Jamming for Jesus and Kingdom Youth FC

so recently we have been working on a new idea called 'jamming for jesus' J4J (i know, little bit cheesy!) where we teach spiritual lessons through music.

it stemmed from the idea of kingdom youth fc which does the same thing through football.

laura i and julie trial ran it for 3 days early in december...while mat and laura s ran kingdom youth fc! the aim is to give kids the opportunity to learn the guitar while learning about the word of God.

we ran the courses up at mariannhill and were so pleased with the results!

here are the j4j gang on their first day!


they listened so well and tried so hard...







they were all TOTAL pro's at the 12 bar blues by day three!
here they are looking like proper little rock stars!



we had a well deserved certificate and hotdog session on saturday morning, the last day of the course with all our J4J and Kingdom Youth kids. lovelylovely.

next step is to hopefully set it up around schools in the townships and do workshops with some of the volunteers who live over here on how to teach it themselves so they can carry it on when we leave!

FW: 2010 Preaching Campaign Web Site

Hi all

 

Check out the awesome 2010preaching website that was designed and done by Bro. Jonathan Sabo from the USA - many thanks to him for a superb effort. Url given below. Please send to as many people as you know - especially overseas so that we can get the news about our special 2010 year out as far and wide as possible.

 

YbiC'ss

Lucas

---

 

http://www.2010preaching.com

 

God opened the floodgates - a BUMPER time of blessings!

This has, by far, been the busiest December we have ever experienced since we started the 2010 activities in 2005. We have been blown away by the way God has just opened the floodgates as far as His blessings towards our work is concerned as well as the good will of many people (that are connected with us) towards the needy and underprivileged children and people we are involved with.

 

The following were incredibly heart warming events for us to have been part of:

 

November 29th -  We took 50 gifts (donated by the Pick and Pay supermarket chain store) to the Kayhlihle Day care centre in Tembisa and they handed these out to the children (pre-school and orphans) as part of their year end function.

 

November 29th - Sunday School concert and prize giving which included the KINOS group. The children were brilliant in presenting a review of songs and they all enjoyed receiving their Sunday School prizes.

 

Dec 4th - The Police station near Tembisa gave the 18 children of the KINOS group a brand new bicycle each.

 

Dec 11th - Collection of various stationary and art items from the Impala primary school that they were throwing away in a clean up operation. These items are still in very good condition and can be very well utilized in the crèches in Tembisa as part of our CUDDLE project in 2010.

 

Dec 21 - We had the privilege to help the manageress of the Mug and Bean food and coffee shop distribute 200 gifts to 200 children in four different pre-schools in Tembisa in the space of two hours. It was an amazing experience to share the joy and excitement of the children and the teachers as they were treated to something very unexpected. Many of the children were so overwhelmed with their gifts that we had to tell to go ahead and open them!! - many of them are not used to receiving presents.

 

Dec 22 - Mug and Bean food and coffee shop treated the 5 key teachers we have identified to take the CUDDLE project forward to a scrumptious lunch. It really made them feel special and appreciated and served as a good event to get them to bond further and get motivated for the work ahead in 2010.

 

Dec 22 - The Mug and Bean food and coffee shop treated the KINOS group to a lunch and gave them a brand new clothing item each. It was interesting to see that the children were as thankful and excited about the clothing item as they were about their bicycles. We then took the children to the bunny park where they had a wonderful time chasing rabbits, feeding and seeing other live stock animals. If you add the Sunday School concert/ prize giving and bicycle give away they had it has been a fantastic end to the year they will never forget. It has been a wonderful privilege for us to share these experiences with them, and also seeing how thankful and appreciative they are.

 

Dec 23 - Purchasing and preparing of food hampers sponsored by the UK Meal a day fund to be distributed on Dec 30th God willing.

 

We a realizing more and more that there is a great need for people to be God's "channel(s)" for many who want to give to be able to do so effectively and indeed reach out to the widows and the fatherless. Many people want to donate but don't know how to or to whom to do so. Many don't realize that they have much to offer in this regard. It is our privilege and blessing to be such a "channel". It will be our goal to increase our efforts to make more people aware of the HUGE amount of good they can do by giving up very little of their time or goods and to get involved in reaching out to the poor and needy. 

 

It is hard work but very rewarding. Our incredible busy time and God's opened floodgates of blessings thru other people has prompted the following thoughts from Leona:

 

"What a blessing to live in a community that cares – and have friends and associates that have realized – "don't throw away – phone Lucas and Leona – let them decide what is actually worthless!"  Anything from food, furniture, clothes, paper or stationery.

Being in contact on an almost daily basis with crèches we have come to realize that they serve a community that has a minimal income – thus crèche fees are generally between R250 to R350 per child per month.  This would be for 5 days a week, from 6h30 till 16h00, and includes 2 meals and a morning snack.  This does not leave much of an income for the teachers of the crèches.  This is where donations from other schools and individuals has been such a Godsend.  If we can reduce the running costs of the crèches – it will increase the actual income for the teachers – and also hopefully encourage them to keep up the service they are providing for the community.

