Transitions and Thanksgivings

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,

    to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

to declare your steadfast love in the morning,

    and your faithfulness by night,

Psalm 92:1-2

Greetings dear friends. It has been far too long since I (Alex) have written an update. As most of you are aware, I started doing Facebook Live posts last year when Joshua was in the hospital, and it has been challenging for me to get into the right headspace to sit down and write something since then. Thankfully, Bethany does a great job of providing periodic snapshots of what is going on in our world, but we both agreed that I needed to write this update.

It is hard to believe that by God's grace we have been in South Africa for five months already. It has been a very full five months, which you can read about in some of Bethany’s previous updates, but we have so much for which to be thankful.

One big ministry highlight from the last month or so is that we officially joined Life Fellowship Church. Gathering together with our Life Fellowship Church family is undoubtedly one of the greatest joys of being here in George and we look forward to serving and serving alongside this body for as long as the Lord sees fit. I have had the opportunity to preach several times since we arrived and look forward to sharing the preaching load with Pastor Troy as we map out our ongoing study of Romans (feel free to follow along with our study here). Another ministry highlight is that we assumed leadership of the young adults ministry, though we are grateful that Pastor Troy and his wife Danielle remain involved. We are humbled by this opportunity and grateful the Lord and others were willing to entrust this ministry to our care.

Another big highlight from the last month is that we were able to move into our newly renovated home. By God’s grace and through His extraordinary provision, we were blessed with a personal loan from the US that allowed us to purchase a home rather than face the challenges of a high-demand rental market. Between the loan and some of our transition funds, which are also a testimony to God’s grace and provision, we were able to purchase the home and complete the renovations within our budget. We are still settling in and getting unpacked, but we are so grateful for the opportunity to not only settle into a space of our own after four plus years of limbo, but to open up our space to the ministry opportunities that the Lord will bring.

One final highlight I want to share goes beyond the last month, but we are finally at a point where we can share a big ministry announcement. To provide a little context, in February 2012, Bethany and I were commissioned and sent out to serve the Lord overseas by our sending church, Calvary Baptist Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. In addition to providing local church accountability and support, Calvary also provided the financial services of a missions agency for us, along with a couple handfuls of other missionaries. Shortly before we made our transition to South Africa, Calvary informed all of us that they no longer felt equipped to serve us, and others on the field, in this capacity and encouraged us to begin investigating other options. To be clear, Calvary has expressed and confirmed their ongoing commitment to supporting all of us and to even maintain their status as our sending church. We are indebted to and deeply grateful for the ministry and services of Calvary Baptist Church (and the seminary where I received my theological education), and we look forward to continuing this relationship.

Because this decision impacted two other families on our ministry team here in South Africa, we collaborated with one another and investigated several options. Through the efforts of one teammate in particular, we narrowed the decision down to two. While one of these options would have provided a much simpler transition, we were blessed by the approach and intentional care of the other. After prayer and consideration, we all decided to pursue a partnership in ministry with a missions organization called GoSendMe Global (you can check them out for yourself here: https://gosendmeglobal.org). The interview and on-boarding process has been extensive and challenging while juggling ongoing ministry opportunities and the aforementioned move; however, after spending the last week with the director (though he prefers the title of steward…praise the Lord) of GSM, who flew here to spend the week with all of us to get to know us in person and to complete candidate orientation, I am confident about and encouraged by the Lord’s leading.

If you have made it this far in the update, thank you for stewarding your time to hear about how the Lord has been leading in our lives. We will provide more specific information and details soon if you already partner with us through financial support, but we are praying that the Lord will lead some new partners to join us in the work He is doing here in South Africa (many through prayer, some through giving, and Lord-willing even some through in-person visits). GSM has challenged us to pray for and build a team of prayer partners who will commit to pray for us daily. Thank you to those who have already responded to Bethany’s previous post along these lines, we could still use a few more who are committed to pray daily/regularly for us! If you would be willing to make this commitment or have questions about what this might look like, please respond to this post or send us a message. If you have other questions or would like more information about our needs, please don’t hesitate to reach out as well.

I promise to write again soon as there is more to share about our new missions partnership, as well as several exciting ministry projects that are on the horizon. We are humbled that the Lord has called us to serve Him here in South Africa and grateful for the way He has used so many of you to get us here.

We are thankful for a visit from our friend Rachel who lives in Cape Town, but we knew from Asia. She helped keep the boys stable during our training week.

On Thursday we took a drive with Rachel and Rob, from Go Send me Global, to show off the mountains and the city of George in the background.

Breathtaking!

God's Faithfulness

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Good morning from George, South Africa! It is currently 67 degrees Fahrenheit and I (Bethany) can’t possibly remember that it is the end of October!

Last week an American friend invited us to join them for Thanksgiving, it made me take a pause because in mind it feels like June. Getting used to living in a different hemisphere is no small challenge.

