Christmas with the children@Rhema Gospel Outreach Ministry

2022 December

On Saturday, 10 December 2022, Operation Mercy went to the children at Pastors Jonathans school (part of Rhema Gospel Outreach Ministry) and spent quality time with the children. Because God gave us Lord Jesus as our Christmas gift we gave gifts to the 33 children who confirmed to attend the function. 

Thanks to our wonderful partners and members who supported this event and gave gifts, Operation Mercy saw the need of blessing and each child received an amazing Christmas gift and added to the joy of the festive season. Located a few kilometers from The Miracle Centre in an impoverished area, Rhema Gospel Outreach Ministry teaches, feeds and ministers to 54 children through its preschool and also ministers to its community through its church of 150 members.

Through your support and giving, Operation Mercy saw the need of Rhema Outreach Centre and was able to bless them with gifts and treats. You can still support a child at this school for just ZAR 350 per month.

Overview

Our Operation Mercy team arrived and gathered together at the Miracle Centre between 09:00 and 09:30 to prepare ourselves for our day of blessing the children at Rhema gospel outreach ministry.  We began this preparation by praying together and welcoming the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us the spirit of excellence for this blessed outreach.

Shortly after praying our team of 10 packed all the children's gifts and treats into the vehicles and in 10 minutes we arrived at the Rhema Gospel Ministry outreach where we were greeted by the precious smiles at our vehicle doors and were even offered great help to offload all the Christmas gifts and treats.  It was such a wonderful experience to see the children from a few months old to six years old gathered together singing and praising God even with the little they had and the environment they lived in. It definitely encouraged our team to be more grateful and thankful for all that God gives and does for us. 


Pastor Jonathan, who is the lead Pastor of the Outreach  welcomed us with open arms and gave us the opportunity and platform to fellowship with the children. Our associate pastor, Pastor Louann Appalraju, led  a short program and introduced the team to the chidlren. We sang songs with them and Pastor Louann ministered to them about Jesus Christ and the reason for the Christmas season as well as how much Jesus Christ loves them and wanted to bless them.

We arranged for one of our team members to surprise the children by dressing up as Santa. The chidlren screamed with excitement at the sight of him. It was precious to see their faces light up that way. Each child was then called to receive their gifts and to have their photographs taken. We made certain to remind them that Jesus is the reason why they were being so blessed.

We also gave out snacks that we had prepared for them and blessed them with party packs as well. And because of our partners blessed giving we had extra snacks and were able to call other children from the community to bless them, which they were so grateful for. We blessed pastor Jonathan with a gift and were able to give clothes and shoes given by our partners.

After our time of fellowship with the children our Operation mercy team prayed and thanked God as well as Pastor Jonathan for welcoming us into his church. We were invited to come again to minister to the community and spend more time with the children. It was such a heartwarming experience to have been able to be a blessing to the little ones and to make their day.

A Big thank you to all the Volunteers, Event Director Bro ther Ngoni and Pastor Louann for running this event with excellence.

Some Feedback from the Outreach Team...

“The OM Christmas party was an absolutely amazing opportunity and privilege to minister the love of Jesus to a less fortunate community. It really warmed my heart to see the expectancy within each child, and the joy on their faces. It made me realise that we should have the same "child like" faith with our Heavenly Father. It also reminded me of the Agape love of Jesus, how He holds each one of us, irrespective of our circumstances or situations securely in the palm of His right hand.”

Pastor Louann Appalraju

“Thank you to God our Father and our Pastors and Leaders, who gave me an opportunity to witness and to SHARE the LOVE of with Pastor Jonathan and his church. Seeing thosechildren joyfully and some shyly receiving their gifts hearing them singing was a greatexperience for me. Pastor Jonathan was almost in tears when he received his gift and a big HIGH FIVE to the team.”

Brother Richard Nkosi

“I am truly blessed to be a part of Operation Mercy and this past Saturday was another

occasion where God used us to be a blessing to others. The Christmas party was such an

amazing experience and the smiles on every child’s face was an epitome of why Jesus

Christ said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

I am extremely excited for all that God has prepared for us in the future through our

partnership with Pastor Jonathan and the orphanage and various other projects.”

Brother Ngoni Chidoma

Support


Because of you we gave:


Some Photos

Thank you all - from the children at the  Rhema outreach school

Partner Report

Below is a detailed report sent to our SMM ministry partners who faithfully give and assist us financially.