Saturday Guys

It all started in May or June of 2008, ```details are a little fuzzy``` - not for any other reason other than we never thought of keeping a record, or notes; we're men & generally, that's what happens when you're a 'guy'. 

We were 5... 

5 Guys, that started off with "Our Father..." the protocol of prayer. 

We were 5 Guys, that weren't super-spiritual. 

Two were smokers...

...one never knew about Christ & up to that point, was recently saved... 

Another one, came out of going to church when convenient &, 

the other... let's just say, he had some issues. 

Liam, Henning, Jéan, Llewelyn & Nicholas got together on a Saturday morning, at 49 Soutpansberg Street, Noordheuwel, of May;

or June, 

or was it April... 🤔

we're still debating on when it started

& from there, without really inviting anyone, we soon grew to what we now know, as The Community. 

When we started, we never named it a 'thing'. We also never really invited anyone. 

Nicholas, a cell leader in September of that year, worked hard, to not integrate or cross pollinate, between what church called back then, Home Cells, with prayer on Saturday mornings with some men. 

Almost like an unsaid rule of a number of unsaid rules that spiritual people operate in... (#iNoahAGuy)

...like, 1st rule of fight club; 

...we don't talk about fight club.

...okay, maybe not so spiritual, but it's still a thing. 

To the name Dear Boy... !!! 😎

It was in 2009 that through Youth, that there was a young Afrikaans chap, that we would grow very fond of that we will call Johnny, (using a nickname for obvious reasons)

To provide context of who he was, imagine a young man, with broken English & a thick Afrikaans accent & whose last year of schooling was, Grade 7, & as memory recalls, never completing Grade 8, (i.e., he left school at the age of 14).

He hailed from from the heights of the West Rand, (West of Johannesburg - & not the best part of it), & from a very dysfunctional home, with plenty of issues. A runner, for his older brothers drug operations. 

This was a young man, who when we met him, was 15, who had somewhere an encounter with Jesus that left him both radical, dysfunctional, full of faith, & uneducated all at the same time. 

The boy had business cards printed with the salvation prayer on it, & he would go house to house, leaving it in peoples post boxes as far as his legs would carry him, going to shops & sharing it with whoever would take something from him. 

He was talented, like a juke box, anything you asked him to play on a guitar, Johnny would. 

However like a Johnny Cash, our Johnny had demons too. 

Johnny, would join Youth, then Home Cell, & somehow found out that some men gather to pray & share the Gospel, & life together, roughly 20+ kilometers away from he stays, & Johnny insisted, he would want to join. 

Contextually, Johnny would join prayer at church, from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM, then hitch a ride to join Saturday Guys from 10 AM onwards ... 

... let's just say, prayer on Saturdays was known to linger a little longer in His presence if you know what I mean...  

Johnny, with fire in his eyes & a thirst for Jesus, would walk up to any man, of any age & invited them with "come to Saturday Guys"; with a heavy Afrikaans accent.

So the name stuck... & the story continues...