The Eight O’Clock
News September 2017
8 am Service, Christ Church, Kenilworth
In God’s Company As part of my corporate professional development, I recently completed a Project Management Course on-line through UCT. The most important take home message for me from all the modules studied was the importance of stakeholders. What are stakeholders? They are—anyone who has a vested interest in your organization or leadership. Literally—‘one who holds a stake.’ As a project manager, it was emphasized that all stakeholders have to be informed and included during the lifetime of the project. A project may not be successful if this is not done. This got me thinking about the analogy of the church as God’s Company in which we are all stakeholders; we who are members of the body of Christ as well as those impacted by the church in community. It is about servant leadership; just as in a corporate, we are all leaders in some way by investing, contributing and sacrificing for the Kingdom. We are all accountable to God, with important roles, no matter if we are not always on centre stage. Church stakeholders include a variety of roles—see the diagram. There is even a Biblical depiction in Isaiah 54:2: ‘Enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen the cords and strengthen your stakes.’ In serving in the church in whatever way… we are strengthening the stakes of God’s Kingdom and increasing it! I have heard a few congregants at the 8 am Service express the fact that because there is a perception that they are no longer out there in the world, perhaps not going out as much and certainly no longer working; that they are uncertain of what kind of a role they can play. Frailty may even exclude former practical tasks performed in the church community. I read something that really spoke to me about how we could engage more as stakeholders and connect with one another despite different stages in life. ‘Who says people who are elderly and shut-in can do nothing important anymore in the kingdom of God? By praying for youngsters who are up to their eyeballs in a crushing load of responsibilities, they can provide them with an essential link to the sustaining power of God. September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
Seniors can pray like Moses and the priests of old for those who are too busy, too distressed, too exhausted or too confused to pray for themselves. And such prayers access the great power of our God for those in need.’ So… what do you think, seniors… you are like mentors and managers and can discuss all matters with our wonderful CEO? Instead of a Linkedin Network, how about a ‘Prayerdin’ Network where we connect by name, know who is praying and for whom, and then share our stories of our successful projects as well as the ones that we need to work on ? - Cheryl Anderson
Discernment Discernment is coming to an understanding of how God wants us to live out our lives. It can involve seeking wisdom about our lifestyle choices, specific decisions about what to do, or what attitude we should hold toward something. It’s often about choosing between different options, particularly when there is no clear right/wrong or good/evil dichotomy, but choice between possibilities which may each have merit. It’s a kind of listening that evokes or requires a response from us. - Colleen Sturrock [See page 8]
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Meeting the Macdonalds It was a great pleasure to be welcomed to their lovely Constantia home by Neil and Jenny. They have been living in Cape Town for the past 20 years. After a short while here, they found their spiritual home at Christ Church, becoming members of the 8 am service. Neil was born in Port Elizabeth and attended Rhodes and then Wits Universities, gaining a B.Com Hons degree. He became a chartered accountant and later a partner at Deloitte’s in Johannesburg. While studying in London he met his lovely wife Jenny, who also comes from the Eastern Cape. He was Chairman of an electronics company which he listed on the Stock Exchange. Now this energetic septuagenarian continues to work part-time, assisting staff retrenched by companies throughout Africa to find new work. Neil was a Springbok athlete and was selected for the Olympic team for the hurdles. Sadly, SA was banned and so he did not participate in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. He now enjoys golf. Jenny was born in East London and educated in Grahamstown. Sadly her father died when she was only thirteen. She found her career niche in the travel industry and while working in London met Neil. When living in Johannesburg she worked in magazine publication. For Jenny, the highlight of this work was her appointment mandated with establishing Tribute. This was a magazine launched in 1987 encouraging and representing Black excellence. Together with the editor, Maud Motanyane, they established the Black Business Breakfasts with speakers like Thabo Mbeki and Clem Sunter. Jenny’s interests now are wide and varied—hiking, art, writing the family history and animal welfare. They have two children—Philippa, and Charles who works in Luxembourg. To their delight their daughter, along with her husband and family are about to relocate to Cape Town. Their journey of deeper faith began in East London at St. Alban’s church where Peter Campbell was the minister. In Johannesburg they worshipped at St. Luke’s, Orchards. It was a time of great growth for them. They participated fully in the leadership and ministries of the church where Neil was the Treasurer and later, church Warden. With joy they shared three miracles they have experienced. The first was the peaceful first democratic election in 1994. The second was when their grandson Andrew suffered a subdural haemorrhage after birth. When Jenny went to her church for prayer, she was told to go to the hospital and pray over him. At his crib she was joined by an angelic Indian nurse who worked there. Prayers were answered and Andrew fully recovered. He is now a robust teenager currently in Australia as an exchange student. Lastly, Neil was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 18 months ago. He took the medicine, but he also prayed fervently for healing. A year later further examination shows no sign of the disease. They praise God for such wonderful demonstrations of His power and love. September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
We give thanks to God for this faithful couple. - Lindy and Peter Tomalin
Grafting an Olive Tree [In response to John Atkinson’s sermon on 20/8/17, available on CCK website.]
