As time MARCHes on

This weekend marks another Easter weekend. I’ve been struck by the thought that we celebrate Christ’s death. That seems a bit strange to me. Usually we celebrate someone’s birth or something significant about their lives, but seldomly (if ever) their death. Yet with Christ we find reason to celebrate everything – his birth, life, death and ultimately his resurrection. The resurrection is the reason we CAN celebrate the rest. Christ conquered sin AND death giving each of us who believe in him, not only hope, but the power to do the same. The same Spirit and power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in us (Romans 8:11)! Wow!!

What’s been happening in our corner of the world..

Vision 2020
A representative group of J-Life team members from across the continent met at Camp Eden for 5 days of listening and waiting on God. It’s always a special time when the bigger family gathers and this was no different. We spent time listening and connecting with God about where he is taking us over the next 5 years. It was an encouraging time as he reaffirmed many things that we are passionate about as well as challenging us to BE disciplemakers and not just DO training of disciplemakers.
Please continue to keep this visioning process in your prayers as the team works to synthesise and refine everything we heard and discussed during this week.

Coaching teams and youth workers
All our interns have been in their respective communities for just over a month now. We’ve been able to connect with the team at Heron Bridge Community Church as well as some of the youth workers back at their home churches. It’s been encouraging to see their desire to implement what they’ve learned and what they’re doing. They’ve started to experience some of the realities and challenges of doing ministry as well as dealing with challenges that life throws at them.  Please pray with us for them and for us too as we coach them through the joys and pains.

Additions to Camp Eden team
At the beginning of March we had some additions to the team on Camp Eden. We welcomed back Makgale who’s worked with us at different times in the past. This time he’s joined the campsite team who are responsible for running and maintaining the campsite.
We also welcomed the Kochan family from Iowa, USA - Rob, Jeanie and their 4 boys Tate, Austin, Tanner and Hudson. Ndumiso now has 4 big brothers to play with!

Ndumiso with Tanner, Austin and Hudson

GC2 Training

Bhuti and Leaders he is training.

Bhuti had a great time taking his group from Finetown and Walkerville through Vision (the 3rd module in a series of 4) on 20 and 21 March at Camp Eden. We enjoyed connecting beyond the classroom as they were able to spend some time having meals in our home and even saw a snake.

           

                   

On 14 and 28 March,  I (Bhuti) and Makgale (Pictured above) started  co-training a group of youth leaders and a church planter.  Makgale was my mentor way back in 2003, when he was a part of a J-Life team serving in my home town. They took me on two mission trips that I always point back to as my “burning bush” experience. That was my first taste of youth ministry, and I got hooked. Now I have the pleasure of returning the favour, as I help coach Makgale through the GC2 process. Please keep us in your prayers as we train and coach this group from Duduza, Tsakane and Jameson Park in the East Rand.  Pray also for Makgale as he learns the ropes.

In April, Bhuti will be part of the J-Life group travelling to Israel for the GYI study tour and conference.  We heard this week that everyone has been granted visas for the trip. Thank you Lord! Please pray for safe travelling and significant times spent learning more about the life of Christ. The group will be travelling from South Africa on 17th April and returning on 30th April.
If a trip to Israel is something you are interested in, J-Life is planning a supporters trip for 2016. Please contact Jann (jann.jlife@gmail.com) if you’d like to part of this.
While Bhuti is away in Israel, Ndumiso and I will be down in Port Elizabeth, spending time with my family.

An exciting opportunity for young people. Join us for a short term internship this winter (summer in the Northern Hemisphere;) Please contact the office for more info or an application form 
+2784 240 0204.

A jaunt through January

It's already the second week in February. Wow, what a whirlwind January was! Here's a little taste of what the Kheswas have been up to.

New trainees
The Lord has given us a great bunch of 14 young people to invest into this year. We have already worked through half of our first training intensive and we can see God at work in their lives. Here's what a few of them have to say about the experience so far.

