In February we launched our newVictory Training course as a city wide church having about 150 people attending over the weekend. The Victory Training is a foundational course that helps us to firstly understand the work Jesus did for us on the cross as well as to keep on walking in the victory and the freedom He purchased for us.
We truly had an incredible weekend filled with testimonies ranging from salvations, baptisms in the Holy Spirit and freedom and victory God brought in areas such as addictions, unforgiveness, broken relationship etc. God truly is faithful to His Word - "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."
When we started with Eldoraigne last year Riëtte got a word that God will go out before us, that He will prepare the community, and this is exactly what we are experiencing.
People are being drawn into God's Kingdom from Eldoraigne without us necessarily having anything to do with it. Here are just a couple of testimonies...
I went to rotate my tyres and I met JP - one of the guys who works there. He started talking to me and shared that he recently moved here from Hopetown (Northern Cape) and when he saw my number plate (also Northern Cape) he asked where I am from, how long I've been here, what I do etc. Long story short, he shared that his life is really at a bad place and that he needs help. We met up for a drink and he just continued to open up. He is so hungry and desperate to be discipled. He also shared how he prayed and asked that God would send someone that will help him on the right track. God is truly faithful.
This past Sunday we had a lady from Eldoraigne come to church for the first time and at the end of the service she responded to the Holy Spirit and committed to follow Jesus with her life. Someone who came to church via another friend whom God has drawn in.
We also finally got together with Ruan and Corinne (the couple whom we met at the action cricket). We invited them over for dinner and we had such a great time together, really getting to know each other better. They got engaged over the December holidays and we are using this as an opportunity to speak into their lives, speaking from our own experience in this journey, the fears we faced. They are really open and hungry - in a place of need, even though they don't realize the exact origin of the need yet.
One of the teams at the Action Cricket whom we will be playing against regularly is also mostly from Eldoraigne and we know that God is opening doors for us. I am really excited about where we are currently, with the team as well, to see how they are creating their own opportunities to get involved in the community.
At the end of February we will also be having an Eldoraigne Vision Night where we will invite everyone currently part of the Centurion Congregation who are from the Eldoraigne area to join us. This will be an evening where we cast the vision for Eldoraigne and invite people to become part of it by simply reaching the lost and making disciples. From this the fruit will be a church plant!
Please continue to pray for us and for the community. The harvest is ready...
During our planning week for 2014 we felt God lead us into focussing on 3 areas: Prayer, Engaging Lost people and Leadership. This was really encouraging as it gave us a simple and clear focus and we were ready to end the year off with great expectation for 2014...
Then came God's intervention: Open Window, the venue where we hold our Sunday services, contacted us to let us know that we won't be able to use the venue for 4 weeks as they have student exam exhibitions and a charity event. Also during our planning week while we were praying we sensed that God is leading us into a time where foundations will be shaken that only that which is unshakable shall remain (Hebrews 12:27). So we knew this was from God and we knew this is something we need to embrace...
After praying into this the whole team felt that we should do community church, to break into different groups and go into 4 different communities : Doringkloof/Irene, Eldoraigne, Moreleta and Olievenhoutbosch. We are going to Pray for and Engage our communities - exactly what God is leading us into for 2014. This was a massive step of obedience (not just faith, because we knew that God has already spoken), because it goes against the traditional culture. It goes against our comfort zones...
What I was really trusting God for during this time is that peoples' hearts will be cut for their own communities. That hearts will be stirred for the people who live around them, the people they work with, the people we see every day. Often we can assign reaching lost people to an outreach event or a mission, but God has placed us where we live and where we work to be salt and light, to be ministers of reconciliation right there.
The first Sunday we had a family service at Centurion Academy where we braai'd together, fellowshipped together, played sports together and we also got into the Word together. This was a great kick start to the campaign and it was incredible to see the excitement among the people. Frans (a disciple from Olievenhoutbosch) also baptized John (also from Olievenhoutbosch) and it was a special moment to see the next generation of disciples standing up and obeying Jesus' command - Go and make disciples and baptize them...
The following 3 Sundays we went into the different communities. We got together at parks in Doringkloof and Olievenhoutbosch, at a high school in Eldoraigne and at a shopping centre in Moreleta. At the 4 different locations we broke into groups, got into the Word, ministered to each other, prayed together and then... We went into the communities to prayer walk. Praying for the different communities as the Holy Spirit guides us. And then after each Sunday we would have practical application for the week eg. Engage 2 people in your community (just start a conversation, get to know people) and meet a need in your community. The testimony for me is to see how God came and shifted hearts. Many people were a bit scared at first, but as they obeyed they saw how God wants to use them for His Kingdom, how He equips us to be ministers of the gospel. Peoples' eyes were opened for their neighbours - the one family has been living next to their neighbours for years and they looked like a happy family, until one of the parents moved our a couple of weeks ago. Their hearts were cut to not just exist, but to be involved, to live the life God has saved them to live... As we stepped out in obedience we saw how God is just so faithful and I am really excited to see how people have tasted something of living a lifestyle of following Jesus - every day - and how that will have an impact in their communities, the city, the nation and beyond!!! Here is a short video clip from the 4 different locations.
