Category: Blog

Fouries in Los Angeles Week 7&8

January 4, 2023 jeandrefourie Blog 12 Comments

“how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 9:14

Interesting times lie ahead folks I’m sure of that! I believe we are coming to a crossroads with regard to biblical Christianity and what I will call moralistic religiosity. Moralism I believe is where individuals and societies put constraints on one another as they attempt to create an “atmosphere” of right and wrong according to their likes and dislikes. Many such societies receive their guidance from biblical principles and believe that living as closely to the bible as they possibly can without being conformed to the requirements of God’s Son the Lord Jesus Christ will advance their greatest needs in life without accountability. Therefore individual’s as long as they have not been harmed by various “injustices” will desire to have morals and principles that they ordain as right leading to relativism. Relativism is one of the evils of our day because it makes truth and experiences subjective and seeks to deny God and His overwhelming revelation to us.

When we make truth relative we deny accountability, hope, reason, logic, love, objectivity and the like. God in His mercy has revealed the truth to us in four simple yet profound primary ways, namely Creation, Conscience, the Scriptures and Jesus Christ. To deny any of these is to deny the facts of history and therefore fall into a trap of humanism and its many failings in answering the very important questions of life. Remember that God took on flesh in the person of Jesus confirming this event through many prophesies thousands of years before the actual event and this was simply to bring light into the world (John 1:4), preach the good news (Mark 1:14-15), reveal the Father (John 17:3) and by His death make the captive free (John 8:36).

We all need to be cleansed from sin and dead works through the blood of Christ by faith. Something we hate to even consider but that needs to challenge the very fibre of our beings. Our consciences are defiled and leave us stranded and helpless before a just and holy God and therefore I encourage each and every one of us to look at the overwhelming proof of the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This means that fear, bondage, slavery, and being beholden to our own desires and sinfulness continue to separate us from a holy God and His just requirements. We all know Jesus died on the cross, but it is time to determine why? The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). This is the message of the cross folks!

Seek Him in earnestness! It will change your life forever, I promise you 😊

 

 

 

Oh Yes, I found a serious Kit-Kat!!! → → →

Ministry and Fellowship Update

We have had a blessed two weeks full of fellowship and service of the Lord. First up, some of the folk in the church play in a local softball league and we joined them on Monday evening to support them which was a blessing. It was extremely cold and the weather countrywide as most of you know has been unreal. California has received a lot of rain for the first time in many years. The rain has been an absolute blessing however there are issues locally in Los Angeles with drainage (actually statewide) which has caused some flooding.

We then had our Christmas day service and potluck and both encouraged us tremendously. I was blessed to be able to share on “the necessity of the Incarnation” and the fellowship and food were amazing! We had Tamales, pulled pork, shortbread and cheesecake to name a few. We then took a drive to Calabasas and Malibu the following day. We drove down the Malibu canyon and ended up in Malibu and its surroundings. The drive was beautiful! We drove past Pepperdine University and decided to stop in. Unfortunately, they are re-tarring the roads and we were therefore denied entry and so we will have to go back next time. We then took the coastal road from the Malibu area to Santa Monica and drove to Malibu Pier then after a long time in the car driving back to the Valley (where we are) via Mullholland drive up to Burbank and then Sun Valley. Kelly and I had a great time together!

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Lastly, we had a busy week and were blessed to share a meal with Clay and Cindy whom both celebrated their birthdays. We went to a typical American diner and the fellowship and food were excellent! Please continue to pray for the folk here as there are some of us that are growing closer.

The new year has come and I hope and pray that it is a blessed one for each and every one of us. I have the conviction that as a church and people who profess Christ, we need diligence, humility, and tenacity. I believe we are void of diligence and need to at all costs seek and serve the Lord with diligence. The Lord says if you seek Him with your whole heart you will find Him. Also, Paul writes to his protégé Timothy and says that we must be diligent to present ourselves approved to God, workers who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).

Please continue to pray for us and we send all our love to you with big hugs and kisses!

