December Update

As we wrap up the year we are filled with gratitude. We are grateful to God for all his goodness, mercies and provision for our family. We end this year at a different place emotionally and spiritually than we were last year. We are thankful to God for all he has done and continues to do in our lives. We are also grateful to you, family and friends, for your support and prayers.

Our family would like to wish you and your family a happy Christmas. As we celebrate Christmas, let us remember the reason for the season, as a famous cliché goes.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” - Isaiah 7:14

“For God SO loved the WORLD [this means both the naughty and the nice] that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16

People may not be on Santa’s list but they are definitely on God’s list. Let us share the gift of salvation with them.

L to R: Vincent, Gavin, Hlengiwe, Nathan, Tyler, Nicole, Zrano and Abigail

We had a great time hosting our 2016 Gap Year Students for the final debrief. We shared meals and stories as we took some time to look back at what the Lord had done. As usual, the majestic Drakensberg and Sterkfontein Dam were the backdrops for this time of reflection.

Every year when it’s time for the student to move on to the next stage of their life, I [Bhuti] have mixed feelings. I am excited to release them to “Go and make disciples” (Matt 28:19) but I am also worried that some are not spiritually ready or “fully equipped” or other excuses. In the beginning of the year it’s easy to accept that the trainees are at different stages of the discipleship journey. However at the end of the year, we worry about certain individuals that did not grow at a certain rate, or are not at the same stage as the “others”. I am learning that it’s good to be concerned but I need to trust God for the rest of their journey. The students are entrusted to us for a season. We should be diligent and faithful in discipling them while they are with us. We are to do our best to follow up where possible knowing that “He who began a good work in [the lives of our trainees] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). With this in mind I reminded them that coming to the end of their year is not equivalent to graduation. We don’t graduate anyone at J-Life because a disciple is a life-long learner.

Matthew during a mission trip

Matthew was not able to be with us for debriefing as he still had to run a camp. As a Scripture Union Trendsetter, Matthew did a lot of camps and schools ministry during the year. It was really a blessing to watch him grow in his gifting and leadership throughout the year, which we got to witness first hand when he co-led our annual kids camp.

VAC Fest was a huge success. We had nearly 400 young people and leaders gather for 5 days of vacating from our usual routines and drawing closer to God. The highlight for me [Jann] was definitely the team of young adults who worked tirelessly to make VAC happen. Nothing was too much for them – and some went back to their jobs after a week of long days and nights! What a gift each of them are to the Kingdom.

We are spending the Christmas holidays in Port Elizabeth with family and friends. Ndumiso is enjoying spending time with his cousins and grandparents. 

We wish all of you a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year.

We look forward to what God has in store for the 2017. 

It's October!

On the home front

We are grateful to God who has been good to us as a family. He has blessed us with good health and surrounded us with tremendous supportive family and friends. We are richer and stronger because of the fellowship.

Bhuti has been running a bible study twice a week with some of the men on the farm. Others have shown interest in joining, please pray that we will be able to reach everyone with the gospel.

Youth Workers

The 26^th September   saw our Youth Worker trainees return to Eden for their third and final training intensive. The first four days of this intensive was focused on multiplying disciples. The training covered the Multiplication module, with the focus on “bearing much fruit” (John 15:8) in our lives.  We focused intentionally on the disciple-making life-style because serving in a church, as part of their gap year, may cause a dependence on church structure and programmes for ministry. They may find it difficult to make disciples in the university, work place or wherever God calls them to. This was a reminder that our life is our ministry.

STeM

On the 30^th September the Youth Workers were joined by friends and some of those they have been discipling for STeM (Short Term equipping Mission). The training for the short term mission lasted from Friday evening until Monday morning. The training prepared them for the mission they were about to do as well as equipping them for planning their own mission trip.

Training covered:

• Purpose of a short term mission
• How to share the Gospel
• Summary of strategy 
• Children Ministry
• Ministry Opportunities during a mission trip
• Crossing Cultures
• Catering for a mission

We divided this group into two teams sending them to two communities in the East Rand

Team Tsakane

The team to Tsakane was hosted by The Nazarene Church. During the mission they got to run Holiday Bible Club for the kids, do sports ministry with teenagers, door to door evangelism and run a service. They all testify of seeing God at work through their team in the community and they grew through this experience. One of their highlights as a group was leading 18+ teenagers to Christ at the end of a soccer match.

