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St
Paul's bids farewell
On
Friday, 22 November, St Paul’s parish held a farewell function
for their much-loved priest, Ben Durham, and his wife Margaret,
reports Genny Walthew.
The
evening commenced with a welcome by Ernie Sharp, who had arranged
the function, followed with grace by Henk de Groot, one of the parish
self- supporting priests, and a bring-and-share supper.
After
the meal everyone joined in singing hymns chosen by the Sunday
school and various groups, such as the Lay Ministers and servers,
from within the parish. In between these a selection of songs was
sung by Robert Leonard, and there was a demonstration of line
dancing. The highlight of the evening was an entertaining recital by
Ben Durham himself who, with great aplomb and style, sang ‘The
Hippopotamus Song’, with the enthusiastic congregation joining
in the chorus of ‘Mud, mud, glorious mud.’
The
evening ended with more songs and praise for the ministry of Ben and
Margaret and an address by Lionel Heath on behalf of the
churchwardens to which Ben responded. Jack Hughes, another of the
parish self-supporting priests, closed in prayer. Although Ben
officially retired at the end of November, he had agreed to stay on
at St Paul’s until the end of last year, when he and Margaret
moved to a cottage at St John the Baptist church in Walmer. The
congregation will miss them.
A
visit from Father Christmas
Father
Christmas had already delivered the boxes of toys to the House of
Resurrection Haven, so all he had to do when he arrived on Christmas
morning was hand the boxes out and then help the children open up
their parcels. He even had presents for the adult patients and the staff.
Thank
you
Ken
Simpson, Chairman of the Liaison Committee, together with the
Executive Committee members and the staff of the House of
Resurrection Haven, say a BIG thank you to all who helped to sell
tickets for the Christmas Cheer Fund Toyota Tazz competition last
year. The Haven reached its target of ticket sales and, with the
bonus, received R24 500.
Ministry
to Canada
Johnathin
Pieterse reports on a visit to Canada at the end of last year when
he was part of a SOMA (Sharing Of Ministries Abroad) team.
The
journey began with a hitch when I arrived in Cape Town to find my
visa was not there. I had to fly to Pretoria the following day to get
it and so I also missed my connection in London and had to wait for
the next flight to Canada. Arriving in Deer Lake in Canada, I found
everyone was praying for me. God was gracious to me and I arrived in
Newfoundland in time for the service in Meadows. I said to myself,
“If this is the start, what does God have in store for us”
The
next morning we left for Port Aux Bassque where the Bishop was
waiting for us. Chris, the other team member, and I ministered to the
congregation. The Bishop and some of the clergy are fairly open to
the Holy Spirit. We were asked to speak about prayer in the area of
renewal. We travelled all over the Diocese of Western Newfoundland
including to Burgeo, on the other side of the island, where one of
the clergywomen had to board a ferry to come and listen to us
speaking. For midweek we came back to Corner Brook. We visited a
deacon in charge of a big parish in Parson’s Pond and travelled
right through the national park, but did not see any moose, an
antelope that is indigenous to Newfoundland.
We
wound up our work in White Bay Parish which is without a rector, and
they enjoyed having two priests around. We experienced the
hospitality of the people in a very special way. We prayed with so
many and God touched some in a very special way.
We
were stretched to our limits having to have a prayer talk every
afternoon, an evangelistic outreach at night and having to travel a
few hundred kilometres the next day with only a day off midweek. We
alternated the preaching and the people accepted us very well. In all
this God had His hand on all that we did and we saw Him working in
mysterious ways. At the end all we could say was that God is on the throne.
I
will always be indebted to the Lord for the opportunity that was
given to me. To God be all the glory for protecting us and for
keeping our families safe and sound.
AWF
Fellowship evening
Once
again members of the Anglican Women’s Fellowship Diocesan
Council and their partners enjoyed an evening of good food and
fellowship at the end of last year.
The
annual fellowship evening is held to bring the members of the
council and their partners together so that they can get to know one
another on a social level. The Bishop and his wife and the AWF
Chaplain, Jean Underwood, are also always invited so that they too
can get to know the members.
This
year the dinner was held at St Mary Magdalene on Friday 22 November.
