Welcome 2012

It’s with great joy that we share with our friends and family the news of the next opening chapter of our lives!

2011 began with a searching and praying about our next steps, seeing that our 3-year contracts with JAM would expire at the end of 2011. We knew we needed to move forward in the ministry that is in our hearts and that it was time to step into the reason that God sent us to South Africa. Yet, the steps in front of us were not clear.

As the months passed we began to feel that God was speaking to us through scripture, in our times of prayer and through prophetic words from trusted individuals who knew nothing of our situation. The consistent message we were receiving was that one door was closing and another was going to open. The promised “door” became as real to us as any door we could see with our natural eyes.

We had been asked by our employers to confirm with them by the 1st of September our intentions moving forward, whether we were going to accept renewed contracts beyond 2011. We began to sense that, though not having another employment offer elsewhere to take, nor a clear route to pursue we must respond to the message we felt were receiving so clearly from the Lord and take a “leap” in faith. Faith can only be based on what God has said. So, when September came, after much prayer and the agreement of our local elders and other respected voices in our lives we communicated that we would not renew our contracts with JAM. We let the door shut behind us, confident only in what God had said. It seems that the road to destiny most certainly includes stretches of thin air.

In November we were introduced to Peter and Nicola Munnings who lead Sandton City Church in Johannesburg. Peter had approached the Lead Elder (Senior Pastor) at our local church, feeling that it was time for him to hand over Sandton City Church to another leader. God had given Peter this word:
1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”
He sensed that God had called him to plant (8 years ago) but that there was now another who would come to water. The feedback to Peter from the elders at our local church was that we (Paul and Minda) should be considered to lead the church into her next season.

So, after several meetings with the Munnings as well as visiting Sandton City Church a couple of times, meeting other key leaders in the church and preaching there, it was agreed that we will take the Lead Eldership (Senior Pastor) role starting in January, 2012. God’s promised door! We are feeling both the sobering weight of the task ahead as well as the excitement of knowing this is what we were made for.

Sandton City Church relates to New Covenant Ministries International, the team to which the church we’ve been in for the last three years also relates. So, we’ll still be “in the family”. The community the church is in, Sandton, is the economic hub of South Africa and thus has quite an influential role in Africa as a whole. Peter's dream has been for the church to be a "base" from which other people groups and areas of the city/nation/nations would be reached, and other churches planted. He's also built a racially-integrated environment, as well as set the value in place of ministry to the poor. All of these things are deeply in our hearts, and so it is helpful to step into a place where these foundations have already been laid.

In December we completed our work at Joint Aid Management and Jesus Alive Gospel Outreach and said goodbye to a precious time and place in our family’s journey. We’re so grateful for the opportunity we’ve had to serve these organizations and their Founder, Peter Pretorius. They will always be close to us.

We finished off the year with a visit from Paul’s parents, after being apart for two years. We gave them a whirlwind tour of Johannesburg, Pilanesberg Game Reserve and Cape Town. It was such a pleasure to show them the beauty of South Africa and to have special family time together during Christmas.

On January 11th, Peter, age 7 will begin the 2nd Grade and John David, age 4 will continue in preschool. The kids will be able to stay at the same school since the new church is only 10 minutes down the road from the church where we’ve been. We are looking for a house to rent so that we can be closer to the Sandton community.

Thank you to all who have been a part of this journey with us. Life is rich when shared.

Our prayer and encouragement for you would be to have faith in what God has said to you. Believe and walk in obedience in 2012 and He will open doors! He has a plan for you and His plan in the earth involves each of us.

We are loving life, serving the King in this great city of Johannesburg!

Two Years Later: A Thank You

The eight or so years before our 'exploratory mission' to South African in September 2008 in many ways felt like the slow initial climb of a roller coaster. Steady, slow, challenging...and in some ways really more preparation for the actual ride. It was exactly two years ago today that we departed the United States on that trip. Little did we know that the trip would very much be the beginning of what has been a thrusting forth into the wild ride of God's purpose, charging forward from the momentum afforded us through a long 'upward' preparation.

This month we also complete the first half of our three-year contract with our employment in South Africa, Joint Aid Management and Jesus Alive Ministries. As we do so our hearts burst with excitement for what is yet to come, while also reflect on the amazing journey we have been on since that 'exploratory mission.’ For each of you who generously contributed towards that mission, or towards our actual move to South Africa the following January, we so value and appreciate what your support has meant to us. We want to express our deep gratitude and share with you from our hearts now at this stage in the process what you have ‘sown into.’

