We are planning to depart for South Africa on January 7th (pending the processing of our residence permits in time). We have sold most of our belongings and are “camping out” in our unfurnished house: sleeping on air mattresses, eating on paper plates and borrowing a TV and microwave from a friend! We’re filling our days with necessary preparations for the move and precious visits with friends and family.

Upon arrival in Johannesburg, we will get over our jet lag and begin to set up our new residence on the mission base of Joint Aid Management (JAM). We’ll visit preschools and enroll Peter as well as interview nannies for in-home childcare for John David. We are set to begin in our positions with JAM on February 1st.

Minda will be working as Personal Assistant to Peter Pretorius, helping him during the transition period of the next few years as he prepares to give the leadership of the organization to his son. Paul is going to be managing the websites, writing and editing stories as well as monitoring donations coming in to track their effectiveness. http://www.jamint.com/

We are very much looking with anticipation to this new opportunity in front of us. In addition to our work with JAM, there are many churches and ministries who are doing so much effective good in South Africa, whom we look forward to building relationship with and ministering with as opportunity provides. We love South Africa and can hardly believe we’ll be living there in just a matter of weeks!

This is a missionary endeavor and so we have undertaken the challenge of getting there and the many expenses that go along with that such as fees for residence visas (plus the expenses of acquiring all the legal documentation required), airfare, and the accumulating of furnishings for our new home. If you would like to give towards making the work we will do possible, tax-deductible contributions can be made to DDMI (Divine Design Ministries International) and all funds will go fully to us. Please mail to:
DDMI
Nichols Mission
2457 Airport Thruway
PMB #220

Columbus, GA 31904

Thank you for the interest and support that so many of you have expressed and for being a part of this exciting journey with us. We will continue to update as our “new season” in life unfolds!

May you have a Merry Christmas, celebrating all you hold most dear and may you experience God’s blessing in your 2009!

In Summary

We have returned safely to Dublin, Georgia and are basking in the richness of everything we have experienced in South Africa.

We were overjoyed to see people come into the Kingdom of God. We were honored to minister to 11 congregations, Bible Schools and ministries and so humbled by the flow of grace we experienced. We truly “stood on top of” what has been built into us over the years of formation and sensed an authority to communicate as well as a receptivity and need for the things God has entrusted to us. We witnessed God’s hand of guidance as we made numerous purposeful connections over coffee, in restaurants and in homes with spiritual fathers, leaders and the emerging generation in that land.

Before leaving for South Africa, we stated that the purpose of the trip was to put our feet on the ground and see what we experienced… walk through the open doors believing they would lead to open doors for the future. Through God’s Word to our hearts while away, through the witness of the Holy Spirit in our spirits and through the connections made we feel a growing confidence in the purposes of God for us in that land. Our hearts are now connected with the work of God in South Africa and Africa in a more deep way and we look forward to the future and watching God’s plans develop.

We realize that all we have been a part of over the past four weeks is not due to anything special that we are, but it is because of God’s goodness and His commitment to the destiny of His people. If we make what He is doing in the earth our priority, it is His pleasure to bring us into our place in that plan.

We thank you for your interest and your friendship. Thank you for being part of this journey with us – we were so aware of your support. We hope you have been enriched and inspired to fully participate in all that God is doing in your life and in the earth.

All praise to God!

Cape Town

We are in the “Mother City”, Cape Town. Known as “the fairest cape in all the world”. Cape Town is a bustling, cosmopolitan metropolis – the city at the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa.

Friday evening we were at Fountain of Life Church in a colored neighborhood (the preferred term of the race who are a mixture of the inter-mixing of indigenous Africans and whites from generations ago). Paul spoke a powerful Word, challenging them to apprehend the Kingdom of God through agreement with God and agreement with one another.

Sunday morning we enjoyed vibrant worship with Christian Family Church, Cape Town (another large colored congregation). Paul ministered the message on the Kingdom once again, teaching that the revelation of Who Jesus really is begins the building of God’s Kingdom in our lives.

Sunday evening we were with Christian Family Church, Tyger Valley who we ministered with four years ago with the youth from our home church, World Harvest Church. We experienced a really good “flow” as we delivered our final message for this trip. We saw all the things we have taught come together into one large stream as Minda passionately spoke on Enlarging Your Capacity and Paul preached the Kingdom Come.

