South Africa Flow Magazine – Issue 2

THE MAGAZINE OF THE

MESS AGE | I

SSUE 02 SA EDITION

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Look back on 2014 EDEN SALT RIVER FIVE BIG GOALS

NDERS E F F O EX TE FOR S A T A GET PRISDEE R E T N E ORE INSI READ M

About the Cover Once a prisoner himself, Vuyo is now a prison evangelist with The Message. He tells his own story on page 10.

Editor:

Mark Slessenger

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Alistair Metcalfe

Senior Art Director & Graphic Design:

Dan Hasler – Message:Creative PICTURE EDITOR:

Hannah Prittie

Graphic Design:

Hannah Prittie | Matt Varah Wilson Subscription, Giving & Supporter Enquiries: T: +27 (0)82 712 8235 E: info@message.org.za Contributing Photographers COVER STORY:

Mark Slessenger INTERNALS:

Hannah Prittie

ADDRESS:

The Message Trust SA, Building 23, Unit 5, Waverley Business Park, Kotzee Road, Observatory, 7925, Cape Town Phone +27 (0) 87 121 0348 www.message.org.za

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Welcome from Stephen Van Rhyn

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4-5

Review of 2014

PAGE Bank:

Standard Bank NPO Account Name:

The Message Trust

6-7

‘It has been wonderful to see God open so many doors for Message South Africa’ Dear friend, It hardly seems like a day goes by in South Africa when we aren’t bombarded with really bad news. From increasing unemployment to economic inequality to rising crime, it is hard not to despair and become overwhelmed. Is there any good news out there? I’m really glad to report that there really is! What has happened in the last 12 months in and through in Message SA is nothing short of amazing! Lives are being changed one person at a time and the way God has accelerated the work in South Africa has exceeded all our expectations.

It’s hard to imagine that when Message SA

8-9

prisons ministry and reintegration strategy tackling the real issues of crime, recidivism and

PAGE

14-15

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16-17

Swift Code:

tiM's book I launched my new book The Pace Setter while I was over in the UK. It’s a book all about multiplying leaders – something that it’s crucial we get right as we grow rapidly.

currently being training by Message Academy in the UK before they join us back in Cape Town on mission in July later this year.

It has been wonderful to see God open so many doors for Message South Africa in 2014. As it says in Ephesians 3:20, ‘God has done more than we could

2014 MAR

ask or imagine’, and that always seems to happen, when we press into God’s will and follow his calling for our lives.

into the lives of young people who find themselves in the darkest places spiritually, emotionally and economically.

3

I am looking forward to all that God will do in

the hardest-to-reach places in Cape Town. It has

2015 as we continue to step out in faith as we look to

been a joy to launch our first Eden team in Salt River and we already have more Eden partnerships with local churches in the pipeline.

reach many more young people across Cape Town.

There is so much more to come and we need more people to stand with us in prayer and giving in 2015.

Additionally we have launched an effective

unemployment in Cape Town. Our first Message Enterprise was launched successfully, employing two ex-offenders, and it has been great to have them join our team. In 2014 we also recruited our first Message SA creative mission band who are

Thanks for all your support,

APR

Our work in prisons continues with some really great stories of transformation emerging from within prisons and on our ex-offender camps, which we are growing to accommodate more young people. Right now we also have 26 youth offenders going through our JobReadiness programme in Drakenstein prison, the forerunner to our upcoming Message Entrepreneurial Programme which we will launch next year.

03

enterprise We appointed Jessica Longe to head up our Christ Centered Enterprise stream. The need to develop a robust plan to employ ex-offenders required someone passionate and dedicated to this task. Jessica started to look at a plan to provide income-generating enterprises for the young people who will come through our prison job readiness and entrepreneurship programmes.

JUN

JUL

AUG

recruiting our first creative teaM Thanks to a rigorous auditioning process, we selected four seriously talented young people to join our first creative team to work in sharing the good news of Jesus to young people through music, rap and dance. All four will be joining with the Message Academy in the UK for six months of intensive training starting in January. We are very excited about the potential of this new team.

4-5

Tim Tucker is National Director of Message South Africa and author of The Pace Setter (Message Books) available from xxx

Stephen Van Rhyn Chairman of Trustees

www.message.org.za

MAY

working with ex-offenders

None of this would have been possible without the faithful support and prayers of so many people who have helped us over the past year. It’s thanks to people like you that we are able to shine God’s light

A look at our Christ Centered Enterprise

10-13

Though we’d been working behind the scenes since late last year, we officially launched Message South Africa on February 27, 2014 at Jubilee, one of our fantastic partner churches. We received our final legal registration, as a public benefit organisation (official SA charity status) in October 2014.