Shalom!

Fourie’s in Los Angeles week 5-6

December 19, 2022 jeandrefourie Blog 7 Comments

Week 5 & 6 (Blog Update)

The grace and love of our Lord Jesus never cease to amaze me. It is that personal saving relationship that the Christian is offered when he comes to faith in who Jesus is and trusts in the atoning work of the cross. It is here where the skeptic is met with many conflicts in his heart, soul, and mind in understanding the need for Jesus’ incarnation, death, burial, and resurrection, which then takes us to the very question of our existence and why we are who we are. Every philosopher and every worldview needs to answer four extremely important questions coherently and logically and those are origin, meaning, morality and destiny. That means we need to consider:

  • Where are we from?
  • Why are we here?
  • Where do we get a unique sense of morality from?
  • Where are we going when we die?

The Christian worldview is the only worldview that can answer these questions coherently as revealed not only in History but in the scriptures, which have been well kept and preserved for over 3500 years. Now, this is not a lesson in philosophy or theology but a reminder of this time of the year when we celebrate the birth of God incarnate, Jesus Christ. The One who in the counsels of eternity past declared that He would be sent to this earth as an innocent infant, blameless, spotless, and sinless throughout His life to preach the gospel and good news to man declaring that there is hope, forgiveness, and salvation at the cross of Calvary! A redemption never heard of and one that will never be heard of again, complete and gifted to the whole world in one simple and profound statement – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16. Hallelujah!

The last two weeks have been very interesting and as always an absolute blessing as we have been shown an abundance of grace and mercy by Almighty God. We were off to the DMV and I applied for my Real ID which will hopefully be coming soon by mail. Yes folks, mail still works here. Kelly went back to her young adult years in a moment of madness! She had to according to Californian law, redo her driver’s license, not only replacing it with her South African driver’s license but having to learn the ropes from the beginning. We were off to the DMV (department of motor vehicles) to get Kelly a learner’s license book and a driver’s handbook. She studied for two days and then wrote her test with a bunch of 16-year-olds (haha). Praise the Lord she passed! We then arranged with Juan a local driving instructor to take her for a lesson in case she missed something on how her driving skills would be adjudicated in a few days. All went well and Kelly subsequently passed her driver’s test and is now a native Los Angelian driver.

This means that with Kelly’s driver’s and my ID card we need not carry our passports around and can use these two cards as a form of identification. This is for travel purposes within the US, banking, and any other place where we might need to identify ourselves. Another absolute blessing from our Lord is that we now have our wheels! We were blessed to use the church truck (bakkie) for a while which helped us get around and now we can freely move around and continue the work of the ministry! Moving along I had quite a bad fall and hurt my left leg in the calf area as well as behind the knee. It has now been two + weeks and I am feeling much better. James a brother at church has helped with physio and I might be going once a week for strengthening and training.

The ministry has been a blessing as always and we continue our series through the book of James and the book of Hebrews. Again, if you have not subscribed to our YouTube channel please do so as these studies have blessed us and I am sure will bless you (Click here to Subscribe). These two weeks other than those mentioned above have been quiet as I was home ridden for around 5 days. I couldn’t walk much and put much pressure on my leg but this is part of the parcel folks. I know that when these things happen, I look toward my Rock and my Salvation as He is faithful to walk alongside me, comfort me, and strengthen me. A quick update, little Samson is doing well and has been strengthened dramatically by our Lord. He has started warming up to me and I get a little smile now and then. We have many kids at SVCC and I pray that these kids stay steadfast in a materialistic and hedonistic society where abundance in worldly goods is the order of the day.

The houses here in Los Angeles, Burbank, and Glendale which are the sorrounding cities and areas to us put much effort into lighting their homes for the festivities with massive light displays and all sorts. Here is an example:

This evening we went to Union Train Station in Downtown Los Angeles which is right next to Olvera Street, the oldest in Los Angeles. The station is beautiful and Anton and Ina are going on a two week break to Wisconsin which is a 3 day train ride through the midwest. Please continue to pray for them as they rest up!

