Create Capacity —
and God Will Fill It

There is a principle buried deep in 2 Kings 4 that most believers have read a hundred times and still walked right past. A widow, on the edge of losing everything, approached the prophet Elijah. Her husband was gone, the creditors were at the door, and all she had left was a small jar of oil. Elijah's instruction was breathtakingly simple: go and borrow containers — as many as you can find — then pour. She created capacity. And the oil did not stop until the last empty container was full.

That passage is the heartbeat of everything Pastor Carel Joubert does. It is the theme of his leadership conference, the lens through which he reads his own testimony, and the message he brings to a South Africa desperate for both revival and practical faith. When JustGospel sat down with the founder and senior pastor of IMPAK Kerk in Alberton for a wide-ranging conversation on the Joyful Journey Home drive show, what emerged was a story of a man who has spent decades learning — often the hard way — that God's supply is never the problem. The only question is whether we have created enough room to receive it.

From Retail Floors to Pulpits: A Pastor's Kid Who Said Never

Carel Joubert grew up in the ministry. His first steps were literally on an outreach bus, trailing behind his father — a pastor who is still in full-time ministry today and is described simply as "one of the legends of our denomination." Growing up inside the church gave Carel a front-row seat to its beauty and its burden. He watched his father remain loyal and faithful through seasons that were, by his own account, financially and emotionally gruelling.

"There was a scenario of 'Lord, you keep him humble, we'll keep him poor.' That was almost the idea people had about pastors. I always said: ministry? Me, never. I won't do it."

— Pastor Carel Joubert

So he went into retail. He and his wife built solid corporate careers, climbed the ladder, and made peace with the fact that ministry was someone else's calling. Then a youth ministry opportunity in Emalahleni (Witbank) disrupted the plan. Two years in that assignment showed him both the best and worst of church culture — and introduced him to the woman who would become his wife and ministry partner. After that, he went straight back to corporate life.

The second call to ministry came quietly, through an invitation to preach at a struggling church in the Roulatsch area south of Johannesburg. The building had a dead speaker. The microphone cable kept disconnecting. His wife's first word when they got back in the car was not encouraging. Yet within a week, that same church was asking him to become their pastor. His answer was an unequivocal no — until 3 o'clock one morning, when he opened his Bible to Jeremiah 33:10.

He packed his bags. The church's income in the first month of his pastorate was just over R3 000 — not enough to cover water and electricity. But God was faithful. He always was.

Three Days to a New Church Building

Few testimonies capture the speed of divine favour quite like the story of how IMPAK Kerk found its current home in Brackenhurst. After amalgamating with another congregation in Alberton, the church grew steadily until it was running two Sunday services and talking seriously about a third. Then a church member sent a link: a building was for sale.

Carel went to look out of curiosity and good stewardship — if they ever needed to sell their own building, it made sense to know the market. What he found initially seemed too small. Then a staff member pulled back a curtain running down the centre of the building, and the hall behind it opened up like a promise. The space was exactly what they needed. The price was not what they had.

On a Tuesday they submitted an offer below the asking price — below what other interested parties had tabled. On Wednesday afternoon, the phone rang. The offer had been accepted. By Sunday's service, IMPAK Kerk's congregation had no idea a new chapter had already begun. Three days. A church, purchased.

"I phoned the board and said, guys, we just bought a church. How did this happen? On Sunday we still had our normal service, not even thinking about a new building. Three days later, we bought a church. You think anything can happen in three days?"

— Pastor Carel Joubert

The old building sold just as quickly — to a church plant from Mossel Bay that needed a home, equipment and all. The renovations on the new building were funded one miracle at a time. "The minute we saw we didn't have funds for something, someone would just show up and say — what can we do, where can we pay, how can we help?" They moved into the new building in October 2024. The first Sunday, people were standing in the passages. They went back to two services. The church has doubled again in three months.

The Principle That Changes Everything

Carel keeps returning to the 2 Kings 4 principle not because it is a formula, but because he believes the Body of Christ has forgotten how to be expectant. He draws the same thread through the parable of the talents — the servant who buried his one talent did not lose it through laziness alone; he lost the multiplication because he refused to create capacity. He connects it to the prophet's instruction to Joshua: expand your tent pegs. He sees it in every building transition IMPAK has navigated.

"I think a lot of people's oil has stopped long ago because they just stopped creating capacity for God," he says, gently but directly. "In ministry, in church, in wherever you go — we need to create space for it."

A Heart for Missions: R177 000 Without Lack

A mission trip to India shifted the trajectory of the church permanently. Carel came home with a conviction that the local church's growth was tied to its investment in God's global heart. He told his congregation plainly: if we want to grow, we need to invest where God's heart is.

At their first combined leadership conference as the newly amalgamated congregation, he stood up and committed the church to spending R100 000 on missions that year. He felt the weight of what he was saying the moment the words left his mouth. At the year-end board meeting, they ran the figures. The church had given R177 000 to missions — without experiencing lack in any area. None.

"My board knows: if my church stops supporting missions, I'm out. That is the core of God's heart. Go out and proclaim the gospel. Thirty-three percent of the world has never heard the name of Jesus. That is terrifying. And we complain about the band playing too loud, or someone sitting in our seat." The point lands with a smile, but the weight of it is real.

Leaders With Impact: Equipping the Church to Create Capacity

The same passion that drives his preaching has translated into a growing leadership development ministry. Leaders With Impact — or Leiers Met IMPAK — is a resource conference designed for senior pastors, elders, and church leadership teams. What began as a single Saturday event has expanded into a multi-day denominational gathering attracting over 100 leaders from across South Africa, with a sister event planned for Cape Town.

Topics addressed include the mandate of the pastor, marriage and ministry, activating volunteer teams, protecting pastoral legacy, and managing multigenerational congregations. "How does a pastor manage to get all the generations into one room — and keep them?" It is a live question that many church leaders are wrestling with, and Carel approaches it from both his corporate background and his pastoral experience.

The conference is planned as an annual — and potentially bi-annual — fixture. Recordings of sessions will be made available. For upcoming dates and registration, visit impakkerk.co.za.

Brave Men: When God Heals the Warrior

IMPAK Kerk's men's events have built a quiet reputation in Alberton. The latest — simply called Brave — is an afternoon and evening gathering built around 1 Samuel's account of the mighty men who surrounded David. Not just brave men, but men brave enough to stand alongside a David: fierce, committed, willing to fight for something greater than themselves.

The evening begins socially — a braai atmosphere, mechanical bull, games, genuine camaraderie — before moving into a full church service. The aim is disarmingly pastoral: "I think men have lost their voice. Men are tired, frustrated, overworked, overstressed. We are not very good at letting steam off. We don't talk, we just keep it inside." Carel wants the presence of God to walk into that room and simply heal. To restore men to their mandate — as husbands, fathers, stewards, and citizens of heaven.

"We think we are brave when someone confronts us and we shout and scream. But brave men must be brave at the right things — brave enough to be a good husband, a good father, a good steward. Brave enough to be bold about what matters most."

— Pastor Carel Joubert

The Power in the Pause

As the conversation drew to a close, Carel was asked for a word of encouragement to the JustGospel family. He had been sitting quietly with Joshua 3 that same morning — a chapter that had been unsettling him. Israel was at the Jordan. The Promised Land was in sight. Victory was visible. And Joshua told the people: set up camp. We are not moving yet.

For a man with a self-described red personality — action-oriented, result-focused, always moving — this passage was a personal confrontation. Why stop when you can see the victory? Why pause when the breakthrough is right there?

He draws the thread through the Psalms — that little word Selah, scattered through the poetry like a recurring instruction to the reader: stop, pause, and think about what you just heard. Not as a passive retreat, but as an active posture of receiving. "Are we investing our time, energy, money and resources into the right things? Or are we just investing because we feel we have to? There is power in pause."

It was, in many ways, the perfect note on which to end a conversation that had ranged from rapid church growth to broken microphones, from a R3 000 monthly income to a R177 000 missions commitment, from retail floors to leadership conferences. Through every season, the posture was the same: create capacity, be faithful, pause when God says pause, and trust that the oil will keep flowing — right up until the last empty vessel is full.

Connect With IMPAK Kerk

Pastor Carel Joubert and the IMPAK Kerk team are based in Brackenhurst, Alberton, Gauteng. For upcoming events including the Leaders With Impact conference, the Brave Men's gathering, and their Easter theatrical production, visit impakkerk.co.za or search IMPAK Kerk on YouTube and Facebook.

This interview was first broadcast on JustGospel during the Joyful Journey Home drive show and is available as a podcast on all major streaming platforms. Search JustGospel on Spotify or visit justgospelrtv.co.za to listen live 24/7.