Life Groups have been one of the major focus areas of 2010 and remain an integral component of Red. Point Church. Life Groups are the basic building block of community and relationships in the life of the church. This is the place where we grow together in our faith, learning to put our faith into practice as we work out the implications of the Word of God upon our lives. It is the place where we express our care and love for one another as we stand alongside each other in both trials and triumphs. The life groups form the perfect environment to grow in spiritual gifts as each one contributes to the functioning of the body as each part does its work. There is also a wonderful opportunity to reach out to others through personal relationships and to introduce people both to the gospel and to the family of God through these groups.

 

During 2010 there have been a number of highlights with regard to Life Groups:

1) We launched Life Group Link this year, where we gathered the Life Groups from each geographic area together for an evening of fun, getting to know each other and to integrate those not yet in Life Groups. These evenings were widely enjoyed and seemed to help build relationships across the different groups. Part of the evening included testimonies from people whose lives have been deeply touched by Life Groups, which was very moving and reminded us all of the value of these groups.

2) We held 2 Leadership Summits, where the Life Groups leaders gathered together for ministry. One of the key words coming out of these times was the reminder to have faith; Faith that God is working in these groups to accomplish his purposes in every believer's life.

3) We have done Leadership Training again in 2010 for potential Life Group Leaders as part of our equipping of the body for the work that God has called us to. It is exciting to see the quality of leaders coming through that God has given us for future groups and we look forward to planting many groups into the future as God continues to give us growth and fruitfulness.

 

It cannot be overemphasised just how important the Life Groups are to the health and growth of the church. We appreciate deeply our team of leaders for their ongoing hospitality and their service to the body week after week as we partner together in the building of Christ's church. We trust that 2011 will be a year of fruitfulness and advance as we continue to focus on the Life Groups and work for their success.

RED. POINT hosted an Alpha Course during the third term of 2010. We were astounded by the response - over 200 people signed up, and although some were unable to make the whole course, we had a large vibrant and fun group that finished the 10 weeks.

 

Many attended from outside RED. POINT, in response to our advertising and personal invitations. The highlights were the Holy Spirit Day in the middle of the course, which we ran on a Saturday at RED. POINT, and the evening when we looked at whether God still heals today. We had an opportunity on those two occasions to minister to and pray for people, and many were profoundly touched and changed by the Lord. Many gave their lives to Jesus through the course, and others had their faith revived and strengthened. Many Red. Pointers served as small group leaders and helpers, and we all enjoyed looking at the foundations of our faith with people exploring Christianity for the first time. We marveled afresh at plan of God, through Jesus, to win back a people who have wandered far from him, and his goodness and amazing grace. The gospel is so powerful, and Alpha is a brilliant means by which non Christians can explore our faith without feeling awkward and pressurised.

 

We will be running another Alpha in the third quarter of 2011, and hope that it will become a regular feature in the life of RED. POINT as we reach out to our communities with the gospel.

 

 

The Year of Your Life (YOYL) program was started at RED. POINT in 2006 by Mike Mills. The vision and purpose for the team is to give youngsters an opportunity to take a gap year to serve the church at RED. POINT and beyond. This year’s team consisted of a number of highly gifted and strong young people. It has been a wonderful blessing to have some international flavour in the team, with Feikje Algra and Petra Bekerbrede, both from Holland joining the team for a couple of months each.

 

The areas in which the team has involved itself this in 2010 has been very broad, including coaching ball skills and teaching music lessons to the children of Little Lights; studying theology; helping with character development and education, developing a Library at the School, and caring for and having fun with 42 children who have been victims of abuse. On occasion the team has been involved in distributing business cards on the UKZN Westville Campus, inviting students to attend RED. POINT’s meeting on Campus: ROC. The team is involved every Friday night at Youth and occasionally the team is needed to set up for a particular theme or event which is happening on the evening. Opportunities to host, Emcee, lead worship and preach have been really enjoyed by the team. The team have also served at the various events RED. POINT has hosted including the Fireproof Marriage Course, ALPHA Course and the WORLD CUP LIVE! Initiatives. Team members have also had opportunities to lead devotionals for the group, ministering to each other, and every now and then the team has gone away to play a bit or sport and get some exercise.

 

The team has also been part of a number of trips with the Church, serving in different and diverse ways in Matubatuba, Lesotho and Mozambique at leaders are trained, people are saved, and the Church of God is built up.

The team made a trip down the South Coast to South City Church and a school on the grounds called South City College. The school has approximately 600 learners from foundation phase to Matric. It was a privilege to be hosted by some of the members of South City and to serve, minister and have fun in the church, school and surrounding area! The YOYLies preached in the school assemblies, visited a drug-rehabilitation centre which the church works into, took P.E. lessons, babysat and looked after children in a safe house, handled the catering of two prize-giving evenings during the week and also enjoyed the treats and eats at the Waffle Hut and Vetkoek Den!

 

It has been an incredible privilege to serve the family of RED. POINT and a blessing to be challenged, stretched, trained and equipped for the future which God has in store for each YOYLie who has served this year!

- Grant Rawson                                                                                                                                                          

Redemption on Campus (ROC) has been one my highlights of the year. It has been an 

incredible privilege to see God's hand at work on the Westville 

University campus as we have reached out to the student community. 

Having been involved on the campus informally for a number of years 

and more recently with Life Groups in some of the student residences - 

Red. Point Church launched a Friday night meeting in Feb 2010.

 

In order to kick off the new ministry, we printed T-shirts, and hired 

a mechanical bull for our stand on the Varsity quad during the 

Orientation Week. This proved to be a huge success with many people 

being invited to our Friday Night Launch meeting. One of the 

challenges we have faced was the booking of venues through the SRC 

channels and even the launch meeting venue was only confirmed at the 

last moment.

 

Through the course of the year we have seen people saved, baptised, 

growing in their relationship with God and becoming committed to the 

community of believers. We have held a big band outreach at the DH 

residence and door to door outreach in 4 of the residences where we 

have Life Group meetings. We had a baptism meeting at the University 

pool and we have had 'ROC's night of fun' a few times during the year 

where we have had a blast getting to know each other better and doing 

some crazy stuff. We also had a Student Weekend called LIFE 101 where 

we spent the weekend looking at wisdom for life from the book of 

Proverbs.

 

From the beginning, we have sought to hold Q&A sessions regularly 

after the Friday evening meetings to engage with where the students 

are at, and to help them with the issues they are facing. A highlight 

was the evening devoted to the subject of ancestral worship, where 

Siphiwe Mhlongo helped many through this very relevant issue in their 

lives.

 

ROC has been built on a solid team of leaders from Red. Point who have 

served faithfully and sacrificially this year to reach the student 

community and to establish the students in their faith. Each one can 

look back on the year and celebrate the fruitfulness and growth in 

people's lives as a result of the work they have put in. It is truly a 

privilege to work with a team like this.

 

Recently we had a few testimonies from ROC shared at Red. Point and I 

believe that there will be many more to come as we continue to work in 

this field that God has given us. 2011 promises to be a year of 

continued growth and our desire is to see some of the students coming 

through into leadership and ministry as we work together in the year 

ahead.

- Phil Kendon

 

2010 has been a great, full year for RED. POINT Youth!

We started the year with a number of the older leaders leaving Youth to get involved in other ministries and things. This left a gap in the Youth for new, younger leaders to fill and it has been so rad to watch guys do just that. Watching new preachers and worship leaders ripping it for Jesus, as well as new people having ideas and running whole evenings so amazingly has been incredible. Our Youth are amazing and full of different talents!

 

This year the Youth also started a Youth rock band called Chap Dallas who have added new style, flavour and fun to the Youth, with wild praise and worship and moshing as guys go crazy in their love for Jesus.

 

The renovation of the small hall into the Theatre has also been great for the Youth, giving us a more stylized space to meet in, a great facility to host different events and a venue for our antics to happen in…

 

GO2! Our mid-year Youth Camp was also a massive highlight this year as we focused on going and making disciples as a follow on to our 2009 Camp. The Camp was at Living Waters – a crowd favourite – and was a really amazing time as people were ministered to, touched and changed by God while we had a whole bunch of fun together as a Youth, getting to know each other and God so much better.

 

2010 has been a good, transforming and learning year for Red. Point Youth and leaves us very excited to start again in 2011. So, if you’re in High School next year, come and join us and be part of the rad, Jesus-loving fun!

- Jamie Ternent

 

People from a number of different local Churches, as well as RED. POINT heard from Rigby Wallace, Sibs Sibanda, Terran Williams and Steve Van Rijn on how to reach out to those around us with the Gospel both relevantly and effectively.

 

As a Church we have set our sites on reaching our City with the Gospel, and for every believer to be effective in sharing the Gospel with friends, family, neighbours, co-workers and everyone really, as we seek to share the love of God, and the true story of how he came to die for our sins and reunite us to Himself by Jesus.

 

This was a great few days as we learned about Double Impact Preaching (how to disciple believers and reach unbelievers in the same preach), about being a Church centered on the Gospel, on how Jesus met with and ministered to those in His sphere of influence, and about having hearts that are on fire for God, His ways and message.

 

This really was an outstanding time, and we are glad that we could serve the Churches in the area by hosting Urban Force.

You can get hold of the sermons at www.redpointchurch.org/urbanforce  

RED. POINT is a Church that is committed to Jesus’ command to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28v19). We have planted Churches in different Countries across the World including Malaysia, Mauritius and England, and are committed to fulfilling Jesus command, and seeing people saved and discipled, leaders trained and churches planted internationally. This means that every year RED. POINT is involved in various trips both locally and internationally to help Churches, believers and leaders and to be a blessing wherever we can be. These trips involve different elements, and different sized teams but traditionally include preaching and teaching, leadership training and discipleship, serving, evangelism, fellowship and encouragement. What is amazing is how people always come back from these trips closer to those they have traveled with, with a greater heart for those outside of our Church and area, realizing God’s goodness to them and how much we have both spiritually and materially.

We want to encourage you to be a blessing locally, serving our City and reaching out with the Gospel, but to also think bigger and wider, and go on a trip in 2011 and the future to serve the Church around the world!

 

Nick and Katie Hardy:

This year Nick and Katie have been involved both locally and internationally in helping leaders and Churches to be built up and equipped, as part of our long-term vision to make disciples of all nations. They have traveled to England, Toronto, Cape Town, Dubai and Mauritius, and continue to minister to leaders and churches on-goingly.

Being part of a biblical, strong and healthy local church allows many leaders to go out regularly and help build and bless other churches, ministries and spiritual initiatives. We love Christ’s invitation and command to go and make disciples of all nations.

 

Kuala Lumpur Trip:

For three weeks in February and March of this year, 5 of us went over to support and help Shaun and Vaughneen Cox, who have planted a Church in Kuala Lumpur out of RED. POINT.

The team went to help with the launch of a new Saturday night meeting aimed at young adults. So we went and set up, cleaned up,  invited people, helped with Worship, Preached, prayed for people on the streets, ministered to their young adults, took part in the activities of the Church, made life-long friends, laughed ridiculously, tried new foods, saw people give their lives to Jesus, saw people get healed, experienced God in amazing ways, were used to minister, prayed for the people and place, were deeply touched by Malaysia and the Malaysians we met, were drained by the heat, and filled with love for the place and the incredible people there.

The trip was an incredible opportunity for us, aged between 18 and 25, to go and be Apostolic. We got to help build the Church, and we got to see peoples lives touched as God used us.

All of us have come home missing our new friends, keeping in contact with them over Facebook, and continuing to pray and ask God for His Kingdom to advance and people to be saved in Malaysia!

- Grant Clark

 

Lesotho Trips

Lesotho is a nation which Red Point has been working into for many years. A number of teams and different people have gone in regularly to support the work which is going on in the different areas.

This year Jon Robb has taken a number of trips into the area of Moghotlong to visit two churches and has done much physical labour as well as ministry into the churches involved.

The YOYL team together with Mike Mills and Bobby Deutschman attended the Lesotho LTT in order to serve and be a blessing to the people involved there. Approximately 150 leaders from South Africa and various parts of Lesotho attended the conference to serve and be equipped to lead God’s people. The event was lead by Craig Meyer from Cornerstone Church who handled the conference in an excellent manner. It was great to see African leaders being raised up and preaching at the event and to see some of the local leaders prospering and being asked to join certain Lesotho Apostolic teams.

The event also included a Youth Dimension with Youth Pastors and members of Cornerstone hosting the Youth Event in an excellent manner and we believe that the Youth of Lesotho were blessed and will be blessed ongoingly as a result of this time.

As is customary in Africa, the Lesotho people took praise and worship to a new place with their traditional dancing, with many of the YOYLies getting involved in the action. A highlight of the LTT was a girl who was visiting the hotel, where the LTT was being hosted, in order to attend a wedding reception which was taking place in another venue of the hotel. During her time at the hotel she felt that she needed to join in with what was happening with the Youth at the LTT and not attend the wedding reception, which she had previously come for. She came into the meeting, participated alongside the Youth and gave her life to Christ that very day. She then stayed on for the following session which took place in the evening. It was wonderful to see God’s hand at work in bringing people to salvation – in the midst of a leader’s training time!

- Grant Rawson

 

Mozambique and Malawi

For several years VFC now RED. POINT has been working to serve the church in Africa. In 2007 we were asked to take ownership of a 400km radius area including the southern tip of Malawi and a portion of the Tete Province of Mozambique, which has lead to the formation of strong relationships with Stephen Zulu and Evens Nyongo, two great men and respected leaders in this area. They have strong apostolic relationship with literally hundreds of churches in this area and beyond. We have a great love for each other and mutual trust and respect.

They have been inviting us to come in as often as we can and we are in regular contact with them. We try to go twice a year but time and cost makes it difficult. God opened a new way for us to get there through Grant Hazell’s flying skills and since 2009 we have been able to do one fly-in trip and one drive in trip per year. This has been received with great excitement by the Malawians and Mozambiquens, making history as the Gospel has not reached these areas by air before!

These trips have such wonderful multifaceted effects in every life. When we enter an area we share the Gospel, train and encourage the leaders there to help to serve the Churches in the local area, fulfilling Jesus command to go and make disciples! And what is incredible is how many wonderful ‘side effects’ there are to going. Different people are given opportunities to lead teams and preach, every believer serves and helps to advance God’s kingdom in different ways, you open yourself up to a new life experience which God uses to work big things in your heart, character is built, friendships are formed and lives are changed! 

By the grace of God, the local churches has shown wonderful spiritual growth, over the years of our sowing into them and so we will  continue to build with them and to increase our reach as God leads us into more villages within this region. We have believed it to be good in God to again go into this region twice in 2011. A fly-in trip is planned for the first quarter and a drive in trip for the July holidays to allow more people to get involved.

We would love for you to come along so start praying and planning now and join us in 2011 as we adventure with God on this great journey of advancing His Beautiful Kingdom.

- Francois Coetzee

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