Biblical Read-a-Thon: Psalms

7 hours, 24 pies, 4 cakes, 3 quiches, 2 milktarts and several liters of juice later - 150 chapters (whole book of Psalms) DONE!! Ch 117 took 21 seconds and Ch 119 took 24 minutes - but together we did it! 

When the Aphiwe & Kempton Park Youth took up the challenge of reading the entire book of Psalms in one sitting we had no idea quite what to expect - and were delighted to find it one of the most rewarding and enjoyable activities we had undertaken thus far!

God's provision - a huge donation of cakes, garlic rolls, quiches, tarts and pot pies to sustain us! 

These were our readers:

Keletso started us off with Psalm 1.

Sabelo has great difficulty with his eyesight but that didn't deter him from participating.

Michael stepped up to the plate for any chapters with more than 50 verses!

Ronald

Osywen

Sipho

Taffi - between him & Sipho the others had to fight for a chance at the microphone. Their energy really drove the event.

Mokete. His reading ability is extremely poor so the others would scout ahead and assign any chapters with less than 5 verses to him!

Kgopotso.

Junior (the oldest of the Kempton park youth and a really lovely young gentleman eager for knowledge)

Siyabonga (which means "thank you" in Zulu)

Lilandi also taking on the longer chapters.

Happy who joined us after spending the whole morning at extra classes at school. The love for and excitement about God's Word that these children have is fantastic to be around!

Cherish - not yet able to read but she was an excellent little helper and "spirit-lifter"!

As we read we tabled the chapters and how long it took to read each one.

 

At this point - already a couple of hours in, it felt as though we had perhaps bitten off more than we could chew. Energy levels were dipping, readers weren't jumping up quite so quickly, eyes were glazing. However when we suggested that we only do 100 chapters it was unanimously decided that we would push on to the end. A life lesson in itself!

To keep ourselves occupied when not reading we had a side challenge going - to create a loomband that would stretch all the way around the Aphiwe Good News Center. Loombands are still very much a craze in South Africa and the kids were very excited to have access to a seemingly unlimited supply!

 

Lots of colors to choose from!

They kept their bibles close at hand so as to be ready for their next reading turn.

Relationships built and strengthened.

There are such beautiful friendships among these kids - we pray for these to last and provide a "God-based" support system as they face life as adults.

They made individual bracelets which we then joined together at the end of the event to create one long loomband.

 

This challenge too was met - at the end of the event we had created a loomband of 38 meters - more than sufficient to wrap around the Aphiwe Good News Center! Another life lesson - together we can achieve much more than when we try to do everything by ourselves!

It was a somewhat surreal, and incredibly uplifting experience - listening to the Bible being read for hours on end. We picked up on many "themes" and repetitions in especially the Psalms of David which you do not so readily see when reading them piecemeal. We concluded the read-a-thon by all reading Psalm 150 together - you can view the video of that Psalm on the Ignite2020 Facebook page. It really felt as though we had just completed a marathon - completely exhilarating!

150 chapters done!

The kids were already trying to decide which part of the bible we should do next! Spoiler alert - it will, God Willing, be the letters of Paul to the various ecclesias. Until then the Aphiwe/Kempton Park Youth would like to challenge all other youth groups (and even ecclesias!) to pick up their bibles and start reading!

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg

Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jer 15:16)

Sister Del Lea took Gauteng by storm.

Volunteers adding Value – Sister Deb Lea visits Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Over the course of the last few weeks we have been blessed with overlapping visits by Sisters Rachael Schaen & Deb Lea, both from the greater Cleveland area in Ohio. Both of these sisters were, we believe, literally a "God-send" in that their various skills, wisdom & experiences enabled them to add such incredible value to the many ongoing outreach & preaching programs & activities that we in Gauteng are responsible for. As Sister Rachael has already penned her thoughts and experiences herself I would like to just share some of the wonderful experiences we shared with Sister Deb - and perhaps elaborate on just how much of an impact her short visit (two weeks) had on the many lives she was able to touch. 

