South Africa Team » Nikki Bergstresser

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Maranatha — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:36:41 +0000

Hey ya’ll! First I want to start off by saying Happy Birthday Dad!! Hope you like your present (although I know you will) :) Mom, I haven’t been sick or anything and the malaria pills are going good Kiss savannah for me!

Well we have been gone for a week now but it feels like months because we have done sooo much! Our team is such a great combination and the Lord has shown us all so much! We were able to spend some time this morning just talking about things the Lord has shown us! Yesterday, we went to see USA play Brazil. We got beat very badly and now I know why we are not huge into our soccer team! After the game we went to a refugee camp. I have never seen anything like that. They really live with nothing; they are in a broken-down warehouse with no roof and once it is dark, you can hardly see anything. We sang to them and gave testimonies and they really enjoyed it! It touched my heart how appreciative they were for music and we could see the joy in the midst of hard times. A few days ago we went to stay with Pastor Nicholas and his wife Stephina in their village of Opperman. We had a great time walking around the village and talking to different people and then Pastor Nicholas talked to us for hours about South African culture. That helped a lot with understanding things. The outhouse was also a fun experience. J We went to a restaurant called Carnivore where I had crocodile, warthog, lamb, waterbuck, and many other interesting things! My favorite were surprisingly Crocodile and Watertbuck (family, don’t fall over but I was an adventurous eater). Well continue to pray for us! We have a 5k to run tomorrow then will be on our way to Mozambique!

Testimony from Pretoria

Maranatha — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:07:51 +0000

Hey ya’ll! Well we are finally in South Africa! Took almost 48 hours but we are here and it is amazing! We had an interesting time in Angola. Let’s just say Jessie and I nearly had a heart-attack when there was the possibility of an Angolian doctor giving us a shot right then and I think we were all nervous with the possibility of being deported; but alas, we did survive! After we were picked up from the airport (with no luggage) we went to Kopano Baptist Church in Onderstepoort where I enjoyed real worship and fellowship with the believers at that church. The service was like nothing I have ever experienced! Amazing African singing, testimonies, and preaching! We had a great time getting to know some of the Africans in the area! Today we had a nice time getting to know the Zak family. Tonight we went to the “Western” church in Pretoria near the stadium where the Confederation Cup is being played and passed out tracks and invitations to view the World Cup at the Church. The people were very open and quite a few made it to the church to watch the game! On Sunday they are having a soccer player come and speak and we are praying the people will return and hear the gospel as well. Mr. Zak also introduced a few of us to a man named Abraham from North Africa who is in South Africa attempting to find a way to get his wife and children out of the persecution they are facing. He has been here for some months and his wife has been arrested twice now and the government is watching them closely so getting them out will be quite a challenge! Thank you for your prayers for our team and for the requests added on this blog!

Nikki Bergstresser