From the day our feet touched South African soil in September, 2008 up to today our being in this country has been surrounded by such a profound sense of divine purpose and blessing. We have been amazed and overjoyed to watch God so quickly open doors of ministry, connect us into many deep and purposeful relationships as well as provide for our needs. It feels like we have entered into a place that was all along being prepared for us at just the right time.

Our beloved friends, Peter and Ann Pretorius, founders of Joint Aid Management, an organization that feeds over 550,000 African children every day, and Jesus Alive Ministries, an evangelistic ministry that has lead over 9.4 million people to salvation decisions throughout 21 African nations played an important role in getting us into South Africa by providing our initial employment (as well as housing!). To us, our roles in these organizations are far more than just jobs. We know that we are learning so much from these two ‘spiritual legends’ as we serve in the tremendous works that they have pioneered. We believe that what we learn and receive from them will be necessary for us to have in our future. It has also been an honor to pour into the staff of both of these organizations as we have helped lead weekly staff devotions.

Our hearts burn ablaze for the Lord’s church, and we know that ultimately we wish to give all of our lives to participate in its building. To that end we are so incredibly amazed by the connection we have made with our church, New Covenant Church Bryanston, which gave birth to New Covenant Ministries International (NCMI), an apostolic network that has successfully planted hundreds of churches now on every continent in the world. The deeper our involvement and connection here, the more deeply impressed we become. We carry such an affinity with the values, practices and beliefs of this network. Since its beginning in 1979, New Covenant Church Bryanston alone has been responsible for planting 31 churches through sending teams of people raised up within its own congregation. That is an average of one church plant every year! We are learning so much from the unique, organic culture of NCCB and NCMI, that seems to foster such richness of relationship, while maintaining a constant commitment to ‘go’ and fulfill the mandate of discipling all nations through planting new churches. We very much feel called to this very thing and, again, are simply amazed at the providence of God. We did not know how we would move towards planting or leading a church when we moved here...but God did...and he brought us to a place completely committed to raising up and sending out leaders to do so.

We are honored that this connection has not only been for our benefit, but it seems our ministry has also meant much to this church. Already, in the first year of our joining the church we have been humbled to be asked to share the message in 8 Sunday services!

A few exciting things on the immediate horizon:

In late October/early November Paul is going with some of the New Covenant Church Bryanston elders and leaders to Singapore and Australia. They will connect with three churches during this trip, including a recent plant from NCCB, as well as spend several days with Dudley Daniel, the founder of New Covenant Ministries International. What an amazing opportunity to grow, learn and further expand our experience in the nations!

Speaking of that, our good friend, Laurel Roth is taking the brave leap to fulfill a dream of ministering to disadvantaged African children. We have been honored to coordinate her itinerary through our connections here and have been amazed at the favor her trip already has had with very significant doors opening up to her where she will literally be able to impact entire regions!

The journey - as always - is yet unfolding. Even still, our hearts overflow with the realization of God’s hand upon us, guiding, directing and empowering. We know for sure we are where we are meant to be. To those who have played a part in making this happen, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for having invested into our destiny, and those we will reach. Through your contribution you are here in South Africa with us!

Much love,

Paul and Minda Nichols

November Heat

It is now summer here in the Southern Hemisphere and it is hot both in temperature and activity. The time since our last blog update has been significant. Ministry-wise it has certainly been busy as Paul spoke in three Sunday gatherings as well as two JAM staff Devotions.

The last weekend of September Paul spoke in Mokopane at Pastor Sam Paghati’s church, Church of the Firstborn. Paul shared about overcoming through revelation. He and his father-in-law, Rodney Lloyd tag-teamed and flowed seamlessly together. It was the final service this church would have in their tent facilities before completing their new building. Paul reminded the church that the last time he had been there- exactly one year ago- Minda had spoken a message about “enlarging your tent.” It was an honor to encourage this growing church on this significant day in their history.

The ministry throughout the month of October at our home church, NCCB, was handled by a team put together to speak on the Kingdom of God. It was a significant time, and the level of faith and understanding seemed to build in the church throughout the month. Paul spoke on the morning of the 11th and on the evening of the 18th. After the message on the 18th Paul and a couple of the elders led the people to a response and some ministry. A hunger and passion began to grip the church. One of the elders called an ad hoc prayer meeting for the next morning at 5:30am to continue crying out to God and many attended. (These messages are accessible in the “Resources” section of www.nccb.co.za).

We officially became members of NCCB in October. Justin Donlon, one of the elders with whom we have become particularly close jokingly commented to the church on our “remarkable integration strategy” in preaching to the church three times before becoming members. In October we ate dinner with the NCCB elders at the house of Justin and his wife Kerry. Minda treated everyone to Mexican cooking from “back home.” We later also had another group of NCCB friends over to our house for some Mexican food after a guided tour of JAM and Jesus Alive Ministries.

