SA Back to God’s Janet Brann-Hollis has made a call for intercessors to unite in fasting and prayer on Wednesday May 2, for the judiciary , the land question and the restoration of cities of South Africa.

In a video introduction [See below] to the fast she says she had a vision of principalities being released to bring chaos and destruction to the nation but that Christians could counter-petition and make a huge impact in the spiritual realm through fasting and prayer.

She urged pastors and leaders to encourage cell groups and other groups to participate in the fast on Wednesday.

She said the fast day was based on the Nehemiah city transformation principle demonstrated when he wept, mourned and fasted for Jerusalem.

Click here for prayer guidelines.

Burn 24-7 is inviting lovers of Jesus across Port Elizabeth to come and unite to seek God for revival in the city and nation in a 24-hour worship event together with national youth movement #imagine.

The upcoming prayer and worship event will start on Friday May 4 2018 at 7pm at Doxa Deo Church (26 Benmore Avenue, Brymore, opposite Walker Drive Shopping Centre). It will run until Saturday May 5 at 7pm.

Everyone is welcome to join in as and when able, with the freedom to come and go as needed to over the duration of that time. Organiser and regional Burn 24-7 leader, Peter Gooch, issued a friendly request that those attending please respect the attitude of worship while in the venue by keeping conversations to a minimum.

This time, Burn 24-7 is excited to be collaborating with #imagine, for a re#imagine movement. This is following their annual Christian youth experience outside Port Elizabeth recently. ”

After a teenager has been to #imagine, he becomes an ‘imagineer’,” explains #imagine leader, Anthony Jacobs. Re#imagine is an opportunity for “imagineers” to step into a leadership role themselves, applying and sharing what they’ve learnt during their #imagine experience.

Burning hearts in over 150 cities all across the globe are returning to their first love. The Burn 24-7 movement holds to the conviction that revival requires the unity of the Church, across denominations, ethnicities, ages and languages. And because worship fuels mission, there will be an opportunity to take the love of Christ to the community in an outreach event on Saturday May 5. The outreach will start at 12.30-2.30pm, meeting at the Doxa Deo Church. For any additional information about the outreach, contact Peter Gooch on 083 657 4213.

Vuyokazi Matu, host of a new GOD TV show, Dream Again Africa is hosting a prayer day in Cape Town on Monday April 30 to call on God for revelation, restoration and economic release for the people of South Africa, entrepreneurs and business.

“Let us beseech God together for all in our land to be lifted up, that we would turn back to Kingdom principles and be released into a new era blessed by God,” she says in an invitation to the event at Hugo Lambrechts Music Centre in Picton Street, Parow.

People interested in attending the prayer day are requested to register on Facebook.

Artists at work during last week’s Kingdom Come SA conference in Johannesburg.

There’s a sound and it’s rising like a fire
It’s the King and He’s coming in His power
He won’t stop ’till we see His Kingdom come
He’s coming now

Those are the opening lines of Lion of Judah one of the songs on Breakthru Worship’s album Kingdom Come which was launched at the Kingdom Come SA conference in Johannesburg last week.

As some 3 000 of us from various parts of South Africa sang the rousing Zulu chorus — Bhodla Ngonyama yakwa Juda phezukwesizwe (Roar Lion of Judah over this nation) — artists on the platform were painting. They were painting lions. And on days two and three of the conference more lions were painted.

Guess what is depicted on the CD cover of Breakthru Worship’s ‘Kingdom Come’ live album?

Clearly there was a message. And it intrigued me, as lions were already on my radar. The lion of Judah had been highlighted to me in my own quiet time devotions, and I had recently reported on a gathering where shofar blasts were videoed but when the video was played it sounded like a roaring lion, and we recently posted a report about a new worship movement called Roar Worship.

I asked Lisa Crumpton about the lions. Lisa, who heads up prophetic arts at Breakthru Life Church which hosted the conference, said that over the past few months the church’s artists had been inspired by the Lion of Judah song which carries a “great harmony”  between its lyrics and its strong African rhythm. The song itself, which was written by the Breakthru Worship team, was inspired by a Lion of Judah poem by team member Minette Keeve.

“We knew that the CD was going to be released and as a company of artists I think that was the inspiration, really knowing that our nation has a King that is in authority and that authority is known — hence the roar.

