The Ultimate Human Race
So, this is the story of my first Comrades Marathon, yes, which is referred to as the ultimate human race; but as you will see in this documenting of my 90km run, it draws a parallel of an even longer ultimate human race which is…life its self!
So, I don’t quite know how to describe the feeling of running Comrades. Where do I begin?…Well I suppose, in the beginning…
At the start there was just incredible vibe and atmosphere; like something from a fairytale honestly. The street block where you start next to Pietermaritzburg city hall has old buildings and a special Big Ben type tower which give you a European feel…You can just feel the anticipation in the air…
So, you enter your seeding block which is based on your marathon qualifying time, and each block or batch is almost at the next street; each one barracked off from the other…
All the runners are coming in slowly from the side streets, and then suddenly 15-30 minutes before the gun goes off, everyone packs in, pressed right up against each other; and then they remove the barricades, and everyone pushes forward as the entire crowd which you are now part of begins to sing & listen to the special iconic songs…South Africa’s national anthem sung by more than 13000 runners, then Shosholoza, and then Chariots of Fire. This is the biggest crowd as a non-professional athlete, you will every sing the anthem with for your very own sporting event; kind of like your own Springbok vs All Black rugby game!
Then the cock crows, and the gun goes off; some of us though didn’t even know if it was the gun as it sounded like more of a crash over the loud speakers…EPIC!
Isn’t this kind of like a parallel to the anticipation of a new child being born, maybe the anticipation of your birth or of mine; the excitement of new life…and then?…and then the race of life has only just begun. Or the anticipation and euphoria around a land mark, new or first time life event…Like going to school, but then the race only just begins; like matriculating, but then the race only really begins right?…Like going to university or starting your first job, better yet, maybe your dream carrier or your very own business…but then the race only just begins; or like the excitement on your wedding day, the day has finally come…pure bliss…and then?…then the race has only just begun…
So, the gun goes, and?…Well no one even moves because it takes a while first for the front running batches to set off before your block even starts moving; then probably for the first kilometer or so, you are mainly walking as there is no space to run…from the second kilometer, just a slow run. Then gradually into full stride race pace…
It’s incredible coming out of Pietermaritzburg; for the first 10-20 kms you just see a sea of people in front of you going over the hills. The only thing I can compare this to is as a mass army convoy going into battle; you hardly even see road between the people…
Eventually you disperse with enough space to run, but you still run the entire 90kms with at very least mini crowds of runners around you.
It’s like this in life sometimes; all the excitement, expectation and build up and then it’s like hurry up and wait. Also sometimes we start the journey we have so been waiting for, achieving that which we have worked so hard for, only to find that we are just one of many; we kind of get lost in the crowd…sometimes pushing and shoving yes, only just to get ahead a little or to be noticed; but is that even worth it when we are not even the author of our own race. Maybe we shouldn’t push too hard at this point anyway; life’s a marathon and not a sprint right…possibly it’s an ultra-marathon even?
Then imagine a race where for the most part of 90 kms, there are crowds of spectators along the side…So if you get down, the crowds lift you up again!
Yes, in life we have spectators as well; those not in the race its self, but outside of it cheering us on…You see, though we may feel lonely, isolated or insignificant, unnoticed in the sea of faces, the bible tells us in Hebrews 12:1 that ‘Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the RACE marked out for us.’ Isn’t that powerful, isn’t that special; a great cloud of witnesses in the heavenlies who see us…they are witnessing our life race!…My father I believe one of them, who ironically loved watching Comrades himself while still part of the ultimate human race of this life.
So, throughout the race I went into a different mental & emotional zone in which there were arguments within myself, as there were both periodic lows and periodic highs in emotion. I also was checking in with Holy Spirit regularly for guidance and counsel…or maybe He was checking in on me. In this zone it also becomes more normal to run than to stop running…because you are in a crowd of people running, it’s almost like you are not even controlling your own legs; you just feel like you are pushing your body at different degrees of intensity, but not really telling your legs what to do. It just becomes this almost trance like, repetitive motion.