A messAGe from our ChAir of TrusTees

Our 'Big Five Goals' for 2015

PAGE

Making it official

Good news for South AfrIcA

launched last year in March we had only three staff members. Currently we have a staff of twenty-one people dedicated to sharing the gospel in some of

Account Number: 071348794 Branch: PAGE MOWBRAY Cover story: Branch Code: Meet Vuyo 024909

SBZAZAJJ

first eleven months! review 2014 the

0 4 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

At our January prayer day, I shared from John chapter 1, verses 4 and 5: ‘In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’

Last year, 2014, was certainly a year where God did more than we asked or imagined… and as we look to the year ahead, we want to ensure that we continue to work towards providing an environment for Urban Heroes to emerge and flourish. Therefore, our vision for 2015 is based on life and light – that as we draw strength from Jesus who came to bring abundant life, we will be able to let our light shine in the darkness.

So this is our vision… ‘Life and Light in 2015’. Cape Town is an amazingly beautiful city, but one that is wracked with issues of inequality, poverty, gangsterism and crime. We believe that God has called us to bring his life and light into this difficult environment, and to tackle these challenges head-on through prison ministry, community transformation, creative mission and Christ-centred enterprise.

These are early days for The Message South Africa but we are trusting God to heal the divisions, inequality and brokenness in Cape Town and to bring restoration and hope. And we’re delighted to be joining hands with many other churches and organisations that share this dream.

I’m pleased to be able to share with you our five faith goals for 2015 that will help us fulfil the vision to bring life and light into the darkness:

0 6 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

One PiloT fiRsT MEssagE EnTREPREnEuRshiP PRogRaMME (MEP) wiTh 27 offEndERs Building on the implementation of our Job Readiness course in 2014, the MEP programme will raise up a brotherhood of world changers through entrepreneurship. This six month intensive programme will connect the world of business with prisoners, and see lives that were trapped in darkness and destruction be transformed into a life of hope and purpose.

6-7

Moving into Salt River and partnership with Jubilee

We believe that God has made humans to enjoy fulfilling work and in this way to contribute to a flourishing society. Our new social enterprises will offer a second chance to dozens of young adults who would be otherwise unemployable.

The national unemployment rate in South Africa is reaching new record levels and currently stands at over 25%. In the most impoverished urban areas and townships, this figure is far higher. For those

Introducing Eden Salt River Email: info@message.org.za

Stef and I have found it really interesting moving into Salt River thus far. Salt River is incredibly diverse in culture, religious beliefs and socio-economical standing so it’s been an interesting process getting a feel for the community and trying to find our place in it. On the whole we’ve enjoyed most our time here so far, and we’ve settled in pretty well.

Jubilee Church has been amazing throughout us being a part of Eden. They have not only been supportive in all that we’ve set out to do in Salt River, but they have made us feel as though we are right at home. We really look forward to growing and deepening this relationship.

with a criminal record it is almost impossible to find work. Ex-offenders often have to lie about their criminal records so they can have a chance of getting employed. In order to fulfil our vision of investing in transformational disciples in the hardest to reach communities of Cape Town, it is essential that we provide holistic interventions to the barriers that South African young people face that can prevent them reaching their God-given potential. Through our Eden and Prison programmes, we will be identifying young people with tremendous potential but who lack opportunity.

Reference:

Interview with Matt Redman

PAGE THE MESSAGE TRUST SA REGISTRATION TRUST NUMBER: IT4/2014 NON-PROFIT REGISTRATION NUMBER: 133-638-NPO PBO NUMBER: 930046622 SECTION 18A STATUS

www.message.org.za

8-9 10-13 Once a prisoner himself, Vuyo is now a prison evangelist with The Message. He tells his own story overleaf...

0 8 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

1 0 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

18-19 MaTT

Teaching from Andy Hawthorne

TEACHING ThE INTERNaTIoNally RENoWNEd soNgWRITER aNd loNg-TIME fRIENd of ThE MEssagE sToppEd IN To lEad WoRshIp aT ThE MEssagE uk’s pRayER day lasT ocTobER. hERE aRE a fEW TasTy sNIppETs fRoM aN INTERVIEW hE gaVE us

REdMaN WhaT hE ThINks of WhEN hE ThINks of ThE MEssagE…

It reminds me of moves of God in the past – the likes of Wilberforce or Booth, people who shaped culture in a holistic way by moving in words, works and wonders. But it also gives me a lot of hope for the future. Sometimes it can appear that the story of the church is just decline and scandal, but actually this is the real story: there’s stuff like this going on all time, all over the world.

