September ’09

Celebrations and tears

September has been a month of highs and very lows. On the morning of 21 August, Micah’s 3rd birthday, we received the unexpected and shocking news that Yvette’s dad (here in the picture) had fallen ill and was lying critical in ICU. We all flew out to South Africa that night and were taken straight to hospital upon our arrival. He had been bleeding internally from a stomach ulcer and also suffered from pneumonia. Nearly eight days later he woke up from sedation – the ulcer and pneumonia under control – but by then the doctors realised that he was paralysed from the face down and diagnosed him with Gillium Barre syndrome. He passed away three days later on 1 September. It came as a big shock to all of us.

We were so grateful to have been able to communicate with him during his last four days. Every day he greeted us with a huge smile. On his last day, three hours before he died of internal organ failure, Yvette asked him if he wanted to “go home”. He nodded yes and gave her a big smile. As a family we stood at his bed and sang “He is Lord” to him and while his pastor prayed for him his heart stopped and he went to be with his Lord. He was a giant in God’s Kingdom and was known all throughout South Africa for his servant heart and big love for people. Today, we’re still very sad but we feel so rich. The spiritual inheritance he left us is huge.

Back in England, I was stirred to preach on Jesus’ resurrection. When one stands next to someone’s death bed the resurrection of Jesus Christ becomes your only hope. And by proving this reality shows us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only hope for all mankind. You can listen to this and many more sermons by visiting www.everynation.co.uk and clicking on downloads.

During the early part of August we as a congregation had the privilege of supporting a single Philippino mom who was in real need. Maria was frightened about her and Matilda, her baby girl’s future as she had almost no support from the father. We were able to come alongside her, love her, support her – we were able to buy her and the baby what they needed and then saw her accepting Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour. She is now back in the Philippines with her family. Pray with us for her as she grows in God with our spiritual family over there.

Micah did in the end get to celebrate his 3rd birthday in South Africa with our family. Here he is posing with his grandma Botha.

We want to thank all of you who contributed to the expense of this unexpected trip to South Africa. By the time we got on the plain to come back, all our costs were covered. Thank you for supporting us in this very special way. We will never be able to forget your kindness towards us and our families in this time.
Thank you, thank you.

 

July ’09

The fruit

The fruit in Slough is starting to show and God gets all the glory for His faithfulness! We’re in our 5th month of this new church plant with our Sunday attendance averaging around 25 people but God is doing an amazing work in the lives of these individuals. The Holy Spirit is very present in the meetings – we sense Him doing a marvellous work to refresh and rebuild broken lives. We also baptised two more young women from the church in the sea during a church beach day. Yvette and I have really grown very close to the people and have become well acquainted with Pilipino cooking (which represents the majority of the congregants at present) in the process. We’re pressing forward to do a great work for God in Slough!

The battle

July’s preaching series called “Battle to build” had us looking closely at Nehemiah’s story in the Bible of how he endured great opposition when he set out to do the great work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. This series proofed to be very timely for me and Yvette. We experienced great spiritual opposition recently on almost every possible level. We have started a great work for God and we now know from very practical experience that to build the kingdom of God is to engage in a battle. But God has given us great weapons of warfare and reminded us about the importance of prayer in this time.
Prayer is our most formidable weapon, the thing which makes all else we do efficient.
- E. M. Bounds
So in the coming weeks, we will take extra care to ensure our prayer shield (our team of people that pray for us on a regular basis) is in place. We desperately need prayer support in this time, and in the coming months. When you pray and feel like you have something to share with us, please do not hesitate to call or e-mail us. We would love to hear from you. We are doing a lot better but we know the battle is still very real.

The family

We are so thankful to God for being so real to us and our children in this time. We can see His hand on our children’s lives. Micah’s favourite thing in life is to copy the drummers and guitarists on his live worship DVDs. He certainly has a passion for music. Monet has just started showing signs of crawling and still remains in awe of her big brother, who will be celebrating his 3rd birthday this month. Mommy has 3 more weeks left to figure out how to bake a Lightning McQueen cake!