Is this kind of running zone not just like life sometimes as we experience the extreme highs and lows of the circumstances of life and the emotions which come with them. Sometimes in fact, these highs and lows seem to be stuck in a repetitive cycle, going on and on; until it is only The Lord that can break through and set us up high above our circumstances…I think of the scripture in Isaiah 40:31 which says; “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” You see, in this fallen world where there is the natural cause and effect of negative external circumstances which are out of our control; and then in our own strength, might & human wisdom which always fall short in attempting to deal with these circumstances as well as our own internal self-induced negative circumstances, we fall victim to destructive learnt behaviors which keep us in a loop of emotional & mental lows, each followed by a momentary high which is never enough to truly pull us up…Then and only when we listen to the call of The Holy Spirit, and wait on The Lord does He give us the supernatural ability to fly high and strong above the circumstances and live in a state of Joy & Peace which is not based on circumstances at all…Finally again and again in different seasons of life, as we surrender at wits end to God, we receive afresh the Joy of The Lord which is our strength and His Peace which surpasses understanding.
At each major point on the Comrades route there is this massive support…My top 3 favorite points were as follows. Firstly, Camperdown where unexpectedly, Nicole, my children and mother in-law met me for the first time on the route to support me and give me some Banana & Energade for nutrition; Camperdown was supposed to be blocked off due to roach works, but somehow there was still a spectators’ point there, so the family met me there at 20kms into the race instead of Catto Ridge at 30kms as was originally planned. Then my second favorite was Drummond which is traditionally referred to as the halfway point of Comrades though it is not exactly halfway. Knowing you are halfway and have climbed seemingly into the mountains, against the incredible cliff face, and then suddenly there are just crowds of spectators as well as a big media / broadcasting presence packed together on the sides of the road; simply amazing, and a really special feeling!
Then lastly, the most supportive and uplifting point…Hillcrest…It is known for this; the entire length of the road through Hillcrest, there are mass crowds (mainly comprising of the locals), and it feels like they are all cheering for you even if it’s for someone else…
These points or landmarks are like the special times in the course of a lifetime, memorable once in a lifetime events which God blesses us with to experience on this side of eternity and could also count as great times of testimony where & when God came through for us in powerful or miraculous ways! If we all just take the time to reflect, count our blessings and look back; through God, we all have these to draw strength, encouragement & hope from…Doing this throughout different seasons of life is how we can truly ‘overcome by the word of our testimony’.
The significance of Hillcrest was that it was also the second and final point at which Nicole and the family met me roadside (The next time I would see them was at the finish).
It was a long hall from 20kms to about 57kms at Hillcrest as I had expected to see the family at only 30kms and then Hillcrest; but now the gap had become much longer between the unexpected point of 20kms and then only roughly 57kms…
Leading up to Catto Ridge, the 30km mark, I had to overcome in my mind that I wasn’t going to see them at that point as I had originally planned; all the whilst this also being the same distance into a marathon which runners often refer to as the 30km mental wall…So the 30km mark was my first particularly difficult part of the run; I hadn’t experienced this mental wall over the last few marathons I had run prior, but there was still an awareness of the possibility of it looming, paired with not seeing my family which made me feel somewhat down emotionally & mentally. From this point up until maybe 33kms or so, I just had to assure myself that this feeling would pass (more so, I think it was Holy Spirit assuring me) …
My 20km to 57km hall was the hard yards of my comrades run, having to put in the actual running effort; this was mainly physical, apart from the 30km mental struggle. During this stretch of the race, somewhere between 45 and 55kms, I picked up Susan with whom I had trained a fair amount leading up to Comrades; and only around this far into the race does the route start its actual decent on the supposed ‘down run’ which begins after Botha’s Hill. Together with the anticipation of seeing the family at Hillcrest in just a few kms, meeting up with this familiar face was quite a lift in running confidence as I was in fact encouraging her and actually eventually left her behind after a few kms together (this is someone who was now running her 5th comrades; myself, only my first) …
Similarly in this Ultimate Human Race of Life, we often work so hard, pushing according to what we perceive as our well thought out plans, toward our goals; maybe even whole-heartedly and sincerely toward that which we believe or even know God has called us to…but…things don’t always work out as planned, or according to our desired timeline…But you see, just like in my Comrades run, we can testify and will testify still that because God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” and “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”; and because ‘now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us’, ‘we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’
(References – Isaiah 55:8-9; Ephesians 3:20; Romans 8:28)
Now lets quickly take stock; having seen the family at Camperdown was just pure fun at a very familiar and easy distance into the race, but seeing them at 57km or so was way more emotional after the anticipation of seeing them after so much running, and then looking through the big crowds at Hillcrest, wondering where exactly they would be…This is already about 7kms more than the longest distance I had run prior to Comrades, well into distance & territory I had never been before, and then finally seeing the family in Hillcrest…At this emotional point, as some sort of release, I tried to cry, but the tears just wouldn’t come; perhaps I had already sweated them out! It was so special seeing them, and I even asked Nicole; ‘don’t you want to stop at one more point to meet me’…but she said it had already taken very long to get in at Hillcrest, so to keep it safe in terms of time, she was rather going to head straight to the finish…
So at this critical point of my comrades run, so far, but yet still so far to go, I had to settle in my mind that for the final 3rd of comrades, still with more than 30kms to go; I would be doing this, just me and Holy Spirit and I would not see my family until I finish the ultimate human race…This is where I would embark on the mentally toughest segment of my race; 60-75kms would be the period in which I really need to dig deep to press through…At the 30km mark there was a small dip; now here was big one…
Image 15kms (an hour and a half plus) of continuous mental struggle…Well this was just that!
