Every Nation Every Campus

Thoughts from Rice Broocks’ sermon @ the Every Nation world conference in Manilla on 22 July 2010

This message comes 10 years after God gave us the mandate to reach every nation in our generation in 1999.  10 years later, of the 200+ countries of the world we are now ministering in 61 countries with hundreds of churches. It’s quite exciting and brings at the same time says to me: “don’t sleep now, there is a real calling in front of us. It also says to me that it’s "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit." Zechariah 4:6

Rice Broocks

Why the campus?
He re-iterated why reaching the campus is so important:
1. It’s the battle ground where minds are being captured.
More than in prisons, the campus is where minds are being captured.
2. Is where leaders are being trained.
3. The world’s major movements in history started on campus.
4. Values in society are impacted.
Abraham Lincoln: “The philosophy of the classroom, will be the philosophy of the next generation.”
5. History is altered on campus.
The college has resource to fuel any objective we as a movement can ever have.

Every Nation Every Campus
This is a new battle cry he gave to all leaders there.
It’s to say it’s not about just going to all nations or reaching all nations but reaching to all nations strategically by reaching the area of most significant resource point – the campus. While there's much we can engage for God, reaching every campus is our assignment.

I've always had that in my heart but 'Every Nation Every Campus' brings focus where by now there's been many churches planted as a result of growth, it reminds us that though we're growing the goal is to reach the world through reaching the campus.

It reminds us of our priorities. i.e. as much as we give attention to reaching every nation, reaching the campus has equal importance.

Every Nation Church Plant Update

On Tuesday, 27 July 2010 while I visited the church office in Parktown, Ps Roger had just come back from the Every Nation World Conference in Manilla. This is the feedback he gave regarding church plants.

In the last three years, these are the new church plants:

29 in the Middle East	9 in Latin America
8 in Europe (4 in the U.K.)	4 in the UAE
3 in Bangladesh

In Iran, where one of our leaders who was brought up as Muslim, planted a church there a few years back. He was eventually arrested for 183 days as there is immense persecution to the church there. While in prison he preached, worshipped & fasted. When he was brought before the judge, the judge asked: “are your parents Muslim?” he answered: “yes”; the judge asked: “Do you fear God?”, he answered “yes”; the judge asked: “Are you submitted to Him?”, he answered: “yes”; then the judge said: “You are free to go!”

One of the speakers there is a self-confessed ex Al-Qaeda trained assassin and has now given his life to God and preaches the gospel!

Check out this church-plant update video:

We are called to reach Every Nation in Our Generation!

Faith is Like a Toothbrush

My thoughts on Carol Mkhize’s sermon: The Power of Today

On Sunday, 25 July I visited the His People church on the Wits campus. Man it felt like home! Carol’s sermon was jam packed as she spoke about how there’s so much to be done for God today that is easily missed every time we dwell on the past or are in waiting mode. Imagine if Esther had not realised that she had “come to the royal position for such a time as this”? Esther4:14 This was a classic situation to look at what she had (all the royal treaties) and not want to do anything that will threaten her luxuries, or a time to say: “if only I had more time, more money, if only I was older, if only I had a better job.”

 

The widow’s oil

I’d never looked at this story this way: Elisha said to her: “Go around and ask all your neighbours for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.” The oil ran for as much as they had jars for. The jars she brought determined how much oil came because it says: “When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.” So, God was able to help her only up to the faith that she had…

• Faith is like a toothbrush -  you need to use it daily.
• Faith is like a toothbrush - you must use your own.
• Regret looks back, worry looks around but vision looks up.
• A man is not old until regret takes over his dreams.
• Opportunity hides behind obstacles.
• Obstacles can detour you but only you can stop you.

First Service @ HP Joburg on Wits Campus

Just visited HP Joburg on the Wits campus!

Just visiting another campus ministry away from Cape Town immediately it made me realise how big what we’re doing is and how significant it is. The spirit of God was so tangible there & I had this sense that there’s such a purpose for them being there on that campus @ this specific time.