oN ThE lINk bETWEEN WoRshIp aNd MIssIoN… Worship is the goal of missions but it’s also the fuel of missions. You can’t separate them. What I love most is when you can’t tell what’s what. I remember being here in Manchester on Message 2000 as one of all the thousands taking part. I got to visit one estate which had been overrun with young people serving, renovating it and rejuvenating it. What really struck me was that as they did it, they were singing songs of worship – the very same songs we’d been singing a few hours before in the meeting. They were doing the stuff out of the overflow of their heart.

oN soNgWRITINg…

The biggest thing for me is never forgetting how powerful a tool a song is. When it’s congregational and relevant, and biblical and poetic, something can go really right. Lots of people have written to me to say how much certain songs have meant to them – people who want to hear this one song as they go to be with the Lord, say. One couple who aren’t even Christians wrote to me to say the song saved their marriage! I get to hear so many stories that could only have been God – you know for sure you didn’t do that!

oN hoW To spoT a ‘hIT’ soNg… I have no idea! That’s where team comes in actually.

I’ve missed quite a few songs that other people have seen potential in. Funnily enough, I wouldn’t have put 10,000 Reasons on an album! I was writing with my friend Jonas Myrin in a little chapel in Sussex and he kept going on about this melody he had. For that album we had more songs than we needed, and I kept putting him off saying, ‘Mate, we’ve got so many songs on the go already – now’s not the time!’ He’s not usually a very pushy person so after the third or fourth time, I thought I should probably hear it. As soon as he played the melody I said, ‘I know what that is – that’s Bless the Lord, O my soul!”, and the song came very quickly after that. In fact verse two came out pretty much spontaneously. It was really a great moment. I’m not sure any song I’ve had a hand in has had as much momentum as that one: the stories we’ve heard about where this song has been sung – Chinese underground churches, the back streets of Mumbai, India…’

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you can read the whole INTERVIEW at message.org.uk

1 8 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

14-15 INTRODUCING

EDEN SALT RIVER Meet leaders Grant and Stef and the rest of the first Eden team in South Africa.

1 4 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

Good news for South Africa A message from our Chair of Trustees

‘It has been wonderful to see God open so many doors for Message South Africa’ Dear friend, It hardly seems like a day goes by in South Africa when we aren’t bombarded with really bad news. From increasing unemployment to economic inequality to rising crime, it is hard not to despair and become overwhelmed. Is there any good news out there? I’m really glad to report that there really is! What has happened in the last 12 months in and through in Message SA is nothing short of amazing! Lives are being changed one person at a time and the way God has accelerated the work in South Africa has exceeded all our expectations.

It’s hard to imagine that when Message SA launched last year in March we had only three staff members. Currently we have a staff of twenty-one people dedicated to sharing the gospel in some of the hardest-to-reach places in Cape Town. It has been a joy to launch our first Eden team in Salt River and we already have more Eden partnerships with local churches in the pipeline.

Additionally we have launched an effective prisons ministry and reintegration strategy tackling the real issues of crime, recidivism and unemployment in Cape Town. Our first Message Enterprise was launched successfully, employing two ex-offenders, and it has been great to have them join our team. In 2014 we also recruited our first Message SA creative mission band who are

currently being training by Message Academy in the UK before they join us back in Cape Town on mission in July later this year.

It has been wonderful to see God open so many doors for Message South Africa in 2014. God really has done 'more than we could ask or imagine’ (Ephesians 3:20), and that always seems to happen when we press into God’s will and follow his calling for our lives.

None of this would have been possible without the faithful support and prayers of so many people who have helped us over the past year. It’s thanks to people like you that we are able to shine God’s light into the lives of young people who find themselves in the darkest places spiritually, emotionally and economically.

I am looking forward to all that God will do in 2015 as we continue to step out in faith to reach many more young people across Cape Town. There is so much more to come and we need more people to stand with us in prayer and giving in 2015.

Thanks for all your support,

Stephen Van Rhyn Chairman of Trustees

www.message.org.za

03

review 2014

the first eleven months!

Making it official Though we’d been working behind the scenes since late 2013, we officially launched Message South Africa on February 27, 2014 at Jubilee, one of our fantastic partner churches. We received our final legal registration, as a public benefit organisation (official SA charity status) in October 2014.

Tim's book I launched my new book The Pace Setter while I was over in the UK. It’s a book all about multiplying leaders – something that it’s crucial we get right as we grow rapidly.

2014 MAR

APr

MAY

Working with ex-offenders Our work in prisons continues with some really great stories of transformation emerging from within prisons and on our ex-offender camps, which we are growing to accommodate more young people. We began our Job Readiness programme in Drakenstein prison.