A few weeks back, the kids from church sang and old favorite hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness (if you’d like to see a video let me know). Those words again echoed in my heart this morning as we listened through Laminations 3 in our family Bible time over breakfast. When the chapter was finished I asked the boys what were some reminders of God’s faithfulness to our family. Joshua quickly said, “Sitting in this living room.” Hallelujah that is so true! Right now I’m writing this at the kitchen table, one that once belonged to a faithful sister in Christ here, and I’m listening to the boys play ball in the back yard, while Alex is out at music practice for church tomorrow. 

God’s faithfulness to our family is evident in so very many ways. On October 18, 2024 we moved into the home God provided for our family after 4+ years of living in limbo. We’ve spent the last week unpacking and figuring out how things work. There was one day when there were four different appointments going on at one time, plus the boys doing school. We are still spinning a bit, but things are slowly coming into place. Good thing too, because ministry life picks back up next week. 

We are blessed to be able to begin hosing Young Adults at our home on Tuesday night, please be praying with us that this home will be a place of peace and rest and learning for all who enter it.

Alex is preparing to preach on Sunday November 3 and 10, please be praying for him to be able to protect the time needed to prepare his heart and mind for sharing God’s Word with us.

On Sunday November 3 a friend who had been in our original Group in Asia is flying in from Cape Town, where she is now settled after also being displaced. She will be staying with us all week to help keep the boys on track with school and settled while we and some others from our team here participate in some on the field training, more about that in a few weeks. We are so thankful that she can come and serve our family in this way. It is a  blessing to my heart to know the boys will not have to bounce around that week, but can continue to create some routine here at home. The family of God all round the globe is such a blessing!

Looking ahead, over the next month I’ll be reaching out about gathering friends who are willing to commit to pray for our regularly. We know many of you do, but we’ve been challenged to have at least 100 folks who we know are praying for us daily/regularly. This is a challenge we want to take seriously! If you’d like to be a part of that grouping please let me know! 

Healthwise, Joshua will again have scans mid November, please keep those in prayer. 

Lastly, if you are reading this, please know that you are an evidence of God’s faithfulness to our family. These last years have been hard in ways many of you can relate to, and we know, as do you, that the only way we’ve made it through was because of God’s great faithfulness to us. 

Thank you for praying with us through displacement, uncertainty, loss of loved ones, unstable health, packing up life on two continents, moving to another continent and culture, car and home purchases, and settling into new ministry. We also know that many of you are still facing some challenges and we want to encourage you to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but to acknowledge Him, He WILL make your path clear (Proverbs 3:5-6). Humbly, we are living proof of that! Amen and Amen, to God be the Glory now and forever! 

Thank you for your support through this, we know more challenges will come, that is what living in a sin filled world brings, but with those challenges bring such growth in our walk with the Lord and our testimony of the Gospel to ourselves and those watching!

I will end with the words to the song mentioned at the beginning:

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

there is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;

as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:

great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest;

sun, moon, and stars in their courses above

join with all nature in manifold witness

to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 

[Refrain]

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

[Refrain]

How is it almost October?

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:9-10

Good day friends, please know our prayers go out to those of you in the states hit hard by the recent storms. We know that many of you who pray for us regularly are among those who have faced much damage. We are regularly praying for you guys.

Thank you for those of you who have reached out to us over the last month or two. I've put some updates on our mission group page on facebook, Tandons On Mission (you should be able to click the link to join the group, but it expires in two days). Updates there are a bit quicker, but we know not all of you access that. Please text or email us anytime to check in!

I honestly don't remember much of August, we worked hard on paperwork and renovation details on the house, the boys did school, Alex studied, it's a blur. We knew heading into it, that September would also be filled with much. At one point in the month we were watching a training video and it was about boundaries. It was pretty spot on for our busy month. God is good and sustained us and gave many opportunities for ministry and family fun along the way. 

• Alex preached twice during September - click the following links to view the messages on youtube Romans 4:1-12 and Romans 4:13-25

• We hosted Young Adults a few times

• The boys worked hard at school, and also got a lighter week last week as kids here had a break. They played with friends and one day we took a Game Drive. Caleb took the picture of the giraffe!

  
  

  

  
  
  
  

  

  
  

• Flooring went in and painting took place at the house, they say just about two more weeks and we can move in. Praying to that end!

• The month wrapped up with a much anticipated church work day at the future site of Foundations Theological Institute, a one year gap year program starting up, Lord willing in February for recent high school graduates.

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  
  
  

Thank you all for praying for us! We are so blessed to be here and being able to be so active in the work of the Gospel in this area. I hope to soon be able to sit down and do a more proper update, but this will need to be it for now.

Please be praying as we head into October and let us know how we can be praying for you!