“The harvest here isn’t just ripe, it is rotting in the field,” The founder of Impact Africa, Rich Franzen, loves to say. People are ready to follow God, they just need someone to tell them. It has been a privilege being in the slums (aka squatter camps), and getting to share the gospel with such hungry people! These people live in some very difficult situations, which makes them very receptive to Good News. We are seeing genuine miracles and salvations here on a weekly basis. There is a learning curve when appropriating the gospel in such a radically different culture (you don’t need to cover ancestral worship much in the States), but luckily we are surrounded by decades of experience in the form of our fellow missionaries and African co-workers. 

In many ways, moving across the globe is a lot like being 18 again. We thank the Lord that we have been managing to stay on the left side of the road when we drive! 😉 The last two weeks have been an absolute flurry of activity, full of familiarizing ourselves with South Africa in general. We hit the ground running and have been spending a lot of time getting to know the other folks on staff, creating and editing manuals and procedures for our new interns. 

Here are some of Impact Africa’s ministries that we’ve been getting to know in the last two weeks:

• We welcomed our first batch of interns here on August 30th, and as the internship directors we are thrilled to be discipling such hungry, dedicated individuals. Our focus as the directors of the internship is to help them narrow their vision for their lives, wreck them for missions, and disciple them into greater maturity in their faith. 
• Impact Africa operates a baby home through our Impact Baby Rescue department which houses up to 15 babies at a time who, for various reasons, do not have parents in their lives. Some have been abandoned in a dumpster or field, some orphaned, and some have been placed there because the family was unable to care for the child. The baby home is a place where they can be safe, cared for, and fed as they go through the process of finding a forever family. The interns help this department by assisting in campaigns in the communities and clinics to bring awareness to the issues of baby abandonment, as well as hand literature that can help moms who keep their children thrive in parenthood.
• It was also great visiting one of the high schools that Impact Africa gets to minister in. There are a number of schools in the area where we get to inject hope and purpose into the students through teaching the Life Orientation class. Much of it is practical encouragement and basic teaching on drugs, peer pressure, and potential, but near the end of the semester the Impact Students team capitalizes on the relational equity that has been built over the semester and presents the Gospel with great effect. The administration of the school will often comment on how the entire culture of the school can begin to shift as the light of Jesus penetrates the darkness. We got to help teach one of these classes, and it was amazing to see hope spring up in these students who  are all too often overwhelmed and feeling very inadequate in their studies and lives.
• Lastly we have been doing evangelism in the communities. This is absolutely one of our favorite things to do here. We’ll walk around in the slums, talk to anyone who will listen, and tell them about Jesus. It is great being in a “warm culture”. People will stop what they’re doing, pull up a chair, and chat with you for an hour. It is forign and refreshing after perfecting a “one minute testimony” in the States to accommodate the pace of life.

A very genuine thank you to everyone back home in our financial and prayer network. God is moving here, and He is moving in a big way. People are contending for revival in South Africa, and we see the sparks of it already flying. It is an honor representing those back in the States who are not able to be here. God is great, and He is making Himself known here in powerful ways to hopeless people. We’re just grateful to be a witness and partner in His plans for this country.

Please be praying for:

• Continued grace and empowerment for us in this transition! 
• That many salvations would come out of the ministry that is being done here in the South African squatter camps. 
• That our current group of interns will catch a fire here that will carry them into whatever destiny that God has prepared for them.

Blessings, 

Ryan and Kindle Bridgford

Website: https://thebridgfords.com/

Donations: https://www.kindridgiving.com/App/Form/b12bc6e5-d8cc-46f8-a9bf-cc464b3d061f

I (Ryan) will never forget the moment I walked in the door of our apartment in late April of 2020 after a long day at work. “You won’t believe the text I got today!” I told Kindle. I shared that Rich Franzen, the director of Impact Africa, had offered us a job as the internship directors for his ministry in Johannesburg, South Africa. “Wouldn’t that be the perfect job for us?” I asked with purely conversational motives.

We, at this point, were the furthest thing away from looking into moving overseas from our beautiful lives in Virginia and the jobs we loved. The offer was unsolicited, and when I received it I really didn’t think much about it. We had received job offers in the past, but in this season we were planted, serving, and loving every minute of it.

The look on Kindle’s face, at the moment I read her that text, is certainly burned into my memory. She stood with her small, copper watering can hovering above a houseplant, with an expression of what I can only describe as terror on her face. “I have that feeling in my heart,” she said. “The feeling that I have when I know God is transitioning me. I think we need to pray about this.” We sat on the couch and prayed. We felt God moving our hearts. We were afraid. We were freaked out. We had the peace of God in our guts. I’m sure you can sympathize, or at the least empathize with the fact that we slept very little for the next several nights.

Thus began a months-long journey of prayer and seeking counsel as to whether or not this was truly the will of God for our lives. Decisions like this are made with the fear of God in your heart. They are never made impulsively, emotionally, or devoid of counsel from those of spiritual significance in your life. Even though we felt the pulling of God on our hearts, it was profoundly important to us that we do our due diligence in testing the word in the prayer closet, and in the multitude of counselors.

