Karen & I enjoyed a fantastic holiday in South Africa with our youngest son Ben & his partner Claire. We had a lot of fun, walking with and riding an elephant, the Bries (BBQs), the scenery, we saw the big 5: elephants, rhinos, hippos, lions and giraffes! It was great to see Table Mountain & Robbin Island where Nelson Mandella was imprisoned. Also, of course, I did a few history tours. Did you know that hippos, elephants & rhinos only eat grass!!! Sooo, days of research in South Africa would say that the largest animals eat grass; and look at how large they are 🙂.  Be careful people that you don’t eat too many vegetables…logical conclusion ay!!!!  

Then it was onto Holland (Nederland) - Terneuzen. We arrived in time for the final weekend of the 1st year of Church Planting Training Centre (cptc.nl).

Several churches will be planted and other students will aid in the planting of new churches. Most students are enrolling for the 2nd year. All in all, a very positive outcome.

Here’s what some of the students said: Education at a high level! Good fundamentals. Teachers were open & honest. CPTC has given me more confidence in myself and encouraged me to go deeper with God. I learned a lot. Good coaching. The atmosphere is super! CPTC gives the assurance that they trust us! Faith building. I am really thankful for CPTC! Teachers were good. Great variety in different subjects, objectives and teachers. Challenging, very practical. CPTC is a good foundation teaching for church planting. It helped me develop my vision of how God wants to use me in His Kingdom. In this school you learn how to make disciples. Thank you for the good care last year 

The following weekend, we had a VCI all in day. These are excellent times of encouragement, building relationships, instruction & prayer. We spent time praying for Belgium, as we want to see many new churches planted there and we now have some significant contacts here. We took up the first network offering for CPTC & included church planting in Belgium. 

I love what Alan Scott’s quote, “Connect with those who love who you are, and love you enough to lead you beyond yourself”. VCI is about being comfortable with being uncomfortable!!! Selah! 

It was great that Karen and I could catch up with many people in the network, as well as friends & family. I spoke in Terneuzen, Oss & Almere churches. I am praying for 2-4 more churches to partner with us before the end of the year. This looks extremely likely to happen and good connections are forming. Watch this space.

Joost and Lut who completed the first year of CPTC hosted me in Antwerp. Joost & I took a road trip in Belgium & France to visit several contacts who are interested or involved in the process of planting new churches. This was more fruitful than I expected, it was exciting putting our feet under their tables and listening to their stories.  Once again thanks for your prayer and support. It’s all moving forward & building nicely. It’s wonderful living in what I imagined many years ago. Thank you, Jesus!