REFLECTIONS ON THE OCCASION OF MY 21st ANNIVERSARY OF ORDINATION (January 28th 1990 - 2011)

I grew up in a good home, with good parents, but  we did not  love and serve Christ. My parents had me ‘baptized' when I was a baby and dutifully I was taken off to  the confirmation classes  of  our Evangelical Lutheran church when the time had come around the age of 13. After  I  had  been confirmed I never darkened the door of the church   again.  

Conversion

I enrolled  for a Bachelor of Commerce degree  at the University of Cape Town at the beginning of 1978.

I was converted on a Thursday evening   the 22^nd June 1978  when  Frank Retief, Pastor of St James Church, Kenilworth, Cape Town  preached the Word of God  to students  of the University of Cape Town  at   the Leo Marquard Hall  men’s residence. The  Banner  that hung outside the residence  announced the  subject: “Christ, the Controversialist!”

I had not planned to go to this event,  but I had been invited by  some Christian Students. I went  out of a sense of obligation. That night  the word  of God changed my life. The sermon from  Revelation 3:15  spoke to my heart that day.  

“I know  your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So, because you are lukewarm – neither cold nor hot – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

What struck me was this particular distinction -  “you are neither cold nor hot…you are lukewarm!”  In an instant I comprehended that I was that lukewarm man, whom the Lord was about to spit you out of His mouth”. The Word  of God had exposed me and invaded me. My life changed  drastically. I loved  Christ and I loved the church.  From the very  moment I was converted,  I was  an enthusiastic worshipper. I attended  worship at church  every  Sunday morning and evening and became involved in the Student YMCA – so much so, that I forgot about my studies!  After my second year  I gave up my  University studies  and  did my  mandatory  two year military service.

After that I  joined  EDGARS, a big clothing retailer, and  became a Trainee Manager. After a few years I was appointed  Store manager.  I was never very persuaded that this was  to be my  lifelong profession. My busy life as a store manager  did not interrupt my  commitment to my local church.

Call to the Ministry

The home of  Eastside Baptist Church  - Windhoek

In November  1984 I was asked to  do a  funeral  of a farmer,  a friend  of my father,  near  the town of Karibib. I had no preaching or pastoral experience – but since I was asked to do this by the family, I did it!   I believe that this was the beginning  of the ‘unsettling process’ at EDGARS   and the start of the new direction  from God  although it would take me another 7 months to understand what God was leading me to.

In June 1985  I received my call to the pastoral  ministry. The text  which spoke strongly  to me was Titus Chapter  2. It was also in June 1985 that I was privileged to become   a founder member of Eastside Baptist Church, then under the  leadership of Pastor Charles  Whitson  a Southern Baptist Missionary pastor. EBC was constituted   on  the 16^th  June 1985 with 21 charter members.

At the beginning of 1986  I applied to the Baptist Theological seminary in Cape Town  and  spent the next 4 years  completing my Licentiate in Theology and graduated  Cum Laude.

The highlight  of that period was when I met my wife Marcelle in 1986.  We were married the next  year on the 10^th January 1987  at Mowbray Baptist Church in Cape Town.

In 1988/89  I was called to be the Youth pastor of the Bellville Baptist church,  first under the leadership of Brian Barnesand then Andre Broodryk. This was a church  which we loved and where we were loved  – a happy two years!

In August 1989   I was called by the  Eastside Baptist Church  to become their pastor. This call came at the same time  as  a possible call to serve in the YMCA student chaplaincy at UCT.   I chose the local church.

I started  in January  1990 and was  ordained by our church on   the  28th January   of the same month.  Peter Holness, then the principal    of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Cape  Town   led the ordination service.

REVIEW OF  21 YEARS OF MINISTRY

I will review the  years   of  ministry  at Eastside Baptist Church in 4 sections

1. 1990 – 1995    Turbulent  beginnings  

Old pastor versus   new pastor:  Our  older, very experienced  pastor almost withdrew immediately, much to my regret.  I wished I could have hidden behind him a little longer. At that time we had no  elders – no biblical leadership to help me. Some people struggled to adapt to their new pastor and sadly left.  

Time of political change in Namibia:   Namibian independence  from South African control  was granted on the 21^st March 1990. At this stage  many more members left, being repatriated to  South Africa.

Satanic attacks: During the first three years   of our ministry  we  found sacrificed cats on our door steps  and  a number of encounters with demonically possessed people.  I  participated  in  one  demonic deliverance  on the  3^rd of January 1993.  A cult, the Moonies, had also  at that stage  secretly crept into the church, undermining the faith  of  some of our members.