We also held our first of four camps for ex- offenders which provide Biblestudy, fellowship, and an opportunity to g ive - b a c k to underprivileged children.

This complements our ongoing support and mentoring of ex-offenders.

0 4 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

Enterprise We appointed Jessica Longe to head up our Christ Centered Enterprise stream. The need to develop a robust plan to employ ex-offenders required someone passionate and dedicated to this task. Jessica started to look at a plan to provide income-generating enterprises for the young people who will come through our prison Job Readiness and entrepreneurship programmes.

JUN

JUL

Recruiting our first creative team Thanks to a rigorous auditioning process, we selected four seriously talented young people to join our first creative team to work in sharing the good news of Jesus to young people through music, rap and dance.

All four have joined the Message Academy in the UK for six months of intensive training and started in January 2015. We are very excited about the potential of this new team.

AUG

REVIEW 2014 Message South Africa is firing on all cylinders, writes Tim Tucker. It’s amazing to think that in the eight months since we launched Message South Africa, God has done so much. Here are just a few highlights to get you up to speed!

Ice-cream!

We appointed our first two Message Apprentices, Jade and Siphe, in our first enterprise – a soft serve ice-cream company for corporate events and weddings. This was a business we inherited and which will provide income and an opportunity to further disciple and support both Jade and Siphe. Here they are with their ice-cream caravan!

Proximity It was a privilege to host the first Proximity conference outside of Manchester where we gathered 120 delegates hungry for God to move in power to transform their communities.

Andy Hawthorne and Sam Ward joined us to give valuable teaching and training input.

SEP

OCT

NOV

drakenstein prison We saw 22 young men graduate from our first Job Readiness programme in Drakenstein youth prison. Read more about this on page 13.

DEC

Eden launches

Meet the family!

As we’ve shared the vision among churches, there has been a tremendous rise in faith for Eden. Fourteen people have been accepted to form the first Eden team in South Africa, Eden Salt River. Grant Porthen is a perfect fit to lead that team – a man who grew up on the Cape Flats and whose life was totally freed from the grip of drugs and crime by the power of Jesus. We have a vision for many new Edens across Cape Town and are already recruiting for our second team in a neighbourhood called Pelican Park.

At our launch event back in February, Message South Africa employed three staff. At the time of writing we now have a team of 21 people! Here’s our first all-staff photo. Check out our South Africa website to read some of these guys’ amazing stories and to keep up to date with the news from Cape Town: message.org.za.

2015 Jan

gangstar advisory We launched our first Gangstar advisory meeting and discussed our two new enterprises for 2015. Our advisory group consists of businessmen and women working in both nonprofit and for-profit sectors. The group offers their time and expertise to help develop our enterprises to employ ex-offenders. www.message.org.za

05

At our January prayer day, I shared from John chapter 1, verses 4 and 5: ‘In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’

Last year, 2014, was certainly a year where God did more than we asked or imagined… and as we look to the year ahead, we want to ensure that we continue to work towards providing an environment for Urban Heroes to emerge and flourish. Therefore, our vision for 2015 is based on life and light – that as we draw strength from Jesus who came to bring abundant life, we will be able to let our light shine in the darkness.

So this is our vision… ‘Life and Light in 2015’. Cape Town is an amazingly beautiful city, but one that is wracked with issues of inequality, poverty, gangsterism and crime. We believe that God has called us to bring his life and light into this difficult environment, and to tackle these challenges head-on through prison ministry, community transformation, creative mission and Christ-centred enterprise.

These are early days for The Message South Africa but we are trusting God to heal the divisions, inequality and brokenness in Cape Town and to bring restoration and hope. And we’re delighted to be joining hands with many other churches and organisations that share this dream.

I’m pleased to be able to share with you our five faith goals for 2015 that will help us fulfil the vision to bring life and light into the darkness:

0 6 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

One Pilot first Message Entrepreneurship Programme (MEP) with 27 Offenders Building on the implementation of our Job Readiness course in 2014, the MEP programme will raise up a brotherhood of world changers through entrepreneurship. This six month intensive programme will connect the world of business with prisoners, and see lives that were trapped in darkness and destruction be transformed into a life of hope and purpose.

four

Launch our first Message Creative Band

Two

Launch Gangstar Agency and Gangstar Gear

To raise up generations of Urban Heroes we need to keep mission hot! Four talented and passionate young South Africans are currently in Manchester, UK at our Message Academy. They will return in July as our first mission team, to use their creative gifts to serve churches and communities across the city and impact thousands of young people.

In 2014 we launched Gangstar Enterprises.

In 2015 we need to increase our capacity to employ ex-offenders and former gangsters.

