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One came back
Ray Smithers shares a happy experience on
behalf of the MU Education Loan Fund Committee, which they call,
The one who came back to give thanks!
In 1990 a certain young man applied for, and was
granted, an interest-free loan so that he could commence studies at
the university of Fort Hare. We lost touch with him for some years,
but at the beginning of this year, received a charming letter from
him in which he explained that his finances had been tied up ever
since he left university paying off the loans from other bursars
which had not been interest-free. But he said he had, not
forgotten how MU had helped me in my time of need and within
three months his loan has been fully repaid. To quote from his letter
again, I appreciate the patience you have shown in waiting such
along time with no response from me. May the good Lord be with you in
all your efforts of doing good to people at all times.
The gentleman in question appears to hold a
responsible position and will never know how much encourage-ment he
has given, not only to this committee, but also to the Mothers
Union in general who years ago had a vision of helping students to
start their studies and be equipped to take up meaningful careers.
Thanks to people like him who have repaid their loans, and also to
donations from MU members, we manage to continue to help others in
need, and hope to help many more of them for as long as the money is available.
Thank you Mr Kuze, and may God bless you.
Praise God for chairs
Sipho Tokota is praising God that, within a
few days of his appeal for chairs in the July Iindaba, he has
received some.This, despite Iindaba,s having printed the wrong
contact number for him.
Every Sunday since opening, St Matthias church
has had to pay for someone to transport chairs from the school to the
church and back again after the service. They have also had to pay
the school a fee for the use of the chairs. As this was costing a lot
of money, Sipho decided to put an appeal into the last Iindaba.
Howard Lancaster, the Rector of All Saints, Kabega Park, saw
this and phoned him straight away - well, not quite, because the
contact number in Iindaba was that of Richard Taylor who is just
before Sipho Tokota in the clergy directory! All Saints had a
number of chairs they were hoping to find a home for, so St Matthias
now has some chairs.
However, if other parishes have spare chairs, or
feel they can help St Matthias buy some chairs, please contact Sipho
on (041) 469 5170.
Media workshop empowered cleric
Zola Nanana told Iindaba how the Ecumedia
workshop on "Media Relations for the Ministry" had
empowered him to reach a wider audience.
Zola is the Assistant Priest at St Mark's and St
Patrick's in Humansdorp. He said, "While still a student of
theology at the College of Transfiguration, I had the priviledge of
being exposed to a new world, that of media relations. It was a very
educational and mind-stretching exercise. I learnt many aspects of
journalism which I feel can empower us clerics and enable us to reach
our audience wherever they may be."
The course was led by Peter du Toit and some of
the subjects covered were: 'Getting your message across - effective
media relations techniques', 'Understanding your media environment',
'Handling interview situations' and 'Making the most of the media' as
well as radio work.
Zola went on to say, "The experience I
attained from the workshop assists me even today and has actually
boosted and sharpened my ego. There is an old African saying, 'Indaba
yotyelo ayikholi' which translates to the English adage 'The proof of
the pudding is in the eating'. I would invite all my colleagues to
experien-ce this workshop for themselves."
The Ecumenical Media Centre will be running
"Media Relations for the Ministry" workshops in Port
Elizabeth and Uitenhage during October. Duration of the course is 2
full days (mid-week) and is limited to 16 participants.
Further details from:Marc Cattaneo at: (046) 636
1340 or: futurserve@imaginet.co.za
Your letters
News from "down under"
We have settled in well in Dunedin. We arrived in
the midst of a spectacular autumn.This has since given way to a
colder than usual winter. We have had two good dumpings of snow and I
got stuck while driving to church and had to be towed. I love the
cold, but Debbie is taking a while to adjust to it. Having said that,
Debbie loves Dunedin. The resources for moms and toddlers are really
good so Debbie and Amy are off to a different activity every day.
All is going well in the parish. St Matthews
is a big church with a strong lay leadership. It is known across New
Zealand as an evangelical/charismatic church. It is also
a very busy church and I am really enjoying the challenge. There are
eleven South Africans in the parish, so I still get to speak
Afrikaans! I am told that there are three and a half thousand South
Africans in Dunedin. Most are connected to the hospital and
varsity.We do miss you all in the PE diocese and also miss our
friends in Alex parish, but with e-mail we are able to keep in touch.
Take care and love to all.
Gary
griffithsmith@xtra.co.nz
RIP
The East London Daily Dispatch indicates the
death of Mattie Gurney, widow of the late Noel Gurney, who as curate
of St Katharines Uitenhage, met his Afrikaner lawyer wife on
the stage there. After marriage they moved to the parish of Alexandria.
Noel was yet one more of that long line of
curates who arrived single at St Katharine's and went away well and
truly hitched - names that spring to mind, beside Noel Gurney, are
George Hill, Peter Hinchliffe, Eric Kleb, Cyril Muller, Brian
Jackson, Richard MacGregor - in fact, although he is rector there,
and not a mere curate, Craig Dunsmuir needs to excercise great
caution, as history has a horrible habit of repeating itself!
- Peter Bowen
Test your Bible skills
Something to keep you occupied on a cold winter
evening. Can you find the names of 25 books of the Bible in this paragraph?
This is the most remarkable puzzle. Someone found
it in the seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu
keeping himself occupied for hours. One man from Illinois worked on
this while fishing from his Johnboat. Roy Clark studied it while
playing his banjo. Elaine Victs mentioned it in her column once. One
woman judges the job to be so involving she brews a cup of tea to
help calm her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy
to spot - thats a fact. Some people will soon find themselves
in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily
capitalized. The truth is, from answers we get, we are forced to
admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at
the worst. Something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty
we have. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations
from those who have to be shown. One revelation may help, books with
Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. And punctuation
or spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete.
Remember, there are 25 books of the Bible lurking
somewhere in this paragraph.
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