The Eight O’Clock
News October 2016
Egging On I do so love to watch the birds and especially now that I am in the
process of creating an indigenous garden at home. I get so excited when I’m blessed with another new visitor that inquisitively alights on a new plant and examines it cocked-headed and beady-eyed. I love to observe the busyness of birds, their flight, their landings, their searching for nourishment and their building of homes— especially the weavers: how miraculous their grass constructions, some are even duplexes. Then of course their singing, chirping and chattering, the beautiful sounds of the dawn chorus and the daily joy that they seem to express. I even witnessed some plucky starlings sending out a squadron to dive-bomb a crow. At night, I was privileged to hear the rather spooky call of an owl. Going to my window I saw his silhouette. Upon seeing me, I saw him take off in silent blanket flight. Watching birds not only makes me feel one with nature but humble and at the same time transcendent. The busyness and joy expressed by birds leads me to contemplate us humans and whether we indeed do and become everything God wants us to be. I have been trying to encourage a friend to do more and be more, egging her on so to speak—but without much response. To quote CS Lewis, it’s a bit like this: ‘It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad’. My friend is a very decent egg.
October 2016 Eight O’Clock News
8 am Service, Christ Church, Kenilworth
I’d rather her ‘Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings’ (Victor Hugo). I want her like me to know and feel that it is God who is the wind beneath my wings! The nest might be comfortable to the bird, the ground far away, the sky too vast and the food too scarce but in the God-ordained cycle of life the egg must hatch. It’s all about growing and learning, diving and soaring, the joy in the journey and the pleasure in becoming. It is transformation and renewal. Sometimes there are no answers and we must wait on God until the time that He has planned for our hatching is right... but then we must be brave enough to flee the nest. When we’re waiting, ‘Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark’ (Rabindranath Tagore).
- Cheryl Anderson
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Hecliff & Beulah Neuwhoudt-Arendse Both Hecliff and Beulah grew up in Cape Town, not very far from one another in the southern suburbs. They are not short of siblings: Hecliff has two sisters and a brother, and Beulah is the eldest of five sisters. Beulah and her three sisters all married over a period of nine months, 17 years ago. Both their families had strong roots in the Dutch Reformed Mission Church (or NG Sending Kerk). Beulah has been involved in a number of leadership positions within the denomination. Much of their early lives were spent in this environment. Singing is a passion for this couple and they met through singing in a choir together. Both have sung in a variety of choirs all over Cape Town. One can stand on their doorstep and look across a lovely square field. Beulah can point out where her grandparents used to live on the street on the other side of the field, and where her parents live now, just down the road in the same neighbourhood. Her mom and dad often worship at Christ Church with them. Careers Hecliff worked for many years as a tool setter in the steel industry. Beulah trained as a registered nurse at Groote Schuur Hospital, followed by midwifery at St Monica’s Maternity Hospital. Since then she’s worked in a variety of nursing positions and done lots of further studying. She’s currently working for the Western Cape Government Health Department, and at the same time is doing a further qualification in nursing management at Stellenbosch University. Besides his musical talent Hecliff is a really good baker and well-known for his bread-making. Christ Church (CCK) Although they had visited the church prior to 2010, they became regular worshippers that year. This came about because Beulah’s sister, Eleanor NewhoudtWoldu, who was part of the administrative staff at CCK for nine years, invited them to the crib service. While there Hecliff saw an advert for the Alpha course and was particularly struck by the questions on it. They enrolled for the course, both enjoyed it very much, and for Hecliff in particular, it was life-changing. He was profoundly influenced by what he learned, and wanted to learn more. That was the beginning of their involvement with the Christ Church family. 8 am Service Initially they were part of the 10 am service. Hecliff had started a transport service, which involved taking people to the airport. Through Eleanor he was put in touch with a number of CCK people who required his services. Many of them came to the Wednesday service and to the 8 am service on a Sunday. They encouraged him to come and see what it was like. He attended Wednesday services and made many friends. He and Beulah came to the 8 O’ Clock service, enjoyed it and decided to make that their regular service. Both especially love the singing of hymns which they are so familiar with after all their October 2016 Eight O’Clock News
