It's a new season...

Hi Friends,

This is to inform you, all our prayer partners and supporters that we have officially handed over the work to fellow workers in Christ; namely YWAM and an NPO known as Capricorn Park Community Church. Lydia and I are on the board of CPCC, serving in an advisory capacity. I have recently been appointed as a supervisor of a homeless shelter for the elderly, called "St. Monica's Center." Lydia will seek employment as a cook when her work visa arrives. Our decision was made prayerfully because financially, we as a family were taking heavy strain and do understand that the economic crisis all over the world has left people with no option but to tight their purse strings. Capricorn however, will always be dear to our hearts and we will always have close contact with the people there. We have decided to fellowship at the Capricorn Church in the Living Hope building in order to maintain contact with the kids and wish to have monthly outings with them. God is faithful and He will always finish a good work He started.

We do however want you to know that any funds or donations can be channeled through us to the work in Capricorn. Just email us at to what you would like your donations to go to. We will also get reports from those who are working there and we will keep you updated on the progress in Capricorn.

In conclusion we would like to thank you for your support and we look forward to hearing from you as we continue together in serving the King of Kings, namely our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you and may His face continue to shine upon you.

Lots of love,

Lydia and Clinton

Clinton and Jonathan took some of the boys to a local pool.

Canadian Jonathan Grime leads worship during the Wednesday bible study at the tavern.

Some of the Youth With a Mission students help out regularly every week and have fun with the kids.

After the Holidays...

We resumed our Bible studies on Monday the 18 January 2010 at our normal venue and it was pretty well attended considering it was our first one in the new year. The rest of the week went well but the highlight of the week was the Bible study we had on Wednesday at the tavern. We had a packed house and it was filled with people who frequent the tavern and most of them had decided not to drink in order to be sober for the study. Now for the past three weeks we have had a packed Bible study on a wednesday with many of the attendees wanting to change their lives and constantly asking for prayer. One gentleman in particular by the name of Abraham seemed very determined to make a change. Jonathan a YWAM volunteer from Canada has also been a great asset in our ministry as he helps with the leading of two of the four bible studies in the morning and also provides the worship by playing his guitar. We have also resumed the teen Bible studies with Lydia’s group of now five or six girls, and Jonathan and Clinton’s group of ten boys. The boys group had their first outing for the year at a nearby pool one Saturday, with Jonathan supplying the snacks. We are currently running the teen groups twice a week but we have a feeling we will have to change it to once a week because the kids have school and other church obligations to consider. Our deepest concern right now is that we might have to cancel a few bible studies in the morning because of our financial constraints and Lydia and Clinton are now both seeking jobs. But we do believe that this is for a season and God will ultimately make a way for us to continue. We have also developed a brochure that we will distribute among the more affluent communities in the hope of drawing support from there. This however is not for our personal support but more to assist us to help the community with their needs. We now are also involved in a soup kitchen which was started by the Living Fountain Church but they do not have the manpower or the finances to sustain this. Clinton has also started a soccer team for young boys which had their first practice on Tuesday the 2 February attended by about 40 kids! Soccer is a huge evangelistic tool in this community and with the World Cup coming to South Africa this year, it could prove to be another facet of ministry that we could use to grow God’s kingdom.

Ministry Needs

Bibles, preferably NIV
Food for six Bible studies
School stationary and uniforms
Soccer equipment- soccer balls, t-shirts and shorts, soccer boots
Traveling costs to and from soccer matches
Outings for the teen bible studies once a month
A summer camp this December
Clothing and blankets for the coming winter
Vehicle to help us get to and from Capricorn and also take kids to school

Personal Needs

Prayer
Personal Support

In Conclusion:

We would like to thank all our supporters whether it be in prayer or finances, you are highly appreciated and without your help it will be extremely difficult to continue the work we were asked to do for our God. May God bless you abundantly and may his face continue to shine upon you.

Yours in Christ and lots of love,

Clinton and Lydia

This blog is dedicated to the ministry news of the Capricorn Project, the work being done in the township of Capricorn, Cape Town South Africa. This project is a merger of the work of several different full-time missionaries to the community and many part time volunteers. Clinton Losper, who has provided longtime pastoral care to the community through the ministry of Living Hope, Capricorn Church, and his own personal ministry has been the facilitator of this work. YWAM missionaries Joseph and Renee Horevay who came here in August 2009 to plant churches in the community got the vision to stay long-term and pray for 105 churches to begin the community transformation. Lydia Losper also came with the YWAM team and is now married to Clinton and dedicated full time to the ministry especially with the youth and young adults. Many YWAM students have been helping and volunteering with them in the community, as well as another missions group, the Foxfire team who are from African enterprises.

THE DEMOGRAPHICS

Capricorn (including Overcome Heights) is a township that has evolved over the last two decades from an informal settlement to a bustling community with paved streets, potable water, sanitation, electricity and basic municipal services. The community consists of 20,000 persons primarily Afrikaans speaking coloreds along with a mix of other South African tribal groups and a variety of immigrants from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and the Congo. English is nearly universally spoken as a second language. HIV/AIDS infection rate is at 37%, tuberculosis tracks a similar percentage. Unemployment is at 85%. Drug abuse abounds, especially tik (meth-amphetamine) as does alcoholism. Poverty characterizes the community. Many children go to bed hungry. The streets are litter-filled. Most housing is shacks.
SPIRITUAL LIFE
Eight evangelical Christian churches with attendance between 50 and 150 persons are the sole gospel witness to the thousands in Capricorn . The total church attending population is estimated at 600 persons, (3% of the population) including those that attend away from the community. The evangelical faith is somewhat familiar to the population. One church, planted by two white suburban baptist churches in 2008 operates at the entrance of Capricorn with a suburban church model and is led by a student/seminarian intern. It is overseen by a steering committee from the sponsoring churches. It appears to draw approximately 80 people from the community. At the opposite end of Capricorn is the largest, an Assembly of God. It appears to draw 150 people and operates a breakfast program for 250 school children. The Capricorn project operates five adult Bible studies with an attendance of 40 persons. There is a Malawian church of 100 that caters to that refugee community. The Galilean Gospel Mission has 50 persons. The Church of the Nazarene in Overcome Heights has 100 in attendance. The Vrygond (Free Ground) Evangelical Church has 150 persons. These churches seem to have little interaction. Near Capricorn is a sizable and vital church called Bay Community Church. It is a white suburban congregation that does have a small cell group in Capricorn. It does not have a comprehensive outreach program into that community, nor do many Capricorn residents attend. There is a mosque in Capricorn as well.

HOW THE PROJECT CAME TOGETHER
Clinton Losper, age 38 is a brother who has worked in Capricorn with a NGO for four years. He had in July 2009 transitioned from leadership in one of the local churches and was desiring to minister pastorally and evangelistically to Capricorn. He is widely known and respected in the township. Clinton is a providential key to this community as he has no agenda other then seeing the Kingdom of God manifest in Capricorn. As Clinton says: “he works for the Kingdom of God.” In August Clinton met with Joseph, Renee, Lydia and others from a YWAM outreach team and they began planting the house church meetings.
It began with four bible studies having an attendance of 10 to 20 persons per meeting, not counting the YWAM outreach members. There initially have been prayers for salvation at the earliest meetings. Each meeting offers prayer for healing and personal needs. Participation is encouraged for answering study questions, reading the study text, prayer, testimonies and sharing spiritual insights including prophecies. Simple meals are commonly shared with leftovers sent home with the unemployed for their children. The Lord’s Supper (communion, eucharist) has been celebrated and water baptism by immersion offered. A vision for reaching Capricorn by planting Bible studies is actively communicated in the four studies. It is encouraging to see the community members getting actively involved, for example two older women who had been attending, Awne & Margaret had an all-night prayer-intercession meeting for God to reach all of Capricorn! The faith found in this community surpasses that of many more “well off” places.