The Jehovah Jireh Mustard Seed is Growing!!

Scott Johnson is coming home from his trip to Jehovah Jireh Mustard Seed. He spent his time there settling them into their new building, hiring more staff on the ground and setting up better security, making a tennis court, soccer field and swing ball, providing new shoes for the kids and getting 15 beds purchased and set up for the children so they finally have a place to lay their sweet heads. They are expanding their feeding and after school programs. 33 more orphans are planned to be helped by Jehvohah Jireh Mustard Seed. These children are the "throw- aways" of society who are just as precious to God as you and I are. The Mustard Seed shows them this and gives them the love and care that they so deserve.

Here is the latest update from Scott:

At Jehovah Jireh Mustard Seed - we have 17 children who live at our house where we meet all of their needs including medicine. We do not receive money from the South African government. We rely on donations for support. We also provide meals, help with schoolwork and teach the bible to approx 50 children in Maboela Village. Some of the kids are helping and are the leaders of JJMS. Most of the children from the village are under 14 as once they are done grade school they can not afford high school and the to the streets. The village and surrounding area known as Qwa Qwa has the highest percentage of HIV + in the world. This is where God has called us to help. This is where we are making an impact. We will be God's hands and feet as He changes Qwa Qwa. Many thanks to all of those that have trusted Julia Oconnell and myself with your donations. As we continue to grow there will be other opportunities to help, like coming on a missions trip. As I sit on the plane to head home I leave with a heavy heart as there is so much more work to be done.

Please keep Julia, her family, JJ MS staff, the Angels and Maboela village in your prayers.

Sincerely in Christ, Scott Johnson

If your heart is touched to help these wonderful children who have finally found a place where they can be loved and cared for, please click here to donate. Your donation is tax-deductible and means more than you will ever know.

http://jehovahjirehusa.org/donate/

This is WHY...

...  the Mustard Seed is in great need of a chest freezer,


This picture of ants attacking what it left over from the feeding program.

As our ministry grows,so our needs so we can serve God's children here in South Africa.  We are, by Gods Grace, running a much needed food program for the village children every afternoon. We prayed for
huge pots, another stove and enough food to feed 60 children everyday. God has answered our plea.  For most of these children, this is the only meal they receive all day. We never know who will be sitting down at The Mustard Seeds new tables.  In village life here, there are never clear boundaries in these little chaotic lives. Every morning,  I cook a huge pot of vegetable stew, and another pot of rice or samp. Sometimes it is not enough.  But often, the number drops and only 40 arrive for a meal. This can be due to rain, funerals, chores or sickness. Having no other option,the extra food is left out, in the big pots, for the following day.I am greeted next morning by two large pots filled with crawling ants. This precious food must now be thrown away, much to the village dogs delight. I know a chest deep freeze will solve my problem. Margarine dishes of left over food can be stored safely in a freezer.This has an added advantage as I will have food on standby when a hungry child comes to me, later on in the day, desperate for food. A freezer can store  extra bread that I am given for school sandwiches.  I understand times are hard and most families struggle to get through each month. But I am turning to you, as it just takes many people giving very little to make this a reality. This is a need to feed His hungry in a sensible and cost effective manner.  It is never easy to ask for help, but where His children are concerned I can do it. God Bless 

If you feel called to help us get a freezer, you can donate through the PAYPAL button on the side of our blog.

Tribute to a Little Mustard Seed Angel

I have just lost a portion of my heart. But, I know she was just lent to me for a while. She always was God's child. She truly belonged to Him. You could never   forget that. Her wide, ever present smile, even during periods of unending, acute pain and nausea. The inability to enjoy tasty food due to an ever present case of diabolical thrush.  The look of exhaustion that would send her into my arms, while her peers scream with laughter. This little girl represented the suffering of Christ. A victim of this cruel world. Years ago, this tiny little body had been the object of some grown males perverted lust.  She was given more than counselling and a teddy bear when she was rescued.  She left the clinic with a diagnosis of being positive with H.I.V.  You know the strain from Sub Saharan Africa. The deadly kind that is seldom successfully treated with anti-retroviral medication.  But, Jesus Christ never promised anyone of us life would be fair.  This little girl is a growing statistic in Africa where the belief that sex with a virgin is the cure for H.I.V.  The mere thought of a grown man sexually abusing a small, fragile child is horrific. But, in the minds the uneducated, whose brains have been consistently starved from lack of proper nurturing and bodies rife with toxins, it appears a very feasible cure.  

How do you change a belief such as this? Only the Holy Spirit can shine His Light into a darkened heart.  Until He does, we are surrounded by mewling, crawling, tiny victims. 

