For at least a year I have been overwhelmingly tired, spiritually and emotionally. I have been through a number of tough spiritual battles and my workload has become unsustainable, with no alternative or relief in sight any time soon. I cried out to God for help as I trusted Him and knew that only He had the answer.

I have also been crying out to Father God for about 6 months to show me that He loves me. I longed to experience a revelation of His love as a Father for me. I know all the Scriptures and I know His heart, but my heart yearned for a personal encounter.

I longed to experience a revelation of His love as a Father for me…my heart yearned for a personal encounter.

In September 2022 I received a prophetic word that God was planning something that I could not prepare for – it would be from God, without a doubt. It would be uncomfortable at first, but would turn out to be refreshing. God was excited about it, because it would result in a huge shift in my work and other specific, significant changes.

Out of the blue, in December 2022, God started pressing the Netherlands on my heart. So much so that I could not ignore it any longer and I started to pray about it with my elders. An outreach was not something I would ever have considered myself, for several reasons. To my amazement, I was asked to join the Netherlands outreach team and everything started to make sense. To say it was uncomfortable at first is an understatement. One huge stone that was rolled away was receiving my visa and passport 10 minutes before VFS closed on the Friday afternoon before I was due to fly that Sunday (this in itself is a story of many miracles).

The love of our Living Waters brothers and sisters for Jesus, for one another and for me bowled me over.

The love of our Living Waters brothers and sisters for Jesus, for one another and for me bowled me over. The love I experienced from our outreach team members was heart-warming. I became so aware of how God loves me and how well He knows me to have planned for me to go on this outreach (and the few extra days touring the Netherlands). The ways in which He spoiled and refreshed me on this trip I will never forget, and the new friendships I now have because of this outreach are such a blessing!

While I was there, I was convicted (and confessed it more than once) to give up working on Fridays and give that day to God. Crazy! Then Andrew’s message at the Living Waters Church called “What should you live for?” was the final straw. I hold on to the fact that God can do more with four days a week than I could do with seven, and while it still freaks me out to even think about it, I have taken the leap and chosen to trust Him to redeem my time.

During my 10 days in the Netherlands, the name Jedidiah kept jumping out at me, much like when you read the Bible and one verse captures your heart. I realised that God was trying to say something to me when I kept hearing that name. When I asked around, I was told it is a common Biblical name for a girl in the Netherlands, even though it is what God called Solomon. I looked it up: “…and He sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah (beloved of the Lord) for the sake of the Lord [who loved the child].” (2 Samuel 12:25, AMP). Sjo! I felt that God was revealing to me that He has given me a new name: He calls me Jedidiah, because He loves this child!

He has given me a new name: He calls me Jedidiah, because He loves this child!

Just before I headed back to South Africa, the neighbours of my host (who also know the Lord but knew nothing about me, except that I was part of the team from RSA) blessed me with gifts, including a bracelet with a name tag that says ‘Geliefd” (Beloved) and a mug with 1 John 4:19 on it: “We love because He first loved us.” And inside the stunning card was a message that God the Father loves me dearly and calls me His. My host, Corinne, also wrote me a beautiful message about how much God loves me. Neither of them knew of my prayers about this. How faithful is our God?

“…and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” (2 Corinthians‬ 5‬:15)