Possibly you have had these kinds of long stretches of struggle in life; I know I have…A desert time, or a storm; maybe relationally, financially, or pertaining to physical, emotional or mental health and the like…and just when you think it’s gone on long enough and surely you can’t handle this any longer, you only find there is even more trial & tribulation on its way. These times are lonely, and sometimes those whom we previously leaned on for comfort, guidance or wisdom are no longer on the boat with us as the rain continues to pelt down, and the waves are still raging…But…Are we truly alone?
Well in my Comrades race, God knew exactly when this stretch (season) of struggle would come, so around this point somewhere around 60kms in, He sent me some much needed aid in a possible time of trouble; but I’ll get to that shortly…
Deep into this mentally toughest section of my race, behold, FIELDS HIll, one of the major danger points of comrades; the steepest decent of the route, where you can barely stop gravity from taking your legs as your feet pound against the tare after already having about 70kms of mileage on them…If you try break your momentum on the decent, you could do some serious physical damage, so you just have to go with it! At this point I had a quite sore & stiff right quad, as well as the early phases of the feeling of cramp in my calves; fortunately I had learnt that I could breathe through this feeling and try relax somewhat so that the cramps didn’t actually kick in fully…This is a mental battle to resist giving into the pain, because it’s when one tenses up from the pain that the cramps actually come in full force…So I tried my level best to counter-intuitively run ‘floppy’ (loose) down the hills!
This is the race of life, running on our own, fighting or striving with our own limited human strength which fails us and ultimately makes the trials more severe as we end up at the end of ourselves; or counter-intuitively resting in God in the middle of the race, doing less and allowing him to carry us. It’s a critical choice we face in the context of our overall lives, but also on a more micro level, each time we face a new struggle or season of struggle in life. We get to blunt the full blow of the most trying parts of our race and set a trajectory to end our races quicker and better by heading the following call: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30
So praise God for the aid in time of trouble which He sent me which was the sub 10hr30min bus, with its motivational, fearless leader Moos or Mus (I can’t quite remember how to spell his name)…At this point I knew I had gradually fallen behind the pace of a sub 10hr finished which I was hoping for, so somewhere a few kilometers before enduring Fields Hill, the sub 10:30 bus caught me and carried me (Well Holy Spirit carried me, but in the form of this running bus). I ran with them for the duration of my toughest mental period of the race…Feeling like I was almost absent from my own body at times during this period; just running in this pack and staring down at the other runners’ feet, whilst talking to God really pulled me through…I had this recuring thought that I don’t know if I can do this on my own, so I really can’t lose this bus!…In this bus, the driver tells you when to run, when to walk, how long to walk for and how fast; and you just have to stick with it or you will be left behind…’54321, walk for 30sec at the water point, take what you need to take, mix what you need to and then re-group…54321 run again’; These were some of his prompts. All of this is a different plan from what you practiced or prepared to run, but you just stick to it as it feels like a lifeline, just when you really need it! The super fit bus driver who himself could probably run a much faster time, is doing an unbelievable job at motivating, and cheering everyone on…Everyone in the buss is also encouraging one another; some people are even falling around you, and you don’t want to fall, so you are all shouting to one another, ‘watch out…watch out for the cat eyes, they will end your race…you won’t get up after falling now’…
I am so grateful to God for this help in time of trouble, however this remained undoubtedly the most tough period of the run. There was the paradox of the bus strategy helping me a lot at this current point in time, but their specific walk break strategy beginning to actually inflict more pain than running itself; with the feeling of cramps threatening to kick in more when I walked…This resulted in me beginning to rather continue running slowly when the buss would walk…So toward the end of my +-15km stint, running with the buss, it became increasingly more difficult to match their specific race place. What compounded the struggles of this immensely tough period of my race was the following:
We ran through areas of the route which for me didn’t have a particularly good feeling about them, especially after the emotional high of Hillcrest…At this point of the route, I felt the most disorientated, not quite knowing where we were relative to the N3 highway which had provided a point of reference for me for most of the way prior to this section. Also, my mind was seemingly playing tricks on me, with thoughts of being pleased that I had done so well to already be for example, 70kms through the race, but the remaining 20kms feeling almost insurmountable…Everything was feeling so slow; early in the race I didn’t look at my watch that often, and when I did, already numerous kilometers had past; but at this stage I was looking at my watch often and each time it seemed only a few hundred meters had passed! Though in reality I was still pretty much maintaining the same pace, it was as if my mind was perceiving my progress in slow motion.
