A new way to support Afrikhono!

You have probably all heard about Afrikhono (http://www.afrikhono.com/), the welfare project that aims at helping our South African brethren and sisters earn a living whilst retaining their dignity......well, there is now a brand new way to help support this project!

The ecclesial communities of Mariannhill (which this blog often has updates on!) and Durban (which largely supports the Durban BEC contacts) have continued to work on creating beautiful, handmade greeting cards that have been purchased by ecclesias throughout Australia, the UK and the US! However, if this project is going to continue to support the welfare needs of these growing ecclesias, the sale of their cards needs is very important.

So we are now reaching out for people who are happy to become Afrikhono representatives in a brand new way to support this exciting project! As a representative, you would receive a batch of cards initially free of charge to on-sell to your local and ecclesial community to ensure an income for your family in Christ in South Africa. Also, for a limited time, we will be providing a batch of 300 cards for the cost of 200!

If you are happy to become an Afrikhono representative in this way, you will receive a box of cards in about 2-3 months time, as we will be posting these via sea mail to help reduce costs. You will then be asked to pay for these approximately one month after they are received, by which time you should have been able to on-sell most of the cards to help with making payment.

If you are happy to act as an Afrikhono representative in your local area by receiving this batch of cards on consignment, please email afrikhono@gmail.com and provide us with the following details:

• Full name
• Email address
• Postal address (where the cards should be sent) - please include full details such as postal code and country
• Ecclesia

When your confirmation is received by the Afrikhono team, a batch of cards will be posted to you immediately and you will be emailed information on how to on-sell the cards and also be provided with a brochure to use when promoting the Afrikhono cards.

We look forward to receiving your support on this project. Please spread the word to as many others as you know might be interested in helping!

Your family in Christ, the Afrikhono Team

Mariannhill and WOW!

What an exciting couple of weeks, and what an amazing weekend!!!

Brother Kyle Tucker and his family and some close friends have arrived in the Durban area. As expected, there were some minor airport adventures...It's great to have Kyle and the crew in town!!!

As of last week we currently have 3 young men who are seriously studying for baptism, as they have expressed a desire to be in "the One Family" of God! It is amazing the responsiveness to the word of God, once it is presented in a way that makes sense to them I've never witnessed anything quite like it! All three of these men have come into contact through the Durban BEC!

Another Surprise: Yesterday, during our Durban Fraternal meeting, I was asked to come out to Mariannhill meeting this evening. I've been wanting to do this for a couple of weeks as I heard that the Mariannhill youth had taken the initiative and are now meeting every night of the week to have a one hour prayer meeting. I've been "itchin'" to attend to see how this works. Having attended this evening, I can tell you it is a real experience - Eye opening!

I discovered that the Mariannhill music director (Mdu) took the message to give your life as a willing sacrifice seriously and decided to be baptized this afternoon. I had the privilege of talking to him about his commitment and he quite elegantly made the comment that he does nothing spur of the moment. That he wanted to spend the time and effort to make sure that he properly understood what he was committing to before he made the decision to be a fully committed member of our body / family! And he is actively making a difference, with several of his peers!! Well stated and Amen!!

Anyway, Mdu and the others began by singing hymns and praying, then we discussed some favorite bible verses, then sang hymns some more. We discussed some of our favorite hymns, shared some of our goals and prayer requests, then sang another couple of hymns and prayed some more. I was honestly shocked at the command of some of the scriptures that I was witnessing, quite impressive for being as young as they are in the truth. I'm equally impressed with their willingness to take the initiative to commit to a daily evening Bible class. Amazing!!

I see God's hand and His blessings on this small ecclesia! Please join me in praying for this group of young men; to encourage them to boldly proclaim the word of God, to focus on youth development, and to focus on commiting to efforts to develop both the youth and the community in the coming months.

I look forward to being able to continue this update on my next report in a couple of weeks!

