IINDABA May 2002  The official gazette of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth  - Church of the Province of Southern Africa
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Previous issues Other Christian News More info about the C.P.S.A. Diocese of Port Elizabeth website	Source: Frankie Simpson (Mrs) Editor "Iindaba", Diocese of Port Elizabeth, P O Box 34992 Newton Park, 6055, South Africa Tel/fax: +27 41 360-6808 (home/office)
Iindaba is the vehicle for sharing your parish news with the rest of the Diocesan family. Please send contributions and photos to the editor. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Bishop nor the editor. Articles may be reproduced but credit must be given to Iindaba.

Page 1 Pentecost 2002 “I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on My servants, both men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29 (Acts 2:17-18)   I can walk The joy of saying, “I can walk again,” radiated from the face of Miliswa Samantha Goldsmith (22) as she shared her testimony of healing with the Iindaba editor. Since 1996 Miliswa has been unable to walk and has had trouble breathing. She had heard about the healing services at St Stephen’s, New Brighton, and felt the Lord tell her to go and speak to the Rector, Lulamile Ngesi. Her parents took her to see him on 3 February and he prayed for her to be healed right then. “I thank the Lord Jesus for coming to me and talking to me and telling me to come to see Mfundisi,” she says, because when she left the church that night, although she was helped to the car, when she got home she walked into the house unaided and has not looked back since then. She is also praising God because the following week she got a job with a building firm which has a contract for renovating schools in the township areas. See more testimonies and the story of the “Healing Services” on page 2.   AIDS strategy planned Parishes and organisations in the diocese failed to take the opportunity to help plan a diocesan strategy for fighting the AIDS pandemic when only nine people attended the workshop held on 2 April at the House of Resurrection Haven. The workshop was run by the CPSA Canon Missioner for HIV/Aids, Ted Karpf, who is in our Province for three years. More about him on page 4. Ken Simpson, who was one of the participants, said, “The Strategic AIDS Planning workshop was just that and not an AIDS training course. We looked at the six-fold commission for ministry in response to AIDS taken from the document, ‘Our Vision, Our Hope: The First Step’, which was approved by PSC in October 2001. Three groups were formed and at times during the day discussed: ‘What the six calls in our commission as the church are’, ‘Our response to these’ and ‘Our vision of what the future will hold for the people of this diocese if it responds to this call’. The way Ted Karpf conducted the course was excellent, and the workshop allowed people to express feelings and ideas on the subjects. I found it stimulating, and pray that the diocese will feel called to take part in this process.” Unfortunately, the date chosen for the workshop was a bad one for clergy, being the Tuesday in Easter Week when priests have been busy with Holy Week and Easter Services. The only priest who did manage to attend the workshop was the former matron of the Haven, Jean Underwood. She had high praise for the way Ted Karpf handled everything saying, “Ted is brilliant at his job, and has a real heart for people living with AIDS. He stretched us as we’ve never been stretched before, and managed to get us to complete the 1½ day’s work in a day, and we produced what we feel is an excellent strategic plan for the diocese with regards to HIV/AIDS ministry. Yet, Ted still had time to share some of his life stories with us, to buy us chocolates and fruit juice and to make us laugh. His greatest gift is that he could put all of us at ease. We could be ourselves and forget what an important universal leader he is.”   Exodus Initiative launches Task Forces About 200 people representing 25 churches were present at the Gelvandale Community Centre for the launch of the Task Forces to help tackle education, crime, drugs and unemployment. The gathering, under the banner of the Exodus Initiative, took place on Sunday 17 March, and local and provincial government as well as business leaders have committed themselves to addressing pressing issues in the communities. Gail Renze, of All Saints’, Kabega Park, said, “The speakers of Exodus Initiative spoke with confidence; they had done their research. There were commitments from Deputy Director Mki of the SAPS to assist Exodus Initiative with the crime and drug abuse situation in schools. There were about 6 policemen and women present to support him. There was also a speaker from the education department