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Working as a Team in Durban, South Africa

By Diane Lytle  March 17, 2006

The KwaZulu-Natal Ministry Team in Durban, South Africa, recently met for a retreat to plan and fellowship with each other. This team retreat brought some new faces such Rowan and Gaylin Gill, a new South African pastor and his wife, who were welcomed to the group.

The Gills live in an isolated, rural area over two hours from the rest of the team. The KwaZulu-Natal Ministry Team sponsored them so they could have a chance to fellowship with others in ministry. Their family’s story, a true demonstration of teamwork, has encouraged and inspired the team.

Scott and Sharyl Roloson, a missionary family from Evangelical Baptist Missions and friends of the Gill’s, began ministering to a single mother of three girls about three years ago. The mother died of AIDS in 2003, and the three girls were sent to a local orphanage as they had no existing family. The missionaries remained involved in their lives, taking them out for church every Sunday and taking them home for holidays. However, the Rolosons were planning on leaving for furlough. Rowan and Gaylin began praying about this situation, and as time passed, they began to consider the possibility of adopting the girls. After some initial fear, they realized the only objections they had were selfish, and God gave them excitement and peace.

With their minds mostly made up, they consulted with their ten-year-old daughter, who was very excited at the prospect of having three new sisters. Rowan then explained to her that things would be very different and that there would be far fewer presents for Christmas and birthdays. She responded, "But, Dad, we will have three live presents!" That settled it. By the end of the week, Amanda, Luanda, and Nikki had a home, a mom and a dad, and three more siblings. When they told their five-year-old son that he would have five sisters, he said, "Ahhh, can't we make one a boy?"

Though Rowan was worried that he might not love his adopted children as much as he loves his own, the Lord has taken care of his fear for he can now say: “They are our children, and both Gaylin and I love them as our own.”

How do missionaries and nationals work as a team? By stepping in and helping wherever possible, by picking up where the other left off, by carrying each other’s burdens. What a beautiful example the Gill family is!

The KwaZulu-Natal Ministry Team has developed this same spirit of teamwork in their ministry. This team is diverse, especially since their South African colleagues joined as equal partners in the ministry several years ago. The team includes people of all ages—from young people to those headed toward retirement. The team includes singles, married couples, and even inter-racial couples, and they come from many states across the US and from several provinces in South Africa. All of this diversity in one room is truly a multi-cultural experience.

The vision of the KwaZulu-Natal Ministry Team in Durban, South Africa, is to work as a team to plant churches that are actively reaching the world. But just because a group of people calls itself a team does not necessarily mean that it will function as a team, with unity of purpose and dedication to the vision. The KwaZulu-Natal Ministry Team has expanded over the past twenty-five years, and just like any organization, they needed to analyze how well they were functioning.

Recently, the team members spent a week in meetings scrutinizing their vision, revising their mission statement, and reorganizing the way they do business. As a result of that week, the KwaZulu-Natal Ministry Team restructured their work under six major objective areas: church planting, theological training, interchurch ministries, community outreach, resource management, and team building. Every member of the team—missionary, South African, man, or woman—has a place in this new structure. They will be spending this next year fine-tuning the system, working to become more efficient, supporting one another, and freeing each other up to do various ministries.

After working through this process, team members left with their families for a three-day break. The retreat included sweet Christian fellowship, good preaching, excellent music, wonderful food, and well-deserved relaxation. To keep their ministry fresh and effective, it is essential that the team have this time together each year. They now have a renewed sense of unity and motivation to work as a team to reach South Africa and the world with the gospel.