Update from Tzaneen

Greetings from Every Nation Tzaneen

Planting a church is one thing, planting a church when we are in lockdown is something totally different. All the time spent preparing could never have prepared us for a time like this. In all of the challenges there is one thing that is constant and that is God. this time has been a good time for us as a family and as a church plant, because it has solidified the essence of what it takes to grow Gods Kingdom and that is relying on the leading of the Holy Spirit. as it says in Proverbs16:9 "A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps".

As a family it is going well with us, by the grace of God we are all well and although there are days where the sparks fly, overall we are doing well. I have had the privilege, since our last check in, to lead my son Zijn (7) to Jesus, and I feel so privileged to have been a part of that.

My wife is doing well as acting grade 1 teacher to Zijn in the time of lockdown and Zijn went to school again for the first time this week.

Moving over to ministry, we have kept close together the best we could using online platforms and our connect groups and Sunday get- togethers have been a blessing to us. What I have seen over the last couple of years being involved in ministry and discipleship in particular is that the biggest hurdle for people is the ability to ask leading questions, from the time of engaging people to discipling people, it seems as if asking questions to lead people to understand the scripture is a challenge for people. With this in mind we have used our time in discipleship with the on2one and getting together on Sudays using the How to booklets to help them look at scripture and ask questions that will draw people into a conversation.

I am also thankful that there has been a multiplication of 3 connect groups where the people reached out to friends, by themselves and started sharing the Gospel with them!!! We have eight connect groups in total, and looking forward to making connections with the people that we are praying for.

In the last couple of months we have also had a multiplication of church family with 2 beautiful babies being born into the family, we are thankful for what God has done.

Prayer points

*There is a couple of people in our church that works on commission basis in schools and other public sectors, so we ask for prayer of protection for staying healthy, and being able to work, but also share the gospel where they are.

*Two things that I fell God is calling us to pray for in Tzaneen is against anxiousness and depression.

* Wisdom to lead the church well.