CURRENT NEWSLETTER:

Marius:   I was born and raised in South Africa in a very small town called Kathu in the Northern Cape Province. I had the best carefree life a child could imagine.  I was a boy in the true sense of the word...  Running around from dusk till dawn, building tree houses, playing Cowboys and Crooks, trapping birds, blowing stuff up, soaking up the sun at the community pool during the long African summers, and riding my 50cc motorbike up and down terrorizing the neighborhood.  Life just didn't get any better, and the best part was that shoes were optional... Aaah, some really, really good memories...  and of course the not so good ones as well. My dad died when I was 12 years old and it was a tough part of life to deal with - really tough, but looking back I can see the hand of God in our lives.

Fast forward to my adult life. After high school, I was in the Army for a year, which was compulsory in South Africa.  Afterword I became part of a Christian Youth Organization that travelled through South Africa doing ministry amongst the High School kids. The first week of the first year during a teaching and worship session I told Anne-Marie Franken (Founder and Pioneer of this new Ministry model) that I would like to go home because I didn't feel I belonged there. That vulnerable conversation started a friendship in which Anne-Marie discipled me over the span of 7 years.  She exposed me to physical theatre (mime) and encouraged me to seek more training. A long story short,  I was part of that team for two years,  led a team of my own the year after that, Coordinated a Training Center for UCSA (United Christian Student Association), worked at the Center for Youth Ministry, and was part of YWAM for a year.  Those were some of the best years of my life. Life was about Jesus, living in Him and bringing him to people.

I left for the USA to study mime in Portland, ME with Tony Montanaro at the Montanaro-Hurll School for Mime and Dance. I returned to South Africa and performed at countless Youth Rally's, Missions Conferences, churches and schools.  I returned to the USA once more to train with Tony.

For the last 10 years,  l embraced the nomad lifestyle;  living in Portland Maine, Franklin Tennessee, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Hollywood California, Pretoria, South Africa,  and finally Jasper Georgia. It has been the best of times; it has been the worst of times... I have experienced abundant life, peace, and joy that flow from the throne of God. On the other hand, I have experienced deep pain and despair from a broken marriage that humbled me, and made me re-evaluate how I judge people.  In all of this, good and bad, I KNOW that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and that he is taking me to the High places. Even when it appears that he is taking me into the dessert, I BELIEVE that Jesus will stay true to His Word... This is the make-up of life...the low valleys and the HIGH mountain tops.

My life changed one Sunday evening in March 2004 when I met Jodi. We gravitated towards one another and pretty much stayed together ever since.  God has used Jodi to bring healing, restoration and redemption to my life.  She is one of the kindest, most sincere, gentle, genuine, caring, loving and most beautiful women God has ever created.  The best part of all is that our hearts are the same. We have the same passion for making our lives count, to be used by God in the lives of others. We both share a calling of God on our lives.   I am blessed to have her as my companion, soul mate, fellow adventure seeker, but above all, my wife.

I cannot contain my excitement for finally returning to South Africa alongside my wife. Excited because we are  doing that which we believe we were created for;  excited about getting back to the basics; excited because I have felt led to be in Africa for many years;  excited about life; excited about the growth that lies ahead...