God is Working in South Africa
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I am finally feeling normal after my travels to South Africa, and I want to thank you for praying for me and for the people of South Africa to whom the Lord sent me. Before I left, I was aware that the Lord had His eye on every person that He would touch by the Live to Love with Jesus message. As I prayed, I could see the ripple effect of our ministry as I met with people and taught His Word. The ripple effect is still in process throughout the world, so I want to encourage you that you are part of that rippling process of the love of God as you make praying the Live to Love prayer a daily habit. We’ve been discussing the benefit and blessing of praying the Live to Love prayer for the past few months. I hope this will encourage you to make that a part of your prayer life each day for the rest of your life.
Let me illustrate how God answers prayer as I report on our ministry in South Africa.
This is DeBruyn (pronounced debrain). He and his family are moving to Barbados. He was on the Live to Love steering committee in South Africa but believes God is taking them to Barbados to carry the Live to Love message to the island. He is hoping to host a Live to Love Adventure series once he gets settled and involved in a local church. The ripple continues to Barbados.
These are the teachers at Family Tree Leadership Academy. They impact their students daily. One of the teachers has put the Live to Love prayer on the back of her phone to remind her that Jesus is loving her students with her. The ripple continues in Paarl, South Africa at Family Tree Leadership Academy.
To my immediate left is Cassie and Jenny Carstens, founder and director of The World Needs a Father ministries. We discussed using the Live to Love resources to disciple the leadership team that disciples men in 94 countries. Cassie told me that he tells our story about Amanda and God’s kind of love to more people than I do. He was impacted in 2012 by the Equipped to Love message and has been sharing its impact ever since. Let’s pray that God will show Cassie the way to use the Live to Love resources in discipling his leadership trainers.
Garitha and Danny de Wit are next to the Carstens. They are the founders and administrators of Family Tree Leadership Academy and are also on the board of The Word Needs a Father and the South Africa Live to Love steering committee. They have a heart to see the Live to Love message spread throughout Africa. The ripple continues.
Stian Veldman is also on the Live to Love steering committee for South Africa. Stian is a networking machine. He connected me with one person after another to share the vision for Live to Love South Africa. He leads a small group of men (pictured above right) through Live to Love and works with the leadership team of Beulah Africa, which develops leaders in their country. Pray for God to continue using Stian to reach many for Christ and spread the message of the love of Jesus.
To my right in the second picture is Dr. Hendrik van Deventer. Hendrik is praying about planting a church that embodies the live to love with Jesus lifestyle—a community committed to living to love with Jesus and making disciples who live to love with Him. He is praying about stewarding the message of live to love with Jesus and the resources in South Africa. He also plans to train missionaries and send them out to the nations with a vision to live to love with Jesus. The impact of the Lord through these two men will ripple far and wide. Let’s pray for God to anoint them and guide their steps and establish their ministries for His glory as the ripple continues.
The Global Challenge Expedition team for 2022 will be living to love with Jesus through the nations until November. They will minister in mission stations in 15-18 countries. Pray that these young people will carry living to love with Jesus in their hearts for the rest of their lives. Imagine the ripple effect in their generation. I’m planning on meeting them in November to debrief with them about their journey with Jesus. You can rejoice with me and with Elzke Strydom (pictured above right), who is from Jeffrey’s Bay and is on this year’s Global team. She testified that she received the life of Christ and was overwhelmed with His presence and love on the first night of our training time.
The young couple, Jason and Jansie (separated here by Pastor Hennie Maritz and his wife, Betsy), are going as missionaries to India. They have now been through the Live to Love Adventure series twice in preparation to take the message to India or wherever God takes them. What a precious couple! God is going to use them in wonderful ways as they serve in His name. Pastor Hennie is praying about using Live to Love as a training tool with their leaders. Please pray for both of these couples as Jesus loves through them in their areas of service. The ripple continues as we pray.
Ken Colin works with The World Needs a Father ministries in Johannesburg and surrounding area. He trains leaders for the ministry and is considering using Live to Love as a discipleship tool. Let’s pray that the message of living to love with Jesus will ripple through him.
Marius Nel (above left with his wife) is pastor at 3C Ministries in Pretoria. He is praying about using the Live to Love resources in their discipleship program at their church. If the Lord were to open this door, the ripple effect could be enormous. We know God will accomplish His will. Pray for him as He reads Live to Love and considers how best to shepherd the flock there.
Pieter Barnard is founder and director of Bridge Ministries (an evangelistic ministry) and is also a radio host in the Pretoria/Johannesburg area. What a blessed time of fellowship and sharing together about what God is doing in our lives! The ripple effect of the live to love message in South Africa could be really exciting if Pieter moves forward with this message. Pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to work in Pieter’s heart about living to love with Jesus.
Pastor Wynhardt van Niekerk is a family pastor of a large Dutch Reformed church in Monument Park. They are looking for a discipleship resource for their men. He was introduced to Equipping Men and to Live to Love. Join me in praying that if this is best for the families in their church that the Holy Spirit would grant favor to these resources as Wynhardt reads and listens to them. If he moves forward with either resource, the ripple will continue for a long way, possibly generations until Jesus returns.
Pastor Christo Fourie and I had a couple of hours to enjoy fellowship and to discuss the impact Live to Love could have on the three satellite churches where he ministers. He lives in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After introducing the Life and Love of Jesus to him, he asked if he could use my powerpoint presentation to share the message. He felt that it was a timely message for him, his church, and his country. Of course, I gave him the powerpoint with the encouragement to take the Live to Love with Jesus message through any open doors the Lord provided. The leadership of his church have been looking for resources to make disciples in Bloemfontein. The ripple continues as we pray.