‘And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.’ [Romans 11:23]
I had been told that an olive tree can’t take a graft. When I Googled it I discovered it can be done but it doesn’t make sense to do so as it is against nature or contrary to nature. Grafting make sense when one has a fragile hybrid of fruit or roses, in particular. Hybrids need a strong root-stock to support them. With roses a briar is used as it is very hardy, frost resistant etc. When the graft is successful the briar root-stock (original rose) takes on the very nature of the hybrid and we end up with a beautiful new rose. In this way the Briar root-stock loses its own nature (personality). BUT with the olive tree the opposite happens. When the graft is successful, the wild shoot takes on the nature of the olive tree. The root of the olive tree not only supports the graft but changes its nature. In this way the wild branch loses its own nature and takes on that of the olive tree. So guess what happens when Christians are grafted in? - If you want to know, ask Doreen vd Merwe
Out of Various Mouths... Some fish are dangerous. Jellyfish can sting. Electric eels can give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I think they have to plug themselves in to chargers. (Christopher, age 7) Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. (Mark Twain}
- Sent in by Belle Divaris
My Yoke is Easy/My Burden Light
The Opposite of Hate
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How often do we fall into the trap of stressing over
‘The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
‘stuff’ unnecessarily? I’ve been stressing over a fund-raiser that the Social Transformation committee will soon be organising to raise funds for Phase 2 of the Bettaway* building project. This is very close to my heart—I love the Bettaway leaders’ long term vision—and I have felt desperately keen for CCK to make a meaningful financial contribution. I have lurched from one ‘good idea’ to the next—estimating how many will attend/ take part, working out how much we are likely to collect, and how feasible it is to organise. This has been absorbing my thoughts more than it should! While listening to Ron Begbie’s sermon on Sunday 27th, I was reminded of the following: ‘First comes prayer’ AND ‘to have faith in that prayer’. On reflection I realise that it really doesn’t matter what fund-raiser we eventually decide on. What matters is that we keep praying and have faith (and peace) in the knowledge that God will be working behind the scenes – Bettaway is His church and this expansion programme belongs to Him. I can rest in faith knowing that our prayers are heard and that our Lord will be prompting and moving hearts to contribute as He desires. Not everyone will come to the fund-raiser and that doesn’t matter. I can put the stress behind me and enjoy helping put together a fun fund-raiser! If anyone would like to know more or feels prompted to get involved in any way, including (and especially !) prayer, please feel free to phone Jean on 0845822690 or 021 7622690. *For anyone who does not know, CCK is in close relationship with Bettaway, a vibrant growing church in Delft with lots happening and an exciting vision for their community.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’ indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.’ –Elie Wiesel
-- Jean Swan (photograph on page 4, Gardening course)
Christine Milligan (Kiki) (R) with bride, Laurie. Below: Sons Roger, Peter, Anton and Derek (who flew from LA for the wedding).
