Maria DeAngelo's
Letters and Adventures From South Africa 2008
Latest on TOP
3/18 Maria has been having
health issues and we would appreciate your prayers!
5/8/08 Maria and Dr. David
Grewar will be married in Richmond, MO
on Feb. 14, 2009
Please send your physical address to
gloryridge@myturbonet.com
if you would like an invitation.
Maria and David on Safari with Guests
from USA
Maria (middle) with South African friends in the sand
dunes.
The guy say "Those are sharks
down there and WE ARE going SWIMMING."
Maria says, "YOU go swimming, NOT ME!"
They DID!
May 8, 2008
Dear Friends and
Family,
Greetings from
Graaff-Reinet! The holidays are over and everything is up and running again
with much news from the front lines! Many things have been happening in our
small town since my last newsletter, so my apologies for the book I am about
to write.
The Easter holidays
started on March 21st and ended on April 13th. I spent
most of my holiday traveling and seeing new places and meeting new people. I
also got the chance to visit new churches, experience new ministries, and
participate in different outreaches. It was such a blessing from God to have a
few weeks of relaxation and rejuvenation. However, I am back to work with
plenty of news!
The youth work is
going extremely well. I am teaching character to grades 5-7 as a part of life
orientation. Character is such an important building block for children. It is
hard, however, to teach and train kids to be people of character when it isn’t
demonstrated at home. Please pray that their family lives will be influenced
by their good character! Teaching religious instruction was quite enlightening
too as the children are not familiar with basic Bible knowledge. We have been
going through basic Bible stories straight from the Word and they are really
enjoying it!
As for learning,
you can also pray for me! I am beginning to understand more and more
Afrikaans. However, speaking it is a different story! I normally sound like a
Mexican trying to sound like someone from Brooklyn. You can imagine how the
kids like to tease me!
The senior youth
group is also growing in leaps and bounds! Our meetings are staying between 25
and 35, however, their hearts are what are really starting to grow! One of the
greatest blessings about this group is the fact that probably 25 of them are
boys! Steve has been a great aid lately in teaching lessons and stirring their
hearts.
The junior group is
also doing well. They just completed their first mission trip! We have been
talking a lot about sharing our faith and spreading our light around, so they
decided that they should do something about it. About 20 of them cut out
little cards and put encouraging Bible verses on them. They were then
instructed to go in groups of two into the town and personally hand people
these cards. They were gone about 30 minutes and when they arrived back to
“base” they all had the most exciting stories to tell. Some told of how a
person cried or said that it was just what they needed. Some people didn’t
want to take the cards because they thought they must pay for them and they
didn’t have any money. It was so thrilling to see their young hearts at work!
My girls group is
my greatest joy, however. We have now become so large that we decided to
multiply the group into two; grade 7 on Monday and grade 5 and 6 on Thursday.
They are such a great group of girls. At the beginning of cell group I had 20
of them that didn’t have Bibles. Being blessed by God, a woman in the
community was kind enough to donate 20 new NIV Bibles. They were so grateful!
We are getting ready to do some new outreach projects. They are preparing to
visit people at the local hospital and old age home.
Weekends are also
very busy for me. On Sundays we take kids with us to the surrounding churches
and at night help lead music at the Methodist evening service. As you can see
there are lots of things going on!
I would also like
to mention that Pastor Maart Joseph is doing extremely well. His leg has
healed very nicely and so have his spirits. I believe he is now in the process
of receiving an artificial leg. Praise God for all the answered prayer!
With all of the
good news and joy, there are also lots of prayer needs. I have included some
things that I would greatly appreciate being lifted up to God. Sometimes I
feel weak and unable to help or even understand the circumstances around me. I
need faithful prayer warriors (all of you at home) lifting me up and fighting
on my behalf. I know that I am too small to change the problems that face me,
but my God is a big God and He has a plan!
The first thing I
ask you to pray for is my physical body. My health has not been in tip-top
shape since I landed in South Africa. I have been to the doctor and he
believes that my body is just busy adjusting to a new climate, new germs, new
foods, new worries, new friends, and new family. Please pray for physical well
being on my behalf.
