The little LED display on the dash of my 2004 Toyota Highlander confirmed the reality I already knew. The display was showing the current temperature inside my vehicle - 146 degrees Fahrenheit.

Natalie Wolchover, in her article “What are the limits of Human Survival?”, (August 09, 2012, Lifescience.com) shared this bit of heat-related information, “Most humans will suffer hyperthermia after 10 minutes in extremely humid, 140-degree-Fahrenheit (60-degrees-Celsius) heat.”

Thankfully, in less than 10 minutes with as many of the air conditioning vents pointed directly at me as possible, I was in a balmy 119-degree driving environment. Summertime in Phoenix is notoriously hot. The Valley of the Sun is now on its record-breaking 19th day of above 110 degrees.

The forecast is that we will see the record go to 30 days above 110 degrees. At the dinner table, Darlene and I genuinely give thanks for the air conditioning and its continued operation every day.

ITMI’s Gerhard le Roux in the far northern Cape of South Africa, amongst the dry silty soil and massive heat-absorbing rock formations, regularly see 117-degree temperatures in their summer months. The thing is, they exist, as do most of the community, with little to no “air-con,” as they would call it.

The le Roux’s Daily Bread Bakery ovens combine with the outside heat in a recipe for daily heat challenges. The Daily Bread Bakery is one of the outreaches the le Rouxs have found effective in creating opportunities to interact with people from the community, pray with them, and interject Jesus into conversations about matters of the heart.

Although the heat creates significant challenges, the le Roux family models faithfulness over and over as they humbly serve the community with whatever tools or food God provides. Gerhard and his family choose to stay in this “oven” of a community in order to be obedient to where God has called them and where the need is great.