Dear Prayer Supporters
I
have never had the privilege of attending a “Might Men” conference of Angus Buchan, but I always follow the events concerning the conferences with an expectation in my heart. Then I stand in amazement at the different reactions of our “church people” to the events. As in Jesus’ time there are also a large group of sceptics, critics, Pharisees, spiritual leaders and moralisers in the crowds. Everyone has their own agenda : they find fault, test the genuineness, question the correctness, chase after signs and wonders and look after their own interests. Angus is weighed and found wanting and his testimony that he has been commissioned by God, is ignored. Men return from these conferences and their enthusiasm dies off. So we remain in control of what God plans for South Africa and we play into the hand of the enemy. But then, just as in the time of Jesus, there is also a handful of people who are convicted and confess their sins, turn from their wicked ways and follow Him in obedience : His disciples. God reveals His plan of Salvation to them and sends them into the world to spread the Gospel to all mankind. (Mark.16:15) Sudan 2009: It is FCE’s task to guide these fervent disciples through training, to follow Jesus’ example and be servants : he Neels, Daniël and washed feet, healed the sick, caught fish, made furniture, walked from village to village and His express purpose Tabioli was to glorify His Father in everything. In missions we sometimes make the mistake of teaching people to follow the Christian religion and ‘churchism’ and we don’t bring them into a living relationship with Jesus Christ our Saviour. A leader from a certain francophone African country once said the following : “you missionaries brought us Christ, but never taught us how to live”. I pondered on this for a long time and came to the conclusion that we easily spiritualise things and are skilled in the Word and quick to hand out Scripture verses. We function according to the do’s don’ts of the law, but we don’t know how to LIVE as Christians in the fullness and freedom of Christ. We believe that we fulfill our role when we bring good messages, quote Bible verses, convert people and work fervently for the Lord. And we forget that Jesus has set the example. The goal of a missionary is to do God’s wil, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord. (Oswald Chambers). The moment we realise that it is not about us and what we can do, but about Jesus and what He wants to achieve, then we know and live in God’s will. We rely on you, our prayer supporters, to be our watchmen on the walls and to sometimes stand in the gap for us. Evaluate our work and make sure that “we speak His Message like men of sincerity, as commissioned and sent by God, in Christ in the very sight and presence of God”. (2 Cor. 2 :17)Amplified version. So that God may be glorified.
Neels
Discipleship and Mission Training I like to read the biographies of missionaries and then I stand amazed at how much courage the people of yesteryear displayed by boarding a ship and exploring the unknown and often settling in hostile territory, never to return to their homeland again. Most of them couldn’t contact their friends and family and many died prematurely in a strange country. Then I can’t help wondering : do the youth of today have the same backbone? From experience I know, it’s not your backbone that makes Mission Training,Zambia,1999: of you a missionary. But: Nelle travel North the love of Christ that urges you! “The Spirit is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the Good News to the poor...”(Luke 4 :18,19) the Spirit of God that leads you! But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses.. (Acts 1:8) the authority of Christ that equips you! “All authority on heaven and earth has been given to Me. Therefore go..” (Matt. 28:18) God knew full well that if we had to rely on our own strength and insight, His Kingdom would never be built.Therefore He has given us all things that equip us; therefore we can only boast in Christ. What has changed is that we no longer: know God’s word hear His voice apply His principles and often don’t receive support from our parents, church or community.
Opening, FCE Teacher Training College1997: Neels,Anita and Piet
First Mission Training Group Egypt,1996
The Mission Training flows out of the Discipleship training and equips young people to walk in the Spirit and survive in a cross-cultural setting. FCE sees Missions as God-initiated, Christcentred and Spirit-inspired. The modules in this training are aimed at equipping students to evangelise, make disciples and bring about social transformation in communities. This training takes place primarily in Zambia and Malawi. We advise prospective missionaries Clanwilliam 2000, First Year Teacherwho have a calling on their lives and a desire to be in missions fulltime, to be trained Training Students, Bootcamp first! Contact our head office for more information.
KING’S HIGHWAY NEWS Gert and Janine Basson and Riette Cilliers are presently creatively transforming the King’s Highway guesthouses and rest camps in resting places along the way, where weary travellers can rest body and soul. Please invite your friends and family to make use of these facilities. Profits from these are utilised to cover the running costs of our training centres. King’s Highway Somerset West The Lord provided a beautiful guesthouse in Gert Basson Somerset West that will be managed by FCE from September 2009. The house is situated centrally, in a tree-lined suburb and close to the Cape Town International Airport. As with all our guesthouses, the emphasis is on Biblical excellence, quality service and servanthood. King’s Highway Restcamp Okahandja 2009
King’s Highway Rest Camp Okahandja Namibia King’s Highway Somerset- West,2009 This rest camp underwent a total metamorphosis. FCE staff and students joined in to transform the rest camp into an oasis. Many a traveller is grateful for the clean facilities and enjoy the camp atmosphere. King’s Highway Masaiti Zambia This is our first guest house and also has conference facilities. Many of our prayer supporters have stayed over there and the outreach groups enjoy Gert’s creative dishes.
King’s Highway Kalungu Zambia This rest camp is an oasis situated 60km from the Tanzanian border. There are 6 fully equipped rondavels, communal bathrooms with hot showers, clean kitchen facilities and a beautiful camp.