Team Daveyton

This team was hosted by Chris and Happy Mnguni at Grace Baptist Church. Chris went through the J-Life training in 2006, then went on study theology through Christ Seminary and upon graduating he planted the church.  The team got to preach the gospel at a local clinic in the early morning, have a Holiday Bible Club, do door to door evangelism and run evangelistic services in the evenings.

Leadership Camps
This is also the season for school leadership camps. Jann has recently been involved in Grade 6 camps for Leicester Road and Jeugkrag Primary schools. Working with these kids is always good fun and a great opportunity to impact young leaders, helping them to make good choices and lead well.

Prayer items

• Health, strength and provision
• Opportunities to share the gospel with our neighbours
• Opening to new churches and pastors fraternals
• Quality Interns for 2017
• Wisdom during interviews and selection

Upcoming Events

• Youth Worker Debrief - December
• VAC Fest - December

Thank you to all our supporters for your financial contributions and prayers.

Coming up for air

I will never forget the first time I got to snorkel. It came by chance really. We were just hanging out at the beach as a family. Not far from us was a couple who were snorkeling. Upon seeing that I was curious they invited me to try. I made all the black man excuses about "us" and "swimming". They convinced me that on the rock pools one doesn't need to be a good swimmer to snorkel. I took the goggles and put my head under. I discovered a whole new side to the creation, I was in awe of the Creator. I just wanted to stay there but I had to come up for air.

That's what this week feels like, coming up for air. We realised the last time we updated the blog was March and a lot has happened in our lives and ministry since then.

On the family front we are doing well. We are grateful to God for good health and provision. We are so blessed to belong to the J-Life community and the Heidelberg Methodist Church. In our grieving we have had tremendous support from these communities, friends and family. We have particularly been blessed to be part of a grief share group where we have been able to process our grief. We have received comfort, healing (a continual process), learnt new things about our faith as well as reminders of God's love and sovereignty.

We are also blessed with opportunities to train and disciple the next generation (Psalm78: 3-4, 6). We continue to journey with our Youth Worker Trainees for 2016. They were back on the training site for additional training between 2^nd and 24^th June. We also hosted our 7^th annual 6 Weeks Internship from 13^th June to 24^th July.

Our Gap Year and 6 Weeks students

Here is what some our trainees are learning...

During our time at J-Life we were trained on SU (Scripture Union) content and I found a great interest in what SU does. After returning from our six week intensive at J-Life, I connected with SU here and went on their camp and staff retreat. This opened opportunities for me to do schools ministry with SU staff at Riverton Primary in Bishop Lavis. I grew from this experience which resulted in me doing ministry in Parkhurst Primary in my own neighbourhood, Mitchells Plain. I am excited to see what the Lord will be doing in the rest of this year and the rest of my life. - Zrano, Christ The Redeemer, Mitchells Plain, Cape Town (front left in pic). 

J-Life partners with Scripture Union South Africa to give our students training in schools, kids and camping ministry. For more information read here. 

From Gavin, on having and being a mentor:
I like having a mentor as it's nice just having someone mature to walk with who can give sound advice and teachings in all aspect of life.

I like bring able to  mentor someone as it builds a great bond between you and the person as well as you get to help them grow and give them tips and advice. It also adds a good sense of responsibility. Gavin is a youth intern at Benoni Baptist Church (back row, second from right in pic)

As part of their year with J-Life the trainees are require to find someone to disciple (Mentor) them and to disciple (mentor) at least two teenagers.

With J-Life I was awakened to the basis of Disciplemaking. I had no idea of the different types of lost people to disciple (religious and secular lost).  The stages one has to go through in discipling people from unbelief to maturity. And that although you can force it- by those who are daring, it is not recommended to be discipling someone when you don’t have someone discipling you.

Andile from Gamalake, Margate was part of the 6 Weeks Internship (back row, far left in pic)

“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” 2 Timothy 2:2 

Insights into ministry from Tyler, a youth intern at Rosebank Union:
Ministry is never as you picture it. Mostly because we are trying to define it and put parameters to it. Having had the privilege of working in ministry I can tell you that it can be as mundane as being at church every Sunday and sometimes you don't even want to be there, and yet sometimes you are bouncing off the walls busy with your church's holiday club and loving every second of it. It can even be relaxing with friends and trying to help them out in a Godly way.Ministry is a living breathing thing that is constantly changing and constantly forces you to re-evaluate your mental stand point. So all in all, my opinion is that ministry is one of the greatest gifts that the Lord has given us in order to help one another. It is also one of the best avenues that we can traverse in order to try and bring the glory of God's kingdom here on earth. (Tyler is right in the middle of the back row)

