It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in December 1981, when Vincent and Arlene got married and started their adventurous life together in Christ. They were first introduced to each other by a mutual friend whilst still in their teens during the late ’70s. After their introduction, they formed a friendship and later served together on the youth board of the Full Gospel Church in Elsies River. Both of them were born and bred in good old Elsies River. Arlene matriculated from Uitzight High and Vincent from Elswood High.
At the time of their wedding, Vincent was a third-year student at Chaldo Theological Seminary, and Arlene was working as a secretary at Arcadia Senior Secondary School. They had no idea where Christ would lead them at the outset, but we’re determined to trust and obey as best they knew how.
At a very early stage in their marriage, Vincent was appointed as the associate pastor to the then moderator of the Full Gospel Church of God, the late J. J. Vos, who was amongst the first to discern the grace of God upon his life.
In his early 20s, Vincent also started travelling nationally, speaking at multi-cultural youth events in the Full Gospel denomination. This was a pioneering work since, at this time, the Full Gospel Church was still divided on racial grounds, and the draconian laws of apartheid were still the rule of law.
After graduating from seminary in 1982, the Full Gospel denomination commissioned them to plant a new church in Kalksteenfontein, a sub-economic area riddled with high unemployment, poverty, and all the associated social ills. Here, they learned how to put their absolute trust in God for pioneering and for economic survival in a place of drought and famine. God proved to be faithful to them.
They successfully planted the new congregation and built a place of worship in a few short years. This they did to the absolute amazement of the then leadership of the denomination because they were sent there to fail. Five Pastors have failed to establish a church in that location before them. During this time, Vincent also served as a chaplain to the medical corps at the naval base in Simonstown.
Upon completing the arduous assignment of church planting, they departed from the denomination in 1987 to pursue a fresh new encounter with God. They knew by the Spirit that God was doing something fresh and new on the earth; however, they had no knowledge or contact with those pioneering the new season. During this time of deep searching and contemplation, they were powerfully impacted by the gospel of the kingdom of God through the ministry of the late Bryn Jones, apostolic overseer of Covenant Ministries International based in Coventry England. Bryn and other members of his team visited the shores of Cape Town during this time.
They spent the next ten years under the apostolic fathering of Kobus Swart, apostolic overseer of Southern Harvest Ministries based in Somerset West, who functioned in a relationship with Bryn Jones. At this juncture, they were first introduced to kingdom living and apostolic fathering.
During this time of intense discipleship in the early 90s, the apostolic grace upon Vincent’s life was first identified and cultivated. At this juncture, he started travelling into the nations of Southern Africa as part of an emerging apostolic team, learning how to work apostolically into the Church on the continent of Africa.
In 1994, soon after the first democratic elections, Vincent and Arlene relocated their family to Gauteng at the request of their spiritual father to serve in the Church in Midrand for several years. In 1995 they started travelling internationally, learning the complicated and demanding work of international ambassadors of the kingdom of God.
Soon afterwards, in 1997, Covenant Ministries International (UK) & and Southern Harvest Ministries (SA) split up into several new apostolic orbits. At this time, Vincent and Arlene chose not to enter into a relationship with any of these newly formed entities but rather to work independently in the region of Australasia, where the LORD granted them grace to work.
Between 1997 and 2000, Vincent also served as a senior member of the spiritual presbytery of Heartfelt Ministries International, a sizeable multi-racial church based in Pretoria. He provided spiritual oversight to the ten pastors on staff and served as the associate pastor to the senior pastor. He also served on the team that facilitated the meetings of Myles Munroe in Southern Africa.
Towards the end of 2000, the LORD instructed them to relocate their family back to Cape Town to establish a leadership development church amongst the indigenous populace. This was a tough decision to make and to follow through with. They have become entrenched in the fast-paced lifestyle of Gauteng, its vibrant economy and the rewards associated with the region. Nevertheless, in His great grace and mercy, God would meet with Vincent over several days, reminding him of his primary calling and persuading him to follow his instructions.