A lion painting by Lisa Crumpton at Kingdom Come SA. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE).

“And I think that when the creatives come together doing what they know to do best, whether its music or visually or dance, there is a harmony that is a voice beyond words. I think that’s what’s happened among this group of people,” said Lisa.

The main speakers at the conference were Bethel Church leaders Bill and Eric Johnson and Jesus Culture founder and manager Banning Liebscher. Despite their US nationality their messages were relevant to the tangible hunger in the Family Church International conference venue for revival and for the Church to bring hope and solutions to the nation.

At one point Rev Moss Ntlha, general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of SA, who facilitated the conference together with Breakthru Life lead elder John Crumpton, said what was taking place linked back to conversations he had had with John’s father, Derek, 20 years before, when they had dreamed of a day when the different branches of the Church in SA would walk united into their destiny, without being crippled by the baggage of the past.

‘Lion of Judah is Roaring over this Nation’ by Trudie Oosthuizen — “Amos 3:7 — Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:8 A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy? The roar is the prophetic voice of the Lord that lifts the veil over this nation. He has roared over this nation: “South Africa is Mine” “South Africa is My territory!” (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE).

At the end of the final session of Kingdom Come SA, I spoke to Trudie Oosthuizen, one of the artists, about her painting Lion of Judah is Roaring Over This Nation [see above] which she had started elsewhere but completed at the end of the conference. 

She said: “A few months ago we had a fire night meeting at church. I was doing a pastel drawing of a lion — it didn’t really have any significant meaning.

“But while we were worshiping my husband came to me with a word he got about my drawing. He said: ‘The Lord is saying that the Lion of Africa — the Lion of Judah — is taking back South Africa. He’ s saying: “It’s my terrain — I’m taking it back.” ‘ ”

Soon afterwards Trudie had a vision of her Lion of Judah is Roaring Over This Nation  painting. She painted a small version of what she saw at a 24/7 worship time at the church and she sensed the Lord tell her to do a bigger version at the Kingdom Come SA conference.

“Then Grant [Grant Clifton, worship director at Breakthru Life] got the word to write that song [Lion of Judah] and all the artists started seeing lions — lions breathing fire, fire burning. God’s just cleaning this nation.”

Pointing to her painting she said in her original vision of the roaring lion she had distinctly seen “not just South Africa, but the whole of Africa”. Her husband, Willie, had seen the veil.

“As He’s roaring the veil is lifted off Africa, revealing who we really are and revealing, our true destiny and how God created us — Our ground is full of gold and the green symbolises the newness.

“Everyone’s moving away and saying it’s so bad. I’m staying right here because I truly believe the Lord is going to bring a revival that’s going to start in South Africa and not just reach Africa, but the whole of the earth is going to be affected.”

Commenting on how so many people seem to be having dreams and visions of the Lion of Judah in this season she said: “It’s everywhere. The Lord is really wanting to tell us something. He can’t speak any louder than He’s speaking.”

Lion painted at Kingdom Come by Henry Laubscher. ( CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE).

LION OF JUDAH POEM

Behold. The Lion of Judah arises.
King of the earth! How the heavens proclaim your worth.

Your breath, is filled with Fire
You words, are filled with colour.
Your eyes, are a sea of glass.
Your hair, radiant with golden glory rains.
Your feet, thunder with power.

A crown of thorns now a crown of glory.
You have forever broken the curse.

Your roar carries the sound of Victory.
Your roar soars on the winds of eternity.
Your roar redeems all that was lost.
Your roar ignites the joy in reverence.
Holy holy are You Lord Almighty!

You are about to move.
You have said that You will do a new thing.
Where once valleys of desolation,
Garden’s of spring abound.

Nations in slumber reawaken in Hope’s Roar.
“Pour out in greater measure!”
Lion of Judah come and move.
Your every step brings breakthrough.

No longer hindered by fear.
No longer bound by chains.
No longer lost in tears of sadness.
You roar; love reigns.
You roar; freedom sings.
You roar; hope restored.
Roar, Lion of Judah, Roar!

Behold. The Lion of Judah.

LION OF JUDAH SONG: Click here for lyrics and chord chart.

But yes, let’s also pray and ask God to broaden our vision and see all the kaleidoscope of His creation and beyond. No eye has seen or heard what God has prepared for those who love Him. Far more than just awesome lions and eagles.  — Painting by Daniel Swanepoel. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE).