These three weeks have truly been an adventure and our experiences have exceeded our expectations. We have been so blessed by the hospitality and warmth of the churches and leaders and their receptivity to what God has given us. Each place we have visited has extended an invitation to return. We are most grateful for the flow of God’s grace as we have ministered which has confirmed to us a special link between ourselves and Africa.

Today we are visiting with one of Minda’s closest friends from high school who married one of Peter and Ann Pretorius’s sons and we will enjoy a special day tomorrow with Minda’s parents before beginning our 25 hour journey home on Wednesday.

There will be one final blog post in the next few days to summarize our trip. Thanks so much for your interest, support and prayers.

Margate

Tuesday we flew from Johannesburg to Durban and drove an hour to Margate, a retreat community on the southeast coast. Wednesday morning we spoke at a rural African congregation who meet in a school in a very poor area of Margate. We were overcome by the Father God’s heart for these precious people. As Minda was praying in preparation for ministry to them she heard the Holy Spirit say to her heart, “Tell them they’re the apple of my eye.” She shared with them from Deuteronomy 32 and Proverbs 7 that we are the apple of God’s eye and His Word is to be the apple of ours’. She encouraged them that as they grow in love towards their Father God, he will plant His desires in them and then He delights to bring those desires to fulfillment (according to Psalm 37).

Wednesday evening we had an awesome time at Rhema South Coast, a church planted by Rhema South in Johannesburg (which was planted by Rhema South Africa, which was planted by Rhema, Tulsa). This vibrant church of only 3 years was packed with people of all generations and full of energetic worship. We both preached the message, “Enlarge Your Capacity” and afterwards we received so much confirmation from the leaders throughout the church as to how God was speaking “into the Margate area” through our message. The pastor is going to make the CDs of the message available to the congregation at cost on Sunday and he encouraged everyone to listen to it over and over. We were really overjoyed to be the carriers of a Word from God to encourage and empower these laborers who are making a tremendous impact on their city.

Thursday we flew from Durban to our favorite city, Cape Town, the city on the southern tip of the continent of Africa. Once again we’re absolutely awe struck with the wild natural beauty of the mountains and ocean here.

Today is Peter’s 4th birthday so we are making it all about him! We look forward to another very full weekend of ministry.

We value prayers that will carry us through our final week on this mission.

Jo'burg Happenings

Saturday we had a 4th birthday party for our little Peter and Terri who is Peter Pretorius' grandaughter who is just six days apart in age. They were so cute in their prince and princess costumes and it was a very special day for our two families to celebrate together.

Sunday Minda spoke at Covenant Christian Centre, a vibrant congregation that meets in an area that was once a township under the old South African apartheid system. The people who call themselves the "Cape Coloreds" (a people group descending from the mixing of Europeans and indigenous Africans) still reside in this area though no longer by force. Minda once again gave her heart away on the subject of allowing God to enlarge us through circumstances and bring life to our barrenness. We felt the message being very well received and meeting a need in their hearts.

In the evening Paul ministered at Word Christian Church in a suburb on the East side of Johannesburg. This church has been experiencing a manifestation of the Kingdom of God through healings and salvations and Paul's message was "God Wants Your Heart So He Can Establish His Kingdom."

In both Sunday meetings people received Jesus and were born again.

This morning we were honored to speak at the chapel for Peter and Ann Pretorius' organization, Joint Aid Management (http://www.jamint.com/). It was so special to us to be with this team who tirelessly lay down their lives for the practical demonstration of the gospel in feeding more than 470,000 children in Africa daily. They asked us to speak on the many-membered Body of Christ and so we gave of what we have learned regarding how being in unity and order releases God's blessing, grace and power to do the work He's given us to do.

We are looking forward to lunch and an afternoon appointment with Peter and Ann today.

Back in Johannesburg: Rhema South

After a brief stay in Mabula Game Park on our way home from Polokwane we arrived back in Johannesburg for the beginning of a very full ministry schedule.

Our stay in Mabula was wonderful. We went on a game ride where we were able to witness up-and-close many of the main African wildlife, including Rhino, Giraffe, Elephant, Warthogs, Water Buffalo, Wildebeest and several other species of African antelope. So exciting for us, and especially Peter, who surprisingly was most fond of warthogs! John David now seems to be doing much better and we appreciate those who stood with us in prayer for his healing.

