“Ragamuffin Gospel”
Bay Talk chatted with David Stansbury, the pastor of New Wine Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Port Elizabeth. Learn more about this extraordinary man of God as he shares his testimony with our readers.
“Ragamuffin: My story is one from brokenness to wholeness. It’s not about me or who I am, but about what He is able to do in our lives. The more we are willing to embrace our brokenness, the more He is able to show His power and grace in Glory. We just recently planted a church in January 2022 and this is my story.”
We just recently planted a Vineyard church in January 2022, and this is our story. I was born on the 16 of August 1969 and was blessed to have been brought up in a Christian home. My parents were both in ministry. My dad was a pastor and of course being a pastor’s child, I was bit of a rebel. Let’s just say that I had a lot of issues and struggles as a young person. I dealt with a lot of rejection and shame, experienced much pain and trauma during my childhood but was blessed in many ways especially that I got to know Jesus and experience His grace and love in my life at an early age.
It was during my 18th - 19th year when I had a real encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and gave my life to Him. I was really a broken person, a broken child who ended up becoming a bit of a ragamuffin, but Jesus found me in the most incredible way in a healing service one evening. He just set me free and so my journey is one of healing and restoration. That is what is so incredible about His grace. He takes broken lives, and He makes them whole. I remember one of the verses that the Lord laid on my heart. Zechariah 4:6 “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty”.
I was so blessed to realise that the Lord could choose and use me and that He had a plan for my life. He gave me the realization that it’s not about me or who I am but what He is able to do in our lives and the more broken and willing we are to embrace our brokenness, the more He is able to show His power and glory. This has been my story. It is one of brokenness to wholeness. I so enjoyed reading the book “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning. I knew the mistakes I had made, knew where I had fallen, where I had got it wrong, but the Lord took this broken fragile life and through His love and grace, He restored and redeemed me.
One of the key verses in my salvation experience was a Word spoken over my life in Isaiah 43:1- 7 where the Lord speaks over His people saying “Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. The rivers will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames shall not consume you… because you are precious and honoured in My sight… And because I love you, you whom I formed and made, even for My Glory.”
It was really just a case of the Lord saying: “Dave, place your life in My hands. Yield and surrender to Me and see what I am able to do with your life.” And so began my journey with Jesus. I spent 24-25 years in the ordained ministry in the Anglican church. I was privileged to have had a variety of experiences ministering to young people, ministering in a multi-cultural setting in the inner city and involved in missions and outreaches in the Middle East. That has been my journey, my real passion, to see those who don’t know Jesus, come to a saving knowledge of Him and to experience the power of the Gospel.
When I was in ministry in Central, I was privileged to be drawn into more of a healing and deliverance ministry; so the time we spent in the inner city for both Lindy and I, was a season of building bridges between different people groups from different backgrounds, languages, cultures, and traditions. Bringing people to healing and wholeness in Jesus is the passion and vision He always gave us and that is where our hearts have been and still are today.
In the middle of last year, I sensed the Lord speaking to me: “Dave, you need to start preparing your heart for a new season.” The writer of Ecclesiastes says that there is a time for everything, and the Lord said to me “there is a time for a new season of ministry.” I knew the Lord was calling me, confirming His Word over my life, and calling me into deeper waters and to start living and relying more on the power of His Holy Spirit in every aspect of my life.
This meant surrendering everything to Him and believing that Jesus would work supernaturally to bring about His Will and purpose. We knew this season would be tough and that we needed the wisdom and guidance of those who had journeyed with us in ministry over many years. So, Lindy and I submitted to His leading, prayed, took council from others in leadership and were able to confirm that the Lord was indeed calling us into this new season of planting a church.
In January this year we planted ‘New Wine Vineyard’ under the banner of Vineyard Christian Fellowship. We have a team of 11 Elders who joined us from different areas of the city but have journeyed with Lindy and myself over the last 28 years of ministry and it’s been a real joy and delight to build church with this wonderfully diverse Team.
It’s been incredibly hard work with much frustration, disappointments, sweat and tears but wow what a privilege to start a new season with Jesus at age 52. Hallelujah! I am forever grateful as I have realised how much the Lord has taught me over many years and how He has moulded and shaped me according to His purpose. My season and journey in the Anglican Church formed the basis and the foundation for my ministry and I will be forever grateful as it taught and shaped me through all my variety of experiences and prepared me for this new season.
I have certainly had my difficult patches of ministry but believe no season is ever wasted. Jesus is preparing us and uses everything in our lives; nothing is random, nothing is lost. God is always working behind the scenes and preparing us for the next chapter. This is the season that Lindy and I find ourselves in now and it has been a joy to journey together despite some dark days.
One of the great redeeming works of the Lord in my life, was my journey with my family. I met Lindy when she was 14 and we were blessed to be married in 1994. We celebrate 28 years of marriage in September this year. We have two amazing children. Our daughter, Candice (25) is a practicing Dietician and busy completing her Master’s degree and our son, Jarryd (23) is an English Teacher at Westville Boys High School in KwaZulu Natal.
We have always shared this slogan as a family “It’s a team ministry”. We have been in this together from the start and we are blessed to do “team well!” despite being apart at times. Ministry has not always been a happy, safe place so for my family it’s been a big sacrifice. We have been through so much together. Many people do not realise that ministry takes a lot from you and your family and with it comes a lot of pain and alienation. We are often running right on the edge. But the Lord has never abandoned us.
His grace has sustained us, and His Holy Spirit has continued to renew, revive, and restore and this has been the testimony of our lives. I am all about seeing lives redeemed, restored and renewed through Jesus’ grace and love in the Power of His Spirit. So, we marvel at the Lord’s grace, we marvel at His mercy and His kindness.
Before I went into ministry, I studied law and I did my articles as a lawyer in the permanent force where I worked for 4 years in the military courts. I have had so many different diverse experiences in my life and the Lord has used it all in preparation for this new season. Every sadness, every setback, every weakness, every trial, every struggle, every disappointment Jesus has and will use to shape us according to His will and for His purpose. I really believe that incredible verse in 1 Samuel 2:30 where the Lord constantly reminds me: “Dave, those who honour Me, I will honour.”
The Lord has called us, even in the small things to be obedient to Him, to honour Him and even if we don’t understand, to trust and to leave the rest to Him. Who would have thought that at age 52 Jesus would call me to do His work in the city in a new season, in a new space. I am looking forward to it even if I am not sure how that will play out? I know Jesus will bring it all together as this is His Church plant and not mine.
It’s a privilege to work with other churches and groups in the city and to see Jesus Kingdom come, to see His name honoured and glorified. My desire it to see more and more of Jesus in the lives of those who are lost and desperate to find peace and wholeness in their lives. We need to be the church that gathers; to be the church that scatters and to make Christ known on our streets, in our suburbs, in our neighbourhoods and in our workplaces.
So, this is my story. It’s been a joy and privilege to share it with you.
God bless you all.
Pastor at New Wine Vineyard Christian Fellowship
We have always shared this slogan as a family “It’s a team ministry.