September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
Those of us who have experienced a more privileged existence due to the race we were born into, must face our guilt and complicity in a culture where white privilege is still a reality—perhaps more subtle and under cover than it used to be but still real nonetheless. We must enter into the awkward conversations even though we don’t know where they will lead, or if we will look stupid or if they will make any difference at all. We must ask for the Spirit of revelation, beseeching God to help us see what we have not yet been able to see. We must sit in God’s presence and ask, What is mine to do in the field you have given me to work— whether that field is large or small? O God, help us to discern it well. Give us the wisdom to know when to act and when to wait, when to speak and when to be silent, when and with whom to cooperate, when and whom to resist. Give us the courage to do what is ours to do. And for all of us who lead, may we continue to be changed and transformed in the crucible that is leadership in these days. We ask this for the sake of Your love. Amen. - Extract from blog by Ruth Haley Barton
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Gardening Course Take one beautiful day, 10 participants, one chief ‘cook’, a few handfuls of knowledge, many bags of soil and compost, a few punnets of seedlings, 2 litres of water and a sprinkle of mulch, mixed with a good amount of ‘elbow grease’ and some good camaraderie. Put in the
Jean Swan
sun to ‘prove’ for best results. This is the recipe for last week’s food gardening course at CCK. Sydney Saayman, a retired Airforce Chaplain, from Green4enrichment provides a well researched, tried and tested, simple, waterwise, environmentally friendly, cost effective and practical method for growing vegetables that guarantees good results with just five minutes’ care per day. We enjoyed a day of learning theory, hands on gardening in a door size container garden, as well as tea and rusks and a simple lunch. Sydney prefers to train where there is a community (churches, schools, retirement centres etc.). At the end of each course he leaves a food garden and the community can then oversee it. He also focuses on the Godly perspectives of food provision as well as the ever-increasing food security issues globally. We were grateful to have been able to provide sponsorships to three members of disadvantaged communities to provide them with skills that empower them to train within their own communities. Should you wish to contact Sydney, see details below: Sydney Saayman ORGANIC VEGGIE GARDENING COACH Cell: 076 556 7398 Email: green4enrichment@gmail.com Website: www.green4enrichment.wordpress.com Facebook Page: greenenrichment - Heather van Zyl Smit (heathervzs@iafrica.com)
September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
Congratulations & God’s Blessing
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Sandra Pryce and her son Stuart and family celebrated Sandra’s 70th birthday recently.
Oooh ! Sam Harpur [below], grandson to Belinda & Dennis Henwood, seems to be saying, ‘Oooh’. This photograph was taken a few weeks after birth—is he not adorably alert? [Or maybe he is impressed with Annie’s appearance ?]
What do you see below ? Wow ! Very Anglican All dressed up at Synod, our St John’s Parish clergy do us proud: The Revs Annie Kirke (ours), Doug Kirkpatrick St Luke’s), Ben Aldous (St John’s), Samuel Beukes (Emmanuel), Rob Taylor (ours), Natalie Simons-Arendse (St Philip’s), Duncan McLea (was ours, now rector of parish), Gordon Crowther (CHS).
Jesus Continues to Speak John 14: 16: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. John 14: 26: The Advocate, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said. John 15: 15: Everything I learned from My Father I have made known to you. John 16: 13: When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
The world's most famous bike race—the Tour de France. The ‘R’ in ‘Tour’ is a cyclist. The yellow circle is the front wheel of a bicycle, the ‘O’ is the back wheel.
- Sent in by Alison Kempton-Jones
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Update from Ireland Nine years in Polokwane. After lots of prayer and thinking, we
have been relocating to Ireland, bit by bit. ‘Knock on doors, no matter how unlikely. And what God opens...’ has been a consistent word for us. Anna went first—in January 2016. Just finished school, she went as an intern to Willowfield Parish church in east Belfast. Duncan McLea had the contact. We knocked and the door opened, giving Anna a year blossoming in her Christian life and working with young people, in the church and on the streets. She has grown to love Willowfield church, Belfast and the kids on the street. 2017 has been spent working as a care assistant in an old people’s home and then in September, off for a short while to the Mercy Ship docked in Cameroon. She is hoping to get into Queen’s University to study medicine in 2019. Laura was next. She started school in Belfast in September 2016—the start of two years doing A-levels. The first school door we knocked on (by e-mail) was Belfast’s oldest school and on the basis of a skype interview and Grade 9 Report from Polokwane, they said they would be pleased to give her a place. It’s not easy going to a new school, with a new curriculum, in a new city and new country, on your own. But she has survived. And more. With true South African attitude she has enjoyed being involved in lots of things and has made many new friends. Those years of swimming three hours a day in Polokwane have also paid off. Next week she’s off to help with a children’s beach mission in Ballybunion—which appears to be a real place, somewhere beyond Limerick. Sandy is still in Pretoria, getting the chance to build on her new PhD at Wits and awaiting developments in Ireland that will result in somewhere for us to live! (Pat) I came here