ARISE! SHINE!
"Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising..."
Isaiah 60:1-3
Reni, Ukraine.
A port city on the banks of the Danube.
This city was once during Soviet times hidden from the rest of the world, not even appearing on maps. Yet now the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ is shining brightly!
Welcome to Christian Revival Church "Light for the world"!
"Свет Миру" (Light for the world) is a church in Ukraine planted by missionaries from South Africa. Many people think of God and immediately think of buildings and religious rituals. Yet Father God reveals His plans for another house, His dream of a glorious temple, not built with bricks, but lovely, living stones, shining in the dark. It started as a dream in the heart of our Father, who breathed the stars and the planets into existence, and yet He chooses ordinary, small, frail people to make His dreams come true...
So this is where Ockert and Michele came into the picture 13 years ago...
Father God gave them His vision for this city situated on the borders of Ukraine, Romania and Moldova. Now they are living to reach the lost for Christ: these are the real treasures of our world!
Ockert and Michele have 5 children: Hannes-Joshua (13), Cilliers (11), Mari-Alena (8), Benjamin Cor (7) and Ivan (3).
Share this dream and journey on the next few pages...
Father's dream of treasures in the dark
Ukraine, once a republic of the former Soviet Union, is a place where people are struggling with a legacy of years and years of opression, bloodshed, betrayal, poverty... There is no hope in their eyes. But there are treasures hidden in the darkness that seems to be so prevailing. And yet it is very hard to discern the potential locked up in a discarded baby, rejected by his very own parents and doomed to a life of abuse, poverty, alcoholism and crime... But they are treasures nonetheless! What else could have caused a distinguished law scholar - once a star matriculant with 8 distinctions, honored as the best law student in South Africa in 1988, a doctor in law with 4 degrees by the age of 27and a senior lecturer at Johannesburg University - to leave all this behind and step out into the unknown with his beautiful wife and five children?
Treasures like Bogdan. His name is translated "gift from God". His mother left him at the hospital after birth and for a whole year he was rolling from side to side in a hospital crib without human touch and only the very basic sanitary care. Today Bogdan has a father and a mother in a family-type orphanage in a well-equipped house started by the Potgieters. He is daily attending the nursery school also started by the Potgieters with his other brothers and sister together with 70 other poor children from Reni. His eyes are shining now. He has a future!
Communism left a deep scar in the lives of millions of people. It covered a whole nation in darkness. But there are treasures in the dark! Join the work of these two bold people and see how these treasures are uncovered: one by one.
We believe in this vision, this dream. Father God is making His dream come true through...
* a Nursery school for underpriveleged children,
* Two family-type orphanages,
* A pregnancy crises center,
* A weekly youth program on local television,
* Upliftment and counseling of those with addictions,
* Work creation opportunities.
Interview/Onderhoud
Presies waar in die wereld bevind julle julleself? Reni is ‘n hawestad aan die Donaurivier. Dit is in die suidweste van Oekraine, eens een van die republieke van die Sowjet Unie.
Where exactly are you situated? Reni is a port on the Danube river. It is located in the southwestern part of Ukraine, a former republic of the Soviet Union.
Hoe het julle sendelinge geword en daar beland? Ockert het regte gestudeer en klas gegee by ‘n universiteit en Michele was onderwyseres toe die Here ons geroep het. Hy het letterlik ons harte vol gemaak met ‘n onuitspreekbare liefde vir die stukkende, verlore mense wat so lank gely het onder die juk van kommunisme. Ons het gebid dat Vader ons sal wys waar om heen te gaan en Hy het belowe dat hy duidelik vir ons sal wys. “n Buurvrou het ons uitgenooi vir ete en daar was “toevallig” ‘n swart broer uit Zimbabwe wat in Oekraine studeer het en ‘n brief gehad het van sy vriende in die klein stadjie aan die Donau wat smeek dat mense daar sal kom uireik...
How did you become missionaries and how did you end up in Reni? Ockert studied law and was lecturing at a university while Michele was a teacher when the lord called us. He literally filled our hearts with an unexpressable love for the broken and lost people who had suffered so long under the yoke of communism. We prayed that Father would show us where He wanted us to go and He promised to lead us clearly. A neighbour invited us for dinner and '"coincidentally" there was a black brother from Zimbabwe who studied in Ukraine and he had a letter from his friends in a small city on the Danube who were begging for a missions outreach to their city...
Hoe lank is julle al daar? 13 jaar. Deur die ys en sneeu en die warm somers. Die stofstrate en die wintersdae sonder elektrisiteit. Deur alles saam met Jesus!
How long have you been working there? 13 years. Through the ice and snow and hot summers. The dusty streets and winters without electricity. Through it all with Jesus!
Presies wat doen julle in Reni? Ons het 'n kerk geplant: “Lig vir die wereld”. Daar is selgroepe. Verder het ons 'n kleuterskool begin vir arm kindertjies wat dag na dag sonder toesig en honger op die strate deurbring (tans 70 kinders in die kleuterskool). God het dit op ons harte geplaas om kinderhuise te begin (vir weggooikindertjies) – tans is daar twee sulke gesinne met onderskeidelik 5 en 4 kindertjies. Ons reik uit na skole en hospitale, het 'n anti-aborsie kliniek begin en het ook 'n televisieprogram op die plaaslike televisie met die naam “Alive!”.
What exactly are you doing in Reni? We planted a church called "Light for the world". We have home churches. We also started a kindergarten for the poor kids who are daily hungry and without any supervision on the streets (we currently have 70 children in the kindergarten). God placed the small babies that are cast away on our hearts and we started two orphanges (family type) with respectively 5 and 4 children. We reach out to schools and hospitals and started an anti-abortion centre. Furthermore we have a program on local television called "Alive".