But who could have thought that a blessing can be so much hard work. 

Clothes have to be washed (very few people in Tembisa have washing machines), sorted, and then donated fairly and sensitively to the correct people.

Stationery / Art equipment is often half-used, dried out or broken – but sort out type-by-type – and soon one can give a crèche a decent stationery kit.

Books and Dictionaries need to be fixed, pencil markings rubbed out – and often combined to make a full dictionary – which if you have none – then a patched-up one is very worthwhile.

All donations are well meant – but can also often be worthless to the crèche without the necessary follow-up.  For example – persons receive sheets of wood for shelving – but do not have saws, nails or manpower to make the sheets into usable shelves.  So the wood lies around – and seeing as most crèches usually consist of only 2 small rooms – space is minimal.  Thus volunteer maintenance and painting skills are soon put to good use.

Are we complaining ? Never.  It encourages fellowship, good laughs and that "I have so much to be thankful for" attitude while we are doing the sorting; and then to experience the thankfulness and humbleness with which the donations are received – just makes one realize – next time we will be ready to again fetch any donation – because even though we cannot change the world – we can make a meaningful difference in our circle of influence.

 

"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness." – Psa 145:3-7

  

 

 

Set for 2010

Our work here in Kempton Park has increased greatly (exponentially) during the last month and have really helped us to

 

1) crystallize our main areas to focus on in 2010, God willing, 

2) increase the potential opportunities for preaching quite substantially.

 

We are well set for 2010 to do direct preaching as well as preaching through our touch and teach approach. Our focus for next year will be (KC)²! :

 

1) Kiosk BEC : - Getting as many people introduced and interested in the Bible courses and lead them to the weekday and Saturday Bible classes. Providing Bible study classes to as many students as possible. Providing affordable Bibles, Bible study materials and other useful literature and materials to students and passers by. Creating a "space" where people can have a friendly chat about Bible matters.

2) Community Center in Tembisa. The "APhiwe" (gift) center is scheduled to launch mid February/March, God willing, and will serve as a pre-school and life skill education center. We will also be running a Sunday School there and the venue could serve as an ecclesia hall if our preaching efforts in Tembisa bear fruit.

3) Kinos group. This group of about 20 children have bonded into a very lovely "family" and they are an exhortation of living out the joy of believing in God wherever we take them. They are overwhelmed by the blessing God is showering on them but in return provide inspiration for others by their joyful attitude to life, their spontaneous singing, their good manners and their thankfulness. We are hoping to increase our support for them in their township called "Esselen Park" so that many more of the children there can also join them on Sundays at our Sunday School as well as the other Bible related activities we provide for them during a year. 

4) CUDDLE project. The CUDDLE (Crèche Upgrades, Development, Directives, Liaison and Education) project had come into full swing because of a great need that exists in the Tembisa townships. There are literally hundreds of crèches in the township but the teachers that are looking after the children lack training, skills, resources and equipment. It all started small when sister Jessica Russel developed a manual to help teachers keep the children busy constructively each day so that pre-school would prepare the children for school rather than just baby sitting them each day. Sister Leah Egginton developed the manual further into a very comprehensive seminar course that was very successfully given to teachers in Kempton Park and Durban. Sister Leona Scheepers adapted the course and gave a 7 week seminar course to 15 teachers in Tembisa. This was done because of the town council requesting her to do it as part of a training program for all the pre-school teachers in Tembisa. There are currently 346 teachers on the waiting list to do the course in 2010. The department of Education has also contacted Leona and wants her to be the liaison person between the pre-schools that teach Grade R (year before school) and the dept of Education. We have visited 10 of the 15 crèches of the teachers that attended the first creche course seminar and built up personal relationships with all of the teachers. They were overwhelmed by the interest, support and our willingness to come to the township to find them and help them. More exciting is that two of these very lovely teachers (ladies) have expressed a desire to come to our ecclesia and attend our meetings next year. Four of the teachers have also requested that we give Bible classes to the children next year as part of our support. We are very exited to start the Crèche Upgrades while Diligently Developing the Little one's Education :-)

 

We praise God and Jesus for their help, guidance, answers to parayers, miracles and strength in the past four years with all the hard but rewarding groundwork. It served as good preparation to get us ready for cuddling up to the community and kids in need of support, showing them the love of God and Jesus in action, preaching the Gospel daily through our actions and the Kiosk.

 

With thankful hearts and abiding love from the 2010 Kempton Park Team

 

"Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness." – Psa 145:3-7

Bunny Park Trip with KINOS Kids

Bunny Park Trip with KINOS Kids

 

We took 20 of the KINOS kids from our ecclesia out for a fun day at the bunny park and brunch at the Mugg & Bean restaurant. The Christadelphian Ecclesia in Kempton Park, South Africa has a special club called KINOS (Kids In Need Of Support) where not only are the children living in extremely-poor households, but also only have one parent, or no parents and living with a grandparent or in an orphanage.

