This year, many saints and leaders have stretched their faith to go on local and international outreaches, trusting in God for the finances and leave to go. Here are some faith-building testimonies from faith-filled saints who felt called to go on an outreach and dared to put their hope in God to provide the rest.
Testimonies
Sivu Ndzuta
(Oxygen Life Church, South Africa)
Last year, I felt a stirring in my heart to go on an outreach. I felt I had grown sluggish and needed to trust for an outreach trip outside of my country. But yho, did I get stretched!
As I kept an eye on the Four12 events page, the outreach to Spartanburg, South Carolina, popped up. My heart leapt within me, and I shared this with my leaders and signed up to join the team.
I felt the Lord encourage me to use what is in my hand, like the widow who only had one jar of oil. She responded in faith by gathering jars from her neighbours and filling them all from the one small jar.
I felt to invite people to partner with me as I stepped out in faith and to trust the Lord to pick the people to link hearts with me on this. People in my church, family, co-workers and even friends of friends supported the fundraising efforts. People gave of their skills so that we could host a music evening, and others gave art so that I could have a raffle. Tickets from these events, sales from beanies I made, donations and savings all added up to cover all the costs involved.
God’s provision in all of this has taught me to trust Him and rest in Him, which is such a beautiful gift – plus the friendships that have been formed with the saints in Spartanburg.
Simon Ferrandi
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
It’s difficult to sum up how lavish the Lord was in the way that He provided for us to go on this trip––both in faith and finances.
We first met Peter and Patrick (elders in Heritage Church) on our JoshGen City Bowl camp back in May 2022. We were deeply moved by what God was doing in their church in the US. When the possibility of the outreach was announced a few months later, Dayna and I very quickly felt a desire to be a part of the team.
The first big hurdle I had to overcome was finding faith for the trip in the face of what seemed like unattainable funds, and for a few months, my faith waxed and waned in light of this. However, Jesus was incredibly kind in the way that He revealed my misplaced dependence: I was completely relying on my own abilities to generate the required amount of money.
Through several strategic and unexpected financial gifts, He solidified my faith by revealing His generous heart and confirming that it was Him who had first placed the desire in me to go. An example of this was when we received an anonymous envelope from someone in our congregation containing the exact amount of cash needed to book my visa appointment.
Dayna-Gay Ferrandi
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
Once Simon’s faith was stirred and he committed to fully trusting God, we then turned our focus to using the little that we had in our hands. It was a “five loaves and two fish” situation, for sure!
We are both creative people: I am a full-time artist and Simon is an architect (read: undercover artist). God gave me the idea to raffle off two of my artworks, and we also decided to create a collection of artworks and host a joint exhibition in our church building.
We never could have expected the way our church community and families rallied around us in support of both the raffle and the exhibition. People gave generously of their time, wisdom, encouragement, prayers, and finances. When all the numbers added up at the end of the day, we had exactly what we needed, down to the final dollar!
Safe to say, we have both been changed through this experience. Our faith in God as provider has been strengthened in a mighty way and we pray our testimony encourages others to trust for big things––because He can.
We are called to live a supernatural life, let’s live it!
Khensani Gaisa
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
In October 2022, when it was announced that there would be an outreach to the USA, I immediately felt stirred to go. Despite being a full-time student who doesn’t earn an income, that day, full of faith, I told my elder that I was going to go on the outreach.
At the beginning of 2023, I had my own ideas about how God was going to provide for my trip, all of which required very little faith on my part. I felt God remind me, though, that He is my provider. When the plans that I had made to finance my trip fell through, I was left with nothing but that gentle reminder and the knowledge that nothing is too hard for Him.
For my birthday in May, my church family got together and surprised me with over half the amount of money I needed for my ticket to the US. After this, my dear friend and incredible artist, Dayna-Gay, gifted me with a painting to raffle off in order to raise funds for the outreach. Another dear friend and talented make-up artist, Kristin, offered her makeup services to be raffled off. I advertised these raffles on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, and I was blown away at the generosity of friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers in buying raffle tickets. With the money from my birthday combined with the money from the raffles, I had above and beyond what I needed for the trip. The Lord provided creatively and abundantly, and showed me in a tangible way that He truly is my provider.
Francois Faasen
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
We have been in a very tight and difficult financial spot for the last year and a half after moving to Bethlehem for the church plant, and we did not know how to start raising funds. As we prayed, we settled in our hearts that if we needed to use our savings, we would be content. But God was so faithful!
With very little effort, God used people to bless us with our plane tickets and every cent that we needed for the trip. God then also provided MORE than we needed, and we were able to give an extra R8,500 to the team as there was a need. In the days before we left, God provided for the whole team! There are many testimonies and details within the story, and also the team, of God’s faithfulness and how He provided. It’s amazing!