years of choir singing. The atmosphere in the service reminds them of the church background from which they came. Involvement They are very enthusiastic about Alpha. Beulah has been an Alpha facilitator, while Hecliff has assisted in the kitchen with the meals. Both have made lots of friends this way. ‘Feeding the Hungry’ is a passion of Hecliff’s. He enjoys engaging with the people and hearing about their lives—especially enthusiastic conversations about soccer, and which team did best. When everyone’s eaten Hecliff takes the crumbs in the containers and throws them on the grass, then they enjoy watching all the birds that come to feast. An added bonus is the many new friends he’s made among those who are part of this ministry. Beulah is involved with the women’s group that has the same name as she does—the Beulah ministry. Hobbies and Passions Singing, singing, and singing! They also love theatre and travelling. They had family in Swaziland and Polokwane and loved their trips visiting there. They want to go back and explore further. Beulah’s studies are demanding so there isn’t time for much other than work and study right now. Journey with God It’s an ongoing journey. Both are grateful for the spiritual input they had in their childhood homes and in their church homes at that time. They value the prayers of their parents in shaping their lives. Alpha has been a turning point and they would like to be more involved in that. They have learned from parents the value of following God’s leading, and then seeing God provide what is necessary. - Jeanette Harris
A Quote from Garfield the Cat We all get heavier as we get older because there’s a lot more information in our heads. So I’m not fat, I’m just really intelligent and my head couldn’t hold any more so it started filling up the rest of me! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! - Sent in by Alison Lester
Google helped me find Christ I was born in Rustenburg, North West Province, into a Tswana family deeply involved in African Traditional Religion. Our beliefs include regular sacrifices and rituals where animals are slaughtered to appease the ancestors. We went to church every Sunday where we worshipped and prayed to a Biblical God. We also believed that every deceased person in our family are now 'gods'... I went to study in Jo'burg where I made friends with Muslims and I quickly got to know that they prayed to Allah—a different god. After 2012 I went to the UK to do further studies. I wanted to hold on to my family values of integrity and honesty and to be always fair in business. As I started to read more about these things I found a lot of similarities with the Buddhist way of life. I was living in a Muslim home in the UK, so I found myself meditating on one god (Buddha), praying to another god (Allah) and then travelling home to offer sacrifice to a different god (the Ancestors) … So many gods! One English Springtime evening in 2014, I had this feeling that I did not know God. No matter how I tried to get rid of the feeling, it just kept getting worse and worse. As it got dark outside I started to feel very afraid. At that moment I realised that I had lived all my life without acknowledging God, probably because I had a very confused view of exactly who He was. I knew that I had to repent and make peace with God but I had never been taught repentance, I had never heard repentance being preached. So I took out my iPad and googled How to repent. As I was reading I realised that this was serious so I googled How to repent properly. Every website I looked at focussed on Jesus on the
Women’s Silent Retreat The Women's Silent Retreat was a wonderful experience. It was a first time for me and I really loved the beauty and silence of Volmoed in the Hemel and Aarde valley near Hermanus and the opportunity to walk and meditate and listen to God in a deeper way. The teaching and times of meditation were so appropriate and well prepared. Anita and Rose prepared delicious food with lots of care and prayer and I came away feeling really blessed. - Christine Milligan
I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God (Col 2:2). I don’t think that I have ever really taken notice of this verse in Colossians. This is an amazing image of the tapestry of our lives, with a lovely neat side which we show to others, and then the other side with its mess, loose threads and knots. This was one of the themes around which the teaching, meditation and prayer came together at the women’s weekend at Volmoed. October 2016 Eight O’Clock News
