July 26, 2008

Dear Partners in Ministry,

Presently, the atmosphere in our household could probably be best described by words like "excitement", "gladness", "busy", "enthusiasm" and "anticipation". Brendon is getting married next Saturday (August 2nd) and on top of this another important milestone has been reached in the production of leadership training material at Third Millennium Ministries.

For me (Johan) it is always a happy moment when an important phase is completed in the saga of progress in spite of difficulties. Yesterday was such a day. I completed the audio file, along with the production script and lesson titles, for the second lesson of the series "Making Biblical Decisions" (Ethics) in Spanish and handed everything over to the video department. This basically means that from this point on the lesson production is out of my hands. I will be brought back in at the end of the production process for final tweaking and quality control. I also gave the final approval of the first complete lesson of Building Systematic Theology yesterday. Minor corrections are still pending on three other lessons. Now the material will be outsourced now to be mass produced and packaged. Thank you to those who do pray for us to complete some important leadership training materials in Spanish.

In the mean time, Stephanie is buzzing around like a piece of phosphorous that has been thrown into water (for the non-scientific this means "like a chicken with its head chopped off"). Not only is she working six consecutive days of 12 hour shifts, but she is also busy with all the meal (and other) preparations for the rehearsal dinner on Friday evening. On Saturday Brendon will marry Kristi Greer in Atlanta at Perimeter Church. I have the privilege of being the officiating minister, with an uncle of Kristi, also a minister, also taking part in the wedding ceremony.

It also is a joy to have had Stephanie's mother come from South Africa to be with us a little before the wedding. Brendon is also excited about some of his friends coming to the wedding - one being a friend from his school in Chile! This is a great time of "catching up" as friends pour in. The only sadness on our part is that so few of our own family members can attend this happy occasion. Several would have loved to come from South Africa, but the air fares…

So this is a different type of busy time for us. Your prayers for the planning details, strength, and health as well as travel mercies will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for those that are partnering with us through prayer and finances. Your participation makes a huge difference and is greatly appreciated.

Together for Jesus,

Johan and Stephanie

- July 27, 2008