Tich and Joan Smith share their story of God bringing each of them through tragic situations and leading them to launch a ministry - a village which rescues children, restores lives, and raises young leaders.

In 2007 I joined Joan full time, we gave our business to our youngest son, who still runs it. We are still 80% shareholders and that's how we live. We don't draw on the charity. In 2009 I was praying over the community one day and I felt God say, "Shacks will come down and houses will go up and thousands will come to know me." We had a crusade in the community, an amazing month where we preached the gospel every night and thousands upon thousands came to know the Lord. In 2009 He also said "The time for the village is now." We started to look for a place, a farm where we could build this village. For six months we looked and it was such an amazing thing: we found this incredible farm just near the new international airport and we started to raise money and build the village.

Emily: Tell me about how you got the land.

Joan: Tich was so sure that the farmer in our church was the key to finding the land because their family had been in the area for six generations. So he took the role about finding the land very seriously.

The vision that Tich had in 1997 was so clear that he drew it, and knew the shape of the land. It was on a hill but the farmer kept showing us land that was low lying and flat. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Whilst we were overseas at the Soul Survivor festival we heard that he'd found a particular farm that he thought could work, but he told us the downside was that nobody in their right mind would actually buy it because it was right next to a very poor community where there was a lot of crime. We just felt that actually that was a massive opportunity. Not only would we be looking after orphans but also we could help a neighbouring community.

Tich: It was interesting when we bought the land because Joanie said, "Please don't tell me to sell our home on the beach and come and live in the village" and I said "no, that will never happen." Then 18 months down the line, this amazing couple who were leading the village on site said it was too much for them. We were praying for somebody to come and lead the village and I felt God saying "No, I want you to go." So I said to Joan we need to go to the village.

Joan: I said to him "I'll help you pack and I'll visit you on weekends." But I knew that this was the next step. So we went. Very soon after we moved there, I felt that we were there for life, but it was okay, I was fine with it. It was such a beautiful experience, doing life with these children and some of the mothers. It was such an essential thing for us. You can build something, but if you don't live it, you can't ask somebody else to do it. It was a good move.

Tich: It was also an interesting time for us to see life through the eyes of the poverty stricken. We had lived as privileged white South Africans in our country where apartheid was a big thing. To live that life in those communities and see life through their eyes was an amazing experience.

Emily: Looking back now and seeing how far God has brought you both individually and as a couple, what do you think has been the biggest lesson for each of you in that time?

Joan: Well, I think the biggest lesson is that when you're helping and serving others, that's where you find true joy. We've never worked harder, it's never been tougher, but it's been the greatest privilege of our lives. We're having the best of times and the toughest of times.

Tich: One of the biggest things is realising that everybody has talents and gifts. So when you serve others try and find out what their talents and gifts are. We serve from a place where we know that we love them and we just want to serve them and it's amazing to see how people are changed and transformed by the love of Jesus. For me that was the greatest privilege.

We've had children there who couldn't read or write when they came to the village, and now, six years later, they're writing music and the words to the songs. Our worship team have just made their first CD. It's the greatest privilege of our lives to be part of seeing what God is doing with the children in the nation and with the communities. The communities are poverty stricken; 50% of our population between 18 and 35 are unemployed. So we feel that we need to train and either employ many or else help them find employment elsewhere.

Emily: Why did you decide to write the book?

Joan: So many times people asked us when we were going to write the book. We used to laugh. We said well, when we've got time, which is one thing we didn't have. But Mike Pilavachi, from Soul Survivor, sat us down and told us it was time to tell our story.

Tich: From my point of view, I didn't think I was worthy to write a book and I really mean that. I said no to Mike. People don't just write books. Then Mike said to me, "Actually, it's got nothing to do with you because in your strength you end up in a home for alcoholics and drug addicts. This is all to do with Jesus and what He's done with your broken life." So he said "Get yourself out of the way and just share the hope and the love of Jesus." That's what changed my mind. It still feels sometimes it's a strange thing to have written a book, but we've done it to try and encourage others that in Christ nothing is impossible.

Joan: When we look at ourselves, we're so unqualified to be doing what we're doing, the only thing we knew what to do with the children was to love them. But it was amazing to see how love really transforms lives, it never fails. We wanted people to read the book and see that if God can do things through these two old crackpots, then imagine what He can do through them. I think that's the most important thing for us. We want to inspire and challenge people to do more.

The book 'When Grace Showed Up' by Tich and Joan Smith is available on Amazon. To find out more about what they are doing, visit www.liv-village.com.