Our first engagement since back in Johannesburg was ministering in a Friday night youth service at Rhema South, a large and dynamic church in the city’s southern suburbs. It was so awesome to worship with these youth and witness their ability to host and sustain the presence of the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord moved significantly that night. There was laughter, conviction and encouragement. Three teenage boys responded to the call for salvation, one of which we learned was a Muslim who had been to mosque just earlier that day. We spoke out of Matthew 16: 13-17, where Jesus asked His disciples, “who do you say that I am?” As we spoke the boy was convicted that Jesus was not merely a prophet (according to Islamic belief), but the Son of God and the Way to God. We also invited those wanting prayer for breakthrough to come forward and many responded in a sincere way. With the Youth Pastor’s agreement we ended up going ½ hour over the normally scheduled time to close to minister to them all.

Polokwane

Monday and Tuesday we were honored to speak at Light of the Nations Bible School in a town called Polokwane. Seven African nations are represented in the 60-person student body there. They have received full scholarships and will go back to their countries to serve in their local churches or to help plant churches.

Paul shared from his experience of commitment to oversight and the local church and how serving a spiritual father is essential today before having “what is your own.” He spoke from John 6 of the tests of the Lord that will expose and purify the motives of your heart. Minda taught from Philippians 3 and gave her testimony of how the Lord has used circumstances to build her life upon the foundation of knowing Christ and being found in Him. All “doing” in the Kingdom of God should take place from that foundation.

We concluded with a question & answer session. During this time several expressed how they had been helped and inspired by what was shared and we rejoice to have some of what we’ve been given sown into the work God is doing in Africa.

The school surprised Minda by celebrating her birthday on Tuesday with a cake.

We are now going to catch up on some rest for a couple days before a very full and busy weekend of ministry. Thank you for your continued prayers that we are so aware of covering us in all we do and each place we go.

Mokopane

The funds donated for our trip went to great use this weekend as we were so privileged to minister to a church of indigenous Africans in a rural area who cannot usually afford to bring in guest speakers. We have been in the town of Mokopane with Church of the Firstborn whose congregation meets in a tent. They are building walls one by one around the tent to gradually build a building for the church to meet in. These people were precious and it was wonderful to feel the familiar presence of the Holy Spirit with them as we worshipped. Though limited in resources this church has done much and is truly “going somewhere.” It was an honor to give what we had to them.

As we spoke, the pastor interpreted into the local native language, Northern Sotho. Paul spoke from Romans 8, encouraging the people that each one has been predestined, called, justified and it is the Lord’s intention that they be glorified to reveal God in the earth. Minda spoke from Isaiah 54 regarding the issue of “barrenness” in our lives which gives an opportunity for God to bring forth life that meets our own needs and in the process enlarges us to meet the needs around us.

The Pastor and others seemed to deeply appreciate the ministry and even invited us back for a longer period whenever we could.

Peter loved “Pastor Sam’s church in the tent” and continues to fit right in to his African surroundings.

Yesterday we arrived in a larger town called Polokwane where we will be speaking this evening and tomorrow evening at Light of the Nations Bible School. There are about 60 students, over one-third of which are from other African nations who will be returning to their home country to minister.

Please pray for John David to recover quickly from a cold. Other than that, we are all well and enjoying the Lord’s grace and favor as we set our hands to do what He has put before us.

Orange Farm

Yesterday was truly precious. We went to a place called “Orange Farm,” which is a squatter camp (or “Informal Settlement”) in the rural south of Johannesburg with a population of about 1 million. There we visited a school of many precious African children who were so delighted to have Americans taking their pictures!

We then visited a small daycare and were so impressed at the tremendous job the teachers were doing with such limited resources. You will see in the picture that the school operates out of a one-car garage attached to a home. (Carpet is put down for it to be a preschool by day then the carpet is removed and it’s converted again to be a garage by night.) The children’s behavior was so impressive and they were performing tremendously in their activities. We were delighted as they sang their national anthem for us.

We visited both the school and the day care to witness and participate in the feeding program which is provided by JAM (Joint Aid Management), the relief organization of our dear friends Peter and Ann Pretorius. JAM www.jamint.com ensures that these children receive at least one good meal a day (highly nutritious, fortified porridge) and in feeding through the schools, they are encouraging the education of the rising generation.

From there we visited two care facilities for adults with disabilities.

At each of our stops we distributed the clothes that we brought donated from the women of World Harvest Church at home in Dublin, Georgia. Our women need to understand how profound a gift it was that they gave. It is almost crushing to see how “unwanted” items given from our side meet such a desperate need for these people. I left wishing there was some way to transport American “junk” to ones who so desperately need what we don’t even use.