Lukas Tshehla
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
When the American outreach was announced, I remember saying in my heart, ‘This is the time.’ I had made a promise to Peter Klause, from Heritage Church in San Clemente, that if there was an outreach to America, I would be on that team. It took a few weeks to put my name down as a candidate but I was picked, and the next step was getting a US visa and saving money for a ticket and other expenses.
I desired to do both legs of the outreach (first JoshGen Upstate in South Carolina and then Heritage Church in California), but suppressed it because of limited leave and finances. I later felt God say that I must apply for both, which I did.
Three days before the trip, I had been given the full amount of leave and my visa and passport were ready, but I still didn’t have money to buy a ticket. God tested my faith, because every door I had explored to try to pay for my ticket was closed, and when I was done, God proved Himself faithful. At the last minute, a friend paid for my ticket! I’d like to encourage everyone that when God calls you to do something, He will come through for you. The Scripture He made alive to me was, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)
Estee Truter
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
I made countless efforts this year to get an income, as I knew I’d need finances to go on the Kwa-Zulu Natal outreach. Asking my parents wasn’t an option for me–I wanted to make it happen without any help and without being a burden. However, as the time grew closer for the finances to be in, and all my efforts had proven to be unsuccessful, I started to lose hope and began reconciling myself with the idea that I’d have to pull out of the outreach. Deep down I knew that that wasn’t what the Lord wanted me to do; in fact, He wanted me to put my pride to one side and reach out and ask for help. To rely on Him to provide. This challenged me immensely, but what helped was knowing that this wasn’t about my reputation but about the work that I’d be doing for His kingdom. Within about three days I had received all the finances I needed, plus more!
Isabel van Zyl
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
The Lord told me to make material shopping bags, which I named ‘Reborn’, and I started selling them to cover the cost of the outreach. It was only God’s amazing provision. In total I sold 110 bags. Some people would buy the bags and pay the exact amount while others would pay for more bags than they had ordered, and then some money was paid into my account without bags having even been purchased. Even after all the bags were sold, money continued to be paid into my account until the full amount needed was reached. I have never experienced provision like this and I knew it was only the Lord. He is so faithful.
Cristin Henckert
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
I had no money for the outreach to Zambia and, at first, I didn’t see any money coming in. But then the Lord encouraged me to put my faith in Him and bring what I have. So, I started making pancakes and selling them at church. Within a month, all the money was provided (from people in the church, people back home sponsoring, and only a small amount from the pancake sales 🤣). The Lord came through massively.
Amy De Raedt
(Oxygen Life Church, South Africa)
The Lord completely provided for this trip. He provided a lecturing contract which ended up covering the exact amount I needed for my visa appointment. He provided–through two incredibly generous individuals–my ticket costs, and during my time there I was blessed above and beyond all my expectations. He also provided a way for me to take leave, and provided in so many other small (but really big!) details.
Nicholas Fiamingo
(Joshua Generation Church, South Africa)
A couple of months into 2023, I felt a stirring in my spirit to go on the USA outreach but didn’t commit or even pray about it until I crashed a coffee my dad was having with Lon Wheelan. Lon encouraged me to have faith for the outreach and not let finances keep me from going. I was really stirred and did some research but landed on, “I don’t have the finances right now therefore I cannot go”. So I stopped preparing myself and praying about it for more than a month. Then, out of the blue, I felt quite a strong conviction of the Holy Spirit that I was getting in the way of His plan for me to go on this outreach. I was then sure that He wanted me to go.
I started the ball rolling by contacting some people I knew in San Clemente, California, to ask if they would host me. Once they said yes, I confirmed with Luke Hulley that there was still space on the outreach for me, but I needed a visa and there were two problems with that. One was that the earliest visa appointment was for the 28th of June, which was well after the outreach. The other issue was that I had just enough money to pay for the appointment, but then no money to buy plane tickets. I was at a crossroads and once again thought I might need to abandon the whole thing. It took me three days to finally book the visa appointment, and I did so as an act of obedience to the Lord, whether I got an earlier date or not. Lo and behold, God came through within a matter of hours with an opening for four days later! And hallelujah, my visa was approved in record time, totally because of God.
I now had some pretty gnarly hope that somehow the Lord was going to make a way. But I had no finances, and in the first few weeks of trusting and interceding for finances, it was looking grim. Then, miraculously, I started receiving deposits in my bank account from family, people I knew and people I didn’t know. When I had received about two thirds of the amount I needed, I thought that the logical thing to do would be to combine that money with our savings to book tickets while they were still relatively cheap. I shared this idea with my parents, but my dad responded by asking me if that was the same level of faith that I had had coming into this or whether something had changed. I was instantly convicted and repented of letting my own logic and practicality get in the way of what the Lord wanted to do. So I was back at trusting for the rest of the finances. Within a short period of time I had received 12 deposits in total from various places–enough to book my plane ticket. I was absolutely blown away by how quickly the Lord made a way. I was able to book my flights around 2 weeks before I had to fly.
