God called Gerhard and Marinda Barnard to Cape Town in 2001 with the Words, “I’ve shown you what I can do for a church. Now I will show you what I can do for a city.” In obedience to God, they moved from Ermelo, Mpumalanga, where they had experienced spiritual revival that led to community and church transformation, to Cape Town. Over the past 20 years, they have come to love the city of Cape Town, and God has given them a heart for cities specifically.
It was in Cape Town that they met Floyd McClung of All Nations, Jim Yost, David Watson, David Broodryk, and many others who also love cities. The common thread which connected all these men was their love for Jesus and their dream to see lost people following Him. Each one of them played a part in Gerhard- and Marinda’s journey toward Disciple Making Movements (DMM).
It was David Watson who first asked, “What will it take to win a city?” This penetrating question pushed them to carefully consider what it would take to see a disciple-making movement in Cape Town and other cities.
From Floyd McClung they learned the basic principles of making disciples who make disciples.
The journey into replicating disciple-making turned their whole church life “upside down.” Gerhard realized that he was preaching, teaching, and doing good things, but in most instances this work had not led to disciples making more disciples.
Jim Yost, and his disciple-making training, and David Broodryk’s team from TwoFourEight, came alongside them to mentor and strengthen their DMM work. God has used all of them, and many others, to make the dream for DMM’s in Cape Town come to life.
Though the passion for reaching the lost in cities led to many new friends, it also led to frustrations. Gerhard and Marinda signed up to be trained in disciple-making, as they were leaders in a church, but not effective disciple-making leaders. Eventually, however, they realized that leading the church took almost all their time and very little remained for training and mentoring disciples. Additionally, they noticed people in other churches and organizations who shared their frustration; they too wanted to see the igniting of movements but did not know how to make it happen. It was with this realization that Gerhard heard God say, “You have a passion for city leaders. I want you to help them to become effective disciple-making leaders.”
They have always had a dream to see the “church in the city” become a reality. With the responsibility of leading a local church lifted, they can now fully give themselves to help and equip city leaders in becoming “movement champions.”