South Africa Trip (part 1)
Colin Baron
"I am spending time with around 70 of the leaders, teaching on the theme of leadership in a time of change and challenge"
I am now half-way through a 19 day trip to South Africa, looking out over the mountains of Lesotho on a beautiful sunny day.
This is so different to the many two-to-three day international trips I have done this year to places like Russia and Dubai. I seem to always be trying to redeem time using overnight flights and then very intense short stays. Now I have the chance to enjoy the country and spend time reading and thinking.
I arrived with my eldest son Josh on August 27 – this was a trip I had been promising him for a while. Landing at Jo’burg we then had a four hour drive up to Clarens. This is always a little challenging after a sleepless overnight flight. It is now the end of winter in South Africa and we are around 6,000 feet above sea level. We were advised to bring clothes for very warm and cold weather. Happily for sun-deprived Manchester men, it has been very sunny and warm for nearly all our trip.
Church leader Steve Oliver and his family moved to the farm in Clarens a few years ago from Cape Town to plant a church among the Basotho people. Clarens is in the Free State and borders with the very poor nation of Lesotho. They have seen a remarkable move of God with a number of churches being planted, firstly in Clarens and then in the nation of Lesotho. There are many changes happening to the churches and Steve wanted me to spend time with around 70 of the leaders, teaching on the theme of ‘leadership in a time of change and challenge’.
I worked through the story of Zerubbabel leading the people of God from Babylon back to Jerusalem, with a great vision to build a temple, a city and a nation. Zerubbabel is one of my Bible heroes and I was very encouraged with the positive feedback people gave me at the end of the day. Many were applying to themselves some of the leadership challenges they had identified with, from Zerubbabel’s epic task.
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Colin's Profile
Colin leads Christ Church Manchester (CCM), a new church on the east side of the city birthed out of a passion to see significant churches planted in each of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.
Colin also travels internationally for the Newfrontiers team, encouraging and equipping church planters as well as coaching leaders and developing teams in established churches.