Lillian Daniels, the new Provincial President, was present and
challenged members to take seriously their theme “United in
Christ to make a difference”. She said she had just visited a
new ‘slum’ area, Moeggesukkel (at the back of Booysens Park
near Tumble Village) and felt that the members should reach out to
this area to start food gardens. The thrust of the AWF project for
this year is to encourage as many people, communities and schools to
start food gardens to help alleviate hunger. She said, “Nobody
should starve if every shack dweller and house owner were to grow
vegetables and plant fruit trees.”
The
Bishop commended the AWF for the wonderful work they are doing in
outreach to the poor and those living with HIV and AIDS.
Books
“Reflections
of the Son” is a collection of creative writings by Tony S
Sin who was encouraged to publish these by Amanda Higgins, Lay
Minister at St Francis Xavier.
Amanda
met Tony when he was at St Francis Xavier for the JAM (Jesus and
Music) mission. He is a member of Grace Family Church in Gauteng and
some of the prose tells his story of turning his back on the Lord and
getting into drugs and crime. However, two years ago he had a
dramatic return to the Lord and he says, “The Holy Spirit led me
to put my thoughts and feelings down on paper.” Amanda read some
of them and persuaded Tony to let her edit them and have them
published. As Tony said, “There were times when I felt Amanda
was wrong when she said I had to change certain wording in a piece,
and yet the end product is so right.”
Tony
is married to Caron and they have three children, Drew, Troy and
Paige, who feature in some of his work.
The
booklet is beautifully presented and is available from the Diocesan
Office or from Amanda. It costs R35 of which R5 will be donated to
the Ellen Kwong Mission Fund. Amanda can be contacted on 083 413 0535.
“Dare
to Follow - God’s call to follow Him in obedience” by
Suzanne Pillans. New Life Press.
This
is Suzanne’s third book and covers a small part of her
phenomenal testimony of how the Lord took her simple faith and has
grown her into a person He has used in a mighty way in evangelism and
in the healing ministry. Suzanne is a well known riding instructors
and the book opens with the testimony of how in desperation she cried
to the Lord to heal her beloved horse, Jacky Boy. This was her
conversion point and from then onwards she gave her life and work to
the Lord. The book is full of her simple faith in praying and hearing
and seeing God answer her prayers as she has dared to follow where
God has led her. Some of the leading was very hard and very
uncomfortable for her but she persevered and came out of the
‘fire’ able to be used by God to further His Kingdom in a
mighty way.
Visit
to PE
Suzanne
now runs a flourishing Christian riding school, the Standlake
Christian Centre and Ranch Retreat, in England where she lives with
her husband, Wilfrid, and daughter, Rebecca. Before moving to England
she had run the Springvalley Christian Centre near Maitland and
worshipped at St Nicholas’, Charlo, and then moved to All
Saints’, Kabega Park, where she was one of their preachers and a
Lay Minister. She married Wilfrid, a son of the late Daile (who was a
priest in this diocese for many years) and Kay Pillans. Eight years
ago Suzanne felt the Lord call her to start a riding school in
England and from there she has been used in a very powerful healing
ministry in the UK, Malawi, USA, Latvia, Kenya and on her visit to
Port Elizabeth in December. After leaving PE she visited Malawi again
for a “Fire over Malawi Crusade”. Her exciting testimony of
her ministry, the healings and God’s answering a prayer for
rain, within an hour of everyone praying, is available from the
editor. Suzanne will be returning for another visit to PE during
Eastertide - times and dates will be available closer to her visit.
Basic
Journalism workshop
Arranged
by Ecumedia Centre and facilitated by Debbie Derry will take place
on 1 March at St Saviour’s, Walmer
Who
needs to be there? All those who would like to become parish
reporters, as well as representatives from all the diocesan
women’s and men’s organisations who would like to get their
news into Iindaba. Also those who have attended a workshop before and
would like to brush-up what they’ve learnt. Numbers are limited
so book NOW! Cost R50 - but can be subsidised if necessary.
Booking
is essential.
Contact
Amanda Mould : 046 624 3087 fax: 046 624 3276 or e-mail amanda@imaginet.co.za
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