God Bless

Bible School Bound,

YBIC,

Cam

All things bright and beautiful

The Tembisa Sunday School has now grown to a steady 25 children each Sunday. Last Sunday we had a wonderful outing, together with the Kempton Park Ecclesia Sunday School, to the Lory Park Zoo. Some of the children had never seen many of the animals in this relatively small but very well kept and presented zoo. It was a good time to make God's creation more real to them and bring home to them the variety in God's creation.

 

We were quite fascinated by some of the children who were quite afraid of the owls because of some superstition they have been taught in the township. It was a good opportunity to teach them the true facts and helping them to be freed of these fears after a while. After lots of roaming around between cages and having a scrumptious lunch we took them all home. The smiling faces at the end of the day was a great reward for taking them on a special outing. It will be holidays for the next 4 weeks and there will be no Sunday school but a P2P holiday club week awaits them during the second week of July. Some of them attended the previous holiday club and can't wait for the next one. Again, by God's grace, we will be able to brighten up the lives of these children for a little while whilst teaching them God's values and some valuable life skills.

 

We continue to thank God for the wonderful opportunities and resources He continues to provide us to show his and Jesus' love to others.

 

Loving greetings from all the 2010 workers here in Kempton Park

May and June with the Beelers in South Africa

Imagine, if you will, that you have arrived to do a bible class with a small group of believers. It's been a hectic day and you're unloading your bibles and greeting the group. Suddenly, one of the young men in your class comes to you and tells you that one of the regular children from the creche you are meeting in, has died from a terrible accident. The mother of the child has requested that you come to her house on the hill and pray for her...

As you arrive at her patchwork shanty, whose interior more closely resembles a walk-in closet I once owned, you are surrounded by the Zulu 'family' who are coming to share in her grief. We pray for God's comfort and for his blessings on the family and the community and especially upon the mother who is in terrible grief for the loss of her 4 year old. I also have a 4 year old and it hurts me that any person would have to feel this pain.

One of the women begins to sing in her grief. While 5 or 6 of us were in her abode, about 15 people had gathered outside. These women from her community and family began singing, following the lead of the first lady, singing Zulu hymns and spiritual songs. I could here uJehova and UNkulunkulu in the songs, but was too new to know many other words in Zulu. After several more songs, some of the women began praying together. While there were many praying at the same time, it was all in Zulu and was comforting to the mother. Again, I could hear reference to God and Jesus in the prayers from the 25 or more women who were in attendance, outside, at this time. While there were many praying, I felt a clear, orderly approach to praying for peace and comfort to the family of the child.

I felt the pain of the mother and of her loss. I was praying to God that we could be some source of comfort to the mother and it occurred to me that our Father also lost a son once. It was painful for the Father to lose his son, as it would be for us, and God can clearly relate to the pain that the mom feels. For all of those who pursue His Ways, He has a plan to perfect our world, fulfill our lives, and provide us a creation with no more suffering sorrow or pain. We have hope and that makes our pain bearable, and I want to share some of these things with this young mother. I put my hand on her shoulder, and pray over her; seeking the Lords blessings, peace and comfort in this time of trial and distress. I truly hope that some measure of comfort was brought to the mother this day.

The Zulu community is different in it's identity than the people of the west. They are a community that "think" from the perspective of their elders and chiefs (if you can call them that). Their elders set the community direction for what is acceptable, and to some extent, that includes where you may go to church.

Further, the most common "event" in these townships are funerals. funerals occur several times a week in a town as small as Lamontville. Funerals take precedence over all other social activities, and are attended by people from all over.

so, To be invited to the funeral by the mother of the child was an excellent and sobering experience for me. More importantly, it is a sign of the respect and trust that exists for the Lamontville Ecclesia and those who live in the township.

It's clear that those who work in the creche are making a difference in the Lamontville community and are doing much to spread the reputation of our Father!

I hope this letter provides insight, both to the reality that is experienced by the township as well as the progress we are making in this community!

YBIC,

Cam