Our goal through Gangstar Agency and Gangstar Gear is to provide employment opportunities for up to 25 ex-offenders.

five

Secure the purchase of our Message Enterprise & Leadership Building

God has promised to give us space to flourish. In order to fulfil all our other goals, we are trusting for the right facility, in the right location, at the right price – provided in God’s perfect time!

Three

INITIATE two new Eden Teams in Pelican Park and Nyanga Eden is at the cutting edge of community transformation. In relationship with two amazing churches, we will recruit and mobilise two new Eden Teams. In Pelican Park, we will place a team in the heart of the New Horizons development.

And we will bring a new team to Nyanga in faith that the area currently known as the ‘murder capital’ of South Africa can become the ‘salvation capital’ of South Africa.

DONATE to fulfil these goals WE NEED TO raise significant funds to make them happen.

Please stand with us today by giving at

bit.ly/donatetomessageza Or check the Contents page for Bank details. Thank you for your support.

www.message.org.za

07

We believe that God has made humans to enjoy fulfilling work and in this way to contribute to a flourishing society. Our new social enterprises will offer a second chance to dozens of young adults who would be otherwise unemployable.

The national unemployment rate in South Africa is reaching new record levels and currently stands at over 25%. In the most impoverished urban areas and townships, this figure is far higher. For those

0 8 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

with a criminal record it is almost impossible to find work. Ex-offenders often have to lie about their criminal records so they can have a chance of getting employed. In order to fulfil our vision of investing in transformational disciples in the hardest to reach communities of Cape Town, it is essential that we provide holistic interventions to the barriers that South African young people face that can prevent them reaching their God-given potential. Through our Eden and Prison programmes, we will be identifying young people with tremendous potential but who lack opportunity.

Our Gangstars’ journey Jade and Siphe, tell us about what was it like coming out of prison…

In October 2014, Gangstar Enterprises took over the operations of The Soft Machine, our first business.

You will see us serving gourmet soft serve to guests at birthdays, weddings and corporate events. Our soft serve has been ‘redeemed’ – no artificial flavorings, colourants or powders, made from the freshest ingredients and served from a redeemed 80’s caravan! This functioning Food Truck business has provided a six-month full-time internship opportunity to our first two Gangstars, Jade and Siphe (read more on the right).

To book The Soft Machine for an event: Email: blahblah@thesoftmachine.co.za Web: www.thesoftmachine.co.za

‘So much had changed over the years we had spent in prison. Jade had spent 8 years in prison before being released on parole in June 2014. Siphe had spent 6 years in prison before being released on parole in 2009. We both struggled to find jobs because we had a criminal record and no work experience. Siphe struggled to find employment despite having completed training at the Raymond Ackerman Academy.

‘We both had built good relationships with Mark and Adam over the years. They told us about an apprenticeship opportunity at The Message Trust in The Soft Machine business. We had no idea what we were about to get ourselves into! After a series of interviews we were awarded a six-month apprenticeship and started our journey serving gourmet soft serve. Our very first event was on the film set for Homeland, where we served the crew during their lunch break. We even got to introduce the Milktart flavour to the actor who played Quinn!’

And what about your experience working with The Message?

Running a small business has been challenging, but it has provided us with the opportunity to understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur and small business owner, to serve clients, and tackle challenges together as a team. The personal support through life skills with Adam once a week has given us the opportunity to think through life and the development of our personal characters.

The daily prayer time at The Message has been a huge encouragement to our faith in Jesus Christ and deepening our relationship with him. We have witnessed how he answers our prayers.

What’s next for you both?

Siphe: I aspire to own my own enterprise one day using the skills that I have learned during this apprenticeship.

Jade: I am beginning to feel more settled – just seven months out of prison and looking forward to developing my skills further.

PICTURED LEFT TO RIGHT: (Mentor) Vuyo, Jade and Siphe.

www.message.org.za

09

Once a prisoner himself, Vuyo is now a prison evangelist with The Message. He tells his own story overleaf...

1 0 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

LEAD FEATURE

www.message.org.za

1 1

LEAD FEATURE y name is Vuyo. I was born in Cape Town in Guguletu Township. In my teenage years I got involved heavily in gangsterism – we would often steal cars for entertainment. A five year sentence for car theft didn’t stop me from committing more crime – I then got involved in armed robberies. It was at this stage that I dropped out of school because I had everything that a township young man would desire money, fame and power. I bought cars and lived in a luxury house in Table View.

I was then arrested for a cash-transit heist, and taken to Pollsmoor prison. I joined the ‘26’ gang (one of the prison gangs). Life for me became so hard at this stage – friends deserted me, the house was repossessed, my father got ill and passed away. I ran out of money to pay a lawyer and my case was handed to a state lawyer. Things changed from bad to worse and it was the darkest hour of my life. But when I accepted Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of my life, suddenly peace came into my heart.

