FCE
www.fce.org.za
NEWS
info@fce.org.za
Foundation for Cross-cultural Education - P.O. Box 126, Wolseley,
Dear Prayer Supporters
February
2012
Is a New Year with new start.
South Africa, Oak Street, Huis Weich, 6830
W
e come together to plan with an expectation in our hearts that God wants to do something new and fresh through FCE. The Word of the Lord speaks to us: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14: 26, 27). We are confronted with unconditional surrender – surrender for His sake and the Gospel’s (Mark 10:29). We put aside our agendas, our programmes and our good intentions. We seek the face of the Lord in prayer, we study His Word, and we examine our hearts. Are we still convinced that the Lord has called us? Are we willing to obey this calling, no matter how high the price? We realise once again that we are called by the Grace of God, and not because of who we are or what we’re doing. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” (John 15:16) And we know: He chose us, we did not choose Him. And until we can confess with conviction that we are willing to carry our cross and follow Him, we cannot be His disciples and we cannot go out to make disciples. This becomes a moment of truth for each one of us and as we surrender unconditionally, we receive His peace. “’Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” (John 20:21,22) We experience that God wants to do something new and fresh through FCE this year. I invite you, our prayer supporters, to become involved – we have the infrastructure and the different projects in place. Please pray for us regularly and specifically; become actively involved in one or more of our projects and take ownership of it; visit our training centres and invite us to introduce our work in your churches, schools, Bible study groups and cell groups. Come, take our hands and work with us in 2012 to spread the Gospel of Salvation! Neels
Event Package (BB & DINNER)
ONLY
KING’S HIGHWAY GUEST HOUSE
at your service
King’s Highway Guest House SOMERSET-WEST is offering wonderful packages for special occasions: - Cape Argus Pick ‘n Cycling Tour in March - ABSA Cape Epic Mountain Bike Race in March - Old Mutual 2 Oceans Marathon in April Contact Riette Cilliers: +27 (0) 21 851 5318 somerset@kingshighway.co.za
K
ing’s Highway Guest House MASAITI, Zambia, has finally closed its doors after ten years. This era that has come to an end. Gert and Janine Basson made this place a real haven for outreach groups and guests from many different countries. It also created employment opportunities and students were trained in hospitality and servanthood. Now we are looking forward to the new King’s Highway Guesthouse which is being planned for Koti ni Eden. The land has been surveyed and the plans are being drawn up. We trust the Lord for finances for this big project.
R375.00 per person per night (sharing) R475.00 per person (single room)
HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM TRAINING
N
eels, Gert and Riette are training our four enthusiastic students at Wolseley. This is a two years in-service training and takes place at the different guesthouses and camping sites. Brett Viljoen comes from New Zeeland and is on the FCE staff, as well as Senti Akum from Nagaland and Roy Crawford from Canada. Tinotenda Makwabarara from Zimbabwe is the only girl in the class. Like all training in FCE, this training is professional and of a high standard. Visit our website for more information: www.fce.org.za Roy
Brett Tino
Senti
TRAINING IN DISCIPLESHIP (Discipleship-Mission Training Foundation Phase) Kalungu: At Kalungu in Zambia 7 students turned up for the Discipleship training, where Sulene van Schalkwyk, Eunice Marumahoko and Abraham le Roux are taking the lead. These students have a huge impact on the communities around them. Ricardo Kasupi has completed this training and testifies: “I always recall those days back in FCE. We had good days and shared a lot in the Word and enjoyed different moments. To this day FCE is and will remain the great vital role player in my life… I give thanks to the Lord for FCE mentors and all who contributed in bringing about changes in my life.”
Wolseley: On 9 January the three months Discipleship-Mission Training started in Wolseley with 12 students. Dirk Grobbelaar, Dalene Treptow and Maret Streicher are the course co-ordinators. The group is young and lively. They spend most days in the classroom around the Word of God, building their personal relationship with the Lord and seeking His guidance for their future. They also help Elma Britz in the local schools, old age homes and in the community, reaching out to the less fortunate. Their enthusiasm and zeal for the Lord draw attention wherever they go.
