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Merry Christmas from the Plodinec’s in Africa!

We hope you are all well and we “pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers” 3 John 1:2.

Transitioning

First – An Update On Our Visa Situation – Thank you to everyone who helped and prayed. We were granted a two year visa. South Africa’s new policy is that foreigners must be in the country legally for five years before they will grant them permanent residence. Our new visas will last us until November 2008, at which time we will need to apply for another two year visa. We will be able to apply for permanent residence in 2010.

As you may know, it has been a very eventful year for us. We moved to South Africa in January, which was new for us. God has been good and everything has been great since we arrived here, except for when the computer, cell phones and books were stolen. Other than that everything has been going as smoothly as we could expect, though we did not know what to expect.

Also, we apologize for being tardy with sending updates on how things are going. Moving to Africa and getting settled in to a new continent, country, home, culture, lifestyle, school, church, ministry, workplace and hemisphere takes a lot of time and energy. You should try it sometime, or at least make a visit!

For the first nine months in South Africa we stayed at a friend’s house and they also let us use their minivan. That made the transition much easier. In October we were able to rent a house on the same street as the seminary and church. We were also able to obtain a fifteen year old minivan, which makes walking to church and school very nice.

MINISTRY

The ministry is going well and God is working here. The seminary just graduated 16 students, all of them are in full time ministry. 27 new students were accepted for next year, making the total full time enrollment about 75. But, some of the new foreign applicants might not be able to get the required visas so there will probably be 22-25 new students when the school year starts on January 23rd.

This year Steve will be teaching Hermeneutics II, Theology II, Theology III, Theology IV, Biblical Counseling, Exposition of Romans, Exposition of the Pastoral Epistles, Expository Preaching IV, Homiletics Lab as well as a seminar on pastoral ministry. Pray for Steve.

Steve has also been volunteered to start up a journal for the seminary. It will contain articles dealing with theology, theological education and ministry in Africa. Let Steve know if you have an article or two to contribute. Pray hard for Steve.

The seminary is fully accredited. This means our degree is recognized around the world as a legitimate four year degree. This also means that Steve must start work on a PhD, on top of everything else he is doing. Steve is one of the main professors and the accreditation requires that someone in his position have a PhD, so he will be starting work on it early in 2007. Pray very hard for Steve.

Steve has also been preaching 1-2 times per month since arriving. Just last week he preached in a student’s church which was planted just January. The church meets in a tin shack in the middle of a slum, or an “informal settlement” as they are officially known here. The shack is 7 feet tall, 12 feet wide, 16 feet long and there were around 40 people crammed in. It was hot. They just put in a cement floor last week. The tin walls are wallpapered with furniture store advertisements. But, the people are very friendly and they loudly sing out and the worship is great. They are baptizing 5 people on Christmas. In the next few months we will be visiting a few more of the student’s churches.

FAMILY

Karen has been instrumental in starting a new book ministry for the seminary wives and she has been involved in teaching seminars for the wives. She has also been busy home schooling the kids and settling into a new home and country. Pray harder for Karen.

Stephen is 16 and almost as tall as dad (6’4”). He has a blog and pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about him can be found on it. He is an excellent writer. Click on the “El Kid” link to the right.

Timothy is 15, he is also almost as tall as dad and he also has a blog where he talks about things that interest him. Timothy works out every day and wants to play quarterback in the NFL. His goal is to be 6’5” and 225 lbs. by the time he is 19 years old. Click on the “Timothy’s Blog” link tot he right.

Kimberly is going to be 14 in February and is almost as tall as mom (5’10”) and you can see what she is like by visiting her blog. She has the most loyal readers on her blog and it is easy to see why when you read her posts. Click on the “Kimblog” link to the right.

All the kids’ blogs are very popular, even more popular than mine, which is a source of consternitation for me a glee for the kids.

Catherine is 7 and she loves to swim and do all kinds of art. She is an artsy girl. She paints and draws all the time, every day. She thinks and expresses herself in designs and colors, “I feel kind of light-greenish on the inside today.”

Michael is 5 and loves to swim and wrestle and wants to play golf. He loves people and is a natural charmer and all around nice guy. He gets lots of attention from people of all ages. Pray for the kids too.

LIVING IN AFRICA

South Africa is the most developed country on the continent, but this is Africa. We live in Polokwane, a rapidly growing rural farming and mining town of around 80,000. There are extremes of everything here. People on the edge of town live in tin shacks, but the starting price for a home in one of the biggest housing developments in town is around 300,000 U.S. dollars. Most people walk or ride the bus, but we have seen brand new Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Porsches and every other expensive make of car in town.

Crime in the country is extremely high and the police usually don’t come when you call them. The traffic police don’t stop anyone for speeding or running red lights.

We live in a normal neighborhood, much like an average neighborhood in the U.S. But, imagine a normal neighborhood placed in the middle of the worst crime ridden area of any major city in the U.S. Everyone has fences and gates and guard dogs. All the houses are made of brick because African termites eat every stick of wood that is not growing.

A couple of weeks ago a family of warthogs crossed the street in front of our house. We live about a quarter mile from church and we do not let Stephen, Timothy and Kimberly walk home after dark. We don’t even let Kimberly walk to church by herself during the day.

The food is different. There is a bigger selection of meat at a much cheaper price than in the U.S., but many things in the store are not available in the U.S. and many things in the U.S. are not available here.

The country is beautiful. The weather here is great, much like Los Angeles, only colder in the winter and there is no heat in the houses. We have been to a couple of game parks and have seen elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, cape buffalo, giraffe, hippo, crocodile and dozens of different kinds of antelope. We live in a malaria free area so when you come and visit you don’t need any shots.

Visit our web site, www. plodinec.com, see the link on the right.

Go to church on Christmas, and don’t let it be the only time this year. You need to hear about the birth of the only Savior. Go to church next week too. And the week after that. Go every week this year and for the rest of your life. Even go when you are on vacation. And pick up a Bible and start reading it, begin with the Gospel of John.

Sorry to be so pushy about church and Jesus and the Bible, but life is short. The years are moving on. Make the most of the time for there is so much to do. What are you spending your life on anyway?

And come visit us too. Yes, it is a long way, but we have already had people visit us from the U.S. and two churches we know will be coming out in the next year or two to do some short term ministry.

Contact us and let know how you are doing, we would love to hear from you.

Remember us in Africa!

The Plodinec family; Steve, Karen, Stephen, Timothy, Kimberly, Catherine & Michael.

“I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” Acts 20:32.

www.churchsigngenerator.com

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