Dear friends,
As we enter this new year, with anticipation, I would like to give you a brief summary of 2024, by numbers. Each month, at Emmanuel Press, we keep a record of how many lessons we send out. We also record how many people have joined the course, and studied the first lesson, and how many have completed a
full course and received a Certificate. For the year of 2024 we sent out 25,560 lessons. 1,723 responded by completing their first lesson and 1,897 completed a course. This makes our total for the year 29,180, for which we give grateful thanks to God.
Many people work alongside us to help us achieve this. One such is Rudy. Throughout the year he teaches our lessons to about 150 students. They finish the year with a graduation ceremony, and he sent us this photo of the special event.
Since I last wrote to you, the people of Mozambique have been through a difficult time. There was much unrest following disputed elections, which were held in October. This led to violence throughout the country. Travel was difficult and the border between Mozambique and South Africa was frequently closed. This made supplies of all things in Mozambique scarce, including our lessons. We were unable to send our lessons into the country for a period of time. The situation is improving now, and we trust that the country will remain calm.
In January a team from overseas came to hold a crusade, just outside of White River, for 4 days. They visited our office before the event and took a look at our Basic Discipleship Course. They were eager to use this as follow up material for anyone who responded to their message during the event. Local pastors in the area were tasked with the important work of follow up and enabling the people to study our courses. We have been excited to see the response to this. So far over 160 people have signed up to study with us as a result of this special event. Our own Calvin Khoza lives in the area of Masoyi and has been instrumental in assisting some of the leaders enrol their new members with us.
Any building, as it ages and is in constant use, will require maintenance. Recently the Emmanuel Press property seems to have had more issues than usual. The most dramatic was on Christmas Day when the main electrical box exploded and caught fire. This left the whole site without electricity. Finding an electrician
who will work on Christmas Day, and has access to parts, is not an easy thing. Seven large circuit breakers needed to be replaced. Thankfully Themba was available and came to our rescue in the difficult situation, loaning us the necessary parts until he could do the full repair. We are grateful to him for interrupting his Christmas for us.
Let me close this letter by sharing the smiling face of Desireé Swartz. Every Wednesday, for almost 6 years, she has visited our offices, and she brings happiness and cheer with her every time she visits. She is our bookkeeper and ensures that all our finances are in order and that we are compliant with whatever may be necessary. We are confident that all is well, in her capable hands. In addition, she supplies our tracts to medical clinics in Nelspruit, where she lives, helping to share the Good News with many.
Thank you for your faithful support to me.