 

June ’09

June 09

It’s finally sinking in … We’re in the final stretch.

Three Cathedral Towers

Since our return from Gent, we’ve experienced what is best described as a huge reality check … next year around this time we could very well be writing to you from Gent, as our new permanent home.

Thank you to all of you who prayed with us and for us during this past June prayer scout to Gent.  We had a great time cycling around town, praying over the nation and practically looking at what life is like in this city. Gent is a hugely significant European landmark with its large cathedrals and old buildings along the riverside.  In the picture you can see the three famous cathedral towers next to the river Lei.  We’ve truly connected with the city, this nation and key individuals who’s help and advice will be invaluable with regards to the practicalities of relocating our family. You can follow our progress on the Gent website.

Heidi, Micah and Monet

Afterwards Yvette’s sister stayed on with us for a week and a half of holiday time, enjoying the warm temperatures around the English countryside.  Micah obviously thought Heidi was here for his sole entertainment and made the best of every moment with her.  For Yvette it was hugely significant to have had her best friend experience Gent with us and spent some quality

time with us as a family in this important season of our lives.  God is busy doing a deep work in our hearts to prepare us for this journey to Western Europe.  Yet again we’ve come to realise our absolute dependence upon God. Thank you so very much for joining us on this journey.

Over the next few weeks in Slough, we will be launching a series “Battle to Build”. You can follow with

Battle to Build

us on my blog.

We love you and are praying for you.

Trev, Yvette, Micah & Monet

 

May news

New ways to communicate

Since I’ve stepped into the ministry, now just over six years ago, I have stayed in touch with all my friends and partners through a monthly newsletter. This has been a real joy, something which I do with ease as Yvette and I love keeping in touch with all the people we know around the world. But increasingly, so many people have asked in the last year that I rather do e-mail than hard copy mailouts. This has proven a real time and cost saver, something which we all can appreciate!

And living in this global village where a friend is simply an email or a few words away on Facebook, we too have decided to join in on the Blog-buzz. A regular question we get is “How is the preparation for Belgium going?” We can now point them to a website that updates everyone on the progress of this future church plant – www.enmgent.org. The same goes for the church we’re currently leading in Slough – please visit www.trevsthoughts.wordpress.com. On this site you will find some of our latest family photos, sermons and general thoughts. Please have a look and let us know what you think!

Belgium prayer scout: 10 – 14 June

We leave for Gent in less than two weeks! Man, are we excited or what? Please cover us in prayer during this time. We’re a team of 15 people that’ll be praying over the city, the church planting team and the entire process over the weekend of the 12^th. We will shoot fresh video footage of the city and will be sure to give you a complete update on our return.

Slough update

We’re in week thirteen of this new church plant and we enjoy seeing the fruit! We have recently finished three different sermon series which you can listen to on my blog and we’re about to launch into another exciting series over the month of June called “God is …” This is part of a global initiative called “One Prayer”. More than a thousand churches worldwide from various denominations are going to spend the month of June looking at the topic “God is …” and so cover different aspects and characteristics of our Heavenly Father. Tonight, here in Slough, I want to declare that “God is good!” Have you got a story to share that testifies of His goodness? Get in touch with me. I’d love to hear from you.

Family update

We just love our family barbeques out in our new garden, now that the sky seems to be more blue than grey these days. Micah loves the new sandpit which I built for him but nothing seems to come close to the excitement his new guitar, a special gift from his grandma, has brought into his life. He’s a born entertainer (where does he get that from?!) and is forever singing ‘Hillsong’ around the house with either his guitar over the shoulder or while drumming on tinned food with mommy’s chop sticks. The ‘live’ entertainment has certainly caused Monet to become more lively and interactive with her big brother. She certainly seems to be his biggest fan at the moment! Check out Micah’s latest sounds on my blog. You’ll be blessed.

