There is a well-known quote from John Lydgate: “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”. We all know it, but it is absolutely and unequivocally true and we all fall victim to it placing such pressure on ourselves. It is not what God called us to do.

 

As a church planter, I never signed up to plant a church for fame and fortune or to make friends and influence people. Nor run a ‘community social or well-being club’. We are called to make disciples, and that requires raising up leaders.

 

As church planters, we had a clear vision of the task ahead. It was all about laying proper foundations to support Yeovil Vineyard Church for the future. I was 56 when we started the church, and I estimated that I had about 15 years at most to achieve our goals. Hendrik had more years left, but I knew that he wouldn’t want to go at it without me.

 

We have now handed over the church to its new, much younger leaders, chosen by God for a time such as this. I hope they see Yeovil Vineyard Church as a church full of potential for the future. From the very beginning, we knew that our task was incomplete, our purpose unfulfilled, and our vision only partially realised until we had replicated ourselves.

One of the most fulfilling things in this life is to see someone pick up your vision, run with it, and achieve even greater things than you did. It is our joy to see Tim and Nicola Baker become all that God has called them to be. Hendrik and I became like two proud parents, standing at the edge of the sports field and enthusiastically cheering for our children as they ran the race.

 

Throughout our time at Yeovil Vineyard Church, God blessed us with the love, friendship, and much-needed support of John and Karen Spearman and their lovely two children, Edward and Amy. John is the Chairman of the Trustees and, with Karen, is part of the main leadership team. Being next to them felt like being wrapped up in a warm and cosy duvet.

They are both serving the rest of Yeovil town in their professional capacities in healthcare, and we always knew their time was precious. John gave Hendrik a book to read, called “Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory” by Tod Bolsinger, which explores the challenges of transition and the need for change – when you are navigating the waterways, you need canoeists, but when you are faced with mountains, you need mountaineers.

 

In many ways, the Bakers are unlike us, but it is so clear to us that they are the mountaineers that God has raised to take the church to the next stage of its journey. The blessing for our church was the support and love we received from the Spearmans. Today, they are still there, supporting and loving the Bakers from when they took over from us. The Spearmans were the one constant factor that never changed, and it may not be that obvious to them and others, but God knows, as He ordained them for this task.

 

The amazing vibrant group of young people we nurtured as children, are now an energised group of teenagers and young adults, Spirit-filled and zealous for God, ready to follow the Bakers into a new day. We see their potential to gather, grow and raise up a new generation of leaders. One day they will take over the church from the Bakers and carry the torch to shine the love and power of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The road was hard for us, and we were battle-scarred at the end, but we achieved what the Lord asked us to do. The scars are well worth it. At least my scars are not half as bad as those of my Lord, and I remind myself of that every day.

 

Back in July 2014, Steve Barber paid us a visit. It was only four years in from when we registered the church as a charity. (A requirement in the UK.) It was wonderful to let him share in our joy, the outcome of all the history from years gone by since we first met him. On Saturday morning, we had a big breakfast outside and had all our leaders with us; we introduced them and let them ask Steve anything they wanted to know.

 

We also introduced Sam and Lisa Bruni to Steve, who quickly extended an invitation to the Brunis for Church Planting Bootcamp. We had the privilege of meeting Samuele Bruni during one of our first Sunday evening services in the Pub. He was a strapping, handsome Italian who contacted us when he moved into the area to work for a large yoghurt company.

Sam was brought up by his Christian parents in Italy, who loved the Lord and believed in the church. It was soon clear that he was a man with a vision who wanted to go back to Italy, take over the organic dairy goats’ farm from his parents, and build it into a sustainable business . Sam married his beautiful and courageous wife, Lisa, and the two soon crept into our hearts. One evening, as we sat in our front room chatting with them, we immediately saw the passion in their hearts and knew we needed to help them realise their dreams. It turns out they also had a passion for church planting. We invited them both to do a two-year internship we were running at our church for our main leaders and/or possible church planters.

 

Initially, they joined a homegroup, and after a time, knowing the potential in them as church planters, we asked their home group leaders to release them to start a group. He answered that they “were not ready yet”. We immediately recognised an issue of control and removed the Brunis from that group to start their own group. If you want your church to identify, recruit, train, deploy, monitor and nurture prospective leaders, then you must lead the way.

