The Underwood Family

Missionaries to South Africa

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We are buying church property!

Since February of this year, we have been holding a Wednesday evening bible study at Thulasizwe’s house in Missionvale. God has greatly blessed our efforts in this area and we decided that this would be the community in which we start our first church. After several months of praying for properties to come available, one finally has!

Not only is the property available, but it is a very good selling price (R140,000), it is in a great location, and within walking distance of our faithful bible study attendees!

I’m also thrilled to share that Lighthouse Baptist Church and Pastor Chad Gordon voted last night to purchase the property for us!!! This is a tremendous blessing and answer to prayer! As we move forward with the purchase, I am utilizing a local attorney that attends Kevin Hall’s church for the legal documents. We will also be doing some minor remodeling on the house, and then preparing the property for a church building!

Our goal is to be ready to build as soon as we return from furlough in 2020! Being able to secure a property now, especially with the current exchange rate will make this task much more efficient! We are looking to raise an additional $10,000 to build the church building! Please pray with us that God would supply the funds to see this become a reality!

If you would like to be a part of supplying the financial needs of this church plant, please feel free to contact me via email at sunderwood52@gmail.com! We are so grateful for the generosity of God’s people and their willingness to support our ministry!

Thank you all for your continued love, prayers, and support of our family!

Your Missionaries to South Africa,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
southafricamissions.com

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Furlough 2019 Introduction Letter

As many of you are already aware, we are just a few months away from our scheduled furlough in 2019! We will leave South Africa on Monday, February 25th, and arrive in Atlanta, GA on Feb 26th. We are greatly looking forward to seeing friends and family, our home church, and reporting in to some of our supporting churches!

Also, it is our desire to schedule meetings in new churches that do not currently support our family and ministry. As we prepare to take the next steps of ministry here in South Africa, and as our ministry continues to grow, so does the need of financial support.

I am attaching a brief “about our family and ministry” letter below in hopes that God will provide opportunities for us to present our ministry in new churches during our furlough!

Underwood Family Furlough Introduction Letter PDF Download

Thank you all for your continued love, prayers and support of our family and ministry!

Your Missionaries to South Africa,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
southafricamissions.com

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September 2018 Prayer Letter

Things around here have quieted down some after a very exciting and busy June and July! We have one other group coming at the end of this month from Fellowship Baptist in Madison, VA. We are excited to see them and look forward to God working in their hearts during their visit!

Once they leave South Africa and head back to the U.S.; my mom and well as Mark, Kevin, and Jeremy’s mom will all be arriving for a visit for a couple of weeks. It’s been over two years since my mom has seen the boys in person! Neyland was just 3 months old when we left and we are looking forward to some quality time with her!
Missionvale Bible Study is still going well! We have a faithful group that attends each week and we are about to finish studying “Leadership in the Church.” I would like to go through our doctrinal beliefs before we leave for furlough next year, and then again once we return in January 2020.

This leads me to ask a special prayer request of you all! Many are aware of the ever growing visa issues that many are facing trying to come to work in South Africa. We are in the process of trying to renew our current volunteer visas as advised by a visa official here in South Africa. We have already sent off the paper work for our FBI background checks, and will be marking things off the list as we wait on those to return. Please pray that we are able to renew our visas that we can continue to minister and serve in the Xhosa community!


Another need I would like to put before you this month is a fellow South African church planter, the Bond Family. They have been serving the Lord faithfully here for over a decade with very little recognition and support. They are a solid family of like faith. They are in desperate need of transportation. Our Project South Africa team is trying to raise $8000 in order to help buy them a vehicle. If you would be interested in helping with this need, please send any donation to Vision Baptist Missions labeled “Bond Vehicle Fund.”


Lastly, please pray for Pastor Lubablo, pastor of Madiba Bay Baptist Church. He will be traveling to the U.S. this month to preach in several churches. During his time, I will be preaching for him at Madiba and ask you to pray for this as well. This is a great opportunity for both of us and I am excited to see how the Lord blesses!

Thank you all for your continued love, prayers, and support of our family!

Your Missionaries to South Africa,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
 The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
southafricamissions.com

*For a PDF Downloadable version of our prayer letter, click the link below!*

Underwood Family Prayer Letter PDF Download