In the Chronicles of March 2012, an article about our church was published. In it we mentioned a few prayer requests. A few of them were for:
- New members;
- Blessing on outreach and preaching;
- A new venue for our services.
It is with great joy that we can report that God has been very good to us. We have already been experiencing his grace and answer regarding some of these requests.
Suddenly, after five years of a sometimes severe “drought,” we are actually now witnessing glimpses of a breakthrough. Not only one, but three families will possibly be joining us on Sunday mornings for our services! Once again we would like to remind struggling congregations of John Piper’s words (General email, 8 March 2012): “Don’t give up in the lean seasons, because by God’s grace you can make it through, just keep your hand on the plough and pray with patience, the merciful God will bring a new day.”
Kobus started a Bible study for men who are not in our church a while ago. Four of the six men are members of the same denomination. Experiencing these men’s enthusiasm and dedication is such a blessing. They don’t want to miss a single session! For all of them, the Bible is suddenly such an invigorating, life-changing Book! They ask the most fascinating questions and they are like maleable clay! Not long after this Bible study started, the wives of some of these men asked Jeanne to start a similar Bible study with them. They feel that “when the men come from their Tuesday evening Bible study with Kobus, they can’t stop talking about all the wonderful new things that they have learnt from the Word of God!” So Jeanne started a Bible study for the wives also on Tuesday evenings!
We are going to do a short series on evangelism on Wednesday evenings during April/May with all members in the congregation and we are really looking forward to that. After a short series on the Seven Letters to the Churches in Asia Minor, we asked ourselves: “If we had been one of the churches on the ‘postman’s route’ in Revelation 2—3, which accusations would the Lord have brought against us or which shortcomings would He have identified in us as Vaal Triangle Baptist Church?” We felt that one of the biggest accusations we would have heard from the Lord would have been that we as a church were not involved enough in evangelism in our own environment.
Kobus is currently preaching two series: one on the Gospel according to John and the other on the Letter to the Philippians.
It is also going very well with the other Bible studies, which are also well-attended by people from outside the congregation. We can see wonderful spiritual growth in all these people’s lives and we thank the Lord for this.
We have been looking for a new venue for our Sunday services for a long time now and the Lord has, as always, provided in the most amazing way. People who are not part of our congregation, but who attend the Tuesday evening Bible study, have offered their big enclosed patio at their house in Meyerton for us to use as a church. There is also a strong possibility of an almost brand new granny flat (huge living room, bathroom and kitchen) on a one acre plot. It also has its own private entrance. It may become available to us as a more permanent venue. We have already started moving all our equipment to the new venue and we don’t have to sell or give away any of our chairs and tables because there is enough storage space for all our belongings. Our first service will take place at the new venue on 18 March. It feels as if a new church is being planted in Meyerton. Both venues have swimming pools! These developments have also created a new sense of excitement among the church members. If you know any Afrikaans-speaking people in that area who are looking for a church, please give Kobus’ details to them. His telephone number at home is +27 16 423 1284.
Here are some very interesting statistics: the most Afrikaans speaking people, reading Kobus’ sermons on a regular basis on his blog, are in: the USA (406); Taiwan (186); Netherlands (163); Namibia (150); the UK (149); Belgium (97); New Zealand (35); Australia (24); Germany (13); and the Russian Federation (8). It is a privilege for us as congregation to also pray for these people who join us every week for our church service. One just cannot and must not underestimate the possibilities that cyberspace offers in spreading the gospel and the Reformed truths. It is also a channel for building up brothers and sisters all over the world who are in need of solid teaching from God’s Word! One such a brother send an email the other day saying, amongst other things, “Thank you very much for your faithful service to people that you don’t even know and most probably will never meet in this world. It is appreciated sincerely!”
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Please thank the Lord for new people interested in the ministry.
- Thank the Lord for providing a venue for our services.
- Thank the Lord for the increasing numbers of Afrikaans-speaking people all over the world, who are reading the Sunday sermons on Kobus’ blog.
- Please pray with us for a fruitful and blessed “new” ministry in Meyerton, but also in the rest of the Vaal Triangle.
- Please pray for a new enthusiasm among the members to share the good news with people in our area.
- Please keep on praying for the financial burden of the church, the spiritual maintenance of members and the preaching.