I am commonly called “Wolfi” – pronounced in various ways according to what version of English you speak. Its short (understandably) for Wolfgang Eckleben. I was born in 1964 in Namibia (Then South West Africa) in a small town called Grootfontein (translated “Great Fountain”) somewhere in the heart of the Namibian desert. My parental home language is German, and I also speak Afrikaans, and English with a mixed accent. I grew up in a very small town called Stutterheim in South Africa where we didn’t even have a traffic light (there is one now), and now live in London, the greatest city in the world!
My Family
I am happily married to my awesome wife Alison, and have two very special daughters Amy and Abigail.
My faith
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, believing that I am saved by His grace through faith in Him and what He did for everyone on the Cross. Hopefully those who meet me would call me a Christian. I did not grow up as a Christian, and only recieved Christ as Saviour at the age of 19 while in the South African navy for national military service. I have sought to live my life to honour Jesus ever since, and it has been the most incredible adventure, taking me from the small town of Stutterheim in South Africa, to planting and leading an awesome church in the heart of the greatest city in the world! Despite a number of valleys on this journey, my testimony is that God is definitely good!
Sailing, Skiing, Windsurfing, Snowboarding, running, cycling, the beach, ice cream…roller-blading with my girls…I had my first (disasterous!) kite-surfing lesson in Dec ‘06 – watch this space…
Our London story…
I’ll expand the story here sometime…on how we ended up in this great city, having been born in the middle of no-where and grown up in a town without a traffic light… For now, the story is that Ali & I arrived here on the 4th September 1993 with our two backpacks and a vision, sent out from our church in Cape Town South Africa. We had never been to London before, and knew no-one — this was the start of an incredible adventure which we have shared with 1000’s of great people who have been a part of Every Nation church (Previously called His People London) through the years. Watch this space as Gods plans keep unfolding…
Did I really run a sub-four minute mile?
Yes, back in the middle ages somewhere I ran a mile (1610m) in under four minutes…and in 1982 I won the South African under 19 Biathlon champs (1000m running & 100m swimming) with a new national record. If you are an athlete, my PB for 800 meters was 1:49.9, and for 1500m was 3:45. Leave me a comment about any of your own PB’s from time past… I ran the London marathon twice a few years ago, and nearly died both times… (Times were 3:40 and 3:58). I think I was made for the shorter faster stuff…anyone keen for a run?