Jetlagged or not, Deb got straight to work in assisting myself, Rachael Schaen & Liezl Viljoen in presenting the Creche (Preschool) Teacher Training Course. We currently have three courses running - two at the Aphiwe Good News Center (presented by Leona Scheepers)  & one at the Tswelopele Good News Center - which meant that Deb would do  "back-to-back" sessions with the only time for lunch being in the car on her way to the next Center! Her many years of experience in the teaching field meant the attendees received valuable "tips" regarding their work with the children in their care, & we as presenters learned many new & better ways of sharing the information with the students!

Aphiwe Good News Center Creche Course: Explaining the importance of providing nutritious meals. 

Aphiwe Good News Center Creche Course 1 - we had to split the attendees into two courses so that everyone would fit! 

Tswelopele Good News Center Creche Course - explaining the importance of reading & sharing ways to make it both enjoyable & educational. 

As part of the CUDDLE Program we often host one-day seminars to the teachers that have completed the creche course, which focus on and provide more in-depth information about specific topics such as the "Praise & Participation for Positive Assessments" seminar that Rachael presented. Deb also presented such a seminar titled "PRESCHOOL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT: Teaching the right things at the right TIME". She also visited a school for mentally handicapped children where she showed the teachers how to use various Braingym exercises to increase the learning potential of their students. The teachers were very encouraged by the almost immediate results they could see in the children's listening and concentrating abilities & promised to continue with the exercises in future.

Continuing on the "outreach" front, the Homework Club kids greatly enjoyed the assistance & instruction Deb provided them with especially their math work. During her previous visit in 2013 she encouraged one of our students, Junior, to be more positive about his math skills - and he was very eager to show her how he has put those skills to work throughout the year she was away. We should never underestimate the power of a few encouraging words spoken in love.  

Homework Club - Tangram fun! 

On the "preaching" front Deb encouraged, enriched & enlightened so many - the members & youth at the Aphiwe Meeting, the members at the Kempton Park Meeting, the youth from the Yeoville Meeting, the kids at Saturday Bible Club, and the sisters from the Kempton Park & Johannesburg Meeting to mention just a few. Here are some of the bible classes that she presented: 

Over the two Saturdays that Deb was here she presented the Saturday Bible Club at the Tswelopele Good News Center. Using a book called Hope for the Flowers Deb shared with the children the imagery of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly - and how that applies to us spiritually. The kids loved the crafts that she had prepared for them as she was able to bring with her craft resources that are quite costly in South Africa. They made a caterpillar the first Saturday and both a craft butterfly and an edible butterfly the second Saturday.  

Saturday Bible Club - learning from the Scriptures. 

Saturday Bible Club - "Yellow" the caterpillar. 

Saturday Bible Club - Edible Butterflies and big smiles! 

 

Saturday Bible Club - spot Deb!

 On Wednesday mornings Deb led the sister's classes at either the Aphiwe Good News Center or at sister's homes. The sisters were encouraged through her object lesson on key ingredients for salvation and Godly living & the ladies at the Aphiwe Good News Center enjoyed the culminating activity of making their own chapattis! 

Aphiwe Good News Center Sisters Class - making Chapattis.  

Aphiwe Good News Center Sisters Class - making Chapattis - spiritual & physical education. 

The youth that attend the Preparing for Baptism class at the Aphiwe Good News Center also enjoyed the Chapatti ingredients object lesson as well as learning about the Jewish feasts - their origin, practicalities, New Testament application, as well as their possible prophetic applications. This was possibly the "deepest" study many of these youth members have engaged in and their active participation & keen concentration were proof of the value it held for them. Deb was also able to present this study at a Sisters Class which set a very high standard for the poor sister presenting the next one! 

 

The Aphiwe Youth learning about the Jewish Feast Days.

