THE RENSBURG NEW YEAR’S BLOG 2023

 You will see that my Blog has a bit of a gap… from 2015 to today January 1, 2023, and I will use this current blog to update you and to get the blog operational once again…

            It is especially at this time of year that I tend to look back at my life and ponder over the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me and my family. Fifteen years ago, after having been a single missionary for seven years I married my heart’s desire. I remember the charge from our wedding being shared from the book of Ruth. Ruth is a wonderful example of faithfulness and because of that she is a character in the Bible that I strive to emulate. Ruth 1:16-17 are verses that I took literally the day I married Deon: "... for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." 

 

            And so, our journey as a married couple, serving the Lord as best we know how, has taken us to many different places and allowed our family to serve so many people, many who were seeking the Truth. It has been a privilege to serve Him by sharing the Gospel and discipling folks in Centurion, Johannesburg, Durbanville, Paarl, and Malmesbury, all cities in South Africa. We have also been used to share the Gospel and encourage believers while on furlough in the United States. During this time, we also met and learned to pray for many fellow missionaries, who in their own countries were serving the Lord and seeing people come to know the Lord as Savior. 

 

            One missionary couple stands out to us, Pastor Shaun and Tania Abrahams, who moved from South Africa to serve as missionaries to Ireland. I have known them since I was a teenager. At one stage they were my youth leaders and later we were students together in the Church Ministries Institute, the Bible College run by our local South African churches. Deon and I were encouraged as we watched them faithfully serve the Lord. It was through them that we learned to have a love for the people they ministered to in Ireland. Every few years they would return to South Africa and report back to the churches that support them. I clearly remember them asking that we pray they would find a young family that would be willing to form a church-planting team with them in Ireland. We prayed faithfully for them specifically for this request as we too understood the importance of teamwork and had ourselves desired to find a couple that would assist us in that same way. 

 

            Over the years, the Lord has allowed us to assist four church-planting efforts. We have seen many people come to know the Lord as their Savior, grow in Him, and use their lives to serve Him through these ministries. During the years of assisting in church-planting, ten-years of Christian Camping ministry was also available to us. Deon and I thoroughly enjoyed serving in these evangelism and discipleships ministries. Our love for children and teenagers made the camp ministry of Paardeberg Mountain Retreat such a special part of our lives. The Lord blessed the Paardeberg Mountain Retreat ministries with many coming to know the Lord as their Savior. Then, over the years we have seen many of them return to serve as camp counselors, as well. During the Covid years, Deon was also blessed to assist and later stand in for a dear friend as interim pastor while he underwent treatment for cancer. We are thankful to be used of the Lord to bless and work with others.

 

            As we see the Lord using others to continue these ministries and as we have begun our regular furlough period in the United States, we have sought to find His Will for the next step in our lives. As we look to the future, we have asked, “where would the Lord have us serve Him?” Do you remember my earlier comments about those years of prayer for the Abrahams family? Did you notice the prayer request they had for specifically finding team members? Well, we believe that to be us! We approached Pastor Shaun about our willingness to join him in Ireland, to form a church-planting team. He was greatly encouraged not only because of prayer answered but because this news had come to him at a very difficult time in his life, it was soon after his wife, Tania, had passed away. We believe it encouraged him to know that he could continue serving the Lord effectively. Over the years to come, we want to continue serving the Lord as church-planting missionaries in support of others, as well.

 

Tipperary Christian Fellowship

            We were long overdue for a furlough ministry to the United States because of the restrictions of the pandemic. However, we trusted the Lord that He would get us to where we needed to be in His time and while we waited, we planned our furlough along with a survey trip to Ireland. The Lord made it possible in January 2022 for us to return for a furlough as well as giving us the opportunity to stop in Ireland on the way to conduct a survey and minister alongside Pastor Shaun in Tipperary Town. We traveled to Ireland as a family so that we all could see the country, experience the culture, and learn of the church-planting and evangelistic needs of the Irish people. Our three months stay, along with many years of prayer, as well as reaching out to our pastor and home church in Raleigh, North Carolina, has solidified our desire to continue serving the Lord in the new field of the Republic of Ireland. 

Clonmel Christian Bible Church

 I never thought I would leave South Africa to serve the Lord elsewhere, but as one of my favorite verses remind me: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 And it is with that verse that I step out in faith alongside my husband and with our three children. By God’s grace, we are redirecting our lives as missionaries to Ireland. The Irish people need the Lord. We covet your prayers as we enter the New Year of 2023!