Brandon & Julianna Jones

...carrying hope+justice+peace to everyone we meet so that they know that they have a God-given purpose in life...

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Blackberry for Missions

For some odd reason, South Africa shows serious favoritism to Blackberry owners.  For the equivalent of US$8.50 a month, you get unlimited Blackberry data, emailing and texting. This is significantly less than other phones (iPhones have no such deals like this).  So, many of the missionaries here would LOVE to have a Blackberry to stay in touch. It's the cheapest option for either messaging or Internet use. Two generous people donated Blackberries for Brandon and I and it seriously revolutionized our lives here. It helps us stay in touch with All Nations people so well, improves our performance of our office work, and even helps us keep in touch with supporters more. There are still a lot of workers here with All Nations that could really benefit from a Blackberry (especially our African brothers and sisters who don't have American friends who've given them phones).


The crazy thing is that Blackberries are really expensive to buy here — as much as $1,000 for the newer models. 

So, here is the question for you...do you or anyone you know have any old Blackberries laying around that you are no longer using and are willing to donate?

  (They would need to be GSM phones in order to work here. That means they're either on AT&T, T-Mobile or they are "world phones" on the other networks.) It's best if it runs at least OS 4.1 (so if it's 10 years old it's probably too old to work EVEN in Africa. You should just recycle that thing).


I know it is a stretch, but if this request yields even one, it is worth it. If you can locate one and get it to our friend Noah Kaye's sister, Selah, by April 2, she can bring it when she comes April 4.  She can be reached at selah.hunt@yahoo.com.  Just let her know you are friends of ours!

 

Thank you so much!  If nothing else, can you spread the word?

Of chicken fat and powerful necklaces

Did we ever tell you the story of when Julianna was served (and ate) rolls of fried chicken fat? It was a favorite story of ours to tell while we were back in the States, and we want to update you about that sweet Xhosa mama who shows us such hospitality when we visit her.

 

Mama Eileen makes and sells pillows in Masi, and she lives in a shack in the wetlands. We met her during CPx last year and have been meeting with her for Bible studies and to encourage her off and on since then. She has believed in Jesus and prayed for her children to know him too. But even while expressing such ardent love for Jesus, she kept on her traditional necklaces and amulets that she received from local sangomas (aka witch doctors/traditional healers). We never felt led to confront her about them explicitly, instead just focusing on leading her deeper in love with Jesus.

 

Last week at our Masi team prayer one of our fellow workers, Sbu, asked us all to pray for Mama Eileen that she would worship Jesus alone. Today was the next time we visited her with Sbu. And she wasn’t wearing her necklaces. Sbu asked her about it and she explained, “My prayers weren’t being answered. I kept feeling like God wanted me to take off my necklaces, so I finally did. God is a jealous God, and he doesn’t want us worshipping other idols.”

An incredible healing

Last post we told you that Julianna is now mentoring two families in the Vulnerable Children ministry. When she met one of the mamas, Zuniswa, she found out she was very ill, and in fact said she had cancer. Julianna prayed with her and got others to pray for her healing as well. We took Zuniswa to the hospital last week for surgery. She called us and said, “Your prayers are powerful! The doctors said I don’t have cancer! I feel fine!”

 

We’re seeing a lot of neat stuff happen in the other Vulnerable Children families as well. It’s an incredible ministry, but it’s also in need of more funding in order to keep serving the most vulnerable families in Masi. Rising food prices and inconsistent giving have made it important to find more sponsors for the children in the program. If you are interested in sponsoring a needy child in Masi, please contact us or visit vulnerablechildrensa.com for more information.