Mighty Men Crusade KZN — a place to experience God’s power

[notice]In this article, which he wrote for JOY! magazine, MMC KZN founder Pieter le Grange shares about his calling to host the annual men’s event. The next event will be on Southern Cross Farm, Mooi Rivier from October 10 to 12. [/notice]

We don’t know how powerful God’s power is until we get to experience it. For thousands of men, the Mighty Men Crusade KZN (MMC) is a place where they get to do just that – experience the power of the Lord in the midst of friends and brothers in Christ.

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By camping together, worshiping together and hearing God’s Word preached and discussed, the tangible experience of the Holy Spirit works miracles and changes lives. It is during these gatherings, that men are encouraged and taught to be mighty warriors of God.

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A calling from God
The original Mighty Men Crusade took place on Angus Buchan’s Farm in Greytown, Kwazulu Natal. Most of those who attended the conference called it a life-changing experience, according to Lesley Ashwell, who has been attending the conference ever since it started. “It was absolutely awesome and humbling, seeing grown men cry.”

The final two conferences hosted by Shalom Ministries, held in 2009 and 2010, each attracted between 200 000 and 300 000 conference goers. In 2010, I was one of the men in that massive crowd, hearing Angus Buchan announce that that would be the last one he would attend. His calling was to only host it on his farm for seven years.

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Challenging men to serve Christ
Looking back two years, I remembered that in 2008, the Lord spoke into my life and I received my true calling – to take men back to their God-given responsibility, not only in the church, but more importantly in their homes, work environment and into the world.

I organised my first men’s meeting in 2009 after the Lord gave me a message for them. He asked me to challenge them to serve Him and support Him with the same passion with which they support their rugby teams. I received a lot of resistance because of the controversial nature of my message, but I completed my directive.

“Here I am, use me!”
In July 2010 I received the message from the Lord to continue with MMC. I prayed about it and approached Uncle Angus to also pray to hear if it was God’s will for me to continue with the vision.

A few months passed and on 22 September 2010, Uncle Angus contacted me with the word: “Pieter, you have my blessing and support to go ahead with your calling. I have prayed and God has answered me.”

This response came as a great shock; I realised then that I had put up my hand and said, “Here I am.” There was no turning back.

The Lord’s provision
It was quite a search to find a venue for the MMC. The Lord sent me to a farm on the outskirts of Mooirivier with the words“This is Mine.” We developed the farm as MMC and once again I learnt what it means to really trust in Him. The Lord supplied finances for a permanent stage, for our own sound equipment and blessed me with an amazing group of young believers to be our music team.

A tool in His hands
Well, now it is 2014 and each year I look forward to the MMC with more enthusiasm to see what God will do. Each year people want to know how many men will be attending, and my answer is that there will be one who gets saved and whose life will change. I praise Christ for the great number of men whose lives have changed.

Making a difference
We have received incredible testimonies and realise that without God, none of this would be possible. It is a great honour to serve every man at the event with a small gift that the Lord gave me. I am thankful to God for the calling and using a simple man like myself to give to others what He gave to me.

It is the vision of MMC KZN to reach out to all the men of Africa, but to primarily focus on the men in KZN, irrespective of their race, creed or church denomination.

More information about the 2014 MMC KZN is available on the website www.mmc-kzn.co.za.