I was blessed to have a mentor who believed and encouraged me through thick and thin. One of my cases was brought up again and I was arrested and sent to Pollsmoor again, but this time as a bornagain Christian. I was very moved to see my pastor coming to visit me in prison that helped me to realise the significance of the decision I made.

I felt so honoured having a visit from a pastor, and I could see the pain drawn all over his face.

He showed empathy and gave me encouragement to stay true to God, stressing that God would never leave me nor forsake me. It was then that I started to preach in prison and many souls were drawn to the Lord. I went out on bail and furthered my education and began studying theology.

When I met the guys from The Message I heard and saw their heart for those in prison, and that they had the same passion as me for young people.

God has placed a burden upon my heart to go back to the prisons and share God’s love with those who find themselves where I once was.

1 2 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

It was wonderful when The Message approached me to join the prisons team. I have the heart of the evangelist to preach good news to many in prison. Last year I was involved with their Job Readinessa programme and this gave me the opportunity to speak regularly with many prisoners and to support them when they were released. I am looking forward to being used by God to share his good news in Drakenstein and other prisons with The Message in 2015.

Preparing for release

Our breakthrough Job Readiness Programme After leaving prison, many young men have no plan or vision for their lives. Youth employment in South Africa is over 40% in many poor communities so ex-offenders have little hope of finding work or being able to reintegrate successfully back into their communities. It is an enormous challenge.

That’s the reason behind our new job readiness initiative, which saw its first 22 young men from Drakenstein Youth Prison graduating in December.

The young men went through an intensive 36hour course, which prepared and trained them for employment opportunities once released from prison.

As part of this every young man was trained how to pitch vision statements and develop practical goals to help them achieve them. Many of the inmates’ vision statements were inspiring…

‘I want to be a great father to my children and a good husband, I also want to train to become a chef’ (Inmate from Maccassar) ‘I would like to become an entrepreneur and run my own businesses within my community and create employment for more than 2,000 youth’ (Inmate from Nyanga East) ‘I want to help the youth in discovering their talents and abilities through developing a youth community development initiative’ (Inmate from Ebenezer) The Message will continue to monitor the young men from the course, with many due for release early 2015. And because of the success of this first course The Message will be running more job readiness courses in 2015 in partnership with Learn to Earn and the Department of Correctional Services.

To learn more about supporting our prison work and future job readiness courses, please email: info@message.org.za

www.message.org.za

1 3

Moving into Salt River and partnership with Jubilee Stef and I have found it really interesting moving into Salt River thus far. Salt River is incredibly diverse in culture, religious beliefs and socio-economical standing so it’s been an interesting process getting a feel for the community and trying to find our place in it. On the whole we’ve enjoyed most our time here so far, and we’ve settled in pretty well.

Jubilee Church has been amazing throughout us being a part of Eden. They have not only been supportive in all that we’ve set out to do in Salt River, but they have made us feel as though we are right at home. We really look forward to growing and deepening this relationship.

INTRODUCING

EDEN SALT RIVER Meet leaders Grant and Stef and the rest of the first Eden team in South Africa

1 4 flow Issue 02 SPRING 2015

FEATURE

Grant's Story I grew up in a single parent home (with my mum) in a place called Athlone, on the Cape Flats. The area is known for its gangs, and from the age of 13 I got caught up in this lifestyle. I lived a life in total rebellion towards God and this was expressed through a life of crime. This decision radically altered the course of my life – my mum threw me out at the age of 16 because she feared for her life; later on at the age of 21 I found myself facing a hefty sentence for armed robbery, of which I was later acquitted. But even after being given a second chance, I still chose to use my freedom negatively – I sold drugs, and later on starting using drugs, which caused me to hit rock-bottom.

I was left homeless with nowhere to go but God. I went back home to my mum and asked her for a place to stay. She graciously gave me a place to sleep in her run-down car outside. It’s in that place, in my complete hopelessness, that I found my hope in Jesus. I remembered the gospel which I heard as a young boy who was dragged to Sunday school: that if I turned to Jesus I could be saved and enjoy an everlasting life with him. I cried out to the Lord and his mercy heard my cry!

Highs & Lows

Highlights

• Being loved and supported by Jubilee and The Message • Being able to move into Salt River • Being a part of such an incredible team • Meeting and spending time with Eden UK Director Sam Ward (what a legend!)

• Building meaningful relationships with our neighbours

Challenges • Getting accommodation in Salt River for the Eden team has been a challenge.

If our team is not in the community then essentially there is no Eden!

