Minister of the Gospel Serving South Africa

Jesus…the Ultimate Minister of the Gospel

We can learn a lot from observing Jesus and how he was a minister of the gospel. He spread the Good News of God’s salvation to many. Some regarded him as the true Messiah while others laughed and scorned him. With many examples given in the New Testament on how to be a minister of the gospel, we are enlightened to how we should respond in a Christian way to others who accept Jesus and those who do not. The Lord has been a great encouragement in strength knowing we are never alone, He is our faithful witness. Spread the gospel! Become a minister of the gospel to share Truth with the world!

Called to be a Minister of the Gospel

My name is Vernit S. Holder living in Boland, South Africa. I am a 49 year old Cartoonist & Sign-maker by trade (which is my income job) and a Minister of the Gospel at every opportunity. I am a Spirit filled, Messianic Believer of the Scriptures.

In South Africa it is quite a daunting task to share the simple Good News of the Salvation of God through Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ).
We have many traditional churches and smaller non-denominational churches and groups that have a different agenda than just the Gospel. Some want to make money out of very poor people, some want lots of congregants to give them better status. The religious authorities are very opposed to gospel workers, as they think we are going to take their people away from them. It is not true. Yet, we have religious freedom and can be minister of the gospel to people without fear of government persecution.

Divorced and married again since November 2008. I have two grown-up children and my wife has three. My life change started in June of 1985 and my relationship with my Creator started in August of 1985 when I was a young blaspheming, cursing sailor in the S.A. Navy. I used to follow my own multi-religious philosophy (everybody serves the same god). I tried Buddism, TM and traditional Churchianity. I was hitch-hiking to a friend and a man stopped and picked me up. He introduced himself in a very friendly manner. I thought he was gay and wanted to molest me. At that stage I had just finished reading Hal Lindsay’s Book, “The Late Great Planet Earth.” It scared me. I was unsure of my salvation. I was fearful of death and many such worries went through my mind …and then the “gay-guy” …

Well, he was not gay and immediately asked me, “Do you know Jesus?” I got such a shock. I was stammering and couldn’t answer. I tried to explain that I used to go to church and so on, but it was not a satisfying answer for him. His next question shocked me even more, but it was straight to the point, “Do you want to know Jesus?” I thought of jumping out a moving car, but the question grabbed me; it held my mind. With all my being I longed to know Him. I answered, “YES!” and we stopped and prayed the sinner’s prayer. He then continued to visit me for a few weeks, but I asked him to not come anymore as I started to doubt. Yet, I bought four Bibles shortly after that. A KJV, NIV, 1933/53 Afrikaans and a “Nuwe Vertaling” to help me understand. As I read and started understanding the Wrath of God and the Judgment that is coming, I just started becoming more and more depressed and fearful to the point that I did not even want to cross the road!

One night in August 1985, I was woken by a dark cloud that jumped on me and started choking me. I could not breathe; it was shaking me and slamming my head against the wall. I tried to scream, but not a sound. I realized that I had to pray. I opened my mouth and only the faintest whisper escaped my lips, “J…e…s…u…s!” It was like lightning and the cloud fled the room. I got up out of bed and fell to my knees and prayed, “Dear God, I am so sorry for my sins. I am so sorry that I did not believe in your Holy Spirit, yet I believed in spirits. I am so sorry that I disregarded Your Son and what He has done for a lost world. I accept Jesus as my Owner and Saviour….but please give me deliverance from my blasphemy and my cursing and place new words on my tongue, place Your Word in my mouth. The deliverance will be a sign that You truly saved me. Amen!”

Well, by the end of that day I realized I had a brand new vocabulary and I could remember Scriptures from my younger years in Sunday School.
Since then the desire to bring the GOOD NEWS has burned in my being and I have preached, taught, evangelized, led Home Cells, played in Church Bands, created gospel tracts, written hundreds of letters, prayed for the sick, counselled drunks, drug-addicts and sex-workers, encouraged people to go into ministry, ministered to those in ministry, and for four years (2008-2012) been pastoring a home based church of about 30-40 people. Since 2013 I have been translating Scripture from Aramaic to Afrikaans and scaled down to leading a Home Cell of about 5-8 people.  Our Home Fellowship had to break up due to everybody and us moving all over the world to different towns and countries!

We have seen a need amongst the rural people of the area we live in at present. A need for proper Scripture based teaching. Truth. Powerful deliverance is needed for the poverty stricken, drug-abusive, alcohol-enslaved people of South Africa. There is a tendency amongst our local preachers to want to use their church as a money-making scheme…we disagree aggressively. There is great poverty due to unemployment. So, we even try to help people by employing some and paying them a weekly small income to be able to put food on their tables for their families. Some families have only one person working to feed six to eight people.

We are going to start a larger fellowship for believers and those wanting deliverance from their addictions. We already council people weekly.
Here I am at this stage of life, doing some sort of “official” study.  I identify with calling of Pastor, Teacher, Small Group Leader and Fellowship Planter. To many people credentials are important and I have been advised to get some of those credentials. It may sound disrespectful, but it is not meant that way. I do have the earnest desire to study and be an example to the people we are busy ministering to and those we will be ministering to in the future. It is the decent thing to do; the right thing to do and the Godly order to do things.

Becoming a minister of the gospel would be a great blessing to me. Since we do not earn a high income to be able to afford ministry and living and studying in Africa, CLI’s free internet courses are a big blessing. Perhaps if I were a young man again, someone would consider sponsorship…therefore CLI is truly a Godsend. Please pray that we can press-through in planting a Scripture Teaching fellowship amongst the rural people of South Africa. A fellowship with a Mentor Centre where these poor people who also are called to be a minister of the Gospel can receive this training from CLI. Please pray that we can uphold the employment that we provide for a very few people to help them live and feed their families. Shalom in Yeshua, the Messiah (Jesus Christ).

Become a Minister of the Gospel

With Christian Leaders Institute, we are dedicated to building up revival leaders to become a minister of the gospel! With free online classes, future ministers, pastors, evangelists, church planters, missionaries, and teachers of the Word can greatly increase their biblical knowledge to help prosper the Kingdom of God! Enroll today for this amazing opportunity! Click here to fill out our enrollment form. God bless!

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