November 2016 Newsletter

Back in Mokhotlong

Greetings from Lesotho once again. Our family has completed our home assignment and we are now settled back into life in Africa. We arrived back here at the beginning of September. It is really amazing to see how seamlessly the kids reentered their life in Mokhotlong and reconnected with our friends and neighbors here at home.

While We Were Gone

Mokhotlong is growing! We returned in September to find several new buildings, houses, and businesses being built in town. The kids’ favorite is the new Fish & Chips restaurant that serves a wide variety of menu items - including soft serve ice cream (sometimes). This is the first real restaurant to open in our town. It is run by a friendly Indian man named Jinnu, who quickly identified himself to us as a Christian. He often runs the store while wearing his “I Love Jesus” hat proudly. Even more exciting to Abby is the Shoprite grocery store that is supposed to be opening soon. She will be very pleased to be able to get more of our food here locally, instead of having to wait until we drive into South Africa again. I have been most encouraged by learning that the TEE program has gone on in our absence. Ntate Bongata has kept up his leadership of the work and is now teaching a new group of about 12 students. Some of them are leaders in the churches where our TEE graduates minister. Others are church planters from nearby villages. I also learned that one of our TEE graduates, who was not affiliated with any particular church, has moved into a village across the river to plant a new church. Throughout all of our time here, our goal has been to develop the ministry in such a way that it can be handed over to local leadership and continue on whenever the Lord takes us away from here. It is tremendously encouraging to see that happening even now. We give God all of the praise and glory for what He has done thus far and we are asking for His blessing and wisdom as we work for the next two years to spread the TEE ministry around the country. Our goal in this assignment is to make TEE more well known and more accessible to pastors throughout Lesotho by helping our TEE graduates and other qualified leaders to start and lead new study groups in other cities.

This past weekend…

…Bongata and I were invited to join the TEE group from Maseru for their quarterly conference.  The topic of study was to be evangelism and the leadership decided to make the conference an outreach event in a mountain village. They wanted to lecture on the principles of evangelism and then give the students practical, hands-on experience in doing evangelistic ministry. In addition, the TEE committee partnered with the Scripture Union of Maseru to present the Jesus film in the village and to introduce the TEE pastors to the idea of sports evangelism. So we took the beautiful 5-hour drive from Mokhotlong to the Thaba Tseka district to help lead this special event. I think it was probably the best conference we’ve ever done. One of the TEE students in the Maseru group is a pastor who has planted a church in that rural village. After presenting the film that evening, probably 80-100 people from the village stood up to receive Christ as their Savior. Ntate Joseph then introduced them to the pastor, so that he can begin to follow up on their decisions and seek to disciple these new converts.

To make wise use of our time...

…we have also undertaken another project. Bongata and I have begun writing a Sesotho Bible commentary that we intend to publish. We noticed last year that once our pastors finish the TEE course, there is really not much else available to help them in Bible study and interpretation, unless they can speak English well. So we thought it would be incredibly helpful if we were to create the first commentary/Bible survey available in Sesotho. It will take a tremendous amount of effort, but we have begun to work on it already. Our goal is to give a brief overview of each book of the Bible, explaining any background material that is necessary to understanding the book and offering help on many of the passages that are especially significant for Basotho pastors to grasp. Please pray for us, that we will be able to be efficient in this work and to complete the whole project within the next two years. I believe it is by the Lord’s leading and trust that He will bring it to completion.

We want to thank each of you…

…for making our time in America so joyful and refreshing. We loved being able to catch up with most of you and to just be a part of our home churches once again. The truth is that it is often very difficult to be so far away from our friends and families and life can get very lonely at times. But you all made us feel welcome and at home again, just as if we’d never left. We look forward to these next two years in Lesotho and will be continuing to ask God for direction on where He will want us to serve next. God bless you all!

- Jonathan, Abby, Kyle, Ellee, & Sadie Kate St.Clair

jastclair@aimint.org

August 2016 Newsletter

Back to Africa  

Three weeks from now, we will be in Atlanta boarding a plane for Johannesburg on our way back to Lesotho. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in America and we have been very refreshed both spiritually and physically. While we look forward to being back in our home in Africa, saying goodbye to our families is never easy. Please keep our family in your prayers this month.

