Last month, you were introduced to the heartfelt missions work of Creflo Dollar-Ministries South Africa with Relationship-Focused Outreach in South Africa. Leilani Myburgh and Sharon Myles have worked together at CDM-South Africa for the past six years. Their team of six is small, but their impact is immense throughout the continent. The global COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted business as usual, but the love of Christ compelled them to continue their ministry outreach. Here’s what ministry outreach looks like for CDM-South Africa.
Sharon’s Story
“My heart has always been to work in an environment where God’s kingdom is extended. I understood that I belonged here, but I think the greatest thing that the Lord said to me was, ‘I will make you a watchman in My house.’ God called me to be a watchman on the wall and pray for Dr. Dollar’s ministry. CDM has impacted my life greatly. Dr. Dollar once said, ‘Come out of the things that are holding you back to see what God wants for you.’ Over the years, I have seen how this Word changed my heart. It has been a privilege to work for CDM-South Africa. I said, ‘Lord, here are the giftings and talents. You use them in your kingdom,’ as I understood that the secular world was not for me. I remember Pastor Taffi ministering at one of the [South African] churches and speaking of mentorship. This message and many other teachings from Dr. Dollar and Pastor Taffi have blessed my life.”
Partner Relations and Outreach
Nurturing partner relations at CDM-South Africa is essential. It allows them to speak to people every day, pray for them, and learn how the Word is changing them. “It is an honor to pray for partners. I love it. I love what I do because I see the impact every day!” said Sharon. CDM-South Africa continuously receives testimonies from partners about the results of prayers. For example, one couple tried to have children for five years and almost gave up. They prayed with CDM-South Africa and ultimately were blessed to become parents. “That makes you love being here in Creflo Dollar Ministries, because you see how the Word makes a difference in the lives of our partners,” said Sharon. The staff at CDM-South Africa loves seeing the Word make a difference in the lives of their partners and friends, and has birthed ongiong relationships with many.
The ministry has an extensive reach in South Africa and engages with other countries such as Kenya and Nigeria, daily. It now has social media pages for both countries. The ministry has also cultivated relationships within Zimbabwe and Ghana by reaching out to partners there to pray with them. CDM-South Africa prioritized ministering to partners and pastors in these countries daily during the COVID pandemic. “Many pastors appreciated that we called them for prayer because many were affected by COVID. Even some of their families struggled to get food,” said Leilani. The ministry began to impart to pastors through virtual meetings on Zoom, especially those in remote areas such as Zambia and Uganda. “We found that they were becoming too quiet during COVID, so we would get a facilitator and get all the pastors flocking together online to be ministered to and prayed for.”
In response to the looting South Africa experienced during the pandemic, the ministry partnered with a local organization to provide food packs for over 300 families. The shops in their areas were demolished by the looting and they had to travel long distances to get food, then wait in long lines when they got there. CDM-South Africa stepped up and put the packs together so that families wouldn’t have to travel so far.
The office received requests from elderly homes for fruit and vegetables to help keep the immune systems of their residents boosted. During the pandemic, they couldn’t enter these facilities to engage with residents since they were part of the most vulnerable population, but CDM-South Africa made an impact by dropping off food items and ministry materials for encouragement.
August is Women’s Month in South Africa, and CDM-South Africa distributed Pastor Taffi’s materials to women. One of Pastor Taffi’s Radical Woman slogans, “I Am Enough and I Am Victorious,” is being used as a powerful tool to help accelerate the ministry’s partnership with women’s groups in South Africa and neighboring countries.
Prayer
“Creflo Dollar Ministries invites you to call our office for prayer. Our prayer team is standing ready to agree with you.” CDM-South Africa typically receives around fifty calls per week for prayer requests, and every called missed is returned. The call volume soared to at least one hundred calls per day during the pandemic.
A construction company called and asked for CDM-South Africa to visit their headquarters and pray for the finances and their business in general. An engineering company heard about this visit and called to request prayer, as well. The company representative said, “I heard what you did at that construction company; please come and pray here, too, because we haven’t seen income for two months. We haven’t paid our employees for a while.” God honored these prayers. When others heard what was happening via word of mouth, the office began receiving prayer requests from unions, as well. “We’ve seen the hand of God helping us be the extension of His kingdom and of Dr. Dollar and Pastor Taffi’s mission and vision here in Africa,” said Sharon.
CDM-South Africa frequently reaches out to hospitals in their area, but couldn’t enter them during COVID because of restrictions. Just like the team began praying for police stations, they began praying with hospitals. At one hospital, the staff said, “We’re all under strain as medical staff, please call my neighbor hospital in the next street,” until they were praying for and with a number of hospitals. They really wanted to be effective and found a hospital that allowed them to pray via its speaker system. Everyone throughout the facility was able to hear the prayers and the team received great feedback from their outreach. They also conducted a prayer drive at a hospital, passing out Creflo Dollar’s study notes and CDs and praying for people by the hospital gates.
Many of the COVID restrictions have now been lifted, and CDM-South Africa can now visit hospitals wearing shields and masks. They’ve ministered to people in discharge lounges and given them bread, soup, and encouraging study materials. “Now, we can definitely pick up and make sure our relationships with the hospitals go from being virtual and restricted to full-grown relationships,” said Leilani.
The tenacity of CDM-South Africa proves that it only takes a few willing hearts committed to being the hands and feet of Jesus to make a difference in the lives of others. It would have been easy to shut down and retreat into the pandemic; instead, this team became a front-runner in providing a glimmer of hope in Christ during this dark period. CDM-South Africa helps Creflo Dollar Global Missions spread its mission of Understanding Grace and Empowering Change across the globe. Their team may be small in numbers, but their impact as World Changers is significant.