Being there reminded me that we’re not just running church services on Sundays: God’s put us here strategically to reach all the students on all campuses from all over the world – this is our vision as an international movement  to reach “Every Nation in Our Generation.” I thought to myself “Wow God hand-picked these guys here and their ministry & lives will make & is making a difference to hundreds & thousands of people & at times in ways not immediately visible to the eye.”

I got the sense that we need to ensure we don’t lose the sense of urgency – a student has a 4 to 5 year campus lifespan for us to reach them. So, when Carol Mkhize preached on ‘The Power of Today’ I was burning up in my seat thinking “That’s what I’m talking about!!”   

The move of God is global! I hope you be encouraged when it gets tough that we are part of a world-wide mission, what may seem to be small efforts to us adds to the global picture.

Campus Harvest Goal!

Two weeks to go and we’re trusting God to raise for just over R 200 000!

We’re looking to hire buses to transport all the students to Campus Harvest. In order to keep prices for the conference reasonably affordable we sought to raise funds for the transport and have everyone only pay for their accommodation and food @ R650 for the long weekend.  This is part of the Cape Town team praying together during their meeting this morning as they discuss progress and how to go about the next two weeks!

I’ve just spoken to Mandla (far right in the above picture) and he says the team is full of faith in anticipation of how God will provide. They are doing everything they can still knowing that God is the ultimate provider.

Our God is the God who owns cattle on a thousand hills: Psalm 50:10 “For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.”

Campus Harvest 2010!

As His People Campus Ministries we are having our student conference in Magaliesburg. This is an annual & strategic initiative where for a weekend the students & congregants from our campus ministries come to hear and see what God has been doing on the campuses of Africa! It’s where we come before od and allow Him to spark His flame in us for His Kingdom!

This year we are expecting 2000 students (400 from Cape Town)!

Please join in prayer or however you can as we trust God to raise R 235 000 in order to be able to send and accommodate students who can’t afford.

Last year I missed it and when I saw the glow on the faces of those of went I said ‘God pleeease help me be there next year!’ It’s such an honour & privilege for me to be going, only this time as a campus minister. I’m believing God to come back loaded with a deeper passion to see His will be done in our lives and to share that flame with those who didn’t go!

Healing continues on campus!

Before June & year-end exams we have res to res outreach – going out to pray for students as they prepare.

This June we had the outreach again. I wasn’t able to attend as I was away raising my support. Many students gave their lives to Christ and many were slotted into connect groups where they can grow in their faith as believers.

Healing Testimony One striking story during the outreach is of Chuma Mtumi who is a connect group leader at Fuller Hall on UCT campus and is in the worship band with me. She had been diagnosed with Para-umbilical hernia a few weeks before and got completely healed as Roshni (one of our campus leaders) prayed for her: “a lump of the size of a tennis ball, dissolved under my hand. She (Chuma) burst into tears when she realised the lump was gone. She cannot keep from boldly and fearlessly talking about her encounter with Jehovah-Rapha!”

Chuma Mtumi

 

                                                         Wow, our God is alive and amazing!

Online strategy & systems training in Paarl

  

We are doing an online strategy training  and presenting the church database we’ve designed in Paarl with our church leaders there. Again, the strategic aim there is with the progress of technology it’s become imperative for us as the church to have an online presence and to have systems that serve the vision of the church & not the other way round.  Someone said: “Ashton Kutcher has over 5 million followers on Twitter, with all due respect, what does Ashton have to say that the church doesn’t?” We live in times where social networking has become more popular than pornography worldwide!  This is a world-wide revolution and it presents itself with a ministry opportunity because there are people that will decide on products  or  churches to attend based on a website more than a TV advert.. The aim: God is doing such wonderful things in and through us, it’s our duty to ensure our story is heard & it’s important for us. I’m privileged to have the opportunity to play  a part in brining about this transition! I’ve helped Ps Andrew write the database systems for the church in the last 3 years and we are now starting to distribute it to our other churches and soon to the rest of the body of Christ as a service to be more efficient in our ministries!

In Paarl with the church leaders this morning.

Paarl trip

This a.m I'm @ Paarl with Ps Andrew training the leaders there- man it fires up my heart to see people being fired up for God!