Newsletter From Francis Momberg

“And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 
Romans 10:14-15

CHILDREN'S MINISTRY
During April and May, I had the privilege of being involved in children's ministry with children in the poor community of Delft South. The church started youth meetings on Fridays to try and keep the children off the streets where crime, violence and drug abuse reigns. When I started to give Bible lessons to the children to teach them some good principles, I soon found that their knowledge of God was basically non-existent. ​

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I taught them about the Gospel, the 10 Commandments, sin and our need for salvation. It took a long time and, slowly, but surely, I could see the Holy Spirit working in the children, and I praise God for that. In between we played games, learned good songs and had a lot of fun. As I got to know these children, they crept deep into my heart. There is still a lot of work to be done, and I pray that God will give me an opportunity to go back to them. 

Please pray with me for these children that God will convert their hearts and that His light will shine through them in a very dark place.

SOUTH AFRICA OVERLAND MISSION
On the 30th of May our team of four departed in Cape Town for a month long mission through our country. Our vehicle and trailer was loaded with over two tons of Bibles, books and tracts to distribute at all our destinations. This was my first overland mission, ever.

During this mission we had meetings at seven different schools, at retirement homes, Bible Colleges and churches. We presented a Firm Foundations for Your Faith Seminar, and also participated in an international Bible College Consultation. We also went on an outreach to a hospital and did door-to-door evangelism in a township as part of evangelism training. 

This was a very interesting and challenging time for me. In hind-sight I was not prepared for these 30 days. I was mentally, emotionally and physically stretched by late nights, early mornings, jam-packed days and keeping up with a lot of administration.

Children's Ministry
Most of what I was involved in during the mission was working with children. We ministered at schools and distributed Bibles and books for their libraries. We would teach the children The Ten Commandments because “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” Psalm 19:7. Then explain to them the whole Gospel, accompanied with songs and actions. In some cases, we talked to the children about Evangelism and showed them how they can share the Gospel with other people. We worked with all different kinds of children; white, black and colored, high-school, primary school and preschool, Christian and non-Christian, in big groups of up to 70 or small groups of 10. We had some great obstacles to overcome when the children were not interested in our message and kept distracting the other children or when the children had short attention spans, but then we threw in a song or two to help with their concentration. The children really enjoyed the hand movements we incorporated to help them memorize everything we taught them. It is also something I remember from my childhood which helped me a lot with memorizing The Ten Commandments. Working in so many different situations and in so many different places, rekindled the fire in my heart to do children's Evangelism and to pray more for parents and teachers who are responsible for teaching them. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” Mark 9:42. 

Women's Ministry
I was given the opportunity to speak to a group of women at a Bible College about a topic that is greatly neglected in this day and age. Titus 2:3-5 gives every woman the command and responsibility to teach and disciple younger women. As I am still very young, I could share with them the great need that teenage girls and young women entering the world have for true Biblical discipleship to help them stay standing through tribulation.

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​Personal Testimony
I was very privileged to be able to share my personal testimony with many people during this mission. I learned that your testimony is something people will always be interested in and they will always be able to learn something from it. This helped me a great deal when I had to encourage people or when I was ministering to someone older than me. You can always speak with authority about your own testimony and no one can say it is not true. I pray that God will use my testimony to help people, and I want to encourage you to be bold and eager to share your testimony too.

Trials During the Mission
During this mission, we put our vehicle to the test with its heavy load, and God in turn put us to the test. Unfortunately we experienced two vehicle problems. The first time one of the CV joints broke. Fortunately we had a mechanically minded man on our team, and he quickly devised a temporary solution to put us back on the road until we could get the vehicle to a workshop. The second time though, the differential gear broke and the solution was not so simple. We called AA for assistance but had to wait seven hours before they arrived. It was not until late that night before the truck arrived back in town. God took good care of us through people who opened up their house for us while we had to wait for our vehicle to be fixed. These setbacks occurred on days when our schedule was somewhat flexible but the second time it immobilized us for a long time and we had to cancel a meeting. Without many problems the vehicle was back on the road a few days later. I thank my Father in Heaven for the angels he sent to help and protect us during these trials.

Literature and PT
A Frontline mission would not be complete without physical training and self-defense 

training, but most of all not without literature distribution. It was a great privilege to share our resources and empower other people with the knowledge in these books. As we offloaded more and more literature and our vehicle became lighter and lighter, we experienced first hand how it is a greater blessing to give than to receive. Please pray with us that the literature we gave to people will be put to good use for the furtherance of God's Kingdom. 

Highs and Lows
A definite high, was when the children understood what we taught them and seeing them learning and enjoying it. The worst part of this mission was to see how children are being neglected and suffer because of their parents' sin, how they are being taught that it is acceptable to sin. They are being kept away from the glorious knowledge of God that is locked up in the Scriptures. The best part of this mission around our country was meeting so many strong and faithful Christians all over the country. Despite all the enemy's attacks on us, it is a great encouragement to see the strong footing Christianity still has here in South Africa. I was totally in awe of God's almighty power and His beautiful creation, while we were driving through the country and we could see how the scenes change and how masterfully God created it all. At the same time it is a disgrace to us to see how poorly this country is managed and how farms and cattle are suffering. 

We should evangelize and teach more, disciple more and every day conform our lives more to the Bible. “If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” 2 Ch 7:14. I believe God took me around the country to see for myself that the fields are ripe and ready for harvest, but the laborers are few. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2

Prayer Requests
Thank you for your support and prayers, it carried me through the challenges mentioned. It is an encouragement to know that there are people praying for me. I would like to ask you to join me in prayer for the youth of our country, for our children, for the Christian women and for the people in our country. Please pray that the seeds we sowed during this mission will grow and bear good fruit. Please keep praying for me and for the Frontline Fellowship team, for strength, perseverance and wisdom as we continue working in Africa.

“Only one life, it will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.” - C.T. Studd

“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the Truth.” John 18:37 

May God bless you in everything you do for Him.

Francis Momberg
Missionary Apprentice at Frontline Fellowship 
francis@frontline.org.za

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