Tuesday, 24 December 2019

Ministry Update


Home front

The Kheswa household has been very busy this year. Two kids will do that!
Ndumiso had a good year at school. This was his Grade R year, next year he proceeds to Grade 1. With school and friends come other things like birthday parties, parent-teacher meetings and school fuctions. All new things for us.
Ntando had his first birthday in September. We can’t believe how fast time has gone by. He started walking soon after, which meant being able to explore even more. Toddlers are inadvertently always doing things that could kill them. So this keeps us (especially Jann) busy. It has been quite a challenge trying to balance work and home life.
We are grateful to God for providing for our family in countless ways. Our boys are a great joy to us and many others.

Youth Workers

We recently took our 2019 batch of youth workers on a year-end retreat and listened to stories of how God has worked in and through them in their respective churches and communities. One joy of this ministry that never gets old, is witnessing the growth that takes place in the lives of the trainees and how it shapes them for the future. Our biggest prayer is that they will catch a heart for disciplemaking and be equipped to live out their calling in every sphere of life.
All of this year’s trainees had as one of their highlights: Discipling the next generation. They had lots of highlights and lessons, but being able to invest in someone else was a common highlight. We met some of their disciples on STeM, our annual Short Term Mission, when our interns bring some of the youth they are working with.  

GC2 Group


Early this year we started a journey with Kingdom Come Church in Evander to train and equip their ministry leaders to implement a disciple making strategy in all their ministries. The lead pastor has a heart for holistic disciplemaking and is making every effort to equip and empower those God has entrusted to him. We have only done the first of 4 modules with this group and we are excited to see what God will do as we walk alongside them.

Zimbabwe

For Munya and the team in Zimbabwe the political climate and its accompanying economic issues  have made it difficult to travel and train across the country. This external factor led to a shift in focus. Munya sees these challenging times as an opportunity for him and the other movement builders to focus locally and establish model ministries. This means helping a local church implement a disciplemaking strategy.
In spite of these challenges, God has also provided genuine opportunities for the expansion of the movement into new areas.
Please pray for the nation of Zimbabwe to get through these economic hard times.

Mozambique


I (Bhuti) got to travel to Mozambique for their first ever J-Life National Summit. I stayed with Chico (J-Life Mozambique director) and his family. We had great time connecting in his context, which helped me understand work on the ground a little bit more than just reading reports. During the 2 day Summit I got to meet a lot of his team. The aim of the Summit was to encourage J-Life trainers to mobilise disciple making movements in their different regions. We spent time going over the terminology, internal processes, our disciplemaking curriculum and tools so that everyone is on the same page.

Partner visits


We personally hosted a group of youth from Waterbrook Bible Fellowship at Camp Eden. We had a great time with them. They were very eager to learn about South Africa – our history and its continued impact on our lives today. They spent some time serving in Ratanda, Ext 23 with our good friends, the Khubekas.
I also assisted with the visits from Hopewell Reformed Church to Cape Town, River City Community Church and their medical mission in Nigeria with Emem and Grace Community Church to the J-Life Centre with Joe.
In the new year we are hoping to establish a few more steady partnerships between a partner church and a J-Life country. Please contact me if you are interested in getting involved.

Thank you for all the support and prayers throughout 2019, looking forward to co-laboring in 2020.  


Tuesday, 30 July 2019

Ministry Update

Home Front

Hi Friends and Family, thank you very much for your continued support for our family and ministry. Our hearts are full of praise to God, for His goodness towards us. We are grateful for His provision and protection. Ndumiso is doing well in school and mostly enjoys it except the waking up part. Ntando is just over 10 months old, he is very busy and bum shuffles across the house.


GC2 Group
Jann leading a session in Secunda.

After a long time of planning and journeying with pastor Tloome of Kingdom Come Ministries in Secunda, we finally got started on training. Over the next two years we will be journeying with these leaders through the J-Life training modules and coaching them for implementation. This process will include discipling these leaders and helping them make the necessary paradigm shifts in order to create a disciplemaking movement. Please pray that this training will help them in becoming a disciplemaking church.


GC2 Internship 2019
J-Life Trainees outside Mandela house in Soweto

The Internship is going well. We have the smallest group we have ever had on our Gap Year Programme since 2001 when it started. But it has turned out to be one of the best groups we've had. Most of our trainees this year serve in churches that are supportive and are being discipled by people who share our heart of discipleship.
Kids Camp 2019

On their second training intensive they got trained on camping ministry, by trainers from Scripture Union. The facilitators taught them how to plan and run a camp and helped them put together a programme for a camp. The trainees did a great job running a camp for 40 kids from surrounding communities. It was great to see them love on the kids and go an extra mile to give the kids a good time. Please pray that making disciples will become part of their life-style not just a Gap Year thing. 

Scripture Union South Africa offers brilliant training for Kids Ministry, Holiday Bible Club and Schools ministry. Visit www.su.org.za for more information about this ministry.

Looking ahead

Please join us in prayer for the following:

  • We are hosting a missions group from Wylie,Texas 27 July - 2 August
  • Promoting J-Life at Amplify Conference. Pray for significant connections 30 - 31 July
  • Training Treverton Gap Year students 12 - 13 August
  • Bhuti traveling to Mozambique 27 August - 02 September
  • J-Life Mozambique National Summit 31 August - 01 September
  • Marketing and recruiting for GC2 Internship 2020