As I close off we have a Christmas Day service coming up which I am excited about. I will be preaching so please pray for me. As you know this is a good time to share the gospel and highlight the profundity, necessity, and reality of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. I will invite Gustavo again, as well as his manager Richard, and I have invited David who sold us our car, and his colleague Samantha who said she will join us. I shared my testimony with her and she was amazed at the work that the Lord has done in our lives, especially in our relationship at the time of my accident. Her words were and I quote after sharing the gospel, “Yes I believe”! Please pray for these folks that they come to a knowledge of the truth and salvation! Also, each one of us (you and I) must be ready to share the gospel and love of Jesus with those who do not know the things of eternal life.

We love you and miss you all! 

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:4-5

Fourie’s in Los Angeles – Week 3 & 4

November 28, 2022 jeandrefourie Blog 6 Comments

First up I must say since our last blog contact that we have had a very eventful ten days and obviously a blessed one at that too! To everyone reading this back home we have to confess that we were in Johannesburg. Please don’t be upset and offended but our time was limited and we could not make enough time to visit everybody. The only difference being that we were in the Mojave Desert around 16,000 kilometres from home in a small gold mining town called Johannesburg. There are three towns here that are closely situated together and are either gold or silver mines. Interestingly, the names Johannesburg and Randsburg were the names of two of the town’s that Anton and Ina took us too. Now, these towns were established by South Africans who were goldminers. These miners named these towns and streets after their escapades in searching for gold. The one street in Johannesburg was called Oompaul street and no further explanation is needed as to where this name comes from. 

From where we are in Sun Valley Los Angeles to the small towns of Johannesburg an Randsburg is about a two hour drive. On our way there we stopped in a city called Lancaster where we visited a brother in Christ who recently started a small fellowship in his house (subsequently moving it into to the garage) out on the plot areas where we introduced ourselves and will hopefully be a support to one another in the ministry. Interestingly, the weather in Johannesburg and the sorrounding desert areas in winter are a lot cooler than LA. Johannesburg and Randsburg are surprisingly still occupied but only really coming alive at festivals and town meets. Anton ended up showing us one or two properties that he knows and whilst we were reversing and just looking at the various properties (by the way most people have hoarding issues) this random lady started shouting at us telling us to “mind our own business” and “get out of here”. I’m trying to paint this picture as well as possible so that you can laugh as much as what we did, although I must be honest we were a bit scared as she seemed as if though she could attack us at any time, bury us and dipsose of us (ha ha)!. We packed a picnic basket and had a lunch in Randsburg where we met a guy by the name of Justin who was cleaning the picnic area and ablution blocks and we ended up talking about what he gets up to, where we are from, what we do, as well asking him if he knew who the Lord was. We also saw the history behind “Kelly silver Mine” below …

Back in Sun Valley Los Angeles my preparation started for our Thursday night Bible study where I was blessed to be able to start and share from the book of James (click here to follow the messages in the playlist), looking at a very practical view of the Christian life, trying to get as much out of the scriptures with regards to wisdom and how it benefits those who desire to seek the Lord, serve the Lord, and worship the Lord. The most compelling scripture out of the first eleven verses in chapter one was where the double minded man is clearly unstable in all his ways. It is important for us to note and to keep track of the fact that when we come to the Lord we come in faith trusting in His capabilities and not our frailties, thereby handing over everything to Him so that He can look like His children to the lost, those who have placed their faith in the atoning work of the cross of Calvary and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Saturday morning we went for breakfast with a brother from church whose name is Clay. He is originally from Louisiana and has in the last two years come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and what is very encouraging is that he loves the Lord and wherever he goes he talks about God Almighty’s mercies and grace, always seeking to share the gospel. We ended up going to a place called ‘andwaffles’ in North Hollywoood where Kelly had a Nutella pancake for breakfast and I had a crumbed chicken breast waffle as per the pics below which contrary to popular belief was delicious. I personally would have frowned on this before but take it from me it is well worth it, with a bit of cream and a bit of Maple syrup. P.S. I hope this doesn’t ruin the friendship! We then drove around Burbank, North Hollywood, Van Nuys and Glendale. One thing about Los Angeles is that even though it is winter time the weather is beautiful and the mountain views exquisite.

