Tag Archive for: Apostolic

A Trip to Upington

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Written by Justine Engelbrecht
Upington

Upington

Marcus, Adele, Shane, Casper and the Life Team left for Upington on Wednesday the 16th to encourage Terry and Wendy Archibald’s church plant there. They arrived in time to join Terry and Wendy’s worship and bible study. The team was incredibly encouraged by how intense and earnest the group was, albeit a small one, and they enjoyed a profound worship time together.

Their visit to Upington allowed them to build relationships, share experiences and connect with the local youth, enabling them to enjoy an incredible time of team bonding. They were grateful for the opportunity to lead the Friday Youth where they shared their experiences and understanding, from which they received wonderful feedback.

On Sunday Marcus did the service and he spoke on the character of Peter and how he allowed Jesus to shape and mould him. He encourages us all to take a leaf out of Peter’s book and not to take offence. This was an incredibly inspirational time away which will remain as motivation for the group.

Lesotho: More Leaders Needed

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Written by Ryan Strydom

Map of Lesotho

On the weekend of the 11th to the 13th of November, Mark Meeske and a team of seven travelled to Lesotho for ministry – the last trip to Lesotho of the year (several happen in the year). It was fruitful and saw the team meet up with Motheo Makagnia, a man leading a church in Mafeteng. This is a new relationship and it was the first time that we worked together.

The team left the Cornerstone building at 1:30pm on Friday and arrived at Mafeteng at 7:30pm. After having dinner and enjoying each others’ company, the team got to work on the Saturday morning with some door-to-door evangelism. The Gospel was shared with many and people were invited to the Sunday service. Four teams went out, with the Cornerstone team splitting into two groups with an interpreter.

The afternoon saw the team encouraging and teaching local leaders and interpreters. It was a small group. They were encouraged and there was a lot of engagement around building effectively.

The team gelled well and the evening was spent relaxing and getting to know each other better. Sunday morning the team went to two different churches. Tim Potter preached at the one while Mark preached at the other. By all accounts it went well, there were some Gospel responses, and lots of people responded for healing. By 7:30pm on Sunday the team were back in South Africa.

But there are many challenges the church in Mafeteng is facing and these are prayer points to consider:

1) They’re currently trusting God for a piece of land. They’ve earmarked some land already but they need the finance to get it. Currently they meet in tents.

2) There are more leaders needed to do the work of the ministry. We are instructed to pray for more workers (Luke 10:2) so let us do so! They really need it.

3) General finances are always a challenge in Lesotho.
Consider going to the next Lesotho trip in early 2012. Talk to Mark if you’re looking for details or keep an eye (or ear) out on our usual communication channels.

The Church in Ethiopia: Advancing the Kingdom

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Written by Waldo Kruger
The Semien Mountains in Ethiopia

The Semien Mountains in Ethiopia

On Wednesday the 2nd of November, Oom Hennie and I flew out to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to spend some time with two churches. Our first stop, however, was a town called Debre Zeit.

Here we spent two solid days teaching leaders from the area. We then went back to Addis for another two days of teaching.

It was great connecting with the leaders of the two churches and we were very encouraged in how well they are doing. They are really paying the price for the Gospel and are taking the call to the nations seriously. The leaders there were really appreciative of Hennie’s input and we could see that they soaked it all up.

All in all it was a great trip and we bring back a report that the church in Ethiopia is advancing the Kingdom.

Go! Part 2

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TITLE: Go! Part 2
PREACHER: Marcus Herbert
DATE: 13 November 2011 – Sunday AM

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Go! Part 1

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TITLE: Go! Part 1
PREACHER: Marcus Herbert
DATE: 6 November 2011 – Sunday AM

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Africa Planning: A Privilege, an Inspiration, a Challenge

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Written by Mark Meeske and Lance de Ruig

Recently Central Cornerstone hosted Africa Planning, an event where relating NCMI churches report-back on the work being done into Africa and plans are made for future work. It’s not a closed event and all are welcome to attend. Mark Meeske and Lance de Ruig share their experience of this year’s Africa Planning below.

Mark Meeske:

It was a real privilege to sit with men and women who not only talk about reaching and winning Africa for Jesus, but are actually doing it. It’s always inspiring to hear the stories and testimonies of how God is moving in Africa and the amazing doors that He is opening into this great continent.

What has been achieved for the King and His Kingdom in Africa is phenomenal; but it is nothing compared to what God still has in store for the nations in Africa. We surely are living in the most exciting apostolic time in history. The best truly is still to come.

This is certainly not the time to take our foot off the “apostolic accelerator”. There are churches to plant, nations to reach, a continent to change, and God has chosen to use His Church for this great purpose. As the great St. Augustine once said, “If the world is not your parish, then the parish has become your world”. What a tragedy that would be!

