From Moreleta Park to Cape Town

Last night (Wednesday) I delivered the last of four evening messages on marriage and family at Moreleta Park Church in Pretoria. We’ve had an awesome turnout for the message series with a total attendance of 12-13,000. The message has been very well received. Not surprisingly, the issues that South African families have (especially in the white community) are not so different from our own: Abuse, Divorce, Engaged couples needing training to prepare for marriage, Relationships with parents. People are people all over the world.

We flew to Cape Town on Thursday. Had dinner with an executive who came to faith in Christ through an executive ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ in New York City. Today he has a prison ministry in South Africa, ministering to some of the nation’s most hardened criminals. The place where we’re staying here in Cape Town is very nice, but it’s across the street from a penitentiary … what a sobering reminder of the great God we serve and the reasons why we’re here.

Tomorrow (Friday), I’m speaking to a group of executives about their responsibility to lead their families. The meeting is SOLD OUT! Tomorrow night I will address a full house of young executives, singles and marrieds, about leaving a godly legacy. Saturday is an all day Rekindling the Romance event here in Cape Town. We’re expecting 300-500 people (promoting marriage in other countries is difficult without a daily radio program).

Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak through me, and that God’s plan for marriages and families will be transmitted exponentially beyond the walls of these venues and instilled in thousands of homes and future generations in this country.

The schedule is tough, but the need is great. Just one week into this journey, Barbara and I both feel like we’ve been here for three weeks already! We have meetings all day, dinners every evening until 10:00 or later, and very short nights … not to mention travel time! Pray for our stamina, and regular opportunities to rest well.

Isolde Swanepoel's Perspective

Quintus and I just praise and give our Lord and Saviour all the honour – our prayers of many months are being answered daily as Dennis has been presenting his excellent messages at breakfasts, dinners, and this “Marriage Week” of multiple family themes at Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church here in Pretoria.

The series started Sunday with about 5,000 people – the majority being teenagers and youths – with Dennis’ talk on “The Power of a Family.” What a message – we feel it was exactly what is needed at such a time as this in South Africa! Our hearts were warmed along with 2,000 others during Monday night’s message on “Growing a Spiritually Strong Family.” Dennis warned about the “perfect storm” that is threatening to engulf the family in our country!

Another 2,300 people attended the final night of the marriage week on “Leaving a Legacy That Will Outlive You.” This quote from Dennis has particularly touched me this week:

“If a fire for Christ is ignited – in your heart, your home, and your community – then God will restore our families.”

Prayer Request: That many more registrations would come in for the 'Rekindling the Romance' event in Pretoria on September 9.

More People Stories:
Among the many great stories we’ve heard this week was a phone call from Retha, a member of Moreleta Park Church who leads the Afrikaans equivalent of a Boy Scouts group. Retha took 9 of the 13 boys (16 year olds) in her group to Dennis' talk in which he spoke about the role of a father in raising spiritually strong families. Only one of the boys comes from a 'normal' family, and the others are all from broken homes. Dennis' talk was emotionally very challenging to these boys, who have dysfunctional relationships with their dads. All of them expressed their desire to have the kind of relationship Dennis described. They pledged to take the initiative to restore, as far as they are able, their relationships with their dads.

One youngster, who couldn't stop sobbing during the speech, sent Retha a text message this morning thanking her for taking him to the service and saying that he realized he will never experience what Dennis described with his dad … but he stood up to pledge that with God's help he will be that kind of husband and father one day!

"Aunt Retha,” he wrote, “I realised tonight that it is a BIG responsibility to be a husband and father. I now pray that God will help me to be a good role model for the family I will one day be the head of. From deep in my heart I thank you for tonight."