Second, I would ask
you to pray for the spiritual body of my students and staff. Many children do
not grow up in Christian homes and are not Christians. The few that have given
their lives to the Lord are not committed and do not understand that the grace
of Christ is what saves them, not their works. I have not only experienced
this with children, but with adults as well. Even the ancestral spiritualism
is practiced among many of the Christian children and adults. Please pray
that the veil would be lifted from their eyes so that they could see Jesus.
Pray that there would be a dramatic break from “being a good person” to a deep
relationship and love for Jesus Christ! Ask God to break the strongholds of
ancestral tradition and religion and that Christ would reign as Lord over
their hearts!
Third, I would ask you pray for South
Africa as a nation. Major power and energy problems are a current crisis for
the country. The government has recently been turning off the country’s
electricity supply for 2-4 hours a day 3-4 days a week. This is quite a
problem for the country’s economy. Pray for the leadership of South Africa to
make wise decisions and to lead with integrity.
Last, but not
least, I would ask you to continue to pray for Graaff-Reinet as a city. In
recent months we have witnessed many crimes and acts of corruption. In
Graaff-Reinet there is a river that makes the shape of a horse shoe around the
town. It has been many years since the river has ever flowed. Small bands of
people have been living in the bush and the dried up river bed for many years,
often causing trouble and fear to people who venture near. The river flows out
of a dam that is holding a massive lake on the outskirts of the city. In March
a local woman was murdered on the drive that passes over the river and up the
mountain. Her two children are my pupils. The town was devastated. In
following weeks two men from the river were arrested for her murder. However,
the authorities still did not clean out the river and its inhabitants. So in
late March webegan to have heavy rains. It rained almost every day for weeks
and in early April the entire town awoke to find that the lake was full and
the dam was overflowing!!! The dam has not been opened for over 20 years! The
whole town went to see the rush of water over the dam wall and the sound of
the river filling up below! God sent a cleansing flood! Continue to pray that
a cleansing flood of the Holy Spirit would wash over the hearts of the people
like the rain washed over the dry river bed.
After all the news
and prayer requests, I would just like to thank you for the wonderful letters
I have been receiving. It is the highlight of my day to read a story from
home! I apologize for not replying immediately, for there are lots of letters
and very little time! Yet hearing from home is always a great pleasure.
Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! It is appreciated more
than you know!
I
will write soon with any more news that comes my way!
Until then, may God bless you and keep you close to his heart until we meet
again!
In
Him,
Maria
<><
February 29, 2008
Dear Friends and Family,
I
send my apologies for the tardiness of my letter. However, I finally have some
news (and some time) for everyone! It’s a challenge to find a few moments to
sit down and write a letter, but I know you are all wondering what’s going on.
I
can describe my time here in one word: busy. Steve and Belinda Grewar (the
heads of Karoo Missions) have now merged with the local Methodist church here
in
Graaff-Reinet. The minister and the leaders of the church are
very excited and passionate about reaching their community and have welcomed
us as their extended family. Every morning we meet at 5:30 to pray for God to
continue to unite us with the churches of the town. The Methodist congregation
has also joined with us in many other ministries during the week. Included is
a Sunday evening service where David and I are blessed to be able to assist in
leading worship.
During the day I am busy teaching at Union High School. Class starts every
morning at 7:15 and ends at 1:30 in the afternoon. I am currently in the
junior school section (grade 5, 6, and 7) teaching Life Orientation and
Religious Instruction. I also assist other teachers in subjects such as
English, Reading, Math, Library, and Physical Education. I absolutely love the
children and the staff! They have really accepted me as part of their family.
Life in the hostel is also going very well. The meals are very nice and so are
the girls. However, I noticed that the junior school girls had no church group
on the week nights, so I decided to start a small cell group with them on
Monday nights. There are about 30 of them that attend. They are a lovely group
of young girls! Please send lots of prayers their way!