 

We employed the very capable Lisa to work alongside me a few days a week to learn as much as she could about running a church. I have excellent memories of working with her, and she is a talented lady whose abilities they will effectively utilize in all their plans. Italy is a very Catholic country, and as such, it is a hard place to plant a Protestant church, and therefore it would take much longer than a normal church plant.

 

Way back in South Africa in my first homegroup, we had a special friend, Paul Ellinghaus, whom I have spoken of before. Paul married Rosanna in our group, and after the birth of their son, they moved back to Germany. Rosanna had the biggest heart for people I have ever witnessed. I remember how she would always be talking to strangers on the bus, beggars on the street, any and everyone. It is through Rosanna that I met Frido, the young German lad who came and spent three months with us in Yeovil. Paul and Frido’s parents are good friends.

 

Through Frido, the young 21-year-old, we also met his twin brother Anton. They were both Christians and part of a Rock band called ‘Warum Lila’. Through them we also met their friends and fellow band members Micha and his brother Tim Hilgenborg. Tim was planning to study English at university, and he had to spend the required time in an English-speaking country. He in turn came to live with us for a couple of months.

 

We also met Tim’s girlfriend Alena and when they wanted to get married in Germany, they asked Hendrik to marry them. It was good to see how the Lord was actively drawing that young man to Himself. While with us, Tim got involved with our worship team and he also helped us in the church office. The church had a life-changing impact on Tim and after their studies and marriage, Tim and Alena joined Youth with a Mission here in England. They have a real heart for church planting but are still waiting on God to show them the way forward. They have become like our family, and we are still close to this group of young Germans, including Frido’s wife Beki and their little girl Nala. We have always wondered why this connection with the young Germans developed. It is God’s church, and I know that He will show them the way.

The sad part of this German connection is that a troubled man in his car intentionally struck Rosanna while she walked on the pavement. Unfortunately, Rosanna didn’t make it in the end, and she was taken home by the Lord. Frido told me he couldn’t get into the church for her funeral, as there were too many people there. Even the people living on the streets knew her.

 

We had all these people who came into our lives for an appointed time. It is not necessarily that God called them to join our church and assist us, but more of an impartation of vision to inspire them for what God was leading them into. We did what we had to do while they were with us, but they are the children of our loving Father and He guides each one to the place and purpose to which He calls them. It is not for me to steer and control the outcome of their lives, but it is our joy to see them grow into all God has for them. We continue to encourage them to discover the plans God has for them and to walk in obedience to Him.

 

Another couple that God brought our way for a period of two years, was Mike and Ros Petrie. Unfortunately Ros’s work moved them on, but even as little as a few years ago, they were still actively helping us with the on-line church during Covid. We were so blessed to have them with us and we will not be surprised to see them in ministry in years to come. For now they have been blessed with, and have to first take care of, their three beautiful boys.

 

Considering our experience of church planting, the one encouragement we wish to impart is to make the raising up of leaders one’s greatest priority. Raising leaders is like building and preparing a ship. A ship that will be ready in the end to sail the ocean. It is pointless to build up all these ships and gather them in the harbour, never to leave on a journey to sail. Your joy will be to see these ships sail and to take on the deep waters.

 

God has an amazing and unique story for each of us to live in. Don’t try to be like someone else. God’s plan for you is perfect, and any attempt to change that story will result in imperfection. I have lost some friendships because people tried to be me—not imitate me as I imitate Christ, but rather to be me, to have what I have, and to live out my story as their own.

 

Even as I am writing this, the reason this affects me so, is that I was never allowed, accepted, and encouraged to be my true self. Being your true self is a precious gift from God. We cannot live through others or lay claim to their stories or relationship with God. A loving God has created each of us as unique individuals, offering a special and perfect gift along with a plan for our lives. We waste so much valuable time by trying to be like others or do the things other people do, that we forget to seek God for ourselves and miss out on His perfect story for us.

 

 

Do what makes your heart sing and makes it beat faster. If the Lord tells you to go, GO! You will never be sorry you obeyed Him, but you will be sorry if you don’t. But be prepared to wait when you do not get the ‘GO’ sign. Remember, you are His servant.

 

Hendrik stumbled upon this message at the right time in our lives, and we have embraced this truth as a prophetic word for our lives ever since.

‘Others may, you cannot’ - The high call of God is not a pretend game or an imitation game; it is, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls it, a call to come and die: