PASTORAL INTERVIEW lack of healthy marriages and healthy
presence and power of God. We do
families. It is mentioned that 66%
this through loving God, loving people
of birth certificates in South Africa
and loving our city.
have no fathers on them. This is a
Through our small groups we make
crisis and it is sad that this includes
sure that people are in the life of
Christian families.
the Church and they reach out to
The core challenges we face in
their friends and colleagues. We
Christian marriages is the fact that
have found two ways that works in
Christians are not practising the basics
reaching unbelievers. Investing in a
of our beliefs… Being in the Word,
relationship and then inviting them to
connecting with God through prayer
church or to a connect group.
and having fellowship with other
We also have outreaches in about
believers. The essence of our Christian
five schools in Joburg through our
faith is discipleship, which is following
kids’ and youth ministries. We also
Christ, fellowshipping with other
run kids’ and youth programmes every
believers and fishing… sharing the
Friday and Sunday during the services.
Good News. If all Christians would go
We have seen lots of young people
back to the basics, we will treat each
come to these events and their lives
other the way God wants us to.
transformed as they encounter our
Scriptures say, “Greater love has no man than to lay down their lives for another,” (John 15:13). We find that most people battle to humble themselves and serve one another. There is a selfishness that people would not sacrifice for the sake of building thriving marriages.
Lord and Saviour.
WHAT EXCITING INITIATIVES AND MINISTRIES ARE YOU PLANNING FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR? We have just concluded a sermon series called Bless the City, where we looked at opportunities to bless the city and people of Johannesburg. We
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR REACHING THE LOST IN YOUR COMMUNITY?
had a Saturday where we joined the
We are grateful to God for giving us
cleaned the parks in our various
a vision and passion to reach our city.
communities.
Our vision is to see lives, communities
mayor’s ‘Clean the City’ campaign. With our small groups we went and
In the new year we are trusting the
and society transformed through
Lord to adopt a police station and a
discipleship in the Word, and the
school and bless them on a regular
basis. We are already ministering at several schools and would like to do more in terms of financial help and assisting students who are struggling with fees. We also have a programme called Every Nation Biz, where we train and mentor entrepreneurs as they start their businesses. Our hope is that as they become successful to employ more people, thereby reducing the high levels of unemployment in our
nation. We are also going to introduce a fund to the entrepreneurs and a percentage of this fund will go towards campus ministry to students who cannot afford university fees. We have 8 mission trips planned to various parts of the world including Zeerust, Swaziland, Ghana and Brazil. The Bible teaches us that we are blessed to be a blessing. We want to do all we can to be a blessing to our city, nation and the world. For more info about the work and ministry of Every Nation Rosebank visit www.hispeoplerosebank.org. You can also read more about Pastor Simon’s personal testimony as captured in the book ‘Better Together’ by Roger Pierce (www. bettertogether.org.za). This book is a collage of personal stories of South Africans who have crossed cultural and racial divides to connect and break down barriers. THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE
41