Don and I have just finished a whirlwind tour around South Africa- from the Southern Cape up the coast to the North past Durban and then through central SA back up to Johannesburg. We spoke in about 17 churches most of the time speaking twice per day. We traveled to a new location each day.

God blessed our meetings giving us clarity, boldness and anointing that was beyond our abilities. We spoke the majority of the time in churches that had never heard the message that we carry about the "fullness" of Israel and the Jewish people, their return to the Lord and to the land, bringing "Greater Riches" to all the nations on earth. This core message from Romans 11:12 permeated every message that we brought. I, Tod, felt like I was on a fast track of learning and being mentored by Don. This really felt like a "graduation" and a great release in my carrying this message and being able to articulate it in various settings. My first message was in the largest church in Cape Town to a church that had never heard it before. The wife of the pastor was a YWAMer so she said she trusted me to speak because I was in YWAM leadership for years. Then this past Sunday morning I was in one of the smallest churches outside of Johannesburg with only about 15 people in a very poor neighborhood.

There were times when we were speaking that you could feel God's power come into the room and many people would begin to cry and respond to every point we made. Other times the crowd would sit in analytical silence and stoic posture. But then after each message there was such a great response- many asking for prayer and buying Don's books- we sold over 330 books! We had to limit the amount in each meeting because we didn't have enough to sell  to everyone.

This morning I did my last two times of preaching and teaching. I went to the prison in Pretoria for Juveniles and then to the Maximum Security prison for men. At the Juvenile Prison I shared my testimony and was able to lead twenty guys in prayer to receive Jesus. Afterwards I was able to pray with them to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. They were so humble and hungry for the Lord. The prison was made for three thousand and there are five and a half thousand in there right now. It smelled like a sweat house and old food as my friend said, "It smells like a doghouse." I felt so much love for the men. It was overwhelming. Then in the maximum security prison I was blown away. This is where all of the murderers and major offenders go. The meeting was filled with blacks from different tribes in South Africa. When they began to worship it felt like I was in heaven. These men sang the most beautiful harmonies and swayed  back and forth with passion and love for the Lord like I have seen only a few times in my life. I was so privileged to be able to share with them God's heart and plan for Israel and the nations and they received the word. Many of them have studied the word for years and are working on degrees in theology. Our gracious hosts who brought Don and me to South Africa,  Johan and Gayle  Greeff treated us like royalty and gave us great accommodations and good food too! Their son-in-law is the one who goes to these prisons every Tuesday and by a miracle of God the prison officials let me come in without a security check that can take up to two weeks!

I am eternally grateful for all of your prayers and support as Don and I have had the privilege to be God's messengers bringing his heart and end time plans for Israel and the nations to this strategic 'gateway' nation. I believe that South Africa is going to rise up to support Israel and the Jewish people in the last days and will influence all of Africa as well in this message. We have made many strategic contacts beginning life-long relationships with people of the same heart.

To my amazement one night when we spoke the youth group leader from the church in George came up to me and told me that I taught him in his DTS in Maui about five years ago! He said that I made a big impact on his life. I spoke on relationships and the Holy Spirit. He is now married and getting ready to go back to the mission field. He picked me up early the next morning before our trip to the next venue and took me surfing. We had a great time. Eight dolphins swam towards us and passed us about ten feet away. On my last wave, a big seal swam in the wave about five feet away from me and then circled around my board. I was shocked and quickly swam in, and met a guy on the beach yelling to me that he saw a shark next to me. I think it was the seal, but grateful to God that nothing dangerous happened during my time surfing in Jeffrey's bay and then in the North of Durban. God's angels are awesome!

Another great contact was meeting Pieter McKarthy, the base leader of the Jeffrey's Bay YWAM base. He is a well known worship leader in South Africa and helps lead a cutting edge ministry in YWAM called Nation to Nation. They are to have their gatherings in Israel in the future. He has begun writing songs in Hebrew and is getting in touch with his own Jewish roots. I believe this movement and these leaders (Armando, the leader of the Amsterdam base, a Jewish believer) are going to be gatekeepers and open doors for God's heart for Israel and the Jewish people in YWAM.

Another major contact was meeting Martin in Blomfontein. He is involved in reaching out to the high schools and initiating prayer and worship movement in the cities. As he shared with me I realized that I had walked in a very similar way in ministry in Hawaii, leading out in prayer meetings in the high schools and in city wide events. As I shared with Martin how God led us, I sensed I was to pray over him. When I began to pray and Don laid his hands on him, the power of God fell on him and our host for the evening, the owner of the hotel where we were staying, and they fell to the ground shaking under the power of the Holy Spirit. I prayed for an impartation of the anointing I had experienced in Hawaii. After about ten minutes of praying, he told me that he wanted the anointing from Hawaii, and that he had wanted me to pray impartation over him before I began to pray.

In many of the churches where we ministered, God gave both Don and me prophetic words and words of knowledge. We received amazing feedback. I believe God used this to open peoples' hearts to be able to receive the message that we brought about Israel and the nations.

I am about to pick up my family - Rachel, Mandy, Micah, Makai'o, Moses and our friend Kim from the Johannesburg airport. We fly to Mozambique tomorrow morning. I am so stoked to be able to be with my family and minister in the poorest nation on earth. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself and with the global culture, our neighbor is not just someone living on our street in our city. Our neighbor includes the poorest of the poor. The largest number of orphans on the earth is here in Africa, with over 5,000 new orphans every day. Please continue to pray that we will be able to bring God's love and power to these precious people who were created to have a relationship with Him.

By God's amazing provision we are bringing in $4,000 to give to Iris Ministries as a gift to go towards the orphanages and church planting in Mozambique. Thank you so much for your prayers and generosity! We pray that God richly blesses you and that we can continue to run the race that he has set out before us!

Blessings from Tod- on behalf of Don Finto and the McDowell family and Kim Bischoff

Addendum from Don: It was a joy for Tod and me to travel together throughout South Africa as a multi-generational team, radically desiring to catch and spread God's heart for Israel and the nations, to young and old. We invite you, encourage you, to become a "Caleb" with us- one who is passionate for the work of God from youth into old age. Help us to carry these messages around the world:
            *It is time for Jewish eyes to be opened to their own Messiah (Isaiah 6:8ff)
                        (Pray that God will give visions, dreams, supernatural revelation, that He will remove the veil.)
            *It is time for every ethnic group of the world to come to know this Jewish King who is also World Redeemer.
            *Every mission organization and every evangelist of the world needs to see the prophetic connection between
                        Israel's return and world revival, just as Paul foresaw in Romans 11:12
            *The darkness is deepening, but the light is shining brighter, as foreseen in Isaiah 60.
           
Let us hear from you. We love and bless you.

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