• Navigating how to help those in need in the community • Crime in the community

Who else is on the team?

‘The reason why I am doing Eden is because many urban communities are unwelcoming to ex-offenders. I look forward to being a mentor to ex-offenders and having a team of people that are welcoming, and who don’t hold people’s pasts against them but rather invest into the new and good plan that Christ has for them.’

Adam Bull, Full-time volunteer for Message SA ‘Since I became a Christian I wanted to serve God this way. I didn’t know how. Eden made it possible.’

Thinus Kriel, IT storage consultant

Warren Lodge, Brand consultant Dianne Lodge, Medical doctor Grant Gunston, Attorney and mediator Gail Gunston, Artist/interior designer Eppy, Graphic designer Leah Ramazani, prayer Coordinator for Message SA Sara Cheese, Volunteer administrator / studying clinical counselling Kennedy, IT technician Lesley Kriel, ICT coordinator at a publishing company ‘The reason I have decided to be part of Eden Salt River is because after being involved with kids’ ministry here my heart burned to walk deeper with the kids. Eden was the perfect opportunity to do so.’

Rudo Chitapi, Researcher www.message.org.za

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MATT REDMAN

the internationally renowned songwriter and long-time friend of the message stopped in to lead worship at the message uk’s prayer day last october. here are a few tasty snippets from an interview he gave us

What he thinks of when he thinks of The Message…

It reminds me of moves of God in the past – the likes of Wilberforce or Booth, people who shaped culture in a holistic way by moving in words, works and wonders. But it also gives me a lot of hope for the future. Sometimes it can appear that the story of the church is just decline and scandal, but actually this is the real story: there’s stuff like this going on all time, all over the world.

On the link between worship and mission…

Worship is the goal of missions but it’s also the fuel of missions. You can’t separate them. What I love most is when you can’t tell what’s what. I remember being here in Manchester on Message 2000 as one of all the thousands taking part. I got to visit one estate which had been overrun with young people serving, renovating it and rejuvenating it. What really struck me was that as they did it, they were singing songs of worship – the very same songs we’d been singing a few hours before in the meeting. They were doing the stuff out of the overflow of their heart.

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On songwriting…

The biggest thing for me is never forgetting how powerful a tool a song is. When it’s congregational and relevant, and biblical and poetic, something can go really right. Lots of people have written to me to say how much certain songs have meant to them – people who want to hear this one song as they go to be with the Lord, say. One couple who aren’t even Christians wrote to me to say the song saved their marriage! I get to hear so many stories that could only have been God – you know for sure you didn’t do that!

On how to spot a ‘hit’ song…

I have no idea! That’s where team comes in actually.

I’ve missed quite a few songs that other people have seen potential in. Funnily enough, I wouldn’t have put 10,000 Reasons on an album! I was writing with my friend Jonas Myrin in a little chapel in Sussex and he kept going on about this melody he had. For that album we had more songs than we needed, and I kept putting him off saying, ‘Mate, we’ve got so many songs on the go already – now’s not the time!’ He’s not usually a very pushy person so after the third or fourth time, I thought I should probably hear it. As soon as he played the melody I said, ‘I know what that is – that’s Bless the Lord, O my soul!”, and the song came very quickly after that. In fact verse two came out pretty much spontaneously. It was really a great moment. I’m not sure any song I’ve had a hand in has had as much momentum as that one: the stories we’ve heard about where this song has been sung – Chinese underground churches, the back streets of Mumbai, India…’

you can read the whole INTERVIEW at message.org.uk

INTERVIEW

BEHIND THE SONGS 27 Million

single (sixsteprecords / Sparrow Records)

‘We wrote 27 Million here at The Message, after one Prayer Day. Generally songwriting for me is a longer process but with 27 Million, it’s amazing how quickly we wrote it. Beth told us the story of a real girl who had been caught up in trafficking and it all came together immediately. We played it to Andy and Michele Hawthorne that same night. It was like we tapped into the heart of God. The first time we led it in the UK was at Hillsong London and there was a lady there who had never been to the church before – she’d been brought along by a friend. We met her after the service and she told us, “I don’t know how you did it, but you told my story through those lyrics.”’

10,000 Reasons

from the album 10,000 Reasons (sixsteprecords / Sparrow Records)

‘I was writing with my friend Jonas Myrin in a little chapel in Sussex and he kept going on about this melody he had. I kept putting him off saying, “Mate, we’ve got so many songs on the go already – now’s not the time!” He’s not usually a very pushy person so after the third or fourth time, I thought I should probably hear it. As soon as he played the melody I said, “I know what that it – that’s Bless the Lord, O my soul!”, and the song came very quickly after that. In fact verse two came out pretty much spontaneously. It was really a great moment. I’m not sure any song I’ve had a hand in has had as much momentum as that one: the stories we’ve heard about where this song has been sung – Chinese underground churches, the back streets of Mumbai, India.

