Kingdom Battleplan
During Covid, car salespeople weren’t allowed to sit in on test drives. So here I was, with my wife, sitting behind the wheel of a white BMW with red leather interior (don’t judge me, I was having a midlife crisis!), cruising along the highway, thinking I had finally made it - I mean we had worked hard for this, we deserved it, right? I had been dreaming about owning a vehicle like this for some time. Well, today was the…
During Covid, car salespeople weren’t allowed to sit in on test drives. So here I was, with my wife, sitting behind the wheel of a white BMW with red leather interior (don’t judge me, I was having a midlife crisis!), cruising along the highway, thinking I had finally made it - I mean we had worked hard for this, we deserved it, right? I had been dreaming about owning a vehicle like this for some time. Well, today was the day, driving my dream car wasn’t going to be a fantasy for much longer.
It felt great, for about 15 mins, then my wife turned to me, after sensing the Holy Spirit, and said, ‘so, how long do you think this excitement will last?’. What a question to ask when we have practically bought the car, they weren’t allowing anyone to take cars out for test drives, we were serious buyers and had effectively told the salesman we were buying today! After a quick thought I said, ‘maybe a few months’. Then she said, ‘and what happens after that?’. ‘Well, I guess I will be looking for the next thing’.
In May 2020, my wife and I, in that moment, realised that we weren’t truly living for the Kingdom of God. We had been wrapped up in pursuing worldly treasures that Jesus warned against. We were convicted of our sin and were in need of self-reflection and repentance.
From the outside, we were on fire for God, we tithed, served the church and the wider community around us, my wife is an anointed worship leader who was leading the worship ministry at our church and we were leading a modern monastic Christian Community in London. And yet, somewhere along the line, we had lost track of our purpose on earth, building up personal security around us, not realising that we had one foot in the Kingdom of God and one foot in the kingdom of mammon.
That day, I returned the vehicle to the salesman, and, to his horror, declared the car was ‘ok’, but not for us. We went home, filled with a new passion and zeal, to discuss how we were going to seek first His Kingdom and ‘dream with God’, to be vessels for His glory.
Our discussions led to a joint hunger for discipleship, to equip and empower young adults to reach their full potential, avoiding the pitfalls we had faced, and for them to be focussed fully on their Kingdom assignments. We planned to purchase a building on the south coast of the UK, and develop a Christian Discipleship Programme, housing young adults for 12 months at a time, before sending them out into the mission field.
Our instruction (through dreams and prophetic words) was to sell all that we had, including a lucrative property portfolio, and pool our funds into making this project a reality. This was a daunting and huge task, and like so many in high-income societies, we were planning for retirement and our children’s future, without seeing anything wrong with that. We weren’t particularly sure what the outcome of all this change would be, only that we now had a choice, to follow Gods call or continue on our existing path. Our decision was made, we began to sell our assets, one by one.
We moved our family to the coast in anticipation of our new venture, but unfortunately, things didn’t work out as we had hoped. Planning restrictions and a very sceptical local community threw out our proposals, to the point that we were persecuted in the street, being told that we ‘weren’t welcome here’. The local paper ran an article about us and the perceived tension with the community. It was all very farcical and frustrating. Why would God send us here to be treated like this? Was this not God’s will? We prayed for peace and direction.
In August 2022, we headed to South Africa for a routine visit. My wife was born there, and her family were based in Johannesburg. By this point, we had been trying to purchase the property for 2 years and had failed, spending tens of thousands of pounds in the process, we needed a break and to see family, especially after the long covid interruption.
During this visit, we went to see some friends in Parys, a small town about 90 mins from Johannesburg. They were involved in running a Christian organisation, serving the poor and those most in need in the community. We had been supporting them financially for some time, so it was great to see all that was happening. My wife had been reading prophetic dreams that had been recorded by the main leader, and it had changed her life – we were keen to meet and discuss his thoughts and perspectives. A few days into this visit, my wife and I began, through the Holy Spirit, independently realising this is where we needed to serve. They had land and resources to run a large discipleship programme, but needed leaders. My wife and I needed a place to run these programmes but had nowhere to go. The partnership seemed a heavenly appointment that left us with another big decision to make. By this point, we had already surrendered everything we had, with our hands and hearts fully open to hearing God’s voice. It became clear that our journey was not in vain. Would we have been ready to move to another country if we were still so deeply rooted in the UK? I truly believe we would not have been.
In November 2022, my wife and I left our comfortable lives in the UK, took our kids out of state school, to become full-time missionaries in South Africa. As we transitioned away from perceived safety, God began speaking to me through visions and dreams (specifically in the months of Sep and Oct 2022), and the concept of the Kingdom Battleplan was birthed in my spirit. I have now written a book with the explanation and detailed description of those visions. A few weeks later, I found myself presenting this very concept to 25 or so leaders from the organisation we had travelled to support.
The response was unexpected and simple, ‘this is what we have been waiting for’. The organisation had been in operation for 6 years, was this really the answer they had been waiting for? Why now and why me?
Fast forward to today, my wife and I now lead a group of volunteers committed to delivering the Kingdom Battleplan in our adopted community in South Africa. Our purpose is to raise leaders to raise leaders and break the cycle of poverty by empowering children and young adults to reach their full potential in Christ. Well, by God’s grace, it’s working. We are now engaging with hundreds of children, young adults and their families and working with over 50 young leaders through our Equip programme, which is designed to journey with committed children and young adults in discipleship and leadership training. Their testimonies go beyond anything we could have imagined – may the glory go to God for the opportunity and hard work of all those involved.
We have also begun building and joining together networks of church leaders, organisations, and ministries to create an ecclesia within our region, declaring that we are set apart to pursue His Kingdom first in our lives, in acknowledgment that 'unity commands blessing'.
My wife and I run a ministry called Breakthrough Land NPC (see breakthrough land.org). Our goal is the advance the Kingdom of God through the 4-14yr age group, acknowledging that by empowering the next generation will be our best strategy for breaking the cycles of poverty and tradition. These being the cycles that have suppressed the community in believing that their hope is in man, not God. For photos and videos, please see the website.
My wife and I run a ministry called Breakthrough Land NPC (see breakthrough land.org). Our goal is the advance the Kingdom of God through the 4-14yr age group, acknowledging that by empowering the next generation will be our best strategy for breaking the cycles of poverty and tradition. These being the cycles that have suppressed the community in believing that their hope is in man, not God. For photos and videos, please see the website.
