The Local Church Grows, in Namibia, Africa.

An update from Josh Kruger Jr., Lead Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Windhoek…

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

It is a joy and privilege to write an update to you about all God is doing with the Sovereign Grace church plant in Namibia, Africa.  In the last year or so I have had the privilege of teaching our membership classes twice and we have also had two subsequent membership intakes. The second membership intake was particularly special not only because we were adding new members, but because it brought great joy to the existing members to covenant with and welcome in the new members as family.

A little more than a year ago we were still gathering in the evenings but since moving our Sunday gatherings to Sunday mornings many more have visited and even joined us. We are now averaging roughly 30 adults and about 10 kids every Sunday (with frequent visitors) and this growth very quickly necessitated a bigger venue.

By God’s grace after a few months of fervent prayer and searching we finally found a venue that suits our needs and we have now been gathering in this venue for about 3 months. It is amazing what a big difference a good venue makes. The new venue immediately resulted in new visitors, which we kind of anticipated. But what really surprised me was how it has brought about a culture of lingering after church.  Many people now hang out and chat for as long as an hour after church which brings great joy to this pastor’s heart.

There were already deep and meaningful relationships and fellowship before, but through this new venue God has truly brought about a sweet season of deeper friendships.  A genuine love and care from every individual for the rest of the body.  There is a tangible unity and a deep desire to be with one another for our Sunday gatherings, community groups and even in our homes. God is busy building lasting friendships and biblical community for which I cannot thank Him enough. 

By God’s grace we have also started dipping our toes into the idea of purchasing land. This quickly went from exploring to fully engaged when a donor stepped up, offering to buy the land. This will still be a long process with the government so please be praying for that.

More recently we were visited by Pastor Matthew Williams from KingsWay Community Church in Richmond, Virginia. This is our sending and planting church. His wife Aliza graciously joined him and they were a tremendous blessing to me and my wife, not to mention the church. Matthew taught on our Pneumatology, lingering on the practicalities of how we might give legs to our convictions. He preached while I got to sit next to my wife (a very rare privilege for the solo planter). And he fielded an open Q&A session which has already born great fruit. All in all our church felt incredibly cared for by the fact that they flew half way around the world to be with us and bring us greetings from KingsWay.

Throughout this church plant there have been times of disappointment and sorrow. But they have been vastly outnumbered by seasons of great joy and hope as we wait. Wait for the church to grow. Wait for people’s lives to be changed. Wait for change in our own lives. Wait on Him for sustenance, mercy and grace. 

In these seasons of waiting passages like Ephesians 5:25-27, Titus 2:13 and Hebrews 9:28 have been great comforts as they remind us that Christ is working in His church, purifying and sanctifying her for His glory so that we can know…so that we can have full assurance of His love and care for His bride, the church for whom He will return!

That being said, while we yet wait on His return, by God’s grace, we long to be a church that not only grows locally, but that can love others enough to sacrificially serve and send. It is my sincere hope that God would use our church in the future to plant more SG churches in Africa so that the gospel may also bear much fruit wherever it is preached.

We give God the glory and honor and praise due His name for the good work He has begun in us, that we know He will bring to completion at the day of Jesus Christ! Amen.