Paul has a new job as the Writer for Jesus Alive Ministries! This involves writing the Outreach reports, website material (www.jesusalivemin.com), annual reports and various other printed publications. Paul is thrilled to now be working more closely with Peter Pretorius and also the great men who are taking the Gospel into rural Africa. We believe this is a strategic opportunity to glean from this side of Peter’s work, after working in 2009 for the feeding/humanitarian side- Joint Aid Management.

Our Peter has his last month of the school year this month (the school year corresponds to the calendar year in South Africa). We were delighted to visit his school for an end-of-the-year concert in which Peter’s class and the Kindergarten sang songs with motions. They quoted Jeremiah 29:11-13, which Peter can now recite entirely. It is so cute to listen to him recite this verse, which he learned to say with a South African accent since he learned it at school. “…Plans to give you a hope and a few-cha.” As parents we can hardly express our gratitude for God’s provision for Peter and John David respectively with Peter’s school and John David’s nanny. God promised Minda before we moved that He was going to provide for our children. He has done so “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

This past Saturday, 14th we enjoyed one of the wonderful benefits of living in Africa as we spent the day at Pilanesberg Game Reserve in the Northwest Province of South Africa. Pilanesberg, along with several other Game Reserves is just a two hour drive from our home and we absolutely love our close proximity to such amazing views and African wildlife in their natural habitat. Incredible. We arrived at the gates before 7:00am and drove around all day through the valleys and up into the mountains while spotting wild animals. We saw an elephant in the distance and drove right next to monkeys, warthog, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, rhino, and several large buck...the lions were hiding this time. The boys loved it!

Plans are coming together for a Christmas visit to family and friends in the States. We will share at World Harvest Church, our beloved home church in Dublin, Georgia on Sunday, December 13th. But, before then we will celebrate our first Thanksgiving meal while in another country… and in the summer!

(Feel free to post a comment. We love to hear from you!)

1 Year Mark Since Our 2008 Trip

There is something about finding and embracing your place in the Church that releases things in your life. We have found that since we determined to pursue NCCB as our local church and place of service we have been overwhelmed with the goodness of God towards us that has surrounded that decision. It seems almost overnight that we feel so relationally connected to so many quality people at NCCB. Deep and fulfilling friendships are developing faster than we can keep up with! We have been so grateful at how quickly and readily the leadership have embraced us, taken us in and received what we have to give.

August was a big month in many ways. JAM celebrated their 25th Anniversary with an “International Funder’s Week,” during which the heads of all of our international affiliate offices convened here at our South African international office. It was a joy to mix with these amazing leaders from Canada, Germany, UK and Switzerland who are all doing their part in the JAM global effort to help the children of Africa.

During August Paul spoke at NCCB, which represented the first time we’ve spoken in a church context since moving to South Africa. We were delighted with the connection that was made with the body as we gave what has been given to us, and have been pleased to hear positive feedback from the church.

On September 27th Paul will go with his father-in-law, Rodney Lloyd to speak to the church in Mokopane that we visited in September last year (refer to 2008 post). This was such a precious experience last year and we eagerly await visiting “Pastor Sam’s church in the tent” (as Peter referred to it). This is a large African congregation in the province of Limpopo, which is a place with a real “African” feel to it. Pastor Sam will once again interpret Paul’s message into the local language, Northern Sotho and Paul is now getting his Sotho-speaking friends at work to help him prepare an impressive greeting in that language. Paul is also working with Werner (pronounced “Vernor”) Badenhorst, an elder at NCCB (and fast-growing close friend) in developing a series of teachings on “The Kingdom of God” for NCCB during the month of October. Presently the plans are for Paul to speak on the Sunday mornings of October 11th and 18th. As we’ve stated in previous posts, NCCB Sunday messages are available on their website, so you can always catch the messages at www.nccb.co.za.

September is also a big month for the Nichols family as both Peter and Minda celebrate birthdays. Peter will turn five on the 26th, and Minda turned older than that on the 16th.

We are presently putting plans in place to visit family and friends over the Christmas holidays in the States. Not a day goes by where we don’t fondly think of and appreciate the many wonderful people who have walked through life with us “back home.” We can’t wait to see “ya’ll!”

Paul's Preach

If you would like to hear Paul minister at NCCB, the message will be downloaded online after Sunday, August 23rd (he will be the speaker on the 23rd instead of the 16th).
Click here: http://nccb.co.za.
(From the menu select "Media" and from the dropdown menu select "Preaching.")