who has agreed to give the printing of school books to local printers instead of having them done in Umtata. Our Mayor, Nceba Faku, was present and he has also committed himself to assisting the Exodus Initiative. All these commitments were recorded and some were even shown on TV. I must admit it was well presented and it was good to see the progress that has been made.” Another member of the All Saints' team, Sydney Mbele said he felt the representation from churches showed a significant increase from previous meetings. “Clearly there has been some good progress. I believe the comments by the various officials, including the Mayor, were real. The Mayor said that the partnership relationship that has been entered into with the church body had been long overdue. All the issues were tackled head-on. Mrs Sitole told the gathering that there is a lot of money available that has not been spent, and that Exodus Initiative can help them spend that money effectively,” he said. Six of our Anglican parishes were represented: Christ The King, St Luke’s, St Mary Magdalene, St Mark and St John, All Saints’ in Kabega Park and St Michael and All Angels. Chairperson Allan Nyoni, pastor of St James UPCSA church, stated, “Not one church should have missed this meeting. We saw and heard police officials committing to help the church control drugs and vandalism, especially for the sake of our children.” Further info: Terence at 041 453 0742 back to top

Page 2 Editor away The editor will be away from 7 - 25 May. NB NB NB Please don't phone, fax or e-mail her until after 25 May. Thank you. Healing Services The editor asked the Rector of St Stephen’s, Lulamile Ngesi, how he had come to the decision to have a Healing Service every Wednesday evening during Lent. Lulamile replied, “Two weeks before Lent I was sitting in the Sanctuary during the notices, and I just felt the Lord telling me to have the healing services. When I went forward for the Peace, I found I was announcing it to the congregation. It really was a prompting from the Lord.” He went on to say that almost as confirmation of this, on that Sunday evening he was in church alone when Miliswa Goldsmith was brought in by her parents, "She said the Lord had told her to come for prayer, and so I prayed that Jesus would heal her." (Miliswa’s story is on page 1) On the Wednesday evening of 20 March when the Iindaba editor was at St Stephen’s, there were well over 400 people present. The evening began with the singing of many lively Spiritual Songs led by the wonderful voices of the St Stephen’s Gospel Group. Lulamile then gave a short but powerful talk on the healing of the paralysed man at the Beautiful Gate saying that, while others going in gave tips to the man, Peter and John gave him Jesus. Jesus changed the man's life as He changes people’s lives today. Lulamile invited people to give their testimonies so that others would be built up to come forward and receive the healing of Jesus. Many testimonies People gave their testimonies and spoke with joy and gave glory to God for changed lives. Each testimony was followed by clapping and singing as the congregation gave thanks to the Lord. After this people were invited up and while they were being prayed for, (about 75% of the congregation), the Gospel Group kept everyone singing. Testimony: An elderly woman was very worried as she was hearing the sound of gusting wind in her ceiling and none of the rest of the family could hear the noise. In her words, as she gave her testimony: “I should have been the first to testify to how wonderful the Lord is as He has got rid of the noise in my roof. I felt Him tell me to sprinkle the house with Holy Water so on the Tuesday night I went to see Mfundisi. He told me to come to the service the next night. I brought a container for Holy Water and he laid hands on me and prayed and gave me the Holy Water. After I sprinkled it around the house the noises went. Praise God for He has blessed me richly.” Testimony: A woman gave thanks that since being prayed for at the previous service, her feet had not swelled up in the heat and she had been able to walk to the Post Office at midday and have no aches and pains in her legs either. Testimony: A gentleman from the Methodist Church gave glory to God for uniting the churches in the area through these services. He said he’d been prayed for during the previous service and that his back problems were healed, but not only that, he had asked the Lord to help him as he was out of work and could get a job if he had transport. He then held up some keys and invited everyone to look outside and see the bakkie the Lord had provided for him. Testimony: Another woman who needed to be at work at Firestone at 06h00 on the Sunday morning left home just after 04h00, as she had to walk all the way there. All the houses were in darkness along her route when she was accosted by two young men who offered to accompany her. She was unhappy about this but they insisted. What she had been dreading happened, they wanted to rape her when they arrived at a bushy section. She says the Lord helped her to be bold, and she frightened them off when she put her hand under her shirt and they weren’t sure what she had hidden there. Some testified to having brought their CV’s forward to be prayed over and the following week they had jobs while others said their headaches and many other aches and pains had been healed. The list is long, and the healing power of the Lord Jesus was praised by all who were present.   