Testimonies
Sivu Ndzuta
(Oxygen Life Church,
South Africa)
Last year, I felt a stirring in my heart to go on an outreach. I felt I had grown sluggish and needed to trust for an outreach trip outside of my country. But yho, did I get stretched!
As I kept an eye on the Four12 events page, the outreach to Spartanburg, South Carolina, popped up. My heart leapt within me, and I shared this with my leaders and signed up to join the team.
I felt the Lord encourage me to use what is in my hand, like the widow who only had one jar of oil. She responded in faith by gathering jars from her neighbours and filling them all from the one small jar.
I felt to invite people to partner with me as I stepped out in faith and to trust the Lord to pick the people to link hearts with me on this. People in my church, family, co-workers and even friends of friends supported the fundraising efforts. People gave of their skills so that we could host a music evening, and others gave art so that I could have a raffle. Tickets from these events, sales from beanies I made, donations and savings all added up to cover all the costs involved.
God’s provision in all of this has taught me to trust Him and rest in Him, which is such a beautiful gift – plus the friendships that have been formed with the saints in Spartanburg.
Simon Ferrandi
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
It’s difficult to sum up how lavish the Lord was in the way that He provided for us to go on this trip––both in faith and finances.
We first met Peter and Patrick (elders in Heritage Church) on our JoshGen City Bowl camp back in May 2022. We were deeply moved by what God was doing in their church in the US. When the possibility of the outreach was announced a few months later, Dayna and I very quickly felt a desire to be a part of the team.
The first big hurdle I had to overcome was finding faith for the trip in the face of what seemed like unattainable funds, and for a few months, my faith waxed and waned in light of this. However, Jesus was incredibly kind in the way that He revealed my misplaced dependence: I was completely relying on my own abilities to generate the required amount of money.
Through several strategic and unexpected financial gifts, He solidified my faith by revealing His generous heart and confirming that it was Him who had first placed the desire in me to go. An example of this was when we received an anonymous envelope from someone in our congregation containing the exact amount of cash needed to book my visa appointment.
Dayna-Gay Ferrandi
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
Once Simon’s faith was stirred and he committed to fully trusting God, we then turned our focus to using the little that we had in our hands. It was a “five loaves and two fish” situation, for sure!
We are both creative people: I am a full-time artist and Simon is an architect (read: undercover artist). God gave me the idea to raffle off two of my artworks, and we also decided to create a collection of artworks and host a joint exhibition in our church building.
We never could have expected the way our church community and families rallied around us in support of both the raffle and the exhibition. People gave generously of their time, wisdom, encouragement, prayers, and finances. When all the numbers added up at the end of the day, we had exactly what we needed, down to the final dollar!
Safe to say, we have both been changed through this experience. Our faith in God as provider has been strengthened in a mighty way and we pray our testimony encourages others to trust for big things––because He can.
We are called to live a supernatural life, let’s live it!
Khensani Gaisa
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
In October 2022, when it was announced that there would be an outreach to the USA, I immediately felt stirred to go. Despite being a full-time student who doesn’t earn an income, that day, full of faith, I told my elder that I was going to go on the outreach.
At the beginning of 2023, I had my own ideas about how God was going to provide for my trip, all of which required very little faith on my part. I felt God remind me, though, that He is my provider. When the plans that I had made to finance my trip fell through, I was left with nothing but that gentle reminder and the knowledge that nothing is too hard for Him.
For my birthday in May, my church family got together and surprised me with over half the amount of money I needed for my ticket to the US. After this, my dear friend and incredible artist, Dayna-Gay, gifted me with a painting to raffle off in order to raise funds for the outreach. Another dear friend and talented make-up artist, Kristin, offered her makeup services to be raffled off. I advertised these raffles on WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, and I was blown away at the generosity of friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers in buying raffle tickets. With the money from my birthday combined with the money from the raffles, I had above and beyond what I needed for the trip. The Lord provided creatively and abundantly, and showed me in a tangible way that He truly is my provider.
Francois Faasen
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
We have been in a very tight and difficult financial spot for the last year and a half after moving to Bethlehem for the church plant, and we did not know how to start raising funds. As we prayed, we settled in our hearts that if we needed to use our savings, we would be content. But God was so faithful!
With very little effort, God used people to bless us with our plane tickets and every cent that we needed for the trip. God then also provided MORE than we needed, and we were able to give an extra R8,500 to the team as there was a need. In the days before we left, God provided for the whole team! There are many testimonies and details within the story, and also the team, of God’s faithfulness and how He provided. It’s amazing!
Lukas Tshehla
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
When the American outreach was announced, I remember saying in my heart, ‘This is the time.’ I had made a promise to Peter Klause, from Heritage Church in San Clemente, that if there was an outreach to America, I would be on that team. It took a few weeks to put my name down as a candidate but I was picked, and the next step was getting a US visa and saving money for a ticket and other expenses.
I desired to do both legs of the outreach (first JoshGen Upstate in South Carolina and then Heritage Church in California), but suppressed it because of limited leave and finances. I later felt God say that I must apply for both, which I did.
Three days before the trip, I had been given the full amount of leave and my visa and passport were ready, but I still didn’t have money to buy a ticket. God tested my faith, because every door I had explored to try to pay for my ticket was closed, and when I was done, God proved Himself faithful. At the last minute, a friend paid for my ticket! I’d like to encourage everyone that when God calls you to do something, He will come through for you. The Scripture He made alive to me was, “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24)
Estee Truter
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
I made countless efforts this year to get an income, as I knew I’d need finances to go on the Kwa-Zulu Natal outreach. Asking my parents wasn’t an option for me–I wanted to make it happen without any help and without being a burden. However, as the time grew closer for the finances to be in, and all my efforts had proven to be unsuccessful, I started to lose hope and began reconciling myself with the idea that I’d have to pull out of the outreach. Deep down I knew that that wasn’t what the Lord wanted me to do; in fact, He wanted me to put my pride to one side and reach out and ask for help. To rely on Him to provide. This challenged me immensely, but what helped was knowing that this wasn’t about my reputation but about the work that I’d be doing for His kingdom. Within about three days I had received all the finances I needed, plus more!
Isabel van Zyl
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
The Lord told me to make material shopping bags, which I named ‘Reborn’, and I started selling them to cover the cost of the outreach. It was only God’s amazing provision. In total I sold 110 bags. Some people would buy the bags and pay the exact amount while others would pay for more bags than they had ordered, and then some money was paid into my account without bags having even been purchased. Even after all the bags were sold, money continued to be paid into my account until the full amount needed was reached. I have never experienced provision like this and I knew it was only the Lord. He is so faithful.
Cristin Henckert
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
I had no money for the outreach to Zambia and, at first, I didn’t see any money coming in. But then the Lord encouraged me to put my faith in Him and bring what I have. So, I started making pancakes and selling them at church. Within a month, all the money was provided (from people in the church, people back home sponsoring, and only a small amount from the pancake sales 🤣). The Lord came through massively.
Amy De Raedt
(Oxygen Life Church,
South Africa)
The Lord completely provided for this trip. He provided a lecturing contract which ended up covering the exact amount I needed for my visa appointment. He provided–through two incredibly generous individuals–my ticket costs, and during my time there I was blessed above and beyond all my expectations. He also provided a way for me to take leave, and provided in so many other small (but really big!) details.
Nicholas Fiamingo
(Joshua Generation Church,
South Africa)
A couple of months into 2023, I felt a stirring in my spirit to go on the USA outreach but didn’t commit or even pray about it until I crashed a coffee my dad was having with Lon Wheelan. Lon encouraged me to have faith for the outreach and not let finances keep me from going. I was really stirred and did some research but landed on, “I don’t have the finances right now therefore I cannot go”. So I stopped preparing myself and praying about it for more than a month. Then, out of the blue, I felt quite a strong conviction of the Holy Spirit that I was getting in the way of His plan for me to go on this outreach. I was then sure that He wanted me to go.
I started the ball rolling by contacting some people I knew in San Clemente, California, to ask if they would host me. Once they said yes, I confirmed with Luke Hulley that there was still space on the outreach for me, but I needed a visa and there were two problems with that. One was that the earliest visa appointment was for the 28th of June, which was well after the outreach. The other issue was that I had just enough money to pay for the appointment, but then no money to buy plane tickets. I was at a crossroads and once again thought I might need to abandon the whole thing. It took me three days to finally book the visa appointment, and I did so as an act of obedience to the Lord, whether I got an earlier date or not. Lo and behold, God came through within a matter of hours with an opening for four days later! And hallelujah, my visa was approved in record time, totally because of God.
I now had some pretty gnarly hope that somehow the Lord was going to make a way. But I had no finances, and in the first few weeks of trusting and interceding for finances, it was looking grim. Then, miraculously, I started receiving deposits in my bank account from family, people I knew and people I didn’t know. When I had received about two thirds of the amount I needed, I thought that the logical thing to do would be to combine that money with our savings to book tickets while they were still relatively cheap. I shared this idea with my parents, but my dad responded by asking me if that was the same level of faith that I had had coming into this or whether something had changed. I was instantly convicted and repented of letting my own logic and practicality get in the way of what the Lord wanted to do. So I was back at trusting for the rest of the finances. Within a short period of time I had received 12 deposits in total from various places–enough to book my plane ticket. I was absolutely blown away by how quickly the Lord made a way. I was able to book my flights around 2 weeks before I had to fly.