This group of families attended the Live to Love Adventure series in Bultfontein. They are considering forming a house church. What an exciting adventure they have before them if living to love with Jesus is foundational to their community and fellowship. Let’s pray for God’s guidance and blessing as they seek His will about walking together in love. The ripple will impact the central farming area of South Africa.
The Lord brought Pastor Thabo and Maria Makafane to the Live to Love adventure series in Bultfontein. They pastor a church in a local township where the message of live to love with Jesus would be transformational. There are warring gangs in their township where one gang doesn’t stop fighting until someone is killed. Hatred and conflict is shattering the community. Imagine the impact living to love with Jesus could have as Thabo and Maria take the message to their church and community. Let’s pray for them!
Eugene is the founder of Beulah Africa. He has a heart for evangelism and making disciples of Jesus. He was touched by the live to love with Jesus message the morning I presented it to him and his staff. His team of leaders are going to impact communities all over South Africa. Eugene is one of those “high impact” people for the Lord. Pray that the Holy Spirit will give him a vision for living to love with Jesus and making disciples who do the same. May the Holy Spirit use these dear people to love with Him throughout the country.
Emma (top right-founder of Brave to Love, a ministry rescuing women who being used in the sex industry in Pretoria), and her staff were touched by the live to love with Jesus message. They are praying about using the resources with the women they rescue that live in five safe houses. I had the privilege of sharing about living to love with Jesus with the staff and then with five women who have been rescued and were living in one of their safe houses. Let’s pray that God will open this door to minister His love to these women who desperately need to know of His love. What a tremendous opportunity for His love to ripple in a dark space in Pretoria.
I’ve ministered in the Global Community in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa, for almost 8 years now. They have made Live to Love with Jesus one of the five pillars of their ministry. God is using them to impact the world as they send out missionaries after training them in Jeffrey’s Bay. This is one of the most mission-minded churches I’ve ever seen. Let’s continue to pray for the message of Live to Love with Jesus as it ripples through their community and the world.
Simon, 1st on left, is on the staff at Global Challenge, Pastor Anthony, second from the left, opened the door for us to share the live to love message at his new church plant in Uitenhage. Willem, next to me, is in charge of the missions ministry at Global Challenge. He and Simon came with me to help out with the resources, but also to learn better how to communicate the message to their community in Jeffrey’s Bay. God is going to touch many lives through these three men and their ministries. Pray for a continued ripple effect through them.
George and Michelle Mwanza pastor the church in the township next to Jeffrey’s Bay. They hosted the Live to Love Adventure series in their church my last weekend in South Africa. We have yet to learn of the ripple effect of this event, but the word I’m hearing is very encouraging. Pray for them as they start using the Live to Love resources to make disciples. George also leads the Leadership in Training for Global Challenge in the black community. What a privilege it was to meet them and be able to encourage them to take this message to their people.
Another mission-focused body of believers is the Oasis Church in Jeffrey’s Bay. The message seemed to find a place in their hearts and I am hopeful it will continue because of the impact it has had on Hennie, their pastor (top right). Let’s keep praying for this church as the Lord ripples through them throughout Jeffrey’s Bay and the nations.
Kobus and Mignon attended the Live to Love Adventure Series and were profoundly touched by the message. They want to take the Live to Love manuscript to Madagascar and have it translated into French to be used to make disciples. Please pray for them and for their vision. May God bring it to pass for His glory so the ripple of His love can impact that island in the Indian Ocean.
I am so grateful for Willem and Janine Taute. I’ve known them for 8 years and they sacrificed so much of their time and energy to host me in Jeffrey’s Bay. Willem accompanied me to most of my speaking engagements. He is on the Live to Love steering committee for South Africa and is also on the leadership team at Global. Willem is the one who translated Live to Love into Afrikaans. He and Janine are praying about spending a year in missions in a community with no gospel witness. They have an incredible heart for the nations, missions, living to love with Jesus, and advancing the L2L message in South Africa and the world. He is training to lead Live to Love Adventure conferences in SA. They are such an encouragement to me as I watch God work in and through them. Father, continue to pour your love through Willem and Janine.
Hennie and Griselda Strydom attended the Live to Love Adventure conference in the township near Jeffrey’s Bay. They are farmers in the area and they disciple young men who they hire on their farm. Their son was born again at the conference and they just baptized him last week. (By the way, this is Elzke’s brother, who was born again in Johannesburg during the Global team training!) Magnis is one of the young men working for Hennie on the farm. He came up after the conference and told me he had trusted in Jesus and received His life. Hennie is going to use the Equipping Men series and the Live to Love book to disciple the young men who work for him. Jesus’ love is rippling on a farm in Jeffrey’s Bay!
On my way home, I met with Henco and his wife Bianca in Capetown airport. Henco (pronounced Hin-coo) was on the 2016 Global Team. He is an engineer with a Christian engineering company that sends people into the nations to make disciples of Jesus Christ. They go as engineers, but really are there to shine the light of Jesus’ love in the nations. Henco and Bianca are going to New Delhi, India to work on a project for the next couple of years. Please pray for them as they take the live to love with Jesus message to those God puts in their paths.
All of the above, and more, were in God’s view when He took me to South Africa. As you prayed for me and for them, God was at work. I’m writing this to you as an encouragement that God heard your prayers and to invite you to keep on praying for them! God is still at work in them. The seeds have been planted, and now they are to be watered with our prayers for their growth. Thank you so much for laboring with me in this ministry of sharing the good news that we have been saved to live to love with Jesus. My final praise is to God, who through His Son, Jesus Christ, made it possible for sinners who are born in sin to be forgiven, changed, and empowered to live to love with Him for the glory of God.
I invite you to watch The Life and Love of Jesus message on Youtube at this link. It could be “45 minutes that change your life” according to John Gross, the president of the Board of Directors of Elijah Ministries.
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