On Sunday we had a blessed meeting as we continued through Hebrews 11 specifically looking at Sarah and the faithfulness of God. I would encourage you to click on any of the Images below which will take you to the link where you can subscribe to our YouTube channel as we are currently going through a few very good series which I trust will not only be edifying to us as brothers and sisters but also glorifying to almighty God. Regarding the church working operations we still continue to learn everyday and Kelly is well and working hard at getting to know the various Ins and outs of Sun Valley Community Church. I recently spoke to Gustavo who if you remember in the first blog article was invited to church and he is not doing well and is ill so please continue to pray for him that he joins us at Sun Valley. We are also waiting for Richard his branch manager to join us and what is also encouraging is that when Kelly and I went to Walmart we spoke to Scott about the Lord who was brought up in an Independent fundamental Baptist (IFB) Church but the folk who work at the various stores and outlets are restricted from speaking about the Lord so please pray for them too.  

Nonetheless I do trust that our quick two-minute discussion with Scott was a blessing! A little while later we managed to share my testimony with Saul who was really encouraged and asked me if I was on tv (ha ha). I’m not too sure why he asked this question but we trust that the Lord continues to work in his heart as he seeks to know the living God. This week we partook in our first thanksgiving in America which is nothing short of a massive occasion and holiday. We we blessed to share in a meal with the fellowship and we also took a drive out to Long Beach, Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Beverley Hills and Rodeo Drive. On a very important note some of the folk are quite sick due to flu and various viruses so please pray for the fellowship and everybody at Sun Valley Community Church and never forget to pray for Kelly and I and Anton and Ina. Little Samson at SVCC who is 2 years old is an absolute fighter and has struggled with his health since he was born. He is battling with his breathing so please pray for him!

Lastly, we were blessed by the Ullman’s (Paul and Lynn) who are friends of the fellowship who welcomed us with a gift, a tapestry of a crooss, truly beautiful and such a blessing!

As we wrap this week up I would love to share from James 1:2-4, “my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing”.

May the Lord be blessed and glorified as we continue the work of the ministry.

Shalom!

Fourie’s in Los Angeles – Week 2

November 21, 2022 jeandrefourie Blog 6 Comments

Week 2 (and a bit)

We are officially through the first week and a bit and have now been enjoying the second week where we are getting accustomed to the time zones and the different ways that the Los Angeles people do things and go about their daily business. An interesting fact whilst I compile this update is the fact that the driving in Los Angeles is suprisingly worse than I thought it was and there is less law and order than I thought. This is due to a lack of police force which stems from the anti police movement. Coming from Johannesburg I would suspect that anyone thinking of America and more narrowly Los Angeles would think, first world country with a lot going for itself and fewer problems, however we must remember that this is not the case and I hope this is an encouragement to anyone preaching the gospel in any city or town in the world. All people are lost until they come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!

This week Kelly and I continued our learning of church operation, the logging of input and output in what the church receives and spends, the checking system (yes America still uses cheques) and I am also busy compiling an updated list of contacts for myself and for Kelly of the brothers and sisters here at Sun Valley Community Church (SVCC). I obviously want to get to know them more, walk closely with them and bring them the love of Jesus Christ and truths in the gospel until eternal life. I praise the Lord for what He has done at SVCC over the last 13 years since this building was bought and renovated, a place where people can come and hear the word of God and share in His goodness. On a separate matter, as many of you know, when we were in South Africa we hosted a few Bible studies which we have now reconciled into one evening, hosted on Tuesday mornings Los Angeles time [9:00 AM] and [19:00 PM] South Africa time. The time difference is taking some getting used to with regards to keeping contact but the Lord has been gracious as always in helping us and you adjust accordingly 😊.  