Praise God! -- Isolde Swanepoel

An e-mail of Appreciation:
I have been privileged to attend Dr. Rainey’s sessions at Moreleta. Would you kindly express my sincere appreciation for his simple but very powerful messages that I could listen to over three nights. I enjoyed his seriousness and his humour, his insights and authority as a man of God. Thank you so much for what you have done for me, and I am sure for many other couples. I cannot imagine a loving God who will not be satisfied with all your efforts. May He bless you all.
Warmly, - Frans van Heerden

Swanepoels Update - People Stories

This is Quintus Swanepoel, FamilyLife director in South Africa. I want to share some e-mail feedback that Isolde and I have received from people who have heard Dennis speaking here this week. One man who recently transitioned into a marketplace ministry to business entrepreneurs wrote in response to Dennis’ “Stepping Up to Manhood” message:

The director of a company where I serve in my ministry invited his top management (and some understudies) to the event on Friday. I had the privilege to sit at their table of 10 and observe their reaction to Dennis’ message.

One factory technical manager shared with everyone at his table that he was reluctant to accept the invitation to attend. He said he was very glad he came, and that he was going to call his two grown-up, married sons immediately to seek their forgiveness for the ways he had failed them as a father and role model.

The director of this company is a man of 41 who has been married for 12 years (let’s call him Ian). He and his wife have not been blessed with children. As Dennis was speaking, I wondered what was going through Ian’s emotions and what he could take away from the morning’s talk. When Dennis shared about three young black men he is mentoring, I realized, "That's it!" Afterward, during our breakfast, I challenged Ian to ask the Lord if there were three young men in his employ, who lacked the privilege of having a father, who he could disciple and serve as a role model. He was excited about the idea and took up the challenge. Of course, I'm going to hold him accountable!

I want to encourage you, Isolde, Dennis, and others at FamilyLife to keep up the good work and to thank you for your service to this very relevant and necessary ministry. You are helping to fulfill the Great Commission in our generation!

We sense a real need for what you are doing, especially in the marketplace where often the Christian business owner and his wife are not on the same "spiritual wavelength." We praise the Lord for your commitment and hard work!

More Highlights from Pretoria

Last night (Monday) I spoke at Moreleta Park Church in Pretoria to about 2,000 on "Growing a Spiritually Strong Family." Mostly a white audience, Afrikaners.

Afterwards, I met a former Muslim man from Pakistan. He had come to faith in Christ after contracting liver cancer and was healed. His conversion resulted in his being cast out of his home and thrown into prison for 18 months. His family disowned him and never visited him while in prison. When asked why they let him go from prison, he replied, "I had led eight of the prison officials to Christ, and since there were no charges against me, they had to let me go!" For the past five years, he has been here in South Africa evangelizing youths and carrying a cross around the country. Amazing!

I walked away thinking that heaven will be full of heroes like him ... men and women who have forsaken ALL to follow Christ in far more difficult settings than we face.

Barbara, Rebecca, and her husband, Jake, just took off this morning to go into rural areas about 90 minutes outside Pretoria. They will be visiting with HIV/AIDS patients, orphans, and the poor. I am certain that Barbara will have a few stories to write about ... perhaps Rebecca and Jake, too.

This morning, I taped a TV show with CRUX TV, from Johannesburg. Aloysias Maimane interviewed me for a program to be aired Sunday and next Thursday to an all-Black audience (estimated 800,000) between the ages of 18 and 30. Perhaps several will join us in Pretoria for the Sept. 9 Rekindling the Romance event. Aloysias is 2nd from left in the TV crew (bottom photo).

Television show producer David Seletisha (photo at right), a little man of 39 years and about 5 feet tall, asked if we had anything to help with his upcoming marriage. I gave him the "Preparing for Marriage" HomeBuilders. Interestingly, his parents are about to go meet his "bride to be's" parents to negotiate the dowry to get his bride. He's expecting to have to pay about $1,000! I told him our workbook would be the most important thing for him to prepare for marriage.

