My husband John and I were looking for a new church home, when we first came to Hillsong Cape Town. The ‘Welcome home’ sign immediately resonated with us and we instantly knew that this was where we belonged.

But Church was 50 km away from where we lived, and money was really tight, so we attended only occasionally, even though we were determined to call this home.  Then we started serving in Church but, again, our finances made it difficult to stay connected and committed.

At the time, we were desperate to rebuild our marriage and find real friendships. Our first three years of marriage had been challenging and this had taken its toll on our relationship and our friendships. We lost most of the people we were close to when we decided to move churches, and our world was turned upside down. However, an unrelenting Saviour and His unquenchable love for us, as well as many faithful, authentic people at Hillsong Cape Town brought us to a place of strength.

After attending Church on and off for almost three years, and volunteering on and off, we were asked by Wendy and Andrew McElroy to serve on their team for the 11h30 service. This took us by surprise as, in our eyes, we were still fragile and not in a place to be ministering to others. We prayed about it and decided to jump in and trust God. This has been a pivotal decision in our lives. Our finances improved and we could commit to attending Church, and to serving and impacting those around us – something we’d been longing for.

Both my husband and I love music, and we were finally able to join and commit to the Worship Team. This has taken us on another new and exciting journey. We are also passionately involved in our Connect Group in Paarl (which we secretly think is the best Connect Group in the whole Church!)

Today, almost a year later, our marriage is stronger than ever. We can undoubtedly say that we have both married the person of our dreams – and while life may have its challenges, we are so very happy. God has surrounded us with so many amazing, God-fearing people and we continue to meet new people all the time. I met my best friend at Hillsong Cape Town and so many other forever friends, and this just makes me love Jesus even more.

We are eternally grateful to God for leading us to Hillsong Cape Town, which we now call home. God heals all kinds of brokenness. We can confidently say that the Church is alive and well on planet Earth!

~ By Leeanne Koopman