On
Tuesday and Friday evenings Belinda, David and I (and most of the time a few
other brilliant people) lead youth meetings for the junior and senior schools.
They are two non-denominational groups that combine most of our church
children. From these two groups we plan to train up a “core” group of kids. We
hope to challenge them to become strong spiritual leaders who can then
challenge others. We also take them on special ministry trips to the hospital,
drug and rehab center, and nursing home. They also attended our meetings in
the Baptist church in Umazisake and the Church of Christ in Kroonvale. Please
lift these children up as they grow in the faith!
On
Sundays we are all over the show. Sometimes David and I lead music and share
on our own, and other times we will assist Steve and Belinda in their
services. Steve can preach any where from one to three times on any given
Sunday, so it keeps us running! There are times, however, when we will just
kick back, relax, and go to another service where we just sit and listen!
That’s always nice.
As
you can see writing an e-mail takes a tremendous amount of effort! Therefore,
know that when you don’t hear from me it isn’t because I don’t care! I love
hearing from all of you and enjoy reading letters from home. Please email me
even if you don’t get an immediate response! I have also been assigned with
the task of greeting everyone on behalf of Zorb and Judy Caryer, Steve and
Belinda Grewar, and a town full of others!
Everyone continually asks what they can do to help and I continually ask for
one thing: prayer! Please speak to God on our behalf. It is such a vital part
of our ministry. Intercession is much more important than any gift or service
you could provide! It is such an encouragement as well to know that people on
the other side of the globe are thinking of us. Pray specifically for the
leaders of
Graaff-Reinet to
stand together. Pray for soft and pliable hearts. Also pray that
South Africa,
as a whole, would be released of its crime and corruption and that God would
reign supreme!
Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement! It is appreciated more
than you know!
I
will write soon with any more news that comes my way!
Until then, may God bless you and keep you close to his heart until we meet
again!
In
Him,
Maria
<><
2/21/08: I heard from Maria
today by phone and asked if she responds to
your letters. She says she answers EVERY letter, but apparently they are not
getting through. She must walk 15 min to get to a shared cpu and be sure it's at
a time there are people around so that she is safer. Then if the electric goes
down, or someone is using the cpu, she cannot write. So you could imagine how
disappointed she was to hear they might not be getting to you all!
She LOVES her work and everyday is anticipated with great joy! Maria
is also involved in Youth Bible Studies, Hospice with AIDS afflicted
Children and helps lead music with David in different churches.
In Christ,
Karen
Write Maria at THIS
address:
maria.deangelo@yahoo.com
A letter Maria
wrote to her 9 year old niece, Grace, 2/27/08
Dear Grace,
Did you write that letter all on your own? If you did I would tell you that it
was very nice and you did a very good job!
I am having a very nice time teaching school. I have lots of children that I
teach. The grades I teach are 5, 6, and 7. All the children here play sports.
Boys play rugby and cricket and girls play hockey and tennis. They also like
to do swimming and athletics. I have very nice children but some of them are
very naughty!
It sounds like you are having lots of fun at school. I hope that you are
learning a lot of new things. I am glad you like your new house too. Nana said
that it will be very pretty once it is done. Do you have your own room or are
you sharing with one of your sisters?
How is uncle Mike doing? Do you see him very much?
Have you been going to church? And reading your Bible?
I miss you very much and hope you write me soon.
All my love,
Aunt Babe
PS tell your dad he does so miss me!
Graaff-Rienet, South
Africa
Wed, 23 Jan 2008
Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you for being so patient in waiting for a reply from my side! I am on
duty at the moment, but thought I would send you all a quick update to say I am
alive. : )
David and I left Kansas City at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday the 12th of January and
arrived in Port Elizabeth, South Africa at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday the 13th. We are
now eight hours ahead of Kansas City.
All of our flights went extremely well. We only had one lay-over the whole
trip. David and I thought things couldn’t get any better. We arrived in
Johannesburg and went right through customs and passports and headed for the
baggage claim. Everything was going so well . . . until we got to the carrousel.
