The Eight O’Clock
News July 2016
8 am Service, Christ Church, Kenilworth
Teddies knitted by Margaret Parker, Pippa’s mom-in-law,
I Desire to be Faithful To Your Ways all my Days
York Station View
In the uncertainties of life, Your Word gives
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Luke 12:6
If you stand at the end of the platform at York Station (UK), you can watch a constant succession of engine and train movement that, if you are a railway enthusiast, will fascinate you. But you will only be able to form a rough idea of the overall plan. If however, you are privileged to be taken into the magnificent electrical signal box that lies athwart platforms seven and eight, you will see a diagram of the entire track layout for five miles on either side of the station. At once you can look at the situation through the eyes of those who control it. You will see why this train is diverted from its normal running line and that one parked temporarily in a siding. Some people feel that if they were really walking close to God, so that He could impart wisdom to them freely, then they would find themselves in the York Station signal box. We might suppose that a gift of wisdom consists in an ability to see why God has done what He has done in a particular case and to see what He is going to do next. But in truth this view would be more than our human minds could comprehend. God gives us the view that we need—from the end of the platform. REFLECT: How does your life resemble an uninformed view of York Station? Do you resent that? Should you? Extract from Knowing God by JI Packer July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
direction, showing the way to choose. I promise to follow You, to live according to Your rule of love. In moments of doubt and uncertainty, Your words give encouragement and purpose. Help me to offer grateful thanks in all circumstances, and correct any false thoughts. In open display before family and friends, I have offered my life as a living sacrifice. Many are the temptations to be conformed to the ways of the world but Your Spirit remains my constant guide and companion. My heart’s delight is to sense Your presence, to hear the assurance of Your leading. There is nothing more I desire than to be faithful to Your ways all the days of my life. A Prayer based on Psalm 119:105-112 - Mike Winfield
To All My Fellow Pilgrims As the times we live in appear to be getting darker, so the light
of Christ burns ever brighter. ‘We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us’ (2 Corinthians 4:7). Do others see this light in us, or do we adapt and modify our behaviour and dance to the world's tune when hardpressed? I believe that non-believers are waiting for the real church to 'stand up' and be counted for what we believe. If we are not prepared to do so, they must surely think our faith in God is not worth much. We are the lightbearers in the world, as Jesus said, and every place we find ourselves in, presents an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus. We need to have feet ready to go where Christ would have us go, mouths poised for speaking forth His Words of love and encouragement and minds and hearts open to His thoughts and mission. This is the call to every Christian. Prayerfully, we will press on and into this truth each day as we seek first His Kingdom!
- Jenie Oliver Extract from Jenie’s Ithe Vine Newsletter, issue #41
2
Jean & Roal Van Zyl Smit Jean was born and raised on a farm in the
Wolmaransstad district of the North West Province and she was blessed to have wise and godly parents. At the local primary school she became totally bilingual—a great asset for a doctor. At Potchefstroom Girls High School she thrived. Her overwhelming desire to help others, led to her studying medicine at UCT. Only 10% of the students were female and anatomy dissection classes for ladies were separate! Jean is truly ecumenical having been raised a Presbyterian; later, at boarding school, confirmed as Methodist and while at UCT she attended the Claremont Baptist Church, where she was baptised. Her life and priorities were shaped by the caring community at SCA and by Christian friends. As a neurosurgery intern she was involved in the first kidney and heart transplants at Groote Schuur Hospital. Roal was born in Bloemfontein and attended Grey College. He was intensely interested in engineering and model building. However, a long illness changed his career direction from engineering to medicine. After studying at Wits, he was posted to Baragwanath Hospital and there he met a lovely senior houseman (woman) and they were soon married. After their wedding they sailed off to the UK where Roal did further study in Edinburgh. After extensive travel they returned to settle in Cape Town. After a spell as neurosurgery registrar at Groote Schuur Hospital, then a year in the army, then as a medical registrar, Roal was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Post-graduate College of Medicine in London, where the family lived for two years. He was awarded an M.D. for his research. He specialised in Nephrology, the study of kidney disease. After their return to Cape Town he became professor and head of the Renal Unit at Groote Schuur Hospital. During these years of her life, as mother of Richard and Cathy, Jean gave herself fully to that role. She was guided by the principle “Nobody else can be a mother to your children”. She worked part-time at Red Cross Children’s Hospital and the Sarah Fox Home. Once their children were independent she returned more fully to medicine and soon became involved in