COURSE DATES Wolseley and Kalungu (Zambia) DMT Foundation (3 months) : 25 June – 7 September Wolseley: DMT Condensed (6 weeks) : 8 October – 18 November Application forms are available on the website: www.fce.org.za
Please advertise these courses to people at a crossroads in their lives, to young and older people who want to be trained in missions, in teaching, in community upliftment, in agriculture. The DMT is a prerequisite for all further training in FCE, as well as for anyone wishing to join our organisation.
FCE TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE: KOTI NI EDEN
O
n the 16th of January FCE continued its teacher training with the official opening of the college in Zambia at our new training centre at Koti ni Eden. Although we’ve been involved in teacher training for the past 15 years, this has been in a sense a fresh and new start. We have five first year students: three are from SA, one from Canada and one from Zambia. Although this is only a small group, we know that God is going to use each one of them mightily in His kingdom once they’re fully trained.
At the opening of the college we experienced a feeling of “déjà vu” and were reminded of the opening of our first college in 1997 in Wellington. When we started there with four students and two lecturers and very little else, the prophetic word that came through strongly was “do not despise the days of small beginnings”. Although we start afresh, and like in 1997 it is again a small beginning, we have so much more to build on now. We have a handful of well qualified and experienced teacher trainers, we have a tried and tested curriculum and an accredited programme, we have a beautiful campus and well equipped classrooms, a library, computers and internet access. Probably the greatest asset now is our well-functioning primary school on the premises, which we can use for practical teaching. All the teachers in the school were trained by FCE and thus can serve as models for our students of a Christ-centred approach to education. We are excited about the great opportunity God has given us to start from afresh; not many have this chance. In this new season we have to ensure that the lessons learned and the signposts He put in place along the journey of the past 15 years, are implanted in the hearts and minds of the next generation of students that will pass through our hands. Southland and Morling College, Australia We thank the Lord for the official agreement between FCE and Southland and Morling College in New South Wales, Australia. They fully acknowledge our three year diploma for entrance into the fourth year of their B.Ed degree. This was a great breakthrough and opened up the way for all ex- and future FCE-students to obtain an internationally accredited education qualification, and the option to continue at Masters level afterwards.
OUR EX-STUDENTS ARE TEACHING IN SUDAN
Vallerie and Vernessa Khamati, twins from Kenya, completed their studies at FCE in 2009 and then went to teach in the Sudan. It is now two years later and they have mastered the Murle language. Vernessa was the Grade 2 teacher and Vallerie taught Grade 3. On their arrival, the children could neither speak English, nor read, write or do maths. When they played, it mostly ended up in fighting. The two knew that this was going to be both an adventure and a big challenge. They started off by creating an atmosphere in their classes where children could learn, think, memorise and grow. There was a special corner for prayer, where they could wait on the Lord, make their needs known, bring prayer requests, experience answers to prayer and bring Him praise and thanksgiving. In the beginning, many children just did not come to school, as they knew that not much was going on anyway. But soon they learned that their teachers were at their posts early every morning, Monday to Friday. Through the year the class attendance grew and the children experienced love, acceptance and security at their school. Recently tribal wars and unrest increased in that area. Often the children had to flee from the classes and run home, to make sure their families were still safe, or as they said,
“We were not afraid, because when we die, we are going to be with Jesus.” “If my brothers and sisters or parents are killed, I want to die with them.” Often they would come back, saying, “We were not afraid, because when we die, we are going to be with Jesus.” Vernessa and Vallerie also experienced the trauma of losing a colleague who was stabbed to death… Before they came to know him, he was a drunkard who abused his family. Through their relationship with them, he came to know the Lord and could confess his sins. His friends and his wife could not believe how radically he had changed. The twins could then testify about Jesus who came to set people free and make them whole again. Vallerie also became known as the ‘diktor’ – the doctor - because she cared for the children’s wounds, gave them medicine and prayed for them when they were sick. When their colleague was stabbed, they came to her in the middle of the night, but it was already too late. They also started to do in-service training for the other teachers in the school, so that they could teach better. One of the highlights was when the children came to ask for their own Bibles and were able to read it! This is the testimony of two young girls who were called, equipped and available to become involved. The Salvation belongs to the Lord!