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cross. This puzzled me and I started making notes. Even though it was Eastertime I did not understand Jesus at all, but because l wanted to make peace with God I went to many other different websites, even links to blogs, but each and every one had Jesus on the cross After a while, the message dawned on me and I said, Oh! You died for me—You are my Lord! I then accepted Jesus as my Lord and took my notes to a nearby church to repent. I walked back home and the feeling of fear was completely gone. The only thing I wanted to do after that was to read my Bible. I asked a few people some questions and I was told that the questions I have can only be answered theologically—so I needed some help with my new found faith. Shortly after my conversion I applied to study Theology at the Bible Institute of South Africa where I am currently in my 3rd year. Now every day I keep learning about who God is, I see this as great privilege. He is growing me in my walk with Him. I just want to know Him more and love Him even more! - Tshepo Moime
The weekend had time and space for reflection and prayer as well as opportunities for connection and fun. The gentle and wise teaching from Judy (Everingham), Colleen (Sturrock) and Sally (Argent), the comforting sounds of Anita lovingly preparing our delicious meals (and the motherly presence of Rose Clack), along with lovely mountain paths and solo adventures to the waterfall made this a truly restorative time. Saturday evening was a time of great conversation, good wine, dancing, rapid scrabble and indoor fires! The portion from Colossians finishes with verse 6: My counsel for you is simple and straightforward; Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live Him. What a message to bring back home into the normal business of life! - Penny Barnard
Celebrating in Australia Earlier this year we once again had the privilege of being able to go to Australia to visit our children. All four of them are now living there: two in Melbourne, one in Townsville and one in Mildura. It was really
Both families
Dave
Dawn
good to be able to catch up with them and the grandchildren. However, this time there was to be a very special celebration. Andrew, our youngest, had become engaged to Sonja late last year—on top of Table Mountain—so they planned their wedding for the time that we would be there. It was to be at Mount Beauty, in the mountains north east of Melbourne, a very beautiful spot, with mountains and forests, and where Sonja’s parents live. The wedding was planned for Easter Saturday, 26th March. Unbeknown to them it was also the same day as our 50th wedding anniversary, but we decided to keep quiet about that as the day was to be theirs for celebrating. However, the news leaked out!! It was also the first time in about 20 years that all our family would be together, so that was also something to look forward to. The children then planned for us to have a celebration the day after the wedding at the home of Sonja’s parents, which was where we were to October 2016 Eight O’Clock News
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stay. The plan was to have a good old South African braai! Andrew and Sonja’s wedding was lovely. The bride was beautiful, and both were obviously very happy. They are clearly very fond of each other. The ceremony was outside, on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon. It was all very informal with about 40 guests—all ‘special’ guests and family. There was plenty of time to meet people and get to know them a little. Sonja’s mother, Luise, is German, and it is customary where she comes from to invite the guests to come for breakfast the next morning. So there were more celebrations over a prolonged breakfast the next morning. Lots more ‘getting-to-know-you’ and Greenfield clan chatting. The children all had a ball, as there are big grounds and lots of space, even inside. Andrew and Sonja were still there as they planned to have their honeymoon later in the year. During breakfast the news got out that there was to be another party in the afternoon / evening, so everyone invited themselves, with encouragement from the family! The sons-in-law braaied—gas, as wood fires are not approved of in forested parts of Australia—and a feast of both food and socialisation was had by all. There was also a special ‘50’ cake. All the grandchildren had literally had a ‘hand in’ the baking and decorating of it. Apparently there was great excitement about it! Very special! This was their big surprise for us. As if that was not enough, quite a lot of the guests came back the next morning again for breakfast. Luise had a busy time in the kitchen making pancakes this time. So—now we have new family in Mount Beauty, and a very special new daughter—and another Mrs Greenfield! They are also all saying that we live too far away! True! The Lord has been good to us in giving us such a loving and caring family. It was amazing to have had the opportunity to all be together for this very special weekend. - David and Dawn Greenfield.