Approximately 60 to 75kms was undoubtedly my major dig deep period!!!
Have you ever had this kind of experience in life, where your mental or emotional reality is out of sync with the true reality around you? Circumstances are actually great, things are looking good for you; you should be reaping fruits of happiness, joy & fulfillment from how far you have come, yet internally you are fighting unexplainable anxiety, brain fog or maybe even depression…I’ve been there, and not just on Comrades; but for much longer durations in the ultimate human race of life…But each time I knew that I knew deep within whatever sense of rational I still had that I had to hold onto something real from the surrounding reality outside of my head, otherwise I would never get out of the black hole I was in; I couldn’t sink 70kms backwards into the abyss of the end of myself, I had to run the remaining hypothetical 20kms out of the hole even if it felt like still forever to go out of the mental turmoil…what other choice did I have? David put it this way in the Psalms; ‘Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.’ – Psalm 43:5…Yes after all the suffering, a time of praise, a time of breakthrough & victory will yet come! We must hold onto this hope; what other option do we have?
Then a sudden change at around 15kms to go…
My daughter Trinity had painted an incredibly prophetic picture for me the day before the race, of a black outline or shadow of me running, with a golden glowing circle all around me which represented the Holy Spirit carrying me through.
Also, I had written on my left arm, my reason why…’Because I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves me’…So as I ran, I was reminding myself of my reason why and of Trinity’s special picture; and then I all of a sudden very specifically sensed Holy Spirit telling me at this point in the race that He had sent the buss during the period that I really needed it, “but now I am leading you to run your own race”…So I decided to leave the buss with about 15kms or so to go; they gradually disappeared in front of me and I decided that I’m going to walk as little as possible even if I ran super slow on some of the small up hills (up hills which are really not that up at all compared to what had come before, but at this point feel like they are). I had received a new sense of purpose, feeling like this is now my race to run and God is leading me accordingly…I even said to God; ‘Ok, I’m following you now; you are carrying me…this is what you are leading me to do, so this is what I’m going to do’. So, from around 15kms to go to 9kms to go, this was the new zone or head space I moved into, walking as little as possible and stopping at as few refreshment stations as possible during this segment of the race…
A quick side note here; race nutrition is a whole other topic which I haven’t even mentioned; my main source of carbohydrate fuel intake throughout was bananas and sometimes swapping that out with coke or energy drink sachets…this all whilst drinking water through out with sports rehydrate. I had become so sick of the taste of rehydrate, so for the duration of this 15kms to 9kms stretch, I decided I am no longer going to use it and rather replace it with normal water and use energy drink for electrolyte intake…So I was following this change of fueling strategy concurrently to my new found purpose filled running zone, but I think having not taken any solids or rehydrate during this period whilst not walking much at refreshment stations, I subsequently depleted whatever was previously replenished in my body’s sugar / glycogen stores the last time I had eaten solids in the race…As a result of this depletion in energy around this point closing in on 9kms to go, I began to be not fully aware of my surroundings; I wasn’t quite at the point of passing out, but I actually felt rather sleepy.
This kind of makes me think of the times in life when God has instructed or lead us to do something very specific, but then we very un-wisely decide to ‘help God out’ by supplementing whatever we think is missing from God’s plan or whatever doesn’t quite make sense in our head with a little something of our own…This seldom works out, and when it does, its only by God’s grace, saving us in our immaturity from the mess we have made! All in all, I thank God that He is gracious & merciful and that ‘He works all to my good because I love Him, and He did call me according to His own purpose after all,’ the purpose He will fulfil. (Ref – Romans 8:28)
When I take a little detour; if repentant, God just clicks ‘re-calculating’…
So, with about 9kms to go, I realized I had become super week…At this point, just as God’s timing would have it, I remember getting to a refreshment station, grabbing 2 pieces of banana and 2 sachets of energy drink, and I absolutely just devoured them…What tasted the best on the whole run was this bit of banana and energy drink, as I think it was exactly what my body needed at that point! Shortly after this, suddenly, with about 6 or 7kms to go, I had such a spike of energy from being freshly refueled…Then my whole mindset changed; ‘7kms only to go, that’s not much at all…that’s a Sunday morning recovery run with Nicole, and then only 5kms to go, and 5kms is nothing man’. So around this point, I came over a bridge and saw Moses Mabida stadium in the distance, and I thought to myself; ‘come on, I’ve got this’…Now I was feeling pumped; I still felt the same pain in my legs, but it was as if it had little effect on me…So with a fresh fuel injection from God leading as to what to do and what to take, I started accelerating…
It is just like God in the context of our lives as well to bring these ‘suddenly’ moments! Our God, Most High & Almighty is a supernatural God, and as we allow Him to take control of our plans, hopes, dreams, expectation, and the trajectory of our lives, He invades our natural circumstances with His Supernatural. Do not lose hope, do not lose courage; in the blink of an eye, He can change the story line of your life! Let us expect God’s sudden breakthrough and prophecy it over our lives… “I declared the former things long ago
And they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.” – Isaiah 48:3
So, the last 6kms or so I felt strong, so I pushed hard…Then when it got down to 2 or 3kms to go, I thought; ‘this is like running in my home suburb of Model Park in the final bit of a run on the way home; this is as short as a run around the block’…I’m like; ‘come on’ as I see Moses Mabida stadium getting closer and closer. After a short while on the home stretch, I wasn’t too sure if I was 1 or 2kms from the finish as one’s watch never corresponds exactly with the official race distance to go which you see road side on the kilometer count down signs…Hence, I decided that I’m not going to look at my watch, but only the signs…and then…then I see that long awaited sign; ‘1km’ to go…The stadium is getting bigger and bigger in my sights and I just motor forward in this last 1km (or at least it felt so). Then with a few hundred meters to go, just outside the stadium, I pass another friend of mine whom I had trained a fair bit with. He had quite an opposite race strategy to me, going out faster in the beginning and doing the same typically in his training runs…This was just another boost for me, not out of competition with him, but just as a sense encouragement for myself, as way back when Susan and I found each other on the road before Hillcrest, she had told me that he was so strong and running so far ahead; and now can you believe it, the fruit of running according to a professionally formulated training plan over months (after having subscribed to coachparry.com; the official Comrades coach); I pass a fellow runner who possibly went out to hard at the start of the race. Instantly I realized that my race strategy of starting out slow and trying to maintain even or negative time splits had paid off and was truly full proof; as I passed my friend and said, ‘Come on man, let’s go, the finish is right here’…He responded however that he couldn’t push as his knees were really taking it hard…
I imagine this being like the feeling and realization we will have on that epic day when Christ appears in our sights, upon the clouds with His great heavenly hosts…As pure awe and reverential fear grip the hearts of us who have believed in our ultimate human race and choice to keep on believing, imagine the thought of, ‘everything I believed, lived for and was prepared to die for is true; He is true, He is real, and here He is with His eyes of fire, clothed in glorious light right before me’…Imagine the realization that the race strategy of faith which we chose to live by which Jesus taught us to live by is truly full proof, and it has paid off as our Messiah, Bridegroom King takes us up in the air along with all the saints of old to fight with Him and to reign with Him. I don’t know about you, but I truly hope that myself, my family, all my loved ones and as many people as possible around me whom I had crossed paths with and ministered to, will have followed this same race strategy; as Jesus, the God of love yes, but also the God of war himself, comes down to release judgement upon all those who didn’t follow the one and only true race strategy…
‘I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.’ – Revelations 19:11-16
So, I motor straight into the stadium and all of a sudden see the beautiful green, green grass of the pitch, and a crowd much bigger than I had anticipated; and wow, Moses Mabida stadium is just so beautiful…Taking all of this in just lifted me up to extreme ecstasy! Also, just before running into the stadium, I saw the finish time clock indicating just over 10 hours, 27minutes; so wanting to make sure I definitely cross the finish line in sub 10:30 time, together with the feeling of the festivity of the finish, I somehow felt the prompting to do a sprint finish…It took me back to school days; I loved the feeling of sprinting to the finish line…I later saw on video that my sprinting style after a 90km run looked rather odd, but I didn’t care, it just felt so good…
Need I say more, and even explain the life parallel of what I have just explained? The crowd or should I say, ‘multitude of saints and angel armies’, the beauty and splendor of a new heaven and a new earth possibly, finishing this ultimate human race well in a manner which would be worthy of the words “Well done, good and faithful servant”, and what will the festivity of this, much a greater & abundantly more important finish feel like?