2015 Trainees

Enoch is from Heidelberg, Gauteng:
This has been a good experience for me. I've really enjoyed connecting with people from different cultures and having new people around me.
I think I learned and benefitted most from the schools ministry training with Diane from Scripture Union and I'm excited about getting involved with youth.

Dana is from North Carolina, USA:
I've really enjoyed this whole experience. The training is effective and it's great that we've been able to practise some of what we've learned already.
What I love about South Africa is what I call down to earth living as compared with life in the USA.

Mvuyisi from Margate, KZN:
I've been stretched during my time at Camp Eden. I've learned the real purpose of ministry - where you should be going and taking people and why. And that relationships is the key focus of ministry.
I've also learned what real community is. I've stayed off my phone and spent time with people instead.


In addition to the busyness the new year usually brings, we also had a BIG camp during the first week of the new school year. The Waterstone College Grade 9s spent three days with us for their annual Community upliftment camp. Bhuti and I (together with other J-Life staff) each had a group of kids to work with for two days in the Ratanda and Siyathemba communities. They learned a lot about appreciating what they have and how small things you do for others can make a huge difference. We pray that the lessons they learned will stay with them and influence them for the rest of their lives.

At the bottom is my group, painting the container at ACTS Family Church Ext 23

I (Jann) had a Leadership training day at Marist Brothers in Linmeyer. I was able to pull together a great team to help facilitate the day with 80 Grade 7s. We all had a lot of fun together learning about the character traits of good leaders, teamwork and communication.

Building a tower

Learning about team work

On the home front, Ndumiso started walking! Before becoming a parent I couldn't understand why parents always spoke about every little thing their kid did. Now I'm more sympathetic to their cause:) Observing just normal things is eye opening, exciting and a great blessing. Now we'll have to seriously start considering that harness...

Things on the horizon for this month of February

Wedding anniversary
This year we'll be married for 4 years. It seems like just the other day and forever (in a good way) at the same time. We are grateful to the Lord, our families and the community around us for all their love and support. Here's to 44 and more years together.

Sending off trainees 
The trainees will be heading into different communities before the end of February. We have two coaching teams this year, with the rest returning to their home church communities.

Vision 2020

A group of J-Life staff from across the continent will be meeting together to start discerning where God is taking us for the next five years. Please join us in prayer as we listen and start to process this. If you would like to pray more specifically for this time please drop me an email and I can send you some more info.

We are recruiting a team of pray-ers as part of our support team. If this is a ministry that you have a passion and gifting for (or know someone who does) please do contact me for more details.

More pics...

From our holiday during December

At the beach

The happy traveller

Just arrived!

With cousins

January photos

Team building 

Marist Brothers Leadership Day

Enoch gathering kids for fun at the park

Kids ministry time @ Ext 23

Making friends at the park

Looking back at 2014

 The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means “God with us”. Matthew 1: 23

   As this year draws to a close and we remember and celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus, we’d like to spend some time reflecting on how God has been with us during 2014.

    An ongoing praise item for us has been Ndumiso’s growth and health during the year. He is indeed a great blessing to us and so many others too. We’ve learned so much about the Father’s love for us and his desires for us as we’ve experienced parenthood first hand. I’m certain too, that this won’t come to an end any time soon.

    Our J-Life family has been, and continues to be, a tremendous gift to us. With neither of us able to see our biological families often, we do value the friendship, love and support we receive from everyone on Camp Eden, in Heidelberg and further afield. We have seen God with our community in many ways this year, in the good times and the difficulties.

   God has been ‘with us’ in the provision of ongoing ministry opportunities according to our gifts and passions. So many people live lives devoid of purpose, or of frustration at not being able to live out their passions. We are very grateful that we can do what we love and love what we do.

