A Photo Tour of the P2P Projects

This is an amazing photo tour, by Bro. John Pople, of the work undertaken by the 10 P2P teams as they spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God all around South Africa. It'll give you the opportunity to join them as you share with them their visits to remote rural areas, poor townships, and busy city centres.

Click the arrow at the top of the viewer, or simply scroll down (within the viewer), to move forward through the presentation.

P2P in SA in MultiMedia

It is not really possible to capture the experience that the P2Pers had during their 2 weeks of preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God in South Africa. While the words and the photos give a glimpse into the life-changing impact this had on the P2Pers and the people they came into contact with, the experience is still much much more than you imagine.

However the P2P groups did put some video presentations together that give another insight into their experiences. Attached to this blog post are 3 videos that tell the stories of 3 of the teams.

Team Thomas spent week 1 at the Durban BEC and week 2 at the Lamontville PreSchool/Youth Centre.

Team Phillip spent their time at the Lamontville PreSchool/Youth Centre and Margate BEC/Creche/Youth Centre.

Team Andrew shared the Good News of the Kingdom of God at Umlazi township and at Candu in the Eastern Cape where we have an ecclesia and a creche running for the local community.

P2P South Africa

The 2nd two weeks of January 2008, following the International Amanzi conference saw 10 P2P (Prepared to Preach) Teams preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God all around South Africa. The P2P team members had spent approx. 1 year going through an intensive training program in Australia and America, and their trip to South Africa was the opportunity for them to put into practice their hours of work.

10 teams of 10 members in each were deployed in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Port Elizabeth. The teams spent 1 week on a project and then moved to a different project for the second week. There were a range of projects including Thembisa Orphanage, Kingdom Youth FC, Lamontville PreSchool, Mason Lincoln School for Disabled, Umlazi Tent Ministry, Maragate Creche and BEC, Candu, Bible Education Centres etc.

It was amazing seeing people and cars everywhere you went branded with the "Good News of the Kingdom of God".

The P2Pers preached both in word and action. Using a Touch and Teach approach these young people made meaningful contributions to the lives of hundreds of people, while also teaching them the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

It's hard to quantify the success of the P2P campaign. The mere fact that 100 young people from around the world spent 2 weeks preaching around South Africa is both a first ever, and an amazing achievement. However more than this the impact that this preaching had both on the young people involved and the communities they were working in was huge. Besides 100 young people working full time to spread God's good news, literally hundreds of people were taught the gospel through seminars, music, Kingdom Youth, Kingdom Kids, Kingdom Youth FC (football).

To get a sense of the impact this had on the P2Pers involved here are their words...

"P2P was incredible, I never imagined it would have such an impact on me and my life. Even tho everything has been happening in my country I was quite apprehensive to get involved. I now feel so much more confident when telling people about The Kingdom of God...." (Rachel Bamber)

Talking about a seminar run at the Durban BEC - "I remember how we discussed the fact that we may run into problems with either enough seats, or in providing lunch, which we offered as well. What was so awesome about this was that I was sitting there, and the biggest problem we could think of was that we might have too many people! And if that is our biggest problem, we really don't have a problem." (Eric Lange)

"The Kingdom of God on Earth. That is what my time in Africa gave me a glimpse of! The smiles, the willing and helping hands, the hugs, the constant conversations revolving around our LORD and his plans, the praise, the laughter, the joy! I just cant wait to see what more God has in store for us!! :) My magic moment was in the form of a tiny little boy. We were running a holiday "Kids Club" for the Umlazi kids and one of the activities was a prayer group. We asked the kids to say the one thing that they would like to pray to God for...more than anything else in the world. Instead of wanting to be a better soccer player, or to be rich, this little one's hearts desire was for "every man to be with his God." (Melody Kingston).

"I think one of the things that has impacted me the most is that, it has taken me to travel half way across the world to become close to people that live an hour away from me.....But you know what I think that unspoken connection is? Its this connection that we know we've already experienced some of the kingdom. The harmony we shared with people everywhere, the immense happiness we found in helping people and all the smiles on the africans faces as they were so willing and eager to learn about God. To me, this experience cannot be explained in words. All I can say is it was much much more than we could ever imagined and even greater must the kingdom be." (Mikki Pogson)

And the response of the people?

"I'm unable to say thank you to you all for what you've done. One thank you is not enough for everything you've given me and my church....I wish I had a thousand mouths, so I could give you a thousand thank you's...What is most amazing about what you've given us, is that you came here spending your time, energy and skills in service. You could've just sent a cheque...but instead you came here to see the children, and to lend your skills. And your skills, especially in this country, are priceless." (Nick Morgan on behalf of Leonard from Umlazi)

And so while many of the P2Pers have now returned home enriched by their experiences and enthused to continue the good work of preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, we in South Africa have before us a huge harvest waiting to be brought.

"I tell you, take a good look at the fields; the crops are now ripe and ready to be harvested!" - Jesus (John 4:35)

Amanzi 2008

What a way to start 2008 with Amanzi, the first ever international Christadelphian youth conference. 250 people converged on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa from more than 10 countries. Not only was this the first international youth conference, but it was the biggest youth conference ever held in South Africa. In fact it probably was the biggest gathering of brothers and sisters (which got close to 300 for the breaking of bread) ever witnessed in South Africa.

The youth conference started on the 31/12/2007 with lots of weary travelers from around the world bringing in the new year with a huge celebration of fireworks and incredible fellowship.

It was an action packed week with the main studies being led by Bro. Craig Blewett (South Africa) on "Much much more than you imagine" and Bro. Shane Kirkwood (Australia) on "Lessons from Timothy". The combination of Craig's talks on our Kingdom vision and Shane's talks on lessons for young people was very inspiring.

Besides the main sessions there was a feast of other spiritual activities covering topics such as "Clay" (Barry van Heerden), "The Gospel in our hands: A challenge for a new generation" (Matthew Blewett), "Experiences as a conscientious objector" (Ronnie van Rooyen, Lucas Scheepers).

And then there was a healthy dose of great social and sporting events. This was kicked off on the Wednesday night with the International Theme Night. This was a great event with the young people (and not so young) sporting the dress codes of their countries and supplementing this with dances, plays and other demonstrations of local life. It sure was an eye-opener to everyone to see the strange dress and cultures of so many different countries. It makes us appreciate that we are brought together by a common love of God and relationship through Jesus. Despite our different cultures, ways of dressing, ways of singing we share one faith and one hope.

The big sporting event of the week was the International soccer tournament. After preliminary rounds the final event was a tense affair between Australia and England. With the long-standing rivalry of these countries as the background and claims of match fixing and referee bribes (an Aussie ref at that) England emerged the victors and now proudly hold the first International Youth Conference Soccer Trophy.

However it was the South Africans who managed to beat off a spirited challenge from the "champions" put forward from all the other countries to claim the title of first International Youth conference Extreme Challenge.

Yet despite all of this friendly inter-country rivalry, a great spirit of oneness prevailed through the week as young people from around the world spent an awesome week around God's Word. 2008 has started with so many firsts - first international youth conference, first huge gathering of so many brothers and sisters, first time foreign visitors have outnumbered locals 4 to 1. What a way to start 200Gr8. May God continue to bless us all as we seek to grow in love and share His Good News with many more!