A Way of Seeing Recently I got a new pair of glasses (somewhat overdue) and was reminded of my very first visit to an optician in Durban when I was ten years old. The school nurse was paying her routine visit to the school and I knew that she would be testing our eyes. For some time I’d been unable to see the blackboard properly, and used to go and stand right in front of it to copy what was written there. My class teacher must have reported this to the school nurse. I was adamant that I didn’t need glasses. A current saying at the time was ‘Men never make passes at girls who wear glasses’. I took this rather seriously at the age of ten. A friend was going in for her test before me, so I asked her to tell me the sequence of the letters. My aim was to fool the nurse into thinking I had good eyesight. The test over, I relaxed. No glasses for me. A short while later my parents received a letter from the school informing them that my vision needed correcting and recommending that I have my eyes checked by an optician. I hadn’t fooled the nurse. The optician was a very pleasant man who had lots of experience in dealing with children. I was still insisting that I had good eyesight. He patiently dealt with me, doing the tests in spite of my obviously superior knowledge of the state of my eyes. The verdict was that I needed glasses. The day came to collect my new spectacles. I was still protesting that I could see perfectly. The optician just smiled, and said that before I tried on
Nice Move... At Wollongong University, there were four students taking chemistry and all of them had an 'A' so far. These four friends were so confident that the weekend before finals, they decided to go to Sydney and visit some other friends and have a big party. They had a great time but, after all the partying, they slept all day Sunday and didn't make it back to the Uni until late Monday morning. Rather than taking the final then, they decided that after the final they would explain to their Professor why they missed it. They said that they visited friends, but on the way
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my new specs I should look out of the window and tell him what I saw. The optician’s consulting rooms were in a tall building in the centre of Durban, and from his window I could see lots of windows for other offices in the building. Then the optician fitted my new specs and told me to look again and tell him what I saw. Well, I was almost speechless. Out there was a whole new world! Yes, I saw windows as before, but now I saw people and interiors of offices. It wasn’t that I saw anything that wasn’t there before, but that I now saw what was actually there. The change wasn’t in the surroundings, but in how I viewed them through my new lenses which corrected my faulty vision. Wow! As I reflect on that experience all these years later I realise there are many lessons here. This was an early lesson in learning just how wrong I could be, and that there were some (many!) people I couldn’t fool into believing what I wanted them to believe. As a Christian I have realised that a group of people can read the same things but come away with very different perceptions, depending on the lenses through which they view life. I am grateful to God for opticians who can enable me to see properly. I am even more grateful to God for Christian friends who have helped change my narrow thinking, and for books I have read, and good teaching, and endless discussions with Jim as his own views opened up. All of this has enabled me to view the Christian life through very different lenses and given me a far broader sense of what it means to be a Christian engaged fully in the life which God has given me. A way of seeing… - Jeanette Harris back they had a flat tyre and found there was no spare in the car. As a result, they missed the final. The Professor agreed they could make up the final the next day. The guys were excited and relieved. They studied that night for the exam. The next day the Professor placed them in separate rooms and gave them a test booklet. They quickly answered the first problem worth 5 points. Cool, they thought! Each one in separate rooms, thought this was going to be easy—then they turned the page. On the second page was written: For 95 points: Which tyre went flat? - Origin unknown, sent in by Alison Kempton-Jones
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World Tour—March-August 2016 We started with a visit to friends in Walpole, ‘just’ south of Perth.
studied, and the schools where he had taught. Jane's generous relatives and mutual friends saved us from the expense and
‘Just’ turned out to be about 650 km. Australia is a big country. There are about 700 species of gum tree in Australia ranging from the giant Tingle trees around Walpole to shrubs. They all burn and fires are a constant threat. We passed a village that was reduced to ashes in four minutes in a recent bush fire. On to MacMaster's Beach, a coastal village an hour north of Sydney. We spent a month with friends swimming in the warm Pacific, bush walking, drinking coffee, extracting honey, visiting their family, getting stung by a bee and fending off leeches. At Wellington airport we passed the sniffer dog test and took a month to explore New Zealand North Island with friends. This included the Te Papa cultural museum in Wellington, the All Black rugby museum in Palmerston North, a huge motor car museum in inconvenience of hotels or B & B's. And it rained. - Peter & Jane Broster Paraparamu and a living Maori village museum at Rotorua. New Zealand is a volcanic island and we bathed in a hole dug in beach sand as water bubbled up at 65 degrees centigrade. There were great memorial services for the 100th anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli, a typically ham-handed and pointless World War I battle, with incompetence ensuring a great loss of life for no tactical gain. In California we spent six weeks with John and Joanna Watney (Jane’s brother and sister-in-law), we watched the rise of Donald Trump from a buffoon of an unlikely candidate to a buffoon who might become president. Large numbers of Americans dislike their government and want change and have been fed a steady antiDemocrat diet for the last eight years. Lying is no longer a disadvantage in an election, it seems. We spent time in staggeringly beautiful Yosemite valley, where the bears have learned to break into cars so all food and cosmetics have to be locked in steel lockers. Culinary highlights, following kangaroo steak in Australia (delicious), were hamburgers from In-and-Out Burgers, Costco sundaes, a Korean meal with a little braai in the middle of the table and clam chowder near Santa Barbara. After three and a half months of sunshine we arrived in rainy England just in time for the Brexit vote. The result seemed to catch both ‘for’ and ‘against’ by surprise. We visited the universities of York and Cambridge where Peter had
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HAPPY SPECIAL BIRTHDAYS To
Dorothy Langham (92 on 7/10) Fran Hesketh (6/10) Anthony Collier (18/10) Isaiah 40:41: But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
Jenny Marquard, Cheryl Anderson & Zuki and Joan Evans enjoying tea at Cheryl‘s house.
