Creative preaching

The latest P2P campaign provided us with an unique creative way of preaching. The P2P group went to play ten pin bowling as a social night out event. All the members of the team wore "the Good news of the Kingdom of God" t-shirts. We really stood out as a group and it was clear that we were a group of Christians. Lilandi had a very creative idea however that added even more preaching value. Instead off putting our names on the electronic scoreboard we put words that would make a sentence that related to preaching the Gospel message. This called for some innovative thinking as the names only allow for 5 characters. There were two lanes so we had to divide into two teams and thus had to come up with ten words , 5 each making a sentence. Mat came up with the first which was "Gods grace can save you" and Lucas with the second which was "Love gives many souls hope". 

 

So when people looked at our scoreboards there was a gospel message for them instead of names. It worked well as the lady in the group next to our lane asked Jonathan about us and he had a chance to chat to her about who we were and what we were doing. It brought home to us the fact that the world is still full of people who are Christian and notice when other Christians live their faith and are happy to declare it publically. We cannot preach the gospel directly everywhere or convert people on the spot but we can be the salt of the earth and add a flavor of grace and encouragement just about everywhere we go - all it takes is a willingness to be create and mindfulness of the opportunities that are everywhere.

 

With abiding love from the KMP 2010 team

P2P - Kempton Park - January 2010

An amazing lot "went down" here in Kempton Park the second and third week of January 2010. Our P2P team included 4 sisters (Megan Sabo, Liezl Scheepers, Laura Iderdale, Leona Scheepers) and 4 brethren (Jonathan Sabo, Hendri Viljoen, Matt Collard, Lucas Scheepers) as well as Llewellyn Scheepers. We thank God and Jesus for what they enabled 9 people to achieve in a space of 12 jam packed days that seemed to just fly by very very quickly.

 

Our activities focused on the following:

 

1. Preaching work at the KIOSK BEC where we spoke to interested people walking buy and also distributed leaflets advertising the BEC and Bible classes. The distribution was done at a busy traffic light intersection and provided a lot of fun as people in cars and trucks passed by, all with different reactions to someone trying to hand them a leaflet through the window. Special mention to the girls who were brave enough to face the traffic.

 

2. CUDDLE project. 

 

(a) We did maintenance and repair work at three different crèche's. Mollie's crèche was most rewarding as we managed to replace her somewhat makeshift roof that was leaking with a proper metal corrugated roof. Jonathan, Hendri and Mat really turned into skilled "roofers" overnight and were delighted that Mollie reported that the new roof was leak proof one night after they had finished and a storm broke loose over Mollie's crèche. The new roof will make a world of difference for Mollie. She has already had two more children enroll into her crèche as parents were impressed with the upgrades and have confidence in her facility now. Previously some of her children would stay at home on rainy days because of the leaking roof. The team also painted some games on the floor , painted the jungle gym equipment and made a new name and information board for Mollie's crèche. Sister Megan and Laura gave Bible classes to the children while the repair work was in progress. Mollie was quite overwhelmed. As a result we now have Mollie's daughter joining us for Sunday School and had some discussions with her regarding the Gospel. She has shown an interest to attend our ecclesia meetings. 

 

(b) Zelda's crèche was as much fun. The team installed shelves and cupboards, painted two of the rooms and did a small amount of repairs to the equipment outside. There was a little time to play some cricket with the children. It was beautiful to see how our spirit of giving freely rubbed off on Zelda. She was quite happy to give some of the wood she had that was left over after our work to Mollie so that her crèche could also be improved. Zelda has also (as with Mollie) requested that we come and give Bible classes to the children on a weekly basis - we will start this as per regular roster as from 1 February God willing.

 

(c) Leona, Laura and Mat paid a visit to Kalina's crèche. Mat gave a very interactive lesson about Daniel in the lions den to the children which they thoroughly enjoyed and participated in. A lot of singing followed which was enhanced by Laura's guitar playing.

 

3) KINOS group. The Kids In Need Of Support group was transported to our Sunday School and the numbers have now increased to 33. A first that turned out very very special was our FUN IN THE STREET event that was held in the Esselen Park township adjacent to the Tembisa township. Our team arrived in Esselen park and set ourselves up in one of the quieter streets near where many of the KINOS group kids live. At first there were just 4 kids and we started playing soccer and other games with them. Within half an hour 62 other kids joined! We just had great fun with the children for 2 hours playing games and ended off the time by singing spiritual songs and giving each of them a fruit and a sweet or two. Many of the parents gathered around to see what was going on and two of the mothers expressed their thanks for what we were doing asking us to come again. The result of the street funs was 6 additional kids for Sunday school the next Sunday.

 

4) General work at the "home base" included repairing a jungle gym donated to us a while ago, collating preaching material, sorting out donated second handed clothing for re-distribution.

 

5) HOLIDAY CLUB. The team took 28 children away for a two day/one night sleep over camp. The camp activities included Bible classes, craft classes, singing around the campfire, playing games etc. The kids had a lot of fun while learning about the Bible and God's plan for this earth in a relaxed atmosphere.