The Next Two Years

Our next assignment with AIM is to continue establishing the work of TEE in Lesotho. During our first three years, our assignment was to move to Lesotho and start the TEE program in Mokhotlong. It was the goal by the end of those three years to turn that group over to a qualified national believer who could take the leadership of the TEE program in Mokhotlong.We were pleased to see God do exactly that by bringing my good brother Ntate Bongata to work with me in TEE. He is a gifted leader who is passionate about the work of the ministry and well-qualified to lead our TEE pastors. He was born and raised right there in the Mokhotlong district and was led to Christ by another family of AIM missionaries years ago.

Our goal now is to see TEE spread to other areas of the country. The need for theological training is great and many pastors around the country are hungry to be taught more of God’s Word and equipped to lead their churches. Our plan is to work together with TEE leadership to develop a plan for starting new TEE groups in new areas. I will not be leading these groups personally, as I did with our Mokhotlong group; instead, I hope to see them led by some of our TEE graduates who completed the course last December. The program already runs entirely on local finances. By establishing local leadership in each of the new groups, we will be able to leave behind a healthy and growing TEE program in Lesotho. We are estimating another two years to get this assignment completed.

Our children... 

…have enjoyed every minute of our time in America. They have been real troopers through the hours of travel and have done well at making new friends everywhere we went. I remember my dad saying this when my family was traveling around the country, but now I have seen it for myself: Our children are some of the most effective tools God has given us for ministry. They change, challenge, and shape us as parents. They draw people in with their sweet smiles and friendly spirits. They make our lives truly joyful. People love them and they love people. Please be praying for them as we move back to Africa. Kyle was two when we moved overseas and both of the girls were born over there. Leaving this time could be a lot harder for them now that they have more close relationships here in America. At the same time, they are also excited about getting back to Lesotho. They are beginning to ask about their friends back home and can’t wait to be back there again. This is the life that they live - never really home and never fully belonging in either country. I know you all know this, but biblical priorities mandate that family must come before work or ministry (1 Tim. 3:4-5). We want to always be sensitive to the needs of our children and ensure that their wellbeing is never sacrificed for the sake of “the ministry.” It is a delicate balance we have to maintain.

Thank you all...

…for welcoming us back home and allowing us to be a part of your lives again during these months. We have loved being able to just plug in again and serve at our home churches - Millbrook and Cornerstone. You have helped to refresh us spiritually and we are grateful for your love and encouragement. Huge thanks also to our supporters, Baker and Terri White, for providing us with a place to stay and a vehicle to drive during our time here. The kids have loved living with you and will miss you greatly (and the dogs, too)! As best we can tell, our support is nearly at 100%. If any of you are still interested in contributing to our ministry needs, we can send you information on that. Just contact us by email or Facebook and we will get in touch. This weekend I am actually heading to Mexico for a mission trip with several other men from Millbrook. When I get back, we will have ten days to pack up our bags for the next two years. Thanks again for all of your love, prayers, and support. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time with you all and will be missing you again in the near future. Stay faithful to Him always and pray for the spread of the gospel among the unreached!

- Jonathan, Abby, Kyle, Ellee, & Sadie Kate St.Clair

jastclair@aimint.org

June 2016 Newsletter

Hello From Home  

Our time in America has been incredibly refreshing for our family thus far. We have been here now since the middle of December and we have about three months remaining before we plan to return to Lesotho. While we have been busy with traveling, attending missions conferences and completing my seminary studies, it has been a blessing to be around our families and friends again.

Liberty Graduation

On May 13-14, our family traveled up to Lynchburg, Virginia to attend the commencement ceremonies as I was finally able to complete my degree from Liberty University’s School of Divinity. It was such a blessing to be able to get my Master of Divinity degree online, studying while living and ministering overseas. Liberty has really been the leading institution in embracing online education and I am so grateful for that opportunity. Many other seminaries I wanted to attend would allow perhaps half of my classes to be taken online, but the rest had to be taken on campus. For my ministry situation, that would not have worked. Without Liberty, I would not have been able to benefit from seminary training during the past three years. It was also very special to be a part of the largest graduating class in the history of the school where my father was one of the first students to enroll.

