Cape
Town May 2014
Tania is a mutual friend of Henk and
myself. Over the years she is known as somebody who connects people. She moved
to Cape Town as the Spirit led her about 5 years ago. She loves Jesus, flows
strong as a prophetic evangelist and she is a good friend of the Lord. Somehow,
God knows how, we arranged for Henk and I to visit her and minister in the
church she serves; Lofdal Church.
Lofdal, we quickly learned has been
experiencing revival for the last 50 weeks since Todd Bentley ministered there.
Many awesome stories and testimonies were birthed during this time. The
congregation is based in Kraaifontein and has amazing projects running.
Kraaifontein is not known for its money, and poverty can be seen most places.
The church started with head pastor Gustav during the Apartheid years and has faced
huge challenges and persecution over the years. But many faithful members that
has stood together as a family through thick and thin through the years has
shaped this amazing story to what it is today. Except for the church building,
they bought a hotel that was meant to be sold as a brothel. Now they host the
many international guests that visit them and they provide a place for the poor
to stay. Many people from the congregation call this place home. Then there is
also a huge piece of land that's being occupied by other members of the church.
Here they also have a school, farming projects and a rehab for twenty people!
The church is very active within the community they serve and we saw a piece of
a picture of how a church could and should look.
Tania picked us up at the airport late
afternoon on the 13th of May and took us to a local mall to enjoy dinner and
discuss our program for our time in Cape Town. We shared many stories and just
enjoyed fellowshipping with her. She is almost a full time missionary serving
at the church, as she has no family with her and works for the love of Jesus
and the people here, many times for no money at all and surviving with the bare
minimum. Still she does this with a great joy! She serves mostly with the
children but is active in almost every area of the church, helping where she
can. Henk and I were honoured to be given a room of our own in the hotel which
the church renovated. It's truly an amazing place!
The first morning we ministered there
at the hotel in a meeting mostly attended by the leaders. Henk shared a
powerful message with them and God ministered to us all. It was truly special
to see how God touched our hearts as we focused again on His love for us. It's
all about the first commandment to love Him and we can only love Him because He
loves us and we know and experience His love!
After the service we had lunch with few
of the leaders. We enjoyed many stories of their congregation and churches in
general in Cape Town. They find that the more traditional churches are hungrier
and open for what God is doing than the "other" churches who just
wants to support their own congregation. It’s sad for me to see
the church pride and politics within the body of Christ. Instead of shaping
each other and grow and learn from each other, we let pride and our own
ministries get in the way. This is not only here in Cape Town, but all over the
world. The Lord is rising up a standard in the body that will inhabit the
promise He has over His children where we will truly love and serve one
another.
In the afternoon we visited the drug
rehabilitation centre. One group of people just finished the rehab course and
another group was in the process of moving in. So some were on their way out
and others in, but they were only about six young men. Henk and I shared a
short testimony with them and then they allowed us to pray over them. We
prophesied over all of them one by one and prayed God's blessing for them. They
said afterwards that they have never seen something like this and were
surprised how we got all this information. We could explain to them that God is
real and He knows everything about them and He loves them and is absolutely
crazy about them. Whilst we prayed many of them got filled with tears in their
eyes as God touched their hearts. To minister Jesus like this on a one on one
basis was real fun for us and it encouraged us a great deal to minister like
this again.
God is again bringing us back to this basic
yet extremely powerful way of ministering one on one. There's millions of
Christians, (never mind the lost!) that has never had the honour and privilege
to hear the teachings and experience the flow of the Spirit that we consider as
a basic and given. God is restoring and has given us a deeper appreciation of
the "small basic" things again. Every vision, every Word suddenly has
the greatest value again, all because of His everlasting love!
We had a short rest and headed to
Stellenbosch to a house church. It was a very nice house with many water
features. We discovered only yesterday that this was Henk's brother's house
church a while ago but he moved to a town more than two hours drive away and
then couldn't attend their services any more.
As we arrived and were greeted and
welcomed at the door, Henk's brother and father stood there to greet him; they
paid him a surprise visit! This was truly a massive blessing for Henk! We
greeted the people and then got escorted to a prayer room at the back of the
house where we could press in to Jesus and pray and soak a little bit before
the ministering started. It is a really nice room!
There was quite a few people there and
we worshipped as the evening started. The worship was powerful and many hungry
people sat in the room. Henk preached about the new thing God is busy doing and
how does it look. Afterwards we prayed for the people and many got healed. I
remember a back pain, headaches and few other things like this got healed. One
lady received a diamond necklace from Jesus!
Another lady struggled with severe
headaches every time she comes in the presence of God. As we prayed it even
shifted in her head. Her husband has prayed numerous times then it goes away
only to return later. I sat with her there after the ministering and started to
pray with her, taking her to Jesus for help. Jesus removed a huge root from her
head and she was healed! He also showed her some amazing things! We then sat
down and enjoyed dinner together and just having awesome fellowship. It was a
very special group of people just loving Jesus and doing amazing things with
Him.
