David built his army out of people who were disillusioned with the reign of Saul. They were disdained by the monarchy and rejected. Yet, under David's leadership they became a great army that could kill giants and win battles other armies would shrink away from. When God decides to do something new He looks for the despised, the foolish, the ignoble and the unwise so that no flesh could boast before Him once He has accomplished His divine purpose.
When we started Harvester Reformational Church some pastors who came to minister here from Cape Town laughed in our faces and said, 'you've got all the castaways with you!'
Listen to this sermonA place of refuge
There have been numerous prophecies about our church being a place of refuge and a place of shelter, not in the sense of being a charitable Salvation Army type of organization but rather in a spiritual sense.
The Oxford dictionary describes ‘refuge’ as a sanctuary, a hiding place, a cover and also sees it as an oasis in the desert, a shelter from pursuit or trouble or danger. The war shelters during the II World War would be a good example of what we are talking about.
The Hebrew meaning of shelter offers an expansive connotation to the word: it is a place for castaways, for the despised, the disdained, and the rejected ones. It is a place for those who have been shunned by others, even for reprobates. Those who have become loathsome in the eyes of other people will find a place in the Inn, called church.
I know for a fact that Muslims and Jews who turn to Christ are loathed, despised and rejected by their families and their religion. A Jewish mother teaches her son that the greatest smudge he could ever bring on his family name is to become a Christian. They teach their little children that Hitler was a Christian and that Jesus was an imposter.
The Muslims, on the other hand, acknowledge Jesus Christ as a good man, a prophet, but not as the only begotten Son of God. They only see him on equal terms with their human prophet Mohammed. This deification of Christ is their excuse to say they also believe in Jesus but in actual fact they do not. They reject Him as Lord and Savior and therefore they are just as much an Anti-Christ religion as the Jews and the Satanists!
Jews in our church tell us how they have been ostracized from their family, friends and business associates. Muslims that accept Christ are receiving death threats.

A church should offer a safe place for people like that. It should also offer hope for the hopeless and help for the helpless. The biblical cities of refuge give us a good example of what a church should be like.
Bezer (Fortress), Ramoth (High Place), Golan (Circuit), Kadesh (Holy Power), Shechem (Shoulder), Hebron (Alliance), were all cities of refuge, a place where those who accidentally killed someone with no premeditation could run into and be safe!

There is a drastic shaking taking place in the churches everywhere. About fifteen years ago I prophesied that there would be a great exodus from the Dutch Reformed Church. This is actually taking place. The Groote Kerk in Adderley street is literally empty on Sundays. It is a shame that the church that once led the nation has crumbled to the point of closing down churches and selling church buildings one after the other. It simply shows that the Gospel they preached was linked to a political power and not to a divine power, for when they lost their political power they lost their faith and their people are floundering, lost and scattered.
People are perplexed. There are thousands upon thousands of believers sitting at home who have been hurt by religious systems in churches run by ambitious and dominating pastors and many are backslidden. They still love God but do not know where to go to church. The strange phenomena of home church organizations have also lodged itself in our country coming over from England. These people meet in little discussion groups but soon enough it becomes dry and tasteless for they lack the corporate anointing of a great congregation worshipping God together in spirit and truth. When a home meeting becomes an intellectual discussion of scripture it is beginning to die…for church is something instigated by the Holy Spirit and that Jesus promised to build. The home meetings should be a support of the main meeting. The one needs the other in order to take care of the flock.
In these desperate times we are living in people face calamity and hardships like never before. They are full of insecurities, pride and rebellion – everyone wants to do what he wants to. When they are oppressed or in distress their lack of assurance of faith surfaces. Then people do one of two things: they either go back to their old ways, either tradition or sinful ways, or they decide to reform and go on with God.
This is the message God has given us to bring to our generation: reform according to God’s standards! This is the core of the apostolic reformation! This is the message for all those disillusioned ones who despair of ever finding a church where they could fit into. This is the message for all those who think they have gone too far and that God would never be able to forgive them again. This is the message for all those who are tired of man-made religion and of churches being run like businesses to satisfy the ambition of the proud pastor! Reform the church to reform the land!

Our church has open arms for people who are hungry for God. This is a place of shelter, a hiding place for all those who have been rejected by the religious traditions of man. We are preparing for a mighty influx of such people who are hurting and disillusioned and suffering from the blows of the enemy of their souls.

That is why we constantly train people in our church – much ministry is needed in a place of refuge when the spiritual refugees begin to stream into the place of shelter!