Today I talked to a key leader at the U.S. Embassy, and I think I've helped him and his family find a solid evangelical church here Pretoria. Did you know that 1,000 people work at the U.S. Embassy here? They serve needs all over the continent of Africa.

Tonight I speak at Moreleta Park about the importance of men providing spiritual leadership in the family.

I've had some computer problems ... more later.

Sunday - Pretoria

A beautiful South African spring day welcomed us … temps in the 40’s at night and 60’s in the day. What a welcome break from the last days of summer back in the States.

Jake and Rebecca (our fourth daughter and her husband) arrived to join us. We had fun taking them to a private reception held in our honor with about 40 people. We also surprised the Swanepoels with a silver tray celebrating their 10th anniversary of leading FamilyLife in South Africa.

At the reception, we met with Bekele Shanko, the Director of Affairs of Campus Crusade for Christ (CCCI) for 22 countries – almost half the 55-nation continent of Africa. About a week from now, I’ll be speaking with 22 CCCI National Directors from countries all over the southern half of the continent. This is a providential meeting that “just happened” to be occurring in Pretoria while I am here. Please pray for this Sept. 4 meeting … this could be VERY important for families and future generations all over Africa.

On Sunday evening, I spoke at one of THE most impressive churches I’ve seen in a long time. With seating capacity for 7,200, Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed church is the largest congregation in their denomination in the world. About 5,000 (1,500 under the age of 20!) came to hear about “The Power of the Family.” It was a VERY powerful time.

I must tell you that they gasped when I showed them the video of our son Samuel’s first kiss on his wedding day. They applauded at the end. Youths, as well as adults, long for someone to shoot straight with them about the moral issues in life.

It’s now Monday, and Barbara and Rebecca just went to speak with the CCCI staff women who serve here as full-time missionaries. I have been in a number of meetings to prepare for all the meetings remaining here.

If you see this before noon (Central), please pray for me. I’ll be speaking at that time at Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church on “Growing a Spiritually Strong Family.”

Thanks for your prayers.

Dennis and Barbara
This photo shows Barbara and me with our hosts, Brian and Edna Stocks.

Saturday - Escom Dinner

Today we traveled some 35 miles south to Johannesburg, a sprawling metropolitan area of more than 3 million people, to speak to another group of executives at dinner. This much younger audience was about 50-50 Black and White and was very responsive.

The executive dinner was hosted and paid for by Escom, the power company of South Africa, at their headquarters. The leadership of this company has recognized that spiritually healthy employees make good employees. Escom supplies about 50 percent of the power for the entire African continent. It was a massive building.

The top photo shows me with Quintus Swanepoel (left), founder of FamilyLife in South Africa, and Hlahlama Molefe (right). Both men are speakers for the Weekend to Remember in South Africa. The bottom photo shows Barbara and me with Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Khauoe. Jonas focuses on speaking to Black audiences for FamilyLife in South Africa.

Friday Night - Executive Dinner

I spoke at a banquet for executives in Pretoria. It was mainly a white audience – Afrikaners.

South Africa has four basic racial groups. The majority is the Blacks, comprising 11 tribes. Some speak English, but most speak the language of their own tribe. The Afrikaners, of Dutch descent, are a minority – about 10 percent of the total population of 44 million. Until the Apartheid system of separation was dissolved by Nelson Mandela, they were the economic and political ruling class. The third group is the Coloreds, a blend of Blacks and Whites who generally live in the Western Cape area. The fourth racial group is Indian (from the nation of India).

About 150 Afrikaners and a few Black executives attended the banquet and I’m told there were several indicated decisions for Christ. I spoke about “The Purpose Driven Family.” There is great interest here because of divorce and the breakdown of the family. This generation knows they must do something about the family or South Africa will be in trouble.

Family is indeed an international language.