The next months were a whirlwind of emotions, but the final decision to accept the position in the fall of last year was made in complete confidence and peace. That certainly does not mean void of trepidation though. One of the core values in our marriage, and our lives individually is this: always follow the peace of God, even if it is scary. He confirmed that Africa was His will for us in miraculous ways during that seeking period. He showed up in too many ways to be chalked up as coincidence or confirmation bias. Praise God that He speaks to us and guides us by the Holy Spirit!

Preparing to move cross continentally is not an easy thing, emotionally or logistically. Currently, we are filling out visa applications, selling belongings, transitioning out of jobs, bracing for goodbyes, and a million other things. But each and every day we get more excited and each day God continues to show up. Time is drawing close for our projected launch date in July, and things are falling into place. There are certain aspects of our jobs in South Africa that we have already taken on: such as interviewing prospective missionary interns, preparing for the classes we will teach them, and preparing for the evangelism we will do alongside them. It has been an absolute joy.

From the bottom of our hearts we want to say thank you. Thank you for the prayers, finances, and kind words. God wants to transform hearts and minds in South Africa, and we know we will be so much more effective in partnering with what He is doing there as a result of the wonderful people cheering us on, supporting us financially, and praying for us from the United States. South Africa is a deeply wounded, divided, and spiritually confused nation. We will send out a newsletter soon detailing some of the details on the ministry we will be doing there and the unique challenges South Africa faces. We can’t wait to share the testimonies of lives changed when we get there. The harvest is so very ripe.

As mentioned earlier, our July departure date is fast approaching, and we are still in need of monthly financial partners to send us to the field. Through the generosity of God’s people, we are $1,500 funded out of our $5,000 monthly goal, and we have $10,000 raised for our $20,000 startup cost goal. We can’t leave until we are fully funded, so your prayers and support are greatly appreciated.

Also, thank you so much for praying for us! We need favor at the South African Embassy as we apply for our visas. Please pray that God gives us wisdom on how we can best disciple the missionary interns we are preparing to lead. Lastly, pray that God will continue to reveal His heart for the South African people to us so that we are prepared to love and minister well on the field.

Here are some links for giving or for more information about us and what we’ll be doing on the field:

Our website – https://thebridgfords.com
Giving link – http://www.launchinternational.net/ryan—kindle-bridgford.html
The ministry we are working for – https://www.impactafrica.org

Blessings,
Ryan and Kindle Bridgford

In South Africa, 80% of deaths amongst young men are alcohol related. If you ask someone why they drink, the answer is almost always, “to forget.” Let me explain what they are trying to forget:

Walking through the South African squatter camps, the feeling of hopelessness is almost palpable. There are thousands of people from dozens of different cultures all crammed together in small, corrugated iron shacks which are held together by nails driven through bottle caps. Grey water runs freely down the streets and there is trash everywhere. The prevailing scent is burning garbage and sewage.

Most folks live there because they are desperate to find work in a city where there is no work to be had. Many grew up in rural Africa, living in small villages, farming land, and generally living a more simple life. Many leave their families behind in their home villages and countries and come to South Africa in order to make money to support them. Labor market is depressingly competitive. With an unemployment rate of over 30%, most end up working odd jobs whenever they can find them. The pay is depressingly low and hardly enough to live off of even if it were consistent.

And why wouldn’t you drink to forget? Your kids are hungry. You are hungry. You live in a tiny shack. You’re far from your family and country. You have no prospects to better yourself in the world. Everywhere around you is suffering, disease, and debautry. You’re living in the HIV capital of the world. There is no “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” option. You are stuck, and there is no way out. Newborns are literally abandoned in fields to die because the family cannot afford another mouth to feed.

But then you see the ones that love God. The ones who are not involved in a cult or traditional religions. The ones who have found Jesus. There is a spark in their eye. It is uncanny how, just by applying christian principles to their lives, they are able to rise above their circumstances. These are people who are profoundly acquainted with suffering, but have found a purpose far greater than their circumstances. Within these contexts the principles of knowing God shine brightly.

Hopeless people are ripe for the gospel. The vast majority living in the squatter camps are at the end of their rope. All they need is someone to come and introduce them to Jesus. Literally all that is needed are willing hands and feet to bring the Kingdom of God to earth in these places. Yes, we help provide tangible love through education and community upliftment programs, but those are always the means to the ultimate end of seeing people come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. This is why we are excited to go. We know that the harvest is ripe, hope needs to be proclaimed to the hopeless, and all that people need is someone to tell them the Good News.

We won’t just be filling the need for people to go and share, but as Impact Africa’s Global Internship directors we will be raising up young missionaries who will go into the world and share Jesus with every nation, tribe, and tongue. We will be working alongside them in various roles within the ministry, teaching them life-transforming classes, and discipling them one-on-one into maturity in Christ.

We are excited to go, but we can’t get there without support from the States. Thank you so much to all of you guys who have given! We are currently 47% funded for our monthly support goal, and need $2,664 more in order to fund ourselves while there. We have been on an excellent trajectory and feel so blessed and supported by all who have been praying and giving. Funding permitting, we are hoping to move this month (July) and begin the work God has for us out there.

Here are some links for giving or for more information about us and what we’ll be doing on the field:

Our website – https://thebridgfords.com
Giving link – http://www.launchinternational.net/ryan—kindle-bridgford.html
The ministry we are working for – https://www.impactafrica.org

Blessings,

Ryan and Kindle Bridgford