PORTA-BEC born in PORTA-liza-BEC

THE PORTA-BEC is born in PORT ELIZABETH

CONCEPT

The concept of a moveable BEC hit me early one morning in July and life has never been the same since!
With limited funds and human resources in a small ecclesia it seemed that there should still be a way to run a Bible Education Centre (BEC) without the expense and commitment of hiring a shop and running it on a full time basis. A 6m (20ft) container seemed to be the way to go with the added benefit of it being 99% theft-proof! Time will tell.

CONTAINER

With the dramatic rise in the price of steel in just the last 12 months, most firms are choosing to refurbish rather than replace, resulting in a dearth of suitable stock. From watching the swop columns and visiting firms that deal in 2^nd hand containers it was apparent that prices range from R11k – R27k depending on quality: with much patience and time one can find cheaper. We were finally able to find one on tender at Telkom and after much prayer put in a price of R8100 plus VAT. Success! It was the best on offer and we secured it by R100! It is in pretty good condition and with the wonderful help of the P2P 2010 team managed to make it look very respectable. Pictures and paint, table and chairs and away we go!

VENUE

The first choice was Kwadesi township where we already have 6 members and is very accessible from the main highway to Uitenhage. Bro Zwelakhe used his considerable charm on an ex-student who is now a city councilor for the area, and she gave written permission to put the container at a most prominent place near the main shopping centre and next to the police station. Maybe after time we will move it to another area in PE or if the project proves unsuccessful we can always sell it for more than we paid.

STAFF

With so few members available to run it full time, a roster is being drawn up so that with the helpof those members in Kwadesi and a few from Port Elizabeth. we should be able tobe open at the busiest times of the week. Tables and chairs are then brought in and everything securely locked away.

ACTIVITIES

We had our grand opening on Saturday 30^th August with lots of invitations being given out and opening specials - cheap Bibles, balloons, BEC pens for all who sign up etc. 30 have registered for correspondence courses in the first few days and lots of preaching material has been given out. 

We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for all His blessings in this project; also the wonderful support of the 2010 COP Trust and P2P workers led by Big Ben Dailey the Ozzie cum S. African who leave plastered with orange BEC paint!

YBBGG

Michael J Floyd

The Love of God binds abled and disabled, young and old...

What do you get when you mix four groups of young people aged from 12 to 24 who have never met before and are different in terms of their background, education and physical condition? Lots of talk…..lots of laughter….and even more fun! 

Saturday 23^rd September 2008 saw the first combined youth day held at the Lamontville Good News centre. This was the first activity in a new program for the centre in which activities are run for the community several times a week. These include youth days, kingdom youth soccer, reading improvement classes, Bible classes and life skills classes on topics from finance and being part of a committee to health and even arranging a funeral!  

On Saturday, we had youth attend from the Mariannhill ecclesia, Mason Lincoln School for disabled learners (better known as Happy’s school), Lamontville UCC and some younger youth from Lamontville who have been attending reading improvement classes run at the centre by Brother David White. What a wonderful opportunity to get youth from all areas together and enjoy a day of fun and fellowship! 

The day kicked off with some raucous games which included lots of animal noises…(quite a sight, and sound!) and some activities to get the youth mixing and meeting one another. Brother David White then lead the youth through the “Teen Commandments” (no, not a spelling mistake….10 instructions to help teenagers live Godly lives) and endeared the audience to him at the startling revelation that to count his age by turning around in circles was a challenge on the giddy scale!  

Then it was outside for some more games! The competition was stiff in a game where the youth had to find others who met certain criteria and have them autograph their page. “Liking peanut butter”, “having two brothers and sisters” and “wearing a blue shirt” had never been so important! It was a noisy mix of all four groups of youth as they battled to note down people’s names that they didn’t know, for extra points!  

The great balloon popping game is always a favourite and this one got off to an early start as the balloons all started to explode prematurely! Even the many young people in wheelchairs participated, with balloons tied to their chairs – I was sure we were going to have some ankle casualties, but everyone became good at dodging! It was lovely to see that the winner of the game was a young disabled girl from Happy’s school, who to everyone’s astonishment showed great determination against Senzo, a young guy from Mariannhill, to take the title as if she had won gold in the Olympics! 