Lipidology, the study of fats in the bloodstream. She worked at the Lipid clinics at Groote Schuur and Red Cross Children’s Hospitals and at the UCT Medical School. She was awarded a Ph.D for her work at the age of 63. Jean says “Life is long, so there is time to fulfil both the roles of a mother and then a professional woman”. Their children came to CCK as students, were both married here, and their parents followed bringing this special couple into fellowship with us. They have really enjoyed the teaching and ministry of the church. They have with gentleness and deep understanding accompanied many through their medical problems and crises. They can see blessing, even in disasters, such as when they returned from overseas study to find all their possessions lost in a storage fire and their house trashed by their tenants. They proudly showed us around their lovely Rondebosch home, full of antiques salvaged from Free State farms and lovingly restored by Roal’s July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
father. Roal is also is an expert woodworker, making and repairing violins violin bows and cellos. He has also rebuilt several cars and motorbikes. He plays the clarinet, loves opera and flies the model aeroplanes he builds. Jean quips that they rarely need to call a repairman! They both enjoy Torah studies and their small group. Jean is active in the Beulah Women’s Fellowship, she helps with the breakfasts and the funeral teas, loves theatre, opera and travel and keeps fit with Pilates and hiking. They feel truly rich knowing God’s goodness has blessed them with the love and fellowship they share. Their children are both doctors and happily married. Richard and Heather and their sons continue at Christ Church, while Cathy and David with their two children live in Cambridge. Regular visits keep them all close.
- Lindy & Peter Tomalin
3
Moving Forward Together This was my first participation in a MFT group and it was certainly nothing I had anticipated it to be. My initial impression of our group was that nobody seemed very different to me, yes a few from different churches but mostly CCK and CHS. As the weeks moved on so many different viewpoints emerged, so much collective knowledge seemed to be gathered in one room. The participation of members from other churches within the parish gave assignments and analysis a far more meaningful perspective. I have come away feeling positive that I have moved forward in coming to love and accept those living in desperate circumstances in my neighborhood. I feel encouraged that, in however small a way, I can make a difference. The project itself was really well thought out and constructed in a way that conversations were not focused on us as individuals but on finding a way of collectively solving the issues we face in our community. The weekly homework assignments, aimed at demonstrating various ways for missional outreach were gently challenging. Even if not completed, having a set task kept the group topic in focus for the whole week and not just for the two hours spent together each Wednesday evening. The weekly assignments also presented the opportunity to really think through issues and the chance to discuss them with a diverse group of fellow Christians. I have come away enriched and look forward to being part of a similar group in the future. - Gill Stubbings
A Winfield Wedding Melinda and Mike Winfield at the wedding of their daughter Laura to Emlyn Flint. ‘Laura’s wedding went very well and was a delightful celebration. It was a truly blessed occasion at which John Freeth officiated.’ [See p 1 for Mike’s Psalm] July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
Moving Forward Together This MFT season
we chose to host a group at our home. On our first evening we were a little disappointed to find that the members were largely Christ Church people, with only one person from each of Emmanuel and St Luke’s congregations. However, we had a good range of age groups, and people from all three CCK services and by the end we had formed good relationships. I really enjoyed the new approach to Bible Study—the dwelling in the Word approach—where you read the passage in two different versions and after spending time dwelling on the passage, divide into pairs and share what you feel God is saying through this passage to you. After sharing like this, you join another pair and share what you heard your partner say about the passage; and then you join together in the large group again. I felt that through this what I felt God saying to me was authenticated and there was no one telling me what I ought to think, nor what the right answer should be. I feel that through this my perception of relationships has changed. Each encounter with another person has greater potential for me to link in a real way with the other person. As an example, I have a man who has arrived at my gate regularly about twice a week for the past six years. This past week I was bold enough to ask him for his story, and how he landed up in his present situation. As he was leaving with his usual packet of sandwiches, fruit and a drink, he stopped to thank me for listening as ‘no one wants to listen—they just want me to go away’. I think that this may be the start of a longer journey with him, and his family, but it has given me a lot to think and pray about. - Jean Westwood
4
Greetings from Budapest This sculpture of a weeping willow was unveiled in 1991 in memory of the 600 000 Hungarian Jews killed by the Nazis in WWII. On each steel leaf the name of a victim is inscribed. The sculpture represents an upsidedown Menorah.
