My name is Hugo Filter. I grew up on a farm in Mpumalanga, near Piet Retief. I visited the primary school in Commondale and attended the junior High School in Paulpietersburg and grade 11 and 12 in Piet Retief. After school I studied BCom Economics with Agricultural economics in Pretoria as I wanted to be a farmer on our farm Wagendrift. As a boy the Lord had already called me into ministry. I ran away from this calling until I answered the Lord’s calling to become a pastor in 1976. My ministry began as a chaplain in the army at Voortrekkerhoogte; I also served on the border of Namibia and Angola, in Sodoliet and Mushesh. My name is Lynette. I was born and raised in Pretoria. My father was German, my mother Dutch; I attended an English preschool, a German primary school and an Afrikaans high school – thus fluent in all these languages. I studied teaching and had the privilege to teach all grades from Grade RRR (which I enjoyed most) up to Grade 5. Hugo and I married in December 1985 and together we served in NELCSA; first in the English and Afrikaans ministry in Pretoria, then in the parish ministry on the eastern edge, in Wartburg, Gerdau, Braunschweig and, after retirement, for another four years in Empangeni. Our children, Erika and Niels, were born at the state hospital in Germiston. They began their schooling in Wartburg, continued in Lichtenburg, and completed their post-school education in Pretoria. Our daughter is a registered counsellor; however, she is currently preparing to go to India for a year as a missionary. Our son is married to Lauren, together they have three boys: Caleb, Leo and Kai. Niels works for a company in Centurion, Pretoria, from his home in Somerset West. Lauren homeschools her three boys, which is a daunting task.
The Lord has blessed us with wonderful children and a fulfilled ministry. Together with the help of the Lord we overcame some hardships such as cancer in 2011. Our children in Somerset asked us to move here, as we had little opportunity to visit and spend time with our grandchildren. So we relocated to Somerset Oaks and are slowly settling in. We are looking forward to the time of our retirement here in Somerset West with our children and in our new congregation. I am also prepared to help with services in this congregation and in other congregations of the Western Cape.
May God bless this time in the Western Cape with the family and each other.
Hugo and Lynette Filter