Brother Craig Blewett led an interesting session on the Olympics by paralleling the various aspects of sporting achievements to our walk in life to the kingdom. It was touching to think how many of these kids would have real empathy for the stories of struggle to overcome sickness and disadvantage.  

The classic South African snack: viennas on rolls! The youth then had the chance to enjoy some snacks and I was amazed at how well they were all mixing. In particular, the care taken by the youth for those in wheelchairs in terms of moving them around and ensuring they had enough to eat, was very touching. 

The event ended in the early afternoon, with the youth all hugging each other and waving happily – promising to see their new-found friends again. What a success! We hope and pray that all the youth days held at Lamontville are such wonderful experiences.  

Leah Egginton

Tears of joy - "I'll remember it for the rest of my life"

Possibly the most moving experience of my trip (and possibly my life) so far was on Wednesday night at Mariannhill Bible class. I was initially pretty apprehensive about going as I’d never been to a township before so going at night sounded a bit scary for a first experience. When we were driving though, if I’m honest, I tried not to look outside as I didn’t want to scare myself. I kept asking which building the hall was, though when we turned up it was fairly obvious. I could see through the window a man dancing, which initially I found pretty funny. I was a little bit scared about going in, but I’ll never forget the moment I walked through the door. 

I heard a massive cry of “Hallelujah! Let us praise the Lord” followed by the most beautiful singing I’ve ever heard. People were smiling, clapping, banging their bibles (!) and dancing. I’ve never experienced such joy before. I’m not an especially emotional person (I haven’t done the colour test yet but I don’t expect to have a lot of blue), but I have to admit that in the first prayer a few tears came out. To think that a few months ago, this church didn’t even exist and these people didn’t know Christ, to hear them now praising God in this way was inspiring. I felt privileged to be able to join in with their praise and will remember it for the rest of my life. 

The talk by Bro. Otto van Rensburg was on the parable of the master and servant (Exodus 21) and how the master served the servants. This was a parable of how God serves and provides for us. It was especially poignant considering that a lot of them actually worked as servants. The people were also really friendly, greeting us all individually with beaming smiles. I didn’t want to leave, in fact, when I did it was driving back in a car with 4 Mariannhill members. It was a great way to end an evening I’ll never forget.  

James Dean, UK 

At Dumisani’s school I was struck by just how grateful everyone was for our week’s work and the impact it brought on raising awareness to the wider community. Journalists came to photograph and write about what we were doing, as white people had never come to do anything like this before. The students put on a very touching farewell show with singing and Zulu dancing and afterwards, the staff cooked us a braai. One of the teachers gave a speech, asking us all to tell everyone back at home about this disadvantaged school and send more volunteers to come out and help. 

Shona Taunton, UK

Marvellous Moments at Marianhill

God has a special affection for those who are poor in this world, but rich in faith.  Many witnesses saw Him at work once more in the calling of Nokuthula, who joined God's family at Marianhill, on Sunday, 9^th August.

 

The
recently purchased, land, (and already expanded!) meeting room at
Marionhill was full of brethren, sisters, friends and young people as
they shared this special day.  Sister Nokuthula was received into fellowship, and joyful songs of praise filled the air.  Brother Matthew Blewett's inspirational exhortation touched the hearts of all those present.  The occasion was brought to a close by a meal of celebration at the home of brother Phinda and sister Sylvester Cele.

 

Marianhill ecclesia now numbers twelve members.  That
may not seem many, but as that tiny bank of dedicated disciples changed
the face of Jerusalem two thousand years ago by its dynamic preaching
of the Word, so this small committed ecclesia is changing the face of
Marianhill.

 

David White

Goosebumps on goosebumps and Hearts shared

Some more blog-etts from P2P July/August.....

Something that really inspired me happened on a cold, misty day in the middle of a township, in a disadvantaged household. I was giving a class on Ruth on the Sunday morning, in a crowded back bedroom. The children were all crammed onto two little beds or sitting on the floor. We started making sandals as an activity to end the class with. All of a sudden someone started humming. After a while, everyone was singing “We glorify your name….sia kudumisa….”. Gradually more and more children from other Sunday school classes joined. When I looked up after cutting the cardboard, the room was chock-a-block with people of all ages, races and countries. It was hectic. I had goose bumps on top of my goose bumps. It was definitely a moment that we all wanted to last forever! 