FCE PROJECT:
Sponsorships for student teachers
F
CE does not send out teachers for whom teaching is just a career opportunity, but for whom it is a calling from God. We are sad that one of the selected students did not turn up because of a lack of finances. Please ask the Lord if you should not become involved in the training of a promising student who has the heart to serve “the least in God’s kingdom”. Contact our office for more information on the training and subsidising of student teachers.
Wolseley, 2007
KALUNGU
Georg and Karin Paul, with their two children Karla and Kaleb, had moved into a small house in one of the villages in Kalungu. We asked them a few questions:
1. Why did you decide to go and live in the village with your children?
Experience on the mission field has taught us that to reach people effectively and to make a difference in their lives, it is necessary to live amongst them. Making disciples is no ‘quick fix’ and it is essential to be available and involved on a day to day basis.
2. Do the people of in the village accept you?
We feel welcome. They don’t call us “Muzungus” (white people) any more; we have even received a Namwanga surname! Everything we do, is questioned: our herb garden, our way of farming (Farming God’s Way), they way our family works together. I have been called a ‘bachelor’ because I help to make the fire, wash the dishes, draw water from the well, etc. According to their tradition, this is a woman’s work!
3. What do you like about
We like to do things together as a family. Things do not just happen by themselves: water has to be drawn from the well, bath water is used to irrigate the vegetable garden, compost buckets need to be emptied, the brazier must be lit… We work together and this binds us as a family together, helping us to realise the value of certain things and not to take anything for granted.
4. How does this give you the opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and to live Jesus?
We love God, and His Gospel is a lifestyle; so because we glorify and obey Him, we believe that the message becomes visible. We do not preach, but live in the love, grace and under the dominion of Christ. We live according to the principles of the Word in whatever we think, do or say. Monday and Tuesday afternoons we have stimulation programmes with the children of the village. Some evenings we put up a big screen outside and show DVD’s like Planet Earth – this gives us wonderful opportunities to talk to the people about God and His creation.
5. How do you influence the village?
Through our example. Through hard work, like preparing our soil on time. Our garden is proof that it is possible to grow your own vegetables, maize and herbs. We are self-sustaining, using what is available, and doing something with it. The relationships within our family speak for themselves and the way we love one another, enjoy and appreciate one another, speak to all who have broken relationships.
6. How does the village influence you?
On the one hand, it kills us, on the other hand it makes us alive! To survive here, you have to die to yourself, your own time, your own space, your own possessions and your own ego. We learn patience; we learn to open our doors to others, to really care, to be available and to serve others. Above all, we learn to love the lost.
KOTI NI EDEN
We are working and living peacefully in the place the Lord has given us. Recently someone asked me: What do you still need on this campus? Are the buildings completed now? Do you now have everything you need? I would have loved to answer “yes” to these questions! One of the biggest needs is still accommodation for our staff. Koti ni Eden Staff Accommodation Project: The staff, lecturers and students are all currently living together in the dormitories which were built for students. Our need is: 1. Seven one-bedroom apartments for single staff members or couples with one child. This project is on its way and three of the apartments already have roofs. Cost: R200 000 per unit. 2. Five three-bedroom houses for staff with two or more children. Four of the houses have already been built. Jannie and Elise, Brian and Barbara, Corrie and Jaco and Zhak and Yvette have already moved into their homes. Cost: R300 000 per unit. 3. Four two-bedroom houses at R280 000 per unit. Please make this project known to people who would like to become involved – not just financially, but to contribute their building skills, to help with practical work like painting, putting in doors and windows, plumbing, and much more.
MALAWI
FCE is developing a camping site next to the Malaiw lake. The grass is planted, The ablution block has clean toilets and hot water and a ‘braai’ facility is equipped with a wash basin and an electrical outlet. We urgently need help with all the practical work. If you are perhaps planning an outreach for the June/July holidays, you are more than welcome to come and lend a hand! Moses and Regina are continuing with the couples’ and women’s ministry in the community. Malinda is involved with the children of the community and Jesaja is doing all the practical work and helping with transport.
29 September to 1 October 2012 Oranje Meisieskool Bloemfontein National Christian Teachers’ Convention
www.natctc.co.za nctc@fce.org.za