Anyway, strangely after crossing the finish line, instead of being exhausted and falling to the ground out of utter relief as I thought I possibly would; I actually felt so strong as I walked to get my medal, whilst waving my hat at some people whom I knew in the crowd who were cheering for me…Then I just looked around to see my family; I just couldn’t wait for their welcome, for their well done, for their wonderful faces…Well that’s exactly what met me at the exit gates of the stadium; my beautiful family…My son, Jean-Claude met me first, saying; ‘Daddy, I loved your cool sprint at the finish’…Then it was off to John Dory’s on the Durban Beach Front with those I love for a celebration; I had imagined this moment, and it was really here…I had done it; completed the ultimate human race!!! WOW…
Which faces will you recognize in the crowd?…I can imagine which ones I will. I know for one, another Jean-Claude will be there; the one who came before me…But there’s a greater family I will celebrate for all of eternity, whom I will meet at the gate; yes, a family of 3…of Father…of Son…of Spirit…A family, but all ONE!!!
Highlights from August and September:
- Obviously Jean-Michel finishing Comrades
- We attended a 3 day course to become Trauma Competent Care-Givers for Children, we will tell you more about this in our next newsletter.
- We had a morning where we invited intercessors from across our city and we served them and encouraged them.
- We celebrated Andre and Michelle getting married, which was very special as we where part of their courting journey.
- Half Night Prayer – where we had none stop prayer and worship for 6 hours on a Friday night, this was a powerful time of encountering God and standing in the gap for various topics.
- Jean-Michel lead worship at a mens gathering on the koppie, this was an amazing time of men repenting and standing up to take their place as priests of there homes.
What’s coming up:
- Nicole will be going on outreach to clubs in Johanesburg to minister to ladies working in the sex industry.
- Nicole (10th October) and Hadassah (23rd October) are celebrating their birthdays this month.
- We will be airing the Return conference the weekend of the 21-23 October at the House of Prayer.
Prayer Points for our family:
- Protection of our health, relationships and finances.
- Wisdom as to how to use our time wisely in terms of ministry commitments and ministry invitations.
- Strength and endurance for the ministry assignments we need to carry out but at the same time that we would abound in love while doing this.
We love and appreciate you; we wouldn’t be able to do this without your support in prayer and financially. Thank you.
If you would like to know more about the Witbank House of Prayer, you’re welcome to browse our website or contact Jean-Michel/Nicole with your questions: https://witbankhop.co.za/
If there is anything in this newsletter that you have questions about or would like more information about, please contact either of us via WhatsApp.
Thank you so much to everyone who has partnered with us financially; we believe that you share in our harvest of the ministry work we are doing, as without your financial support, what we do would not be possible.
If you are not a financial partner, but would like to financially partner with us, here are the details:
Account Name: House of Prayer; Bank Name: FNB (First National Bank); Account Number: 62718897848; Branch Code: 230146; Account Type: Cheque Account; Reference: HVG-JN
If you would like more information about financially partnering with us, please send us a WhatsApp so we can have a coffee. Partnership of this nature will be such a blessing to us and will go a long way in covering our monthly expenses as we run full time with the ministry mission God has called us into.
