Before we got married we told people not to give us gifts because we were going to India within 6 months.  That was the plan.

In New Zealand, Tony had been going to a church led by tattoo-covered George, a wild Pacific Islander.  He had been a gang leader and got radically converted.  He was tough and didn’t take any nonsense.  He met with his people in pubs and cafes.  Sunday mornings would start with,

“Ok you, come up here.  Tell everyone what I preached last Sunday and what you have done about it.”

A young guy who had a problem staying away from brothels, went to see him in his office for the hundredth time to confess.  George was fed up.  He knocked him to the ground; lights out.  He got up and never went back to a brothel.

Tony wanted to learn from someone not so heavy handed. Rig became his second best friend.  They spent hours together talking about theology, life and India.  Rig was supportive of our call but a bit concerned about our readiness and the timing of it all.

I signed up for a diploma course in Public Relations and loved it.  I had also completed a course in Journalism.  I knew both courses were somehow going to be helpful in the future.

Within a few months, things were looking clearer and we both knew what we would be doing in India; Community planting.  Tony was still relatively new to it. He knew if we were going to have anything to do with pioneering, he would need to learn as much as he could.  We also knew we would need lots of friends to help us on our way.

Tony went to see Rig to talk about our plan.  We had been married for 4 months and we needed to get going.  Rig could see our eagerness and passion but his advice was to wait.  He had some good perspectives.  Tony struggled with it but he knew Rig was a wise soul.  His response was, “Ok, I submit, but now its’ on your head.”

So, we settled it.  We were going to be in South Africa for as long as we needed to be and we were going to make the most of it.

We had been married for 5 months.  I was on the pill and it wasn’t helping me to be a nice person or a loving wife.  I was emotional, negative and just not myself.    Enough was enough.  I was going to come off the pill.  One night we looked at each other and said,

“Let’s have a baby.”