Friends of the Seed

Welcome fellow friends of The Seed.

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We are Tijmen and Anita.  Two South Africans who started our adventure together when we were just 19 and 16 years old. It all began at a church camp, where we instantly knew that God had some pretty big plans for our future. Not long after that, we got married and were blessed with two sons. Our oldest, Aaltus (34), now calls Colorado home, while our youngest, Marinus (31), is living life in Florida.

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Early on in our marriage, we both felt a tug on our hearts, a call from the Lord to serve. But, as life often does, it took us on a few detours. To our surprise, we emigrated to the USA in 2008.

I am a part-time realtor, and Anita’s is an artist who creates custom paintings. When the world hit pause during Covid, something incredible happened. God woke up the dreams He had planted in our hearts years ago. Our world was turned upside down—in the best way possible. Anita’s art career came to an unexpected halt, it was a tough season, but it became a powerful lesson in trusting God completely.

Along the way, He blessed us with friends who shared our passion for His Kingdom, and our journey with them began. In March 2023, everything changed. We were invited by our friends, Dos and Pattie Rossouw with Samaritan Servants International, to join them on a trip to Pakistan. And let’s just say, that trip sealed the deal. Our hearts were touched in a way that’s hard to describe. We began to see people through the eyes of Jesus—really see them. It was in Pakistan that we learned how to love unconditionally, to hug someone no matter their background, faith, or circumstances. Loving like Jesus became a reality for us, and there was no turning back.

In December 2023, we recognized that living in obedience to His will required us to fully commit to serving God in a full-time capacity.

In 2 Corinthians 5:7 Paul reminds us to live by faith, not by sight. Strangely enough this was part of a series of artworks that Anita painted for a while.  God made this verse come to life for us through artwork before we even knew that this would be one of our pilar verses in our daily walk with Jesus. Every day, our faith grew stronger as we dove deeper into His Word and sought God’s purpose for our lives.  

On an early morning in January 2024 Anita woke up with these words echoing non-stop in her head:

                  “Friends of The Seed”

Knowing these words came from God, she kept it buried deep in her heart.  Eager to find out what God is saying, we prayed about this for the next few months.  Praying about these words and asking God’s guidance and wisdom to reveal to us the meaning of this. The "Seed" represents Jesus, the Gospel and the Good News.  For us, being "Friends of the Seed" means commitment to spreading His message and love to others. In Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8, Jesus talks about the Seed that needs to be scattered in order for it to grow, produce and be harvested for the Kingdom of God. Our hearts desire is to reach out to people in need, both locally and globally, offering support, hope, and the message of Jesus. We believe in nurturing and planting the seeds of faith, knowing that God will make them grow, and we strive to follow the example of Christ by serving others selflessly.

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God soon opened doors for us to visit more countries. Following the example set in Luke 10, we go out two by two, seeking a person of peace. 

Our hearts are set on pursuing those in need, praying with them, and pointing them to Jesus. 

Through these efforts, we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to share our life testimony with people who are in desperate need of hope and support.