South Africa Flow Magazine – Issue 1

THE MAGAZINE OF THE

MESS AGE

ISSUE O1

SOUTH AFRICA EDITION 2O13

THE MESSAGE LAUNCH IN SOUTH AFRICA

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE VISION NIGHT UK PAUL GIBBS

ANDY HAWTHORNE

About the Cover Editor: Tim Tucker Associate EditorS: Alistair Metcalfe | Mark Slessenger

A picture taken during Andy's recent trip to South Africa.

Senior Art Director & Graphic Design: Dan Hasler – Message:Creative PICTURE EDITOR: Hannah Prittie Graphic Design: Hannah Prittie | Matt Varah Wilson Contributors: Andy Hawthorne Paul Gibbs Alistair Metcalfe Subscription, Giving & Supporter Enquiries: T: +27 (0)82 712 8235 E: info@message.org.za Contributing Photographers COVER STORY: Ian Walton INTERNALS: Hannah Prittie ILLUSTRATIONS: P6-7 – Ian Walton P10 – Matt Varah Wilson P9 – freevectormaps.com

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ADDRESS: The Message Trust SA, Jubilee Centre, 21 Nelson Road, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925.

Phone +27 (0)21 4473630. www.message.org.za

PAGE News Including reporting from Vision Night '13

NEWS

VISION NIGHT '13

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PAGE Andy's Rant

REASONS TO CELEBRATE The whole Message movement packed into Audacious Church Manchester for a breathtaking Vision Night on November 9. It was a night full of reasons to celebrate that God is well and truly on the move. And as worship leader Jamie Hill prayed out, ‘Give us 10,000 more, Lord!’

Turn over for more pictures.

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PAGE Launching in February: Message South Africa

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PAGE Guest Teaching from Paul Gibbs

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PAGE The Message’s Mark Slessenger shares a story of transformation

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PAGE Two events coming up

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Registered UK Office: Lancaster House, Lancaster Campus, Harper Road, Sharston, Manchester, M22 4RG The Message Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No. 3961183 Registered Charity No. 1081467 VAT Registration No. GB 727 177616

www.message.org.uk

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what ar e you look ing for ?

'HE 'S E' OVE R THER

Who Jesus is to you affects who you are to others, says Paul Gibbs

' NO THAT 'S HIM'

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The Message Trust is a registered data user and only uses personal data in connection with its charitable purposes.

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Find us on Social Networks

www.facebook.com/themessagetrust @ MessageTrust

TIM'S Intro.

'... As we begin to work in prisons, disadvantaged communities, and with the downtrodden and underprivileged young people, our passion is to present the hope of the Gospel in tangible ways...'

We will be launching The Message in South Africa in the post-Mandela era. Although not unexpected, the death of this international iconic figure has seen an outpouring of global grief and tributes that I am unlikely to witness again in my lifetime again. As I told my children when we went to one of the memorial sites this morning, Mandela is probably one of the few leaders of this era that will still be spoken about a thousand years from now (for the right reasons).

Our commitment is to give of our best in service of Christ. As we begin to work in prisons, disadvantaged communities, and with the downtrodden and underprivileged young people, our passion is to present the hope of the Gospel in tangible ways that will result in reconciliation of individuals to God, and transformation of communities.

Please stand with us in this. We covet your prayers and your partnership as we embark on this new adventure.

And yet, in his own words he said: “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.” As he named his autobiography… it was a long walk to freedom.

As we move into 2014 and launch The Message, I hope that it is this spirit of perseverance, dogged determination, and self-sacrificial commitment that will become the hallmark of our ministry. The Gospel cause demands this of us because we follow Christ who was willing to pay the ultimate price for our eternal freedom.

National Director The Message South Africa

A friend of mine wrote this about Madiba: Mandela wouldn’t want to be cast in stone, but for South Africans to become a living memorial to the best of what he was and what he stood for. In so far as Tata Madiba imitated Christ, so we should imitate him.

