Helping Haiti

Many of you have expressed interest in how to help Haiti. LifePoint is encouraging people to give directly to the organizations that are first responders. If for some reason you are not able to give in this manner, we are happy to receive the money and direct it for you. Monies received by LifePoint designated for Haiti will be given to a partnership through our Acts 29 church planting network focused specifically on resourcing evangelical churches in Haiti to be strengthened and prepared to minister. You can get more information on this partnership at http://www.churcheshelpingchurches.com/.

• http://www.baptistglobalresponse.com/new/
• http://convoyofhope.org/
• http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
• http://www.compassion.com/
• http://www.convoyofhope.org/go/kits

Senkbile Scoop: June 2009

Urban 40

This month, JD was invited by the PJ Smyth, the lead pastor of God First Church in Johannesburg, to speak at the Urban 40 pastors’ conference. The conference was 40 hours focused on church planting in urban contexts, and JD was asked to speak, specifically on the topic of understanding culture and the art of contextualizing the gospel. JD was not only excited to share but also thankful for the opportunity to network with pastors all over South Africa.

Second Quarterly

The day after returning to Cape Town, JD hosted the second Acts 29 Quarterly luncheon. This month’s topic was “Preaching to the Heart,” and we were thankful to have Al Barth from Redeemer Church Planting Center in New York sharing with our local pastors. As with the first quarterly meeting, this proved to be a good time of fellowship with local pastors and a chance to network with and encourage each other in the work of church planting.

Upcoming Travel

The next few months JD will be traveling a fair bit. At the end of June, he leaves for a 10-day trip back to the States. He will be attending the A29 pastors’ retreat in Colorado and will be speaking at two A29 churches in Omaha. June 21 he will be at Core Community Church, and June 28 he will be back at our church Coram Deo.

Two weeks after returning from America, he will leave again for Uganda and will be joined by Jonathan Dodson (A29 pastor) and four others, visiting some local, rural villages and joining Gerald, a fellow A29 pastor, in his ministry in Kampala.

Welcome, Lacy!

This week, we had the privilege of welcoming our summer intern Lacy Barker. Lacy will be living with us until mid-August and will be getting a taste of ministry in South Africa, as well as traveling with JD to Uganda in July. Pray for us, that our family will be a blessing to Lacy, who has given up her summer vacation to expand her vision for church planting.

At Home

Our little Cohen continues to be an explosion of new words every day. Some of our favorites: jucks = ducks, chakchurs = tractors, bishees = fishies, and hairmo = remote. He is a true delight, and we never lack for evening entertainment when he is around.

Sloane is almost four months old and is a girgling, happy, smiling baby who can’t get enough of her dad. She is easy-going, soft, chubby, and just so precious. We just can’t imagine what life was like before she came along, and the poor girl is so smothered with hugs and kisses–especially from her brother. (Side note: Some of you won’t even recognize JD when you see him at the end of this month. He is a total softy these days; it’s ridiculous!)

Much love to each of you and thank you for your support of us…
The Senkbiles

Senkbiles Arrive Safely in Cape Town; Now Setting Up Home and Shop

LifePoint received this note from JD and Michele Senkbile, who are doing work with Acts 29 in Africa. We have brought the Senkbiles on as impact partners in 2009 and look forward to hearing more about their work. Here is their note:

Hello All!
We have finally arrived at our destination in Cape Town and have spent the last four days getting over jetlag and soaking up some of this gorgeous sun. Of course, it hasn’t been all fun and games–much of our time has also been spent trying to open a bank account, looking for a car, and learning how to drive on the wrong side of the road again.

We are blessed to have Michele’s parents in town, who have allowed us to ‘dump’ on them since arriving, filling their rooms with our luggage, clothing, and books that have arrived along with us. Cohen is loving every minute of getting to know his South African grandparents a little better and has made his first trip to the beach this weekend.

We have much to be thankful for already:

• Three boxes of books, which we shipped about three weeks ago, were here when we arrived in Cape Town–quite a miracle!
• Opening our bank account proved to be less stressful than anticipated and we are now able to purchase items and pay bills.
• Cohen continues to adjust well to a new schedule and has been sleeping through the night. In fact, he decided to cut two incisors yesterday–he must not have thought we had enough going on already!
• JD has already met with a potential church planter here in Cape Town and continues to receive emails and network with others who are involved and interested in the work of church planting here in South Africa.
• We think we may have found a car that we are able to purchase.

If you think of us this next week, here are a few things for which you can be praying:

• This next week, we will aggressively continue the hunt for a place to live. We would very much like to be set up with a home before JD leaves for Uganda on January 12 and before baby #2 arrives on February 24th.
• JD has a fair amount of preparation to do in order to be ready for three upcoming Acts 29 bootcamps in January and February (Uganda, Johannesburg and Cape Town). Please pray that amidst all the running around and setting up a home and life in Cape Town, that he will be able to devote the time that he needs to study.

We thank each of you for your role in us getting over to Cape Town; we feel blessed by the support that we have from each of you, as we figure out life in a new country.

More updates to come,
JD and Michele