Hitting the Ground Running

It was gracious of God to get us in to Johannesburg only an hour late. We dodged an unseasonable hail storm on our approach, and arrived in Pretoria around 8 p.m., or as they call it, 20:00. Our plane barely made it in before it stormed. Hail was 3-4 inches deep on the side of the road. We immediately gave thanks for the safe journey. Barbara commented that we are wimps compared to the missionaries of old, who would say goodbye and get on boats to journey for weeks in order to serve for decades with little or no communication from family and friends.

What a surprise and delight as we arrived in Jo’berg and were met at the door of the plane by our friend Brian. I mentioned in my earlier blog that Brian came to faith in Christ at one of our conferences when I was last here speaking 25 years ago. Brian is a deacon in his Dutch Reformed Church, has served Christ in business and in ministries all over the continent, and just recently stepped down after 15 years as Chairman of the Board of Campus Crusade for Christ of South Africa. I paused and wondered if heaven will be an “instant replay” of how God has used each of us in one another’s lives.

Dinner was a delight with Brian and his wife, Edna, plus Quintus and Isolde Swanepoel, directors of the FamilyLife ministry in South Africa. It stormed all night.

Sleep was hard to come by. I got three hours before waking up for good. I spoke at a breakfast this morning to about 150 businessmen on “Stepping Up to Manhood.” Certain messages are cross-cultural. Men are in trouble globally. I challenged the men to live purposefully for Christ and be influencers for Christ in their homes, neighborhoods, communities, nation, and the continent of Africa. I’ve honestly done a better job speaking, but I sensed they were REALLY listening. I’m told that about 20 prayed to receive Christ.

I dashed out of the breakfast to do a live interview on THE major Christian radio station in S.A. It covers the entire nation. There is a concerted effort in government to shut them down. We talked about marriage and family issues, and then about the series of messages on the family that I’ll be delivering at a large Dutch Reformed Church, starting Sunday night, and at an arena event in Pretoria on September 9. The host of the broadcast shared how discouraging it is for S.A. to only have two Christian radio stations, while there are so many in America. I agreed with her, and here are two related prayer requests for you:

Please pray for this station that the government won’t shut it down, and that they’ll put FamilyLife Today in their daily lineup!

I speak tonight at an evangelistic banquet for about 200 here in Pretoria, and then again Saturday night in Jo’berg. Pray for both of these outreaches.

On Sunday night, I begin a four-night series at Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church. Several thousand will be attending these messages. This is an important time for the family in S.A. – please pray that these messages will be used by God to reach many non-Christians, to biblically equip those who attend, and give the Christian community courage to stand firm with convictions.

Thanks for praying.

Dennis

A Long Day and a Half

Our journey to South Africa has begun, and I'm writing this as we make our way there. I’m not sure of the distance, but I think it’s a little less than 9,000 miles from Little Rock to Johannesburg. Funny as it may sound, the 18.5 hour flight from JFK doesn’t seem too bad. I think that’s because I just finished helping our son, Samuel, move to Seattle from Nashville. We drove some 2,350 miles (I joined up with him in Arkansas) in a rental truck with a car in tow, in just over three days.

This trip to South Africa has been in the works for almost six years. It represents our return to the country where FamilyLife first ministered internationally in 1978. Barbara and I left our then three children and spoke at a marriage training event for missionaries that, at the time, was revolutionary. It was a different day in South Africa. Apartheid was very much a way of life, and as we spoke to racially mixed crowds, it represented some of the first times Christians of all races came together in decades. It was the issue of “marriage and family” that united them. We stayed in an Anglican Monastery for $1.25 per day for room and board. I still remember the cots we slept on and the meal when I ate the skinniest chicken I’d ever seen! It was a great trip.

In those days, divorce was rare in South Africa. Families were somewhat protected from what we call cultural influences – S.A. had only 6 hours of television a day … 3 hours in Afrikaans and 3 hours in English (we wanted to move there).

In 1981, I went back alone. It snowed for the first time in 17 years in Jo’berg! I nearly froze to death. It was a long two weeks to be away from Barbara while speaking at Executive Conferences and events. In preparation for our 2006 trip, I found my journal from that time of ministry 25 years ago. I spoke about a dozen times to some 750 people. The people of S.A. were so gracious that it made the time away from Barbara and our then four children not as bad as it could have been.

During that trip, a businessman by the name of Brian came to one of the Executive Seminars where I spoke. He trusted Christ at that event. In the years that followed, God has used Brian and his wife, Edna, in innumerable ways as business leaders to be a witness for Jesus Christ. When we arrive in a few hours, Barbara and I will be staying with Brian and Edna. We look forward to hearing how God has used this couple for His purposes over the past quarter century.

We will also see our good friends Quintus and Isolde Swanepoel. In 1995, Quintus was a divorce attorney who decided he wanted to keep marriages together in his country rather than dissolve them. So they came to America and we trained them at our headquarters for more than a year. They returned to S.A. in 1996 and have had a fruitful ministry ever since. Our visit with the Swanepoels marks the 10th anniversary of FamilyLife in S.A.

After traveling for over 32 hours (if all goes well with the schedule), we will arrive in Johannesburg around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday (11:30 a.m. U.S. Central). Please pray for me because I am sharing Christ with a group of men in Pretoria (the capital city) tomorrow morning at 6:30. I’m afraid my body may think it’s 10:30 at night and doze off during my message!

As I finish this up, we are about 3 hours out of Jo’berg … we would have been early had we not sat on the runway at JFK for 2.5 hours!!!! Thanks for standing with us in prayer. Pray that we will clearly present the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that thousands of South Africans will catch this vision for their country: “Every home a godly home.”

We are weary, but expectant that God will do what He does best, change lives …

Dennis and Barbara
Psalm 112:1-2

Initial Prayer Requests:

(1) Pray for FamilyLife South Africa founders Quintus and Isolde Swanepoel and their team … until a few weeks ago, they had four members, but one was tragically killed in an automobile accident. Ask God for favor upon their final efforts to coordinate all these events. Praise God with the Swanepoels for their first 10 years of ministry!

(2) Mark the dates of Aug. 23-Sept. 15 to pray daily for Barbara and me, and our daughter, Rebecca, and son-in-law, Jake, who are traveling with us. All of us will have numerous ministry opportunities … pray that we’ll be faithful to share Jesus Christ and the truth of Scripture.

(3) Pray for me as I speak more than two dozen times. Pray for God to use each message to speak to the spiritual needs of individuals, marriages and families in this great country.

(4) Pray for wisdom and discernment as I speak … that I will measure my words. South Africa is in the middle of a national debate about the definition of marriage. The politicians are paralyzed and the spiritual community has a huge opportunity to be gracious, compassionate and truthful. Salt and light!

(5) Pray for our safety and good health.

(6) Check our blog frequently for prayer request updates, and please send us your comments.

Off to South Africa

From August 23 to September 15, Barbara and I will travel throughout South Africa for nearly three weeks, speaking at various events, as FamilyLife in South Africa celebrates its 10th year of ministry. We will post frequent ministry updates and prayer requests throughout our journey, so please check this blog often and keep us in your daily prayers. We value your feedback and encouragement via the "Comments" link below each posting.

The ministry of FamilyLife in South Africa was launched by Quintus and Isolde Swanepoel in 1996. Today, South Africa is one of more than a dozen countries we have identified as self-sustaining “FamilyLife Movement Countries.” The others are New Zealand, Australia, Poland, Romania, the Ukraine, Croatia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Italy, Switzerland, Fiji Islands and Spain.

My speaking engagements will include a half-dozen evangelistic breakfasts and dinners in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town. We will present a four-night series on the family in South Africa’s largest Dutch Reformed church. We will also conduct two arena events (similar to our “I Still Do” events) with 3,000-5,000 people each in Cape Town and Pretoria. Thanks in advance for your prayers.

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