Your letters The Palestine Vendetta The continuing war in Palestine is by way of being a family vendetta that outsiders should be wary of joining. Both parties in this vendetta claim Abraham as an honoured ancestor. Anyone joining a family vendetta risks bringing trouble on themselves without achieving the desired result. The US has found no real satisfaction but bringing trouble on themselves, as has happened over the Twin Towers catastrophe last 11 September. The history of the Jewish people has shown them to be a very stubborn race, but one chosen to provide the Messiah. Down the centuries, the Jews made several covenants with God but broke them later. God’s punishment varied and on one occasion he sent them into exile for four hundred years. He then restored them to their Promised Land with the hope of their redeeming themselves. He even gave them all the means of rebuilding their homeland to await the coming of their Messiah. When He came, fulfilling the prophecies, they repudiated Him and went into an exile of two thousand years. If this talented people could swallow their pride, not only would peace come to Palestine but probably over the whole world. Robert Lindsay   More news from Quentin We left Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 14 March and sailed to our next port of call, Banjul, in the Gambia. We arrived here on 18 March and soon after our arrival the crew were involved in yet another screening. Before I go any further let me explain the meaning of a screening and why we have it. The Doctors on board do a medical screening every time we come into an outreach port to see who needs the operations and who doesn’t. The screening is all arranged by the advance teams on what venue will be used, what dates it will be held on, etc. So at a screening site the place is divided up for the different stations for the different surgeries that the ship has to offer. The prayer station, consists of the people who escort the patients to the different stations and do crowd control. The doctors do the check ups and the nurses write out the history reports. This screening was the quietest it’s been in years. The Deck Department, my department, was off-loading the ship while the screening was on the go so we did not attend. While operations are taking place below decks, the crew get on with the general daily work. Most of the crew had the Easter long weekend off. Some services took place on board such as, The Upper room and the Garden of Gethsemene on Thursday night. On Good Friday we had a service in the morning and that evening we had a Passover supper which was repeated on Saturday evening for those crew members who weren’t able to go to the one on Friday. On Sunday there was an Easter service in the morning - and that was Easter on board. I hope you all had a Happy and Joyful Easter and time to reflect on the Life, Death & Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Name, Your friend in Christ, Quentin.   Volunteers needed for PE Church Net PE Church Net is needing some help in the following areas: 1 Admin assistant. This would take a couple of hours a week and involves, among other things, contacting churches and ministry organisations to update their contact details. Basic computer literacy is required (eg word processing and simple data capture). 2 Journalist / reporter. We are needing someone with a flair for news reporting to provide coverage of Christian events in the city. These are non-paying volunteer positions, but we can look at covering costs. If you would like to become involved in our ministry in this way, please phone Shaun on (041) 466-5696 or e-mail shaun@pechurchnet.co.za Get your church or ministry on the Web In support of our ministry, we design and host web sites for individuals, churches and businesses at very reasonable tariffs. Anything from 1 to a 1,000 pages. Give us a call and let’s see how we can help you. Phone Shaun at (041) 466-5696 or e-mail info@pechurchnet.co.za   Books Meditations on the Way of the Cross By Bob Commin Illustrated by Jane Commin Published by Mercer Books This is a book for those who love the service of the Stations of the Cross, and for those perhaps sceptical who would like to be introduced to the service. It is a service for the whole church and can be claimed by Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical alike. Bishop Christopher Gregorowski in his preface to the book says, “The deep insights of Bob’s text and the finely crafted symbolism of Jane’s drawings unite as a single work of great sensitivity. The book will be a treasure for years to come. Orders: e-mail Bob at bcommin@netactive.co.za or write to 42 Earl Street Woodstock, 7925, or telephone 082 202 5303 or 021 447 9550. The book is priced at R40, add R5.00 postage. Bank details: R W Commin, Standard Bank, Rondebosch 071438475. back to top