in February. I thought that getting work in the Church (Church of Ireland) would just happen—I had been here on an exploratory visit in 2016. But three or four jobs that seemed perfect for me, with my experience, just didn’t happen! Then I was showing interest in jobs that just weren’t for me. But I was getting desperate—like when Abraham decided to give God a hand in getting a son produced. We had no house, the family all over the place, costs mounting, all our belongings in containers in the Port of Belfast... And getting older! At least on this latter matter I had been given a word at Christ Church that age would not be an obstacle. Then a stand-in assignment one Sunday morning began a chain of events. It was in St. Patrick’s in east Belfast—indeed the Titanic was built in this parish, largely by its parishioners. In living memory over 1000 children attended Sunday School every Sunday. Today the shipyard is a shadow of its former self and only 10 children are in the Sunday School. This is a parish with lots of challenges—an ageing congregation, ‘dechurched’, lots of ‘unchurched’ newcomers, a parish terribly affected by N. Ireland’s troubles right through the 20th C. I knocked gently and the door opened gently, in an unconventional way. So here I am. I am trusting that this is God’s project for me and our family, that I can help in this beautiful old parish. I spend hours just walking the streets, in this the heart of east Belfast. Soon I hope we can get our belongings from the Port and get our family back together again under one roof. [Do I hear a prayer team getting together in Kenilworth?!] Sandy: The highlights of the past six months included graduation on 7th December, 2016, having studied Woody taxa from charcoal September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
Laura, Anna, Pat in Belfast, N Ireland
Mum & Sandy at Wits Graduation (Dr Sandy, we presume?) in Sibudu’s Middle Stone Age hearths. Another highlight has been further research into the analysis of archaeological charcoal from two sites in KwaZulu-Natal. Productivity in science is measured in terms of publications so recent publications, for which I am grateful are the thesis abstract in Azania: Archaeological research in Africa and a paper about camphor, Asteraceae charcoal in Quaternary International with a paper about wood uses from 58 000 years ago in press in Southern African Humanities. Presentations have been made in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria. Field work was carried out at an archaeological site on the border of KZN and Swaziland. Sporting highlights were swimming the Ebenezer Mile, the occasional Park Run, Polokwane and Pretoria Botanical Gardens. I attended the Glen Methodist Curch wiith extended family. And Bixie the Jack Russell has been great company. The challenges included packing and moving the container to Belfast, tertiary education for the children, which both Anna and Laura have tackled, and developing the future prospects of work in the area of scientific research, for which I am most grateful. Another lifelong challenge is the wellbeing of extended family in Pretoria and Belfast. I have been encouraged by Psalm 37, particularly the exhortation to ‘Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart’. Anna: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.’ This verse has been one of the major ‘themes’ in my life over this last year and a half.’ I moved over to
Belfast in January last year, originally planning to stay only until August but as I’ve learnt, our plans aren’t always God’s plans, so eighteen months later I haven’t exactly managed to leave Belfast, which has felt like home to me since the minute I arrived.’ As a slightly naïve 18-year-old girl, God definitely led me to the right place for me to grow in my relationship with Him but also in all the other aspects of my life—except, I don’t think I’ve exactly mastered the skill of successfully ‘adulting’ yet! The last year and a half has been so excitingly different to what I had ever imagined so I am so grateful for God’s hand and blessing on everything He has taken me through and the faith He is helping me to build. Laura: With all the moves and changes in my life, God has been constant. It’s a big deal moving, but with a bigger God, it’s a whole lot easier. I know that He has a plan for my life and I can see how with each move He has provided me with amazing opportunities. I’ve also been blessed with a great family and lovely friends. I know that I am also privileged to say that I miss friends, schools, houses, places and people that I have had to say goodbye to, for a while at least.
- Pat, Sandy, Anna and Laura Lennox
Wedding Plans
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A young woman visits her parents and brings her fiancée to meet
them. After an elaborate dinner, the mother tells her husband to find out about the young man. The father invites the fiancée to his library for a drink. ‘So what are your plans?, the father asks. ‘I am a Torah scholar’, he says. ‘A Torah scholar? Hmmm. Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in, as she is accustomed to?’ ‘I will study’, the young man said, ‘and God will provide for us.’ ‘And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?’, asks the father. ‘I will concentrate on my studies’, the young man replies. ‘God will provide for us.’ ‘And children? How will you support children?’ ‘Don't worry, sir, God will provide’, replies the fiancée. The conversation continues like this, and each time the father questions, the young idealist insists that God will provide. Later, the mother asks: ‘How did it go, Honey?’ The father answers: ‘He has no job and no plans, but the good news is he thinks I'm God.’ - Source unknown, sent in By Alison Kempton-Jones
‘And as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.’ (Matthew 13:4) Doves: Cape Turtle & Laughing doves eating wild bird seed. - Sent in by John Rogers.
