2nd Annual Tsonga Missions Conference

By Seth Meyers - serving the Tsonga in South Africa

Meeting For Missions

“Kereke leyi nga phasiki, yi lava ku phasiwa,” said Alpheus Nyalungu at yesterday’s mission conference. “A church that does not evangelize needs to be evangelized.” In all of my years among this people group, I have never met a Tsonga who had either sent or was sent by Tsongas to learn a language and plant churches. 

To correct this Great Omission, about 50 Tsongas met last year on 16 June, Youth Day in South Africa. Yesterday, around 100 met for the same purpose. May this become a habit until the church walls are decorated with the pictures of Tsonga missionaries sent out from each of the churchplants. Could the day be near when these believers send a man on his way in a manner worthy of God? 

Prayer for missions

We started with some lively singing before a biography of David Jones who took the gospel to Madagascar. That was followed by a 15-minute presentation of the Shona people including bookmarks with Biblical prayers for missions. Then we broke into groups for 15-minutes of prayer. 

That session was followed by similar sessions on the people groups speaking Tsonga, Venda, and Yao. After each brief presentation, prayer groups met and tried to intercede again. These groups stirred my heart though I have no pictures of the 20 or so little clusters spread around the premises. Has such a group of Tsonga Christians ever spent time praying for their own people group and others near them? 

Indeed, on the way home, two women who have not yet been baptized told me that the prayer times surprised them because they could see the difference between this “way of doing church” and the other kinds of churches. The people did not shout over each other at the same time. The prayers were not vague, positive repetitions, but requests straight from Scripture. Perhaps most importantly, the prayers were expressions of a heavenly species of love since we were praying for conversions of our own people and languages near to us rather than for jobs or healing.

After a young man read “The Cry of the Blood” by Amy Carmichael, we listened to a sermon on Acts 13:1-3, “Four Necessary Marks in a Church that Will Send Missionaries.” 

Pray the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers from among the Tsonga churches

Visitors

So far in 2025, we had seen no fruit from our evangelistic efforts this year. Having given about 50 Bibles this year in 11 different places, no serious inquirers have turned up. Until 2 weeks ago, when 4 women began attending the Bungeni churchplant. At the missions conference, they listened, sang, and prayed with all of us. On the way home, one of the women said to me, “I am not saved. I am not a Christian. I had thought I was for all these years, but I now know that I have been lost.” Please pray for Tintswalo (Grace) to lay hold of eternal life. 

On 29 June, Lucy Maceke and Mhana Chabalala are planning to give their testimonies before being dipped in water. These two women received their Bibles in 2022, and have been faithful since. A few weeks ago just before I preached, Lucy (50?) raised her hand and said, “I cannot doubt anymore. I need to say that Christ has saved me. I have been waiting too long.” 

Lord-willing, the new visitors from Bungeni along with another 6 or 7 will watch their baptisms in Makhasa. Please pray that the men at Makhasa (2) and all the Tsonga men (9) and pastors (4) will be filled with the Spirit and wisdom to lead the churchplants. 

A Church Outside the Kingdom

The most important things are most often least known. Mugove and Sheila Kamutimbe living in Harare, Zimbabwe have led two women to Christ, and Sunday they began afternoon services in Shona with a handful of adults and children in their subdivision called “The Kingdom Outside” or “Ushewokundze.” 

For a brief week, we traveled through Zimbabwe and spoke with 6 faithful pastors of small churches. The world thinks much of the United Nations, but angels were more interested in seeing the multifaceted wisdom of God on display with those few, poor believers. Do ask God to increase their faith and give them skill to pull others out of the fire. 

Taken from Seth & Amy Meyers' Prayer Letter

Pray for Seth & Amy Meyers as they make disciples and plant missionary sending churches among the Tsonga people in rural South Africa.