliver the food we were greeted with big warm
smiles and many heartfelt thanks. Needless to say we made sure to
let them know that Jesus loves them and has not forgotten about
them.
FACEMASKS:
We were approached for funding for face masks for the Developmental
Forum (A total of 130 in all for the leaders and some of the
elderly) of the village the Sir Lowry’s Pass community. We thank
Lions Club for sponsoring these masks. Thank you so much! We, Force4Good
(which includes you, our amazing partners) sponsored an additional
70 masks for different villagers.
We also assisted about 10 families not from Sir Lowry's Pass, with
additional food parcels/finances, although only with a once off.
GORDON'S BAY:
A team in Johannesburg contacted us and asked us to please assist
them in being able to reach out to a nursery school in Gordon’s
Bay. They had two teachers and sixteen families with children in
urgent need of help. It was all funded from them, and we were happy
to be able to be their hands and feet making it possible for more
people to be helped. During times like these it is wonderful to see
people joining forces in being able to reach out and make a
difference. We are honored to be the Lord’s and your hands and feet
as well as that of others also. Philippians 2:4 says, “Look not every
man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
Together we are able to do just that!
 When delivering the food parcels we
ministered to the people, and Philip led them in a salvation
prayer. We offered to continue to minister to them via What’s Up. 3
signed up this far.
....MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE:
Matthew 4:4,
But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of
God!
 We entered this month thinking that, due to
the lock-down, we would finally have time to get some of the many
things, that have been put off due to time restraints, done. But
(to our joy) we found ourselves again very busy with things that
were much more important. Besides the food distribution, shown on
the previous pages we also completed two training courses—one of
them quite intense over the span of one week—Accelerate! The other
course was already in process, but needed to be completed with a
lot of assignments that came with it —The DMM (Disciple Making
Movement) Both via our Gracelife church). And we also attended a
lot of online meetings and teaching video teachings...besides the
courses.
When looking at life through the perspective of eternity the most
important is really people and their welfare, not only in this
life, but especially in the one to come. So although we have not
been able to meet in person we are presently ministering with
weekly meetings via What’s Up to 3 groups 4 times a week. Besides
that we are also sending out feeding material via What’s Up on an
almost daily basis to over 30 people. Most of the people on the
receiving end are folks we have known, but not really been able to
minister to because of the distance and time restraints. But the
lock-down, the training we attended, etc. has woken us up the fact
that where there is a will there is a way. We have had many really
heartfelt and appreciative reactions through this.
During this month we also sowed seeds of the Word of God. We
produced two tracts. One called Covid 19 –Good News, based on
Psalms 91 and the beautiful promises of protection found therein.
There were good reactions and request for more so we wrote a second
tract called, “Who Are You?” Based on 1 Thess. 5:23 –Spirit, Soul
and Body, with a salvation message (which the other tract also had)
and a brief touch on our identity in Christ. — If you would like to
receive either one of these tracts/or both, please do not hesitate
to ask and we will send them to you.
In closing we want to send a BIG THANK YOU to all of you, We would
have not been able to accomplish all that was done without your
backing, help and encouragement,
With love and appreciation,
Philip and Rita
CONTACT DETAILS:
Force4good.ministries@gmail.com
or
force4good.fvs@gmail.com
And if
you are new to our work and would like to partner with us on a
monthly basis we invite you to please contact us for further
details. We look forward to hearing from you!
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