I would also be remiss if I failed to publicly thank Abby for her constant support in enabling me to complete my studies over the past three years. Our life has been wild, adventurous, and exciting, while also being stressful, tiresome, and painful at times. Abby has supported me through wise stewardship, freeing up the finances to pay for my tuition. She has managed our house and children well to give me the time needed for my studies. And she has kept our life  organized, planned, and running while I was too busy to stay ahead. I hereby award the honorary Master of Mothering degree to my faithful and hard-working wife, Abby St.Clair, and thank her for her tremendous sacrifice to make this achievement possible. I couldn’t have done it without you, babe!

Our Family…

…is thoroughly enjoying being with our relatives again. Being away from them has been the most difficult part of our life overseas. For the most part, Kyle and Ellee have been unaware of how difficult it is to be away from family. When we first moved to Africa, Kyle was only 2 and Ellee wasn’t even born yet. They now wake up every morning excited about coming over to Lollee and Pops’ house to play with their aunts, uncle, and cousins. We will be sure that they enjoy these next few months at home, because I expect that leaving for Africa will be much more difficult for them this time.

As soon as graduation was over, we took off to Florida for a week of vacation at the beach. We really enjoyed sharing a condo with Abby’s brother’s family and having her parents and siblings in the same complex as well. It was a relaxing and fun time for us together. On top of that, we took one day and drove down to Disney’s Magic Kingdom to celebrate Ellee’s birthday and let the kids meet some of their favorite movie characters. Ellee was thrilled to see Minnie Mouse in person and greeted her by saying, “Ellee loves your show!” Kyle also enjoyed the day and was quite taken with the princesses. It has just been very special to make memories with our families that the kids will remember for the years to come in Africa.

Our Schedule…

…is to be in the States until the end of August. Most of that time will be spent in the South, though we are planning to visit Illinois again and also our family in California. I am especially excited about helping out with an Upwards soccer camp at our sending church, Cornerstone. I love having the opportunity to invest in kids’ lives and sports provide a unique venue for making an impact. Soccer, in particular, is the only truly global game and is the fastest growing sport in America. By teaching kids the skills of “the beautiful game” we can also show them how to model a Christlike spirit in an arena often filled with egotism and rivalry. The football pitch provides a unique platform for evangelism and ministry anywhere around the world.

Our travel plan is to return to Africa on August 30. Our current support level is also near where it needs to be for us to return to Lesotho. We have had a number of one-time gifts and a couple more monthly commitments from some of you. As best we can tell, we need maybe $100 to $200 more in monthly commitments for us to be cleared to leave. If anyone is interested in joining our support team, please contact us and we can give you the details you will need. We are very much enjoying this time to catch up with all of you here in America. If you would like to get together with us sometime before we leave, please write us on Facebook or email and we would love to arrange a visit. God bless!

- Jonathan, Abby, Kyle, Ellee, & Sadie Kate St.Clair

jastclair@aimint.org

October 2015 Newsletter

Training Up Leaders in Africa

"80 percent of the world’s believers who are practicing their faith live in persecution… we are compelled to rethink our definition of “normal”… According to the Bible, persecution is normal, simply a natural by-product of faith.”

- Nik Ripken, The Insanity of Obedience

Exciting Times 

Our family is looking forward to much in the coming months.  As we write, we are sitting in South Africa awaiting the arrival of our new daughter, a little more than two months from our first TEE graduation in Mokhotlong, and less than three months from our first Home Assignment!

The pastors enrolled in Theological Education by Extension in Mokhotlong are set to finish the last of their books in early December and preparations for their graduation ceremony are underway.  It is encouraging to see their excitement as this monumental event approaches and to watch as they take ownership of the planning and arrangements.  We have twelve pastors/laymen who are qualified to graduate and they are looking into everything from graduation robes to a big graduation cake!  Over the past year, we have focused on hermeneutics at our TEE conferences and the pastors say they have learned much about how to preach God’s Word as a result.  We look forward to completing this first class of students and to seeing how God will use TEE to grow their ministries in the future.