August Update

We’ve passed a significant milestone in our passage into Africa. We have identified and settled on a church to make our home in Johannesburg and our local covering for any ministry the Lord may lead us to do in Africa. We are very excited to be a part of New Covenant Church Bryanston (NCCB) and will be received as members in September.

One's journey through life is truly meant to be a walk of faith. Not every detail was laid out in front of us as we came to Africa, but as we have walked step by step we have been led by two things: 1) principle and 2) peace in our hearts. As we’ve been patient we have been amazed at the unfolding design of God in leading us to the right church for us at this important crossroads in our lives.

NCCB is the original congregation of the network, New Covenant Ministries International, which has planted hundreds of churches (some on every continent) over the past 30 years. We were drawn to NCCB because of their like-minded paradigm to what has been built into us already in ministry. One of the most outstanding characteristics of NCCB is that they have managed to maintain a very organic nature, despite their 30-year existence and relatively large congregation (about 800).

Churches are planted literally every year from NCCB. Not surprisingly, God sends many leaders to NCCB and to the leadership covering of Ashley Bell (the pastor) and his eldership team who are absolutely committed to sowing their “best”. Of the 15 or so elders that were in the church 2 years ago, only 2 remain and others have since been added on. The rest have been sent out with teams of other leaders within the church - and yet God keeps adding to NCCB.

We have also been excited as we’ve learned more about the work that NCCB does “up into Africa”, continually sending out teams to train and raise up indigenous leaders amongst the Church in Africa. This is thrilling to us because of what God has laid on our hearts for this continent.

There is a large segment of the congregation that is “youngish”, in their 20’s and 30’s and there are many young families, so we are thoroughly enjoying the vibrancy of church life! We have been warmly received and we can hardly keep up with all the opportunities to connect and relate to new friends.

Paul has been honored to be invited to minister at the Sunday morning service on August 16th. You’ll be able to hear him online after the message is downloaded at http://www.nccb.co.za/

In other news: our work with JAM continues to be both challenging and fulfilling, Peter lost his third tooth, we will celebrate John David’s second birthday this month and we’re looking forward to springtime after the cold months in the Southern Hemisphere. We’re enjoying life and our hearts are very full of gratitude.

Thoughts from Paul

There is certainly a distinction between what we experienced in South Africa when we came in September ’08 and what we are experiencing today. When we visited last September we had a jam-packed, almost daily ministry itinerary with the feeling of constant action. After that we returned to the States for only a few months during which time we put our house up for sale, sold two cars and virtually everything we owned, organized our passports and visas for returning to South Africa all the while working night and day for our church. The intensity of it all in some ways was like a birthing process. Since then our return to South Africa has had maybe the most remarkable sense of peace and of being at home that I can recall. It is as though the “birth” of our life and purpose in this land has been accomplished. We find ourselves out of the canal and very much in our new place.

Though we are busy during the days with our work at JAM our lives as a whole carry a feeling of process and developing over time. It is as though we have entered a great land of inheritance, but must take it day by day and at the Lord’s time. We are not currently pursuing any ministry beyond what we do at JAM in leading weekly Devotions until we have our local covering identified. On that front we are excited about a ministerial network that we have connected with and very well could ask to take on a covering role with us. This church network has been successful in planting churches literally around the globe. Minda and I had dinner with one of the leaders in the network and his wife and are extremely impressed with their commitment to raise up leaders and send them to plant. In just the last nine months this man’s church has been responsible for 3 successful church plants! We have taken note at how much an affinity we feel with the vision and values of this network. We feel good about pursuing that relationship and will update if and when that becomes more formalized.

This period of lesser activity has been a much-needed and appreciated time as a family, building and loving our boys. We are so delighted in how much both of them have developed. Just this last month John David began walking, and hasn’t looked back since! His vocabulary seems to expand daily. Peter has made tremendous progress this year in several developmental areas. Minda and I have enjoyed time with him when he pulls his bible-for-kids book out and “preaches” everything he knows about God to us. “Giving is good…Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that is good…killing people is not good…”

Though the process thus far has been relatively slow, we know it will not last this way forever. Our hearts burn ablaze with a passion to minister God’s word to this people and build His Church in this land. In our spirit is the resounding witness of being where we are meant to be - a clean and thrilling feeling. Thank you all for being a part. We appreciate your love, support, prayers and relationship.

We're bundled up tonight in our house with heaters, listening to the howling wind outside. It's in the 40's! Yes, it gets cold in Africa!... South Africa, at least.