Teichert Prayer Letter for January

The family of Karl and Jenny Teichert are serving the Lord as missionaries with OC Africa, in South Africa. They moved to Johannesburg in November, 1997 with their four children; Ann, Scott, Stephen and John. Karl serves as the Southern Africa Director of the Southern Africa Regional Team. Their vision is to see a healthy, Bible-based church established in every un-reached village and community in South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia and beyond. Their strategy is to partner with key African church leaders to research, train, and mobilize the body of Christ to complete the Great Commission. They are striving to equip local leaders in Southern Africa to reach their nations for Christ and send missionaries into other countries as well.

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January/February 2015 ... The Challenge of Disciple-making in South Africa

Dear family and friends,

The Church in South Africa is facing a “discipleship crisis.” Christi anity is marked by numerical growth without the same level of spiritual maturity. The zeal to go wider has not been matched by the commitment to go deeper. The problem stems from an undisciplined, undiscipled, disobedient, and Biblically ignorant church of Jesus Christ.

Last November, Karl was invited to facilitate a session on the Challenge of Disciple-making in South Africa at the Township Missions Conference in Cape Town. It was a tremendous opportunity to highlight the urgent need for effective disciple-making movements in South Africa today. Karl highlighted Christ’s disciple-making strategy to spread the gospel by making disciples who learn to obey the Word of God and quickly make other disciples to do the same. Mark 3:14 states, Christ “appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.” The effect of Christ’s intentional life-on-life discipleship with Peter and John was expressed by the religious officials in Acts 4:13, “when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Drugs, alcohol, prostitution, violent crime, and gangs are a chronic problem in the townships. Young people are attracted to gangs to find identity and affirmation. As part of the session, Karl invited three men to share how they came to Christ and how they are making disciples in the townships of Cape Town. Sibu, Denzil, and Siya grew up in an environment of gangs and drugs. Their parents and even grandparents were drug-dealers. Denzil shared how his own brother shot him through the head in front of their home as a gang initiation. Denzil miraculously survived, but his brother was later killed by other gang members. Each of these men spent many years in prison for violent crimes, but aft er their release, God has given them a vision to give back to their communities. They are building relationships and starting evangelistic Bible discussion groups with gang leaders that no one else can reach. Through their genuine love for Christ, they have been able to initiate Discovery Bible groups with influential leaders that are impacting their network of relationships. Please pray that God will continue to use these brothers to multiply disciple-making groups and transform lives in the townships.

After the conference, several participants expressed a desire to learn more about disciple-making in their communities. Karl will be presenting a follow-up workshop the last week of February. Please pray for God’s wisdom as he facilitates this training and that many will start disciple-making movements in their area.

Thank you for partnering with us through your prayers and financial support. God is at work and you are a vital part in his mission plan. We are grateful for you!

Thank you for your faithful partnership in the Lord’s mission!

For His glory,

Karl and Jenny

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OC Africa is an interdenominational ministry committed to developing, equipping, and mobilizing church leaders to multiply healthy, Bible-based churches in every community in Southern Africa and the world. OC is a faith-based mission who depends on the Lord to provide committed, financial supporters and partners. The contributions from these individuals help generate ministry opportunities around the world, impact missionaries and their global work, and provide a means for the International Mobilization Center to function. CLICK HERE to learn how YOU can be a part of mobilizing church leaders around the world by donating to OC.