Little One, I will never, ever forget your obsessive love for the Bambi story.  How you loved to put your emaciated fingers through my hair as you tried to give me dreadlocks. Your beloved, fluffy dog that now sits in my room to remind myself of what true suffering is.  I miss seeing your ridiculously tiny clothes and shoes.  Your clinic card said that you were a seven year old failing to Thrive. Now, you are safe in the very warm, understanding arms of a Christ that sees and knows all, and you are definitely thriving.  You taught me about bravery, perseverance and love.  Until the day I die I will never, ever forget you.  You were a gift from God. You were born to suffer and die. Things have improved. They had to. You are now living life in all its abundance and fullness. I know when I cry, it will be because of the evilness of mankind and the beauty and promise of a new tomorrow.  I adore you oh Little One. 

Love Momma Julia    

Something is vitally needed.....

• The Mustard Seed is in desperate need of a deep chest freezer. This is the fifth morning I have had to get rid of food because ants have tried to devour it.  It hurts so much to have to throw it away because we have many hungry Angles.  When you offer a feeding program, you often have food left over.  It would be so helpful to be able to put the left overs in Tupperware containers and freeze it for the following weeks program.   Also, when I get a donation of day old bread, we could then put that in the freezer to save.  I am only go shopping once a week because it is such a terrible walk down the mountain. I have no where to store my frozen foods so I am forced to go daily. I am now at the end of my tether. A new chest deep freeze will cost $400 usd. 

Would anyone be able to help the Mustard Seed Ministry with the great need??  Helping us get a chest freezer will have a positive impact on the Mustard Seed Ministry and the Angles we feed!   A blessing beyond measure for sure.  Thank you for your prayerful consideration.  

Jesus teaches me a lesson through a heartbroken 7 year old Boy

"He shall wipe away every tear"

 A promise from sweet Jesus as He ministers to a grieving 7 year old.  Another mother gone too soon, leaving behind a thin, tiny little soul.  Heartbreaking yes,but in a village that has the highest amounts of deaths for adults under 35, this is the norm.  I must say though, this particular death has changed who I am. 

Sbu is a hyperactive, not your typical lovable little boy, who roared into The Mustard Seed Haven each afternoon. My heart would sink as I heard him start fights, destroy toys and throw food all over the floor.  Nothing moved his attitude.  Sbu was Sbu.  A tiny boy who could never fit in or be at peace. He could be totally horrible. The type of child that you would smile at with your mouth but not with your eyes. He lived with a Mom, who tried her best as a single Mom.  

One Saturday I was awoken by frantic knocking on the door. Upon opening it, I found a frozen,shocked Sbu. Mom was "up,up".  Sbu's Mom had passed away during the night. For a long time she had been suffering badly and I had no idea. I soon learned that she had been feeling very weak but had continued working as her boss said if she missed work he would dismiss her.  Being a proud lady, she had asked no one for help. Every morning,come rain or shine, she had dragged her seriously ill body to work, walking to a job enduring a tyrant for a boss just so she could earn less than third world wages. 

There were no visible signs of distress in this family. Sbu always dressed well, clean and greased.  He seemed hungry but everyone is around here. I was never concerned about Sbu. He was loved more than most by a Mom who worked religiously for him. How simplistic we are as Christ followers sometimes.Christ was not like that. 

Taking Sbu's little brown,cold hand we hurried down to his shack. A terrible scene greeted us. A lady lay still and grey on a thin, threadbare mattress. Sbu stood stoically at my side and the ambulance lifted another tragic life onto the stretcher. I looked around a poverty stricken shack that was in total disarray. Standing on the floor,I observed nine plates covered in newspaper. I lifted the newspaper and was met by a pile of burnt, oily potato chips. Each plate consisted of the same, burnt, oily meal. Every afternoon, Sbu would leave The Mustard Seed Haven and return home to cook his poor,exhausted,gravely ill mother a plate of chips.This means that a seven year old boy would sit on a mud floor, cutting up potatoes with a sharp knife and then proceeded to light a Primus Paraffin (highly flamnable stove) and fry his mothers chips. When his poor mothers body collapsed through the door, she could then collapse onto a mattress, eat her supper and fall into a blissful,mind numbing sleep.   Sbu would then wash his and her clothing for the next morning. When morning came, they would present a shiny front to a world that was too busy to give them more than a hurried,irritated glance. Sbu had been taught it is weak to ask for help. The Sothos are a proud nation. He had heard me say potatoes cooked with their skin on are very healthy.  So purposefully and with intent, he had watched my cooking and gone home to a dying mother.