  Throughout the year we saw God as "Jehova Jireh" - the Lord our provider. Our ministry would not be possible without the giving of many people, in many different ways ALL through the year. We are especially grateful as we look back on this year that’s nearly done – for all that God has done and how He has allowed us to play a small part in that. 

To everyone who contributes to our ministry in any way - a BIG Thank you for your generous spirits and your obedience to God. 

Here are a few ministry highlights from this year

Beta Interns 

A total of 22 interns participated in our different Beta programmes this year. Pictured above are the year interns after their climb up Mont-Aux-Sources early in December. Seeing how they grow in their love for God and people is always a highlight

School Leadership training and camps
We always have lots of fun with the leadership camps we have once September comes around. Whether it's just a day or over a weekend, the learners go away having learned about themselves, leadership and team work.

Youth pastor training

I (Bhuti) had the privilege of working with youth leaders from Walkerville and Finetown. Training and coaching this particular group has been blessing because they are passionate about disciple-making. They have all, in different scales, been able to implement and train others in the second generation material. I've learnt a lot in terms of contextualising both training and implementation.

VAC Camp

We closed the year with our annual youth camp. This year’s theme was “Evolve”. God did amazing work in the lives of the youth and crew during camp. What a great way to end 2014!

Worship Station during Worship Evening

Afternoon activities 

Bhuti giving a talk at an evening session

June/July Update

June and July have been busy months for the Kheswas. This is a 'Highlights Package' to bring you all up to speed with some of what's been happening in our corner of the world.

At the beginning of June our youth workers and coaching teams returned to Camp Eden for their second training intensive of this year. It was good to see them and hear what they've been up to during their time in their respective churches. They are currently back in their churches and will return for more training late September and early October.

Six week interns: Molly, Ricardo, Lacy and Stacey

During their second week with us our year students were joined by 4 short term interns who are spending 6 weeks with us. As a team building exercise we did our own version of The Amazing Race in Heidelberg. The teams were dropped off in the township and had to complete a puzzle before they could proceed by taxi into the town. Once in town they had to find 10 different places in a race to the finish to claim the first prize of pizza for lunch. Thanks David and Liz for allowing us to invade your home.

Africa is a place of tremendous beauty, contrasts, challenges and potential. Another part of the training was a simulated experience we call African Realities, which exposes our trainees to exactly that. This year we had the van Zyls share some of their experiences with realities in Africa. The van Zyls are missionaries with Open Doors, ministering in South Sudan for 15 years and have been back in South Africa for 3 years now. They shared some great and up to date insights about Sudan, Eritrea and the Central African Republic.

Prayers for our beautiful continent

Simunye (We are One) Kids Camp was a highlight of this training intensive. Each year our trainees host a camp for orphaned and underprivileged kids from the surrounding areas. This year's camp was one of the best! The kids had a great time as they spent time playing games, doing crafts, singing, dancing and being loved on by the leaders.

Life at Camp Eden is full of ebbs and flows. Come the beginning of July and in flowed 20 or so camp counsellors for Sports Camp - a very exuberant bunch!! Two days later and 60 campers arrived bringing with them all the pent up energy teenagers are known for. And so followed 5 days of non-stop fun, action, sports, games and music. Lots of music. Camp ended with some of the campers being baptised. The water could NOT have been warmer than 2degrees Celsius - eeeeeekk!! We are really grateful to the Lord for what He did during that week and what will continue in and through everyone who was on camp.

FBC Bryan Team and some local mama's

June - August is summer holidays in the USA and when many of our partner churches are able to visit us. At the moment we have a group of 11 from First Baptist Church Bryan, Texas. They'll be doing a variety of things during their 2 week stay with us. Please do pray that their time here will be meaningful and will help them grow in Loving God and Loving People.

Walkerville and Finetown GC2 Group

At beginning of June Bhuti had a follow up meeting from our March training with the Youth Leaders from Walkerville and Finetown, for encouragement and coaching.  Most of them had met road blocks when it comes to training the second generation.  Those who had successfully trained their youth shared ideas and inspired the others to try different approaches. We then met on the 12^th and 19^th of July to cover the second module: Foundations for a healthy ministry. Over the next 3 months they will be implementing and transferring the principles.