The tree stands in the garden of the Great Synagogue which is the largest functioning synagogue in Eurasia and the second largest in the world after Temple Emmanuel in New York. It was built in a Byzantine-Moorish style in 1855 and can accommodate 3000 worshippers. Alongside the building was a ghetto where the Jews lived in appalling conditions. [It still looks a bit dodgy.] - Pam & Berkeley Maytham
July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
5
Thobeka Mda As a member of the choir it has been
my privilege over the last few years to get to know Thobeka Mda. Behind her quiet presence and delightful smile she hides an interesting and inspiring story. Born in Viedgesville near Mthatha (formerly Umtata) she is the eldest of six children—five girls and one boy. Her mother died in 2001, but her father is still active at 93. He was honoured recently at UCT for his work in the community. [Her father’s mother, born in 1898 was the only girl in her matric class, and came top!] Thobeka’s family moved around a lot, spending time in Butterworth and Port Elizabeth. Thobeka matriculated at a Methodist Missionary boarding school and then went on to Fort Hare University to do a B.A. in Languages, and completed her UED there. She taught for a year at a missionary school, Ndamase, in the then Transkei before returning to Fort Hare to do her Honours in Xhosa in 1978. She returned to Ndamase and taught there from 1979 to 1981. Restlessness drove her to Soweto where she taught in a school during the day while attending Wits University in the evenings to obtain her Honours in Comparative Literature. She graduated in 1983 and moved to the East Rand. She tells how very difficult it was for her to find accommodation there as someone who had not been born there, and she spent a difficult time moving from one back room to another until someone told her that, if she could get a job teaching at a school in Thokoza she would be eligible for a ‘formed’ house. This she was able to do, eventually moving to Vosloorus where she was able to buy her own house at last. During this time she managed to do a part-time M.Ed at Wits. In 1990 she successfully applied for a scholarship from the Education Opportunities Council (based in Johannesburg but funded by USAid) which allowed her to travel to Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio where she completed her PhD in Education Policy and Leadership. In 1993, against the advice of her American friends, she chose to return to South Africa where she found it very difficult to get a job despite her excellent qualifications as she wasn’t a cardcarrying member of the ANC, and hadn’t been heavily involved in the struggle against apartheid. She returned to the college in Vosloorus, where a new Rector informed her that she was considered to have absconded, even though she had applied for, and been granted, leave of absence to do her PhD in America. She was put in touch with a lawyer who took this up with the Department of Education, and she was reluctantly reinstated at the college by a hostile Rector. Luckily she was able to get a job at UNISA as senior lecturer in Education, where she worked until 2007, becoming an associate professor in 1999 and a full professor in 2003, and Dean from 2000 to 2004. In 2005 she took a year’s sabbatical, spending three months in Canada, where she furthered her interest in ‘Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Education’. July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
In 2007 she joined the Human Sciences Research Council in their Johannesburg offices. She became deputy Executive Director in Program Education Sciences and Skills Development, and later transferred to ‘Capacity Enhancement’, enabling her to work with Master and Doctoral interns and post-Doctoral Fellows. However, she says that it was not a very happy place to work, and, in 2012, she applied for and obtained the post of Dean at CPUT on a five-year contract which expires next year. She is really hoping that it will be renewed for another five years, which will take her to retirement, as she very much enjoys living in Cape Town. Thobeka says that she always imagined that she would marry and have children but this never happened. She was christened in the Anglican Church at her mother’s insistence, but attended the much closer Methodist Church more often. In Cape Town she decided to try various churches, giving each one a month, but, when she bought a flat right over the road from Christ Church, she attended the 10 am service here, being welcomed by Yvonne Kane at the door. She was due to go away for a month, but, on her return, she found lots of messages and information pamphlets from Yvonne, so was encouraged to come back to CCK. She loves the structure of the Communion service at 8 O’Clock and soon joined the choir. She has found it quite hard to feel integrated at CCK, and has now joined a newly-formed cell group and is gradually starting to feel a bit more settled as she gets to know more people. Her hobbies are singing and dancing (all kinds). She has recently joined a ballroom dancing class. Her passion is cruising. She has been on cruises on her own or with friends and family in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and her next one is planned for 2017 in the Baltic. Her love of water and swimming means that her dream is to retire by the sea. We are so lucky to have this gracious, lovely lady among us, and I’m sure we will all be hoping and praying that her contract with CPUT will be renewed for another five years.