Technology has also made this transition much easier, and has still made it possible to host and have Bible study even though we are the better part of 16,000 kilometres from home. At SVCC we have been blessed by the preaching through the book of Hebrews and Anton has done a great job in leading us through Chapter 11 [the magna carta of Faith] at the moment, a chapter which has much substance and many unseen nuggets, things that might be missed, were one to simply scroll over the text. I am excited and blessed to start preaching on Thursday evenings (on and off) starting in the book of James. I love the book of James and the way he gives us much truth, hitting the solar plexus unrestrainingly. The Holy Spirit can work powerfully through this book and prayerfully I hope  that many lost and many Christ followers are refined in their walks with the Lord in all wisdom, knowing the Lord Jesus more, showing others as those who love God Almighty how to live their lives in a practical, edifying and glorifying manner. I want to thank everyone and covet your prayers for strength, encouragement and continual reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank our Father in heaven from whom all good gifts flow and in whom there is no partiality or shadow or variation of turning. This week has been a super week and Kelly and I have been spending much time with Anton and Ina, not only hearing abouth the history of Sun Valley Community Church but also that of Burbank Community Church which is where Anton was called approximately 20 years ago. We are based in Sun Valley in Los Angeles county and the church building is pictured below. It is amazing to see how many of the youngsters then are now adults in the same congregation serving the Lord and wanting to know Him more.

My closing encouragement for this week is that we ought to remember that the Lord is on His throne, that His mercies endure forever and that He is the Faithful, Just, and True, the One who saves to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them!

Shalom and God Bless!

The Fourie’s Arrival in Los Angeles (Sun Valley / Burbank)

November 14, 2022 jeandrefourie Blog 0 Comments

Psalm 113

Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord! 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord From this time forth and forevermore! 3 From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord’s name is to be praised. 4 The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens.  Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high, 6 Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in the heavens and in the earth? 7 He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the ash heap, 8 That He may seat him with princes— With the princes of His people. 9 He grants the barren woman a home, Like a joyful mother of children.

Praise the Lord!

Week 1

After a long process we are finally in Sun Valley, Los Angeles, America. At the outset I must say that the Lord has had a hand in each and every process and we are extremely grateful to our Saviour Jesus Christ who wants to see His work and Kingdom expanded in this area, and we are blessed to be able to continue on a solid foundation that has been laid by the Lord at Sun Valley Community Church. My intention is not to bore you with unnecessary information but just to simply give an update on what the Lord has done thus far and to ask for continaul prayer by His grace.

After an 8 1/2 hour flight to Doha (Qatar) and a further 15.5 hour flight to Los Angeles we arrived safely. From the time we received our visas to the time we set foot on American soil the process was seamless and we thank the Lord Jesus for this . We left Johannesburg on the 26th of October 2022 at 7:00 AM in the morning, being put in the same row with a brother from Nelspruit who loves the Lord and was on his way to Adelaide. After take off however, I was moved to a different seat where I was given more leg room. This was a blessing from the Lord. After arriving at Doha we were blessed by friends to the Al Marjoun lounge where we spent eight hours. We refreshed by having a shower, we ate well, and rested up before our next leg to Los Angeles. We departed for Los Angeles at 01:30 am and arrived in Los Angeles at 8:00 am. This was a long flight but the Lord was gracious in giving Kelly and I some much needed rest and some good meals, which by the way when flying for such a long time, can become a problem as you just eat as there is nothing else to do. After arriving at LAX we were taken to customs by Wendy, a lady from Los Angeles with a Hispanic background who helped us and answered a few of our many questions. Wendy is part of a local fellowship and we obviously chatted about the Lord :). 