Our Family of Four...

…is expected to welcome its fifth member in just two short weeks.  Abby has been seeing an OBGyn in South Africa, in a place called Hillcrest near Durban.  As with Ellee’s delivery in South Africa, we expect Abby to deliver in a hospital just like one would visit in the States, with medical care comparable to what one would receive there as well.  The doctor has been great and really understanding of our far-out living situation; we are thankful to have been connected with him for this pregnancy.  We have rented an apartment above someone’s garage about 15  minutes from the hospital for the duration of October.  Before leaving Lesotho, we went to the South African embassy in Maseru to receive extended visas so we have plenty of time to be in the country.  We drove down Sani Pass about a week ago and are grateful to God to be settled and ready for the delivery.  Excitement is heavy in the air and Kyle and Ellee are beside themselves as they anticipate meeting their new sister!

Plans and preparations...

…for our Home Assignment have been falling into place over the past weeks.  We booked our tickets and are scheduled to arrive home on December 16th!  We are all very much looking forward to spending Christmas with our families!  Our travel schedule is also coming together for the early months of 2016 and we look forward to reconnecting with as many of you as we can.  We will be attending missions conferences at three of our supporting churches in Decatur, AL, Aiken, SC and Morton, IL.  For the holidays we will have a very special guest with us: our neighbor and pastor’s daughter, Joy (14), is booked to fly with us as well and we are excited for all of you to meet her!  She is a bright and sweet girl who loves to play with our kids in her free time.  We often find her pulling the stroller out of the back room and taking Ellee on walks around town.  This will be her first experience outside of southern Africa and she is giddy with excitement!  She will spend Christmas and New Year’s with us before flying back here to start her sophomore year of high school.

We are so grateful...

…that the Lord has provided an apartment for us to live out of while we are in Aiken.   While we will be traveling in and out a good deal, it will be good to have a home base for some sense of stability.  We’ve also been offered a van to use, which we are so thankful for, since we will now be using three carseats!  In the coming months, we will be posting on Facebook about smaller necessities we’ll have during our time home.

During our time on Home Assignment, our support will continue to run as usual through AIM.  If you have any questions regarding our support in this matter, please contact us.  We thank God that over the past three years, our support has remained around 100%!  That is something to give praise over!  Thank you all! 

Our future plans…

…are to continue with the work of TEE.  We hope to return to Lesotho in August and spend our next years starting new TEE groups around the country.  We have sought to run the program in a way that is repeatable and sustainable.  It is all run on local finances and by local leadership.  Our goal now is to spread the work to reach new areas and more pastors who seek training.  Then we can leave behind a healthy and growing program to national church leaders and move on to wherever God will take us next.  Many of you committed to support us through this three-year assignment and we are so grateful for your faithfulness.  We would love to hear in the next months whether or not you desire to continue that into our next assignment, so that we can make up any additional support during our time in America.  God bless you all! 

See you soon!

- Jonathan, Abby, Kyle & Ellee

jastclair@aimint.org

July 2015 Newsletter

“Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind either in locality or in speech or in customs . . . They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners . . . Their existence is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven . . . They love all men, and they are persecuted by all.”

- The Epistle to Diognetus,  A.D. 150

Winter Has Arrived  

Greetings from sunny and chilly Mokhotlong! We are hunkered in for winter with our coal stove burning and lots of warm meals on the menu. Our water pipes freeze nearly every night despite being insulated and buried but they typically thaw out by about 10am. There is something cozy about a warm fire and down blankets so we quite enjoy the winter!