The next morning we had a later start
to the day and went to the school late morning. We got to share about the Holy
Spirit the Gr R kids. Their about five, six years old and extremely cute! They
prayed for each other for healing and they gave their hearts, pains, and hurts
to Jesus. I love kids! They are so open to the Spirit! No wonder the Word
instructs us to become more like them! The teachers also had a turn and we got
to pray and prophesy over them. It was really special to bless them with the
love of Christ and prove that He is very much interested in them! One lady even
experienced an angel standing behind her and the presence of the Lord just
overwhelmed her! Another lady in the office who has been serving in the same church
for 16 years also came for prayer. God touched her as well! We then got to pray
for her entire family!
In the evening we had a meeting with
the young adult small groups. Henk shared about outreaches and how does it look
when heaven invades earth when we reach out. Outreach is a lifestyle!
Afterwards we prayed with the people for a release of the gifts of the Spirit
and a heart for the lost. What made this meeting fun also was one couple and a
Swiss guy named Thomas. They were Spirit filled and Holy Spirit crazy! They are
radical lovers of Jesus! The couple runs a Bible School mixed with a school of
supernatural here in the Cape with great success over the years. Thomas went to
Bethel church in the States and then came to Cape Town with the Bethel
students. He decided to move here and is teaming up with the guys from Iris
Ministries. Those who knows ministry will know that these are two global
powerhouse ministries and anyone who has something to do with these two
ministries will be totally messed up for Jesus for life! Meaning they will be
absolutely crazy for Jesus forever!
What I loved about Thomas was not only
his radical love for Jesus, but his easy theology. They are moving to one of
the most dangerous areas here in Cape Town in August. He says that he is not a
tough guy at all but as they went to this place they realised Jesus shows up,
and when they went at night, He shows up even more! So they decided to move
there! No plan or even a house yet. Just a desperate hunger to have as much of
God as they could possibly get and nothing else matters! He says all this
danger talk is just the enemy trying to exalt himself and its demonic. The
people there are amazing and Jesus loves them! I love it when people lives a
simple easy Gospel like this! Jesus loves the lost and broken hearted!
Friday was our tourist day and Tania
and Henk spoiled me and took me to Cape Town. We went to Table Mountain and
enjoyed a spectacular view of the city and its harbour. They then took me for a
coffee in Camps Bay. Apparently it’s the only affordable thing there! :) .
The cold and wet weather also began to disappear and we went to the world
famous waterfront for window shopping and lunch. It’s surprising to see
the amount of tourists there! I haven’t been here in many years so it was
really special for me that they made all this effort to show me Cape Town. This
is really special to me as it strengtens relationships and we also have
opportunity to appreciate life as a gift from God.
The weekend we were scheduled to
minister at Lofdal Church. Experiencing their 50th week of revival. We spoke
about it and all of us felt in our hearts that it was time for this thing to go
to the next level where people lose their orphan mentality and step into their
identity as a son of the most High. What we discovered was that this is the
prophetic meaning of the number 50! It was confirmation from God for us. Henk
spoke about this during the evening session. Before the session we enjoyed a
cup of coffee in a sort of pastors lounge back stage. Then someone escorted us
into the service carrying our Bible and stuff for us. I felt like the most VIP
person in Cape Town almost! Not something I’m used to, but it is
amazing to see how the congregation honour their guests and make them/us feel
welcome. After Henk shared his message one guy came forward to give his life to
Jesus! We also prayed for many other young people and witnessed how the Lord
touched them. One guy got touched before the preaching because of a word of
knowledge. God showed Henk someone is struggling with their pancreas and this
made his sugar levels unstable. The guy came forward, Henk prayed and God
moved! Another guy struggled with his leg for three years. Right there in front
of the church he started walking up and down, very uncomfortable and in pain at
first but as he walked he got healed and then started to run as he realised
more and more that Jesus healed him! Over the 50 weeks many on fire men and women
of God ministered here in the revival. The thing is Henk came, ministered in a
very calm way and from the heart. It was almost opposite than what they were
used too but still they experienced Gods sweet and amazing presence. After the
service many stayed and just enjoyed the presence of our awesome Father.
We were supposed to have an outreach
the Saturday morning but unfortunately nobody pitched for the event. Most
people were at a funeral on the day. But this gave us quality time to pray. We
prayed for the church and each other. Tania also showed us her passion for the
kids’ ministry. She has awesome puppets and dreams and plans to
do with the kids, but just need that financial backing to get her to live her
dream. She then took us in to a big room at the back of the church where they
apparently have children’s church and the dancing school. We don’t know what was in
that room but the moment you step into the room one can feel Gods presence very
strongly and as you walk deeper into the room it just becomes stronger! We had
fun in there! Just soaking and drinking from Jesus. This kind of set the tone
for the day!
We went to a mall to meet another
friend of Henk and his pastor. When they arrived the pastor told us about his
church. It’s about 30 people strong and consists mostly of musicians.