Dr Eric Tordiffe (elder) and  Prof Roderick Zimba (deacon)

Theological struggles:  Eastside Baptist Church   was very loosely constituted. The only thing that we knew is that we were supposed to  be “Baptist”, and that our meetings were supposed to be  congregationally governed. Most of our members had come from  all sorts of church backgrounds and they essentially  had no  idea  why we were a Baptist Church. Most Protestant churches   for this reason have a  confessional basis (including  some Baptists), but  there was a group of Baptists in our church  who were  deliberately ‘anti-creedal’.   The absence of a  clear position in a theologically confused Namibia  was causing severe confusion. The charismatic movement in particular   had emerged as a strong force in those days  and many charismatically minded people in our church were wondering which way this young pastor was going. We needed a confession of faith!

Added to this  was  a deeper  issue. Those of you who know your Baptist  church history  know that there was a  great  theological shift that had taken place in Baptist circles in the USA. The shift  happened  at the end of the 19^th century / beginning  20^th century   in which  the  Southern Baptist Church (the largest American  Baptist denomination)  had moved from a largely  Reformed (or Calvinistic)  theological  position to an essentially Arminian position. We were  a church planted on Arminian principles.
 

I   had become a convinced  Reformed Baptist  whilst studying  at  the Baptist Theological  Seminary in Cape Town. Reformed Doctrine  is  wedded to the Sola Scriptura principle (Scripture alone) and this principle   does not like pragmatic solutions for  directing church life. Scripture alone is our final authority. This  led me to re-think   many issues   with respect to church practice and doctrine such as ...

1. How  to preach and teach  the doctrine of salvation.  

2.The doctrine of the church and in particular the matter of elder led  congregationalism. 

3.The matter of worship  (God centered versus  man centered worship).  

4. The primacy of expository preaching   over   topical preaching. 

5. A more God centered view of evangelism  and  missions. 

We struggled  through these issues, and I to the point of exhaustion!  Our church finally  adopted the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith in June  2001. This had led to a time of great peace, since we were now  ‘on the same page’ and people  now knew what to expect when they  wanted to join the church.

2. 1996 – 2000:  Difficult  Years 

Good fellowship in our courtyard after every service

In 1995 the Lord gave us a welcome break when we were privileged to have Erroll Hulse of the  Leeds Reformed Baptist Church in our  pulpit, and  our young family had a wonderful break in the UK.  My father had very generously sponsored our trip 

After our return  from the UK our church was becoming increasingly  inwardly divided. This was another attack of  Satan who flourishes best where  there is  no strong  spiritual leadership and where there is  a  lack of  doctrinal  steadfastness. This time proved to be  worse than those aggressive  satanic  attacks of  '90 – '93.

Things went wrong on may fronts. Not only were we doctrinally  a very mixed bunch, but we had wrong ideas of church government  and of the qualifications for public ministry. A  group of ladies  (most of them unhappily married and theologically confused) began to form a support group  which began  to undermine the   weak  leadership in the church. To many of them I actually had been very close. It was one of the saddest times  in my ministerial experience. Our  youth pastor  at that time  had to  leave  and I myself barely survived.  

In 1996  I suffered an emotional collapse. I was severely fatigued by  all the conflict   and  told the  deacons  that I could not preach in this condition. I remember that Sunday morning in April  very well. We had organized another preacher and I dragged myself to church, and when at the end  Pieter Slabber (now an elder)  asked  me to conclude in prayer, I  wept  like a little child. I could not even lead the church in prayer.  I went away  for a month of recovery, and after my return  I went  through the toughest  period in my life. Some have called such an  experience  “the dark  night of the soul”. This horrible  experience  lasted for three years   and  probably longer still. That period is  still dark and hazy in my mind, but  God sustained  me, my family  and   our church  through this time.I struggled to  preach, but I  clung to God. There was  very little understanding or sympathy  in the congregation in terms of  what was happening to me.  

In 1997  Pastor Martin Holdt and I  had begun to speak  about the need to have a pastor’s  fraternal  to  help pastors  like myself to cope  in their difficult circumstances.  In 1997  Martin Holdt, always a man of action and influence organized the first  Spurgeon fraternal  in South Africa.  The Spurgeon fraternal was my spiritual  life line  and since then many pastors  have been helped through this wonderful support group.