‘Courage’ —  Impasto oil on canvas framed by Lisa Crumpton.    Lions are known for their courage. Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. Deuteronomy 31:6 This courage is for us too! (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

The lion paintings on this page are some of the prophetic art depictions of lions by Breakthru Life artists. Inquiries about paintings that might be for sale can be made to info@breakthrulife.co.za

A recent revival service at Vuka Afrika in Randburg, Johannesburg.

“As we worshiped I heard the Lord say : Today is the day of deliverance, it is the day of freedom and liberty from every kind of bondage, oppression and infirmity,” writes Linda Gobodo, the leader of a twice-weekly revival service she recently initiated at Vuka Africa in Johannesburg to “receive” answers for prayers for the nation.

Gobodo continues with her account of what happened at the service on the evening of Wednesday April 18: “Deliverance has come to SA in the 18th year and tonight we must receive deliverance at the following levels: individual, family, community, nation and continent.

“Immediately the following scriptures came to my spirit and I looked them up — Judges 3:14,15;10:6-16; Luke 13:11-16. I also remembered that the number 18 is the number of deliverance. I felt the Spirit quickening in my spirit that today is the 18th. I could not even remember what day it was. When I realised, I knew the Lord is about to do something tonight.

“We continued to worship.

“When the Psalmist sang a song the Great I Am I felt the release to bring the word of the Lord. As I stood there still singing the song I was led to read Revelation 1:4-8 and Exodus 3:1-14, then I shared the word of deliverance.

“I received that we must receive the word by faith and we will be delivered here and now. The Lord has come to deliver us, the deliverance has come so that we may serve the Lord. We have not been able to serve the Lord fully in Spirit and in Truth because we have been bound on our feet. Though we walk straight but spiritually we have been bent over like the woman who had the spirit of infirmity for 18 years in Luke 13. Invisible chains have kept us bound. The Lord is breaking those chains today.

“We started to sing : ‘There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain’. We felt the chains falling, in the Spirit we heard the sound of chains falling.

18 people at service
“One lady shared a testimony afterwards that during the time of prayer she felt pressure on both her ankles and felt chains falling. She did not even know she had chains on her feet. She also shared that as I was sharing she felt an urge to count the people in the service and found that we were 18. We were all shocked when she shared this and we knew this was the doing of the Lord.

“Another lady shared that while we were worshiping she saw a vision, this is the vision she saw: She saw the map of South Africa. then she saw four men holding red trumpets standing at the four cardinal points of the nation. She understood by the Spirit that they were getting ready to make an announcement. Then the vision left. She even drew what she saw on a piece of paper. She did not understand what they were about to announce until I announced the day of deliverance of our nation.

“As I was leading prayer I kept hearing the words of Martin Luther King Junior ‘Free at Last’, then the Holy Spirit reminded me what happened 10 years ago.

“In 2008 I was visited by Apostle Symon Kariuki — he came to share the vision he saw during a time of prayer. He saw feet in chains. When he inquired from the Lord the meaning of the vision, the Spirit of the Lord said to him: ‘Don’t you know that South Africa is the feet of Africa but she is in chains. Go and tell South Africa to pray to Me for 12 days from the 1-12/02/2009. If they pray I will reveal myself to them; I will reveal the destiny of SA and I will break the chains so that SA can move and take Africa to Her divine prophetic destiny.’ He asked the Lord to tell South Africans Himself because he is Kenyan. He thought people would ask why did the Lord tell you and not us. The Lord said: ‘I am sending you’. Then an intercessor from Pretoria asked him to come share the message with me.

“When I heard the word I knew it was the word of the Lord. I committed myself to help him and to go with him. The Lord had told him to drive to every province to deliver the message. We took off in October 2008 going from province to province like the runners in the time of King Hezekiah’s reforms — 2Chronicles 30:1-12. We travelled 7 000 kilometers and it took us 21 days.

“The people received the message and prayed during those 12 days. We lead the prayers on SAfm as well. The premiers of Northen Cape and North West at the time embraced the message and held prayers at the end of the 12 days.

“Last night [April 18] I heard the Lord say: ‘The chains are broken. Now SA must go and take Africa to Her destiny”

“I realised that it was the 18th day since the revival service started.

“The Lord said He is bringing the revival to release deliverance, healing and restoration so that South Africa may fulfill Her divine prophetic destiny to go to the nations to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, to bring healing and the manifestation of His glory.

“The Lord told us to explain the purpose of the revival every time people come. As they come they must be discipled and prepared for the nations.

“Minister Noxolo Mthethwa who is helping me with the revival services received a word from the Lord saying : ‘We must not look at the chains that have fallen but we must look to Jesus. We must lift the Lord up because when He is lifted up He will draw men to Himself — Numbers 21:9; John 3:14.’ “

Ethiopian Jew Danny Adeno Adebe addressing the freedom seder in Johannesburg on Sunday.

See also: http://gatewaynews.co.za/lets-laugh-at-that-april-19-2018/

The Base synagogue in Johannesburg was a hub of festivities on Sunday evening as various groups were hosted by the South African Friends of Israel at a celebratory Passover seder ahead of Israel’s 70th birthday today.

The seder meal recounts the biblical story of the Israelites’ journey from oppression to freedom. Taken as slaves more than 3 300 years ago the Israelites never gave up their quest for freedom. Going out of Egypt where they were slaves, to wandering in the dessert, God’s chosen nation endured much.

The seder is about telling the Exodus story through symbolic rituals, stories and songs that are meant to bring one to imagine the hardships that the Israelites went through. Today Israel celebrates 70 years of independence since its founding as a modern nation in 1948.

Elements of the seder meal.

During the course of Sunday evening I and other invited guests, including politicians, members of NGOs and of different faith groups, were taken through the different facets of the meal. Matzah flat, dry cracker-like bread was put on tables and ceremonial foods were arranged on different platters. A platter is called a ka’arah or seder plate. The procedure is all laid out in a book called a Haggadah.

The Haggadah used at the event was written in both Hebrew and English and explored different aspects of freedom pertaining to the Jews and compared these with the state of South Africa and the South African Freedom Day on April 27.

One of the traditional goals of the seder is to make those present feel they are part of the journey as they appreciate what their forebears went through. The stories include the sufferings of the patriarchs of the Jewish nation, the plagues God sent to punish the Egyptians into letting the Israelites go, and the miraculous parting of the Red Sea.

Gabriel Sacks, executive director of  South African Friends of Israel.

Gabriel Sacks, executive director of  South African Friends of Israel said: “We are here to celebrate the Passover seder which marks the journey of the Jewish people out of Egypt and commemorates their arrival in the Holy Land. We focus on the celebration of moving ourselves from Egypt and we finally arrive in the Holy Land.

“We have marked this occasion and we have also celebrated the freedom out of oppression against the struggle of apartheid here in South Africa so we celebrate the two causes of oppression to freedom.”

He said they invited communities from different backgrounds, faiths and cultures to experience Jewish culture.

The Passover falls at a similar time to Easter and provides a convenient time for Christians and Jews to get together and recognise this important time in their cultures. Jewish culture, Sacks said, can be understood as to love your neighbour as you love yourself; to teach people that they need to accept every person irrespective of their creed, race, religion and ethnicity. Jews value love, compassion, forgiveness and understanding, he said.

Criticising recent extensive media coverage of events in Israel and alleged mistreatment of Palestine, Sacks said: “Israel is a democracy. All religions and ethnicities and races are welcomed to travel and even be part of the Israeli community. If you look into Israeli culture you will see that people from different backgrounds — black people, Indian people, Jewish, Muslim — are all living together in the Holy Land and there are laws that protect them. There are laws that ensure that there is equality between people.”

On Israel’s Independence Day today SA Friends of Israel is hosting will be hosting a number of different celebratory events. And in Israel, Sacks said, the country would almost come to a complete stop as everybody celebrated the fact that Israel has returned to the Jewish people. It was a huge celebration that came with great responsibility and pride from a people that were pushed out of by so many different empires and regimes before finally coming home, he said.

King Zwelakhe Mthethwa.

SA Friends of Israel’s goal is to teach and share their culture with others. One of the people who has benefitted from this sharing is Apostle Nomagugu Thangelani from the Selfless Foundation which supports mothers who have children on drugs. Thangelani’s son is in prison because of drugs. She said in an interview she was impressed by the culture of the Jews, especially the bond between sons and the fathers. She said the issue of fatherlessness is the root cause of boys turning to drugs, crime and many other social ills. The Friends of Israel have helped the group in many ways, including offering paternal support to the boys.

There is a significant focus on education at the seder. Jews believe that education is an integral part of a successful nation. If a nation is to succeed it has to invest in the education of its future adults. It is not always as important to provide the answers as to create inquiring minds that ask the questions. Questioning is a fundamental component of freedom. People living under oppression and in situations of slavery are not permitted to question. Only people living in a free society have the luxury of looking for understanding and questioning the world around them.

On the seder night Jews dip portions of food twice — to commemorate Joseph’s brothers dipping his tunic into the blood of a goat as the prepared to sell him into slavery, and to commemorate how the Jews smeared their doorposts so that the angel of death who was killing Egyptian first born sons would pass over their houses and not touch Israeli sons.

Among the speakers at the seder was Danny Adeno Adebe, a Jew from Ethiopia, who shared about fellow black Jews in that nation who came from the lineage of Dan, one of Israel’s sons. The story goes that the Queen of Sheba while visiting the great King Solomon had children by him. Adebe and his family — and indeed his village — take pride in being part of the Jewish nation. He remembers a childhood in which his father always spoke of Jerusalem. This inspired a strong desire to visit the city, which he fulfilled by taking his family on a journey of almost a year in which they walked 800km to get to Israel.

King Zwelakhe Mthethwa from the Zulu kingdom of the Mthethwa graced the event. Asked why he attended, he said: “As the Israelites are celebrating their liberation from Egypt and establishing themselves in Israel, also us here our belief and our faith is centred around the history of the Bible.

“The Queen of Sheba went to King Solomon. She is from Ethiopia. The children that came through the union of Queen Sheba and King Solomon are in Ethiopia and all round Africa. We, also as the Southern Ngunis, moved from up in the central part of Africa and we came down here. We do have a DNA of the story. We believe the story of Israel without seeing Israel.”

Mthethwa said South Africa could learn from Israel’s development. Their GDP is six times ours, despite our much greater landmass and the barreness of their land, he said.

Another seder guest, ACDP leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe, who is co-founder of an organisation DEISI which aims to educate people about Irael, said: “We need to understand that the land that the Jewish nation are living on in the middle East is the land that was given to them by God Almighty. From more than 3000 years ago.

“The Bible gives a history of when God gave Abram the land and then gave it to Isaac to Jacob and to their descendants. When He gave it to them He did not say temporarily, He said forever — I am giving it to you and your descendants forever — but now the lie that is being perpetrated by the people such as the Palestinian organisations is that the Jews have stolen land from the Palestinians. That is a lie that South Africans and people of the world should know, so that they do not fall in the trap of believing a lie.

“The second thing that we are correcting is an allegation that Israel is an apartheid state. I have been to Israel 18 times. I know apartheid. I grew up under apartheid. There is no apartheid in Israel. I have been to the north, west, east and south; it is a lie to say Israel is an apartheid state. Whoever came up with that idea knew that when you talk about apartheid you are going to touch the hearts of people and get the sympathy of people .

“Israel is the only democratic country in the middle East. Go to Iran. Saudi Arabia, there if no country where the church is growing and the freedom of the church to worship is allowed and protected.”

Gateway News wishes the Jewish nation a good Independence Day today. Mazel tov to Israel!

The COGTA Parliamentary Portfolio Committee has decided (for now) not to adopt the CRL Rights Commission’s proposed recommendations for the regulation of religion. Instead, COGTA recommended (as unanimously requested by the religious community during the meetings before Parliament), that the religious community be granted an opportunity to come up with solutions by the religious community for the religious community, including a Code of Ethics.

Against this background, the SA Council for the Protection and Promotion of Religious Rights and Freedoms (who drafted the SA Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms that has been endorsed by all the major religions and faith groupings in South Africa) has prepared a draft Code of Conduct for Religions in South Africa for comment. The Code is really the “responsibility side” of the “rights and freedoms” already incorporated in the Charter. (The links to the draft Code, in Afrikaans and English, respectively, are found below.)

