It was 1990 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and I had come from Canada to work in the mining industry in a country that was undergoing significant transformation. Nelson Mandela had been released from prison, and the smell of transition was in the air as the nation prepared for a big change.

I was a fish out of water, and Johannesburg was not quite the same as the laid-back west coast Vancouver, Canada, where I had lived all my life. God had plans for this place and little did I know he had plans for me to meet Leonie and later Hendrik and share in His vision for them and for a church plant in Yeovil.  No, not Yeoville, the neighbourhood in Johannesburg, Yeovil, England some 12,736 kilometres away.

Wow! God has a plan no matter where we are in life and sometimes it's way outside our normal space.   Just before I got on the plane to fly to Johannesburg, I got a random phone call from someone I did not know, who told me that he had a vision that I must go to the Bryanston Vineyard Church in northern Johannesburg and how God had a plan.  My immediate response was how did this person get my telephone number! And what plan does God have? … What is the Vineyard?

Back in those days, I did not have a cellphone or a computer, but I managed to eventually find the Bryanston Vineyard Church in a high school and when I got there, I had this feeling that this was the place I needed to be. I did not know anyone or anything about the Vineyard movement, but the people seemed nice, and God was at work in this place. 

Eventually, a nice young lady, Rosanna, asked me if I would like to join a home group, so I could get to know some of the church members, and I said that I did.  She said it was held in Leonie's house, in Newlands, on the west side of Johannesburg and I should come next week. I arrived at Leonie's house not really knowing what to expect and then I found out it was an "all women's" home group, comprised of all ages. When I first met Leonie, the home group leader, it felt like coming home, like this was the right place for me. Leonie is an artist and I am an engineer, I like things structured, but Leonie had a way of being so welcoming, down to earth, not too structured, and practical at the same time.

At Leonie's group, everyone felt at ease, felt loved, being able to be real and vulnerable but she had a way of holding you to account at the same time, her common sense and ability to feel God's calling on our lives was amazing to me. I sensed that Leonie had some doubts and had some things she needed to get over in life, but I felt comfortable as a new member of the group.

Leonie had a way of hearing God's calling through all the noise and clutter of our "busy" lives and spreading her conviction that God has plans for us and we needed to be attentive to those plans. Soon I forgot I was the only male in the group and felt welcome with these South African Ladies and realised this is where God was working especially through Leonie. 

Everyone looked to Leonie, as the leader, for guidance and brought her many of life's problems big or small and Leonie was given a gift for how to practically care for these ladies and me. Gail, one of the older and wiser ladies in the group would pray with Leonie for all of us in the group, and I felt with these two ladies praying things were going to work out and God's plan was going to unfold. Sometimes I worried about who was caring for Leonie as I had a sense that she had some tough times in life in the past, but she too was encouraged by the rest of the group, especially by Gail and later by Hendrik. 

I became a full-time member of Leonie's group, but I was determined to get some other males to join. I lived in a shared house with some computer guys who attended the nearby Baptist church. Paul, one of my housemates, was a very organised German, who was good at the guitar but was not sure about the Vineyard. We became good friends, and I told him I was in this all-women's home group and God was working in this group, especially through the leader Leonie. 

I got a few looks like I was this crazy West Coast Canadian but finally, he agreed to come to the group. Before I knew it, he brought others, and we had some men become full-time members of the house group.  My housemates knew someone from work named Hendrik and felt he also might fit into the group. Finally, Hendrik came to the home group, and he met Leonie and well the rest of the story is in this book. 

Hendrik brought some amazing gifts to the group, his amazing biblical knowledge and prophetic vision. The house group continued to grow and eventually in 1993, my wife to be Anita, came to nurse in Africa and joined Leonie's house group as well. Anita's plans to nurse in Zimbabwe fell through and Anita ended up staying with Leonie and a lifelong, God-blessed friendship began. 

Everyone who came to that house group felt God's presence and was blessed by Leonie's gift to make you feel welcome, witness her obedience to God's calling and learn from her how to grow in our Christian walk if we trusted in God's plan for our lives. 

Eventually, Leonie and Hendrik decided to share Leonie's vision for a church plant in Yeovil. None of us even knew where this was. What was Leonie thinking?  In the mid-1990s, I was transferred to work in London, England and Paul had come to visit me, so we decided to undertake an advanced scouting mission in a rainy November and drive to Yeovil and see what this place is all about.  We arrived one rainy cold November day and Paul who had just come from sunny South Africa was perplexed about how God could give such a calling to Leonie. Yeovil was a small town in Somerset, England and back then, the town's claim to fame was an artificial ski hill called the Yeovil Alpine Village which was a little bizarre for a Canadian and German.   We were not sure how to report back to Leonie and the home group especially since the highlight would be skiing on plastic grass whilst trying to plant a church!

Despite the unusual scouting report, Leonie was called, and God had a plan, she knew no matter how hard, how long, or what obstacles came in her path, God had a plan for the people of Yeovil and called on her to plant a church in Yeovil.  Watching this from afar over the years, reconfirmed to me how God works in the most unusual ways with people who have a heart for him and his plans. This book is a testimony of that journey, not a manual of how to plant a church, but the inspiration of how Leonie's journey led to her ability to trust His calling on her and the fulfilment of God's plan. 

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.   Leonie and Hendrik, remember the journey is not over, God still has new plans for you every day and thanks for being such an inspiration to all of us who value you so very much.

John 12: 26: "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.  If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him."

Derek White 

Vancouver, Canada