Look Where the Lord Has Brought Us
Greetings from South Africa
Contributed by Dylan Kraijenoord
We thank the Lord as we look back over the last few months and share some of the highlights from the Heritage South Africa community. This year God helped us forge meaningful connections with other congregations around the world, as well as with our neighbors and friends in this area.
A group of brothers and sisters—four couples from the Netherlands and two single people—visited us for ten days in November. They participated in courses such as leather working, bread baking, and cheese making, joined our families for dinners, and went on sightseeing trips in the area.
These Dutch believers feel God leading them into a deeper walk with Him and with one another. They asked many questions and were deeply impacted by our church meetings.
One of the single brothers, Matthieu, felt to extend his stay and decided to remain with us for three months. He has since started working at the bakery.
Brother Randy and Sister Kim Schafer journeyed here as part of the group from the Netherlands. God brought the Schafers to Texas from California, where they received the Spirit and were baptized, and they are presently serving and living in the Netherlands. [Editor’s Note: We need to share this miraculous story soon!]
Brother Randy wrote, “As we were flying over the middle of Africa, I checked the flight tracker. It showed at that moment we were flying over the town of Rehoboth!
“I felt there was something significant about the timing of seeing that city! [Editor’s note: Our church’s first community property in Colorado was called “Rehoboth Ranch.”] Our small group flying together, headed toward a life-changing encounter, reminded me of our brothers and sisters who made their journey together across the country to the Rehoboth that would change their lives.
“Over the ten days of our visit, we worshiped and praised the Lord! We made bread, and we broke bread. Families opened their hearts and homes throughout the community to us. We made leather crafts, tried our hand at the potter’s wheel, played games, and sang around the campfire. God knit our hearts through the shared stories of how He had led each family to Wilderness, South Africa. Hope was ignited in our small Dutch group through the living testimony of these families who were willing to trust the call of the Lord.”
A Dutch brother, Mark, shared with all of us, “What may seem like normal living to you is not normal for us. We are truly amazed by the work the Lord has done in your lives, and we see something we desire to grow toward ourselves. We glimpsed it in Texas, but we see it on a smaller scale here in South Africa, something that gives us hope and something to look forward to.”
Brother Dylan and Sister Marieke and their family spent six wonderful weeks in Israel, supporting and sharing the life of the Heritage community there and viewing some of the Biblical sights. We shared about this in an earlier post.
Sister Mariska McFarlane and her son Angus, 15, visited the Texas community for the Homestead Fair in November. Angus relished the opportunity to sing in the largest youth choir in Texas, helped with the barn raising, painted pictures, helped on the farm with horses, and spent time with his cousin who was visiting from the Heritage New Zealand community.
Jez and Shé Dumont left South Africa in October to have their baby in Texas and to visit with Jez’s American family. Their son, Titus Emmanuel, was born on December 1. We are looking forward to their return in January.
We hosted Christmas markets on December 14 and 21. (Remember that we are currently experiencing summer here in the Southern Hemisphere.) We held our first event last year, and this year we had a great turnout again, with many meaningful interactions and several first-time visitors. A family attended the market who first visited when our community consisted of only the three families who had moved here from Kokstad, and they were amazed to see the increase God has brought! It looks like our Christmas market will become an annual event.
Following the market, our bakery had an exceptionally busy week, breaking records for customer numbers at breakfast and lunch. This January marks six years since we opened the bakery.
Another Christmas tradition: we enjoy riding in a trailer to sing carols in local neighborhoods. Many people come out to watch and sing along. This year, we met a young woman in a wheelchair who could not communicate. She began smiling from ear to ear as we sang. Her parents were also deeply moved.
At the beginning of this year, our community families gathered and discussed a few projects we will tackle together. The first has already begun as we have been clearing a very invasive weed, called rooikrans, on our farm. The trees were cut, dragged out, and piled together.
As we recount some of the Lord’s blessings on 2025, we realize how far He has brought us. Please pray that God will lead us in this new year as we seek to accomplish all He has for our community.
