God’s WAVE is swelling…

Dearest friends and family

We want to thank you for all your support and prayers in these first few months, since we’ve been in Portugal, and especially in this last month. We have been here now for about three and a half months and we truly feel all your prayers, encouragement and support in this transition.

This first three months, Surf Church did not put any expectations on us, because they just wanted to give us time to settle and find our feet, which has been a big blessing and grace. At the beginning of October we had a meeting with Samuel and Kevin (Surf Church Leaders) about slowly, but surely starting with ministry and so far it has been wonderful.

We see and hear more and more that God is working and moving in Portugal. God’s wave is swelling and we are excited about being here and having the opportunity to seek God and pray for Portugal and Europe and be part of what God is doing and will do here.

Here are some testimonies and stories from the last month:

In our last update we mentioned that we were on the airport on our way to Italy to attend the Xpand International Staff (XIS) conference in Brixen, South Tyrol (11-14 September).

Xpand is the company that Andre and I did an internship with in 2021. Since 2022, I started working as one of the Xpand consultants in South Africa and our aim of going to this conference was to connect to some of the European consultants and to see if and how God possibly wants to use Xpand as part of our work and ministry here in Porto, Portugal. Our time at XIS was super special. We got to reconnect with my colleagues from South Africa and they even brought us some treats from home.

We also got to meet and connect with so many of the consultants from all over Europe. The content that was presented and discussed at the conference was inspiring, insightful and wonderful tools that can help us in our ministry here in Portugal. We had wonderful and deep moments of worship and prayer. We also had deep discussions and impartations about what it means to be Christ-centered and how do we impact the world around us.

They were happy and excited that we moved to Portugal. They called us to the front one morning to welcome us to Europe and to pray for us.

It was super humbling and special for us. We were able to build many connections and we are excited and expectant to see how God will use Xpand in Portugal in the future.

After the conference we travelled back to Portugal and spent a few days (15-17 September) in Lisbon with one of my colleagues, Hester and her husband, Johan. Hester is not just a colleague to me. She has been a great inspiration and mentor in the last three years working for Xpand, but she is also a dear friend who is strong in her faith and a mighty prayer warrior.

We are super thankful for the amazing time we got to spend with Hester and Johan and we look forward to seeing them again.

When we got back to Porto we got to spend more time with Samuel and Claudia, since we haven’t really had time to be together and connect since we got here. It has been a huge blessing to get to know each other and to start working, building, dreaming and ministering together. We are super thankful that we get to be part of such an amazing team.

3-7 October we travelled to Lisbon again to meet up with “Oom” (Uncle) Manie and “Tannie” (Aunt) Annelie Taute. They are from South Africa and they were missionaries in Lisbon, Portugal for 17 years. They moved back to South Africa about two years ago to retire, and we got to meet them and connect with them in Jeffreys bay, through Global Challenge. They have been part of our journey of preparing to come and they have supported and helped us in so many ways. We joined them at the Bible School where Oom Manie worked and served for many years, for the 50th Anniversary of the Bible School.

We had great moments of studying the Bible and praying together. We played table tennis, made “lekker” South African food and had a “braai” (barbeque). They also took us around Lisbon and showed us some beautiful places in and around the city.

We had many powerful moments of praying together for Portugal. We are super thankful that we get to learn from their years of experience and wisdom and that we get to love and serve the same nation that they impacted for so many years.

While we were in Lisbon we unfortunately got some scary news from back home on Sunday 6 October. My Mom was in the hospital, because her appendix had burst. She was in a lot of pain and her infection count was dangerously high, so they immediately did an emergency operation to remove her appendix. Thankfully the operation went well and after a few days in ICU my mother was released from hospital and she is back home healing and getting better. We praise God for hearing our prayers and saving my mother’s life and for healing her. Thank you to everyone on our prayer team who prayed with us and supported us during this difficult time. We cannot thank you enough and there are no words to explain how much your love and support means to us.

