Now back in South Africa, we rented a room in the house of a lady and stayed there whilst looking for accommodation. We soon bought a townhouse in Windsor Park, similar to a terraced house in England. Hendrik found work again with his friend where he had previously worked. But, he realised the company had changed a lot since his departure. He soon found work at a security company and he started studying for his MCSE and then a Diploma in Programming. The plan was that we would stay for about three years in South Africa so Hendrik could get more work experience and certification. This was to help him find work in England. In turn, I found a job as a bookkeeper, again with a small company. Not the best job I ever had, but it paid the bills.

 

About the church, we were about to enter uncharted waters while supporting Costa. We were now having Sunday evening services in Melville and loving it. Not far from us was a young couple leading another church. Its pastor found himself very much in line with the style, priorities, practices and values of the Vineyard and soon started talking to Costa. The two churches were located in the same area, and decided to amalgamate and form one new church. Costa only had a small number of people with the Vineyard DNA, and he needed us all with him. Although this was quite difficult at times, it was all a very good experience for us and we gave it our all. The main thing was that Hendrik and I were now working and learning together as a team.

 

It is clear to me now as I look back, that God did not call only me to plant a church in Yeovil. He also called Hendrik, to be my helper. Hendrik is committed, adaptable, honest, reliable and has integrity. He has an ability to deal with pressure and stay motivated. There was no way whatsoever that I could plant a church in Yeovil without Hendrik. Planting a church in England wasn’t my plan, it was God’s plan, and Hendrik had always been part of God’s plan for Yeovil. Hendrik was the person who brought this church plant to life and helped it grow into a strong and healthy church. I remember once in those beginning years in Yeovil, where Hendrik had five big plastic whiteboard sheets stuck against our dining room wall. Working out the five-year plan for Yeovil Vineyard Church. He was very much a visionary. Although I admire the skills he had, I would reply "can we not rather deal with the issues we have for this week?" We were a good combination. I was the ‘now’, and he was the ‘not yet’. I was the pastor, and he turned out to be the teacher.

 

I know that he would never have believed back in 1995 that he could plant a church. God looks beyond what we see in ourselves or what others see in us. God breathed on us and gave us life. He makes us grow and prepares us for His perfect plan. As I got to know Hendrik at that time, I started to see some of the gifts that he had locked up inside of him, and I couldn’t understand why other people couldn’t see them. Yet I still did not have a complete understanding of his talents and capabilities. As God started bringing healing to some areas in his life, He uncovered the treasure of his strengths and abilities. I do have an incredible amount of respect for Hendrik.

 

Being ignored and judged by people who don’t know you is one of the most painful things. Most people would look straight past us and not even bother to talk to us. We were not the ‘beautifully’, charismatic, gifted couple that would immediately stand out as people called by God to plant a church. We were quite the opposite. I remember many years back, Costa received a word during a church service from Brian Anderson the visiting speaker from Phoenix, Arizona. He said to Costa, “It is the faithful, not the gifted.” Costa told us how he had to hear that, as he got let down by so many gifted people.

 

But that word was not for him alone. It was for us as well. I needed to hear and remember that word. Twelve years later, when we started Yeovil Vineyard Church, we were desperately in need of a worship leader. We waited for God’s provision, and he blessed us with the best. Above Matt Stent’s musical abilities, he was one of the most faithful people I have ever met. Week in, week out, Matt was by our side. That word “It is the faithful, not the gifted”, I believe, is a word for every leader.

 

One of the most important qualities for anyone who feels that God is calling them into His service is faithfulness. Not only being faithful to God, but being faithful to your leader or pastor, being faithful in serving your community, and last but most important, being faithful in putting your money where your mouth is.

When people start tithing, that is when you know they trust you as their leader. I have seen and invested so much time with some very gifted people who squandered their time. They float from one idea to the next. From one church to the next. You grow to love these people, and it breaks your heart not only to see them leave but to see them wasting their time chasing after the next good thing.

During that time with Costa, we met a young talented and faithful guy at church called Ashley. He was the only person to lead worship, and he dedicated himself to that role. Then another couple arrived on the scene, and without any conversation with Ashley, it was announced that we had a new worship leader. It must have been painful for Ashley, but ultimately God holds the authority over our decisions. In later years, Ashley and his wife also relocated to England. Ashley became the worship leader at Riverside Vineyard, one of the first and biggest Vineyards in London, he still works full-time for the church, and now is their Executive Pastor.

 

One other thing about Ashley. A long story: With us at Hillside Vineyard, was a lovely Greek lady who made it her mission to pray for her children. J. John the evangelist speaker came to South Africa during this time and Costa invited him to come and speak at our Sunday morning service on our annual ‘Andrew Sunday’, so named after the brother of one of Jesus’s disciples Simon Peter. It was Andrew who brought Peter to Jesus, so we named this outreach Sunday “Andrew Sunday”. On Andrew Sunday, we invite non-Christian friends and family to learn about Jesus. This Greek lady invited her son, also named Andrew, and his wife to come and listen to J. John. All went well until Costa got up to welcome us all to Andrew Sunday. The lady’s son Andrew later said that he thought “Now my mother has gone too far: To arrange a special day so she can get me in church!” The good news is that Andrew gave his heart to the Lord and today Andrew is a pastor.

 

Andrew had a Pizza Restaurant, and we used to go there often for pizzas. Since my time at the Vineyard School of Ministry in America, I had this idea of taking Christian musicians to play in public places and so Hendrik and I had a long chat with Ashley, and we all came up with the idea to see how that could work out. Andrew heard about it, and he permitted us to try it out every other Friday night at his pizza restaurant. The musicians would play secular songs as well as Christian songs and it was very interesting to see how people reacted. I remember one night there was a couple at the table next to ours and we overheard their conversation, talking about whether they believed in God. Every little thing we experienced played such an important part in our future church plant.

 

We knew that the church plant we were planning in England was God’s idea, and we had to wait for God to move us on. Many doors needed to open for us before we could go, each one another miracle. One will always face people who pre-judge you, and that will never change. But you can change your response to it. What we needed most of all was a heart like that of our Lord Jesus.

 

One Sunday evening at church back in 1995, we were worshipping the Lord, and I kept seeing the Lord’s cross. I spoke up during worship and mentioned the absolute humility it causes in me, coming before Him at the cross, before His ‘broken’ throne. Later this girl whom I did not know, came to me and handed me a piece of paper with a long poem she must have been writing before the service. The poem is about her coming before the Lord as He hung on the cross. A poem about counting herself so unworthy to come before Him in utter silence, but her footsteps making crunching noises so loud on the coarse gravel. She expressed the horror of His broken and bloody body before her eyes and how she will never forget that. She must have added a final verse during worship, as you can see how she scribbled it down. This is only the end bit of her poem.