Greetings from
It has been quite a week! I spent all of Saturday
(except a few hours in the late afternoon), including the evening, at a farm
near here that is a mission station for this region of
The owner is a man named Johan Louw (pronounced
as if it were ‘Low’)
who has a passion for evangelism and church planting, supported by education and
training of the pastors and evangelists. The farm has a brand new, 400 seat
conference center (that he paid ! for largely out of his own pocket
–
see pictures of both interior and exterior), and a separate facility for smaller
groups and for dining (up to 100). There are a variety of short-term facilities
for residence, and a small block of flats (sorry
– apartments; see
picture). Some are reserved for visitors, and some have permanent residents. He
has plans to build a larger dormitory-like facility, with 30 rooms each for men
and women. Johan also has plans to add rooms to his house for guests. The
ministry has been in full operation for just a couple of years, but has already
trained about 95 people who are now out in the field. The tents that are
supplied through Judea Harvest are also in place at 49 locations (see photo of
map). 
Johan
recognizes the need not only for teaching but also for an active ministry of
inner healing, as well as training in the ministry of inner healing. In short,
it seems that the Lord has arranged a
‘DIVINE APPOINTMENT’
in having us meet. We both have a s! trong sense that we are extremely
complimentary –
he has vast connections and has started a great work that needs workers, one of
whom may well be me. I showed him and his long-time principal teacher (Johan
Berger) a document that describes a vision I had for African ministry from FOUR
YEARS ago. No one who has read this far should be surprised to hear that it fits
perfectly with their vision. God is good!
On Saturday evening there was a large South African ‘braai’ (barbeque), but they do things quite differently. There is a large, round area of cement that is about a foot high. They make a camp fire with wood, then shovel the coals thus produced into a large, flat metal box with a grating on top, which is where the meat is cooked. It worked wonderfully well, and had the great benefit of sitting around a beautiful (and warm) camp fire all evening. Next time I will take my camera! There is another gathering (which includes worship, prayer and fellowship as well as food) scheduled for this Saturday, so hopefully next week you can see photos from that.
On Monday I met a man who lives in Rustenburg and
is a good friend to one of the people I met in
Today I was over at the farm again to talk to
Johan –
and take the attached pictures! Another one of his currently unmet needs is for
someone who can do computer stuff, such as create a brochure for the ministry.
So I collected information and will give it a go. Oh, another example of the
Lord’s
timing –
Johan has been waiting for SIX YEARS to get telephone lines to his farm. Now
that the big new highway (that heads off to
The weather here has no respect for calendars. The
calendar says it is
‘winter’,
but you can’t
tell it. Before my trip to the
Unfortunately I have to end this message on a sad
note. Pastor Katuuo from
On Sunday I am preaching in the city’s first Dutch Reformed Church, which is almost 150 years old. Please pray that I say what God wants me to say, and nothing else!
Love from
Lary