The decision to move back to Cape Town required much faith. When the family initially relocated to Gauteng, Vincent was appointed as national marketing and sales director for the company he worked for in Cape Town. He reached the top of the industry at the age of 35 and was reaping the fruits of the previous decade of discipline and hard work, building a national company that has now infiltrated the SADEC market. God required him to walk away from his perceived success and follow His instructions for a new assignment, an assignment that rested on the premise of only one instruction. ”Move to Cape Town and start for me a leadership development church” The response, Lord, what is that? The reply, ‘’go, I will tell you on the way’’.
In obedience, Vincent shared the encounter that he had with God with Arlene, who graciously agreed to leave her new home, Church and circle of friends for another faith adventure. Sharing the decision with the children was quite intense and somewhat dramatic. They had given up their friends and school in Cape Town just six years prior, and now that they had settled in their new schools and made new friends, it was time to leave again.
In faith and obedience, Vincent resigned from his job at the end of 2000 and relocated the family to Cape Town, where they settled in Durbanville.
When they arrived back in Cape Town, Vincent had no job, no church affiliation, and no idea how to execute the assignment God had given him. The day the furniture removal company offloaded the family’s furniture, he stepped outside the house, looked up to the heavens, and said to the Lord. ”Here I am, in obedience to You, I have no idea of the way forward”.
Miraculously, and in a short time, a church building was given to them to start a new church in the Peninsular. Secondarily, a businessman from Hong Kong whom he had met several years prior decided to underwrite a new business venture for him making available several million Rand.
The pioneering of the Church started with six widows and a few die-hard members left over by the previous pastor and his family who immigrated to New Zealand. The first few years were difficult as they learned how to gain authority and dominion over the region’s spirit realm. The Lord led them in a militaristic prayer and fasting approach over several years until they were beginning to gain rule over the spiritual atmosphere. From this Church, many exploits were achieved in the region under the leadership of the Lord.
Not knowing how to obey the instruction of the Lord about the ‘’leadership development church’’, Vincent began by setting up a leadership school for the members of the Church. At the time, almost all of the curriculum was based on spiritual development.
Secondarily, he developed an apostolic resource centre to serve the body of Christ in the region with knowledge about the new apostolic reformation of the Church. He hosted many conferences in the region; one of these conferences attracted speakers and participants from as many as 16 nations and 20 cities in South Africa.
Several years later, he developed a curriculum for a 3-year part-time program and launched ‘’All Nations Leadership Academy’’ to serve the body of Christ in the region. Since then, a significant number of leaders have been trained for their role in the Church and the kingdom of God.
The beginning of the new millennium brought about significant realignment for the Valentyn family. Not only did the Lord instruct them to relocate to Cape Town, but also to align themselves with a new spiritual family.
At the beginning of this time, God brought Apostle John Boney, the spiritual father of Emmanual Ministries International based in Florida, USA, into their lives. Much additional revelation of the kingdom of God and the restoration of the Church was added to the foundations laid previously by Bryn and Kobus. An apostolic family was formed in South Africa, and the gospel of the kingdom was preached across the nation and the continent of Africa.
Today they can look back over two decades of graceful ministry across the continent of Africa and the nations of the world. Indeed the Lord has done a great and marvellous work.
God blessed the union between Vincent and Arlene with three daughters, Inge, Melissa and Coralie. By the grace of God, and despite the disruptions to their education due to the relocation, all of them graduated from university in their respective fields of interest. They also worked and lived abroad for a brief period, giving them experience in international travel and culture.
In 1997 the family travelled to the USA, where they spent a month visiting Disney World, the White House and travelling across the country. A few years later, Inge lived in South Korea for two years, and Coralie lived in England for a year while she worked on her second master’s degree.
Today they are all married, Inge to Ryan, they have a son and daughter, Micah and Arielle, Melissa to Grant, they have two sons, Joel and Joshua and Coralie to Gilbert, they have a daughter called Naomi and a son called Noah.
