Dear Prayer Partner
Thank you so much for praying for us and supporting us, whether financially, with messages to encourage us or by being involved in our ministry.
We appreciate you, and we know that it would not be possible for us to do the ministry for which the Lord called us, if it were not for you who are part of our life.
It is so unreal that we are already at the end of February 2023, and we realize that this is our first newsletter of the year and we have not yet given you feedback on the Outreach to Buffelspoort.
We want to start by sharing with you what the Lord has shared with us for 2023
A Garden Enclosed
On December 10 last year, our entire team (full-time staff and students) was blessed by a congregation in the City with a special morning of ministry and fellowship. During the worship time, the Lord showed Linda a very beautiful garden with a “cobble stone” path that ends at a large lattice gate that is slightly open. On either side of the gate are the most beautiful vines and from behind the gate shines the brightest light. I (Linda) hear how Father says that He invites us as a House of Prayer to be in His Garden in 2023 where we will grow deeper in intimacy with Him than ever before. I experience that Father says He wants to anchor us in deep intimacy with Him to prepare and equip us for what will come in the future. A few days later, the Holy Spirit whispers in my heart that I must add up the numbers of 2023 and the total is 7, God’s perfect number. I experience that Father says 2023 is the Year in which He will reveal Himself to us in a very deep and very special way.
We are very excited about this year and we invite you to walk with us through that gate into that place where we walk with Him in His garden and grow closer to Him than ever before.
OUTREACH FEEDBACK
We were on an outreach to Buffelspoort ATKV resort for the first time and had the wonderful privilege of talking to many people about the redemptive work of Jesus. The Lord put it on our hearts to print the scripture in Zach 4:6 on the back of our shirts and this led to dozens of conversations with people who asked team members about what was written on our shirts.
Highlights from the Outreach:
1. A whole number of small children who gave their hearts to Jesus for the first time.
2. Puppet show was not only attended by the little ones, but also by many parents and grandparents and for the first time during an outreach, Father also put it on our hearts to not only talk to the children during Puppet show, but also with the parents.
3. Our Christmas play, The Newspaper, portrayed the story of Jesus in a modern way and touched and encouraged many hearts. This led to requests for prayer.
4. On New Year’s Eve, Marais was asked to bring a 10-minute message at the New Year’s Eve dance and the music was stopped at 23:10 for this message. Marais shared a message from Psalm 139 and at the end shared the gospel and invited everyone to pray together and it was noticeable how many people stood up to pray together. We trust the Lord that that 10-minute message touched many hearts and that people made a choice for Jesus for the first time.
5. The Quiet Time material we did on Identity in Christ permanently impacted our entire team’s lives, and the Holy Spirit is still busy reminding us of those truths and transforming us. (If you would like this material to work through, please send us a WhatsApp and we will email it to you).
There is still so much to tell about the Outreach, but we will stop with these few highlights.
JOSHUA YEAR AND IHOPU
The Lord has given us three young ladies as Joshua Year students this year and we are excited to see what the Lord has planned for each one.
We also got a new IHOPU student who enrolled in the Forerunner School of Worship. He is also our first International student from Lesotho.
REQUEST FOR STUDENT HELP
The pastor of Kopano (Wayne)’s congregation in Lesotho inquired about the course last year and decided to send him to Witbank House of Prayer to do the 4 year course. The pastor committed himself to paying for Wayne’s studies as well as living expenses.
Wayne who had never been out of Lesotho applied for his passport and the Lord provided that he got his passport much faster than he was told he would and he was able to come to Witbank at the beginning of February for his studies.
The Lord also provided that he gets accommodation for R1000 per month in a guest house (THIS IS A MIRACLE! There is no accommodation available for that little in Witbank, but he said his monthly budget is R1500 per month).
Die pastoor van Kopano (Wayne) se gemeente in Lesotho het verlede jaar navraag gedoen oor die kursus en het besluit om hom na Witbank Huis van Gebed te stuur om die 4 jaar kursus te doen. Die pastoor het homself daartoe verbind dat hulle Wayne se studies sowel as lewenskoste sal betaal.
In the meantime, however, the pastor went back on his word and did not pay for his studies, nor did he take any responsibility to contribute to his living expenses.
We would like to ask you to please pray with us for Wayne’s provision, but also to pray about perhaps contributing to help, even if it is with R50 or R100 a month. 20 People who contribute R100 per month can help pay for her accommodation and also for food and toiletry expenses per month.
Please also pray together for his study fees, which must be paid before March 10. It should actually have been paid already at the beginning of January, but IHOPU, after we explained the situation to them, said they would give an extension until March 10. IHOPU give a very large scholarship to students who study with us. The cost of his studies is therefore only $550 per semester. However, at this stage a $30 late payment penalty has been added to the semester fees.