  

My lessons in spiritual growth have really been lessons in trust; letting go of my will for my life and submitting to God's. Seeking after Him in prayer, in His word and intentionally spending private moments with Him. I have learnt to put myself in His hands so that He can mould me though I understand that this process is more than just about resting in Him. My part is to pursue love and righteousness. My part is to pursue Him above all in all that I do in my everyday life - Hlengiwe, an intern at Randpark Ridge United (2nd from left in pic)

Prayer Points: 

- Open Doors for Promotion

• Recruiting interns for 2017
• Access to Pastors fraternal
• Recruiting for GC2 groups

- Wisdom for coaching and discipling the interns

- Traveling mercies for Bhuti as he visits the interns at their churches and marketing trips. 

Upcoming Events:
- UK mission group in August
- Gap Year students third intensive
- STeM 29 Sept -08 Oct

Family and Ministry News

Family Update

As a family we are super grateful to God for the people He has surrounded us with. First, our families for the love and support they are to us. And our friends, who stood with us, supported us and prayed with and for us. During the time our son, Thokozani, was in hospital until he went to be with Jesus, we experienced incredible prayer support. God has truly blessed us with amazing families and friends. These relationships have brought comfort to us in our darkest hour as a family. Through the people around us, we felt God’s presence and comfort. God has been and still is our good, good father in this grieving process.

We are all enjoying good physical health, although Ndumiso is teething and sometimes in pain. We have been busy with training and discipling the J-Life trainees. I (Bhuti) am overseeing the GC2 BETA training and the day to day running of this programme. Jann help makes sure I don’t miss the details of running the internship. She has also been helping on the campsite with logistics during this very busy season in our year.

GC2 BETA 2016

During these first two months of the year we were working with 3 groups of interns from 12 different countries, which made the community richly diverse. An ideal environment for discipling people with a global focus of “…all nations..” ( Matt 28: 19).

The First Group: Gap Year Program

This year we have partnered with local churches to train their interns. Is this any different from what we used to do? Yes - In the past we offered Coaching teams, which were made up of 3 or 4 young people from different churches who were then sent to a church where they served as interns. We felt that this programme was not producing fruit as it took quite a long time for the young people to adapt and earn the trust needed to minister effectively.  We believe God led us instead to partnering with churches who are already running, or want to run, internships. We then train and equip the intern and send them back to serve at their home churches.  This group of interns will return for more training throughout the year. This year we have 9 trainees from 8 different churches.

The Second Group: Bethel Semester Abroad students

This is the second year that we are hosting a group of 4 students from Bethel College, Indiana, USA. J-Life and Camp Eden acts as home base for them, from which they get to experience a variety of different ministry and cultural settings. They spent most of their time during the first 4 weeks involved in training on site with our other interns. Since then, they were able to visit churches in 3 different communities and experience many strange (for them) and wonderful things. They are currently in Margate with Donovan and Chantel Olding at Norwegian Settlers Church.

The Third Group: African Initiative Programme

This programme is aimed at expanding J-Life across the continent. Participants are people who are pioneering J-Life into their countries (in a country were J-Life does not yet have a presence) or into new regions in an existing J-Life Country, helping the country leader reach the regions that are further from them.

12 participants from 11 different countries spent a total of 5 weeks with us. Of these, 5 were pioneers into new countries, the other 6 will be helping extend J-Life in their countries into new regions.  For the first time here on Camp Eden we had more French speaking than English speaking trainees. God provided an incredible translator, Yoshua, from the Democratic Republic of Congo living in Johannesburg.

J-Life Annual Summit

Each year, the J-Life family across the continent gathers together with some of our partner churches, at summit. During this time we celebrated what God has been doing in our lives by sharing testimonies. J-Life Summit 2016 was about casting #Vision2020. We had a great time listening to God direct each of us where he wants us to serve over the next 5 years. Together we fleshed out what God want us, the J-Life movement, to do towards 2020. We are excited to see how God will accomplish all of this through us.

Equipping Events
We will host two more major equipping events this year. Please be praying for us as we plan and prepare for them. Please do contact us for more info should you have anyone interested.

6 Weeks Internship: 13 June-24 July 2016
                                  5 weeks of ministry training + 1 optional extra week touring in Cape Town

STeM: 30 Sept - 9 October
            4 days of training + 5 days practical outreach in a community