We stood watching luggage go around for almost 45 minutes until a one of the
locals said, “I theenk yoor bags is lost”. In conclusion, all four of our bags
were somewhere between Washington DC and Johannesburg.
Our luggage finally arrived to us on Tuesday afternoon in Graaff-Reinet, and
to our great joy everything was still in our suitcases and nothing was stolen.
Praise the Lord! I was never so happy to have a few of my own things!
I started school on Wednesday (I am teaching 20 classes in a seven day cycle)
and met with some old friends and acquaintances. I stayed Monday through Sunday
with the Grewars and finally moved into my little flat (apartment) the following
Monday (the 21st). I am staying above the senior girl’s hostel (boarding house)
behind the school. It’s just perfect for me!
At the moment I am still busy settling in, so perhaps by next Monday I will
have some more news for all of you. There are so many needs and so little time
to do accomplish all of them. Please pray that I will have discernment in
choosing my day-to-day schedule. Also pray that God will grant me the wisdom to
know which activities and ministries HE needs me to perform. There are so many
different needs and I will have to pick and choose which ones to be involved in.
Above all I want everyone to know that I am doing extremely well! I feel so
blessed to be here in South Africa, and so burdened for God’s people. Please
continue to remember Graaff-Reinet in your prayers and may the peace of God
which transcends all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus our Lord!
God’s blessing,
Maria
Testimony
Below is an except Maria wrote to her oldest sister,
Dianna, who opened a Christian School called 'Apage
' , that Maria was heavily involved in as a young teen. Maria
was home schooled at the time, and did her lessons at night
and volunteered to teach reading and Character Training at
the school, along with music and drama. She accompanied the
teachers to teacher training classes and took every class
she could. The school closed when Maria was 16 and it
devastated her sister, Dianna. Dianna never understood the
reason God even allowed the school to be open for 2 years
and then close. This week, Dianna saw a glimmer of God's
plan and I wanted to share this except with you from Maria,
Jan 23, 2008...
It's amazing to think how God
works through people and circumstances isn't it??? Steve was
just telling me a story about a missionary who was from
Sweden and had gone to the
Congo to spread the word. While he and his wife were
there they had a child, but the disease overtook the woman
and she died when the baby was only a few weeks old. In the
mean time the couple had been ministering to street urchins
with another missionary couple from the States. The man
became so angry at God for taking his wife and his ministry
that he left the
Congo and went back to
Sweden. He also knew that he could not raise the
little baby girl on his own so he pleaded with his American
friends to raise her. They agreed and the man returned home.
The little girl grew up in America with her new family and
the missionary became a reclusive old man who lost his faith
in God. 20 years later, when the little girl turned into a
woman, she randomly attended a huge mission gathering in her
State. There a small black man about 8 years older than
herself stepped up to be the guest speaker. He was born in
the
Congo. He spoke about a Swedish missionary and his
wife who led him to the Lord as an eight year old child. He
also spoke of an American couple who had discipled him after
the Swedes had left. This man from the
Congo was now one of the biggest house church leaders
in the country of the
Congo, presiding over more than 30 churches. The
young woman knew it was her father. Within the year she went
back to
Sweden and found him. She led him back to the Lord by
telling him the story of the man from the
Congo. In conclusion: you NEVER know why the Lord
does some things and not others. AND you never know who you
will touch in the end.
I don't know all the details of
why God opened Agape and then closed it's doors, but I do
know that if it hadn't opened I wouldn't be able to be doing
the things I am doing here today. Just think: you are
touching children in AFRICA! In Africa Dianna! How amazing
is that?? You are apart of all of this. Wow! It blows me
away to think of it.
|
This is the
town Maria is in:
Brutal murder shocks town
23/01/2008 08:01 - (SA)
Riëtte Olivier, Die Burger
Graaff Reinet - Residents of this historical town were shocked by the cruel
murder of a police instructor.
Senior superintendent Erika Heunis, 36, was apparently raped before she was
beaten to death with stones. There were supposedly three attackers, but by late
on Tuesday police still refused to reveal any facts.