The Africa planning time is a wonderful reminder that the Great Commission is still alive and well; and continues to inspire us to “ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” (Psalm 2:8). What a privilege to see people and nations transformed by the power of the Gospel.

Lance de Ruig:

God is doing incredible things in Africa. From the farthest North to the extremes of West and East, the Spirit is moving across the continent. While there are lots of people doing incredible work in Africa the old adage remains true: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.”

As we went around the room and discussed the work that God is doing we were all encouraged, but at the same time it was glaringly obvious when looking at the map that Africa is huge and needs a lot more workers.

We have covered good ground, but there is still so much more to do, so many more adventures to go on and so many more people who need to hear about Jesus. If you are interested in getting involved there is no lack of opportunities available.

Catch A Wake Up

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TITLE: Catch A Wake Up
PREACHER: Marcus Herbert
DATE: 23 OCTOBER 2011 – Sunday AM

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Partnering With The Apostolic

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TITLE: Partnering With The Apostolic
PREACHER: Mark Bouffe
DATE: 25 SEPTEMBER 2011 – Sunday AM

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Farming God’s Way Taught in Maputo

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Written by Alan Gardner

A wheat field

Recently a team of us visited a couple at Ricatla Seminary in Maputo (Lee and Margret) who have committed to teaching Farming God’s Way (FGW) there for the next five years. It’s a very exciting venture because they have a captive audience for three years while the students are there studying.

One of the subjects the students are learning is FGW borrowed from the South African Theological Seminary (SATS) and they are rolling it out over a number of years. Of course this year’s third year students won’t have the full teaching but they would have at least planted their own Well Watered Garden before they go back to their respective congregations.

Lee and Margret have also committed to visiting the various students in their home locations once they have graduated to encourage them with their extension into their respective communities. Plus, they are busy planting the first comparative garden which consists of nine Well Watered Gardens each with different inputs and ranging from the African Way through to God’s Way.

They were very encouraged by our visit and our interest and we got to help with the Monday and the Tuesday teaching. Looks like a good platform from which to leapfrog into the various communities, we will be watching them closely.

I’m hoping to visit them again before the end of the year.

Click here to download a free study guide from SATS for Farming God’s Way.

Relationships Deepened in Kenya

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by Ryan Strydom

Recently Marcus, Shaun and Ian spent two weeks in Kenya working with churches there that we have had long-standing partnerships with. Report-backs from the guys have been encouraging and it seems there is wonderful fruit being borne on that side of the world.

In general, there are a number of challenges in Kenya that are quite different to what we experience here in South Africa. The challenges really revolve around there often being a lot of religion but very little genuineness.

For example, Christianity is very popular and it’s not uncommon to see business names like “Holy Spirit Chemist” or “Glory Hallelujah Hairdressers” but the reality of relationships and the depth of faith can often be somewhat shallow. There is also a frequent problem where people are looking for finances more than they’re looking for relationships.

But now something new is happening. We’re starting to see the rising of something greater and a new appreciation of a New Testament reality. Our partnerships with the guys in Kenya, and our love for each other, has become so authentic and real. This is a wonderful encouragement!

The trip started with the annual EQUIP time, a three day affair that also saw five couples released to the NCMI team. This was a fantastic moment and there is a lot of excitement around the partnering that is taking place. There was also such a sweetness and depth of God’s presence there which was truly wonderful.

The EQUIP time had a focus on the King and the Kingdom and guys were very excited about the Gospel and the Gospel alone, keeping the main thing the main thing.

Roger and Tanya Warren also spent some time in Nairobi, creating a base from which we can work from there, while Shaun spent some extra time in Nakuru and Ian spent some time in Mombasa.

Relationships were deepened yet again in both Nakuru and Mombasa. We’ve been working into the places mentioned above as well as Lodwar, Kakuma, Lokichoggio, Awendo and Kitali, all up further north.

At one point Shaun preached on “Walking With the Spirit”, which he also preached last night at Central Cornerstone. You can download that here at the website. Worth a listen!

During the time at Mombasa, Ian and Bernie felt there needed to be a focus on the Priesthood of All Believers – encouraging the guys that everyone needs to be involved, the church is not just about pastors or the few doing the work. You can hear all about that in his challenging preach yesterday morning entitled, “A Fruitful Faith Journey”, which can be downloaded here at the website.

Kenya, along with Tanzania, Zanzibar and Lesotho, is a key area that we as a church are working in. Keep your ear to the ground and your eye on our various communication channels if you would like to join in on the next Kenya trip. These trips have a way of truly blessing those that go in many ways and it’s great to be doing what Jesus commanded us to do: go to the nations with the Gospel.

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