Mercy

from the album Your Grace Finds Me (sixsteprecords / Sparrow Records)

‘This was another song Jonas and I wrote together. It was written on the craziest day: my son had had a rugby accident and we thought he’d broken his leg; I’d ripped the door off my car in a bizarre parking incident; and I had tendonitis in both hands so I couldn’t even play guitar. It’s just another attempt to sing in a fresh way about the cross. That’s one of the key calls to worship leaders – to keep the cross central. This song is pretty special because it contains a time signature change on the tag section at the end: “May I never lose the wonder, O the wonder of Your mercy; may I sing your hallelujah, hallelujah, amen.” The first time we tried it out I remember feeling a lift when we got to that section and I’ve felt the same lift every time I’ve led with it since.’

www.message.org.za

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TEACHING

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BY andy hawthorne n the closing weeks of last year, John Bunjo, a prophet and apostle from Uganda came to speak to us here at The Message. We know John and we trust him so when, among a number of other accurate words for us as a movement, he declared that 2014 was to be ‘the year of open doors’, we received it with faith.

Then back in May, John returned to the UK and spoke to us again. He told us that after a period of fasting, prayer and seeking the Lord, he’d had another clear word from God for us: to get ready, because the Lord was about to take things to another level.

In particular he pointed at me, instructing me to get away and seek the Lord.

I wasn’t about to ignore that word so I managed to find some time for a short retreat.

On the way to a place in the Lake District I listened to a CD by Paul Hallam, leader of the Lighthouse Church here in Manchester.

Called ‘Keeping Your Vision Hot’, Paul speaks about Isaiah 60 and specifically the revival that God is bringing to his church inspired by verse 1: ’Arise, shine for your light has come.’

By the time I got to the Lakes, I was really fired up and expectant for how God was going to speak.

As I met with the Lord over the next few hours, one of the things that kept coming to mind was a conversation I’d had with Lindz West of LZ7 and Light, who were recently back from a mind-blowing schools mission in New Zealand. They’d blitzed schools, building up to a big arena gig and seen phenomenal responses to the gospel off the back of it. We were wondering if we could see something similar here in the UK. My mind was buzzing. When I got back to my room, I knelt by my bedside and picked up my Bible. Although I had been reading through Romans, it fell open at a completely different place – on Isaiah 60! It felt like the Lord was saying, ‘Read this now, Andy.’

As I read through this chapter, it felt like the last twenty years of The Message unfolded before me.

Pretty much everything we’ve been dreaming of is crammed into this one chapter of the beautiful book of Isaiah. It took me right back to the one of the very first promises God gave us: ‘Commit your way to their Lord; Trust in him and he will do this: he will make

your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun’ (Psalm 37:5-6).

Key words and phrases leapt out at me: ‘nations will come to your light… all assemble and come to you… you sons will come from afar…’ and most of all, ‘Arise, shine for your light has come.’

We’ve been doing a lot of ministry over the last few years that’s focused on the ones and twos – pouring our lives into the hardest to reach in prisons and tough communities. That’s so right, that’s God’s heart. Jesus did that. But Jesus also drew crowds to his teaching about the Kingdom. There’s something down the generations of the church when large numbers of people gather, where the presence of God is heavy and incredible things happen.

Only three times in 25 years has the Lord spoken so powerfully to me – right at the beginning when he spoke through Isaiah 43; in a car park with a word from Psalm 37; and this year, in a hotel room, from Isaiah 60. I felt God stirring new faith in me for proclaiming the gospel to the masses – and that we’ve got to start believing for something bigger.

By the time I was finished in the Lakes, I knew God had given us a green light to begin to gather large numbers again. Not to look at academy-size venues, but arenas.

Not just focusing on individual schools but to work regionally to reach 50 schools at a time and then put on events where we see thousands respond. Chatting later with Lindz, we started asking what a culturechanging number of new disciples would be? How big would this thing need to be to shift something in our culture?

On the way back to Manchester, I felt stirred to listen again to John Bunjo’s prophetic word, that had started all this off in the first place. I very nearly crashed my car.

Because buried in the middle of John’s prophecy to us – and I had completely missed this before – were those exact words from Isaiah 60, verse 1: ‘Arise, shine, for your light has come.’

I have never been more sure that the time we’re going to see the revival promises over this movement coming to pass is now. If we can be faithful, if we play our part in this great adventure, he will do it!

www.message.org.za

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