Roosters made from flowers
The Eight O’Clock
News Read this in COLOUR at www.cck.org.za
June 2015
8 am Service, Christ Church, Kenilworth
Birthdays and Pentecost Birthdays are such wonderful opportunities to gather family and friends together under an umbrella of love and caring. My grandson celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday with a lunchtime braai at the home of my eldest son. There were 14 family members, including four of my great-grandchildren [6-16 years] and some friends, and it was wet so we were closely packed in the house which contributed to the togetherness atmosphere ! But as I watched from the sidelines it was great to see the interaction between them all. From youngest to eldest they made physical contact through hugs and hands, giving the silent message: ‘so glad to be with you’. I was so warmed just watching this and gave thanks to God for blessing them all and keeping them close in affection for one another. I am truly blessed. AND IT WAS A GREAT PARTY !! Trevor Hudson in his book Holy Spirit—here and now, writes towards the end of his book, “there are three verbs we need to remember: Ask, Receive, Live We need to: 1) Ask expectantly—God lovingly desires to give us a deeper experience of the intimate presence, the transforming power and the gracious gifting of the Holy Spirit. We need to consistently ask Abba-Father to send us the Holy Spirit, and actually expect Abba-Father to answer. 2) Receive thankfully. We also need to trust the reality of the promise made to us and actually receive what we have been offered. Trusting faith opens our hands to take hold of what Abba-Father has promised. 3) Live Lovingly. Jesus always links the giving of the Holy Spirit to loving obedience and being in relationship with Himself. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we come alive to God, to other people, to ourselves and the world in which we live. I am writing this on Pentecost Sunday, and although you might think, by the time you receive this that it’s over and done with, actually life is just beginning for us living in the time of the Holy June 2015 Eight O’Clock News
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Spirit. He is with us every day—every moment! Aren’t we blessed? I offer you three prayers to ponder on in this time.
Lord, let my life be a space in which You can work in the world. Clear away my inner rubbish and fill me with Your Spirit of healing, delight and peace, so that everything I do may be the fruit of Your life in me. [Angela Ashwin] O God, life-giving Spirit, Spirit of healing and comfort, of integrity and truth, we believe and trust in You. Warm-winged Spirit, brooding over creation, rushing wind and Pentecostal fire, we commit ourselves to work with You and renew our world. [Janet Morley] May the Spirit, who hovered over the waters when the world was created, breathe into us the life He gives. May the Spirit, who set the Church on fire upon the day of Pentecost, bring the world alive with the love of the risen Christ. [Michael Perham]
- Wendy Gunn
Senior USB Stick Very shortly it may become compulsory for senior citizens to carry not only their ID, but also insurance documents, prescription lists, their medical file, a statement with resuscitation orders after a heart attack, stroke, etc. Specifically for this purpose, a special "Senior USB Stick" has been developed. - Origin unknown, sent in by Barbara Duncan
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Providence and a House In 2009 Bishop Garth Counsell asked me to take up the post as fulltime Dean of Studies. The Parish of Wynberg generously offered to pay the stipend as long as the Diocese provided housing. It turned out that the housing part was more difficult than expected, resulting in us remaining at Emmanuel House for an extra year, then spending eight months at the St Cyprians’s curate’s house in Heathfield. During this time we looked at numerous Diocesan properties, all of which were really unsuitable for a variety of reasons. It was a depressing experience. Meanwhile Jeanette and I scoured newspapers for adequate housing, thinking that if a bank would give us a bond, we could buy our own home. As it happened, the bank I have been with for 40 years did not even respond to my request. That seemed a closed door. My Mother had died in January 2009, and at the end of 2010, I was notified that the estate should be wound up mid 2011. In light of this news, beginning in January 2011, Jeanette and I began house-hunting. Again, considering the limited funds we anticipated, the areas and prices were limited. There was pressure on us to move again, emotional struggles were high, and we cried out to God to do something. Jeanette asked for a set of criteria to be used to assess the houses we looked at because she felt that with all the pressure on us there could be the temptation to take anything regardless of its suitability. A major consideration was her dog. Many complexes don’t allow pets. By mid-year we were really struggling with the process, wondering what was going on, and appealing to the Lord for direction. Many friends were praying with us and would often call to tell us. This was such an encouragement! During August and September we looked at some properties under Seeff’s management with a delightful agent called Teodora. With nothing suitable in her own portfolio, Teodora contacted her colleague, Peter Marais, who showed us an apartment within a small complex in Diep River. It was further down the line that we had originally aimed for, but the price was reasonable and it fulfilled most of the other criteria we had set out, particularly regarding animals. I think we went back three or four times, taking friends to get their perspectives and insights. It seemed right. But we still did not know what our financial position would be. Come the first week of October I was notified that the estate was finalised and that monies were to be transferred from the UK to my account here. The exchange rate at the time favoured us, providing a “tidy” sum. I then arranged to meet the agent to make a formal offer, being completely open with him about the amount of money I had available. An offer of R150, 000 less that the asking price was made at noon, October 15, 2011. I expected to wait for the usual three day assessment period. However, at seven o’clock that same evening the agent called me, and without much ado, stated, “Mr Harris, this has never happened to me before! The seller thought your offer was fair, and said, ‘Give it to the man’!” So, within five hours I was a property owner. It was something of a shock because I wasn’t expecting to hear so quickly, anticipating the usual haggling, the “to-ing” and “fro-ing” one hears about in these circumstances. But nothing like that happened; there it was, the offer accepted; no turning back. In retrospect, the whole experience was a remarkable process where the providence of God led us slowly but surely to the right June 2015 Eight O’Clock News
place, and gave us more than we had anticipated for the price we paid. We ended up with an apartment with three bedrooms (one for a study and some of my books!), two and a half bathrooms, a hallway, and reasonable sized kitchen and living space. Plus there’s a small garden, a single garage, and a parking bay in the common area. We found out later that this section of Diep River is called ‘Diep River Chelsea’. The houses around us are beautifully kept, as are, in the main, the streets. There’s a small park two streets down from us (for the grandchild, of course). Even though we are fairly close to Main Road, the noise levels are minimal (or we’ve just learned to block them out!). A number of Christ Church families live in and around this area. On a Sunday it only takes about 12 minutes to get to Kenilworth. We moved here in January 2012, and since moving in we’ve discovered a number of things that make it special, things we didn’t specify, and which confirm the rightness of our being here. At the end of 2012 Cornerstone Institute, where Jeanette works, relocated from Claremont to Salt River. For a few months Jeanette drove to work, but got increasingly frustrated at sitting in heavy traffic for long periods. Suddenly it dawned on us—there was a bus stop right outside our complex. The bus travels all the way along the Main Road to the city, and Jeanette hops off across the road from the college. It’s still a lengthy drive, but now Jeanette can read, pray, think—and even work on articles for Eight O’Clock News ! Jeanette and I are grateful for those within the Christ Church family who prayed for us throughout this stressful period. We really appreciated your support and interest. We have experienced that God is indeed able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think! - Jim Harris
[Jim has recently retired as Dean of Studies in the Diocese of Cape Town.]
Els Ravine, Newlands Dolerite Dyke Outcrop North Side of Waterfall [John Rogers]
Journey to Vrygrond A Call to Mission Relatively new to Cape Town and Pinelands, I’d become very conscious that while I was living in comfort in my little cottage in Pinewood Retirement Village, just across the N2 were enormous informal settlements where people live in joblessness and abject poverty, where alcoholism and drug addiction, gangsterism and abuse and much else, is rife. I felt almost overwhelmed! How could one cross the N2? How dare to get involved in the face of all one heard and read? How even encounter people from those vast, sprawling townships? How throw even “one starfish” back into the ocean? It seemed easier to stick one’s head into the sand and not think about it at all! So, that’s what I did! And then came “Moving Forward Together”, St John’s Parish invitation for our six churches to get together in small groups in August/September last year. The brief was to read the Book of Amos and reflect, share and hear how God would lead each of us on our own faith journey. Amos, a vigorous spokesman for God’s justice and righteousness and his condemnation of those who grow rich at the expense of others, is a challenging read in any context, and none more so than in South Africa, with our huge gap between the rich and poor. Barbara Bowden, Diana Hoffa and I from CCK joined a small group with three members of CHS—Rory Latimer, Felicity du Preez and Lillian Robertson. And, all at once, as I found myself face to face with two women from Vrygrond, the huge informal settlement that lies between Prince George Drive and the False Bay coastline, I felt that I had “crossed the N2”. As we attempted to follow the prescribed readings from Amos, we soon found a greater need was for Felicity and Lillian to share about the very real, tremendous difficulties they lived under and the enormous problems they had to deal with daily, than to discuss the more academic questions set. We discovered that Felicity had started a soup kitchen which served up to 200 children on their
way home from school and that Lillian was her ‘right hand man’. As time went by, I strongly sensed that the Lord was inviting me to join Him as He worked through Felicity and Lillian. It was a really scary thought, to enter totally unfamiliar and frightening territory—but it persisted, and I felt the Lord was saying, “Come! Come and work with Me”. Not “Go and do this”, but “Come. Come and work with Me”. It was a compelling invitation; an opportunity graciously June 2015 Eight O’Clock News
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offered by our Lord Himself! I must go back to something really significant in my Vrygrond Journey. On 6th September, a couple of weeks after the start of “Moving Forward Together”, I felt prompted to return to the daily readings of “My utmost for His Highest” by Oswald Chambers, used some years before. The reading for that day was entitled “The Far-Reaching Rivers of Life”, (cf John 7:38): “A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, ‘rivers of living water’ will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even ‘to the end of the earth (Acts 2:8)’ regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow—‘This is the work of God, that you believe… (John 6:29)” When I learned from Felicity that they operated out of the Church of Living Waters in Vrygrond, imagine my excitement at this confirmation of what I was hearing from our Lord! Barbara Bowden and I belong to the CCK Tuesday Women’s Group led by Verna Baguley, who had expressed the hope that, apart from Bible study and fellowship, we would become involved in some sort of outreach. So we decided to offer this as a possibility. To gain further understanding about the soup kitchen, we invited Richard Saner (CHS), whom Felicity and Lillian often mentioned and who seemed to be the moving force of the project, to speak to us. He explained that the project was born out of a prayer group from CHS who decided to reach out to Vrygrond. Aware of the danger of dependency through having things handed out to them, he pointed out that the soup kitchens (there is one in Seawinds and another in Westlake) merely provided a doorway to reach further into the overwhelming need of these communities to try to make a difference and help them to help themselves. He told us of a number of other activities going on in Vrygrond, which included two youth Alphas run simultaneously in Vrygrond and Westlake (when 23 ‘kids’ gave their lives to God), football games and hydroponic vegetable growing. A “Vrycluster Report” on all these activities is circulated regularly. Richard was pleased for us to come on board. We also discussed all this with Duncan McLea as Parish Rector, who encouraged our involvement. We now have regular prayer times for the project at our meetings, make financial contributions and pay visits to the soup kitchen which operates once a week on a Wednesday afternoon. Two huge 60-litre pots of soup are prepared on a gas stove by Zelda (photograph left), from donated ingredients delivered by Richard. They serve up to 200 pre-schoolers and older children. (Ctd, page 6 bottom)
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Visit to Israel The group in the Wilderness of Zin
Victorious climbers at The Monastery, Petra Dunking in the Dead Sea
Ann Moore having fun in the Dead Sea
Denise Wibberley at the Western Wall
June 2015 Eight O’Clock News
Meeting up with the Revd Sammy Beukes (from Emmanuel) at Christ Church, Jerusalem
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Barbara Bowden Reports... Beanies in Tulbagh
Twelve years ago a mission incentive began in CCK… Remember it? Each housechurch was given R400.00 to develop/ enlarge a useful project. I took up the challenge and used part of the money to buy wool and I knitted ten jerseys which I sent to an orphanage in Matatiele. Friends got caught up in the challenge and started knitting. They also donated money so that each of the children in the orphanage received a jersey and a pair of pants.
Matatiele
Toys in Rawsonville
From this the Outreach ballooned and for the past few years I have had about R14 000 items per year—of clothing, toys and household goods to distribute. About 130 people have regularly donated goods from as far as Durbanville. Two of the original housechurch members, Pam Stewart (an 8-amer too) and Andrea Henderson are still actively involved. As the original destination was Matatiele, I continued with an ‘out of Cape Town’ approach—to Tulbagh, Wolseley, Rawsonville, Lambert’s Bay, Saron, Genadendal, Darling and Montagu. Further afield included Hanover, George, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Namibia. A few years ago I met a doctor who was doing a mission trip through Africa to Ethiopia. He had a large truck and was most grateful to receive ten boxes of clothing to distribute en route. Donations are not always in good condition and I spend many hours sorting, washing, mending, defluffing and packing into appropriately labelled boxes. Where I live I am known as ‘the box lady’. Our latest project is a Beanie drive for Rawsonville, Goudini and the Slanghoek Valley where there are 2 000 children from creche to Grade 7. Thirty knitters, one of whom is 101 years old, have been busy and and we hoped to reach our target by the end of May. I had a Beanie drive to Tulbagh a few years ago where beanies were laid out on classroom floors and as children filed past, they were able to choose their own. One little boy managed to sneak an extra one! Last year I saved all the toys donated during the year and at Christmas we took over 1 000 toys to the township and two squatter camps in Rawsonville. The jerseys donated by the ladies in Scotland have found their way into Hanover, Genadendal, Rawsonville and Tulbagh. Transport plays an important role in sending boxes away but it is amazing how many doors have been opened. Earlier this year I was struggling to organise transport. I awoke one morning with June 2015 Eight O’Clock News
this hymn going around in my head: ‘I waited for the Lord, He inclined unto me, He heard my complaint, He heard my complaint! That week I managed to send a van-load of goods to Genadendal. God certainly heard and answered my complaint We give thanks for this twelve-year-old-mission and we give God all the glory.
Assessing Normality ? During a visit to my doctor, I asked him, "How do you determine whether or not an older person should be put in an old age home?" "Well," he said, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the person to empty the bathtub." "Oh, I understand," I said. "A normal person would use the bucket because it is bigger than the spoon or the teacup..." "No" he said. "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?" - Source unknown, sent in by Joh & Jan D’Arcy Evans
Wisdom from Golda Meir It is true we (Israel) have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don't want victories anymore.
We Jews have a secret weapon in our struggle with the Arabs—we have no place to go. Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took us forty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place in the Middle East that has no oil! - Sent in by Alison Kempton Jones
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St John’s Garden of Remembrance Work has begun. The ground has been prepared, a brick pathway and the irrigation pipes have been laid. After two years of meetings and planning and at times wondering if it was ever going to happen, the renovation of the garden is finally underway. The idea of creating a beautiful tranquil space where you can visit and sit and pray is becoming a reality. Many have contributed towards raising a total thus far of R92 000 and we are grateful for this wonderful support. This has enabled us to embark upon Phase 1 and Phase 2. This includes the landscaping, the irrigation system and the laying of a brick path. Pruning and tree cleaning and a major planting of shrubs and plants is due to commence in mid-June. We need R46 000 to complete Phase 3. This will entail removing
the vibacrete wall which surrounds the garden and erecting a wrought iron palisade fence. This is to open up the area to the church and make a more secure and visually beautiful perimeter to the garden. We hope many will come and use the garden on special occasions and anniversaries to pray and remember their loved ones. We are thankful for generous donations received so far. We want the whole parish to be proud of this sacred special space and encourage you to come and see it for yourself. The garden can be visited from 8.30 – 1pm Monday to Friday (when the St John’s church office is open). Telephonic arrangements have to be made to visit at other times. Please call the church secretary, Sharon Lawrence on 021 7978968. Any questions or queries about the garden and the fund raising effort to complete the project can be directed to Linda Brown on 021 7976332 or lindab@stjohnsparish.org.za - Hilary McLea
the mothers. It is more about showing love and encouragement and forging relationships, than following a programme. In fact, in the words (Continued from page 3) After the children have been served, any of Thomas needy adults receive a portion as well. Following the M.F.T. Meerton, “My initiative, a member of St Luke’s Church also came on board to read Lord God, I have to the children as they wait for their soup. So three churches of the no idea where I Parish are involved. am going; I do We have no set pattern for our visits, but help wherever not see the road needed: serving the soup, reading to the children, talking to ahead of me; I cannot be certain where it will, but, I trust God to lead me on.” [Photographs: Elizabeth (far left), packing sweets for the Christmas party; Verna Baguley (above) and Ascencia Tebbutt (left), reading to the children. June 2015 Eight O’Clock News
