September 2009
Newsletter #2
by Eugene van Deventer
Juan‘s story...
...Boetas for Life.
Not long after my inception
at Miederpark Dutch Re-
form Church I was in-
formed about the ‘Boetas’,
an Afrikaans slang word
meaning ‘Brothers’. When-
ever the teenagers spoke of
the ‘Boetas’ there was al-
ways a fearful, but yet en-
amored gaze upon their
faces.
As I did more research I
discovered that this ‘gang’
had a series of criminal of-
fenses behind their very
popular name. The street
walls in Miederpark
screamed of the graffiti
BFL, ’Boetas for Life’. Be-
sides the drug-use and alco-
hol abuse, the goal of this
gang was quite simply get-
ting into fights. Not your
average schoolyard-style
For more information:
 Mobile: +27 72 856 1877
 witboy_sa@hotmail.com
J.A.S.O.N. Project interde-
nominational worship.
A fighting
chance...
tussle, but the kind of fights
that would instill a sense of
deep fear within the Mieder-
park teenage community.
It wasn’t long before one of
the founders of this reputa-
ble group of boys came to
introduce himself as Juan,
almost in an intimidating
sense of purpose.
Six years ago Juan’s father,
whom he loved deeply,
died. The result was severe
alcoholism and rebellion
against society. An attitude
that resulted in six severe
car accidents in two years.
At the age of 19, he and
three of his friends formed
the ‘Boetas’ and recruited
young teenagers into their
group. As the drug-use, as-
sault, alcoholism and
J.A.S.O.N. Project
J.A.S.O.N., an acronym for
Jesus and the Sons of Now,
Project is a worship move-
ment whose main mission is
to bring a Joy to worship
music in a world where tra-
dition has taken president
over an intimate relation-
ship with Jesus Christ.
The project’s recent heart-
beat has taken a new
gun-threats escalated, so did
the interest of the authori-
ties.
It wasn't long before several
of the Boetas where stand-
ing trial for assault and drug
-related charges. As a result,
the ‘Boetas’ came to an end
and with the dissipation of
the gang, many of the mem-
bers, including Juan, gained
a strong interest in the per-
son of Jesus Christ. They
started attending the home-
groups intended for the
youth at church. It was
there where the teenagers
themselves started praying
for Juan and convinced him
to go for counseling. Every
fortnight Juan has a counsel-
ing with Hendrik Venter, a
pastoral counselor.
rhythm: To unite the youth
of different churches in
Potchefstroom by creating
opportunities for inter-
denominational worship.
For the past month, the
movement has been hugely
successful, organizing two
opportunities for interde-
nominational worship. In a
community where racism is
Juan has been a follower of
Jesus for about a month
now and although he still
has his vices, the change in
A picture of the ‘Boetas’ icon,
the Playboy bunny.
his heart and attitude has
been tremendous.
Juan still actively partici-
pates in the home-groups
and even invites his ‘old’
friends to join the fellow-
ship and community of
Christ.
still a cultural tradition. The
teenagers of Potchefstroom
are standing up and starting
cross-cultural interaction in
the name of Jesus Christ;
attending each other’s
youth meetings at church
and sharing His Name.
The next worship session is
on 18 September at Chris-
tian Fellowship.