God Speaks Through Paul ‘What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments. Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.’ 2 Corinthians 2:12-16 September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living. Socrates, 470-399 BC
Socrates said this at his trial for heresy. He was on trial for encouraging his students to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time and think for themselves. The sentence was death but Socrates had the option of suggesting an alternative punishment. He could have chosen life in prison or exile and would likely have avoided death. But Socrates believed that these alternatives would rob him of the only thing that made life useful: Examining the world around him and discussing how to make the world a better place. Without his ‘examined life’ there was no point in living. So he suggested that Athens reward him for his service to society. The result, of course, is that they had no alternative and were forced to vote for a punishment of death. - Prompted by Darryl Trimming
How does God Speak ?
15/4/1929 – 19/3/2017
How does God tell us what He wants of us, how we are to live
our lives? We can become very anxious about hearing God. Anxious that God won’t speak. Anxious that we won’t hear. Anxious that if we do, we won’t be sure that it is God and not just us. * However, ours is not a silent God who plays games with us, or who sits back and observes us impassively. Ours is a God who speaks. He speaks because He loves us and love always seeks to communicate. Ours is a God who cannot NOT speak, because it is His very nature to be in community. Jesus speaks with the Father, the Father speaks with Jesus. God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit draws us into the circle of His divine community. * God speaks to us broadly Through creation Through Scripture So that we have a bedrock understanding of who He is and what He wants, a broad understanding around kingdom principles of goodness, righteousness, truth, justice. * At times God speaks to us specifically Things pertaining to our everyday lives, Particular situations about which we need to make decisions. It’s not always necessary for us fret about seeking guidance for every single detail. God’s broad revelation may be all we need. Dallas Willard uses a wonderful analogy: Life in the Kingdom of God is like a child playing in the backyard after her mother chases her out of the house on a warm sunny day. She is free to play within the confines of the yard. She can swing, she can play in the sandbox, she can shoot basketballs, she can play hide and seek with her friends, or she can simply lie in the grass and soak up the warmth of the sun. She has freedom to choose without having to go and ask her mother every time she wants to change activities. She knows her mother is there, that her mother loves her. She doesn’t need to continually be anxious about whether she is doing the right thing. She can play! * Two foundational principles: * We discern what God is saying in the context of our relationship with Him (John 15:15-17—opposite) * We discern in the context of community with each other (1 Corinthians 2:12-16—page 7). In our friendships with each other, we have periods of intense interactions followed by sometimes long periods of simply being alongside each other, pottering along, maybe chatting, doing activities together, maybe being quiet. The shifts often happen spontaneously within the kind of ebb and flow of a friendship. So it is with God. Sometimes we live in a heightened awareness of His presence and His specific words, reassurances and directions. Sometimes we simply get on with life, knowing that He is with us. - Extracts from Colleen Sturrock’s sermon on 26/3/17 With apologies. Complete sermon available on website September 2017 Eight O’Clock News
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Pamela Denise Uys Deryck Uys, husband of Pam for almost 60 years (2 November) wrote this poem in memory of Pam
Brave Heart O, empty is the house but full my heart: Filled to divine overflowing. Physically far, far apart, But spiritually bound by our inner-knowing. Our memories heaped high as Everest— Memories of more than sixty years: In these we have been truly blessed. Must your fulfilment bring me now to tears ? Tears, yes, of my heart and soul, But not an overflowing waterfall of grief: What was incomplete, made whole, In fulfilment of our great belief. Though we be parted for a while I live in the luminosity of your smile. - Sent in by Yvonne Kane
Seniors’ Tea & Movie Ladies in Lavender on Monday 11 September 2 pm in the church RSVP: Names on list at back of church by Wednesday 6/9/2017
Jesus speaks: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you. This is My command: love each other. John 15:15-17 Editorial Team Tel/e-mail Ev Els
021 696 0336 emichael@iafrica.com
Cheryl Anderson
083 272 1530 canderson@beckman.com