According to a source at the police academy where she worked, she was running
as usual with police students along Mountain Avenue, a well-known hiking trial
outside the town, when she was murdered about 3km from the turn-off to the road.
Her attackers apparently laid in wait for her.
As usual, Heunis continued her jogging after the other students had turned
back after about 2km.
Family was too shocked
"When she failed to return to the academy after a while, two police officers
investigated," said the source, who wanted to remain anonymous.
These officers found her semi-naked body under a bush along the dirt road.
Forensic specialists arrived at the crime scene from Port Elizabeth on Tuesday
afternoon to investigate the murder.
Police spokesperson inspector Wena Theron was unable to explain why the
specialists at Graaff Reinet did not investigate the scene.
"A full report will be issued on Wednesday morning," was all she said.
Heunis's family was too shocked to comment on the incident. A friend of the
family, who wanted to remain anonymous, said they were very shocked and sad. "We
don't know exactly what happened, so we don't want to comment," she said.
Kritzinger Mey, leader of the FF+ in the Eastern Cape, expressed his shock at
the "cruel murder".
According to Mey, Heunis's husband Garth was attending a course in
Johannesburg when the incident happened. He would have flown back to Port
Elizabeht late on Tuesday, and would then have been taken to Graaff Reinet by
helicopter.
Dave Mugglestone, principal at Union High School, which was attended by
Heunis's two daughters Monique, 12, and Chanzelle, 13, said he got goose bumps
when hearing about the incident.
"We are devastated. Her death is not only a loss for the children, but for
the whole community. She was a wonderful woman."
Bronwyn Jacobs, a resident, said Heunis's death was proof that "one can never
be too careful".
Another resident, Christa Hahn, said residents had been warned not to use the
road where Heunis was attacked.
Two people were attacked and nearly raped along this road last year, said
Captain Daan Zeelie, head of the detective branch at Graaff Reinet.
Henry Grootboom was arrested shortly afterwards. He was found guilty on
assault charges.
By late on Tuesday afternoon no news was available about funeral arrangements
Maria is engaged to Dr. David Grewar
of Port Elizabeth, South Africa
David Lives about 2-3 Hours from
Maria where he is a practicing Dentist.
They visit on weekends and do music ministry together (David sings and play
guitar).
Chris will be their BEST MAN at their
wedding in MISSOURI, tentatively, Jan. 2009
Chris is a competition Ballroom Dancer.
As you know, one of Maria's passions is acting on Live Stage.
She has been in around 38 productions, but lacked dancing...until now...
Chris is teaching Maria ballroom
dancing and wants her to be his new competition dance partner.....
But maybe that idea is not so great.
From Maria 2/27/08:
This weekend we went to Natures Valley. It was so
wonderful! I went down to PE on Friday with the school bus that was going to
play tennis. I got to Chris's "pad" 3 and 1/2 hours later and we waited for
David to get off work. Then we drove another 3 hours to natures. David's Aunt
Uncle and Cousins were renting a holiday house there so we stayed with them.
Saturday morning we went down to the beach and watched the guys surf. Then
later we went for a hike and crazy David and Chris went swimming with some
sharks we found in a gulley by the sea. I decided to play camera woman and
climbed to the top of the cliff near by. We had SO much fun! When we got back
to the house we made some really nice dinner and decided to have a "Soekie" (a
dance). Chris taught me the cha-cha and the salsa! SO MUCH FUN! It ended up
being me and Chris dancing all night while the others watched. Chris said that
I am really good and follow better than any girl he's danced with. He also
said that if I lived in PE he would ask me to be his new dance partner for
competitions! Then after our dance we played trivial pursuit . I was put on
David's team because it was the South African Edition. David won. Imagine
that. Anyway, the next day David and I took a beautiful long walk along
the beach before we left. Then I had to go with his Aunt and Cousin all the
way back to Graaff-Reinet 5 hours while David went with Chris back to PE.
SEE engagement Photos
HERE
Chris Bolton will be their Best Man.
Chris does Safaris and Tours in South Africa...
Hope you will visit him...
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