More to Adore - Now I’m Four!

August 10, 2013

More to Adore - Now I’m Four!

There are five different days in our family that we find very special, one of them being our eldest son, Ruan’s, birthday. This year our not so little boy anymore turned 4 Years Old! When I celebrate this day three thoughts cross my mind:

My thankfulness to the Lord for blessing us with Ruan.
The memories I have of his birth.
The reminder of how important it is to pray that he would accept Christ as his Savior.

To our sweet Ruan his birthday is a day for FUN and we certainly made sure he had tons of it! We celebrated his birthday with family this year by inviting them all to a Bi-plane Birthday Party. With presents to open, cake & ice-cream to eat and cousins to play with, his day couldn’t get any better.

Uncle Michael Helping Ruan
get the Helicopter out of its Packaging

Ruan Opening His Gifts

Cake Time
"Look! A Propeller!"

His Cousin, Eric, Playing with Him

Deon & I would like to thank our family from near and far for making Ruan’s day such a memorable one! We’d also like to thank the many people whom we know pray for Ruan each day. We are truly blessed by your love!

Comments

Deon's Testimony

I was born in Boksburg, South Africa, and lived in Benoni and Roodepoort during my childhood and teenage years. I grew up hearing the gospel from my Dad. At the age of twelve, I realized I was a sinner and asked Jesus to forgive me of my sin believing that He died for me and rose again so that I might have eternal life through Him. (John 3:16;Romans 10:9-10) Four years later in obedience to God's Word, I was baptized. During my high school years, I observed and assisted my dad and other men from our church in providing support at a local informal settlement in Johannesburg. Through this opportunity and upon meeting my wife and seeing her desire to serve the Lord I began to consider studying for the ministry. Shortly after Michelle and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary we moved to Cape Town so that I could study through the Church Ministries Institute. The Lord taught me so much during those years of studies and as I worked towards and completed a Theology degree. After completing an internship with Paarl Valley Baptist Church we attended the mission agency, Biblical Ministries Worldwide's candidate class. We have served with them for twelve years in Cape Town, South Africa. We have recently completed our church-planting efforts in Cape Town and have sought the Lord's Will for our future. We believe He is leading us to Australia. We covet your prayers as we make these new and exciting changes to our ministry.

Michelle's Testimony

I was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, and grew up in Durban and Cape Town, South Africa. I grew up as a missionary kid, witnessing my parents' dedication to serving the Lord and hearing them share the gospel with many people. Through their testimony and a Sunday school lesson from John 3:16-17 I realized that I needed to accept Christ as my Savior. At the age of nine, I prayed and asked the Lord to forgive me of my sin, and a year later in obedience to God's Word, I was baptized. My parents included my brothers and me in their church planting efforts. They allowed me at the age of twelve to teach Sunday school and since that year my desire has been to serve the Lord with my life. After high school, I attended the Church Ministries Institute. Upon completing my degree, I worked as a short-term missionary, assisting church planters and teaching at a Christian school in Cape Town. The Lord brought Deon into my life and has blessed us with three children. During the past twelve years, our family has been blessed to serve the Lord among various people groups in South Africa. We are now starting a new journey and look forward to joining teammates in Australia to continue our ministry.