 

6) There was time allocated on the busy program for some "after hours" group bonding activities which included ice skating; ten pin bowling; a day trip to the Pilansberg; eat out at the Mug and Bean; some even got time to attend the gym for spinning; mid week Bible classes; attending the Congolese meeting in Pretoria. Juma's baptism ( a student from the Congolese meeting) was a highlight for us all. Another unforgettable event was our dinner/supper at Mollie's place on Thursday evening/night. Mollie specially invited us and it was a honor for us and for her to go to her house to have a meal there. We all had to try a bit of tripe for starters and it was really funny seeing the different expressions on the team's faces when they tried the new "delicacy." The rest of the meal was absolutely scrumptious and we all enjoyed the evening tremendously. It meant a lot to Mollie that we were willing to come and our bonds of friendship was strengthened a lot. She specifically asked for us to pray for her at the end and thanked God for bringing us into her life. We left her place uplifted and thankful.

 

After 12 days the team was on their way to Durban where we attended the P2P wrap up night. Feedback from the other P2P team that was as busy and fruitful in Durban left us humbled but ever so thankful for all these incredible opportunities God keeps on providing us to live our faith holistically in theory and practice while showing the love of God and Jesus in such a hands on way.

 

Again it was proven that P2P not only changes lives but is life changing!

 

All thanks glory and honor to God and Jesus who has made it all possible and has given us the strength to do all these things.

Juma is baptized and our joy increases

We had the privilege of baptizing Bro. Juma Wilondja on Sunday afternoon. Bro. Juma had been faithfully attending the satellite Congolese ecclesia in Pretoria Central for the past 8 months. He was interviewed last week and gave a good confession of his faith. He is a lovely young brother that takes his christian life seriously and we were all very happy that he decided to dedicate his life to God and Jesus. The Congolese ecclesia in Pretoria now has 6 members and it is our privilege to support them every Sunday afternoon when they have their memorial meeting. Various brethren and sisters from overseas have also visited them on different Sundays and they have experienced practically what it means to be part of a world wide brotherhood.

 

With abiding love from the brethren and sisters in the Kempton Park meeting   

 

 

Howdy from Durban,

The 2010 project year has officially been "Kicked off" with the Start of the year Youth Gathering that occurred in Hebron Haven.  This years Hebron Haven Youth conference was amazing!  We had students between 10 to 20 years old attending on of three age-appropriate classes, and group classes, morning meditations, and evening talks and youth Survivor challenges daily!  Fun and Sound scriptural studies were enjoyed by all.

My three favorite items were:
1) the Thursday night "Family" candle-light memorial...

2) Daily memorials led by the youth

and...
3)  Survivor challenges (New ones every day...)

Survivor air Soccer (or Football for those not from the States).  Even with the restriction of using straws to blow the soccer ball, there was still a lot of "Heading"  ;-)

Here we are doing a Scavenger hunt.  One of the clues was locked in a bag under the water in the dirty pool.  It must be unlocked while under water.  Fun huh?!  Here is Hendri trying to find the locked bag ...hehehe....

Oops, I had the last two puzzle pieces in my pocket, says Mat.
Is this why it's called survivor?  Naahhhh, his team was very understanding ;-)  The Scavenger hunt was very successful!

Many thanks to all the teachers, for the coordination, for the well behaved youth, and the Hebron Haven staff for all the support and dedication to make this such an amazing event!

This was an amazing beginning to a very exciting project year for the 2010 program!  Much more to come, too!

Stay Tuned!
God Bless,
Cam

Climbing Kilimanjaro for Kids

Howdy!

Just a note on a P2P / COPT fundraising event that is fully underway!

A group of 4 Christadelphians, my brother Jon Beeler (from the States) and a National Sports announcer for a Major South African Radio are joining together, climbing Kilimanjaro together,  to Champion the cause of the COPT and raise funds to help us continue the operations and Developments of additional Good News Center "Creches" here in South Africa.

The Creche's give us an avenue to help the poorest and most helpless of the communities here in South Africa - The Children!  We provide Preschool environments, food, supervision and education that includes basic education methods but includes non-secular/Christadelphian educational materials as well!  Many of the posts on this BLOG are a testimonial of the wonderful work that occurs with the children in our Creche's.

Our goal?  We seek "one child at a time" sponsorship from around the World to help us help these children.  Our costs to fully sponsor one child is about R 125 / month.  In US Dollars, this equates to about $15 / month (depending upon current exchange rates).  Not bad for full time preschool, huh?

It is important to note that 100% of the contributions will go straight to the Schools and children.  None of it goes to admin or other costs as all of the COPT trustees and project workers are 100% volunteer basis.

For further information or to contribute to our fundraiser, you can go to  the following sites:
COPT Home
COPT Donations

For further inquiries, you can ask me - "Cameron Beeler" - on facebook, or email me.

Your prayers on our behalf are also much appreciated!!
God Bless,
Bro Cam