Hello everyone.
I just wanted to send an update on the 1yr anniversary since our 1st official 5 Lights trip.
In the past year our team has been able to make 3 trips to South Africa and narrow the areas we feel lead to serve in to 2 communities- Mashishimale and Mamitwa.
God has been so good about making the choices so clear for us with the people, situations and grace really just placed right in front of all of the team.
We are all so ready and excited to finally make the transition (move) from the USA to South Africa, but we still have just a couple of items to finish before we are able to launch full time into this ministry.
The 501c3-nonprofit information should be back to us before Christmas to let us know if we are our own nonprofit or if additional information is needed. We are so thankful to our oversight GRG (Growth Recourse Group) for handling all of our nonprofit and tax deductible needs until we are able to stand fully by ourselves. Without their help and covering, the last year would not have been possible.
Once the status of the nonprofit is settled the last process stateside with the governments will be the Visas for all 16 of us. We are praying this will only take 10 to 12 weeks to complete.
If all goes well we are praying we can be on planes between April and June of 2019. It just sometimes seems as if we are never going to get to that point. Its all in Gods timing but i promise that both as a team and individually, we keep putting one foot in front of the other. We have yet to shrink back and our passion and resolve is stronger than ever to be obedient and mindful about what God has called us to do.
As we move through the next few months, we are going to be shifting into fund raising as families and as a ministry. Each have monthly budgets that have predetermined needs that really should be 85% funded before we leave. This will let us be prudent and most effective to the people and areas we are serving in.
And so many of you should be hearing from us with the specifics over the next few weeks. One of our specific (non monthly) costs is a ministry vehicle. We have raised approx 12,000 of the 22,000 we have budgeted for this van/SUV. We believe we can get transportation that will hold upto 8 people and also be able to tow a trailer. This will allow us to move the team, volunteers and materials around in a fairly clear and effective manner.
Going into giving Tuesday and the Holiday season, we are hoping to raise the last portion of these funds by Christmas.
My request is that you pray and consider being a partner with us and 5 Lights during this period of our real beginning. We have a couple of ways to give to 5 Lights
1st - Mail check - Five Lights Ministry - 1100 W. Brown St., Wylie 75098
2nd - 0nline at - https://grg.ccbchurch.com/goto/giving - and select 5 Lights in drop down.
Thank you all and God Bless
We will never solve the worlds problems but we will make a difference one person at a time.
Blessings
Scott Snow
Co-Founder
5lightsministry
Serving as the hands and feet of Jesus to equip and empower. This is the mission statement that God wrote on our hearts as our team prayed for direction for our ministry two years ago.
Five Lights as a team began to take shape in 2015 when Scott and I traveled to Thailand on a mission trip. But before the “team” came together there were 4 years for Scott and Danielle that were exciting, frustrating, and downright confusing. The dream was put into their hearts in March of 2011 during and after the first mission trip Scott had taken to South Africa. When God gave him this vision, the “when” and “how” weren’t made clear just yet. As time went on, they faced many new life challenges. They helped a nephew get through high school, a niece walk through a battle with cancer and a daughter get into college, all the while raising a total of 7 children. Over this time they began to question the dream and vision placed into them. These were their “Wilderness Years”. They were a time of perseverance, seeking God’s truths and more than anything else a time of preparation and patience. But they didn’t just sit and do nothing during those years. They worked in ways they were able to from where they were at to do anything they could to help with missions. They were able to start an Outreach feeding program to help organizations that were already working in the mission field to raise funds to provide meals to children. They were also able to take many trips to be a part of other organizations and were able to learn more about what full time mission work really looked like.
It wasn’t until Scott went on that mission trip to Thailand in 2015 that everything started to come together and God began to show them what he was doing and wanted to do with this dream. He and Danielle were never meant to do this alone. God wanted a TEAM. God wanted more than that though; He wanted the Keefer’s and the Young’s and the Thabethe’s. He wanted FIVE LIGHTS.
On that same Thailand trip, God showed me through the missionaries and their children that we worked with there that He wanted ME to go out into the world with MY family to care for His children. I had no idea what that was supposed to look like though. I only knew God gave me a new dream. And it was terrifying.
A few months before that trip, my husband Shaun had done his first mission trip to South Africa. From the time he arrived home, he knew that God had given him a new dream and purpose. I wasn’t ready for it at the time though. I mean, I was comfortable. We were living safe, financially stable, and well established in our friendships and church community. We were “living the dream”...
But God had bigger plans. Over the next 2-3 months, He changed my mind and my heart. Shaun and I knew of Scott’s dreams to live and serve in South Africa, and I came to realize that God was bringing our two families together to make those dreams happen. Because they’re actually God’s dreams, not just ours. He wove our families together and brought us all close in ways that only He can.
A few months after that, God brought Chris and Leslie into our team. They had both known since before they met or were married that they wanted to be missionaries. Like the rest of us though, they had no idea what that would look like. They only knew God had given them a dream. God then took them on a journey across the country for Chris’s job. Eventually, he brought them back to Wylie where they began attending New Hope Church. Then, He brought them to us. Chris and Leslie began attending the life group that Shaun and I were leading out of our home. We knew immediately that they belonged there and that God had meant for them to be there. I can only describe the feeling God gave me the first day they came as “Yes. This is who you were waiting for. They’re supposed to be here. This is who you need.”
The first day they attended, Chris shared with us that they had recently learned that he had cancer. In the same moment of confirmation, we were given this news that we may already lose them. Never before that had my heart so quickly been torn over friends I had only just met. Our life group walked alongside during their family’s battle with cancer and joined them in battle through prayer. They were never alone in that fight and neither were we. God had dreams to fulfill. He was NOT going to let the enemy win. Chris received his last Chemo treatment on August 22, 2014. He has been in remission ever since. Glory to our awesome God!!
While they attended our life group, they were able to see Shaun and I experience short term mission work and hear our testimonies and experiences from it. We also shared our plans to make the big move to doing it full time. They knew that they wanted to pursue the same things as a family and live out the dream God had given to both of them, and so they asked to join our team. We were completely floored! It just showed us even more how God had been working all along to build this team.
Meanwhile over in South Africa, a young couple with big God dreams to serve and empower their own community had been forming a relationship and close friendship with Scott. That young couple happens to be Sifiso and Gugu Thabethe. And God showed us that He had done His amazing work once again.
Some people would say that it all just kind of fell perfectly together, but all we can see in it is His divine design. In a thousand tiny moments and a million small and perfectly timed experiences, He brought us all together and gave us all this dream. His dream.
OUR purpose and plan for this most recent trip was to work at building relationships in the church and community of Mashishimale, and to look at homes for our families so we could get a better idea of what we need and where exactly we will live. God’s plan for this trip was so much more. It always is. On this trip he gave us new beautiful friendships. He gave us even greater purpose. He gave us more unity as a team. And he gave us even more DREAMS.
The Full Gospel Church in Mashishimale, the Crèche operating out of the church and the people we have met in the community of Mashishimale have shown us exactly what our ministry and mission will “look like”. We don’t need to wonder anymore. It will look like a community of beautiful, hard working, humble, God-loving people working to do whatever they can to build up their community and build The Kingdom. And it will look like our team stepping up alongside that community to serve, equip and empower them in any way that God gives us dreams to do it.
One tiny moment. One handshake. A bag of cement. A pile of plaster. A wheelbarrow. Spending time with a teacher and her sweet children. Days spent encouraging a new friend in need of prayer and encouragement. It will happen one day at a time. One act of love and service at a time. One dream at a time.
And in a thousand tiny moments and a million small and divinely timed experiences God will weave it all together, just the way He has done with our 5 Lights team.
As a team, we can no longer be satisfied with just “living the dream”. God has given us a new dream. He has shown us the “Where” and the “Who”. He has shown us HIS dream. And we’re ready to go and live it. We’re All In.
Are you ready to join us?
-Andrea
Hello family and friends
Here is the full update of our 2nd official Five Lights Ministry trip to South Africa. I need to start by saying how completely blown away we were with the amount of people that prayed for us and supported us on this trip. This is just more confirmation for us that this is what we’re supposed to be doing. Because of your generosity we’re at 12% of our launch goal!! We are so grateful for each and every one of you.
This trip was originally supposed to include Scott, his son Jed, Chris, Sifiso and myself. Unfortunately due to passport issues Jed was unable to join us. This was difficult for all of us but we know it just wasn’t a part of God’s plan for this trip. Jed took it amazingly well and he’s hoping to be able to make it out for our next trip.
Saturday we made it to White River where we stayed for the first two nights. Scott had the privilege of preaching on Sunday at two different churches, one in Mbonsweni and one in Masoyi. Both churches are a part of the Evangelical Reformed Church. It was great to see old friends and meet new ones.
On Monday we picked up Sifiso and headed to Phalaborwa. Sifiso and his wife Gugu along with their two children have joined our Five Lights team. It was an honor being able to spend time with Sifiso. He’s truly a man of God and we can’t wait to introduce him and his wife to everyone!
Monday afternoon we met with Pastor Jackie and two of his associate pastors at the Full Gospel church in Namakgale. We spent the rest of the afternoon with them just talking about their dreams, our dreams, and some practical things they are in need of. We all loaded up and drove to the Full Gospel church in Mashishimale. This was one of the locations we had previously narrowed down to serve in. A few months ago when Scott and Danielle visited this church there were approximately 25 kids in the crèche (daycare) there. Due to some issues with the dirt floor in the church only 4 children remained. The parents of the other children pulled them from the crèche. It was at that moment that we believe God was telling us that we needed to help pour a solid foundation for this church. This was meaningful to us for many reasons. We really feel that we need to build a solid foundation for our ministry with a local church. In this instance we were literally and figuratively building a solid foundation with this church. Pastor Jackie and his associate pastors were all on board with the plan.
The next day we travelled to Nwamitwa to meet with Pastor George. We introduced you all to Pastor George in the last update. He has been pastoring an Evangelical Reformed Church for over 10 years. He’s had no outside help during this time. Pastor George was kind enough to take off from work to meet with us. We all pulled up chairs and sat in a circle and talked for many hours. It was such a great experience. Pastor George opened up about the needs of their community. We also had an in depth talk about race for several hours. It was such an amazing experience and we really hope to be able to meet with Pastor George many more times once we move. We just want him to know that we love him and we’re here with him on this journey called life. We’re all stronger together.
After meeting with Pastor George we headed to Matupa to meet with Pastor Ndala and Porshe with God Reigns International Church. Unfortunately we weren’t able to meet with the pastor of the church, Porshe’s husband as he had to work. We sat and talked with Porshe for a while. It was so humbling listening to her share about their needs in the community. She’s a full time teacher but still comes to the church every afternoon to hold bible studies, worship and provide a safe place for the children in the community.
The next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we worked on prepping the floor of the church in Mashishimale to get it ready for concrete. We must have filled the church with at least 100 wheel barrows full of dirt to even out the ground. We also sprayed the dirt for termites and worked until dark each night. In addition to prepping the floor we were able to help the Pastor repair their water line. They had been without water for 6 months. It was a wonderful feeling being able to help with such a huge need like that. These days were hard work but definitely worth it. We were able to connect with church members and members of the community. The women of the crèche and the church also made us lunch every day. It was so humbling. We even tried Mopani worms!!
One of the biggest highlights of these three days was meeting with Pastor Darius and the church board. We all sat in a circle and talked about who 5 Lights is and our mission. We explained to them that we’re there to serve them. By the end of the meeting the church board was all smiles. They were so accepting and happy for us to be there working with them. We really feel called to work with this church.
After meeting with the church board, we met with the tribal chief of the community. This community is part municipality and part tribal. It was great meeting with the chief. He was also incredibly accepting and welcoming. He told us that if we ever needed anything to let him know and he’d take care of us. This is a huge deal for our team moving forward.
We spent the next two days at Kruger National Park enjoying the breathtaking landscapes and wildlife of South Africa. We were able to relax and get to know Sifiso more during this time. I truly enjoyed it.
After the two days we spent in Kruger we headed back to Mashishimale to start the work of mixing and pouring concrete. When we arrived at the church we discovered that the men of the church (there are only about 4 of them) had spent their entire day Sunday removing all of the large rocks from the stage area and then filling it with dirt so that we could pour the concrete. This hit me really hard personally. To see the men of the church come together when we weren’t there and put in this much work and effort to help us shows me that they’re willing to put in the work themselves and not just let us come in and do it for them. It was so amazing.
We spent the next 3 days mixing and pouring concrete. We hired a few day laborers to help us. We also had at least 7 men in the community show up to help us at different times. This means a lot to me considering there are only 4 men that attend this church. It shows me that the community wants us there and they’re willing to put in the work.
We were able to build new relationships on this trip that I truly believe will last a lifetime. The best part of this whole trip to me was the fact that two of the day laborers committed to go to church. This could change the trajectory of their lives and their family’s lives. At the end of the day that’s what it’s all about for us. If just one person could come to know Christ, then everything we are doing is worth it.
There has been a lot of confirmation on trip. God has showed us where we’re supposed to be, who we’re supposed to serve and how we’re supposed to serve. As we continue to prepare for this journey we ask that you keep us in your prayers. Moving our families across the world to serve God is a big step and we have a lot that we need to accomplish before we can move. The enemy isn’t happy and wants to stop us. The good news is that the enemy is powerless. We’re continuing to lean in to what God has for us and ask that you continue to pray for us and with us.
Serving in His name
The Five Lights Team