There’s no structure to the church but it is just family in the
Lord getting together and worship Jesus with all their hearts. They have
experienced stuff in the spirit (with no teaching except from the Spirit) that
most Spirit filled people still dream about whilst listening to all the
teachings. They value the family and the fellowship (as they call it) supports
their people strongly in their marriages and personal lives. Their numbers are
small in church terms, but with the level of maturity in this church it is
absolutely amazing what these guys have done for the greater Cape Town. They
played a huge role in their community by just worshipping God and shifting
things in the spirit! We had an amazing lunch with them and all of us felt
alive and excited after the meeting. God knows, maybe in the future we can work
with them as well as they have a hunger for more of the supernatural and also
outreaches...
The evening service at Lofdal just
added to this Blessed day. Again we went to that presence filled room to pray
for the evening service and then joined the powerful worship. Henk ministered
on the breath/Spirit of God and how He loves us. The presence of God was really
strong and I enjoyed Jesus throughout the service as He ministered to me.
We then decided that for the ministry we would
form a fire tunnel and let the people walk through a line of the ministering
team as they pray for them. This is always a recipe for holy chaos! Holy Spirit
always does something special with these fire tunnels. People got filled with
the Spirit as some laughed, some cried, some just enjoyed Him in their own
unique way. Gold dust started appearing on our hands as we prayed for the
people! An older guy came to the front. He had a stroke a few years back and it
did amazing damage to his body. We prayed with him for a while and he testified
that he felt God touching him. His leg got better as well! He also said he saw
Jesus and He gave him healing! The presence of the Holy Spirit just kept
increasing so we decided to continue ministering! We prayed for people to see
Jesus, for people to receive gold teeth, for people who had the nations and
missions on their hearts. It was a real special evening! After the meeting we
again got to fellowship with the churches leaders and enjoyed dinner with them
as we shared ministry stories and just had a good time in His presence.
A very good friend of ours has moved to
Durbanville to start a church. He is one of the people who can hear Gods voice
the best according to my opinion. A plain Afrikaans boer but he moves extremely
powerful in the Spirit. His stories are crazy on how God uses him. We had the
privilege to minister in his church for the Sunday morning service. The church
is on a wine farm in the mountains overlooking all of Cape Town and its
surroundings. It’s a picture that is usually only seen
in paintings or exclusive travel magazines. The beauty of creation had us
staring in deep appreciation of His marvellous works. Then to realise that He
says we are the crown of creation, meaning we are even more beautiful to Him!
Jesus loves us!
Henk had many things in his mind on
what to share but God kept on putting it on his heart to teach on the
manifestation of the Holy Spirit. This is always an interesting topic! Even
before the service one could feel the anointing and the presence of the Lord.
Its an amazing congregation filled with families and a tangible love. Henk
ministered and then we got to pray for the people. The presence was just so
special and amazing and then to see how God touched the people, was just
priceless. These moments just keeps increasing in value and it has a way of
just deepening your heart that’s hard to describe. It’s falling more and
more in love with our Father and Creator, our precious King. After church we
enjoyed lunch with our friend and his family and it was good to see what God is
doing through them and in them!
The last service was at Lofdal and the
church was rather full. The atmosphere was set up for something awesome. The
worship was divine and I saw how we worship and exalt Jesus in the throne room
of heaven together with all of heaven. Jesus was high and lifted up; every
breath bringing glory to the risen King. It was such a holy atmosphere. I also
discovered that holy has nothing to do with a frowning serious face! Jesus is
holy and He is extreme!!! Henk saw the Lion of Juda walking the community and
marked His territory in the church, claiming what is rightfully His.
The Lion roared and the sound
demolished darkness and declared sovereignty over all in the spirit. The
atmosphere was so thick with the presence of God that Henk could barely walk or
talk during the service as he spoke about Gods glory. Throughout the service we
prayed for people but as Gods presence became thicker, people dropped to the
ground and got touched and healed by God without anybody touching or praying
for them. Joy broke loose and yokes were lifted. Some people call it chaos, God
calls it order because He got to sit on the throne and be God. Order is when
Jesus is first. How that looks will differ from our perspectives sometimes. I
know God is right so I need to change my perspective to fit in with God; not
the other way around!
This is what that order did:
A guy who was a victim of a smash and
grab was tortured by fear. He had physical pain because of it. God healed him!
A lady suffering from pain because of arthritis now has no more pain. Another
lady struggling with lower back pain for 5 years got completely healed! Another
got healed in their ankle after 3 years in pain. Another suffered with her back
for twenty years with disks and tissue that was damaged or missing. Now that is
something of the past as God touched her!
We had an amazing and glorious time in
Cape Town. People received us with open arms and hearts and many invited us to
come back and even minister in their churches! God did amazing things and it is
something I will always treasure in my heart. More importantly, I am more in
love with Jesus than I was a week ago and the people who were with us I believe
can say the same thing. So in heavens eyes this was a successful outreach!
Thank You Jesus for everything!