In this difficult period Pastor Laban Mwashekele and I severed our ties with the Southern Baptist Mission. We were simply tired of doctrinal conflict and constant disagreement. Much of the church planting efforts  of the Southern Baptists had  come to nothing in Namibia. All  we  wanted to do  was  to focus positively on gospel ministry.  

3. 2001  - 2006:  New Beginnings - Growth and Consolidation

Eastside  Baptist Church  was finally reconstituted as a Reformed Baptist Church in June  2001. 

In 2001  we started  the  Namibia Grace Ministers Conference, to encourage  pastors  in the work of Reformation. Dr Wayne  Mack  was our first speaker.

SOLA 5 Conference in Windhoek  2006

In this period  Eastside Baptist Church had helped  Pastor  Laban Mwashekele to get Monte Christo Baptist Church  going. Our church provided quite a bit of financial  support for  the initial building phase   and has been always involved in supporting Pastor Mwashekele since then.

SOLA 5 Conference 2013  again in  Windhoek  

2002 saw the start  of our eldership process  -  a marvelous story   which needs to be told separately. We invited Pastor Baruch Maoz  of the Grace and Truth Congregation in Israel  at  this time and he  helped us significantly  with the start up of our eldership.

In  2004 we helped to get the Faith Reformed Baptist Church going – and contributed initially  to the upkeep of the pastor. 

We had also helped Havana Baptist fellowship in an informal settlement area. 

In 2006 we helped  to get  Grace Reformed Baptist Church going. At the date of writing  we are still in the process  of overseeing that process. (Postscript: This church was constituted in 2012)

 Namibia Grace Pastors Conference

Eastside Baptist Church  has steadily sought   fellowship  with like-minded churches  and has been involved  in the formation of SOLA 5 in 2004. SOLA 5 is an Association of God centered Evangelicals in Southern Africa). We hosted the second SOLA 5 conference in 2006.

Eastside Baptist Church has  also been instrumental in the formation of a  Namibian Minister’s fraternal, a  forum for our Reformed Baptist Churches in Namibia.  As a matter of interest, almost all of our Baptist churches  in Namibia are now of  a Reformed Baptist persuasion.

This is all very good, but we do have a problem. We  are too thinly stretched!  As a result we have lost some  evangelistic  momentum.

4. 2006 – 2011:  Renewed Challenges

Eastside Baptist  Church  became 25 years old  in June 2010. This occasion was celebrated  with a dinner and many activities. We were able to reflect upon the amazing grace of God. I have been privileged to have been part of this, and 21 of these years as  pastor.

Eastside  Baptist Church  has been a marvelous tool in God’s hands, despite  the fact  that we  have  had  to contend with so much  coming and going and with a fair bit of  internal disagreement and satanic resistance.

The greatest gain made in this period is  was  doctrinal firmness and unity in doctrine. We now have a foundation to build on.  We have  successfully addressed a number of key theological  issues  and have seen corresponding growth of our members. 

We   have seen more  true conversions  in this period than in  any  period before! 

We have been expanding our pastoral ministry  through adding  an additional  elder to our pastoral team.  We are praying now for a suitable  student pastor  to assist us.

Challenges

1. Eastside Baptist Church  is still very vulnerable. We  have a relatively small  membership   from which to draw our  resources, and  to  continue our ambitious  kingdom vision.

2.  EBC is a multi-cultural church. It is a privilege to  belong to such a unique configuration of people  although it does have its challenging moments. We  are often forced to think “Christianly “ about issues of culture and language. Culture easily  threatens to overshadow  our Christian convictions.

3. We need to focus more now on becoming a community church. We have  done a lot of work “out there” – but not nearly enough “in here”. We pray that God will give us  wisdom how  to  penetrate  the barriers of our community.

4.We need  a  biblical diaconate to help our elders. We  are currently rethinking  the way in which our diaconate operates.

5.We need every member to help   us to function  better as a church.  A strategic meeting in  October 2007  had brought about  some wonderful initiatives, but still lack  a lot of implementation. 

6.We need to  continue the missions vision under the leadership of stable doctrinally  firm and sound , committed  people and leaders. 

SOLI DEO GLORIA !