That’s all from us this time. Thank you for “sticking with us”. We want to honour your faithfulness in this time, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Trev, Yvette, Micah & Monet

Praise reports

We’ve had another experienced volunteer join our kids ministry team in Slough.  Thank you for praying with us!  More help is needed so please continue to pray with us into this area of real need.

Prayer scout prayer points

• Wisdom and discernment for me as I lead our team of passionate ‘pray-ers’ into a time of strategic prayer, in a very key time of preparation.
• Success with gathering practical, historical and spiritual insight into the city of Gent and its people.
• Discernment as I meet up with keen supporters in Belgium.
• Adaptability and contentment for our kids as they join us for the trip.

Partnership update

Yes, two more financial partners have joined our team this past month of May.  We’re so blessed by this!  We’re trusting God for 36 more partners to be added which will enable us to meet our projected monthly ministry expenses out in Belgium.  In addition we’re trusting for special gifts to cover specific needs for relocation and settling in.    We’ll continue to update you on our progress in this area.

Thank you for praying with us.

 

April News

Family update

On the home front there never seems to be a dull moment. Micah is just about potty trained and what a joyride that was (we’re trying to sound as positive about it as we can)! He’s also started to speak English out of his own (our home language remains to be Afrikaans) and loves to practice on just about everyone he meets out in supermarkets or at play groups. He’s definitely the clown in the family! Monet turns seven months next week and has blossomed into the most beautiful bright blue-eyed baby girl – originally with dark hair but now seems to be turning blond on us. My mom will definitely enjoy them both so much when she comes over from South Africa to visit for two weeks in May.

Immigration process

Thank you so much for all your prayers with regards to our settlement application. Our application was accepted on 9 April and we were granted “indefinite leave to remain in the UK” (which will benefit our immigration to Belgium greatly)! God is good. This is such a big step forward for us.

Belgium prayer scout: 10 – 14 June

We’ve just about finalised the arrangements for the up and coming trip to Gent in June. We’re extremely excited to go back to this great city and to walk the streets and neighbourhoods again. The purpose of the trip will be to pray over the city, the team and the process. We’re now possibly moving into the last 12 – 18 month stretch before we as the senior leaders relocate there, although two members of our existing team, Geoff and Maggie Lee, will be moving as early as January next year. For them it’s becoming quite a reality already so we’ll be looking into a few of the practicalities, for example the housing – we’d like to start praying about where in the city God would want us to settle and start the church. God has started to talk to us about “ownership” – about owning Gent for His purposes. Already Yvette and I can say that in our hearts of hearts we already feel like we own Gent … it’s ours!

Slough update

We’ve just finished our “Who is Jesus” series and certainly had a great time studying the life of Jesus a bit closer. There’s a consistency in the core group that attends every Sunday and we’re expectant for great things to follow. Yvette and I continue to learn loads about leading a church. This is truly a unique season where we’re focussing on two projects at the same time (Belgium and Slough) but God has been very gracious and we seem to cope with the work load. Thank you so much for praying for us!

Partnership update

We’re very grateful for two new financial partners that joined our team this past month. We’re trusting God for 38 more partners to be added which will enable us to meet our projected personal monthly ministry expenses out in Belgium. In addition we’re trusting for special gifts to cover specific needs for relocation or settling in. Please pray with us!

Thank you for making this journey possible – we appreciate you.

 

March News

Sunday, 15 March, saw the first official Every Nation Church Slough meeting in one of the finest venues in town – “The Centre” – a very modern conference centre. We had 38 people join us for the launch with Ps Wolfi from Every Nation London as the opening speaker. For me and Yvette it was an amazing experience. We believe that this interim leadership role will be very significant to our preparation and personal leadership development for Belgium. With this new role, we will become the first church planters sent out from London, in specific, with hands-on church planting experience. We’re truly grateful for the opportunity.
In the picture here you can see me and some of the team proudly pointing out our new banner with directions to our venue. In the picture below Ps Wolfi and his wife Ali are praying for Yvette and me at the end of the service.
Starting Sunday 22 March, I will kick off a four part preaching series, “Who is Jesus?” Feel free to follow this series by visiting the “downloads” section on the Every Nation London website, www.everynation.co.uk. Please pray with us that this will have a tremendous impact, leading up to Easter where I plan to preach on the topic, “Jesus our Saviour”. Together, let’s trust for many new salvations.

