Xoliswe is a beautiful mom to be. Jane Hampton and I recently visited her at her home (above). She is married to Mlu and they have 2 children. Xoliswe attends Oasis church and last year attended Farming Gods Way at Seed of Hope. She wants to be a businesswoman and farming her land is one of her dreams. She also dreams of having a baking business. My relationship with Xoliswe has deepened both through our involvement at church, and through Seed of Hope. We’ve talked about gardening, starting businesses, and employment. We’ve also talked about living to please God, being a good mom, and facing challenges. It has made me realize that there are no clear dividing lines between life, ministry, secular, or sacred in the kingdom of God. Life is all about His Kingdom coming in every aspect of Xoliswe’s life and mine. I have learned so much from her as she lives out her faith even when others oppose her.
This assertion that there are no dividing lines has become even more of a reality for us as we serve and live in South Africa. We “work” during the week at Seed of Hope and attend Oasis church on the weekends; however, we live out our kingdom calling every day of the week. More and more we are seeing God bringing our connections with Seed of Hope, Oasis church, and other kingdom minded churches and organizations together.
In the business world, Seed of Hope, Oasis Church, the Amanzimtoti Pregnancy Resource Centre are all very separate entities. They each have their own governing policies and procedures. But in light of God’s mission, all these organizations form part of God’s strategy to build his kingdom here on earth. They are all part of the church of Christ reflecting his glory to the nations.
It does then become difficult to write a job description for what we “do.” How do we count the hours that we work? I many ways we take the words from Isaiah to heart:
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
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and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
If we are comforting the brokenhearted, freeing the captives, and helping the blind to see, are we accomplishing our “job description?” We believe that we are.
God has been laying on our heart that he calls us to Integral Mission… a mission to the whole person, and a whole community. For that to happen all the parties involved in Kingdom work must work together. God in his grace has been orchestrating this naturally for us. Through relationships at Seed of Hope we are seeing people seek to come to Oasis Church. Now we find both Seed of Hope and Oasis investing in some of the same people. It is such a rich experience to work together. Through ministry connections in Durban, more people from other churches are getting involved in what Seed of Hope is doing. At a recent Seed of Hope work day we had a number of churches represented, and the local Amanzimtoti churches continue to be so supportive of other initiatives.
Grace Family church in Umhlanga has offered special training opportunities for Seed of Hope staff; they have paid registration fees. What an incredible gift to our staff! We rely heavily on working with the Pregnancy Resource Centre to care specifically for women with crisis pregnancies. We need the abstinence and sexual education high school outreach done by the PRC to invest in youth that we come in contact with. Monthly a network of organizations (Soul Action) get together to talk about how God is moving all over Durban and how we can respond together.
God is doing an incredible work in this part of the world. He is bringing his church together like a puzzle of many different elements, organizations, churches, NGO’s. There are no dividing lines… just one common mission.
Xoliswe wants a bright future for her children. She wants to know how to grow in her faith, but she also wants to know how to get financially more secure. She desires to have her community be a safe place for her daughter, free of rape and gang violence. She hopes for a good education and schools. She needs help discovering what her personal role is in God’s greater mission, just as I need Xoliswe in my life to help me to learn and grow. This is our kingdom calling… and we do it alongside all those who are serving Him.
KW