• CRRF Gedragskode vir Godsdiens
• CRRF Proposed Code of Conduct for Religions In South Africa

A link can also be found below of the letter by the Council, which explains the background of the draft Code of Conduct and requests input on the Code by April 23 2018. Comments can be sent to pc@sun.ac.za and r.malherbe@gmail.com

• CRRF Letter Code of Conduct Brief Gedragskode March 28 2018

It is of the utmost importance that religious leaders and communities engage in this process and give input on the Charter, in the hope to establish a consensus amongst ourselves as to the ethical and other responsibilities (in broad) that underlie our freedoms. Again, if we do not regulate ourselves, the State will have no option but to intervene!

Please feel free to distribute this article to / through your own networks!

Angus Buchan at Karoo Mighty Men Conference that was one of the first regional conferences, which sparked the growth of MMCs from three in 2011 to 20 this year.

Also see: Come and drink from the reopened wells of revival

The Mighty Men Conference (MMC) movement together with the It’s Time gatherings have developed to the extent that hundreds of thousands of South Africans are assembling at regional gatherings throughout the country every year and are forming a foundation for revival in the country that is set to spread to the rest of the continent.

Although the MMCs started with only 240 men attending the first conference at Angus Buchan’s farm, Shalom, in 2004 it grew like a spiritual veld-fire to an astounding multitude of more than 200 000 men worshipping and praising the Lord six years later.

MMC movement growing exponentially
The MMC movement has continued to grow exponentially since the evangelist passed the baton on in 2010 expanding from the single meeting held annually at his farm in KwaZulu-Natal to: three regional conferences the following year, 2011 (Bushveld Mighty Men Conference, Karoo Mighty Men Conference, and Western Cape Mighty Men Conference); nine MMCs in 2016; and 20 MMCs due to be held in 2018, including Mighty Men Botswana, Mighty Men Namibia, and Mighty Men Zambia for the first time, furthermore, Mighty Men Canada is starting next year.

MMCs have also been held in the UK, US, Scotland, New Zealand and Brazil. Furthermore, the two “It’s Time” assemblies that have taken place in South Africa attracted about one million people to Bloemfontein and 150 000 in Mitchells Plain, which has grown the MMC movement to include women and township residents, as have the Mighty Crusade meetings.

“You know, having studied revivals all over the world, I found out that they normally last for 18-months to two years,” said the MMC founder.

“However, this revival, because that is what it is, started in 2003 when God gave me the MMC vision and it’s still continuing now in 2018. It’s been going for 15 years and it is growing.

“The bottom line is that, firstly, God’s hand is on it; it is a God thing not a man thing and secondly, we haven’t tried to take possession of it.

“I liken it to a wild bird coming and sitting on your open hand to eat seed. Then it flies away and more birds come, but if you try and capture that wild bird — that’s the end of it.

“I think a lot of people have tried to take possession of something that God has given them to steward, and it has died.

“If I had disobeyed God and continued with the MMC at Shalom, I don’t think there would have been an MMC movement today; so as hard as it was to do, I had to hand it over, for everything has a season.”

Uncle Angus emphasised that no man can take any credit for the MMC move of God.

“It’s unconventional, it’s never happened before … I don’t know if it will ever happen again and it is unique, attracting both rich and poor, and men of different races and languages, … it is happening in Australia, the US, the UK, and it is going to Brazil, it is going all over the world.

“We have just been invited to Nigeria to do a men’s conference this year.”

Jannie Moolman, chairman of the Karoo Mighty Men Conference (KMMC) organising committee and trustee of the Shalom Ministries Trust, agrees that Uncle Angus’ handing over of the baton activated the expansion of the MMC movement.

“All of the regional MMCs start smallish but grow in number of attendees to the point that this year the 20 regional MMCs will each host between 5 000 and 20 000 men.”

Women dancing at the Gauteng Mighty Crusade, which took place in November 2017 on a small-holding near De Deur.

Transforming families
Uncle Angus said the MMC movement is busy transforming families.

“We have a simple message: for men to head-up their homes and to take a Christ-like responsibility for their relationships. We teach men to be responsible husbands, fathers, brothers, neighbours and citizens of this country.

“We have sons, fathers and grandfathers attending MMCs together and they will never forget it, because the MMCs are about relationships; starting with our relationship with God, which determines all our relationships, and extending through our family to our neighbours and even strangers … remember Paul said in Romans 13:9 that all God’s commandments are summed up in this saying, namely, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

“If you come to a MMC, you are one of the boys whether you were black, white or coloured, young or old, general manager of Anglo American or a street sweeper in Cape Town; you sit next to each other, greet one another, pray together, and praise God as one,” said the farmer-evangelist with Faith Like Potatoes.

Uncle Angus believes history is being made: “Previously, if you went to your average church, 80% of those attending were women, children and the elderly”.

“Today, that is not the case in South Africa anymore. Our churches are full of men, young and old, who are leaders in their communities and are changing this nation.”

However, while men have been at the centre of Uncle Angus’ ministry for the last 14 years that is no longer the case; the “It’s Time” and “Mighty Crusade” gatherings have drawn both men and women of all ages, races and every possible persuasion in their thousand, tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands.

The MMC founder believes we are living in revival, which as John Wesley said, “Is a people saturated with God”.

Building a base of believers to ignite revival
Dr Desmond Rose, who wrote a book entitled Write the Vision that tells of three visions, given to servants of the Lord from vastly different backgrounds, countries and continents, which all foretell of the Holy Spirit igniting flames of faith in South Africa that will spread through the continent and the rest of the world, believes the Lord is using the MMC movement and It’s Time gatherings to build a base of believers that are not only living in revival but will serve to be the catalyst that the Holy Spirit uses to ignite revival.

Originally from South Africa, Dr Des went to the US to study theology and prepare himself for ministry. He gained a doctorate in Ministry at the Oral Roberts University and has lived and pastored in the US for the last 31 years.

However, he has been visiting South Africa for extended periods over the last seven years in anticipation of the Holy Spirit’s move in the country.

Having attended both It’s Time gatherings and the Gauteng Mighty Crusade he said the fact that the MMC movement has expanded to include women and South Africans of all races, denominations and political persuasions is building the unity of God across all race, class, gender, and culture lines as well as any other barriers that have divided people of faith from each other in the past, which is necessary before a movement of the Holy Spirit ignites revival.

“It is necessary for us to first know ourselves and each other as united members of the body of Christ and through Him children of God, then as South Africans and lastly as citizens of the world, before the Holy Spirit moves in and through us as a rushing mighty wind,” said Dr Des.

Moolman agrees with Dr Des; he sees the MMC movement, together with the It’s Time gatherings, as laying the foundation for revival to ignite in South Africa.

“Whereas the MMCs laid the emphasis on reconciliation, between men and God, men and their families, and men and their neighbours, the It’s Time gatherings have promoted repentance by both individuals and the nation.

“Both reconciliation and repentance are necessary forerunners to revival,” said Moolman.”

An aerial view of the It’s Time gathering in Bloemfontein April 22 2017. (PHOTO: @DrMichaelMol)

Our role in revival
So, where do we go from here? What are our individual roles in revival for South Africa?

Uncle Angus has made it clear on a number of occasions that it is vital we become prayer warriors, because there is not a revival that has happened anywhere in the world without being prepared in prayer.

“South Africans need to become a praying people,” said the mighty evangelist.

“We need to become prayer warriors. God is looking for people who will pray. Pray against corruption in our government, pray for our government.”

Yes, it is vital that we become prayer warriors praying for a return to the Lord’s ways in South Africa, because there can be no revival without a surrender to the sovereignty of God, His holiness, His righteousness, and a realisation of our utter dependence on Him for salvation from the sinful nature of the world.

Revival comes from God and has little to do with our own effort — except the humbling and submission of ourselves before God — it is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of repentance and inspires revival.

We should pray for a national heart rendered for repentance, for turning back to the Lord’s ways, surrendered to the truth that we are completely dependent on Him for the healing of our land and for revival to take place in South Africa.

Prayer warriors actively fighting
We should see ourselves as prayer warriors in the army of Jesus Christ actively fighting the good fight for the transformation of South Africa utilising prayer as our weapon of Holy-Spirit-driven change, not only of our country, but of ourselves, and the people and conditions around us, for God’s glory.

Therefore, our focus should be on prayer as the manner in which we co-operate with the Lord and members of the body of Christ to repent for revival, which starts with our quiet time when we are alone with God in communion and worship, interceding for our families, brothers and sisters in Christ, and country.

Perfectly, we should sacrifice the first fruits of the day to God and extend that time with Him into the rest of our day communicating with Him and praying for reconciliation, repentance and revival in South Africa.

