Death by birth...
When life brings death
"And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.
And they moved from Bethel. And there was only a length of land to come to Ephrath. And Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor in her bearing.
And it happened when she was in hard labor in her bearing, the midwife said to her, Do not fear, you shall have this son also.
And it happened as her soul was departing (for she died) that she called his name Benoni. But his father called him Benjamin.
And Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem."(Genesis 35: 15 - 19 NKJV)
And they moved from Bethel. And there was only a length of land to come to Ephrath. And Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor in her bearing.
And it happened when she was in hard labor in her bearing, the midwife said to her, Do not fear, you shall have this son also.
And it happened as her soul was departing (for she died) that she called his name Benoni. But his father called him Benjamin.
And Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem."(Genesis 35: 15 - 19 NKJV)
This encounter is recorded in the Word of God and deals with the birth of the last son of Jacob. His wife Rachel, goes into labour on their way, and during birth, she encounters enormous pain, which caused her death. As she dies, she names her newly-born baby son, Benoni, meaning "son of my sorrow".
Imagine coming into the world, being labelled as something causing great distress, heartache and pain? After her death, his father renamed him Benjamin.
A similar son born centuries later
In 1881, a land surveyor by the name of Johan Rissik had to measure out unclaimed State property in the Johannesburg district in South Africa.
After carefully planning the area in great detail, he noticed a strange, odd-shaped piece of land remained, which he had not yet named. Similar to the birth of young Benoni ages ago, this piece of land caused him great agony and distress, reminding him of this encounter in the Bible. He decided to name it Benoni, and so began the forming of a brand new town, with a reputation, older than it's promising goldmines! In the study of Cities and Nations, you will discover the importance of knowing exactly how a city or town was founded, by whom, and what the true motives and intentions of its founding fathers were.
Some history of the City
Gold was discovered in September 1887 in the area, today known as Benoni. This brought a large number of emigrants into the area, and interesting for this site, miners from the Cornwall District in England. They named the area "Little Cornwall", which I believe, brought some of that areas spiritual history and influence along with them. Cornwall has a very rich history of religious violence and turmoil attached to it, and definitely worth looking into. Especially during the time known as "The Prayer Book Rebellion", which saw thousands of people from Cornwall being massacred for their religious beliefs. We need to study this incident if we truly want to understand the complexity of the spirit realm over the City of Benoni, as these Cornishmen, who named the area of Benoni after their place of origin, did establish certain spiritual strongholds and foundations in the Cities composition. View and download a summary of "The Prayer Book Rebellion" here.
During 1922 a national strike broke out in the Mining Industry, lead by the Communist Party, which turned into an open revolt. The strikers established one of their strongholds in Benoni, from where they fought the Police and Army in the streets of the City for almost a year. The newly formed South African Air Force were called in to bomb these rebels and some planes were shot down from the ground as they flew over the City. Because of the fact that the strikers had their Headquarters in Benoni, tremendous clashes took place in and around the city, with violence, loss of life, bloodshed and large scale animosity.
Many Jewish Citizens fled from Europe during the anti-Semitism era around 1906, and for some reason, came to settle in Benoni. They came as poverty stricken refugees, having lost everything they owned and came looking for comfort and new beginnings in the City of Benoni. Interesting is to know that in 1907 two documented establishments took place in Benoni, a Jewish Synagogue and the Benoni Horse Racing Track was opened. This track was enormous, in comparison to the size of the mining town it was situated in.
What started as a Mining camp, turned into a flourishing establishment and during 1904, Sir George Farrar, the CEO of the Mining Company undertook a project to beautify the area by planting thousands of trees, and channelling the underground mine water into lakes and stocking it with fish. Benoni was proclaimed as an official Municipality in 1907. It's crest of arms was designed in 1937 with the motto "A pledge for better times".
At the outbreak of World War 2, Benoni was surrounded by the World's seven richest Gold mines. One of these mines, the New Modderfontein Mine, had the distinction that it produced gold as well as diamonds. Benoni received City status in October 1992.
Today, Benoni forms part of the metropolitan area known as Ekurhuleni, a Tsonga word meaning, "Place of peace". On it's crest is a white dove with an olive branch in it's mouth and according to the local Government's own explanation, is a representation of the Holy Spirit of God bringing peace and prosperity to the area. It also has two musical instruments on it, a Kudu horn and a trumpet, representing the link to the spirit realm as source of inspiration.
If you are interested in the origin and meaning of the names of South African Municipalities, click on, and visit the following link:http://salanguages.com/munnames.htm
Known as the graveyard of Churches
Back in 1998, when Jacqueline and I heard God's call, to plant a Church in the heart of Benoni, we were warned by numerous Christians to rather abandon the project, even before we started. We were told that Benoni is commonly known as "the graveyard of churches", as new churches, founded outside the denominational structure, never survives! We were given lists of previous ministries, which simply disappeared, some after months, some after a year or two.
The spiritual atmosphere over Benoni, we were told, is tough, especially if you plan to allow God's Spirit freedom of movement in your midst, we were told.
Jacqueline and I didn't really need to hear this, as we started off with our church-plant without any financial support, no income for the past three years, and having to push a wheelbarrow some kilometres everyday to the sight God showed us, due to not having any other way of transport!
I can still remember, God leading me to an exact piece of land one Tuesday afternoon, and telling me to "build a church right there, from where the nations of the world will be touched". This particular site, at that point in time, was a haven for prostitutes, criminals and used by satanists as their temple to worship the spirit of darkness...
Our very first service, took place on the 4th of February 2001, when 9 of us gathered under a tree, raising our hands, hearts and voices to Him in worship and adoration...
As we raised our voices to Him, He came, and He has been residing in the midst of that group of people ever since. But with that great and awesome Presence, came the onslaughts of the enemy, as he launched attack after attack on us. Eleven years later, he still aims his hatred towards us, but little does he know, he is contributing towards the shaping of a mantle, an anointing, soon to be released into the nations. An anointing so costly, it can not be bribed, so special, it never gives up, so awesome, it serves only one Master.
I trust you will find this site encouraging, and educative, as we continue to share our hearts with you...
