We had the incredible privilege to be part of the Every Nation Assessment Center in South Africa 2015. The Assessment Center is a comprehensive tool which assesses the make-up of potential church planters or church planting couples - to see whether they are called to be the lead church planters.
Leading up to the assessment center Riëtte and I had to complete numerous personality tests, worksheets and questionnaires. During the assessment itself we went through different interviews, scenarios where we had to work together with the other candidate couples whilst the whole time being observed by the assessors.
In the end there are 3 possible outcomes. A green light, an orange light and a red light.
Green means that the calling and the gifting is there and the couple is ready to be the lead church planting couple as set out by their local sending church.
Orange means the potential is there, but there are certain areas that need attention and an orange light can then become either green or red.
A red light means that you are not called to be the lead church planting couple, but that does not mean you are not called for ministry or that you are not called to be part of a church planting team.
So basically it only assesses whether you are called to be the lead church planting couple or not,
The assessment center was compiled through research from many different leading church planting movements and currently has a 100% success rate!!
After an intensive couple of days we got our results and we got a Green Light!
Before the assessment Riëtte and I spoke openly about this and we knew in our hearts that we dont have a specific outcome preference, but that we just really trust the leadership God has placed over our lives and the calling He has for us.
Basically what this now means is that we will be coaches and mentored in our local church by our local leaders so that we will be ready when we go to plant a church. Part of our preparation will be to anchor the second service in our Every Nation Southdowns congregation and also to start praying into the where. Where is God calling us to. Is it South Africa, Africa or somewhere else... So please pray with us as we continue in this exciting journey God has called us into and of which you most definitely are a part of!
Here is a link to the Assessment Center website and also a video from one of the assessment centers which took place in North America. This really gives a great overview of what the assessment center is all about!