Page 3 The Bishop writes ... My Dear People of God, Greetings to all of you, in the Name of the Risen Christ. The Coming of the Holy Spirit In my last letter I pointed out a few things which we get when we come to Christ, and , inter alia, it is the promise of the Holy Spirit. This promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the Sabbath of the Passover week (Lev 23:15-16). Pentecost refers to the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest of Wheat or the Day of First Fruits. (Dt16:10, Ex 23:10 and Num 28:26). This occurrence found the small worshipping community gathered together in one place. The arrival of this promised heavenly Gift was accompanied by outward visible and audible signs - the sound of a violent wind, (Hebr Ruach/Breath; Gk pneuma/wind); the visible tongues of fire, and more impressive was the outburst of glosolalia ie speaking in other languages or dialects as the disciples were given utterance to declare boldly “the wonders of God”. The departure of Jesus has caused the arrival of the Holy Spirit to the lives of believers as a consequence for hope and confidence. The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Christ has enabled the Holy Spirit to come as the continual presence of God in the lives of the believers. This would not happen until Jesus enters His glory which is the glory of the Father, both at His Resurrection and Ascension. The Ascension of Christ means: • the accomplishment of human salvation; • the hope of resurrection and therefore, of the glorification of our mortal bodies; • the interceding work of Jesus for us at the right hand of God the Father, and finally - the judgement which is “now” and “not yet”, because the power of the devil has been broken down, sin is destroyed and Jesus reigns supreme above all. He is coming back again for final consummation. The Counsellor If we love Jesus Christ as His disciples, the consequence is to obey His commands; and also, for His part, the Paraclete (Gk Paraklétos - supporter/comforter) will be given to us as a gift. This term given for the Holy Spirit is a legal term. It could also be translated as an Advocate or Counsellor or Helper. We, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are able to continue His presence on earth because the Counsellor enables us to do so. Not only so, He also leads us into “all truth”. As “the Spirit of Truth” (Gk to pneumatés aletheias) He is an agent of cleansing and liberation, so much of teaching or guiding into all what God wants to bring about the “fullness of life” for all (Jn 8:31-36; 10:10). The Counsellor has one major duty to perform, ie to convict the world in three ways; of sin, in righteousness and in judgement. The Greek for convict means “to expose” (Gk elegchein). The Spirit intensifies the work of the conscience by God’s Word. The world cannot receive the Comforter. Only the church can. So, for John in his gospel, the work of convicting the world will be continued by the church through the preaching of the Word in evangelistic outreach. The world has sinned. That sin can be taken away by repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God. The sin of the world is that of unbelief in Christ. (Jn 6:28-29). Jesus’ righteousness is vindicated by His exaltation, and at the cross the devil stands condemned together with the world in general. The believers, as agents of Christ's salvation need not fear whatever may befall them in the activity of witnessing to Him. The Power of the Holy Spirit As disciples of Jesus Christ, the challenge to pursue our calling is ever-increasing in our days. Our values have virtually disappeared. We have lost “a sense of sin”. (Carey : The Gate of Glory). The Biblical teaching on certain moral values like divorce, abuse, sexuality etc. has been greatly modified, or played down. Our humanness -Ubuntu, is drastically going down the drain. We view depressing situations on our television daily. Poverty and disease (HIV/AIDS) are on the increase. Many people, especially the young, die prematurely. Our clergy can no longer cope with the ever increasing number of funeral