The organising committee of the Karoo Mighty Men Conference 2014 on stage last weekend.

The glory of the Lord was revealed both materially and in spirit during the Karoo Mighty Men Conference 2014 (KMMC) last weekend.

From the sunsets that coloured the skies in brilliant hues of blue, gold, pink, and gunmetal grey, to the souls saved, relationships restored, perfectly-timed encounters, and flawlessly arranged progression of messages delivered by speakers who had no idea of the content or topic of each other’s teachings; the work of God was evident.

Johnny Louw, who spoke at KMMC on Saturday night and has attended all the Mighty Men Conferences throughout South Africa, says KMMC 2014 was a special event.

“I have spoken to many men since the end of the conference and many of them call it the best yet.

“There was a combination of the organising committee, speakers, worship leaders and volunteers that God put forward, which worked in a special way.

“The speakers and worship leaders know each other in a brotherhood-in-Christ relationship in which there is a unity that the Lord commanded a blessing through.

Jannie Moolman (event coordinator of the KMMC 2014) introduces the speakers and worship leaders, (from left) Leon Schoeman, Afrika Mhlophe, Johnny Louw, Dewald Gouws, Joe Niemand and Retief Burger.

“I want to congratulate the organising committee for the excellence in which KMMC 2014 was prepared, controlled and structured, which set the stage for the speakers and worship leaders to be able to communicate being led by the Holy Spirit.

“It was a spirit-filled conference. Bless the Lord and all the glory to Him,” says Louw.

Retief Burger says this year’s KMMC was an incredible experience.

“As worship leader I’ve seen so much growth in the men over the years. The worship has been much deeper and the praise much louder! 

“The organising committee was brilliant and the programme flowed smoothly. 

“We had God-encountering moments and many radical conversions. I’m thankful to be part of this amazing event,” says Burger. 

Jannie Moolman, event co-ordinator, says the organising committee agrees that this year’s conference was anointed with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

“The entire conference flowed and went according to plan without any hiccups.

“We felt the hand of God at work, it was very special even as far as the weather was concerned, with rain letting-up on Thursday and magnificent conditions throughout the rest of the weekend.

“At the post-conference organising committee meeting there were many tears of gratitude and few members had the words to adequately express our appreciation to the Lord.”

Moolman says KMMC 2014 was marked by a strong sense of unity and focus among both speakers and worship leaders.

“The fact that the programme was less busy and centred exclusively around the four speakers’ sessions also helped concentrate attention on the presentation of God’s word.”

Pastor Eldin Rudolph from the Celebration Centre in Port Alfred says one of the biggest blessings for him was seeing the sunsets and beauty of the Karoo, as well as being able to sit out under the night stars praising God and seeing grown men’s lives change as they received Jesus Christ as their saviour, dismissing bitterness and resentment from their lives.

“We had wonderful opportunities for fellowship. We sat around the fire with neighbouring campers singing songs accompanied by men playing guitars until two-o’-clock in the morning.

“It was also heartening, as one walked through the campsite, to experience and see the commitment of people praying in groups and sincerely seeking God’s face ,” says Rudolph.

Pastor Stef Davi, of the Full Gospel Church in East London says for him the most enjoyable aspect of KMMC was the fellowship and the way the Spirit of God brought him fresh revelations of old teachings through people at the conference.

“Preparing meals and eating together, and chatting together provided a rich time of connecting – a time that we wouldn’t normally have at church – especially since we arrived a day early on the Thursday, which allowed us to have a relaxed time enjoying each other’s company.

“Our group really was blessed by KMMC 2014,” says Davi. 

Werner Gerber, met KMMC Komitee lid, Ruthi van der Merwe, by di Karoo Mighty Men.

Ek het n moeilike skool loopbaan gehad. Ek is disleksies en leer en lees was nie een van my goeie punte nie en dit het gelei tot erge depressie en selfmoord neigings. Die laaste selfmoord poging het amper my lewe gekos; ek het seker so 50 slaap pille gedrink en het drie dae later in die intensiewe eenheid wakker geword en die Here het daar met my gepraat. Maar ek het nie geluister nie en my na drank en meisies gedraai totdat ek my meisie aan n asma aanvaal aan die dood af gestaan het en na die terugslag het dinge erger hand uit geruk. Ek het gesukkel om my verhouding met my meisie wat vandag my vrou is te laat werk en dis toe die Here my in n droom aangeraak het en ek my lewe vir die Here gegge het daai selfde nag in my woonstel.

Nadat ek gedoop wasb het ek ‘n vuur in my hart gekry om die woord van die Here te versprei en nadat ek en my vrou getroud is het ons deel geraak van die ‘Walk for Jesus’ wat die Here gebruik het om mense se geloof weer aan die brand te steek.

Ek probeer soveel as moontlik die MMC’s by te woon. By die 2010 MMC het ek besef ek moet van die dinge ontslae raak wat my aandag aflei want my gesin en huwelik hand daarvan af.

Paintball veld
Ek het ‘n paintball veld gehad wat ek Soldiers for Jesus genoem het & dis hoe ek vandag die naam ‘Soldier for Jesus’ het.

Ons doen opelig dienste, praise en worship sessies, plant kruise op Goeie Vrydae en bid vir die siek.

My roeping is om met jong mense te praat oor selfmoord, depressie en om hulself fisies uit te leef.

MMC 2012 het my en my skoonpa se lewe verander; ek het besef dat huwelik op geloof gebou moet wees en dat die man die gesin na God toe moet lei.

MMC het my nie net ‘n man gemaak nie vir my vrou nie, maar ‘n pa vir my dogtertjie en ‘n ‘warrior’ in geloof.

Die Here het in 2010 my ‘n visie gegee om na Namibia toe te gaan met niks anders as bybels nie. Vir twee jaar het ek die Here gevra oor die visie en ek het die gegrou on my geloof: hoe gaan ek na n vreemde land, waar ek niemand ken, sonder geld, sonder bank kaarte, sonder petrol en sonder kos — NET bybels & koffie???

Ek het toe n man ontmoet; Dewald Allers, wat dieselfde visie gekry het en in 2012 het ons vetrek Namibia toe, net soos die Here gese het – met niks net bybels! Ons het bybels ontvang van mense af wat ons nie geken of eers geweet het van die visie nie, daar sou bybels voor ons deur staan wat ons nie geweet het van wie of waar vandaan dit gekom het nie. Daar was so +- 1 000 bybels.

Op ons trip het mense ons gestop en gesê: “Die Here het vir my gesê om jou bakkie se tank vol te maak.”Mense het hul huis vir ons oop gemaak en hul beddens vir ons aangebied terwyl hul op die vloer moes geslaap het omdat hul, hul laaste vir ons gegee het. Deur Upington was dit verskriklik warm en nie ‘n wolk in sig nie maar toe verskyn ‘n enkele wolk oor my bakkie gehang en gereen en ons verligting gegee aan die hitte net soos in Eksodus in die bybel. Ons het die woord versprei met die Jesus film, dat shebeens leeg was want die mense het ‘n honger vir die Here gehad en wou eerder hul lewens aan die Here oorgee, Mense is gedoop, siekes genees, ‘n dowe man kon weer hoor, ‘n krippel man weer loop en dis als op film op geneem. Prys die Here, dis net die Here wat sulke dinge kan laat gebeur en ek is net sy instrument!

Ons het 5 340 km in geloof gedoen en met R5 000 terug gekom wat toe gebruik ons vir ‘n tent kerk.

KMMC 2014
En nou — MMC 2014: Wat ‘n awesome diens! Ek het elke praise en worship sessie gehuil. Die Here het my herinner dat ek n roeping het: “Be the soldier I called you to be!” Die kamp het my geinspireer om my dogtertjie te wys wie Jesus is en dat ek die voorbeeld moet stel. Ek het my huwelik op gedra aan die Here, waar dit voel asof daar nie meer hoop is nie, ek het magteloos gevoel om my huwelik te red, maar die Here het gesê Hy is in beheer, my vrou is vir ‘n 2de keer in ‘n jaar se tyd afgedank en sy is nie gesond nie. Ek kan skaars als betaal maar my geloof is in Hom wat hemel en aarde gemaak het. Hy is my laaste en enigste uitweg. MMC Karoo is baie besonders want my pa het sy hart vir die Here gegge in 2011 en my pa het vir my gesê hy is trots op my en dat hy my eer vir my geloof en dit het my goed laat voel. Dit was lekker om saam my pa te kon huil.

My vriend Piper James het n foto en beskrywing in sy boek – The Cloth – geplaas wat my motiveer: Proclaiming Africa for Jesus — n Visie om 5 000 bybels in Africa in te vat en die woord te verkondig en om bybels verniet weg te gee want ons geloof behoort nie gedruif te wees deur geld nie maar deur geloof in die Here se beloftes, my visie is om in geloof te reis na lande wat die woord nodig het.

Ek vra nie vir geld nie; net vir bybels. God sal alles voorsien!

Ek is ook besig om n warrior kruis te dra om mense bewus te stel van hoe kort tyd is en om jou kruis op te neem en te dra wanneer die Here ons roep.

Ek wil ook jong mense bewus maak van die kruis wat elkeen van ons het en dat die toekoms van ons geloof in hulle hande het en dat ons nie moet toelaat dat ons geloof bedreig word nie. Die geloof in Jesus Christus kan net uitsterf as ons terug staan, ons koppe draai en dit toelaat.

Jesus liefde,

Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

Soldier for Jesus,
Werner Gerber

Speaker Johnny Louw urging men to “Lambano”– take hold of the promises of God.

Johnny Louw who ministered to the men on Saturday night was the first to shout “Lambano” – the Greek word meaning to take hold and receive – the promises of God, during his message to KMMC, which corresponded to a theme that seemed to run through all the speakers’ messages: that the way forward is for men to boldly act in their identity as followers of Christ and children of God.

Louw encouraged the men to receive the free gifts of God, which are eternal life (Romans 6:23), righteousness (Romans 5:17) and the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

He motivated men to: realise the will of God perfectly in their lives; take hold (Lambano) of their inheritance and “reign as a child of the King”; and know who they are in Jesus Christ.

Louw says without the speakers’ knowledge or preparation a theme flowed through all the presentations.

“The Holy Spirit took control of the stage to bring the fullness of God to His sons. The Lord comforted His boys this weekend with a message of love, reconciliation and power so that we know who we are, and we can go out and fulfil our destiny in Christ.”

Louw agrees with other speakers that the four-year-old KMMC seemed to come of age this year.

The weekend started off with a special anointing when between one-and-two-thousand men stood up from their seats and stepped forward to accept salvation.

Leon Schoeman, from TBN Africa who delivered the message on Friday night, says like many others he felt that KMMC 2014 was a “different type of Mighty Men Conference”.

He says the organisation of the event was excellent and the racial mix of those attending was more representative than previous years.

“However, from a spiritual point of view something opened up, which was amazing to be part of and absorb.

“I believe God wants to manifest and show Himself as supernatural and if men walk in the faith of who He is they will be able to walk in the miracles of the New Testament.

Leon Schoeman leads a large crowd of men making a commitment to follow Jesus.

“If people would realise that if they can walk in faith in their identity in Christ, they will be able to overcome and conquer all.

“Our identity is Christ in us the hope of glory, His ability is our ability.

“God has given us dominion over all things. Jesus said: ‘he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do’ (John 14:12).

“I believe God wants to release His power and show His real ability to His children and through His children, which we saw glimpses of at KMMC 2014. There were healings and deliverances, and many things that had kept men in bondage were broken.

“I have never experienced over a thousand men stepping forward as one to commit their lives to the Lord. It was so powerful and wonderful to see what the Lord is doing in men’s lives.

Schoeman says it felt like Friday night at KMMC was God’s rescue mission, Saturday morning His knowledge impartation, Saturday night His equipping exercise, and Sunday morning His review and sealing of the lessons learned.

“God put the whole thing together and deserves all the glory, because it is all about Him,” says Schoeman.

Jannie Moolman, event co-ordinator, says the mass conversion of KMMC men giving their hearts to the Lord was the highpoint of the conference.

“The organising committee always said if only one person is saved the conference would be worthwhile, because there would be joy in heaven, but to have more than a thousand men accepting Jesus Christ as their saviour was more than we could ever have anticipated.”

Another highlight of KMMC 2014, according to Schoeman, was the counselling and baptism tent, where men were able to be baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit immediately after they gained salvation.

“The fact that men could be baptised, so that they could die to their flesh and be activated in the spirit to Christ living in them was a blessing,” says Schoeman. 

Another subject that most of the speakers emphasised was the importance of the relationships in their lives, from the relationship with their Holy Father to the relationships with family, friends and neighbours.

“I had so many testimonies from fathers and sons saying that the word was a blessing to them and that their relationships were restored,” says Schoeman.

Afrika Mhlophe, who spoke at last year’s KMMC and addressed this year’s conference about God being the beginning and end of our governance, our first and final authority, says KMMC 2014 was unique in what God did.

“We were all a bit apprehensive about Angus Buchan not being at KMMC 2014, nevertheless it turned out a powerful experience for all involved.

“I enjoyed speaking and interacting with the other speakers. We not only shared a platform, but shared bread and fellowship, which was powerful.

“It was not only the men that attended the conference who grew in their relationships with the Lord and each other, but the speakers too.”

Mhlophe says he has found that when people make time to be in God’s presence for an extended time, like camping for a weekend, they experience something very different from what they ordinarily experience at a church service.

“The sacrifices that are made by people to spend an entire weekend with God do make a big difference to their encounter with the Lord,” says Mhlophe.

Retief Burger, who was a worship leader and presented the Sunday morning family session at KMMCs 2014 says the main theme that stood out for him was leadership.

“If a man can change, so can his family, community, church and society. Therefore, men who lead from servanthood and deep biblical convictions can make a huge difference,” says Burger! 

About 150 church leaders attended a groundbreaking partnership meeting with KMMC organisers.

This year’s KMMC took a huge step forward in partnering with local churches when a meeting of church leaders who attended the conference was held.

According to Dave Turner, one of the local organisers of the KMMC and a lay pastor in Middelburg, it was an extremely positive gathering, the result of which will provide the KMMC with a core of church leaders from all over the country and further afield in Africa that will promote the event among their congregations, communities and other church leaders.

“The Lord laid it on my heart that the KMMC organising committee should work closer with local church leaders in a partnership in the gospel to the benefit of all involved,” says Turner.

He emphasises that the KMMC honours church leaders as people who have laid down their lives and given-up careers to serve God’s people in a full-time capacity doing a job that is among the most difficult in the world, incorporating the roles of teacher, counsellor, authority, janitor, preacher, organiser, visionary and shoulder to cry on all at the same time.

“We believe a partnership between the local churches and our ministry organisation will form a net that will bring in an abundant harvest for the Lord.”

Turner points out that such a partnership would be mutually beneficial. From the KMMC side it will help bring people to the event and provide church families for the men who have experienced conversion at the conference and have a need for guidance and fellowship on their road to discipleship when they return home.

“For church leaders the benefit of the partnership is that the groups of men from their churches attending KMMC will return vitalised and encouraged, which will help lift the spiritual temperature of the church.

“Secondly, it is a good way for church leaders to participate in the growth in the body of Christ, because if church members invite friends, colleagues and neighbours to attend KMMC and they are saved then the chances are they will return from KMMC to attend their church.

“The third benefit of KMMC for church leaders is that many of the topics that are difficult to take up and teach at a congregational level, like the need for tithing, commitment to local churches, submitting to authority, and serving under the church leader, are taken up at the inter-denominational, extra-congregational level of KMMC,” says Turner.

He believes the partnership benefits extend beyond KMMC and local churches to the advance of God’s kingdom itself.

“People attending KMMC gain a broader perspective and understanding of the necessity for unity between the different churches and necessity for members of the body of Christ to work together in advancing God’s kingdom,” explains Turner.

Pastor Stef Davi, who ministers at the Full Gospel Church in Sterling in East London and attended the meeting agrees that there is much scope for church leaders to form a partnership with KMMC in the gospel for the sake of God’s kingdom.

“I believe the meeting was God-inspired, because at the end of the day we are all working as co-labourers with Christ to win souls into the kingdom.

“If we encourage people, especially the unsaved, to attend the KMMC and they are converted we all benefit from the growth as there has to be a continuation of the process of guiding the newly converted and bringing them to maturity, so that hopefully next year more men attend KMMC.”

Davi says the meeting was also beneficial in giving church leaders the opportunity to interact and fellowship, which often seemed like divine appointments.

Pastor Eldin Rudolph from the Celebration Centre in Port Alfred agrees saying that the diversity of leaders in the body of Christ allowed for meetings between people who might not normally cross paths.

“Besides the aim of getting a network going between church leaders and the KMMC the meeting proved to be an opportunity for us to meet some strategic people who could help us with plans for our church.

“For instance, we have been working for more than six months on plans for a college in our church and wondering in which direction to proceed. However, God brought people across my path at the meeting who could offer us advice and solutions.

“There was also good fellowship and connections made among the church leaders during which we could encourage each other and learn what other pastors are doing and going through,” says Rudolph.

Both Rudolph and Davi agree that the church leaders’ meeting could become an integral and fruitful part of the KMMC in future years.       

Turner says KMMC has formed a database of the 130 church leaders that attended the meeting and shared their hearts around such a partnership. The KMMC organising committee will maintain contact with them throughout the year to build relationships and grow the partnership.        

Turner believes the meeting shifted the unity between local church leaders and KMMC at a spiritual level.

The KMMC encourages any other church leaders who would like to join the partnership to contact Dave Turner, Phone (049) 8421911, Mobile 0798791848, or Email: devlei@vodamail.co.za

Johan Muller of Bloemfontein was one of many men who were baptised in a special bath outside the prayer tent.

Not even the cold nights could stop men from seizing the opportunity to be baptised last weekend during the Karoo Mighty Men Conference near Middelburg.

After the opening Friday night meeting in which more than a thousand men responded to an altar call to commit their lives to Jesus, hundreds of men streamed into the prayer tent where KMMC committee member Lance Walton encouraged them to go home with the “full package which the Lord offers you” which he identified as salvation, baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. On the Saturday night evangelist Johnny Louw made another salvation call to which many men responded and he urged new believers to get baptised. More men responded to a salvation call by Retief Burger at the closing family service on Sunday.

And so from Friday night until after the Sunday meeting, many men went under the water in the baptism bath outside the prayer tent, outwardly testifying to what Jesus had done in them as they died to their old lives and arose new in Him. Many followed up with prayer for baptism in the Holy Spirit where many experienced powerful encounters with God.

“The response was phenomenal,” said Walton who oversaw the ministry in and around the prayer tent.

One group of men who were impacted by Johnny Louw’s call for men to be baptised before they went home decided that they wanted to do something special. On their drive home to Secunda they found a suitable farm dam near Colesburg where three of them were baptised.

Pictured after their baptism in a farm dam near Colesberg, (from left) Anton van der Walt, Micheal van der Walt and Marinus Ferreira.

Prolife activist Peter Throp with his ‘pro-life-mobile’ which he drove from Cape Town to the KMMC 2014 near Middelburg.

Cape Town pro-life activist Peter Throp, who has been praying almost daily outside an abortion clinic in the city, was one of the thousands of men who attended the Karoo Mighty Men Conference last weekend.

I asked Throp what had led him to attend the event so far from his home city.

“I think I am searching for the same thing that all the other guys have come here are searching for: direction, confirmation, fellowship. The one big word in our faith is hope. We live in hope that everybody will find the true road and not swallow the lies that are being fed to us from the World Bank, the secular world. I think that’s what led me to come here.”

Asked whether he had found the direction and fellowship he was seeking, he replied: “Yes, I think so. My friend [pointing to a fellow camper he met at the KMMC] stepped on his bank card and bent it and was a bit concerned about going back on the bus to Cape Town and buying food on the road. And somebody walked up to him yesterday and stuck R150 in his hand and said ‘God told me to give you this’. And he didn’t know about the bank card.

Contentment
“I think nobody goes away from here without something. And I think I got some contentment about coming to the Mighty Men.”

Throp said he is combining his Mighty Men visit with a two week mission round-trip aimed at spreading the truth about abortion in smaller towns.

“It’s a lonely mission. An it’s direction for the mission that I was seeking particularly in coming here. ‘Where does God want me to carry on? Where does he want me to go? Because I’ve had a feeling since the beginning of March that God seems to be directing me away from praying outside the abortion clinic. I get the feeling that like Romans Chapter 1, God is saying ‘I’ve handed them over to their lusts’. 

“Maybe he wants me to promote the truth outside schools or things like that where the youth can see the true message and go and search for the knowledge. The knowledge is all over the Internet: both sides of the argument are there and the youth have the intelligence to weigh up the truth,” he said. 

Holocaust
Throp said that whenever man takes away dignity from a section of society, such as happened in apartheid and slavery, there is a risk of a holocaust. This is what the world faces today because of failing to extend dignity to unborn human beings in the womb. 

“It’s a shame that South Africa has decided to join that process. We should know better because we went through apartheid,” he said. 

Throp said his current mission plan is to stop in smaller towns and park the ‘pro-life-mobile’ in a prominent places where it can attracts a lot of attention.

“And it does [attract attention] — even to the extent where one man asked me whether I actually perform abortions, which is laughable. Any way, then I walk the business disrict and I hand out tracts on abortion and prolife stickers.”

Pointing to the cross which forms part of his Value Life mission’s emblem, he said: “It is a cross for God and He reveal himself to everyone who views that cross. And we hope they come to the Lord and to the salvation of the Lord through being able to see that cross.” 

Throp said the first few days of his trip from Cape Town were a little hampered by rain.

“I’m hoping to have no rain on the way back and to hand out a lot more tracts and to make many more contacts.”

Abortion debate too hot to handle for ANC leaders. (PHOTO: Daily Maverick)

Today, 1 May 2014, ChristianView Network is upping the reward to R6000 to anyone who can find an ANC parliamentarian to defend their abortion law on public radio debate for this election. With hundreds of parliamentarians campaigning on Workers Day and the weekend for votes – you would think that should be easy money. But ten years have passed since we first offered a R2000 reward, advertised repeatedly and upped in 2007 to R5000, when the Constitutional court sent the abortion amendment bill back to parliament because of failure to consult the public. Nobody claimed it despite numerous radio stations and newspapers advertising the prize. Why?

What was the ANC response? Jacob Zuma as deputy president in 2004 said: “We will engage in public debate, but we will not engage in abuse of public debate”. Can anyone ask him what he means? Asked if they would allow a free vote, parliamentary health spokesperson James Ncgulu, said “What is a free vote? I don’t know anything about this in my life.” The ANC also refused to allow a debate in parliament on the abortion amendment bill to allownurses to do abortions and to do abortions in small clinics – despite the ACDP, UCDP, IFP, FF, ID and DA and the nurses union DENOSA opposing it – and University of Cape Town students waving ‘Why no debate?’ placards as they drove in.

Is the ANC only evading debate on abortion? No. On 29 April 14, the ANC used its majority to effectively delay parliamentary committee debate on Jacob Zuma’s Nkandla expenditure until after the elections. On 13 March 14, Helen Zille, challenged Jacob Zuma to an election debate on jobs – he refused. Zuma also refused to debate Zille in the last elections on a set of 10 key – despite previously saying he would debate anyone anything at any time. In 2007, ACDP MP Steve Swart protested the hypocrisy of parliaments year theme of ‘deepening the debate’, while the controversial abortion debate was refused.

Why is the ANC afraid to debate abortion, Nkandla and jobs? Do they doubt their own policies? Do they fear they won’t be able to answer arguments?

Are they afraid they will lose their jobs as did Jennifer Fergusson MP who refused to vote for abortion?

Lost culture of debate
On April 14, former ANC leader Professor Raymond Suttner decried the ‘scorched earth’ policy of the Zumaists and said “Any attempt to recover democracy must also retrieve the culture of debate.”

Almost one and a half million unborn South Africans have been killed under the ANC’s abortion laws. Many would be 17 years old this year. But they will never vote. Independent polls found the abortion law is the ANC’s most unpopular policy – with more than 9/10 South African’s opposing it – and most especially their own constituency. But the ANC don’t want to talk
about it – least of all at election time.

But this is not just about abortion. It is about real democracy versus corrupted democracy. The ANC, as the richest political party in the world, can advertise its slogans more than all other parties (thanks to donations from BEE-enriched former ANC politicians, some of them billionaires) – but they are too cowardly to debate and let the voters hear both sides. And now they want voters to return those non-debating MPs back to parliament with no freedom to vote according to their conscience or the majority mandate of their own constituency. Parliamentary democracy has been manipulated into a sham – a much bigger corruption scandal than Nkandla. That is why abortion on demand is legal in South Africa.

If an ANC parliamentarian asks for your vote on May 7th: Ask them if they will defend their abortion law in public radio debate? The first person to find one, gets R6 000.

Christians throughout South Africa are intensifying prayer and worship initiatives in a bid to shift the spiritual atmosphere as the May 7 election draws closer.

In Pretoria, The Way, a broadly-based network of 200 youth leaders, has got the go-ahead to host #GAPnight2014, a multicultural prayer and praise event at the Union Buildings (@ SAPS Memorial) on the night before the elections. Some 2 000 young people are expected to attend.

“We want to make a statement that we CAN and WANT TO build the necessary bridges and cross the divides some deem impossible. We will pray towards a country where our differences aren’t a threat anymore, but is something to be celebrated – a country that can focus on what is important; the blessing of God on our people,” say the organisers.

The Way have been working together in this network for almost a decade. For the past few years they have presented “Bergbid/ Prayer on the Mount” at Fort Klapperkop, which has been very successful as a united effort.

The #GAPnight2014 evening will include cross-cultural praise and worship and the various prayer points will be lead by leaders from the different churches represented there.

See #GAPnight2014 promo video: 

More information is available from Janine van Niekerk – 082 885 7732 or JT Terblanche – 084 671 4991 and from #GAPnight2014, FB groep: TheWaySA; Twitter: @GAPnightSA.

In Cape Town worshipers will attend a Burn 24-7 event today (Friday, May 2) to worship and declare God’s governance over South Africa. The event will take place from 19:00 to 09:00 tomorrow at Bay Community Church, Muizenburg. (See Facebook page).

Port Elizabeth Christians will unite at a 24 hour Election Praise and Worship event over the election period: it will run continuously from 7pm on May 6 to 7pm on May 7 and is open to all.

“Besides uniting in casting our democratic vote for party and person, we are also uniting together to celebrate the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. We will celebrate the changes and growth in this city that we have been experiencing because of His love, grace and mercy and the positive changes that are still to happen. This irrespective of the negative publications and comments we sometimes read and hear about,” say the organisers — a group of individuals from various churches throughout the city.

One of the venues for the 24 hour Election Praise and Worship is the Walmer West Primary School, in William Moffet Expressway, just to the left of the robots between Fig Tree Spur and Maritime Motors. There will be tea, coffee, soup and hot dogs available to buy throughout the 24 hours.

The event is hosted by individuals from various churches throughout the city. They say they want to see the city united together, praying, praising and worshiping God without boundaries or city limits. They believe that God has united them for this purpose. This can be seen in the way events, over the past few years have just fallen into place, they say.

They also believe that God is birthing this same seed in other groups throughout the city and He is moving mightily through them as well.

More information is available from:

Peter Gooch (Burn 24/7 in Port Elizabeth)    083 657 4213
Ellenor Lotter                                                    082 497 5746
Sandy Peasnell                                                   072 650 2784
Laverne Gadiah                                                 079 503 7225
Anthony le Roux                                               083 278 3533                              

In Bloemfontein we have 7 days on the Wall from May 4 to 10, reports Hannelene Mostert. We are inviting believers all over town and surrounding areas to pray with us for the election, spiritual awakening, salvation of the lost and social justice. You can contact us at rosecity.prayermovement@gmail.com, she says.

SA prayer networks
Meanwhile, writing on behalf of various SA prayer networks, Daniel Brink reports that thousands of Christians across the nation have been engaging in focussed prayer for the National Elections over the last 80 days. With just days left before the election he urges every Christian Leader to encourage his/her followers to engage in intensified prayer and fasting for the country, from Monday, May 5 until Wednesday, May 7.

More than a thousand men come forward to give their lives to Jesus Christ on the first night of the Karoo Mighty Men Conference last weekend. Throughout the weekend men responded to the powerful presence of the Living God at the conference.