TEE and AIM Conferences

Last month Jonathan and his coworker Ntate Bongata held the first TEE conference in a village about an hour and a half from here, where a new group of about 20 students has formed. They had a great turn out and a lot of eager interest. The students wrote exams on their first two books - New Testament, Part One and Following Jesus (Discipleship) - and the lectures were on biblical hermeneutics. Bongata commented to us that this is such an important topic for the pastors, because nobody is teaching it at all! We face a lot of questions about Bible interpretation because the students have never heard anything about it before. Bongata even suggested “taking this on the road” and holding weekend conferences on the topic around the country. Perhaps we may do that in our next term here while we work to start new TEE groups throughout Lesotho. The Mokhotlong TEE group is still going well although the cold air and early sunsets usually deter people from attending weekly meetings. Nevertheless the students continue to study on their own and are studying for another conference where they will write exams this weekend.

I (Abby) have volunteered along with another of our AIM teammates to plan this year’s AIM Lesotho team retreat.  We have recently set dates for late November and booked a location and a  speaker.  Our sessions will cover Matthew 24-25 and how to live in expectation of Christ’s return.  It is our hope to balance deep theological teaching and worship with recreation and time to fellowship as a team.  Because we are all so spread out, we typically only see each other quarterly at our Prayer Days.

On May 24th... 

…we celebrated Ellee’s second birthday!  My parents were able to be here for that as they arrived two days prior.  Ellee got to eat a cupcake for breakfast and wear her new special birthday outfit.  My parents were here together for two weeks before my dad had to fly back to return to work.  Lollee (my mom) stayed an extra four weeks and just left this past weekend!  I spent the whole of March, April and most of May very ill with this pregnancy and my parents decided to leave my mom here to hopefully help nurse me back to health.  Thankfully the intense sickness subsided just as they were arriving (about halfway through the pregnancy) and we were able to enjoy a nice long visit together.  I am nearly six months along now and the baby is growing very well, the doctor says.  Her name will be Sadie Kate and we expect her in October.

Yesterday...

…Jonathan finished his first eight weeks of his online summer semester with Liberty and completed three more of his classes.  He now only has two classes for the next seven weeks before he has a long break during the time the baby will be born (He will have completed 30 credits between January and  August). His semesters are so grueling, especially when he is juggling three classes, so we are thankful that he is down to two and almost done for this year!

It is hard to believe…

…that our Home Assignment is fast approaching.  We are planning to book our tickets soon and expect to be home for Christmas!  Our actual Home Assignment won’t start until January but we want to spend Christmas with our family after two Christmases away.  Our immediate needs for Home Assignment are a vehicle to use for our travels as well as a place to stay in Aiken.  We are hoping to find a place that we can use or rent which is already furnished, if someone has an extra space or apartment on their property.  Please join us in the praying for these things and let us know if anything comes to mind.  To read more about our Home Assignment plans you can visit my blog: http://abbymtstclair.blogspot.com/2015/06/home-assignment.html.  We are looking forward to eight months at home before returning for our second term!  We want to catch up with as many of you as we can and will begin to plan our schedule for that time in the coming months.  

We covet your prayers...

…over the next months as we prepare for the many transitions ahead of us. It is our prayer that Kyle and Ellee will adjust easily to the changes coming.  Certainly being parents has taught us to pray and trust God so much more. 

Jonathan, Abby, Kyle, Ellee & Sadie Kate St.Clair

jastclair@aimint.net

March 2015 Newsletter

Training Up Leaders in Africa
March 2015

"Training for pastoral ministry is a specialized form of the mandate given to all Christians to make disciples.  Three essential parts of that training are godly character, biblical knowledge, and ministry skills . . . In this whole process, it is important to combine the academic portion with experience in ministry..”

- John MacArthur, Pastoral Ministry

 From the Mountain Kingdom… 

…life is moving along. Last August, Lesotho caught the world’s eye with an attempted coup in the capital city. Twelve days ago, the country held early elections in an attempt to settle the divisions and “let diplomacy resume.” Well, the outcome was essentially a tie, the prime ministry changed hands, and things are basically the same as they were before. Things have gone about peacefully, though, and we pray that the Lord will allow any issues to be settled without violence. He is in control!