We bypassed the customs queue that was for those that came off the same plane! This was because I was under the special assistance banner and we were taken straight to Corrall at customs police, a guy about 6”5 and 130 kg. He asked us a few questions, and praise the Lord all went well. We were off to collect our luggage at the carousel finally coming through the basement onto a platform which at any given time can have over 500 people, empty, and praise the Lord there brother Anton walked in to collect us, take us outside, and load our luggage into the Ford pick-up truck. Robert a brother from church owns this bakkie, and we were then set and on route home.

In true American style however we stopped at Starbucks where Robert spoiled us to a coffee. We then headed home to Shadow Hills Sun Valley which was a 45 minutes drive from Los Angeles airport. We arrived home safely where we were greeted by and Anton’s wife Ina. After showering, and unpacking, and being told by various people to stay awake as long as I can, we ended up relaxing, and getting to know one another more. This prolonged fight against sleep was extremely difficult as my body had taken a hammering on the plane and I so wanted to go to sleep but had to try and fight this fatigue in order to go to bed at a decent time and not wake up with jet lag. I remembered I did the same thing in Doha while waiting for the departure time and by the time the aeroplane had settled in the air which was about 3:00 am I was absolutely shattered and wanted to sleep as soon as possible, but had to wait for the food to be served so that I can go to sleep.

Back at home on arrival day Kelly started getting really tired at around 14:00 PM and by 16:30 PM she was fast asleep and wasn’t waking up for anything. I managed to stick it out until 19:30 PM where I headed off to bed and we both slept extremely well only waking up the next morning at around 6:00 AM. The obvious bladder interruptions did not mean much and we could both get some rest in waking us up on Friday morning with a lot to do. To understand the size of Los Angeles can only but sound like an exaggeration when explained unless one has witnessed it for himself. Early in the morning we headed off to the bank to open bank accounts for ourselves which all went smoothly praise the Lord and we are hoping to see Gustavo at one of the church services soon as he was invited and if he doesn’t pitch it will make our dealings with him as our account manager awkward (not for us though). Nonetheless please pray for Gustavo to join us at a future service at Sun Valley Community Church.

We then headed home for lunch and soon were back on the road and headed to the SSA office where one can wait anything between 30 minutes and two hours for an appointment. As smooth as the bank process was so too was the process in me applying for my Social Security number which is a valuable number for each individual in America. This took 10 minutes and we were out and headed back home. Moving forward to Sunday, our first service at Sun Valley Community Church was awesome, and we were welcomed with open arms. It was a blessing to meet many of the folk and many welcomed us with a gift card, and the love of the Lord. This really warmed Kelly and my heart and we are truly thankful for each and every person who made this transition from South Africa to America a lot easier and a lot more exciting. We are currently in the book of Hebrews and as the Lord would have it we are in Chapter 11 which is the Magna Carta of faith.

What was extremely awesome as well as interesting is that our responsive readings for the morning came out of Psalm 113 and Psalm 114 and as many of you know Psalm 113 was the Psalm that was laid on my heart in hospital soon after I met the Lord! Here the Lord I believe was showing us and affirming that He has His hand on this process and that all we have to do is to trust Him and praise Him.  We were then welcomed with a potluck lunch where anyone who wishes too can bring a meal and so we shared in this meal, tasted new food, and fellowshipped. This was a blessing and a welcome that one could hardly forget. The next week was extremely busy as we are busy learning how Sun Valley Community Church is run, how the Americans differ from South Africans with regards to labour, painting, roofing, tarring, office work, financials even extending to alarm systems, electricity supply (which is on by the way) and gas.

We learned a lot this week but wanted to praise the Lord as His servants that we are able to learn, to process, and to embark on this journey that the Lord has put us on. We have been blessed to be able to have Anton and Ina with us and we appreciate everything that they have done for us, a blessing which makes a transition into another country a lot easier. My intention is to share the highlights and the low-lights and the prayer points with you so that we can all, even though being miles apart from one another, keep each other in prayer, especially praying for us in this mission that the Lord may be blessed, glorified, exalted, worshipped and praised! You may ask why, and the simple answer is this ….

For He alone is worthy!