- Sally Palmer
Songs of Praise Richard Cock is conducting a 25 year celebration concert of Songs of Praise with proceeds going to the Bible Society. Richard Haigh will be on the organ with a brass and percussion ensemble and Philharmonia Choir in tow. CONCERT: Sunday 7 August 3pm at the Groote Kerk. There will be audience singing and choral anthems. TICKETS: http:// online.computicket.com/web/event/ songs_of_praise/1038492265/0/72999404
6
Melissa Lubbe On 14 June 2016 I graduated with my Master’s in Applied Economics from the University of Cape Town with a cum laude for my dissertation*. I do not usually announce such events so publically, but being asked to share this good news with the community I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the amazing work of God that went into this graduation. I entered Christ Church Kenilworth for the first time in 2013 to pray for a very sick uncle. Sadly he passed away, but his legacy was bringing me to a bigger family to help take his place. At that stage I did not know what 2014 would entail—I had completed five years at Stellenbosch University, and did not know where to proceed for my Master’s. From the start, the CCK community welcomed me with open arms, and I decided to return to Cape Town for further study. During the Lent series of 2014 we as a parish worked through the book of Amos, and I heard God say to me: “Go out and see my people; don’t write like you know what their lives are really like”. I had heard that UCT Economics had funding available for alcohol research, so I made an appointment to meet with my supervisor about the possibility of doing research on the impact of fetal alcohol syndrome. He suggested (not thinking I would really do it) that I spend some time at a rural school. To his astonishment I jumped at the idea. Now that I had a topic and a commission the first question was, “God, where do you want me to go?” His answer came in the form of a connection to a small rural town outside Clanwilliam called Elizabethfontein Primary School. The next question was, “God, where do you want me to live?” He had prepared a place for me in the granny flat of an old lady. Thus, in the beginning of 2015 I left my newly returned home for a small dorpie, three hours and a world away. If you want to hear specific stories about my adventure I would love to tell them over a pot of tea or a glass of red wine, but there are two specific aspects I would like to highlight. Both are the why answers to the questions I asked God: Why Clanwilliam; and Why that house? After a number of months working with the children, going to school with them on the school bus and receiving an uncountable number of hugs I got sick. Nothing serious, but when I was at the doctor he asked me which Lubbe family I was from. I was astonished, as I did not know that there were other Lubbes living in the area. After studying the church records I found out that my direct ancestors were the original owners of the farm next door to the one on which I was teaching. I tracked down the ancestors still living in the original farmhouse. God took me out of my comfort zone, but back to an old home. In answer to the second question, after living with this July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
lady for a number of months I convinced her to attend church with me one Sunday. The reading that week was from 1 Kings 17: 8-16, where Elijah lives with the widow. In verse 14 it says “The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends His rain upon the earth.” At this point she rested her head on my shoulder and whispered that I was being like Elijah to her. Her husband had passed away three months before I arrived, and his estate was not paid out yet. My rent was putting food on her table. There are many stories of what the Lord did during my time in Clanwilliam, so I want to thank Him, and His plan for my research. I also want to thank the 8 am choir and community for their love, support and acceptance of this young girl. You have become true friends, and I cherish you. It seems I have come home, only to be sent out again. This time my commission is ‘Go out and love my children.’ I am waiting for a visa to visit Vancouver Island to work at a camp called Qwanoes as a camp counsellor and look after the children. Please pray that God will continue to bless this next adventure as He has done before—but that I can always come home to CCK again. *Melissa had the honour of her Mom, Prof Ilse Lubbe, capping her at her graduation. CCK has been praying for Melissa’s Gran, San, who passed away on 27 June (perhaps the reason why the visa was delayed?)
Favourite Hymns Dentist
Crown Him with many crowns. Weatherman There shall be showers of blessing. Optometrist Open my eyes that I might see. Golfer There is a green hill far away. Gossip Pass it on. Choreographer I am the Lord of the dance.
Driving / Speeding > 75 kph >105 kph >140 kph >150 kph ++
God will take care of you Nearer my God to Thee This world is not my home Lord, I’m coming home - Origin unknown, Sent in by Jim de Necker
7
Short Meditations on Wisdom 1) Finding Wisdom: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,… And it will be given to him. James 1:5 The Bible has a great deal to say about the divine gift of wisdom. The first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs are a single sustained exhortation to seek this gift. ‘Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding’. Proverbs 4:7. The emphasis throughout is on God’s readiness to give wisdom to all who desire the gift and will take the steps necessary to obtain it. Similar emphases appear in the New Testament. Wisdom is required of Christians: ‘Live—not as unwise but as wise. ...Do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is’—Ephesians 5:15-17. ‘Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders’—Colossians 4:5. And James, in God’s name, makes a promise: ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, ...and it will be given to him’—James 1:5. PRAY: Ask God to give you wisdom—and also to help you recognise wisdom when He gives it.