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NEWS

VISION NIGHT '13 Reasons to celebrate The whole Message movement packed into Audacious Church Manchester UK for a breathtaking Vision Night on November 9. It was a night full of reasons to celebrate that God is well and truly on the move. And as worship leader Jamie Hill prayed out, ‘Give us 10,000 more, Lord!’ Turn over for more pictures.

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An explosive night!

from top: new dance missions team Square1 showed off some of the amazing

skills they’re now taking into schools; left: An energetic routine from the Juggernaut Crew – young people from our Genetik Sessions – had the audience cheering with delight; Andy Hawthorne hosted the night and spoke passionately about creative arts, community transformation and Christ-centred enterprise; Andy interviewed Premiership footballer Fabrice Muamba about his dramatic healing and his faith: ‘It’s important we speak as much as we can about Jesus. You never know the people you might touch.’ To see clips from the night, visit our website, message.org.uk.

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A WORD FROM ANDY - CEO THE MESSAGE TRUST The Message is well and truly going into multiplication at the moment and after much prayer, I’ve committed 25 percent of my time to responding to the hunger around the globe for what God’s been doing here in the UK. I'm writing this on a plane on the long flight from Cape Town, South Africa to Brisbane, Australia. To say I’m encouraged by the last week working with Tim Tucker, our new Message South Africa director, would be an understatement. As we've consulted with church, community and business leaders, it really feels like we are pushing at an open door.

We've got our first South Africa Eden team on the map in a tough community called Salt River; developed a plan for intensive prison work and reintegration (prisons in South Africa really have to be seen to be believed); and have developed a plan for a Cape Town enterprise centre providing the same dynamic mix of jobs, homes and supportive community as our own in Manchester.

Whilst in South Africa I've been thinking a lot about Jesus’ challenge to us to ‘go and make disciples.’ That's his passion and it truly needs to be ours. We've got to go wherever he leads us and do whatever it takes to produce true Jesus followers. Hands in the air at the end of a gig or prison chapel service are not enough – we are called by the Master to cooperate with him to help everyone we reach get all they need to become his disciples. That's increasingly the vision of The Message in Manchester and will be at the heart of this exciting new ‘World Wide Message Tribe’ as things continue to open up for us around the world, focussed on the last, the least and the lost.

You know well by now that none of this would be happening without wonderful people like you standing with us over the years. Right now we need your prayers and continued financial support more than ever, so on behalf of so many young people whose lives are being transformed, thank you so much.

'We've got to go wherever he leads us and do whatever it takes to produce true Jesus followers' BELOW:

In the shadow of Table Mountain, Andy with Tim Tucker (L) and Mark Slessenger (R)

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LAUNCHING IN FEBRUARY:

MESSAGE This Spring sees the launch of the first international Message movement outside of our UK base as we launch Message South Africa, in partnership with local churches and businesspeople and a dynamic new team based in Cape Town.

The move comes in response to an overwhelming demand for partnership to bring our combination of ‘lamp on a stand’ gospel proclamation, long-term missional living in tough neighbourhoods and Christ-centred enterprise for ex-offenders.

‘We’re on our way to becoming a genuinely World Wide Message Tribe,’ says Andy Hawthorne. ‘South Africa is our first bold step towards that reality and Tim Tucker is just the visionary leader we need to help us.’

above:

A selection of pictures taken during Andy's recent trip to South Africa.

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Message SA national director Tim hosted Andy and Michele when they visited in October: ‘There was a real sense of God’s favour upon our time in Cape Town as every meeting exceeded expectations. Whether that was more than 50 young people coming to Christ at Hillsong Youth, or in discussions with church leaders, prison ministries and business people – God is opening up doors for The Message in South Africa!’

NEWS

ESSAGE SOUTH AFRICA Prisons

Eden

The team are also working on a brand new pre-release programme designed to reach juvenile offenders and prepare them for life outside of prison – including eventually channelling them into a Cape Town-based Enterprise Centre planned for 2015.

Keep an eye on our website, www.message.org.uk for the latest news and updates from South Africa

One of the team’s early focuses will be on ministry to prisons – renowned as some of the toughest in the world. Newly appointed Operations Director Mark Slessenger is helping to shape a strategy informed by his 10 years’ experience of sharing the good news with offenders. ‘It seems that God is leading us to be a catalyst for greater collaboration between the various ministries already at work here,’ says Tim.

CAPE TOWN FACTS:

Plans are also taking shape for South Africa’s first Eden team, to be launched in 2014: ‘We are in advanced discussions that will lead to us partnering with a prominent church in Cape Town and establishing an Eden team in the community of Salt River, on the fringe of Cape Town city bowl,’ says Tim. ‘We are hopeful that the team will begin moving into the community in the second half of 2014.’

Population: 3.5 million South Africa’s second most-populated city City motto is ‘Spes Bona’, Latin for ‘good hope’

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what are you looking for?

'HE 'S E' OVER THER

Who Jesus is to you affects who you are to others, says Paul Gibbs

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' NO THAT 'S H IM '

Paul is a great mate of The Message and we’ve been cheering him on over the last few years as he’s taken PAIS from the back streets of Manchester to a discipleship movement now active in many countries.

Here’s what he had to say to us in Tuesday prayers recently… love the story of Bartimaeus. Here's a man who is blind but who can see who Jesus is, while other people who can see, can’t.

There were all sorts of people in Jesus' day looking for the Messiah in different ways. You had the zealots, looking for a militaristic hero. One day they hear Jesus say to his disciples, hey, if a Roman soldier asks you to carry his backpack, carry it an extra mile and they think, obviously that is not the Messiah because we know what the Messiah is going to look like, and it's not him.

Then you had the Pharisees, who believed that if they got rid of sin (meaning, if they got rid of sinners), God would send a rescuer to set them free from the Romans. Then suddenly they see Jesus hanging out with tax collectors and prostitutes, and they think, we know what the Messiah looks like, and it's not this guy.

But as Bartimaeus’ story unfolds, it's obvious that he understands exactly who Jesus is.

'Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more: 'Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you."

Throwing his cloak aside he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road' (Mark 10:46-52).

To see God, you have to realise you're blind and you need him to help you see. But here’s what I think: too often we ask God for the wrong kind of vision.

The most important thing is not that we get a big vision from God but that we get a big vision of God.

AW Tozer said this: 'Whatever drops into your mind when you think about God is singly the most important thing about you… Whatever you think God is or whoever you think God is – eventually you will become to other people.'

Think of it – it makes perfect sense. The zealots were looking for a militaristic god, so they attacked people. The Pharisees thought he was going to be a judge, so they judged people.

For me, this is incredibly important. Because when we see God clearly, we get a clearer vision of what he’s calling us to do. I don't know how you see Jesus but I don't see him as somebody who primarily came to rescue us from our sins. I think that's part of the process. But I think he primarily came to recruit us for the purposes of his Kingdom.

It's like me saying, Andy is a public speaker.

There's much more to Andy than being a public speaker. There's something that drives him more than being a public speaker. He speaks publicly to get to where he's going.

Yes, Jesus rescued us. But he didn't come as a rescuer, he came as a recruiter. That changes dramatically the way I see what I do. How about you?

Find out more about Paul and the stor y of the PAIS Project by visiting: www.thespiritofapioneer.com

Catch the whole of this message on the Message Podcast and lots more great content all for free. Download via iTunes (search ‘Message Podcast’) or listen at: www.message.org.uk/media

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I first met Abongile in Drakenstein Youth Prison in 2008. In the Western Cape most young men in prison are caught up in the ‘Numbers’ gangs. The ‘Numbers’ operate through three dangerous gangs called the ‘26s’, the ‘27s’ and the ‘28s’.

It’s heartbreaking to see so many young men caught up in these gangs, looking for acceptance and identity in all the wrong places.

Abongile was a ‘26’-gang member when I first met him. Throughout 2008 I regularly shared the love of God with him and explained what Jesus had done on the cross so he could be forgiven, no matter what crime he had committed. For a long time he seemed to reject this message but to my surprise, one day he let me know that he had made a commitment to follow Christ in his cell.

The transformation was immediate. Abongile left the gang and began spending time reading God’s Word and grew stronger and stronger in his faith. It was so exciting to see his progress: Abongile shared that finding Jesus had an enormous impact on his life. ‘My mindset, my heart and my future has changed ever since I met the Lord’, he said. He began witnessing to young men in prison and sharing his love for Jesus with others. It was a joy to see what God was doing in his life.

So often when working in the prisons, young men face enormous challenges once their sentences come to an end. This was no different for Abongile when he was released in March 2010. He had no father figure in his life and came from a poor family in one of the local townships. Although the circumstances were stacked against him, he had a strong desire to continue in his education. But how would he be able to afford it?

Thankfully, God opened the door for a bursary with the College of Cape Town and I managed to secure funding through a family in the US which allowed Abongile to carry on his studies in electrical training. This was an amazing opportunity for him and he persevered through all the levels of training to complete his electrical training. This even meant him seeking further bursaries to complete the other levels of the course which he did, of his own accord. Abongile found that it was not easy but learned that God was with him throughout this time: ‘God opened doors for my future and taught

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The Message’s Mark Slessenger shares Abongile’s story of transformation from prison gang tofollower of Christ

me to be patient so I could reach my destination,’ he says. The dedication he showed to pursue his studies was an inspiration to many of his friends and peers.

In mid-2013, Abongile finished his studies and passed his exams – a wonderful achievement. His mum worked hard to support him during more than two years of study. At the end of it all, Abongile secured a job working for Medi-Clinic and is now working there full time. He has come a long way since prison and continues to dream and trust God for the future. He says: ‘The Lord opened the door for me to be an electrician and I would love to open my own electrical and air conditioning company in the future.’

Abongile’s life is a testimony to the awesome life-changing power of Jesus and evidence that a life lived in obedience to Christ will always bear tremendous fruit. He is now an active member of his church and often witnesses to his friends and to the men back in Drakenstein. His smile and his joy is all the proof you need that Jesus is the centre of his life.

Seeing what God has done in Abongile’s life fills us all with hope and expectation that Jesus will change the lives of many others in prison. There are thousands of men and women in South Africa’s prisons who need to know that there is a Saviour who died for them so they can be forgiven and live a new life full of new hope and new meaning.

Please pray for Abongile and the other young men and women in contact with The Message’s prison ministry. And please stand with us by making a gift to support our work to share the love of God with young people in prison.

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OVER TO YOU In order for The Message to thrive in South Africa, we are asking if maybe God is calling you to stand with us in the following ways:

WE NEED PRAYER. We believe in the power of prayer and ask that you will pray for us as we prepare to launch The Message in South Africa.

We need partners.

Please consider financially supporting us as we move forward with this vision.

We believe that your contribution can have a huge impact on the Kingdom.

WE NEED PEOPLE. We are looking for people who will serve with us. This could be on an Eden team, as a volunteer within the organisation, as a staff member, or in any way that you can add value to the work.

CONTACT TIM TUCKER FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED T: +27 (0)82 712 8235 E: info@message.org.za

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‘For the last 20 years, The Message has been working in the UK with a special focus on the least, the last and the lost.

Now I am excited to be launching our first international hub – in South Africa.’

Andy Hawthorne OBE - Founder & CEO The Message

LAUNCH EVENTS

EVENT ONE:

EXPLORING EDEN TUESDAY 25TH FEB.

Jubilee Community Church 7pm, 21 Nelson Road Observatory, Cape Town

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: www.message.org.za OR CALL: 021 4473630

EVENT TWO: Launch Outreach

Sunday 2nd March.

FEAT: Andy HAWTHORNE

preaching at: Jubilee Community Church 7pm, 21 Nelson Road Observatory, Cape Town

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