Christy Beyers, South Africa  

While in Mariannhill, teaching the Kingdom Youth course, one of the children gave me his R10 to look after, which showed that he trusted me even though we had only been there for three days. Another of the children called me “teacher” which made the rest of the group laugh! Giving out the t-shirts to the children was also amazing. It was great to see the happiness on their faces and to see them all wearing them not only on the Friday, but the Sunday as well. 

Whilst waiting for food at Mariannhill, we all took groups of 15 kids and sat them in circles. I had to keep telling some of them to sit down, which they did straight away, but then some more would stand up and I would tell them to sit down. Eventually, it turned into a game, which they loved. It was amazing that such simple things as standing up and sitting down could make them so happy. 

Mark Whale, UK

While there are many moments from my time in Gauteng that stand out, two in particular come to mind. Each morning, Liezl, Lucas and I would drive into Tembisa township to pick up the children at Ubuhle orphanage. Over twenty of them live in a two-bedroom house. I spent each morning teaching English classes to the older ones while the rest went to the hall for a holiday club. Besides the eagerness of the children to learn, despite it being school holidays, my favourite moment came  once we began writing poetry.  

Often asking them to write me a poem for homework, many of them came in with three, four or five poems each. After class, the girls huddled around me, reading their work. Poems about living with aids, surviving abuse, poverty and hardship. But the poems were also filled with so much hope. They praised God for His care for them, spoke of the choices they had in responding to their circumstances and expressed gratitude for the small things in their lives. I thought to myself, if these children could express hope and faith even as they lived with such challenges, how much more should I be praising God for all I have? 

After class, Mpho and I drove back to Tembisa, squeezed together into the front seat of the van. In a quiet whisper, she continued to read me her poems and tell me her stories for the entire 30 minute drive. I couldn’t save her from a childhood in this place, but I could teach her that someone does care and wants to hear her story. 

Keren Robertson, US

A very fruitful week at the Kempton Park BEC

A very fruitful week at the KMPBEC was rounded off by a busy Saturday morning earlier today. We have four new ladies attending the lunch time Bible Class. Today bro. Brogan was on staff duty privilege and he enrolled 5 students for the God’s Master Plan course. Quite a few students visited returning their course questionnaires and we had some discussion with some of them. Andrew Chavalala arrived as he had said he would and we could discuss further matters pertaining to his preparation for baptism. He is getting closer and closer to making that final commitment and asking to be interviewed. He was the first to receive a handy book that we have compiled with a lot of aspects relating to preparing for baptism. Frans, another regular student, who is also contemplating baptism attended the Bible classes this week and informed us that he would be bringing a friend to the ecclesia tomorrow. Most Sundays at our ecclesia are very rewarding now as there are always visitors there because of their association with the Bible Education Centre.

 

God continues to use us to get people connected with his saving invitation as found in the Gospel message of the Kingdom – we thank him for this privilege.

Loving greetings from all the brothers and sisters from Kempton Park.     

Sunday School continues to grow

This Sunday past we had a new record of 17 young people coming to our Sunday school from Tembisa. We had to take two cars out to Tembisa to fetch them all. Four of these children live in a different area that the Ubuhle Orphanage but got to know of us through Bro. Tebogo’s children. Two of them went with us to Graskop a few weekends ago and now love to come to Sunday school. Last week they took the train themselves (4 girls of 10 years only) to get to our meeting. It is amazing how rewarding community outreach work turns out to be. Years ago we would drop leaflets in the post boxes of the neighbourhood around us and never got any response. Now we have an average of 26 children at our Sunday school and it continues to grow – all because we were prepared to go out to the people and help them in whatever small way we could. One of Bro. David White’s favourite quotes is so true i.e. “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care”

 

Although we have to fetch these children and drive them to Sunday School it creates immense potential once we, by God’s grace, start an ecclesia in Tembisa. There will already be half of an ecclesia (the Sunday School) right there J

 

 

We thank and praise God as He continues to bless us and gives us the opportunities to reach out to others.

Love from all the brothers and sisters in the Kempton Park ecclesia.