Glorious Karoo sunsets, the tangible presence of God and a multicultural gathering of some 20 000 spiritually hungry men made for a memorable and life-changing weekend on Rusoord farm near Middelburg last weekend. The links below give a small taste of the wonderful things God did in the hearts of men who came from all over South Africa to attend the 4th Karoo Mighty Men Conference.

THE STORIES:

Glorious unity of the Spirit evident in KMMC 2014

‘Lambano’ the promises of God

Ex cop set free of racism, ‘forgiven’ by KMMC speaker

Dream bus trip leads to transformed lives

‘Ons het 2 nuwe seuns!’

Many got baptised during Mighty Men weekend

Vlooi will challenge men to ‘adopt’ boys for KMMC 2015

Prolife activist seeks direction at Karoo Mighty Men

My Getuienis: Werner Gerber, Soldier for Jesus

Partnership with church leaders launched at KMMC

Angus Buchan.

Writing in his blog, South African farmer evangelist Angus Buchan, calls on Christians to stand up an be counted at the polls tomorrow.

In a post written on April 25 he says: “As I write this letter the Lord Jesus has impressed very strongly on my heart that we, as Christians, need to take up our responsibilities in the home, in the workplace  and in the Nation. South Africa goes to vote on the seventh of May 2014.

“We need to vote! Even if we are not of this World, yet we are still very much part of this dying World.

“We need to vote for a party that stands up for “Truth and Righteousness”.  A party that is unashamedly Christian in it’s manifesto.

“As the Word of God proclaims in Isaiah 32: 17,  that where righteousness prevails, there we shall find peace.

“We have an obligation, a duty,  to vote for a party that stands up in parliament and says:  “We are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek “. (Romans 1:16).”

IMAGE: SA Zionist Federation Facebook Page (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Originally published in Jerusalem Post

The South African Zionist Federation on Sunday disputed an Israeli media report that it endorsed the African Christian Democratic Party, a conservative Christian party. According to the report, which appeared in Haaretz several days ago, ZionFed had endorsed the ACDP in an email to members, listing the parties running in Wednesday’s general election in order of their support for Israel.

Jewish leaders in South Africa, however, disputed the report.

Claims that ZionFed endorsed any specific party are “mischievous and dishonest,” Zev Krengel, the President of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, told the Jerusalem Post Sunday evening, echoing similar remarks made by his brother Avrom, who heads the Zionist group.

“It’s all a storm in a teacup created by one mischievous journalist who misquoted everyone, including the Zionist Federation,” Avrom Krengel said, denying having endorsed any specific party. “ All we did was put together a very carefully researched analysis of each party’s policies towards Israel. Any voter who wants to incorporate that into their decision making may do so.”

“This is something that is done in democracies across the world,” he added.

ANC “not a friend”
Two graphs rating the various parties running in the election according to their stance on Israel were also uploaded to ZionFed’s Facebook page. The ACDP garnered a rank of 10, or “good friend,” while the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was ranked at two or “not a friend.” The Democratic Alliance, a party closely aligned with the Jewish vote, was given a rank of seven and was termed a “friend.”

One of the graphs was titled “are you voting for a friend of Israel?” The scores were based on the parties’ policy and approach to Israel, public support for Israel and for their track record in combating anti-Israel activities.

Both Krengels expressed skepticism regarding comments attributed to South African Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj, who was cited by the Israeli newspaper as saying that a political endorsement based on concern for Israel “raises the question [of] where does the first loyalty of South African Jews lie?” “I would say that Jews should be patriotic, especially if they live in a democracy. And therefore their concern should be, in terms of their vote, what’s good for the country – not what’s good for Israel. You have to vote in the country in which you live – it has nothing to do with Israel,” Haaretz quoted Maharaj.

When asked about Maharaj’s words, Avrom Krengel said that he did not believe he would have made such a statement, while his brother said that “It’s just so unlike Mac to bring in the dual loyalty” and called the official “a very good friend of the Jewish community.”

Speaking to the Post on Monday morning, Maharaj said that when he had spoken to Haaretz he was under the impression that ZionFed was “giving advice as to how members of the Federation should vote” based on parties track records towards Israel.

“I think the Jewish community throughout the world wherever they exist have shown a record that they owe their loyalty to the country where they stay. The question of their attachment to Israel is a secondary issue but not the primary attachment,” Maharaj said.

Asking people to vote based on how parties approach Israel is the “wrong type of perspective because it endangers the fact that the Jewish people in South Africa too are loyalty citizens of South Africa.” No organization should recommend voting based for a party solely based on an issue like Israel, he said.

“I believe that the Jewish community is an integral part of the South African community, their citizenship is unquestioned and that’s where matters stand,” he said.

Apolitical
“The SA Jewish Board of Deputies for its 110 year history has remained apolitical,” a spokeswoman for the group said. “Our ‘Make us Count’ election campaign has exposed SA Jewry to several political parties, providing exposure on issues of relevance to our community. At no time have we endorsed any of these parties.”

Many Jews have been critical of the ANC over its approach to Israel.

In 2012, Ebrahim Ebrahim, South Africa’s deputy foreign minister and a member of the ANC, called on his countrymen not to visit Israel, stating that the Jewish state is “an occupier country which is oppressing Palestine, so it is not proper for South Africans to associate with Israel.”

“We discourage people from going there except if it has to do with the peace process,” he was quoted as saying in the local press.

The party’s International Solidarity Conference issued a declaration, hosted on the party website, “support[ing] the call of civil society’s BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign.”

A photo montage of the Lesotho Bible mission. (Click to Enlarge)

A Despatch family, accompanied by a group of friends, have returned from an outreach trip to Lesotho where they fulfilled a commitment to hand out 500 Bibles to Christians in remote mountain villages.

“It was a Christ-filled experience,” said Eben Grobler whose family developed a passion for the cause after they gave away 50 Bibles during a holiday trip to Lesotho in 2013. Hardly back from the trip, the group and their supporters are already enthusiastically preparing for their next mission in which they aim to deliver 5 000 Bibles.

He says it was extraordinary how during the recent Lesotho trip they encountered people who had been praying for Bibles for their society or their schools. “And when we arrived we were greeted by the attitude of ‘We were expecting you’, ” he said.

“On our way to [the village of] St James we passed a little church but it seems that there were no people. In my heart I felt the need to stop at this church on our way back again and look if the church is up and running. When we arrived at St James I could hear God’s voice speaking straight to me: ‘Set aside some of the Bibles’. On our return the little church doors opened right in front of us and we handed out nine Sesotho Bibles to the society.”

Enthusiasm
Describing the responses to the Bibles, Grobler said: “We appreciated the fact that our gifts were received with such great enthusiasm. There were tears of happiness among the societies. Wherever we went, from tiny villages to bigger ones the cry was the same: ‘We need Bibles.’

“We became quite attached to the people in Lesotho. But when you visit here you would see how very limited their resources are. They are in need of EVERYTHING. We know these Bibles will be put to good use.”

He said another highlight of the trip took place at the school at Sani Top which is being run by “Pastor Siphiwe’s lovely wife Bernadette”.