- Elizabeth van Lingen
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Skollie
The Power of Prayer
Mike Keeling
After a holiday travelling the rough Eastern Cape roads, I came
There’s this skollie smiling brightly
home with a very sore back and foot. Not knowing which bit was causing the other to complain I decided to avoid the doctor and go straight to a physio. She took one look and said the arch of my right foot had collapsed and that my right hip was 'out of joint'. Two treatments later the foot and back were still sore and the hip refused to stay in place. She then suggested I see an orthotist as she felt once the feet were working correctly, the hip and back would recover. So off Clive and I went into Cape Town to see the orthotist. He took one look and agreed with the physio. Right leg went into a brace straight away, expensive shoes and orthotics to match arrived ten days later. I have never been so uncomfortable in my life—even the prior pain seemed more acceptable. I then wondered what to do with the rest of my shoes as the orthotics would not fit into them. At this point a dear friend, Belinda Henwood, nagged at me to put myself on the prayer shield—so being obedient I did just that. At the same time another friend suggested I go for Body Stress Release treatments. I made an appointment with Evadne Mol (a CCK member) who at the first meeting said the only bits in my body which were ok were my arms—the rest were all out of kilter. An hour later I went home feeling as if I had been run over by a bus and just wanted to sleep but four days later I went back for another session and Evadne was amazed at the improvement: hip had stayed in place and back and foot were not sore any more. I have decided to go every six weeks for a treatment— just to keep the old body in place! The expensive shoes were given to a neighbour who fancied them, the brace and orthotics are in the cupboard and the rest of my shoes are still in use! I would like to give thanks to God for answering the prayers of those who prayed for my healing. And for giving Evadne an amazing pair of hands which she skillfully used to help in that healing.
when we draw up by the queue, a somewhat daunting, gummy smile as the teeth he has are few. He’s always at the ready to pour tea or dole out food, trying to con an extra slice to feed his multibrood.
- Alison Kempton-Jones
Daphne Burger visiting in London, with daughter, Elaine Pienaar and Jean-Ben June 2015 Eight O’Clock News
We demoted him from sandwich man and made him pour out tea, spotting him stockpiling when he didn’t think we’d see. He regaled us with stories that we hardly understood prattling in the patois of his local brotherhood. He told of disappearing kids, of families in distress, police reports that go nowhere but just compound the mess of living rough, of getting soaked, of stinking, rotting clothes, of mouldy food retrieved from bins, of goodness only knows. And he’s but one in the stretching queue (there’s about a hundred more), sitting, drinking, eating, waiting; it’s work they’re waiting for. Would I be able to laugh and joke if so desperately in need, if I knew not what the day would bring, if I had nine kids to feed?
Tuesday Feeding the Hungry Team ! Hazel Peterson, Roy Wibberley, Robin Rattle, Angela Prew, Rosie Winterbottom, Prilli Stevens, Mike Keeling. [Photographer Suzanne Anderson]
Good Enough ?
Weather Forecasting Olive, Israel
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- Sent in by Denise Wibberley
How tenuous is this good-enough-ness how fragile! How easily it trembles and shatters with shifting voices and the wavering play of shadow and light over your days. You are held in thrall by the not-yet-achieved unachievable, the unknown experience-not-yet-known, waiting restlessly for the slow filter of time. In thrall, your movement interrupted. a blink, a shudder— the courage to begin again, to move (as if by instinct) along the fluid lines of love and calling, the rhythmic patterns of inner grace. This self, held in this sanctity, is goodenough now - and always will be, long after the shadows dissipate and voices fade. - Colleen Sturrock 2014. Having gone back to study full time in 2010, Colleen has recently completed her training as a Clinical Psychologist and is working in private practice.
Romans 8:12-17 [The Message}
Music –
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-
The other Non-addictive, Mood-altering Non-substance Common side effects include but are not limited to uncontrolled head bobbing, toe tapping, finger snapping, selective hearing impairment and persistent melody flashbacks. From Chris Molyneux’s Musical Musings
Message from Annie Kirke Thanks for your lovely email. Interestingly, I trained with Ed Flint and was ordained with Ed Flint and Toby Flint, David Cook's nephews. It's a small world. I have also met their mum, David's sister. Amazing! I look forward to arriving and beginning this new chapter with you all soon!
yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who He is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! Editorial Team Tel. Ev Els
021 696 0336 emichael@iafrica.com
Cheryl Anderson
083 272 1530 canderson@beckman.com
Annie June 2015 Eight O’Clock News