2) Fearing God: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10 Reverential fear of God is a good start on wisdom. Not till we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God’s holiness and sovereignty (‘the great and awesome God,’ Nehemiah 1:5), acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours. It is to be feared that many Christians spend all their lives in too unhumbled and conceited a frame of mind ever to gain wisdom from God. Not for nothing does Scripture say, ‘With the lowly is wisdom’—Proverbs 11:2. JOURNAL: Make a list of some of your current worries and fears. How might your awe of God lead you toward a wise way of coping with those fears? Ask God for that kind of wisdom.
3) Dwelling Richly: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16 Wisdom is divinely wrought in those, and those only, who apply themselves to God’s revelation. So Paul admonishes the Colossians, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… with all wisdom.’ How are we of the twenty-first century to do this? By soaking ourselves in the Scriptures. Yet it is to be feared that many today who profess to be Christ’s never learn wisdom, through failure to attend sufficiently to God’s written Word. Cranmer’s Prayer Book lectionary (which all Anglicans are meant to follow) will take one through the Old July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
Testament once and the New Testament twice every year. William Gouge, the Puritan, read fifteen chapters regularly every day. How long is it since you read right through the Bible? Do you spend as much time with the Bible each day as you do with the newspaper (TV / computer)? What fools some of us are! And we remain fools all our lives, simply because we will not take the trouble to do what has to be done to receive the wisdom that is God’s free gift. REFLECT: Ask yourself each question above. Pray about your answer, then create a plain to make any needed corrections.
4) Wise Driving: I will give you a wise and discerning heart. 1 Kings 3:12 What does it mean for God to give us wisdom? What kind of gift is it? God-given wisdom is like being taught to drive. What matters in driving is the speed and appropriateness of your reaction to things and the soundness of your judgement as to what scope a situation gives you. You do not ask yourself why the road should narrow or become a dog-leg, nor why a van should be parked where it is, nor why the driver in front should hug the crown of the road so lovingly. You simply try to see and do the right thing in the actual situation which presents itself. To live wisely, you have to be clearsighted and realistic—ruthlessly so in looking at life as it is. The effect of divine wisdom is to enable you and me to do just that in the actual situations of everyday life. REFLECT: What do you need to know and not know in order to drive well? How does this compare to wise living? What do you find encouraging (or frustrating) about the comparison. - Extracts from Knowing God by JI Packer
Flowers Growing in Holland [See also page 8] - Source unknown
8
Introducing Joshua Moore Leon Smith, Caroline Smith, Caitlin Moore (nee Smith),
Puns... *Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, ‘I've lost my electron.’ The other says, ‘Are you sure?’ The first replies, ‘Yes, I'm positive.’ *A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. ‘But why?’, they asked, as they moved off. ‘Because’, he said, ‘I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.’ *Lastly, there was the person who sent ten different puns to his friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
- Origin unknown, sent in by Barbara Duncan
Joshua, Jonathan Moore, Ann Moore, Sam Moore.
Aaronic Blessing—Hebraic Perspective Most people are familiar with the English translation of the Aaronic blessing from Numbers 6:24-25 (RSV): The LORD bless you and keep you: The LORD make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Notice that many of the words in this translation are abstract words, including; bless, keep, gracious, countenance and peace. Each of the Hebrew words behind the English in this passage, is filled with images that are lost when translated into the English language. When we examine each of these words from their original cultural and linguistic perspectives, the message in this passage comes alive: YHWH will kneel before you presenting gifts and will guard you with a hedge of protection. YHWH will illuminate the wholeness of His being toward you bringing order and He will give you comfort and sustenance. YHWH will lift up His wholeness of being and look upon you and He will set in place all you need to be whole and complete. -Jeff A. Benner (Sent in by Belle Divaris) Editorial Team Tel. e-mail
July 2016 Eight O’Clock News
Ev Els
021 696 0336 emichael@iafrica.com
Cheryl Anderson
083 272 1530 canderson@beckman.com