If you feel that the Lord is leading you to contribute to Wayne, you can pay your contribution into the House of Prayer’s account with reference: Wayne. Send us a WhatsApp for the bank details.
Also send proof of payment to info@witbankhop.co.za.
CELEBRATION
We had our annual Celebration on February 5 during which we celebrate with great gratitude in our hearts the Lord’s goodness for His provision and the way He made for us to move the House of Prayer from our living room in the Building in 2017 which He provided. This year it is 6 years ago that we established Witbank House of Prayer as Mission base to serve the Body of Christ in our city and our country through prayer, and also equipment regarding prayer.
LIVE STREAM
It is with great gratitude in our hearts that we can testify that over the past 6 years we have grown so much in the building that, with all our corporate sessions (that is when all the full-time staff and students are in the Prayer Room) where we have focused prayer, we already have live worship and do not need to use the live stream of the International House of Prayer prayer in Kansas City in those sets.
We therefore decided this year not only to Live Stream our Sunday evening Fellowship on Facebook, but also to Live Stream all our corporate sessions during the week.
We are currently doing our live stream with an iPhone and the sound quality is not that good, although it is possible to hear, especially with headphones.
Please pray with us for the finances to buy equipment that will result in better quality sound.
MIRACLE EXPERIENCED
As a House of Prayer team, we had the privilege of being able to pray together for an almost 2-year-old boy who fell into a swimming pool and drowned on December 28. The doctor at the Hospital’s Emergency Department continued until he found a heartbeat and stabilized him, after which he was taken by helicopter to Garden City Clinic’s children’s ICU. For a month we prayed with Luca’s Mum and family and hundreds of others in our country and exactly one month after he fell in the pool, Chantelle walked out of the hospital with Luca and Luca is 100% healthy. He has no brain damage or any other damage. We praise the Lord for this Miracle that encouraged us all and made us realize that we serve a God for whom nothing is impossible.
GENERAL MINISTRY NEWS
1. We still send out a prayer letter 3 times a week to a group of people across the country who pray with us for Revival for our beautiful country. If you would like to become part of this prayer chain, please send us a Whatsapp to add you. We sent out Letter number 120 last week.
2. We still have Healing Rooms on Tuesdays and are very busy every Tuesday with prayer requests for healing, either with people coming in for prayer or sending requests via WhatsApp. We often see that our Father is the Physician who heals. And we are careful to give Him all the honour for what He does.
3. On February 10th we had our first halfnight of Prayer (from 18:00 ‘till midnight) for this year and praise the Lord for His tangible presence that filled the Prayer Room during the 6 hours of uninterrupted worship and prayer. With these midnights of prayer we get a taste of what we believe Father wants to do with a day and night House of Prayer in our city for our country.
PRAYER REQUESTS
For the Ministry:
1. Pray for us as a team that we will not move away from our First Love relationship with the Lord and that, especially in this year in which we have been invited by our Father to a deeper intimacy than ever before, we will not miss out on what He has in store for us.
2. Please pray for our Joshua Year students that each of them will not miss anything that the Lord wants to build into their lives this year and that they will allow the Lord to lay the rock solid foundation in their lives that He wants to do.
3. Pray together for provision for all our students, especially for Wayne and the unique challenging situation he is in.
4. Pray for our full-time prayer missionaries for good health, and also for provision in each of their needs.
5. Pray that we will always be sensitive to the guidance of our Heavenly Father and that we will not do anything that is not in His perfect plan for the ministry.
For us personally:
1. We still trust the Lord for complete victory in our health. Please pray with us for complete healing in both of our bodies.
2. We have had some unforeseen expenses in the past 2 months. Please pray for us for provision to cover these expenses.
3. In mid-January, we helped Linda’s mother move from her one-bedroom house in a retirement village in Kempton Park to an apartment that is smaller and easier for her to handle. We are also now in the process of connecting her to Frail Care who will take care of her in her apartment. Please pray that she will completely adjust to the changes for her. We are also still busy packing up her house so that we can rent it out. Pray for wisdom and please pray for a suitable tenant for her house.
4. Pray with us for a break away. We realize that after Marais’s mother’s death, the outreach and also the move of Linda’s mother, we need a short break away to rest.
5. On the weekend of March 11, we will go to Brandfort with Marais’ brother and sister-in-law to place his mother’s ashes in the memorial wall where his father’s ashes were placed. Pray for us for a safe journey, but also for the Holy Spirit’s comfort when we do it.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this long newsletter. We appreciate you!! We would also like to pray for you and ask that you please share your prayer needs with us. Send us a WhatsApp on 083 447 1661 or an email and let us know how you are doing.
Much love
Marais and Linda