“My wife Benita, her friend Liandre, Chantelle(16) , Ivan(13) and Jadre (9) took up the challenge to do a makeover of the classroom. What a complete blessing it was!! They stocked the classroom with containers of stationery, educational toys and posters, white board, recycled paper, Bible and story books, toothbrushes and toothpaste, beanies and scarves, bed socks, plates and cups and face clothes which were possible through the support of our followers. Thank you once again followers; don’t ever think that a few people cannot change the world!”

 Enormous desire for Bibles
The more we speak to people about Bible needs the more we realised the enormous desire there is for Bibles. There will be no difficulty finding homes for the 5 000 Bibles they plan to take on their next trip.

“God will show us the way, where the needs occur and we will travel where He will take us. We pray for your continuing support and for more people to commit to praying for and giving to. The more of us getting involved in spreading the Gospel through prayer, short-term or long-term contribution the more we will impact the nations for Christ. Your contribution can make it possible to bring the Word of God to somebody in need for.”

Anybody wanting to contribute to the Lesotho Bible mission can contact Eben Grobler at egroblerphotography@gmail.com or Benita Grobler at groblerbenita@gmail.com.

From left, Martin Blount, his daughter, Amber, and his wife, Nina, who plan to set out next month on a 3 000 to 6 000 km horse riding journey for Jesus. During the ride they will promote a cowboy church they plan to launch in South Africa in partnership with a cowboy church in America.

Horses have played an unusual role in Martin Blount’s Christian journey. And they are in centre frame again as he prepares to ride for God again on an epic family mission expedition.

Martin’s first horseback encounter with God happened a few years ago while he was participating in an 80km endurance ride. He was hungover from a night of heavy drinking and his horse, Alkebar, was fighting him every step of the way. 

“After 50km something slapped me of my horse and I found myself lying face down on the ground. I am a good rider and I do not fall of horses; my horse didn’t throw me, someone just swiped me off.  As I got to my knees I decided I  might as well stay there and surrender.  So I called out to God, I was so tired of life and sin and fighting.  I was carrying such a heavy load.  God answered me and in that instant I was delivered from alcohol and pornography,” he says.

Filled with wonder and joy
“When I got back onto my horse I felt light, like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders, my horse was himself again all of a sudden, no more fighting.  My hangover was gone and I was filled with wonder and joy.”

Thereafter Martin read the Bible, read Christian books, got involved in church and poured himself into his relationship with Jesus. During this season a friend, and new Christian, Eddie, said he had dreamed that he and Martin and a friend, Braam, who had witnessed to Martin before he was saved, rode on horses from Polokwane to Cape Town, testifying how Jesus had changed their lives.

Days later during a Bible study Braam read Zachariah 1:8-10 which talks of red, brown and white horses and men the Lord has sent on a mission.

“What made this scripture so powerful was not the fact that horses were mentioned, but that I rode a white horse, Braam rode a red horse and Eddie rode a brown horse. Later that same day Eddie bought his first Gospel CD and listened to song number 8 (Zachariah 1:8 — first CD, number 8);  the song — ‘Saddle up and ride for Jesus’.

Martin (left) and his friend, Braam, at Cape Augulhas, at the end of their 2 200 km ride for Jesus in 2010.

Martin and Braam with their whole rig at Cape Augulhas.

On March 8, 2010, Martin, Braam and another friend (Eddie had decided not to join them) set out on horseback from Polokwane. The friend rode halfway with them and Braam and Martin completed a 2 200km ride to Cape Augulhas in four months. He said God touched many lives during their ride.

Martin and his wife were divorced in November 2011. He tried to save the marriage but she wanted to leave him. He had caused her much heartache through his debauched lifestyle before he met Jesus, and she could not relate to his zeal for God after he was saved.

Set free
Martin later met Nina, a woman who has been forgiven and set free by Jesus after decades of shame and bondage which began when she was sexually abused as a child and continued in a lifestyle of prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse and witchcraft. Martin introduced Nina to horses and they got married.

“We both love God with a passion and share a great passion for horses,” says Nina.

“God has called me to saddle up and ride again. This time I am taking my wife and daughter [Amber] with.  We, are planning to take a horsebox, a motor home and three horses and travel all over South Africa ministering as far as we go,” says Martin.

 ”Our daughter will be home schooling during the journey.  So we will ride according to a schedule that allows for her schooling to stay up to date.  We will be inviting young adults from various congregations to spend a couple of weeks with us from time to time to grow in Jesus and to help with the horse care etc.

“We are taking our rig and 3 horses and setting off from Tarkastad where we are currently located and heading south towards Cape town which is approximately 900km from Tarkastad.  We are leaving on the 15^th June 2014.  There will be other riders joining us for the send-off and doing the first 20 to 30km with us.

“Between Tarkastad and Cape Town there are about 30 small towns.  We will be stopping at each of them, and at farms and villages between them, holding services and giving testimony in the existing churches.  From Cape Town we are heading north-west up to the border of Namibia.  Once again stopping at every town and church the Holy Spirit leads us to. We plan to do around 3 000 to 6 000km during our journey; could be more could be less. God is in control and it will be as He leads.”

Sponsors needed
Martin says they have enough money to keep riding for a month or two and will depend on sponsorship to complete their journey. In a bid to raise funds they sent 80 emails to cowboy churches in America. One church – New Hope Cowboy Church — responded. 

“Since then God has moved them to ask us to open a branch in South Africa.  So during our journey we will be promoting New Hope Cowboy Church South Africa.  When we stop and have secured property we will be opening the church in partnership with them.  God overwhelms us!” 

New Hope Cowboy Church in North Carolina, USA.

Martin says they are looking for people to sponsor them a rand, a dollar or pound (depending on their local currency) for every kilometre they ride per day

“We are in the process of opening a NPO and hope to have all of that in place soon.

“We want to set up a network of churches across South Africa, that all work together and support each other.  There are many people with hearts like ours that do not fit into conventional churches as they are considered too radical, too wild.  We want to harness that zeal and steer it in the right direction. 

Church family
“We want to create a church family of individuals who have experienced the life changing effects of a relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to create a platform where people can follow Jesus, where there are no pretenses. The person in shorts and a ball cap is as welcome as the one in a suit, and the really good thing is, no one will notice the difference.  We want people to feel at home with God and each other the minute they walk in the door, so we have an open approach.  We were not called to make church people comfortable, but to provide a place for the lost to have an encounter with Jesus Christ.

“God’s plans are always bigger than us, and we do not know how we are going to do everything the vision entitles.  We only know that God will make a way where there seems to be no way and as long as we stay in His will He will provide,” he says.

Anybody wanting to sponsor the ride for Jesus or wanting more information about it, may contact Martin at 074 2080 534 or blountms@mweb.co.za.

By Thinus Ferreira — Originally published in Channel 24

Opposition in South Africa has been growing against the pornographic television that is broadcast by On Digital Media’s (ODM) StarSat pay-TV platform, with a court case that will likely be heard in August in a now joint application to have ODM’s license for a porn bouquet revoked.

ODM, with the help of its new Chinese financial backer StarTimes, started broadcasting two pornographic TV channels – Private Spice and Playboy TV – in a separate StarSat sex TV package of R159 per month in November 2013, shortly after receiving a license from the South African broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

On Digital Media, asked last week how many StarSat subscribers have since subscribed to the specific porn TV channels as part of a separate bouquet over the course of the last 6 months, declined to provide subscriber numbers, citing confidential company information.

Subscriber numbers for the four year old Woodmead based South African pay-TV operator, currently in business rescue, is down to between 100 000 and 120 000 from 150 000 a few years ago.

The non-governmental organisation Doctors for Life, representing 1 400 doctors, that submitted its separate court application at the High Court in Pretoria, has now seen its application being joined to the applications of the Justice Alliance of South Africa (Jasa) and the Cause for Justice organisations that submitted their applications in the Western Cape High Court.

Jasa and Cause for Justice argue that South Africa’s broadcasting regulator – which first denied ODM’s porn channels application and then approved it during a second application a year later – erred in law in failing to find that the constitutional rights of children should have trumped the rights of StarSat’s freedom of expression.

Doctors for Life in court papers argues among other things about the addictive nature of pornography. Doctors for Life notes the addictive nature of pornography on the human brain, similar to that of drugs like heroin, cocaine and LSD.

Jasa’s application requests the court to review the broadcasting regulator’s decision in granting a license for porn television channels to StarSat, formerly the TopTV brand, and for Icasa to apply the law and broadcasting regulations correctly.

Moves are afoot to bring the Mighty Men Conference (MMC) back to the Western Cape which held it inaugural and last MMC in Paarl in 2011.

After the 2011 MMC Committee dissolved, several committees have been formed to take up the baton but there have been no further Mighty Men Conferences in the area to date. But according to Cape Town MMC enthusiast, Piperjames aka the War Piper For Mighty Men and Jesus Christ, there is a fresh push to “rally all Mighty Men in the Western Cape”.

He said Shalom Ministries, which oversees the MMC movement in South Africa, has confirmed that the previous Mighty Men Western Cape has merged with Overberg under the name of Manne Van Geloof. Manne Van Geloof hosted a camp near Caledon in March, 2014.

Shalom has specified the criteria it requires from a new committee in order to re-establish the Western Cape MMC. A gathering of all ‘interested parties’ will be arranged very soon whereby anyone wanting to be involved with the Mighty Men Western Cape can attend, and at which a lawfully elected committee will be established, he said.

He said women are welcome to be a part of the new committee in acknowledgement of the role they have played in organising Mighty Men Conferences throughout the country.

The new committee will conform to the mandate, vision and constitution of Angus Buchan and Shalom Ministries for Mighty Men Conferences. All speakers will adhere to the direction of Shalom via the new committee.

For more information contact 082 575 8862 or piperjames@live.com.

Nina Blount: she was bound for decades in a world of depravity and addicition that began when she was sexually abused as a young child. But Jesus set her free and has positioned her to share His love and freedom with others.

An alarming number of children are raped every day in South Africa. And tragically the deep pain and shame of these childhood experiences launches many young people into lives blighted by substance abuse and sexual bondage.

Nina in 1989, when she was a teenage runaway.

Nina Blount, 40, was sexually abused by family members from the age of 4 and raped at the age of six. The rapes by family members and others continued throughout her childhood and teenage years. She began drinking at the age of 10 and later ran away to escape the abuse. But on the streets she found only prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse and witchcraft. She was raped at gunpoint, abducted by a paedophile and sold to some men. Somehow in between bouts on the streets, in reformatory, places of safety, rehabilitation centres and prison she achieved an excellent matric pass.

In later years she had a protracted homosexual relationship, worked as a prostitute and stripper, ran a brothel and strip club, had two abortions and was a practicing witch. At the age of 27 she had a daughter with a policeman who she left after two years because of his drug and alcohol-driven violence. She began a relationship with a drinking drugging biker called Wicked Willy and they had a son. After some years she took up with a drug-addicted tattoo artist and warlock. She made several attempts at sobriety and caring for her children whom she loved. But sadly they both ended up with other family members. 

Hell on earth
The above account only gives a very brief glimpse into the hell on earth that was Nina’s life. Many people in such lifestyles remain trapped in the cycle of abuse, becoming abusers themselves. But Nina encountered God. A friend of her tattoo artist partner told them he had given his life to God and he attended a church where miracles happened.

“We walked away without giving it [the friend's testimony] a second thought,” she said.

But later her partner committed his life to God at a church while he was in a drug rehabilitation centre. She eventually agreed to pray with the preacher to give her life to God. But she said something seemed to be missing.

But on June 12, 2009 God found her.

“I do not know what happened the evening before I gave my heart to the Lord. All I know is I was out with a male friend of mine and we drank a lot of whisky and sniffed a whole lot of coke. I don’t know what happened and I don’t think I want to. All I know is that I woke up the next morning and knew I could not go on anymore. I shouted at God that He won, and that He could take my f…… life and do something with it. I tried and I couldn’t and I was done. I told Him I give up and He wins. That’s it. I stopped drugging drinking and smoking that day.”

Nina began to read her Bible and worked hard at living a clean life. But since his discharge from rehab her partner had returned to drugs and was violent towards her. One day she insisted they should go to the church where miracles happened that his friend had told them about some months previously. 

“We had a huge fight, but God intervened and we went. I met the living God I was searching for there,” said Nina.

Describing her God encounter in August 2009 after the pastor of the church prayed for her she said: “I was slain in the Spirit and felt the unconditional love of God.  That was the moment I fell in love with Him; that was the moment God stepped of the pages of a book and became a Father to me.”

Deliverance
Nina said that she subsequently went through much deliverance on her road to healing. She got her daughter, Amber, back but her son was adopted: she had signed papers while not in her right mind due to the effects of drugs. She was misled by a family member during this period but says that God has enabled her to forgive all those who have harmed her. She said that through God’s grace she is now able to pray with them and look them in the eyes and tell them she loves them.

Some time after her conversion Nina and her partner parted ways and she became friends with Martin Blount, a Christian businessman she met at church in Polokwane. They subsequently got married and now live in Tarkastad in the Karoo.

“Martin  introduced me to nature and horses and I fell in love with a horse called Katie. God used her in my life to reach the parts that no human could,” she said.

From left, Martin Blount, their daughter, Amber, and  Nina. They plan to set out next month on a 3 000 to 6 000 km horse riding journey for Jesus. During the ride they will promote a cowboy church they plan to launch in South Africa in partnership with a cowboy church in America.

“The only time we are truly happy and fulfilled is while ministering or horse riding. So God has led us to put the two great loves of our lives together and share it with his children,” she said referring to an epic horseback mission she, Martin and Amber are embarking on next month.

Nina has come a long way since she encountered Jesus and He set her free. She has a diploma in ministry and is busy with a degree in pastoral counseling. She can also speak sign language and does some work with deaf people from time to time. “I know their world. It is much like mine was when I was little; no voice and no sound, just the silence of a breaking heart. I have a special affinity with them.”

Yolandé Korkie and her children, Pieter-Ben (16) and Lize-Marie (14), praying with evangelists Angus Buchan in February, for the release of her husband, Pierre. On Wednesday (May 21) Yolande released a second video appeal to the kidnappers who have held her husband since May 2013. (PHOTO: Dirk Kok, OFM )

Originally published in News 24

Sources in Yemen have confirmed that kidnapped Pierre Korkie is still alive, the Gift of the Givers Foundation said on Thursday.

“About 10 days ago we received confirmation from more than one source that Pierre Korkie was seen alive together with a UN aid worker of Sierra Leone nationality, also captured last year,” foundation head Imtiaz Sooliman said in a statement.

“They were being moved from one region to another.”

However, he said the sources could not comment on Korkie’s state of health.

Korkie and his wife Yolande were kidnapped by al-Qaeda militants in Taiz, Yemen, in May last year. At the time Pierre was a teacher in Yemen, while his wife did relief work in hospitals.

Yolande was released on 10 January and returned to South Africa on 13 January. The Gift of the Givers helped negotiate her release.

The kidnappers demanded about R32.5m.

The Gift of the Givers tried to make contact with al-Qaeda through international media and circulated an interview with their office manager in Yemen, Anas al-Hamati.

Al-Hamati was forced to leave Yemen at the end of January for his own safety after al-Qaeda accused him of stealing the ransom money.

Tribal leaders in Yemen then took over the talks with al-Qaeda.

Korkie in bad health

On 25 February, tribal leaders learned that Korkie was still alive, but in bad health. Since then, no more information was available on his condition.

Sooliman on Thursday said the foundation was dependent on the goodwill of tribal leaders in the area.

“The reality is that ransom money is just unavailable. In an attempt to get international support and with the hope that al-Qaeda will reconsider releasing Pierre but unconditionally, Yolande has released a second appeal via video to coincide with the one year anniversary of the kidnapping,” he said.

Yolande released the video on Wednesday.

“With the coming month of Ramadaan, the month of mercy and forgiveness, we ask you to please release him unconditionally, as you released me,” she says in the video.

“My children and I long desperately for him, please release him, we will be so grateful. Pierre has not harmed anybody. He’s an innocent man and a respected teacher.”

In the video Yolande says her husband is gravely ill and could die.

A call has gone out to intercessors, church leaders and members of the body of Christ to unite in 21 days of prayer and fasting from Monday, May 26, for the situation at the platinum mines at Marikana near Rustenburg where a protracted strike is resulting in massive losses for the mines and great financial hardship for mine workers.

“Our ministry has been overwhelmed at the massive response we have had to the call to fast. Thank you to each one who will be participating,” says Janet Bran Hollis of Ruach Ministries on a post on her Facebook Page. She called the fast after she received an alarming vision of a principality operating over the area, threatening to shut down the mine industry in South Africa, causing a ripple of economic destruction and violence in the nation. But she also saw the situation being averted as the body of Christ rises up and takes a united spiritual stand that results in a victorious solution that will amaze the world.

“The Lord showed me clearly that the church should fast for 21 days, congregations gathering together in prayer. I began to see the story of Daniel, when he fasted and the Principality was DETHRONED after 21 days!!!! DANIEL 10:1-14 I propose that however you as a leader would like to lead your congregation or ministry, that your members get together for corporate prayer and begin to pray. I propose that the fast start on Monday 26th May, in order that you may prepare your congregations this weekend,” says Hollis in her call.

She urges Christians to share the call with church leaders, intercessors, prophets and all concerned “that we may stand together as one”.

For more information, please contact Janet Brann Hollis on her facebook page or the Ruach Ministeries website.

Originally published in Times Live

A South African court will rule on the future of two four-year-old girls who were accidentally switched the day they were born and have been raised by each other’s biological mother, officials involved in the case said today (Wednesday, May 28, 2014).

One of the mothers wants to get her biological daughter back, while the other prefers to keep the girl she has raised.

The babies were born on the same day in 2010 at the Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg but ended up being taken home by the wrong mother, the hospital confirmed, without giving an explanation for the accident.

The families were unaware of the mix-up until one of the mothers underwent tests when her ex-husband refused to pay child maintenance because he believed he was not the father.

“They did a paternity test and it was established that neither party was the parent of the child. They went back to the hospital and it was confirmed they had been swapped at birth,” Henk Strydom, the lawyer of one of the mothers, told Reuters.

“She was absolutely devastated. She was traumatised,” Strydom added. “My client wants her baby back. She is the biological mother of the child.”

But the other mother in the case does not want to exchange the girls, leaving the North Gauteng High Court to decide if the children should be returned to their biological mothers. The names of those involved cannot be published for legal reasons.

The mothers met each other and their biological daughters last year and have been attending joint therapy sessions arranged by the hospital since December.

The court has asked the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Child Law to investigate what would be in the best interests of the children and report back to the judge in 90 days.

“We have been authorised to investigate the matter and to give our report and recommendations. It will be up to the court to make the final decision,” a spokeswoman at the centre said.

Strydom compared the case with a story in the Hebrew Bible when King Solomon unveils the truth after two women claim to be the mother of a child.

“Someone has to make a very difficult decision. It really is a situation on a biblical scale,” Strydom said.

Homeschooling action groups in the Western Cape fear that the Government intends to introduce draconian anti-homeschooling legislation in draft national policy on home education that is due to be published in August.

Cape Home Educators and the Pestalozzi Trust are concerned that the national policy will override gains that homeschooling parents in the WC won in February when they pressured the WC Department of Education to withdraw its newly released draft policy on home education. They urge homeschooling parents throughout South Africa to resist the new threat to home education through prayer, publicity and pressure.

The draft policy that the Democratic Alliance-led WC Administration issued in February denied parents their constitutional right to choose the form of education that they consider to be in the best interests of their children, say the groups. The policy also insisted that the state’s values be taught to home educated children – an infringement of the right of parents to raise their children according to their own religious and moral values, a right which all parents of school-going children should enjoy. It also gave the head of the Department of Education the power to approve curricula, require regular assessments, monitor children’s progress and have the right to withdraw the registration for homeschooling should s/he wish. It required that parents justify their reason for choosing home education, apply for permission to home educate before September 30 of the previous year, keep attendance records, keep records of regular assessments and a portfolio of the children’s work, etc.

Withdrawn
With the national elections approaching, home educators sent emails to their local DA councillors countrywide. The email campaign caused a stir and by February 14, just three days after the draft policy was issued, an announcement from the WC Department of Education stated that the draft policy “has no formal status” and “has been withdrawn with immediate effect” with apologies.

Subsequently, the WC Minister of Education, Donald Grant told a homeschooling parent that they would wait for the national draft policy due in August 2014 before drafting a new provincial one, reports Shirley Erwee, a homeschooling expert and author. Reading between the lines, the WC homeschooling action groups anticipate that a national policy similar to the anti-homeschooling policy proposed by the DA for the Western Cape in February could soon be foisted on homeschoolers countrywide.

The groups call on homeschooling parents throughout SA to send letters of protest to the editors of their favourite newspapers and magazines and to trusted radio presenters. They also invite Cape Town-based homeschooling parents to join a proposed Parliamentary Action Group to monitor new developments and to keep Christian Members of Parliament abreast of the issues. More information about the proposed group is available from Leendert van Oostrum of the Pestalozzi Trust on 012-3301337 or defensor@pestalozzi.org.

Homeschoolers are required by the SA Schools Act to register with the Department of Education but in the Western Cape no laws have been promulgated to enforce this. The majority of home educators in SA choose not to register because registering could force them to comply with unlawful requirements that are not in the best interests of their children. Each homeschooling family needs to know their rights, so that they are not harassed by officials, says the the Pestalozzi Trust.