In the last two years before we left London for the green valleys and hills of the South-west of England, God still had lots to impart to us. I remember a leader’s meeting we had one Saturday. Rick and Lulu came to pray for us and Rick had a word that Hendrik and I would start a ministry at Riverside. I immediately knew what it was, but I had to wait for God to move.

 

My heart has always been for the healing of the brokenness in our lives. Whilst at the Ranch in California, we had a group from Anaheim Vineyard who came to share their life stories and how God had impacted their lives and brought healing and transformation. It was this ministry that I carried in my heart and knew that it would be a blessing for so many in the church. It wasn’t something Hendrik and I could do on our own, but God sent us old friends from South Africa to lend us a hand. Heather Cibrario had all the experience we needed.

 

The greatest lesson I took away from this period was the power of ‘confession’. Part of helping others through their healing of the brokenness in their lives, was to walk them through confession before the Lord. I remembered one night as I was preparing for my turn to share my testimony on the course. I thought about how people would shun me if they knew my life secrets. How would people relate to us knowing that we were on our way to plant a church? How wrong I was. That is one of the biggest lies the enemy will tell you. The moment someone brings secrets into the light, they break its power.

 

I remember afterwards, people came to me to embrace me and thank me for my honesty. There were about 45 people on the course, and it wasn’t easy. But the breakthrough was amazing. People looked at us with new eyes and said, “They are like me, I can trust them.” I have to say though, there was one man that grabbed his stuff and ran, the minute I started to talk about confession. I do hope he will be ready later to try again. The testimonies were amazing. I remember a man in the church called me after the first week of the course, saying he wanted to put his name down to attend the next course. He said his wife was on the course, and he saw the change in her after the first week.

 

Lulu was kind enough and allowed me to arrange a women’s breakfast for an Egyptian lady in our church. I invited her to share her testimony. It was a great success, but more so the lessons I learned leading up to the breakfast. In the weeks after the breakfast, Lulu had a meeting with me and wanted to know how I found it. She was the first person in my life to speak the truth and explain what I needed to do to grow in leadership. She was very wise. She watched me as I interacted with the team that came to help me that morning. They would ask me if they could help me and then I gave them a vague idea of what I wanted. She told me, “Tell them exactly what you want. Show them how to do it and then tell them exactly what you would like it to look like in the end.” That is what a good leader does. We were so blessed and took away so much from the main leadership.

 

However, the issues of control I bumped into at the church office did not go away. It spread its wings and robbed even Hendrik of much-needed experience and opportunities. We recognised this strongman of control, well known to us who grew up in South Africa. As part of the two year preparation, we had to spend a day with a Senior Pastor not known to us, to go through our application for church planting. We had to confess everything that was hiding in the dark shadows of our souls and in many ways it was a relief to get it all out. God is faithful and we trusted Him with everything we had. He tells us to go, and we go, and he tells another to stop and if they don’t stop, He will make them stop.

 

We started three more small groups before we left for Yeovil. One of them was on Butts Farm, a community that Riverside Vineyard always had a heart for. Carla was from Butts Farm and was helping us out at the church office. From the first day, we all liked Carla and as she was new to the church, it wasn’t long before I heard of all the invitations she received from others to join their home group. But she kept saying no, and I knew it was because she was a single mum and needed to be with her daughter.

One day, she sat opposite me. I blurted out, "Carla, would you like us to start a new group at your home?" She stopped what she was doing, looked at me for a while and said “Yes”. It was an amazing group, a small community of people who experienced such difficult times. Carla had so much heart for everyone around her and she knew a lot of people at Butts Farm. I remember one night; we had all arrived and were sitting with our tea and dunking our biscuits. I felt a wave of sorrow wash over me. I couldn’t stop it, even if I tried. I burst out crying and cried out so loud. I was sobbing. Everyone was looking at me, attempting to understand what happened and offering consolation, but then all at once, it ceased. I knew it was the Lord. It was a bit of God’s heart for Butts Farm. It was such an emotional moment for me as I shared that with the group.

 

One evening at home group, Carla decided that a few of them would go for a prayer walk on the Farm and three of us would stay at home and pray there. The next thing there was a knock at the door, and there was this little old lady, saying she came to join the group. Carla and the others met Peggy on their walk and sent her to us at home. I remember a few months on, it was our first meeting back after the Festive Season.

 

We were doing the rounds, sharing what we were up to over Christmas. Peggy told us that she went to Spain and had a wonderful time with her daughter’s family there. After a few more people shared, suddenly Peggy said, “No! I am sorry. I lied. I had a horrible time in Spain. My daughter and her family were so rude to me. I know they never wanted me there.” It was so sad, but her real family that night gathered around her, showed her love and prayed for her. Butts Farm was unique, and I know it was so close to God’s heart.

 

We also started a group at our home. Among the people in the group was a lady called Esme from Ghana who was a judge. I love it when God allows us to meet some of His very special children; she was undoubtedly one of them. I have never seen a Christian who uses the ability to judge in a Godly way. I remember one night, we had a difficult person in the group, and between Hendrik and me, we were not doing well in trying to steer the group to a happy place. Until our lovely Esme intervened. Within seconds, she resolved the whole issue. She told this guy to be quiet in such a way that she made him feel encouraged. It is like when a miracle happens. You cannot see it happen, but if you see what you have now compared to what you had before, it doesn’t add up.

 

The very last thing we did in London was to go and receive our British Citizenship. It felt like when we got married. We gathered at the Council room in Hounslow with all the other South Africans (and the rest of the world) to receive our piece of paper, a teaspoon (not sure what that is for), the words to the National Anthem to sing in one accord, and to swear our allegiance to the Queen. We ended it all with a handshake, a cup of tea, of course, and a biscuit to try and float on our cuppa for good luck. That is probably what the teaspoon was for.

 

Unfortunately, the Queen couldn’t attend. I guess she was having tea with the millions elsewhere. But I’m sure they sent her a copy of the photos we took. All in all, for us it was a memorable moment, thinking back to all God had done for us over the last decade.