Not of Works This month I had the privilege of having two of my poems published in Faith for Daily Living, one of which is the following.
Not of works, by Him alone I glory in Your grace— Grace sufficient, grace enough In heaven to have a place. So I worship You my Saviour I glory in Your love I wonder at Your mighty gift A place in heaven above. - Judy Jenkins
Uwe Hass (ex-CCK) lives in Simonstown and is heavily involved
in St Francis Outreach Trust. His daughter and son-in-law still worship at CCK. Ali Bourne: ‘The calendars really are lovely and are a nice way to support this trust.’ St Francis is the church in Simonstown where Uwe worships. Profits go to numerous needs including orphans in Masiphumelele. These would make a splendid Christmas gift ! Contact Uwe at uweh@realtime.co.za.
Lower Steenberg L > R: Jean & Patrick Swan, Cheryl & Zuki, Rod & Sally Palmer went walking after church October 2016 Eight O’Clock News
Is this Whisper Really from God ? Over the years I have compiled a short list of filters that help me
test every whisper I receive. No matter how confusing, challenging or unsettling a prompting may be, if it passes the following five filters, I attempt to obey it every time. Similarly, if a whisper seems like a no-brainer from a human standpoint, but it doesn’t stand up under the scrutiny of these five filters, I am reticent to accept it as being from God without further careful examination.
Filter #1—Is the prompting truly from God? Whenever you receive a prompting—whether from God directly or through the lips of another—take whatever time is necessary to ask, ‘God, is this message from You? Does this square with who I know You to be? Is it consistent with Your character? Is it alligned with Your attributes? Is this You trying to convey something to me, or are there other voices getting into my head?’ Before taking a single step to obey the whisper you’ve received, be sure you get the all-clear that the voice you have heard could be from God.
Flower of the Holy Spirit
This is one of the orchid species named ‘Flower of the Holy Spirit’. It starts blooming during the Pentecostal period once a year. Before it blooms, it looks like praying saints and when it blooms it looks like a flying dove. How amazing is God’s creation ?! Romans 1:20: For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Filter #2—is it Scriptural? Scripture is replete with examples of how God would behave in any given life situation, and the Example’s name is Jesus Christ. Whenever I sense a prompting from God, I ask myself if I could imagine Jesus doing whatever action the prompting is suggesting I do. If I can’t envision Jesus following suit, I fear my wires somehow must have got crossed. Check every prompting you receive against the thematic teachings of Scripture. Messages that contradict Scripture are not from God.
Filter #3—Is it Wise? God’s whispers rarely go against wisdom and common sense. The entire book of Proverbs is devoted to dissecting wisdom and all her attributes. For example, the wise one loves knowledge while the fool hates it; the wise one practices gentle speech, while the fool uses harsh, incendiary words; the wise one lives blamelessly, while the fool is utterly corrupt; etc. Scripture is relentless in exhorting us to be wise in all our dealings and in all our ways. God’s direction rarely violates the wisdom test. If God is indeed in the plan, it will likely not involve blatantly unwise action.
Filter #4—Is it in Tune with your own character? I caution people against running headlong into a field that is totally foreign to their wiring patterns, their education, expertise and experience in life thus far. It is not that God can’t endorse a dramatic 180-degree turn. It’s just that typically when He does so, it gets affirmed through a series of whispers, from several sources, in a variety of different ways.
Filter #5—What do the People you most trust think about it? Whenever you sense that God is speaking to you, find two or three veteran Christ-followers—preferably people who know you well and are further down the spiritual path than you are—and take the time to explain the situation to them in detail. Humbly ask them if they think God is speaking to you, is this the voice of God you’re hearing? Then listen open and intently to the answers you receive, because they may just save your hide. Subject every prompting to the godly counsel test. It will save you from boatloads of heartache and just might affirm God’s best will for your life.
- Bill Hybels, Appendix 2: Is this whisper really from God?
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Editorial Team Tel. e-mail Ev Els
021 696 0336 emichael@iafrica.com
Cheryl Anderson
083 272 1530 canderson@beckman.com