Raymond and Rebekah Brown - South Africa |
 |
May 2007 Prayer letter
5 Years On…
Christ Church Glenwood was born in February 2002 shortly after which we joined the staff team. This April we celebrated our Church’s 5th Birthday and as a family praised God for all He has done and prayed for His direction in our future planning and the work of spreading the gospel in Durban and beyond.
Past and Present
TBT group
Our Vision; ‘To Know the Lord Jesus Christ and to make him known’ has focussed on three primary goals:
1. To Reach out (Evangelism)
2. To Build up (Discipleship)
3. To Send out (Training & Equipping)
A small church that started with about 25 young adults has now grown to:
- A congregation of over hundred on Sunday mornings at Christ Church Glenwood (CCG)
- Four student congregations, planted on three different university campuses reaching around 250 students each week, which we have called The Bible Talks (TBT).
- At both CCG & TBT we have over 20 small group Bible studies that run mid week, with over 30 leaders trained to teach the bible.
- 19 apprentices trained for ministry through our Ministry Apprentice Program (MAP), in addition to several individuals sent to and supported at GWC
Future 5 Years
There are 20,000 students at The University of Kwazulu Natal (UKZN), we are currently reaching around 1%. There is much work to be done! It would be great to have trained gospel workers on each of the University sites (6+) along with teams of apprentices.
There is scope for additional church plants from Glenwood and a great need for us to develop our Youth and Children’s Ministry with the employment of long-term staff for this task.
The pressing HIV pandemic, poverty and crime all demand that the gospel be taken urgently to those who are living on our doorsteps.
The Browns 5 years on…
We originally planned to be involved with church planting and Student Ministry in Glenwood for 5 years; That time is almost up. Yet, with clearly much work still to be done, we are now considering longer term Ministry in Durban. With this in mind, we will be taking some long leave in the UK during November and December to seek further wisdom from family, friends and supporters regarding our future.
Home Leave
We are very much looking forward to being back with our family and friends after so long, and yet it is also quite a major trip to organise for a family of six. There are a number of things we would hope to achieve during this trip and a number of things we need help with and prayer for as follows:
Specific Prayer Points
- Praise God for all He has done at CCG and TBT and for the privilege of being a part of this work
- For the all the practical arrangements of our UK trip: Flights, Accommodation, Car, Kids (!), Admin…
- For wisdom as we seek the advice from family and friends in UK and those at Crosslinks with regard to the future.
- For quality time with family and friends
- For good opportunities to feedback about the work in Durban with our supporting churches and individuals
- For God to provide the financial support we need to continue the work longer term
Kids Quotes!
Nathanael with snake
Naomi (8): During a monsoon type rainstorm: “This rain caused pandemonium at school today”
Nathanael (61/2): “If you shuffle the cards too much they all go back to the same place”.
Natalia: (5) “I didn’t know you made my blanket, I thought God made everything”
Noah (22m): In response to being told: “Bedtime now”, replied: “NO, Tanks”
With much love,
Ray, Rebekah, Naomi, Nathanael, Natalia and Noah