We Made It

We have arrived safely in SA and are settled well in our accommodations on the Jesus Alive Ministries/Joint Aid Management (JAM) mission base (see picture). The boys did great on the 18 hour flight… thank God!

This morning Paul discovered there are two water temperatures in our shower: scalding and frozen. Looks like we’ll be taking baths…

We just had our first connecting time over coffee with a local pastor, Ashley Bell, the current pastor of the original church of NCMI, a large apostolic network of churches/ministries all over the world. He is a tremendous man, very authentic and relational. We appreciated the time to pick his brain and glean.

Tomorrow we will have the first item of our ministry itinerary, which is to go to Orange Farm and help with the Feeding program. Many women will benefit from the clothes raised from the women of our home church, World Harvest Church and we will experience firsthand some of the tremendous need of Africans.

Internet is not as accessible here, but we plan to post as often as possible. Look for future updates soon and please feel free to comment as we would love to hear from you, too!

ITINERARY

Below is our itinerary. Catch a picture of what we'll be doing. Those wishing to cover us in prayer during our trip can use this as a guide.



Sunday, September 7:
3:45 pm Depart Atlanta


Monday, September 8:
4:35 pm Arrive Johannesburg www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg
Staying at "JAM" Mission Base (Jesus Alive Ministries/Joint Aid Management, Peter and Ann Pretorius) http://www.jesusalivemin.com/

Tuesday, September 9:
Meet with Pastor Ashley Bell of the original New Covenant Church of NCMI http://www.ncmi.net/

Wednesday, September 10:
Participate in JAM School Feeding & Teacher Training http://www.jamint.com/
Distribute women's clothing (from our church, World Harvest Church) at Orange Farm Settlement www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Farm


Thursday, September 11:
Private meeting at Parliament with Member Lydia Meshoe (Mrs. Meshoe lectures internationally on the plight of African women)
pm: Birthday party for Minda with old friends


Friday, September 12:
Travel to Mokopane (3 hour car drive) www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokopane
pm: Attend Church of the Firstborn (rural "tent" church)


Saturday, September 13:
Speak at afternoon meeting at Church of the Firstborn, Mokopane


Sunday, September 14:
am: Attend Church of the Firstborn
Drive to Polokwane (1 hour car drive) www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polokwane
pm: Attend Light of the Nations Church http://www.lightofthenations.co.za/

Monday, September 15:
pm: Speak at Light of the Nations Bible School, Polokwane

This Bible school hosts and fully funds the training of ministers from all over Africa.


Tuesday, September 16:
pm: Speak at Light of the Nations Bible School, Polokwane


Wednesday, September 17:
Drive to Mabula Game Lodge for 2 day stay (gift from friends)
http://www.mabula.com/

Friday, September 19:
Return drive to Johannesburg (2 hours)

pm: Speak at Rhema South http://www.rhemasouth.co.za/

Saturday, September 20:
4th Birthday party for Peter Nichols and Terri Mynhardt (Peter Pretorius' grandaughter)


Sunday, September 21:
am: Speak at Covenant Christian Centre
pm: Speak at Word Christian Church, Springs http://www.wordchristianchurch.com/


Monday, September 22:
am: Speak at JAM staff Chapel
Appointment and lunch with Peter and Ann Pretorius
pm: Minda speak at JAM staff ladies meeting


Tuesday, September 23:
11:00 am Fly to Durban (on East coast) www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durban
Meeting with Indian pastors


Wednesday, September 24:
am: Speak at 2 rural government (public) school assemblies
pm: Speak at Rhema South Coast http://www.rhemasouthcoast.co.za/


Thursday, September 25:
11:20 am Fly to Cape Town (southernmost tip of Africa) www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town


Friday, September 26:
Day with church planting/entrepreneur friends
pm: Coffee shop gathering


Saturday, September 27:
Speak at Fountain of Life Christian Church

Sunday, September 28:
am: Speak at Christian Family Church International, Cape Town
pm: Speak at Christian Family Church, Tyger Valley


Monday, September 29:
Meetings with area ministers and friends


Tuesday, September 30:
Siteseeing and time with the Lloyds


Wednesday, October 1:
6:00 pm Depart Cape Town


Thursday, October 2:
11:08 am Arrive Atlanta


To learn more about South Africa:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa