Snippets of the place I call home...

These are the beautiful, wonderful, amazing, special, incredible, God-loving people I have the privilege of living with. In no particular order:

The de Haan family: Simon (28), Marieke (29) and Noah (2). They are from Holland. Simon worked in multi-media and Marieke has been at home raising Noah. They feel called to missionary work in different nations and want to begin this journey in South Africa...





The Kisteman family: Jos (28), Christene (27) and Joel (2). They are from Holland. Both Jos and Christene are teachers; Jos, a high school maths teacher and Christene, a primary school teacher. They want to implement everything they’re learning in South Africa back home in Holland, and see many people come to know and love Jesus.









The Classen family: Conrad (36), Marlese (34), Jeanelle (12), Emile (9) and Maruche’ (6). They are from South Africa. Conrad and Marlese owned a fast food franchise and they have recently given all of that up in order to follow the call that God placed on their hearts.










The Guys (who live in an adjacent flat) from left to right: Eric (South Africa), Mike (Zambia), Bruce (Zambia), Willy (Zambia), Sydney (Zambia), and Minoza (South Africa) who was away when this picture was taken. The guys are also passionate about raising African leaders for Africa and they are at CPx to learn how to do this.


And finally, but definitely not least:

The Girls

(from left to right): Shannon (Hawaii, 24), Sarah (USA, 28), Christine (South Africa, 26), Linda (Zambia, 24), Joanna (Northern Ireland, 24) ,Bethany (USA, 21), and me (South Africa, 28). Each of us have different stories about how we came to do CPx in Cape Town with All Nations. But one thing is common for each of us: we love Jesus, and we’re passionate about people and seeing them come to know Him.

That's it! We cook together, eat together, clean together and sleep under the same roof. Most days are filled with fun and laughter, but we won't pretend that it's not been hard at times too. Dying to oneself, sacrificing your personal space and your "rights" is never an easy thing. But we understand the higher purpose to which we've been called; we realise that the primary expression of the gospel is through community, and that if we cannot get it right ourselves, we cannot expect other communities to be transformed by this powerful message.

In living together and learning to love each other we are fulfilling what Jesus spoke of when He said "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

CPx - the Church Planting eXperience

I’ve been at CPx for four weeks now. My experience thus far has been a mixture of meeting new people, learning to live in community with 16 – 24 other people, coping with having moved away from family and familiarity and taking on a new direction in life. Quite a rollercoaster ride, to say the least! But at the core of this experience has been a deepening sense of trust in the Lord regarding my future; as well as joy, peace and utter excitement about the people I’ve met who are becoming my new family.
CPx is a church planting school. We are learning to plant simple churches, which are easily reproducible and serve as a platform for discipling African leaders for God’s Kingdom. Our mission in planting these simple churches is to teach people how to plant house churches in their own communities and to disciple and reproduce leaders.

The team I belong to has been placed in Ocean View – so called because of the beautiful view they have of Noordhoek Beach. It is predominantly a Coloured community, in which Afrikaans is most frequently spoken. Our first few days in Ocean View left us feeling somewhat unsure about what exactly we should be doing and how to go about doing it. We initially prayer-walked around the community, asking God to lead us and speak to us. We met a few of the local residents and through various contacts, my particular group (comprised of me, Nicki and Emmanuel) eventually came across a young family who are longing to know more about the bible and wanting to change their lifestyles. Praise God for His faithfulness! Chazlyn and his girlfriend, Lana, and their eight month old baby girl, Chaznay have welcomed us into their home. They are both struggling to find work, and are in quite a bit of debt, and after our first chat together we prayed for God to bless them with work and help them out of financial trouble. Chazlyn received a telephone call regarding an interview to work in a bank a few days later, and we await the result.

Since then, we have had a second, very encouraging visit with Chazlyn, where he expressed his desire to be changed from the inside so that he can follow God wholeheartedly and not fall away again. He has become weary of empty religion which brings about no inward change, and also no strength to withstand the temptations of worldly success and living without purpose. Our sense as we left his home was that God has great plans for Chazlyn and Lana. We plan to meet with them weekly, to encourage them with God’s truth for their lives, to teach them and to support them as they begin this journey.

Ocean View is a community where alcoholism and drug addiction is rife. There is a high level of gangsterism which affects not only the youth but older members of the community too. Broken families are not uncommon. It is an over-evangelised community where the presence of the Church has not seemed to make a difference. We are praying for God to change the hearts of people, and raise up strong leaders who will influence the community. And we are prepared to be the answer to that prayer.

Please will you stand with us in prayer for Chazlyn and his family; and also for the Ocean View community. Thank you.

Life in Cape Town

I’ve been in Cape Town for a little over a week now and I’ve seen three of the four communities that we’ll be serving while doing CPx (Church Planting Experience) with All Nations. Every student at CPx will serve in one of these communities to put into practice all that we’re learning, and this is where we will spend the next three months.

The first community we visited was Masiphumelele (the township I served in December 2008). Not much has changed and it was great to catch up with some of the people I had met previously. One of them was Vovo – the daughter of the women whose home we helped rebuild. She is delighted about her new living space and continues to be thankful that God helped her family in this way. All Nations is involved with all sorts of things in Masi; one of them being the orphans and vulnerable children there. They supply food and basic commodities every month to a number of the families who are looking after orphans and vulnerable children. Last week I helped make up food parcels for the families who benefit from this.

The second community we visited was Redhill. It is far smaller, more sparsely populated and much more rural than Masi. There are no shops or community centres or anything there, and the houses are all make shift and informal.

The third community we visited was Ocean View. This is much more modern that the previous two, with brick houses and tarred roads, schools and shops. The people in this community speak Afrikaans predominantly, and the needs here are mainly related to problems with alcohol, drugs and domestic violence. We are interested in discipling the people of this community, because although many of them have heard the gospel, they are still struggling to live according to it. This is the community that I will serve in over the next three months.

The last community that we will visit will be Boukaap. This is a predominantly Muslim community. All Nations has not done any extensive work here before and so this year will be a new venture.

I’m excited about the involvement we’ll have in each of these communities and what God will have us do there.

I’m excited about the relationships that will be cultivated between all the CPx students over the next six months.

I’m excited about learning more about the Father-heart of God from Floyd McClung.

I’m excited about growing deeper in love with God the Father.

The Feather

I found a feather whilst hiking through the botanical gardens one afternoon. The contrast of the colours, white on black, made me stop and stare and I picked the feather up and examined it. I noticed how perfectly the white spots were formed against the black backdrop. It was almost as if the creator had taken his finger, dipped them in white paint and had carefully placed them, one finger next to the other, on the black background.

The lines on the feather bear an uncanny likeness to fingerprints.

This feather filled me such solace and hope. It reminded me of the Father who creates with such intricate precision. The Father who chooses to be so involved in our lives. It echoed the truth of a Father who will never leave me nor forsake me; One who has planned my life right down to the number of hairs on my head, every single detail of my life accounted for. I need not fear anything, not even the unknown.

I’m at a stage in my life where I do not know what my immediate future holds. But I do know the One who holds my future. I can trust Him. He has shown Himself worthy and honourable in the ways He has lead me in life up until now. I have never been without. This feather has reiterated that the Father cares about the minor details...

Amazing what a single feather can reveal.

Romans 1:20 “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Ten Days For Jesus 2008

In December 2008, I spent ten days serving the community of Masiphumele in Cape Town, with All Nations.
The mission was called Ten Days For Jesus – the idea that we celebrate the birthday of Jesus by giving Him the greatest gift of all – ourselves!
Over the ten days we ministered to people by spending time in the community every day, praying for the locals, giving practical help where possible, sharing our faith with them and spreading the good news about Christ.
Maisphumele has experienced devastating fires over the last few years – always occurring on December 16th. Fires which have completely destroyed many homes. (Last year the Ten Days Team spent some time helping to rebuild these homes). This year, we spent many hours in prayer, asking that God would spare the humble living quarters of the poor, and we rejoiced when there was no fire this year. We told the locals about this, and many of them were overjoyed.
We also spent the early part of our days helping at the local children’s holiday club, where we would sing and dance with the young ones, and help feed them a simple lunch meal every day. On the last day, we helped wash their hair and feet – living in a dusty, informal settlement without running water in your home can take its toll. The little ones loved it, and they were so pleased to have been given a very simple wash.
In the afternoons, we walked from door to door, and so many of the people there were happy to have us come into their homes and talk to them, and pray with them. Some people even opened up to us about their hardships, and we were able to share our testimonies about the grace and love of God that we had received. It was wonderful.
We had the opportunity to help one of the locals rebuild her house which was in a terrible condition. We managed to increase the size of her living quarters and she was so grateful for the help we gave. On our last day there, we shared a simple meal with her, and heard about her struggles. We prayed with her, and asked God to continue the work He had started there. What a good day!
Living in community with other believers was a great experience. I saw the power and love of God in ways I had long since forgotten. What a privilege to have been part of this group, and to have served alongside others in this way. I look forward to my onward journey of joining All Nations in Cape Town full time in 2009. Watch this space!!