JOY! Magazine July 2023

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have flocked to South Africa to escape economic hardship since the 1990s. The South African government has, since 2010, granted the migrants a special permit to live and work in the country. Its latest iteration is the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP). Now the government says the permit has run its course and wants to scrap it. This has sparked fears that the move will jeopardise the lives of the permit holders and their dependants. With the expiry of the special ZEP looming, many Zimbabweans in South Africa are now hastily returning to their homeland. In 2009, the South African government introduced the “Dispensation of Zimbabwe Permit (DZP)” for Zimbabweans who wanted to live and work here. At the time ± 245 000 DZPs were granted,…

Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to keep letters to 150 words as we have limited space. Gratitude Thank you so much for your great articles every month in JOY! Magazine. I look forward to what you write and it is always so uplifting for me. I read your magazine from my public library app in Nashville, Tennessee. What a blessing you all are to me. I pray for you all every night to continue the work you are doing to bring the Gospel to everyone everywhere. Thank you! Laura Youmans…

BIBLE FUN 1 CORINTHIANS 13 ABIDE ANGELS BEARS BESTOW BRASS CEASE CHILDISH CLANGINGCYMBALDIMLYFACEFAILFAITHGREATEST HOPELOVEMIRRORMOUNTAINSMYSTERIESPROPHECYPROVOKED REJOICERUDELYSOUNDINGTONGUESUNDERSTOODVANISH This word search was crafted by Theresa Denson Jones, a Cape Town-based author. Theresa has recently brought out her own fun book of Biblical word searches and multiple choice questions. If you would like to order a copy for only R90, email holyspiritinspirations@gmail.com Test your BIBLE KNOWLEDGE See how many of these you can fill in before checking the answers on page 35. After you test yourself, try reading the questions aloud to a friend or family member and see how they do! 1 Crafted by Aaron, the Israelites worshipped what idol while Moses was away? 2 What was the final wound to the dead body of Jesus on the cross? 3 In which town…

EVANGELISM We have just completed a landmark campaign, making history in mass evangelism. For the first time ever, Christ for all Nations (CfaN) conducted 11 mass evangelistic campaigns in 11 different cities and districts across the nation of Zambia simultaneously! These campaigns lasted five nights in each city for a total of 55 nights of massive evangelistic meetings in just two weeks. That’s 55 powerful meetings in 14 glory-filled days. During the initiative, which included a “Gospel Invasion” (in which evangelists, trained by CfaN, flooded the streets and schools) CfaN recorded over 2.6 million in attendance and 1 040 720 documented conversions. Hearts on fire for Jesus Each of the 11 cities had a pair of evangelists ministering in most of the meetings. These evangelists were graduates of the CfaN…

Email questions to: joyquestions@valwaldeck.com I am a born-again Bible-believing Christian and I enjoy fellowship with anybody who also believes the fundamental doctrines of the Bible. Why do some feel it is necessary to belong to a particular church or denomination? God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33) and always plans everything to the finest detail. The New Testament says much about “churches” in various cities and homes, hired halls, etc. This is the way the early believers understood worship. The Lord gave ministry gifts to assist His Church (Eph 4:11). Believers need to be under regular, consistent ministry by these leaders. Why join a particular group? Because the Word exhorts us to “obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your…

SERIES In my column last month, we were reminded to offer ourselves to God as a reasonable act of worship. This offer of true worship contrasts sharply with the next phrase we are to study in Romans 12: the charge to no longer conform to the pattern of the world. In so much of life, we are either worshipping God or conforming to the world. Inherited from our forefather Adam, we see the pattern of wanting to be our own god, in contrast to submitting our lives to Christ. From there we see a pattern of permissive sex without covenant, dressing without modesty, entertainment without decency, anxiety without trust, the pursuit of wealth without contentment, and the desire to be first without the desire to serve. As the rocker Alice…