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Ministry
Clean Heart Ministries
(Ministry Reborn, 05 April 2018.)
The below is lengthy, but please, please, indulge me
if you will?
(This is an estimated six minute read).
The Lord called me to give my heart to Jesus when I
was 16 years old.
By 18 years old I heard the call to preach and
minister.
By 19 years old I was preaching and in 1990 was
officially received as a Local Preacher in the
church, by the laying on of the hands of fellowship.
Same year Lynn and I married. (Lynn was called to
nursing, now practicing again, years later, after
raising our children).
I preached at up to 3 services a day on Sundays at
times, while working as a computer programmer at Old
Mutual during the week.
My children, Joshua and Amy were born in 1993 & 1995
respectively.
By 1997 I felt pressured into going where I knew the
Lord was not leading, by well-meaning folk, and
eventually resigned from preaching and ministry.
Over time the ministry God had called me to so long
ago, I ran from, but even though I did not heed
God's continuous call back then till now, I can no
longer run and hide. Too many more calls have been
coming along frequently now.
I have preached from time to time and had limited
ministry times after leaving preaching and ministry.
The most memorable and hardest time ever was
performing my Mother's funeral service in 2010.
Partial moments of obedience led me to launch "Clean
Heart Ministries", (South Africa), that was
conceived in 2012.
Been mostly dormant, but the Lord started leading
people in need to us in the last year and a few
before then too.
Since October 2017 the Lord has called me to
intimacy with Him that I cannot begin to understand
or explain right now. Time before the Throne of God
is precious, as I have never before understood. His
Word is nourishment like never before.
Does this mean I have it all together now and am a
"Super Christian"?
Absolutely Not!
If anything, rather now seeing and knowing my
weaknesses much more and Jesus' completed work as a
continuous desperate need for me and every soul.
I believe the Lord is birthing me into the full-time
ministry this year. I don't know absolutely how or
where it is going, but waiting till He moves and
leads.
Through all mentioned above, I've had to learn much,
fail even more, empty everything at times. Loops of
joys, trials, sadness, isolation, failure, sin,
temptation, illness and more.
The Lord led me to give up many things normal to the
world, also many bad things. (Still struggling along
with some things). I believe that was just
introductory training and much more is to come.
Jesus alone will do as He pleases with all the above
mentioned seeds. We need to just humbly wait on the
Lord and as the Bible says, allow the Holy Spirit to
do as He will, as the wind, not knowing where it
comes from or where it goes.
May God's Grace open the gate to this path as He
sees fit.
Below I offer the outline of where the Lord is
leading the call to Clean Heart Ministries and ask
if you may be able
to assist:
________________________________________
Vision:
Philippians 2:4
"not looking to your own interests but each of you
to the interests of the others."
Our Calling:
Faith based and led, immediate hands-on ministry to
those with/in real, desperate and at times urgent
need. Physically meet the need and spiritually show
Jesus is the only permanent solution for all of life
on earth and eternity.
Operational Function:
To be a "Christian Trauma Unit".
To facilitate stabilizing urgent needs that any of
us as humans may face at times throughout life,
sometimes more than once.
Not medical trauma - trauma of the human condition
caused mostly by sin in this world.
Minister Jesus as the only solution.
There is a clear calling to meet present needs of a
person and facilitate a moving of the person out of
"trauma", when stable, to those with a call to
receive them and walk with them.
It is not a call to build a church, but rather to be
there for those who may fall through the cracks of
organized religion.
Focus Areas:
•
Substance abusers in bondage - minister (as per
calling) and send to ministries with the specific
skill and calling to help them. (Focus on
communications to book the person with specific
ministries, facilitate/cover travel costs &
necessities to the place of help. Also to give them
a Bible as a gift for their journey).
We have also recently started looking at other areas
where people are in bondage and in need of
deliverance. We trusting the Lord to help us expand
these areas and will update as we hear.
• "Minor needs" of struggling families or
individuals (good, hard working folk). At times just
R30 prepaid electricity or R100 or so, for food for
last week of month. Maybe a small amount of airtime
to check on their sick child in hospital, while they
have to be working. Also "small helps". Example:
person needing help to get to shops/hospital/etc. or
wherever other minor need, that can make a
difference, that we might not even understand.
Essentially to be present for serving where the Lord
calls, for those who have no more doors to knock on.
Those who everyone has given up on, who are
considered completely lost. Again, as per the
calling, is to lead them to turn to Jesus as the
solution.
• Hospital ministry. Patients and families alike. A
chat, a hug, a prayer or just being there with them.
I've been on both sides of this frequently, gaining
some understanding of how "rough" it can be for
patients and relatives alike. (There is so much more
here, but waiting on the Lord to reveal more).
Additional Areas:
• Teaching as needed or invited.
• Preaching as invited.
• Partnership building with similar small ministries
and mainstream churches, where possible overlaps can
benefit or gaps can be closed.
• Online website with freely available resources,
Biblical teaching and also promotion of other faith
based and well established ministries.
Summary:
The above outline of our calling, functions and
focus, is not to go too large, but rather operate in
faith, in what Jesus has already accomplished by His
life, death and resurrection. Be His body where
called.
We have been ministering part-time as above, without
much (actually, with help from few, who have given
so much) and our estimated operational budget over
some time now has averaged only around R2000 per
month on ministering.
________________________________________
If you want to be part of this ministry in prayer,
hospital visiting, holding us accountable, or any
other way, (functions are needed), then please
contact us on the below email address to book a
meeting to discuss with us:
info@cleanheart.co.za
________________________________________
Finally some brief, developing plans/thoughts:
• We are united as a family to this ministry. Lynn,
Joshua, Amy and me are all lending time, prayer,
effort and commitment.
• We'd like to give feedback via the website on all
work every month (honest feedback - successes or
not).
• We will keep records and for any who ask, we are
open to share where any time/money has been spent in
ministering.
• Plans for email news letter from Clean Heart
Ministries in the future somewhere.
• We need to have good Christian folk keeping us on
track to the call and thus accountable. (Offers
welcome on this).
• We need strong Christians, who love being before
the Throne of God in prayer, to commit to pray for
the protection and work of the ministry. (Offers
welcome).
To anyone who has read this, we covet your prayers
for us and those who the Lord sends to us. Please
consider, a minute a day even, just to lift us
before God or just make mention of the ministry in
prayer.
Bless you in Christ our Lord,
Bernard
Cape Town, South Africa - 05 April 2018
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