Out of the ashes

Out of the ashes, we rose.

It feels almost surreal that the last Sunday before the fire, we sang “Our God” by Chris Tomlin — “Out of the ashes we rise” — not knowing how real those words would soon become.

From the torn shade cloth, we moved to the IBR roof. We refinanced our Toyota Fortuner to pay off the remaining amount on the property. With the R36,000 we had left, we bought gum poles and began building what would become our new structure.

We worked tirelessly — from 7am until 9pm many days. Most of the time, it was just Danie, me, and Vusi. During construction, Danie had a serious accident with a grinder and nearly lost his leg while cutting a pole 7 meters high on scaffolding.

But through it all, God provided — every single day.

Today, we can walk across our property and tell a story of God’s provision in every detail. We had no money for contractors, so we built everything ourselves, with faith and determination.

One day, someone asked if they could get married on our property because it was so beautiful. We said yes — and that is how the vision for this venue was born.

Our eldest daughter’s wedding was meant to be the very first official wedding here. Then COVID happened…

And instead, her wedding became our 11th.