As many know, The Fringe supports a grass roots non-profit organization called LSK [www.lesideng.com] working to bring sustainable change to a small community in South Africa that has been decimated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

On Wednesday May 14th, starting at 7:30 PM, the people involved with the LSK group here in the U.S. are having an evening of food, fun, drinks, and trivia contests all to benefit the LSK foundation at Bridie McKenna’s in downtown Highwood, IL.

Please bring yourselves, family, friends, and don’t feel shy about passing this on to everyone you know!!!!

Full details can be downloaded on this PDF Flier HERE

We are hoping to be able to get out into the community once a month for service projects during the spring and summer months. This week we continued our efforts at Theresa’s house in Waukegan.

For those unfamiliar with this lady, she was in need of help a few years back when someone reached out to Wesley Church and Jimmy, John, and others got involved back then. She has a severely handicapped son with Autism, and lives on very little income. We were able to put enough funds together this past fall to give her house a new roof and gutters. We hadnt been able to wrap up final touches until this Sunday with gutters, etc. And the children and ladies were able to plant some flowers and do a little spring cleaning for her as well.

Brother Jim led us on his thoughts from Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

How can we make sure our light is an impact on the every day things that surround us?

Also Cory led us in communion and we had the children participate as well.

Next week we’ll be at Theresa’s place finishing the roofing work we started last fall.

We discussed the NOOMA “Name” this week.

This week we spent some time talking with Aaron and Jerusha as they have accepted a call put on their lives over the past couple years in deciding to move to Africa. While there are many unknowns still, and a time table is not set in stone yet, they do know God’s call for them to this continent. It looks as if they will be partnering with Terry and Hamish from LSK (Lesideng Soup Kitchen) just outside of Vaalwater, South Africa. And at minimum their stay will be 1 year. Please keep them in prayers as they continue down this path. Already many confirmations and doors have been opened including support from a local business. We stand with them in their walk and pray God’s work continues to be done all over this world. For more information please check out our Africa/Lesideng page here.

Here is a note from Aaron & Jerusha to Terry and Hamish:
“Dear Hamish and Terri,

Hello our South African family! How have things been going for you? We received your emails, and words can not express how saddened we are regarding Dan. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, him, and his family.

Life for Jerusha and me has returned back to normal for the most part, except that we can not take our minds off of you and South Africa. We are writing you to inform you of all of the things that have taken place in our lives over the past year, leading us to where we are today. We know that God’s will for us is to move to South Africa. I know Jim has mentioned that we are planning to move there, and we wanted to tell you how God has led us to make this move.

Roughly one year ago, before Jerusha and I really knew anything about SA, we were lying in bed one night when I asked Jerusha, “Do you think God wants us to move to Africa?” To my surprise, her answer was “Yes”. She told me that she had been feeling God tell her that we were supposed move to Africa for around three weeks, and was just too nervous to tell me about it. She said that with each passing day the feeling from Him grew stronger and stronger. I told her that I had been feeling the same way for about three weeks as well, and with that we realized that we are called to Africa. Since that time about a year ago, we have been planning our lives around moving to SA, because we know God is working in this situation. We looked at our trip over there as a way to really begin planning for our move, and both said that we think God has called us to live there for at least a year, but we are unsure of the actual time He wants us to be there; it could be more than that.

When we got over there, I kept looking for a way to bring up to the two of you that we were planning on moving there, so I decided to sit in the front seat of the van next to Terri. I began to think and pray about how to bring this up to you, when you said to me, “I mean, we just need help. Whether it’s from the people in South Africa, or if someone comes from the United States and helps us, we just need help”. As you were saying these words I knew God had just answered my prayer, and we began to talk about what an American would need to do if they were to move to SA.

Later, when we were at Thomas and Cena’s house with Simon, I felt God directing me jump in and help remove their witchcraft symbols and muti. I know that God had his hand on that moment because I’m not sure I was ready to do the things I was doing, but I knew that I needed to. While the men were in the house, Kerri approached Jerusha outside and said, “God just showed me that this is what Aaron is supposed to be doing. I’m not real sure what that means, just get ready because this is what He has for Aaron and you.” At that point we had not told anyone about our plans to move, and Kerri had confirmed to Jerusha right then and there that God’s will was for us to be in Africa. While I was in the house with the other guys and Simon, I began to realize that God had been preparing me for this type spiritual warfare since the time I was very young. When I was around 12 or 13, I knew that God wanted me to directly fight the power Satan and his demons have over people. From that age on, I knew that God wanted me to prepare myself to do just that. What happened at Thomas and Cena’s house was a confirmation for us that God’s will is for us to be in South Africa.

When Jerusha and I returned to the U.S., we met with some friends to hang out and have a good time. We lightly mentioned knowing that God has called us to move to South Africa, and that was all that was said about the subject. One week later, I received a phone call from one of the two friends saying that she had mentioned to her boss that we planned on moving over there. Her boss told her that she had a heart for Africa, and that she had been looking for missionaries to sponsor for over a year, but nothing had ever worked out. She told our friend that she wanted to immediately begin funding our trip, without even meeting us, because she knew that we would need a car. She said that the corporation they work for was willing to donate $750 per month to me and Jerusha for the duration of our trip! Now we are in the process of getting everything set up with LSK to have the donations start. Once again, God confirmed that we are supposed to move there!

Two weeks ago, Jerusha and I met with some other friends and told them all about what God is planning for us. They told us they were very excited and that they wanted to help us in any way they could. Well, last week we met with them again, and they told us that they have been building an apartment for missionaries to stay in while they are here, and that they felt that God was telling them that they needed to finish it and let us stay there for free from the time we sell our house until the time we leave. They said that their Sunday morning church service was dedicated to how their church could help the people in Africa and those who are missionaries there. They told us that they have attended that church for seven years and that was the first time they had a service dedicated to helping Africa. They felt that God was telling them what they needed to do for us, and are trying to finish the apartment that they will let us live in for free.

Lastly, Jerusha and I have told our church what God is planning for us, and two Sunday’s ago we were talking about it. We were telling everyone that we began researching what documents we will need to live in South Africa, and that most of it is quite confusing. Everyone was trying to figure out if they knew anyone who could help us, but came up with nothing. The following day I walked into work and sat down next to a co-worker who introduced me to a woman named Courtney. My co-worker told me that Courtney had worked for the restaurant I work for up until two years ago, when she felt God calling her to move to South Africa. Needless to say, my jaw dropped! I told Courtney about God’s plans for me and Jerusha, and she told me that she would set me up with her travel agent who worked out all of the details of her trip. Of all the countries Courtney could have just come from, she came from SA, and we met the day after Jerusha and I told our church that the paperwork was very complicated! Anyone could write this off as a coincidence, but we know that God is guiding the entire situation and putting the people in our path that can help us.

These are the main ways God has shown us that we are called to move to South Africa. We pray daily about it, and each day God either directly confirms, or confirms in our hearts that He wants us to move over there, so we are going to follow His will.

Jerusha and I have so many questions for the two of you, but we do not want to overwhelm you in the first email we send you, so we will ask you only three. 1.) What do you recommend we do to find housing in South Africa? 2.) What do you recommend we do to find a truck there? 3.) What is your best estimate (in American dollars) that we will need per month to live there? If you can help us answer these questions we would appreciate it so much. There are so many more that we want to ask right now, but we know you are very busy. Thank you so much for all you have done for us! I know this email is quite long, but we wanted to tell you just how God has been moving in our lives. We look forward to hearing from you!

With much love,
Aaron and Jerusha “