Additional Prayer Items

• Marketing and Recruiting: That the Lord provides us with quality young people for next year for both the Youth Worker and Coaching Team programmes.
• Open doors to new churches and communities
• Growing our support base

Additional Photos

J-Life Staff and interns

Sazi, Ricardo and Dylan with their boys on camp

Meghan on mission, playing with kids in Ext 23

Play time

Riding a Giraffe

Serving lunch at Holiday Club

Kids at Holiday Club @ Heidelberg Methodist

Tired Boy after dancing at Holiday Bible Club

March/April Ministry Update

Hi All.

Greetings from the Kheswas. Here is not so brief summary of what we’ve been up to since the last update.  

J-Life International Summit 2014

Once again the J-Life tribe serving across the African Continent came together for our annual summit. The theme this year was Waging war as heirs of the King. This was a great reminder that we are engaged in spiritual warfare.  We had refreshing times as we spent time praying and worshiping together. We were all encouraged by stories of what God is doing in different parts of the continent.

A worship session during Summit '14

African Initiative Trainees

Shisa nyama in Soweto

African Initiative Training is a 3 month long intensive, where we train those pioneering J-Life into new countries or team members of the existing country teams. This year’s group finished their training at the end of March. Please be praying for them as they transition back home.

Jubs, is a youth pastor, who goes back to implement the training in his local church as well as train youth leaders across the nation for his denomination. He will also be joining the J-Life Zimbabwe team.

Enoch is returning to Tanzania as a regional leader in Shinyanga region. He will be coordinating training in the region as well as assisting with translation and contextualisation of the material.

Betty is going back to Uganda to join James and the team there. Pray that she will a find a place of ministry and be effective.

Julia, did the training as part of her gap year. She starts University later this year. Between now and University she will be volunteering at her local church in Nairobi, Kenya. Pray that her final choice of university will be where God has chosen for her to be.

Ben, goes back to Togo, to help with the in country training of Pastors and Youth Pastors. This will free Mgliwe, J-Life Togo leader, to pioneer J-Life to the neighbouring French speaking countries. Pray that God will strengthen the Togo team and give them men and women of peace in all their pioneering ventures.

Rithou remains at Camp Eden. She will be helping in the office, serving at the campsite and be involved in ministering to the kids and families who live in the farm.  

Walkervile and Finetown GC2.

Summarizing the stages of disciple making process 

I (Bhuti) started training a group of youth leaders form 5 churches from Walkerville and Finetown. Please keep them in prayer as they go to their churches to implement and train others. Also pray for me as I walk alongside them to train and coach.  

My goal for the year is to recruit and run two more of these groups in other communities. Please pray for favor as share the vision with pastors. 

Trainees evaluating their ministries, and planing to implement

I (Jann) have returned to work. This is yet another transition for me in a string of them. I am enjoying the feeling of having a more productive day but need to learn how to balance all my responsibilities well. I have a few exciting new prospects in terms of developing some schools ministry material as well as being involved in the Beta group training process.

Ndumiso is doing well and is such a joy and blessing to us and the community here on Camp Eden. He has been healthy so far but with winter approaching this is a concern. Please pray for good health for all of us but him especially. We were able to spend a week visiting my family down in Port Elizabeth before I got back to work. Fresh sea breezes and his first taste of the sea and sandJ We are really grateful for God’s provision so that we’re able to share him with all of the family.

Things to pray for:

·         Second Intensive for the Beta students: 4-26 June

·         6 weeks internship: 15 June-27 July

·         Sports Camp: 6-12 July
      Marketing and recruiting-All year round.

     Extra Pictures

First time at the beach

First time on a plane

First solid food for a Zulu boy

With a cousin.