 

The local Mugg & Bean restaurant donated brunch for all the children plus T-shirts and candy for each one of them. We then drove them out to the bunny park in Benoni where they enjoyed playing and feeding the roaming bunnies, sheep, goats, ducks, and geese that live there on several acres in the park. The children all had a great time and it was a beautiful sunny day here in South Africa. For most of them, an outing like this is the only time they leave their townships, so it’s a great pleasure to share in their fun and give them a new experience. They sang church hymns in the car ride all the way there and back.

 

Most of these children have been faithfully attending the Kempton Park Ecclesia for two years and activities like this keep them involved with the ecclesia and where they are being raised with Christadelphian beliefs and moral values.

 

Your brother in Christ’s service,

Jonathan Sabo – Kempton Park Ecclesia, South Africa

Keen Kiosk Connectivity

Our new Kiosk style BEC is now well under way. We are very much encouraged by the amount of foot traffic that passes by the kiosk which is very well placed in front of a supermarket. Quite a few people have enrolled for the Bible Course. Bro. Jonathan Sabo has designed very professional signage that has been placed on both sides of the kiosk and it really attracts attention. there are still a few modification to be made in the future, God willing, but we are exited about the potential. In January we will be go full out in advertising the lunch time and Saturday Bible classes. These will start in February and we are very eager to see what kind of attendance we will get.

 

With abiding love from the KMP 2010 team  

"Business" as UNusual

We have relocated the KMPBEC to a different shopping centre closer to the Tembisa Township. The BEC is now a kiosk in the middle of the shopping center. We will still be doing the same kind of preaching and teaching through Bible classes and the bible correspondence course. The format is just different and hopefully just as effective or even more fruitful. We are still finding our feet regarding a few operational aspects but judging by the first week we are quite exited about the latent potential. On the first day when we starting setting up two people wanted to know about what we sell and enrolled for the Bible course even before we had anything placed in the kiosk.  

 

At present the kiosk is very basic but we will be modifying and upgrading it to give ourselves more "exhibition space", better security, easier operation, eye catching signage, a table and chairs next to it to make it inviting for people to have a friendly Bible chat with us if they want to. We were also encouraged by quite a few people walking by remarking that it was great to have such a stall in the shopping centre as there is no Bible shop in the near vicinity.

 

Kempton Park 2010 Team

 

 

 

Kinos Group - Moved and Motivated

During the last month some special things have happened with regards to our preaching and outreach work in Tembisa. A group of about 20 children attend our Sunday school on Sunday mornings. We fetch them from Tembisa, transport them to the ecclesia and then take them back to Tembisa again after the memorial meeting every Sunday. Eighteen of these children have been coming to the Sunday School very faithfully throughout the year. They attended the holiday club and also went on the youth weekend we had in Benoni. It has been a privilege to see them grow and become like a small family in a way. Most of these children have only one parent or live in very poor circumstances. Although they do not live in an orphanage they still could do with some help. A natural progression from this is that we started a formal "KINOS" (Kids In Need Of Support) group. There are certain criteria for belonging to this group, two of which are that you have to be needy in some way and that you have to be a regular attended of the Sunday School. The word "kinos" in Greek is related to moving and thus also to being motivated. It has indeed been a motivation to see the blessing God has showered on these children lately and on us for being part of their lives.

 

The KINOS group made up the larger part of the Sunday School review group that was superb in singing and acting out various songs according to a specific theme in the Bible. A month ago we were approached by the commissioner of a Police station near Tembisa and asked if we could identify children in need for whom they could give a party and some gifts. We suggested the KINOS kids and the children got the opportunity to write a wish list. Most of the list had items like stationary, clothes, watches. Two of the children listed a bicycle (which we though a little ambitious.) We were very surprised and delighted when, two weeks later, the commissioner informed us that they decided to buy each of the 18 kids a bicycle. On December 4th we fetched the children and transported them to the Police station for their party. They were not told what gift they were going to get. They were treated to a lovely meal and then a clown gave them a good time of laughs and made them each a special "toy" with balloons. Lastly they were given their bicycles and it is hard to describe their amazement, happiness and spontaneous joy. To see 18 kids riding brand new bicycles, each one totally ecstatic is hard to describe but an awesome goose bump experience. 

 

Before and during the party the groups sang a lot of songs that they have learnt during the year. The police chaplain present was very impressed with the group. He asked us if we were interested in helping with Bible classes etc at the police station next year. We thus might have another opportunity for preaching next year! It was wonderful to see the kids still riding their bikes in the township when we visited them again two days later - their lives have been changed and their holiday has a whole new dimension. The thank you cards they wrote were very touching and made us realize how wonderful God has been in blessing them and us this year - All glory to Him and Jesus for the love they bestow on all of us. It is truly a wonderful life when you can serve others because of what Jesus has made and still makes possible by his example and life.   

 

From a very grateful 2010 team in Kempton Park.