South African Missionary visits Oakwood

South African Missionary Natessa Jacobs. photo by Melissa Missildine At a leadership conference in Dallas, Natessa Jacobs met Pastor Larry Allen of Oakwood. The two formed a fast bond and she eagerly accepted an invitation to come to Oakwood to speak at several churches around Oakwood.

People are used to missionaries going to Africa from the U.S. but, a missionary from South Africa to Oakwood, Texas...that puts a whole new spin on things!

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Natessa Jacobs lived a hard life. She saw so much struggle and strife all around her and she wanted to do something about it.

Natessa stayed in school and received her teaching degree. She became a primary and secondary educator for the next 12 years. She taught English.

During this time, Natessa also managed to get married to the love of her life, Ashley. They've been married for 20 years and have two daughters, Lezahne and Tamson and a son, Tre-Leigh.

A friend invited Natessa to come on a missionary trip to America to attend a conference. Natessa jumped at this once in a lifetime chance. This two week trip quickly became a month, as church after church invited Natessa to come and speak. Natessa had arrived in this country with 1000 rands. That amounted to $88.34 in her pocket. She was shocked by the prices she encountered here in America. She told herself that fasting was a good thing.

At one point, she found herself in a rather scary situation. She stayed in a mission house for 4 days in a sketchy part of the Oakcliff/Dallas area. It had no air conditioning either. She admits to being scared. She said she didn't think she could take one more day there when, another church was able to move her again.

It was after this move that she met Pastor Allen. She's enjoyed her visit to tiny little Oakwood. She is amazed at the differences from the big city to the country. She's been fielding calls for days and has had many offers of speaking engagements. She's not sure where she'll go from here, or how long she will remain in America. She says she will be here as long as The Lord wishes her to be here.