services. Undertakers are flourishing economically, with exorbitant costs of sumptuous funerals including “after tears” (A new style of eating and drinking excessively after the funeral service. The sadness is that clergy are sometimes among the culprits). It is a wanton destruction of life and its values. Our grief over these things will only be turned to joy when the Church begins to move out into the world to effect change. History encourages us in stating that, in times like these, the church would always intervene and play a leading role for change. The power of the Holy Spirit is available to us. It was given at our confirmation. This is the time to change the mind-set of maintaining our cosy corners, and get out of our comfort zones to change the status quo in our communities. We have to be “our fellow-minders”. What we need to do is to mobilise: • Prayer groups for specific situations, homes, governments and countries etc. We are too noisy. We need to be listeners to what God is saying to us in prayer and Bible reading. • We need to strategise and get involved. We are partners-in-mission. Form partnerships with parishes and adopt individual families to pray or study God’s work and share resources together. • Reach out to other worshipping communities and enter into partnership in uplifting lives and changing the worst for better in transformation of lives for Christ. • The Spirit gives us power, if we believe, to “do even great things than these” (Jn 14:12-14). A thought: What have I done to change a life or a worse scenario, for better? If I do so, change will be effected. May God grant us strength always, to do these things. May the Spirit of truth continue to fill you. Yours in Christ, Bishop Bethlehem Nopece   The view from pulpit and pew Last month, Iindaba congratulated Peggy de Reuck of Saint Mary's, Market Square, on her 80th birthday. We are sad to record the death of her husband, Des, likewise a member of the Order of the Diocese of Port Elizabeth. Our condolences to Peggy and her family. Iindaba are also sad to announce the death of another member of the Order of the Diocese - Mrs Emily Thomas, who appeared on the front of Iindaba in February. A member of St Mary Magdalene, Emily was house-keeper a the house of Resurrection Haven for many years. Iindaba extends condolences to her daughter, Doris, and family. Congratulations to Bishop Eric and Joyce who celebrated their Silver Wedding Anniversary (25 years) last month. They were married on Easter Day 10 April 1977. They celebrated the occasion with some of the family in Fishhoek, Cape Town. - Incidentally Bishop Eric and Joyce are expecting again. No, not Joyce - but their daughter Carmen and her husband are expecting another son later this year. Congratulations also to Larry and Leona Pow Chong, celebrating their Silver Wedding Anniversary on the same day! Larry is a Churchwarden at St Francis Xavier in Kabega Park. Congratulations to Cyprian Thorpe, the founding Father of Holy Spirit in KwaZakhele, who celebrated his 90th birthday in England last month. To celebrate with him were Michael and Sandra Hall. Michael was the first Rector of All Saints' in Kabega Park some years ago, before moving to the Grahamstown Diocese, and more recently to a Parish in England. Love is in the air - again! Congratulations the Bishop's secretary, Julia Bradder, and her husband Alan, on the marriage of their only daughter, Claire, to Kevin Chree. The happy couple are living in Walmer. Bishop Bethlehem and Mazoe have continued the tradition whereby the clergy and their spouses are invited to a meal on the Friday in Easter Week, one of the few occasions when a Friday is not a day of self-denial, where traditionally fish is eaten instead of meat. Feted with wonderful food and wine at St John the Baptist in Walmer, amidst much laughter and jollity after all the busy-ness of Holy Week and Easter, the evening was a great success. Iindaba wishes Alwylene Allwright, wife of Ronnie, Rector of St Mark's and St Patrick's in Humansdorp, a speedy recovery from surgery, which she underwent at Saint George's Hospital last month. Also in hospital last month was retired priest Bryan Bartleet, who was Rector of the Zwartkops River Valley Parish at the time of his retirement some years ago. Bryan now lives in Cradock. Iindaba wishes him a speedy recovery as well. Bryan was Rector of Saint Peter's, South End, at the time the government forced the congregation to move away from the area in the 1960's under the Group Areas Act. Congratulations to Mazwi Tisani, presently Archdeacon of King William's Town, on his election as Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Pretoria. Ezra Tisani is well known in this Diocese.   