We had wonderful times in Johannesburg during the 1995 Renewal. We were like little kids playing in the puddles of rain that came down on us. There is so much I can recall, but that would almost be a book on its own.

 

During the worship time at one of the conferences, I watched a lady sitting in the row in front of me, acting strangely. She was sitting in her chair with her hands stretched out in front of her, moving them up and down like describing a wave. She had a smile on her face, making a soft ‘ssssh’ sound. I felt intrigued and wanted to know what she was doing. At the end of the service, before we left, I tapped her on the shoulder and asked her what she was doing. She immediately, with great excitement, told me that the Lord was showing her how to surf. She explained that the waves were God’s Spirit, the surfboard was His Word, the Bible. He was showing her how she needed His Word to stay safe on the water as she surfed, and she wasn’t the only one getting that picture from the Lord. Another lady here in Yeovil shared the same picture again during a prayer meeting we had in 2022, and I am sure many more people received a similar picture.

 

During this time of the Renewal, Hendrik also had a powerful encounter.

Hendrik contributes to this paragraph.

At one of the renewal meetings, I was so overcome with the power and presence of God that I ended up on the floor during ministry time. As I was on my knees before God, one of the people in the worship team placed a hand on my shoulder and began to sing a song over me.

God used her to sing His words over me and God asked me: "Will you give me your hands?". "Yes God!", I said.

"And will you give me your feet?". Again, I replied, "Yes Lord!". "Then I will send you out to all the nations!".

In that moment I knew that God had commissioned me, and set me aside for a specific purpose, His purpose. The fact that God asked me for my hands and my feet, told me that I was to be a servant. He did not ask me for my great oratory skills, my sharp theological mind, or my valuable opinion (none of which I possess). He asked me to offer up the tools required for service. I was never going to be a great preacher like S.M. Lockridge (whom I admire as a giant among men), but I could, and I would serve.

In time God also gave me a voice to describe and explain the nature of service, but the voice never came first, it always was, and still is all about serving the most incredible God. S.M. Lockridge gave that monumental sermon (That's my King) where he describes God and all his attributes and concludes in the end: "I wish I could describe Him to you, but He's indescribable!". After walking with God for over 25 years, that is my conclusion - He is indescribable!

End of Hendrik’s contribution.

 

One evening after a church service, I was talking to Costa, and I told him that I had decided to spend a weekend at Southend-on-Sea Vineyard in England on my way to Vancouver via London. I had the privilege to fly to Vancouver to serve as one of the bridesmaids during the wedding of Derek and Anita. I immediately saw the hurt in Costa’s eyes as I said that, and I remembered to be quite taken aback. He said to me, “You are not going to leave us.”

 

It never dawned on me that pastors can care that much about the people and leaders in their church. It was only years later as we were pastoring our church, that I understood what Costa must have felt. People mean more to a pastor than they may know. Every time someone leaves, it feels like you rip a piece of your heart from yourself.

 

Derek and Anita also invited Costa to marry them in Vancouver and Costa and I had the privilege to take a day out to Victoria Island. On the ferry there, we had lots of time to talk, and he asked me to share the story of where the ‘Yeovil’ church planting vision started. I was glad to do that, as he needed to know that it wasn’t some silly bee I got in my bonnet.

 

It was a special time away, and I had the privilege of flying to San Diego to see my old Vineyard School of Ministry host family, Christine and David, once more. Then back in Vancouver, I met some more wonderful people, who made a lasting impression on me, but I was keen to get back to South Africa. Hendrik stayed in my house during the time I was away and took over leading the home group in my absence.

You need to understand that God is in control of whatever He has called you to, which includes marriage or celibacy. You need the Lord’s strength and guidance every day, to live through the life He has for you. Single people (and that included even me before I ever got married and post divorce) often think that marriage will solve all your problems. Marriage presents the same challenges in life as it does for those who are single. My initial decision not to marry again after my divorce was a noble thought. However, I think it had more to do with my fear of rejection. Even though I knew God brought Hendrik into my life, I still had unanswered questions.

 

I remember asking Hendrik once if he ever thought of going overseas. He said, “No. Maybe to go fishing in Scotland and Alaska”. I did wonder how this was going to work with my call to go to England, but I knew that God was in our relationship, and I believed that God would make a way. However, one crucial thing Hendrik did that I was unaware of, was to pray for God to grant him the opportunity to go to the Vineyard Ranch. He was getting more and more fired up to go overseas as he was listening to all my Ranch stories.

 

In January 1996, I was at work when Lisa, our PA, walked into my office and dropped off a fax that arrived for me from America. The fax machine was in our boss’s office, and I am glad he did not see the fax because the fax was from the Vineyard Ranch. The fax showed the cover sheet (as it was in the day) showing there were three pages including the cover sheet. The weird thing was, only the cover sheet and the last page of the letter arrived. All I could make out from the last page was a bit that said, “If this is something you feel the Lord is calling you to, would you please consider it prayerfully and reply without delay.” Signed Mark MacAlister.

 

It was Thursday late afternoon our time, and I rushed to send them a reply, asking Mark to fax through the first page of the letter that was missing. I know it was their Thursday morning, so if he sends it again immediately, I will only receive it on Friday morning, our time. I planned to be there early to intercept the fax before my boss could see it. But again, the middle page was not there. I wanted to get that middle page as soon as possible because it was urgent, but since it was now Friday our time, they could no longer fax it through to the office that is closed on Saturday. Lisa told me to give them her home fax number, and Friday night I stopped by Lisa’s home to pick up the mysterious missing page.

 

When I read the fax, I understood why I did not receive the main part of the fax. The new Ranch Managers and Mark the Director of the School, were praying for a couple to join them as assistant Ranch Managers for at least one year, and our names frequently arose in conversations. My immediate reaction was a ‘no’, but when I told Hendrik about it, he shouted “Thank You Lord. Thank You Lord.” I looked at him with utter shock on my face. He then told me that he had prayed and asked God to allow him to experience the Ranch as well. We immediately had to get one thing straight, before any of us started praying for something, we had to clear it with the other.

 

Going back to America was going to cost us a lot of money, so we decided to sell the house, store our furniture with my brother Theo and his wife Zurika and pack our bags. The Ranch wanted us there before the Spring School of 1996, but for an important personal reason, we decided to commit to being there from the end of that school in May 1996.

 

We spent thirty-one hours flying to LAX via London and Hendrik remembered on our arrival in LA, we drove behind a black Cadillac with registration ‘MR ZEKE’. When we finally left the Ranch to return to South Africa sixteen months later, he again saw ‘MR ZEKE’. Hendrik became known as the guy with the amazing ability to remember important as well as useless information.