Perhaps the most ambitious of her undertakings was leading a Youth Study Day at the Aphiwe Good News Center, tackling some big issues including premarital sex, homosexuality, faithfulness in marriage, & Jesus' marriage - to mention a few! This was a marathon 5 hour study day - through God's grace Deb's voice stayed strong throughout. It was encouraging that the youth felt comfortable and safe enough to raise questions and participate in the discussions. There was much laughter, some tears, but by nightfall everyone left feeling encouraged & armed with useful decision making tools & tactics.  

Youth Study Day at the Aphiwe Good News Center - telling it as it is! 

Sister Deb both touched & taught many during her visit - changing each life through the power of God's Word & His love shown by the energy & compassion she brought to each new day. Even though it was with sadness that we bid her farewell we were encouraged by the idea that, God Willing, she will return next year - and bring along others wanting to work in His vineyard.

"He said to His disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields."" (Mat 9:37-38)

With love in Christ

Lilandi Furstenburg

Baptisms of Riziki, Anastazia, Kisanga, Promise and John.

The Water was BITTERLY cold but nothing was going to stop our new sisters and brother from taking the all important step of baptism. There was great joy to witness the baptisms after each of them gave wonderful testimonies of their faith. Riziki, Anastazia, Kisanga, Promise and John have been taking baptism classes with Bro. Paderi of the Congolese ecclesia in Pretoria for several months now and it was wonderful to hear of their convictions at their interviews. God's word is truly a power unto salvation.

Your brother by grace

Lucas Scheepers

 

Puppet Ministry - Gauteng And then He told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone." (Mar 16:15)

This year we wanted to focus more on getting God's Word "out there". We have always felt that although we have neither the power nor the responsibility to "convert" anyone, we do have both the power AND the responsibility to expose everyone to God's Word. Similar to the farmer sowing seed on all the different types of ground - only God knows who the "fertile soil" will be.

In many ways we have been well "trained" for Puppet Ministry as Lilandi worked as a puppeteer for just over a year fresh out of high school, and Michael played leading roles in several theatrical productions during his time in high school and still enjoys doing lots of different "voices". Lilandi & her sister Liezl had also hosted a very successful "puppet roadshow" a few years back using smaller hand puppets.  Isn't it encouraging to look back and see how God was already at work in your life so many years ago - preparing you for something wonderful before you ever even imagined it?

So started our journey into puppet ministry. First of all we created the puppets:

(from left to right) Pam (the mom); Gogo (the gran); Wilson (the dad); Lihle (the older daughter); & Benni (the young son).

Here is a close up of Oupa (the soft-hearted grandfather).

And another close up of Gogo - a very spirited, fun granny!

These puppets are the ones that interact with the kids, and then we tell a bible story using paper characters: 

The story of Zacchaeus - Jesus, Crowd, Zacchaeus & tree.

Zacchaeus up in the tree.

Our first two shows were great learning experiences - mainly we learned that most kids are absolutely terrified of puppets! After that we made sure to take extra time beforehand to explain that there is nothing to be afraid of! We found that it helps if Lilandi touches the puppets to show the kids that they are harmless.

We also learned to add more "slapstick comedy" to the show as the language barrier makes verbal comedy fall flat. Often we have a teacher translate the show as we do it - which means the show takes quite a lot longer and places a lot of strain on Michael who has to work the puppets with his arms above his head!

"Meeting" Gogo.

We finish the show with an action bible song. With the Zacchaeus show we do " Jesus' love is bubbling over"

The "Love" action - isn't it cute how Benni can also do it!

The "hallelujah" action.

And here are some photo's of a few of our audiences:

      

If you were wondering, as the kids always do, what it looks like "behind the scenes":

   

The puppetmaster!

We are very excited about the response we have had to the shows so far - we have been invited back to every school, & have even been asked to perform at some of the schools' graduation ceremonies. We have also been invited to perform the show at a private "rich" preschool in town which may be a great opportunity to bring exposure to the Kempton Park Meeting and Sunday School.

We are currently practicing our second show which features the "loaves & fishes" story - with the "take home lesson" being about the importance of sharing.

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg