Trevor & Yvette Botha
Yvette and I came to London in 2001 and 2002 respectively. We met at church through mutual friends and got married on 16 October 2004. Our boy, Micah got born on 16 October 2006 and Monet, our little girl, on 8 October 2008.
We have both been serving at Every Nation London since we’ve been married. I have been serving as Mission’s director and Yvette set up the new charity Every Nation Ministries.
In the early part of 2007 we felt God speak to us clearly about planting a new church in Belgium. We are currently Pastoring a church in Slough – one of the new congregation from Every Nation London.
We are planning to move to Belgium in the summer of 2010 to start the new church in Gent.
Geoff & Margeret Lee
Maggie has known The Lord for about 50 years and I have for about 40 and we have served Him in various ways, myself as a fulltime Baptist Minister for about 20 years both in Coventry and then in Putney, London. God has been good to us in that about 10 years ago He led us to Wolfi Eckleben’s (then) His People Church (now EveryNation Church) where we met Trevor. Under his care we spent 2 weeks on a Gospel spreading Mission to mainland China as well as having twice been on Missions to the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine. We have 4 children and 2 grandchildren. By October we will both have retired and so will be finishing our final preparations to emigrating to Belgium to help proclaim the Good News to the Flemish people with our friends Trevor and Yvette. Psa 37:4. Take delight in The Lord, and He will give you your hearts desires. Believe me – it’s true.
Gary Mather
I have been a Christian since 2000. Over the last few years I have really felt God calling me into full time ministry but was not certain where to go or how to even start this journey.
I moved over to England in 2003 to find myself and experience the world for a year. That was 5.5 years ago now. God really was telling me that going back to South Africa was not the right thing to do at the moment, so I stayed. Eventually the call that I felt to go into full time ministry got too strong to continue working and I took part in a nine month internship program designed to help discover your calling. We did courses on Evangelism, Leadership, Apologetics, Counselling and more.. At the moment, I am being trained on worship leading skills by a trained worship leader and I have been blessed to have the opportunity to start leading worship in our Every Nation London 6pm service. I started teaching myself guitar around 9 years ago, and am really blessed to be able to give this gifting back to God in worship.
I am really excited to see what God has in store for me over the next few year, as well as for the team. I have a feeling it is going to be quite something.
Engela Odendaal
Since becoming a Christian in 1997, I have felt a strong sense of calling on my life, and though I am now only 28 years of age, I can clearly see God’s hand on my life in the way He has led and prepared me for going to Ghent, as part of the Church Plant. I can even see how God has used many of the difficulties, spiritual trials and hardships I faced as a child in my homeland of South Africa, and later in London. Through it all, God has cultivated a heart for Himself and for hurting people.
But it was back in 2006 when I specifically felt an urge to fast about my vision and life’s calling. In the first week of that fast, Trevor and Yvette Botha asked me if I would like to join them in planting a church in Belgium. Then, towards the end of the fast, God gave me a powerful vision in which I was walking through Belgium, where everything appeared in shades of black, white and grey. There were birds everywhere, but they could only hop about as their wings were badly damaged. I stood there crying, as I knew the birds represented the people there, who didn’t know God’s love, yet needed His healing. I clearly heard God saying, 'I need you to be part of a team that tells the people in this country about me and my love for them’.
So, this is the vision I am working towards, with the hope of moving out to Gent, with the rest of the team in summer 2010. I trust that my Degree in Theology and Counselling, which I gained in July 2009, will equip me for this task.