Kyle’s Birthday 

Nine days ago, we celebrated our son’s 4th birthday! Where does the time go? It’s interesting to note that he has now lived more of his life in Lesotho than he has in the States. So begins our children’s “third culture” identity. When he meets new people he may introduce himself as “Kyle from Mokhotlong” or “from America” or “a Mosotho” - or “Darth Vader”. He might greet them in English or in Sesotho. He is between two worlds, but this is his home.

For his birthday, we traveled to visit some friends in South Africa who often serve on short-term mission trips to Mokhotlong, so Kyle knows them well. It is always refreshing to spend time with fellow believers who share our heart for missions. Kyle often asks about these friends or their children, so he had a great birthday party together with them. Because Star Wars is his favorite movie series right now, he asked Mama to make him an R2-D2 cake. We chuckle at how it looked, but Kyle loved it and, like all of Abby’s desserts, it was delicious! We found a few sales at the toy store on some Star Wars figures and puzzles, so Kyle’s 4th was a galactic success! Ellee’s birthday is next on our family calendar (May 24th) and we’re trying to explain to Kyle why it won’t be a Star Wars party. Today he suggested, “Well, maybe a butterfly party.” “Oh, that sounds better,” we  replied. “With Star Wars balloons,” he hinted. 

We are so grateful to God for our children. It is amazing to see how they enhance and expand our ministry to others. I think a lot of people like us - but they LOVE the kids! They really are “like arrows in the hand of a warrior” (Ps 127:4-5). May God give us a quiver full of them!

Our Ministry…

…is going very well. Our TEE pastors are continuing on in their studies and we’ve recently had about 10 people join the program and form a new TEE group in a village about 1.5 hours away. We have tried to focus only on our Mokhotlong group in this term, so that we can easily turn it over to local leadership when we leave, but we do hope to return for another couple of years to start new groups like this one. They are a small church plant from a Bible church in Mokhotlong and they are hungry for biblical training. Please pray that we will be a blessing to them and that their church will experience much spiritual growth as a result of their TEE studies.

Last week I finished another subterm of my seminary classes and another begins on Monday. I really don’t think I could describe how much I’ve learned through my Liberty studies. The way my academic studies have integrated with our practical experiences in ministry has made this degree incredibly beneficial. I will be busy with classes from now until August and then plan to finish my last five classes during home assignment in 2016. Last month I also received my first coaching license from the US Soccer Federation. I took an online course focused on coaching 5-8 year-old soccer. Twice a week, I take the boys in our neighborhood (ages 5 to 15) over to the football field for a game or some training sessions. Already we can see the doors this is opening for ministry. We now have 20-35 boys who show up to play with us. Their parents greet us as if they’ve known us for years. One boy’s father just signed up for TEE. People who don’t know me from their church probably know me from the field. The local DFA commissioner has called and wants to meet with me. The week I received my license, I was even contacted by the athletic director at the university I graduated from in the States, because they’re looking for a soccer coach. It’s incredible how quickly sports can build bridges for ministry! As more of these coaching courses come available online, I plan to keep advancing my training for football ministry. Please pray that God will bring me local young men who are willing to invest in these boys together!

Our Family…

…is growing again! We learned recently that baby #3 is on his or her way and should be here around late October.  This will leave us about two months to get papers from the US Embassy before flying out for our home assignment. It also means our families (and all of you) will be able to meet the newest St.Clair while still a newborn. God is so good to us and His timing is perfect. Our medical insurance covers all the costs of having a baby outside of the USA. This is perfect timing for us! Please pray for good health for mommy and baby alike. May the Lord bless you!

- Jonathan, Abby, Kyle, Ellee, & Baby St.Clair

jastclair@aimint.org

December 2014 Newsletter

Training Up Leaders in Africa

December 2014

“[Sports] can be a means of bringing honor, pleasure, and glory to God… They shape our character, in good ways and bad.  Out of these collisions come pride, humility, arrogance, courage, perseverance, fear, and a host of other character attributes… A football game is a furnace in which character is formed… godliness requires intentional and diligent pursuit.  Sports provide a context for that to occur.”

- Stephen Altrogge,

Game Day for the Glory of God

Bible, Family, and Football  

These are what occupy most of our time these days.  In this update, we’ll try to cover each of those and the role that they play in our current ministry and life here in Mokhotlong.