Can you imagine the fear this poor boy (here sitting) must have felt, desperately tired and worried,not able to stay outside with other children because he had a job to do - take care of his mother.  Shu is a seven year old who cannot read or write that we all mistakenly regarded as a tyrant had a job to do. With a self sacrificing love for his mother and a heart so good,that Jesus must have been smiling down on him, a little boy with rough edges like St Peter, had taught me another facet of who Christ is.  Because I had served Sbu with my emotions and gone only on outer appearances, I had missed the subtle signs. Sbu and his good mother have taught me so much.I am determined never to make that mistake again. If I find myself putting any child in a preconceived box, I immediately remember a dark room, a thin mattress and nine plates of burnt,oily chips. Oh, to be more and more like Christ, so little boys never have to struggle on alone.

In the Love of Christ,

Julia

Becoming the Person God Created You to be...

..... in the Midst of Great Odds.

One of my true friends is an orphan. She raised herself. Daily she had to make a plan for getting food, going to school and finding a way to get appropraite clothing. Living in a metal house, she had to make sure the roof was mended if holes appeared as they frequently did. She had to keep herself safe. Living in a world of abusive and dangerous males was terribly frightening. My friends name is Judith. Judith had to make sure she got to school on time without an alarm clock or electricity. She has to fetch water in a bucket from a pump many kilometres away. This young girl had everything stacked against her. Life had not been kind to her. But in Judith's heart, she knew that she had a very special friend in Christ Jesus. She knew He walked besides her through all the uncertainties of being an orphan totally alone in this world.

Judith also had a belief in education. She would tell me,when times became almost impossible to live through, that come hell or high water she was going to finish school. This was difficult as she attended a school with 100 children in a classroom,it had irregular teachers,Judith often did not have money for candles, so could not study at night. In spite of this, Judith finished her schooling with a college pass. She then walked for and wide in search for a job. She impressed a company so much,that they offered her training and a job as a chef. A church group then gave her living accomodations. Judith was on her way to success in a world that ran on the survival of the fittest. Judith had proved herself to be one of the fittest. Now that Judith has come across the other side and found success, she wants to serve at the Mustard Seed. She says she wants to give back to Christ and society. I have often wondered what allowed this orphan to beet all the odds and become a surviver that is now giving to a world that was very harsh. I have come to beleive that it was not genetics, nor nurturing. It can only be because of her strong relationship with Christ Jesus and His guiding hand in helping her to make right choices. There is a sure knowledge that if one child can make it, so can these angels. With Christ all things are possible.

**Words from Julia

Christmas in Qwa Qwa South Africa

In the month of December, as we celebrate the birth of our Precious Lord Jesus,as most of us are entangled with tinsel and decorating for the uncoming holiday festivites: baking cookies and candies, preparing the best Christmas dinners, buying and wrapping presents, and watching the children's excitement grow as each days passes until Christmas. This is but a dream for children here in Qwa Qwa South Africa. I wish we could bring you a warm and fuzzy story of the Christmas season for the Mustard Seed angels, but I can't. Life is beyond hard for these children. Yes, there are moments and days when the the troubles our Angels face are buried and forgotten, but during this time of the year, all they get to see and expereience is drunken fights, bleeding relatives, abusive voices, and the sound of gunshots from the local tavern. It is a time when little children are forgotten and thrown away. Where food is scarce and fear is alive, the Mustard Seed is a safe haven where children can be clothed, feed and have a place to rest their heads at a moments notice. We have watched many tears flow from the eyes of little children because their lives have been forgotten and their innocenes lost. We have seen a girl will clutch a packet of biscuits as an older man walks away very satisfied with the barter. In this season of Rudolph, presents and giving, here on this side of the world, there is nothing but the abandonment and rape of Africas who are most vulnerable. While you sit in mass or church services on Christmas, do we know that somewhere in the world a drunken man just mortally wounded his wife while their two little children watched in shock and horror. When you work amongst the very poor, you start losing your ability to be frivolous and carefree. Just like the haunted little face that I look into every day of a rape survivor of only 14 year years of age. I am haunted by what Christ Jesus thinks and sees when He looks down on His children. Maybe on His birthday He cries the most. What do you think? If you think the answer is "yes" what can we do to Comfort His Heart and the Hearts of his Orphans.

Answer: Be Mericful as our Lord is merciful. But how do we really do this??

Three things:

1. Deed: feed the hungry, visited the sick and lonely, gave clothes to the poor
2. Word: share the Good News in the Bible with a neighbor, give words of hope and love to a sad, scared friend
3. Prayer: Never stop

During this time as you prepare for the Coming of Jesus this Christmas, please take the time to bring Jesus to a hurting child, friend or family member. Without YOU, Jesus cannot comfort His most vulnerable and this is why He cries. Jesus needs your help! In accepting the mercy of Christ, we are asked to take His mercy and share it with others by our deeds, words and prayers. This is how Jesus Brings His HOPE, LOVE, PEACE and HEALING to a hurting world, child or friend.

Thank you for supporting the Mustard Seed Orphan Care Ministry!