Testing, Testing… is this thing on…?

Date: 9/10/2024

Dear friend, 

Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list. It is humbling for us that you would like to share in what the Lord is doing in our lives. Thank you. We want this to be a space in which we can share quick updates on the ministry. 

To that end: 

• Renée is VERY pregnant at this stage… like 36 weeks, no-longer-moving-without-a-groan, waddling pregnant. And we are so excited about it! What a privilege to be blessed with another little life. Thank you Jesus.
• I (Willem, the husband) have learned how to tie string around artworks and wrap tissue paper. If you ever saw my wrapping prior to this, you would be really impressed ;) By God’s wonderful grace, I also had the opportunity to share my first sermon this past Sunday at our small farming community church in Komga - thank you Jesus!
• Rebekah and Noah are doing very well - sharing lives, parents, and toys is a journey they are still on. Very much still on. But they have, however, adapted to our new environment quite well (For those who do not know, we recently moved to the Eastern Cape province). Let’s be real though, having the beach as a neighbourhood park is a massive blessing.

We are so grateful for the community that the Lord has surrounded us with here in these short few weeks. It is amazing to feel His hands and feet through strangers dropping off meals, to gifting us coffee vouchers, and borrowing us of their furniture and appliances. 

Not everything has been rosy and perfect though, setting up a brand new business in a new city with a pregnant wife and two small kids certainly presents its challenges. We have also just been aware of the brokenness and need that surrounds us here. Of course, need and brokenness is found in every heart that does not know Jesus, but as a result of poor governance, generational poverty, and bad decisions, people here are desperate for ways to ease the pain. Unfortunately, they often resort to violent means. Just tonight, the Lord came to minister to us with Psalm 46: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…”

We are constantly asking the Lord in which ways He wants to use inlyn. We want inlyn to be a platform for Him to move through. We are starting out and of course we are still finding our way, but this week the Lord really challenged us to find ways to ensure that inlyn is marked for its generosity, and not its profitability. We want Him. We want His business principles. We want Him to birth it, to breathe on it, and to sustain it. There are lots of pretty artworks in the world today. There are lots of Christian artists in the world today. We are not looking for an “angle” or a market, though of course these things can be important when you run a business. We are looking for the Man with Fire in His Eyes. For Him to be honoured through everything we do, for we know that if we achieve this one goal, the rest God will take care of. 

Thank you again. For reading, for subscribing, for loving Jesus. He is the only One found worthy.