Partner with us
Our vision for Belgium is big. In our hearts we have committed our lives to a generational vision: to preach the gospel with power and conviction, to make disciples and to raise them up to full maturity in God. We believe we are called to plant a contemporary Christian church that fully integrates into the Flemish culture, with one foot on the campus and one in the community.

As we’re actively busy preparing for our move to Belgium to start the church there, we can’t only look at the ‘now’ needs but we’re constantly reminded of needs to come. The range of needs for funding this plant are wide and varied and they include our immigration costs, moving costs, a new family car and initial start-up expenses such as legal costs for registering the church and then the translation and production of promotional and outreach materials and tools.

With our current average taken into account, we would need 40 more monthly financial partners in order to meet the budgeted monthly needs for the Belgium church plant. In addition to that, we need to raise special gifts to cover the one off needs, as highlighted here above.

If you feel in any way that you would like to contribute to any of these needs, or become a monthly partner to support the vision for Belgium, we ask that you pray about it and get in touch with us. We personally value partnership very dearly as we know this enables our efforts to be greatly multiplied. This vision is simply too big for us alone. Thank you.

 

February News

Past

The last seven years with Every Nation have been amazing… fifteen mission trips, six ministry trips, nine different countries, one devoted wife and two amazing kids. The friends we’ve made: enduring … the lessons learned: priceless… the cries from our hearts: deep … the laughs we’ve shared: genuine. Wow, what a journey. We started off as two singles earning pounds as part of the great London experience but God joined us together to further His Kingdom and so put us on this journey of a lifetime. This is where our passion for His business has taken us – and you, our partners, have been with us every step of the way, some as early as 2003.

Present

2009 started with an extremely fast pace. After we moved into our new home on 2 January and finished unpacking all our boxes, I took a week to fast and pray to hear from the Lord what 2009 will hold. During that week a lot of things came together … and now Yvette and I are launching a new congregation in Slough, just outside the borders of the greater London area. Initially we were only going to assist with this plant but in early January we were approached to step up as senior leaders, only until the time comes for us to relocate to Belgium. We are truly excited about this new opportunity to learn the ropes. We know God has great plans for the community of Slough. We’ll appreciate your prayers as the church launches as early as 15 March.

We’ve already had such good times ministering with the group there. One night while teaching, I noticed one of the women started crying halfway through the evening. Afterwards, Yvette started speaking to her. She shared that she sensed the Holy Spirit was convicting her to get baptised. We were all really thrilled by this and planned to arrange a time and date for this to happen … to which she replied that she didn’t want to wait a day longer! So we baptised her that night, in the bath at the house where we had our meeting!

Future

As we shared recently, our visas have been approved for our time left here in the UK. The next step now is to apply for our ‘indefinite leave to remain’ status in the UK which will lead to formalising our nationality, twelve months later, and us becoming European citizens – able to move abroad without much hassle. Until then, our preparation continues. Our next prayer scout to Gent, Belgium is scheduled for 10 – 18 June. We’re excited to move into the next phase of preparation as we zoom in on the student life in Gent and reconnect with local contacts made during previous visits, hoping to gain more wisdom and understanding about the future work in Gent.

You

In the beginning of this year when I was fasting, I had a renewed sense of the privilege to have ministry partners like you. I really mean this from my heart. My heart is filled with thankfulness towards God for the awesome friends we’ve made we’re honoured to build His Kingdom in partnership with you. Thank you!