Arlene gave up her University studies during the politically tumultuous time of the 80s to provide an environment at home where the children could develop and flourish spiritually, emotionally, academically and socially. She lived sacrificially as a mother to her children and wife to her husband, serving faithfully at home and in the ministry. Arlene’s tireless work in ministry, invading a broken and sinful world and reversing the grip of evil on people’s lives, produced much fruit for the kingdom of God. She embraced this work joyfully without any fanfare and mainly behind the scenes.
When the girls required less of her time and attention, she returned to her studies part-time, focusing on biblical psychology with particular emphasis on applying the Word as the healer and restorer. After many years she also returned to her studies in social work, her first passion, and recently obtained her qualification as an auxiliary social worker. Her short-term vision is to serve the community of Cape Town as a volunteer social worker.
Arlene also wrote a book, an apostolic perspective on Song of Solomon, focussing on the intimacy between the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. The Lord has given her wonderful revelation of His purposes, and she has served both her husband and the Church faithfully for the entire period of their marriage.
Vincent has served in all the fivefold offices of the Church over the past 40 years. He presently functions in the office of an apostle. This ministry was first recognized in 1994 by Kobus Swart and later ordained by the spiritual presbytery of EMI under the leadership of Apostle John Boney in 2004. Today he provides spiritual fathering and covering to individuals and churches alike in Cape Town, Addis Ababa, London, Dubai and North America. He also serves as a board member of EMI, and several churches, businesses, and organizations locally and internationally.
The Valentyn’s are considered pioneers in the apostolic reformation of the Church, both locally and internationally. They are respected as a source of knowledge, understanding and wisdom to many leaders in the body of Christ and the kingdom of God.
Vincent is also trained as a radio presenter and has done radio and television work in several countries. He obtained several degrees in business administration, theology, and divinity from various colleges and universities. In 2004 he received an honorary PhD in ministry from the prestigious Lincoln University (USA). During the same year, the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, conferred honorary citizenship upon him for the spiritual work that he has done in that region.
Vincent has been bi-vocational for most of his 40 years in ministry. He has a passion for entrepreneurial pursuits and has successfully created a national business with an international supply chain. He managed it for seven years until his international ministry expanded to where it became impractical to maintain both successfully. He yielded his life to the ministry of the Word of God, the area in which he experiences the greater anointing.
Today he heads up Tamarisk, the global business arm of Emmanuel Ministries International, equipping and discipling entrepreneurs, helping them gain revelation and understanding about their kingdom assignments in the mountain of business.
His ministry to the USA, the primary field of his labour and influence, commenced on America’s East Coast in 1997. Subsequently, he made about 70 trips to America, visiting at least 35 states, and speaking in many different churches and denominations. The primary work that has been accomplished during these visits is the declaration of the gospel of the kingdom of God, the apostolic restoration of the Church and leadership development.
Beyond the USA, he has travelled to 48 other countries, some as many as 30 times, boarding more than 500 flights, clocking up almost two million miles. That equates to about 70 trips around the earth. Over and above this he has driven thousands of miles by car, bus and taxi to proclaim Christ and his kingdom.
Vincent authored six books dealing with spiritual authority, leadership development, business principles and multi-cultural relationships in the Church.
Presently Vincent and Arlene provide leadership to Kingdom Lifestyle Ministries, an apostolic church they planted in 2013. A strong base of disciples forms the core of the church with their tentacles reaching into several mountains of the world. The influence of the church is felt in many parts of the world through the strategic partnership of the members and Vincent’s systematic apostolic work.
In the coming years, KLMI will become a household name amongst reformed Christians in the region, a primary source of knowledge, understanding and wisdom about God and his purposes on the earth.
The remainder of their lives is dedicated to faithfully stewarding the revelation that God in His grace and mercy revealed to them over these many years. Presently, their primary focus is set on identifying spiritual sons in whom they can invest themselves, ensuring that the next generation builds upon the knowledge, understanding and wisdom they received.
Both he and Arlene remains fully persuaded and committed to Christ and his Kingdom and live to see the next generation fully equipped and enthused to carry on the affairs of the Church and the Kingdom for generations to come.
Their end vision could be summarized in the words of Apostle Paul to his protégé Timothy recorded in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 The Message You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.