“Let revival start with each of us through prayer,” said Dr Des.

“Be constantly in contact with the Lord of the Harvest, and He will direct your path. Waiting on the Lord is the right thing to do. Live your lives as if Jesus is coming today and be His witness,” added Dr Des.

Likewise, Uncle Angus has such an urgency on his heart for prayer that almost every time he speaks, nowadays, he urges South Africans to pray saying that if we are going to be effective servants for God in these last days then we have to become people who pray continually.

The Church is building on the breakthrough momentum from the recent It’s Time prayer day at Mitchells Plain, but more unity is needed, says Ashley Potts director of the Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, in the first of a series of articles on the impact of the historical day of prayer on March 24 2018.

Angus Buchan with gang leaders who responded to an altar call at It’s Time Cape Town.

On March 24 a historic event occurred in the heart of a drug and gang-infested community through a national call to prayer by a man called by God to serve our country by following God’s instruction to facilitate a day that will change Cape Town forever.

The event itself was executed with absolute precision, thanks to a team of committed, skilful volunteers lead by Deon de Groot who also assisted with the 2017 It’s Time event in Bloemfontein. The day had zero incidents and a 100% clean crime report was announced post the event. Reports from the more than 1 500 volunteers highlighted the extent of the impact It’s Time had on Mitchell’s Plain. Prayer and ministry occurred at almost every stireet intersection.

At the main event, after the call to gang leaders to come forward to exchange their guns for God’s word. eight men stepped forward and were given the charge to use their natural leadership influence to serve God.

The Church has taken charge and are now hosting weekly open air services as the united body of Christ to respond to the growing cries of a bleeding community. These open air services are a collective initiative and are breaking down the strongholds in communities. A local pastor, Pastor Owen Hendricks of Hope Christian Church “The Healer Outreach”,who is not unfamiliar with this challenging context —  having grown up in a very similar community — has offered the use of his resources to offer these services to our communities.

The search for the eight men has begun and we are picking up on every lead. All the while, we are working with the two we currently have access to and moving closer to some of the others. I have no doubt that the men we still have to meet are being cared for by those believers living close by. It is still our hope to have a collective discipleship process with them going forward.

The role of the church
The need to unite grows stronger each day. Achieving this goal will require an honest review of individual agendas to align to a God agenda. We need to realise that how the Church of Christ’s responds will influence the potential to partner with the change of season. The old is gone and the new has come. We need to respond in a way that is sensitive to the needs of the people. We have an opportunity to develop a strategy that will bring about radical community restoration and become a blueprint for many other communities and nations. This, however can only be realised, once we lose our individual agendas and accept the flow of what God is doing through His church without walls. This all will form part of the fulfilment of Uncle Angus’s prophecy that Mitchells Plain would become known as the ”Flower of Cape Town”

The gang break
Having been a son of this community for all my life, and having spent many years working with gangs and youth at risk, I have come to understand that the measure of respect offered results in the same measure being returned. Joining a gang has always been communicated to be final, with little to no room for exit. In my experience, this is however not the case, as I have personally seen men leave their gangs for a number of reasons and with great success. One such means of doing so, would be that of wanting to reform through a real commitment to Christ. This however needs to be followed by a discipleship process that carries fruit and evidence of reported growth. In other words, they cannot use it as an excuse to leave as this in itself will be punishable by the gang itself.

So far I have only managed to connect with two of the eigh men — including the one who received Uncle Angus’ Bible. On engaging them, I can safely report that the love for Christ and the life He offered them is growing steadily. I will not reveal their names for obvious reasons. I have met with their senior gang leader who has also given his blessing to release them. Again, I will only say anything more about them at this stage. I do believe that God is at work in the heart of their leader too.

I want to call on the Church to seek to serve through any and all means necessary. We also need to be cautioned to not make these men “celebs”, but instead, to make every effort to ensure that they grow in secret — and when they are ready to allow God to open the doors for them to help other young men who are also looking for a way out. That time will come and need not be rushed for any reason.

I will share more about the role of the Church and the journey of these young men from week to week. I call on all readers to help locate the other men as we would like to run with a collective discipleship programme with the help of Eric Hofmeyer  — a leader in this ministry context.

If you have leads or know where I could find these men, please WhatAapp me on 082 887 6440.

Ashley Potts