When we got back from Lisbon we had some guests from Germany who are old friends of Surf Church. We got to meet and know Jenny and Daniel, a lovely couple who stayed with us for a week (6-13 October). They came to Porto to pray and seek God for decisions they want to make about their future. We had the opportunity to share stories and meals, pray together and we had amazing conversations about Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. We are excited about what God is stirring in so many German young people’s hearts and we are expectant to see what God will do in and through Daniel and Jenny.

On 10 October Andre and I together with Samuel and Claudia had an online assessment with Excel Leadership Network, which is a Church Planting Network based in the USA, that also supports church plants in Europe. They help church planters to gain better clarity on their calling and roles and then they also give support through coaching, connections and finances. After the assessment they gave us feedback and gave us a “green light”, which means they view us as candidates with potential for success in church planting. We will now prepare a proposal with our vision and goals for the next few years and then Excel Leadership Network will send us suggestions on how we could work together to achieve those goals. It was a great learning experience for all of us and we are excited about the future.

14-15 October we had the privilege of joining Samuel at a meeting of about 50 pastors from Portugal and Spain. These leaders came together last year after a big evangelism event in a huge stadium in Portugal. The stadium was filled with people who all heard the Gospel and worshipped Jesus together. It is the first time in the history of Europe that a big stadium was filled and an event like this was held. After the event this group of leaders decided together that they believe God is working and doing something new in Portugal, Spain and Europe and they want to unite and pray together and seek God’s face to know His heart and will and how we can be part of what He is doing. They call this group the Iberian Alliance.

It was amazing to see these leaders come together and unite, leaving behind their differences, because they are all hungry and desperate to see God move and bring revival in the Iberian peninsula and Europe and to the rest of the world. Portugal and Spain were once the nations that sent explorers and catholic missions all over the world. We pray and believe God will revive these nations and again send many missionaries with the Gospel of the Kingdom from the Iberian peninsula into the rest of the world.

We have started meeting and building friendships with some of the students and young people in church, and we are learning so much about Portugal and the Portuguese culture.

We love the Sunday afternoon surf times before church, when we fit all the boards and wetsuits and people into the Surf Church van and go to the beach to surf. We get to meet many students from all over the world and have good conversations before, during and after surf.

We are thankful, excited and expectant for the next few months of ministry as we continue to settle in and learn the language. We also got to celebrate our 5 years wedding anniversary and we are in awe of God’s goodness and grace on our lives and marriage. To the next 55 years…

The next few weeks and months are filled with interns, mission teams and people coming to stay with us and serve here with Surf Church Porto. We are very thankful and excited. Please pray with us for this next season.

23 October – 1 November – two sisters (Ilona & Samara) are here from Germany to serve and learn more about Surf Church and ministry.
31 October -3 November – we are crazy excited to receive our dear South African friends (Christopher and Dorette) coming from London to visit us.
13 – 16 November – a friend from Ireland (Stephen) is coming to pray and seek God in Porto, because God told him to go to Portugal, because He has something for him here. We love radical faith and obedience like this.
23 November – 15 December – Luca another intern from Germany is coming to mission and serve with us. He recently surrendered his life to Jesus and He is also super passionate about missions and on fire for Jesus.

AND Last but not least… We are SUUUUUPER EXCITED AND EXPECTANT because…
14 November – 4 December – We are receiving a special package with two secret weapons sent from our church in South Africa (Revolution Church). Our dear friends Giselle and Mieke are coming for a mission to come and serve here with us and during this time we will also do a Luke 10 mission together. Mieke and Giselle are medical students who are ON FIRE for Jesus! We prayed together, sought God together and reached out together in South Africa at the Strip in Hatfield, the University of Pretoria and wherever God sent us. These two fire starters are powerful evangelists and they are so in love with Jesus and ready to follow Him anywhere. We pray and believe that their mission to Portugal will not just bless Portugal, but that Jesus would ignite a fire and a passion in us (Surf Church Community) and that the Holy Spirit will come and impart something in Andre and I as well as in Giselle and Mieke’s lives. Please pray for them and for the time that they will be here with us. If you would like to support them in prayer or with finances, please let us know and we will connect you with them.