The Moravian Revival

Nicholaus von Zinsendorf preaching to many nations

The Moravian  Revival  was born in a Prayer Meeting

(I have shared  the  story of this remarkable  revival  which began in the 14th century, in what is known today as the Czech republic   with our congregation  as a  part  of   our preparation for  prayer week )

The movement that was to become the Moravian Church was started by  Jan Hus (John Hus)  a Czech Reformer   in the late 14th century (i.e.  the 1300’s). Jan  Hus objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church  and wanted to return the church in the provinces of Bohemia  and Moravia its original  Eastern Orthodox influences.   He wanted the  liturgy to be  read in the  language of the people -  the  Czech language. He wanted the  common man  to receive the communion elements of the bread and wine. He  wanted  to see married priests in the ministry. He also wanted  to see the Roman Catholic practice of the sale of indulgences ended  and the unbiblical idea of  the concept of  "purgatory" eliminated.  In that sense  we can see that Jan Hus preceded the Reformation in Germany, which began in October 1517,  by more than a 100 years! Jan  Hus was tried by the Council of Constance  and declared  to  be a heretic by the Roman Catholic church. He was  burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. Today  that  day is  a national holiday in the Czech Republic.

Within  50  years of  the death of Jan Hus   some of his followers  organised themselves as the "Bohemian Brethren" in the province of   Bohemia  in 1457. By the middle of 16th century as many as 90% of the people  of that region and many of  the nobility had become Protestants.   

In the meantime  in 1573, the Roman Catholic order of  the Jesuits, had started  the Counter Reformation, to stem the mighty  tide of the Protestant Reformation.  The Bohemian brethren feared  that they were once again losing their religious freedom, and therefore started the Bohemian revolt.  They were defeated in 1621 in the  Battle of White mountain. As  a consequence the local Protestant noblemen were either executed or expelled from the country.

The Habsburg dynasty  substituted  Catholic and mostly German speaking nobility in their place. Together  with the bubonic plague, the Counter Reformation   reduced  the  Protestant population from over 3 million to some 800 000 people.

The  Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde

In 1722 a small group of the Bohemian Brethren, who had been living as an underground remnant in the Catholic Habsburg Empire in eastern Moravia,  for nearly 100 years, arrived at the Berthelsdorf  estate of  Count  Nikolaus von Zinsendorf. He  allowed them  to settle on his lands  in present-day Saxony.

Von Zinsendorf  (b.May 26, 1700 in Dresden, Germany) had been brought up in the Lutheran  Pietistic stream  of the Protestant Reformation.   He  later trained at Halle University under the Pietist  leader August Francke.   The story is told that when he was 20 years old  he had  visited an art gallery  and saw a painting  of the crucified Christ. Below  the painting there was an inscription which  read,
"I have done this for you; what have you done for me?"

Zinzendorf responded that day saying,  
"I have loved him for a long time, but I have never actually done anything for him. From now on I will do whatever he leads me to do."

At  that moment he had no idea that within two years he would have his estate swarming with homeless people from Moravia. He  could never have imagined the role that would be his in bringing the message of Christ to the whole world.

The refugees established a new village called "Herrnhut" literally translated, The Lord's  Watch, about 3 km from Berthelsdorf. The town grew as more and more Moravian refugees joined, but major religious disagreements emerged, and by 1727 the community was  deeply divided.  Count von Zinzendorf sought to bring about unity in the town, and the "Brotherly Agreement"  was adopted by the community on 12 May 1727. This is considered the beginning of the renewal. 

On the  13^th of  August 1727 the community  experienced  a dramatic transformation when the inhabitants of Herrnhut "learned to love one another". Arnold Dallimore writes, “They experienced a great enduement of spiritual power, as a result of which their past differences were obliterated and an abounding new joy filled their souls.“ [2] It all actually began on  the 5^th  of August 1727. 

Von Zinzendorf and fourteen men had spent the entire night in conversation and prayer. On August 10^th one of the men, Pastor Rothe was so overcome by God's nearness during an afternoon service at Herrnhut, that he threw himself on the ground during prayer and called to God with words of repentance as he had never done before. They were all moved to tears and continued until midnight, praising God and singing. The next morning Pastor Rothe invited the Herrnhut community to a joint communion service  with his nearby congregation at Berthelsdorf. This happened, as we said  on  the 13th August, a Wednesday evening. At this service  those present came under  the  conviction of their own sinfulness, need, and helplessness before God.  Count Zinzendorf made a penitential confession in the name of the congregation. The community  was thus united in fellowship. Count  Von Zinzendorf looked upon that August 13th as "a day of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit upon the congregation; it was its Pentecost."

This event  radically transformed  the community  and as such  it  became the center  of a major movement for Christian renewal and missionary expansion during the 18th century.