Weekend of great blessing All those from All Saints’ Kabega Park who attended the Alpha weekend held at Bushmansrivermouth during March were blessed wonderfully. When All Saints’ started their first evening Alpha course for this year they were a little disappointed that so few guests had signed up for it. However, they soon knew the joy of having a small number when those on the course showed that none of them wanted to miss even one night. The two small groups, one holding their discussions in Afrikaans and the other in English, bonded fast and when it came to the weekend away they all agreed that the holiday house in Bushmansrivermouth sounded ideal, and it was. Eleven people living together proved to be wonderful fun. During the weekend the guests are introduced to the person of the Holy Spirit and the power He imparts on those who ask for Him. During the ministry time after the Saturday evening tape the lounge of the cottage became a place of such blessing for all who were present. Powerful testimonies have been shared and lives have changed through what happened that evening. This course is the twenty-first being held at All Saints’ and the first of four planned for this year. The house All Saints' hired was the one advertised by Lucy Green in Iindaba of Jan/Feb 2001. It sleeps 11 people, with space for a camp stretcher in one of the bedrooms, so is ideal for small groups (or large families). Readers interested in hiring the house can contact Lucy on: 046 648 2140 (afternoons). Tag lines Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it. back to top

Page 4 Service for Christian Unity Sunday 26 May at 09h00 Redhouse Festival Breakfast available but booking essential Phone Nancy Goddard at 041 463 1637 Festival starts on Sat 25 May Enjoy time with your family beside the river. Come to the Festival.   Volunteers needed The House of Resurrection Haven needs volunteers who are willing to spend two or three hours a week helping with the children. Duties could cover taking them for walks; playing with them, feeding, etc. If you are willing to give some time each week to helping in this way, please contact the Matron at 041 481 1515 or e-mail havenpe@iafrica.com   Ted's mission is AIDS planning The Provincial Canon Missioner for HIV/AIDS, The Revd Ted Karpf, was in the diocese at the beginning of April to lead a Strategic AIDS Planning workshop. Last year Ted was approached by the Archbishop of Cape Town and asked to take up this position in the CPSA. He arrived in Cape Town from Washington in June and was immediately thrown into the setting up of the All Africa Anglican Conference on HIV/AIDS, held in Boksburg in August 2001. The purpose of the Conference was to develop a common language that the church could use throughout Africa when dealing with the pandemic. A document, “Our Vision, Our Hope: The First Step”, was drawn up. The document, approved by PSC in October 2001, is the basis of the workshops Ted is running in every diocese in the CPSA. Ours is his seventeenth workshop. Ted is no stranger to AIDS work. In 1984 he took over the parish of St Thomas the Apostle in Texas (USA) where parishioners became involved in outreach to people living with AIDS because a member of the parish had AIDS. He left there in 1988 and was a co-founder, and served as head of, the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition (NEAC). He later became involved in USA Government structures working closely with the White House. His salary while working within the CPSA for the next three years is covered by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). He points out that he is not here to run programmes but to facilitate the dioceses, and the Province, to set up workable, sustainable programmes to be used within their parishes and dioceses. He told Iindaba that the Province has an uphill battle, “Stigma is the leading cause of AIDS in Africa. According to many clergy nobody dies of AIDS in the CPSA,” he said. Once he has completed the workshops in every diocese he will begin the next step, about which he says, “A grant is to be awarded in May so that 20 members of the AWF and MU in each diocese will able to be trained in trainer programmes for extending home-care to people in need. I am also looking, with several donors, to develop a clergy training school in each diocese to train clergy in subjects such as ‘What AIDS is, pastoral care, conflict training’ etc. The clergy need to be thoroughly equipped to handle the numbers of their parishioners who will start seeking their help.” Ted was enthusiastic about what our diocese has achieved so far saying, “The pioneering done in this diocese at the House of Resurrection Haven has served as a model for the whole Province. Thus it is a privilege to be here.” Asked about the Nevirapene argument he said, “The Archbishop of Cape Town is spot on. The withholding of medicine, which costs R6,00 for one shot, is sinful. Who gave anybody the right to do that? I wholeheartedly endorse Archbishop Njongonkulu on this. I am outraged that children are being made to suffer.” Ted closed by saying, “What people need to realise before they have sex is that they must know their HIV status and that of their partner. If they have the HI Virus and pass it on, they risk committing murder. If they haven’t ascertained that their partner has the HI Virus, they risk committing suicide.”   