King’s Highway Guesthouse and Conference Centre, Masaiti,2009
King’s Highway Chalets and Camping Kalungu,2009 COURSE IN HOSPITALITY Our course in Hospitality and Tourism is a two-year fulltime in-service training. The training takes place at the respective King’s Highway guesthouses and the theory and practicals go hand in hand. The emphasis of the course is on providing a service which is founded on the example that Jesus set as a Servant. Visit our website for more information : www.fce.org.za
Hospitality Training: Cornel, John en Riëtte
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
After a DVD presentation in a church in Europe , on our community work, somebody remarked: “The children appear clean and cared for, the women look happy and the men look busy. It’s so different from the pictures we sometimes have of Africa : starving, ragged and lost! How do you do it?”We do it in obedience to the Lord’s commission, under the guidance of His Spirit, urged by His love for the world and to glorify His Name. The reality that this entails is : hard work, perseverance and faith in the One who has called us. Through the years we have identified the following problems that keep a community in darkness and slavery : *poverty *immorality *famine *broken families * poor health *lack of education and *godless leaders To change this vicious cycle, structures have to be put in place to break these negative mindsets and lifestyles. The students are trained to the whole community. children for school; women and to prepare balanced skills to improve their food is provided for
address these problems practically. We minister to Activity centres are strategically used to prepare learn to do needlework to clothe their families meals that reduce sickness; men are taught farming methods and consequently more their families. Families learn to live together in love and harmony, husbands learn to be faithful to their wives to strengthen family ties. The golden thread that is woven through all of this training, is that in Christ we are new and whole people.
TESTIMONY OF A COMMUNITY WORKER Leonard and his wife Grammar are community workers in Kampundu village and he was nominated as the best community worker of 2008. Leonard grew up in a village home where alcohol was abused , the children were neglected, often went to bed hungry and cold and where witchcraft was a daily reality. He came to Christ in 1996, but backslid again because he had not been discipled. In 2000 he started working at FCE as a builder. He was identified as a diligent faithful worker and under the guidance of Div du Plessis he started growing spiritually. In 2001 he completed the discipleship Kalungu 2002: Leonard during his training followed by the mission training in 2003. During this time he realised that God Disciple Training was calling him into fulltime missions and in 2006 he enrolled in the two-year community training course. He had to trust the Lord for his fees and did carpentry work after hours to supplement these. Georg and Karen Paul reached out to this family and helped them through difficult times in their marriage. In the process Leonard’s wife also met the Lord. Things were not always easy, it was a road of stumbling and getting up again, but he persevered in the Lord. A house was built in Kampundu village for Leonard and his family, where he serves currently as a fulltime FCE community worker. He is involved with the children’s activity centres in the village twice a week. He is also responsible for the agricultural training and helps the village farmers with God’s way of farming. Leonard and his family are role models for the community. The way in which they as a family serve the Lord, is an example to others. Leonard is also a small-scale farmer, but the income he generates is Leonard reach out to the comnot enough to support his family. Yet he trusts the Lord munity. to provide for their daily needs. His dream is to start a carpentry workshop, so that he can teach young men to do woodwork. It is his desire to see people be set free from the lies of Satan and living in the freedom Christ gives. Leonard and his wife Grammer
PRAYER POINTS: FCE greets Lill Lee We grieve the loss of Lill, our dear friend from Canada, who passed away suddenly in her sleep. Since 2006 Lill and Roger have visited Zambia regularly to help people in the villages. Lill was a missionary at heart and with her pioneering spirit cooked on open fires, taught women to bake and looked after children. We’ll remember her as the woman with the broad smile who crept deeply into our hearts. Pray for Roger, her mum, her children and grand-children.
Lill
Malawi: Thank the Lord for the land next to the lake that has been officially registered in FCE’s name. Praise Him for everyone who contributes financially towards this project and pray with us for good relationships with the people in the immediate surroundings. Outreaches:July is outreach month. This year 11 outreach groups are visiting Wolseley, Namibia, Zambia and Malawi to go and work in the different departments. Ask the Lord to protect everyone, to prepare their hearts for service and thank Him for everyone who desires to serve. Pray that their involvement will be a blessing and serve to expand the Kingdom of God. Housing Kotini Eden:Trust the Lord with us for the finances to complete the houses at Kotini Eden. As soon as that is done, we can move in. Biltong shop Somerset West:Thank the Lord for Annalize Pretorius who manages the shop – she was thrown in at the deep end and had to swim to stay afloat. She enjoys it now and her prayer is that the Lord will bless the shop financially and that it will continue being a testimony of God’s heart for Africa. Sudan News:We plan to take the five Sudanese, who were trained as teachers at Masaiti; completed their leadership training; and is at present busy with skills training in building, carpentry etc. back in August, to assist us in building the new Teacher Training Centre in Sudan. We are in need of another vehicle and a driver to help us to take the students as far as Kampala. Please contact the office if the Lord put it on your heart to join us in this venture. The vehicle returns empty and this is an excellent opportunity for the adventurer who is willing to fly to Kampala and drive back through Africa. FCE says THANK YOU The Lord has raised up a large group of faithful supporters around us over the years. Men and women with mission hearts and a desire that God’s Kingdom would be established and that His Name would ne glorified. You bless us with words of encouragement, caring deeds, with love and acceptance and with finances, enabling us to meet our obligations. THANK YOU!!!
National Teachers’ Convention 24—27 September 2009 Bloemfontein Convention Theme Equipping Christian Teachers with Biblical perspectives to maximize their impact in schools Early Bird Package Registration before/on 31 July
All Inclusive
Self Accommodation
R890
R595
Mid Package Registration 01-30 August
All Inclusive
Self Accommodation
R985
R690
Last Package Registration 01-09 September
All Inclusive
Self Accommodation
R1075
R790
DISCIPLESHIP COURSE Wolseley 2009 : 5 October – 15 November Please take note that only one course will be presented during 2010 and that it will be during October. C. T. Studd 1860-1931 English missionary to China, India, and Africa Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.
Foundation for Cross Cultural Education: Tel 0027 (0)23 2310208 Faks 0865350731 E pos info@fce.org.za Web www.fce.org.za