What happened as a result of this Revival

• They instituted  a system called “The hourly Intercession” in which one of their members  was at prayer, an hour  at a time, day and night. This  intercession lasted without a break for over a 100 years! 
  
• Many international settlements based  on the Herrnhut model were established,  all  emphasizing  prayer and worship, and a form of communal living in which simplicity of lifestyle and generosity  were considered to be  important spiritual attributes. As a result, although personal property was allowed, divisions between social groups and extremes of wealth and poverty were largely eliminated. 
  
• Establishing many mission stations:  The Moravian missionaries were the first large-scale  Protestant missionary  movement. They sent out the first missionaries when there were only 300 inhabitants in Herrnhut. Within 30 years, the church sent hundreds of  missionaries to many  continents of the world.  They were the first  Protestant denomination to minister to slaves, and the first Protestant presence in many countries.   
• Their first mission station in Southern Africa was founded by Georg Schmidt,  who settled on 23 April 1738 in the  Baviaans Kloof  in the Riviersonderend Valley,  evangelizing  the  Khoi people.  It was called Genadendal  (Gnadenthal)  and it may be visited today.
  
• Further remarkable stories  include that of a man called Anthony, a former slave,  who came to speak at Herrnhut  outlining  the deplorable conditions of the slaves in the West Indies. The night he spoke, two of their young Moravians could not sleep as they struggled with a sense that God was moving their hearts to offer themselves to go and minister to those slaves. When they were told that perhaps the only way they could do this was to become slaves themselves, they said they were willing to become slaves  if that is what it would take. And so  their  first two missionaries, Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann, left Herrnhut on August 25, 1732 to sail for St. Thomas in the West Indies.
• Thereafter, other  countries  were  identified  and more missionaries were sent. They went to the toughest places and often laboured under  the most severe conditions. Many of them died soon upon  arrival. Of the  18 who went to St. Thomas as reinforcements for the work begun by Dober and Nitschmann, half died within the first nine months. The more  of them died,  the more volunteered to go to replace them. 
• Within 25 years more than 200 had gone out as missionaries from this small community to every continent of the world!
• Their influence spread far beyond their own efforts. Consider two notable examples. The Moravians played a leading role in the  conversion  of John Wesley through one of their missionaries, Peter Böhler. Peter Böhler  had been a lecturer at the University of Jena (Germany), but left  there at the prompting of von Zinsendorf,  to  establish a  Moravian settlement in Georgia (USA). In order to  learn the English language, he first went  to London.  Despite his poor English he was a capable teacher  and  a remarkable  work of grace was wrought in many souls in response to his teaching.  Wesley wrote of Böhler, "Oh what a work hath God begun since his coming to England! Such a one as shall never come to an end, till heaven and earth pass away!"  Wesley went on to lead the Methodist movement.
•  The other person influenced was the  Reformed Baptist   William Carey, who is commonly named  the "Father of Modern Protestant Missions." We must however remember  that  William Carey became a missionary  in India 60 years after the first Moravian missionaries had gone to the  West Indies. Carey would probably have  insisted that the real father of modern missions was von Zinzendorf and the Moravians.
• The Moravian  influence also  extended to North America. The Moravians founded two communities in Eastern Pennsylvania - Bethlehem and Nazareth. Zinzendorf  visited  these colonies personally.  Whilst in America, Zinzendorf  legally renounced his titles because he found them to be an impediment among the colonists. Benjamin Franklin was present at the ceremony, which was conducted in Latin in front of the Governor of Pennsylvania. Zinzendorf was said to be the only European nobleman who went among the Indians, visiting their leaders as equals. Although Zinzendorf did not promote the abolition of slavery, inside the Moravian Church slaves were truly equal. In Bethlehem (Pennsylvania)  at the Single Sisters' House  for instance, you could find a German noblewoman, a Delaware Indian, and an African slave sleeping side by side in the same dormitory room!

We need to read accounts like this to encourage ourselves that the deadness of the present church can once again be overcome by the Grace of God. Oh pray, dear brothers and sisters, that God would grant the tired and lukewarm Church of Jesus in Southern Africa another time of renewal and refreshing. The Holy Spirit has been known to do this in the history of the church. Let us trust Him once more to do this for our generation.   

                            [2 Chronicles 7:14-16]

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[1] The Jesuits were chiefly   responsible for the Counter Reformation

[2] Arnold Dallimore : George Whitfield , Vol 1 , p 171