{"id":7710,"date":"2011-11-13T16:41:52","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T20:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=7710"},"modified":"2026-07-09T11:24:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:24:37","slug":"update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Roger Oakland<\/strong><\/p>\n

November 12, 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roger in Durban on first night with a youth group at local church<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bible states that there will always be the poor as long as there are people on planet earth. Sometimes we become so consumed with the troubles we encounter in our daily lives we forget about the needs of others. From what I understand about the heart of Jesus, we need to have a reality check about what we are doing as servants of the Lord \u2013 are we helping the poor by being His hand extended.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, this is why I have been sent to Africa at this time. Maybe I needed a shocking reminder. For the past year or so I have been compelled to warn Christians who are building their kingdoms to remind themselves of what they are doing as Jesus will soon be returning. Few have listened. Besides I have lost most of the friends I once had because they are more concerned about their legacies here on planet earth than they are about standing up for the truth.<\/p>\n

While I am accustomed to seeing poor people in poor places all over the world, yesterday I saw things and heard about situations that caused me to ponder why these things have to be so.Our day yesterday here in Durban was spent visiting an area where human beings are destined to live out their lives without any of the basic necessities that we are accustomed to having \u2013 food, clothing and shelter. David and Krista Meisner are here in Durban basically volunteering their time to serve the poor black community that have more needs than you could possibly imagine.<\/p>\n

Let me tell you about one of the families I visited yesterday. Nine people lived in a shack about the size of a dog house in America. The only source of income for the whole household was the pension from a grandmother (about one hundred dollars a month). Two girls in their early 20\u2019s sat on bed eating porridge for their daily meal as there were no chairs in trhe room They were her daughters. They had no income at all. One of the girls suffered from epilepsy. Her sister had been raped. She tested positive for the HIV virus and so did her child. Several other children walked around naked. They were children the grandmother was looking after as they were also grandchildren she had from other sons and daughters who had died from AIDS. Click here <\/a>to read more update from Roger in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Roger Oakland November 12,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6,2935,599,996,997],"class_list":["post-7710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defending-the-faith","tag-roger-oakland","tag-missions","tag-africa","tag-durban","tag-poverty","wpcat-4-id"],"yoast_head":"\nUpdate from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From Roger Oakland November 12,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-13T20:41:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T18:24:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bryce Homes International\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bryce Homes International\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bryce Homes International\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0619b25522bacdacb88c810e1414ed8b\"},\"headline\":\"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-13T20:41:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-09T18:24:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":440,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Roger Oakland\",\"Missions\",\"africa\",\"durban\",\"poverty\"],\"articleSection\":[\"DEFENDING THE FAITH\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/\",\"name\":\"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa - From the Lighthouse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-13T20:41:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-09T18:24:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0619b25522bacdacb88c810e1414ed8b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"From the Lighthouse\",\"description\":\""A Light Shining in the Darkness"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0619b25522bacdacb88c810e1414ed8b\",\"name\":\"Bryce Homes International\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/775f09e7d228ee05beb4922dd00e819c9a94cc55ee5c62a0c6cd685ab62c936d?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/775f09e7d228ee05beb4922dd00e819c9a94cc55ee5c62a0c6cd685ab62c936d?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/775f09e7d228ee05beb4922dd00e819c9a94cc55ee5c62a0c6cd685ab62c936d?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bryce Homes International\"},\"description\":\"The Bryce Homes International program is named after Roger Oakland's son, Bryce Oakland, who passed away from an auto accident in 2001 at the age of 27. Roger, through Understand the Times ministry, began the Bryce Homes in Kenya, Africa in 2010. Lighthouse Trails readers have supported this mission program ever since. Visit www.understandthetimes.net for more information.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/bryce-homes\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa - From the Lighthouse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa","og_description":"From Roger Oakland November 12,...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/","og_site_name":"From the Lighthouse","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch","article_published_time":"2011-11-13T20:41:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-09T18:24:37+00:00","author":"Bryce Homes International","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LTrails","twitter_site":"@LTrails","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bryce Homes International","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/"},"author":{"name":"Bryce Homes International","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0619b25522bacdacb88c810e1414ed8b"},"headline":"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa","datePublished":"2011-11-13T20:41:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-09T18:24:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/"},"wordCount":440,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Roger Oakland","Missions","africa","durban","poverty"],"articleSection":["DEFENDING THE FAITH"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/","name":"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa - From the Lighthouse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-13T20:41:52+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-09T18:24:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0619b25522bacdacb88c810e1414ed8b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/update-from-roger-oakland-in-durban-south-africa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Update from Roger Oakland in Durban, South Africa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/","name":"From the Lighthouse","description":""A Light Shining in the Darkness"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0619b25522bacdacb88c810e1414ed8b","name":"Bryce Homes International","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/775f09e7d228ee05beb4922dd00e819c9a94cc55ee5c62a0c6cd685ab62c936d?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/775f09e7d228ee05beb4922dd00e819c9a94cc55ee5c62a0c6cd685ab62c936d?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/775f09e7d228ee05beb4922dd00e819c9a94cc55ee5c62a0c6cd685ab62c936d?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Bryce Homes International"},"description":"The Bryce Homes International program is named after Roger Oakland's son, Bryce Oakland, who passed away from an auto accident in 2001 at the age of 27. Roger, through Understand the Times ministry, began the Bryce Homes in Kenya, Africa in 2010. Lighthouse Trails readers have supported this mission program ever since. Visit www.understandthetimes.net for more information.","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/author\/bryce-homes\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7710"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41775,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7710\/revisions\/41775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}