TEE Mokhotlong

The Bible, appropriately, is the main emphasis of our work here in Lesotho.  We seek to share it, live it, and teach its truths at every opportunity.  My main opportunity to do this is through the TEE program.  We now have 16 people officially enrolled in the Mokhotlong branch of TEE, about 12 of whom are very consistent in their studies.  They have completed all three books of New Testament Survey and topical books on discipleship, pastoral ministry, and basic theology.  They are now studying Old Testament Survey 1 and prayer.  In addition to our book studies, the pastors have been asking some deep and difficult questions in our weekly meetings.  Halfway through this year, the pastors requested that we start meeting twice a week, instead of once.  So during those meetings we’ve studied issues such as divorce, the “exception clause,” spiritual warfare, “African magic,” the canon of Scripture, biblical family roles, Greek word study on “love,” spiritual gifts/miracles, tithing, giving/finances, and missions.  Our next conference is scheduled for the second week in January.  I am especially excited about our new theme for 2015 conferences - biblical hermeneutics and expository preaching.  If there is one area that I sense to be lacking in most local churches, it is this one!  The pastors are also looking forward to these lectures, because they say to us “no one has ever taught us to preach.  They just gave us a Bible and a building and said, ‘You are the pastor now.’”  Last Sunday, I also had the opportunity to preach at our local church.  Pastor Ntsimane had preached the previous week on “The Present  Tense of Your Salvation,” an excellent message unlike any I’ve heard here in Lesotho.  So I tried to follow that up with a sermon on the book of 1 John called “The Marks of a True Christian.”  It was truly difficult to preach a whole book in one sermon, but I was grateful to be able to share.  We pray and trust that the Holy Spirit will make His Word come alive in the Basotho churches!

Football (Soccer)… 

…is the newest ministry hobby I’ve taken on.  My main reason is for the doors it opens.  Sports provide an instant connection, a quick camaraderie, and an open invitation into a person’s life.  First, I was approached about coaching a U-15 boys football team.  Next, I was invited by the local DiFA commissioner (District Football Association) to create and coach a boys’ league.  Then, I was invited to play on the local police football team.  I’ve also been recruited by four other teams to  play for them - not because I’m so great, but because I’m the international, the “sponsor,” or the fan favorite.  But mostly I stick with the police team, because I think they probably have the fewest Christians and churchgoers on their team.  On my own, I’ve begun studying football coaching and am planning during our 2016 home assignment to go to a coaches’ training camp and get licensed with the US Soccer Federation (conveniently located in Chicago, IL).  I’m also praying about flying to Malawi next year to learn more about sports ministry from Luke Voight and Sports Friends International.  Please pray for these new opportunities and also for protection during our games (I’ve already had to treat one broken leg during a police game).

Last month...

…we wrote about our new outreach team coming to minister among the shepherds.  Those guys have arrived and gotten settled now into their new “homes” in the mountains.  We stopped by to visit them on our trip back from Maseru this weekend.  They are a resilient bunch of “tough guys for Jesus.”  You really wouldn’t believe what their living situation is like without seeing it.  Please keep them in prayer for their physical health and adaptation to the rugged shepherd life.  It is all for the sake of the gospel!

Ellee walks, Kyle talks

Yes, Ellee has finally decided that she likes moving around on her feet instead of her knees.  And Kyle is our chattery little buddy.  Before Abby and I were married, she used to babysit this one little boy and I remember her saying, “I want to have a boy like this one day.  He just talks to me all the time and is my little buddy.”  Well, she got her wish!  Now she just has to get him to hush once in a while so she can talk.  We had a great visit from Lollee last month and always look forward to seeing family again.

This Thanksgiving...

…we are grateful for all of you who make our ministry here possible.  We trust that God is caring for each of your families just as He is caring for ours.  If there is any way that we can serve you, minister to you, or pray for you, please contact us at the email address below.  God’s blessings to all!

- Jonathan, Abby, Kyle & Ellee St.Clair

jastclair@aimint.net