Living to Love with Jesus

After our time in East Africa we headed back to Johannesburg to get more training, and to rejuvenate ourselves before our next leg in South America. We did a course with Norm Wakefield called Live to Love and the whole team can agree that this course was not only convicting but life changing as it opened our eyes in terms of how we see the world and how we see each other. It challenged a world view that most of us didn’t even know we had and it enabled us to re-examine the way we are approaching ministry and the people that we are being sent to love. We asked ourselves questions like: “Are we loving them in the way that Jesus has called us to love them? How do we define the love that Jesus so often speaks about?”

The truth is, we, ourselves, are incapable of loving people out of our own strength but the good news is that Jesus can love them through us… and this is essentially, the essence of what we learned during the time we did Norms sessions. As well as what the actual difference is between a worldly kind of love and a Godly kind of love.

A testimony of Zandre’s experience during our training time in Johannesburg:

“During our time in Johannesburg the foundations of my faith were really shaken and tested. During the live to love course with Norm Wakefield I was faced with the question of the intention behind my loving people. Do I only love people because they have something to offer and because they love me in return, or do I truly love people the way Jesus first loved us. Jesus loved us while we were useless to Him. We had absolutely nothing to offer Him in return for His love. That is the way he calls us to love others and that is certainly not the way I had been loving the ones Jesus had put in my path. I am called to love like Jesus loves. But not without His help. I learned that I must love others like Jesus, with Jesus. He is the one loving others through me and without Him I will fail every time. Johannesburg truly was a pivotal time for me in the way I love others and the way I love Jesus. My faith was deepened and my love of Jesus increased!”

So often, even as followers of Christ, we convince ourselves that we have mastered the art of loving, and that perhaps it’s other people’s faults that they are so hard to love, but this isn’t what Jesus means when he emphasises the importance of loving others… 

This was a life changing lesson that the team got to learn at exactly the right time. 

Since we were coming back from East Africa, we could trace back to all the times that perhaps our team had not lived to love others, or even times where we had forgotten to love each other inside of the team. As a result, there was a shift in our thinking, and a determination to do differently. It even changed the way we were each deciding to approach ministry in the leg to come. 

To try and further expand on the impact of this time would be a great task, for the ripple of change that it caused was and is still so evident. 

Our team also took part in the Mid Year Debrief for about 2 days. We debriefed everything that happened so far this year and that too was a fruitful time of much introspection and reflection… The team agreed that it was encouraging to see each other’s different perspectives on events that we had all experienced. 

After training in Johannesburg, we went to Pretoria and worked with an organisation called the Butterfly Foundation. Our time with the organisation consisted of rewarding manual labour. We paved and repaired hiking and cycling trails at the Klapperkop Nature Reserve. The tasks included, rock-packing, clearing trails, and an occasional pause to listen to the powerful life lessons from our host, Stian, who is also a former Global Challenger. 

For our team, this was not just a few days of physical work, it was a time that allowed us to connect with our hosts, to connect with one another and to connect with God. Watching the sunrise over the chilly KlapperKop hill every morning before work, gave us a glimpse of God’s beauty which was enough to  encourage us for the hard days work ahead. 

Overall Johannesburg was fruitful and enjoyable. Our desire to know Jesus has increased and will continue to increase each day as we learn more of the lessons that the Lord is teaching us. We’re excited for Him to reveal His beauty and wisdom in our lives as we journey on. 

Prayer requests: 

• Unity in the team

• Safe travels

• Protection against any spiritual attacks