Warm Winter News
Hi from Potch!
We are in the middle of winter and it is pretty chilly. We are
thankful for nice and sunny days although the evenings and mornings are very
cold.
Here is our latest news. We are so thankful for those that are praying
with us and helping us in every way. Mission can accomplish what no gun or war
can and to preach the gospel is a great privilege.
Outreach from the States
It was our privilege to host Aubrey and Austin from the states for 2
and a half weeks. They came from a college of the church of the Nazerene in the
US. A professor at the university that lectured there in the US for a few years
connected them to us. They are two young people looking to make a difference
for God and it was their second time in Africa. They are two very pleasant
people with good hearts searching for the will of God in their lives. Normally
it is a pretty busy time for us when people are on outreach as they want to be
busy mostly all the time. We were pretty happy to have a busy time connecting
them with different ministries and groups - as it is a very good time for making
connections and doing mission. As Aubrey is in social work they wanted to spend
a lot of time with the orphanage in Ikageng, she loved they way they just start
singing together. They also enjoyed the YWAM student house students. Rebecca
and Thepiso also enjoyed to reach out with them. They were a real blessing!
Orphanage in Ikageng
Lolo is the mother of the orphanage. She has three children of her own
and 13 children that sleeps in her house of 2 bedrooms. Then there is up to a
120 kids (that lives with family and has no parents anymore) that she help/feed
in the community from this orphanage. As we helped pioneer 2 previous
pre-schools Sitraka felt he wanted to engage in a new project and he started
being involved in this new project as he found this lady that needed help with
the kids. Sitraka gave the project over to DP when he went on DTS outreach and
I am very glad that we can help this orphanage sustainable as a base. But it is
always nice when an outreach group can come and help with a project that is
already sustainable.
As Aubrey and Austin went to the orphanage they also took students
from the Ywam house along and introduced them to this project. One of the
objectives of the base is to build a bridge from the university to the places
in need. In this way the outreach acted as catalyst to bring the students into
the community where they can be of great help. As the students came out of poor
communities themselves they are very passionate to help the kids. We are seeing the students of YWAM
house growing in their passion for ministry.
Africa heal yourself!
One of the words we got from God as a strategy was the word God gave
us: “Africa heal yourself”. The principle
is that missionaries empower, give vision and teach so that the young leaders
in Africa can be equipped to bring the healing of God in their communities.
Later on they can then become the teachers in the communities themselves.
As we did mission in the poor communities earlier in our lives we
worked very hard but as soon as we stopped working all the work fell apart.
These days we follow a different strategy to bring in longer term sustainable
ministries. We have quite a few ministries we have pioneered through teaching
that is now totally self-sustainable. This vision of equipping and training and
then stepping away as people become self-motivated is working. It is a humbler
approach though for us as it becomes other people doing the work and getting
the fruits of that work. Yet it is the only way we see that is really effective
in changing communities.
Growth of the student house
In this semester we really saw the student house starting to blossom
spiritually. We started with a small bible study and only a few attending but
we ended with 16 out of the 19 in the house attending and being excited about
God’s Word and His presence. Quite a few has said that the student house has
really changed their perspective and outlook on life as they get hope for a
purposeful life with God. We want to expand this in the next semester and hope
that the students will really start walking into their destinies and even
possibly do a DTS.
Bible week planned for August
We have an African couple that has become very successful in world
mission and has just returned from Japan that are planning to come and do a
bible week in August. When the students see an African couple doing world
mission we hope it will ignite a passion for world mission as well. The bible
week is also a very powerful tool to change worldview. Through all this we
believe we can create leaders that will be led by the Holy Spirit, loving and
knowing the scriptures to be sent out into the world to lead in various
spheres.
We continually face challenges as the student house is very expensive
and we have a lot of infrastructure problems but we do see a plan coming
together through the year.
Mobilization
for the DTS
We are working towards the DTS at the end of the year. We already have
interest and we hope that we will have an exciting DTS with an international
outreach at the end of the year. We are busy setting everything in to place as
we need to organize a lot of speakers etc. We will begin in earnest as the
schools and the university open up after the vacation. As we are a student
focused base we have certain times of a lot of activity and other times when
the city becomes very quiet. But we look to make use of the time we have and we
have a lot of background planning, flyers, posters, handbooks etc. that need to
be prepared. We hope to have a thorough preparation and learn from the two DTS’s
we have done as we want to have a DTS of great quality every time. We look
forward to the next DTS as we feel more equipped as a team because we all have
gained valuable experience.
MORE INFO on the
DTS see: ywampotch.com
Prayer
topics:
·
Please pray for the student house and all the
infrastructure problems we face. We have 23 students living on the property at
the moment.
·
The bible week in August and all the preparation
for it.
·
Thorough mobilization and preparation for the DTS.
·
Job’s matric exams. He is busy with exams now
and 2 exams are waiting.
·
Personal growth and leadership development for
the students.
·
The growth of the staff as a mission unit.
Blessings
from Potch
Wikus
& Christien + 5 kids
Contact us
Phone: Wikus
084 5490914 Christien 082 9666753
Address: Parys Ave 60
Potchefstroom 2531
YWAM house: Esselen
Street 6 Bult, Potchefstroom
Email:
ywampotch @gmail.com
Website: ywampotch.com
Photos - visit our
FaceBook pages:
Ywam Potchefstroom / WikusChristien Vorster
YWAM Potchefstroom is a Non Profit Organisation – NPC 2013/217961/08
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