Speaking the Truth in the Market Place How may the Church’s voice be heard on current issues in the public domain? At the forthcoming conference of the Ecumedia Centre scheduled to be held in Port Elizabeth at the end of May, a panel of Church leaders and media specialists from the Eastern Cape will address how Churches may better communicate their message. The Ecumenical Media Centre Trust arranges workshops to equip Churches and NGOs so that their voices may be better heard in print media on radio and on TV. We offer tailor-made training on design, layout, writing skills, religious broadcasting, photojournalism, interviewing and being interviewed. Discover your Potential to communicate relevantly in print, on radio and on TV. Venue: The Boardwalk, Port Elizabeth Date: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 Time: 09:30 for 10:00 - 16:00 Cost: A donation of R30 towards teas and lunch Those invited to serve on the panel of speakers are: Bishop Bethlehem Nopece - Anglican Diocese of Port Elizabeth Mark Manley - CEO & South African Team Leader, African Enterprise Bishop Lunga ka Siboto - Ethiopian Episcopal Church P E Region Professor Ds Piet Naude - Dean of Humanities UPE & NGK Moderator Shadley Nash - News Editor, Radio Algoa Rowan Philip - Sunday Times Billy Paulsen - Station Manager, Radio Kingfisher The Revd Dr Bob Clarke -Ecumedia Trust, Rural Dean Grahamstown & Albany Pastor Keith Du Plessis - Harvest Church, former SABC director of religious broadcasting Goodwin Makongolo - Editor of Ilizwi Robert Ball - Managing Editor of the Herald.   Day was major success The Port Elizabeth gathering of Christians on the national day of prayer was held at Telkom Park Rugby Stadium, and Iindaba reproduces this PE Church Net report with permission. A crowd of about 20 000 gathered together on Thursday 21 March in bright sunshine with singing, praise, worship and prayer to mark the first national Day of Prayer for Africa. Notwithstanding the logistical difficulties that surrounded the organisation of an event of this scale, there were only minor “glitches”, and on the whole it can be seen as a major success for the Kingdom of God in our city. Our local Christians joined with others in eight stadiums around the country, and the rallies were broadcast to millions more on national and European Christian TV. Olympic Gold Medalist Penny Heyns was flown in by helicopter as the guest speaker in Port Elizabeth, and she gave a moving testimony of how, although she had been a Christian from a young age, at the height of her success her life was empty as she had temporarily removed her sights from the Lord. However her subsequent recommitment has seen her being greatly used in His plans. Stirring messages were given, and prayers were led by a number of local Christians, including Ds Piet Naude, Bishop Bethlehem Nopece, Pastor Neville Goldman, Pastor Jimmy Crompton and local business leader Mike Smith. A moment that will live in our memories for a long time is the blowing of the shofar, led by Pastor Rykie Steyn. The National Time, when the stadiums were connected by a satellite linkup, was highlighted by a thought-provoking message from Michael Cassidy, international team leader of African Enterprise. The encouragement of an event like this is to see how barriers are beginning to be broken down between diverse denominations as we start working together with one purpose as members of the one body of Jesus Christ. Amen. According to the organising committee, plans are already underway for next year’s event, including a commitment from national television. They are welcoming any and all comments, criticism, suggestions, etc. from those who were there, in order to make the follow-up event next year even better. Let us have your thoughts and ideas - e-mail us at tcn@pechurchnet.co.za   Are you in touch with events in the Anglican Church? Keep in contact with Contact OnLine An Anglican website for Christians in Southern Africa www.contact-online.org News and comment from around the world Free every month Don't forget to Visit the Diocese of Port Elizabeth web site at http://www.cpsa.org.za/portelizabeth/ back to top Previous Issues: March 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 May 2001 April 2001 January 2001 December 2000 October 2000 September 2000 July 2000 Current issue

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