Teens Confirmation

By Craig Smith

2010 will be a year remembered by many for various different reasons. For me, Confirmation 2010 stands out as a highlight. It was a very special year shared with very special people. One of the highlights of the programme was the Confirmation Camp and closing Service. The camp started with a braai where countless Boerewors Rolls were devoured. I was impressed with the appetite the girls showed. Later that evening we watched a really challenging movie that raised many ethical practical issues of life. A long in depth discussion started which set the tone for the rest of the weekend’s activities. We all joined together speaking openly and frankly about a wide range of theological and real life issues. The camp was rounded off with a time of fellowship at a  bring and braai with the elders and the confirmees’ parents.

Family and friends were invited to the Confirmation Service which was held on Sunday evening. The church was packed and the worship was amazing. The Confirmees got all dressed up and brought eats with them for a time of fellowship afterwards. At the service a few folk first had to be baptized and then all the confirmees took and read aloud their vows. They confirmed the vows taken on their behalf by their parents at their baptism. The Confirmees were challenged during the service to continue serving and playing an active role in the life and community of the church.

A special vote of thanks to all the confirmees and their parents for playing an active role in Confirmation 2010, and a big thank you to all the volunteer teachers who played such a major role in shaping, leading and guiding the programme. I look forward to 2011 for another wonder year with our young people.

Incredible 24 hour bike ride by Congregation Member

PRESS RELEASE:
On Friday 27th at 11h30, Peter Marais a graphic design artist and member of the Grace Presbyterian Church, set off from the premises of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Garsfontein to ride his bicycle as far as possible in 24 hours. Twenty Four hours later on Saturday Peter and James Ross-Marsh (the head boy of Willowridge High School who rode with him for 16 hours) finished their ride in a carnival atmosphere at the tri-annual fête of Emmanuel and Grace Presbyterian congregations. Peter rode 480km.

Every three years Emmanuel and Grace Presbyterian congregations (who share a building until Grace Congregation can buy land and build their own sanctuary) have a Fête "fun-raising" day.   "We have loads of fun and hopefully generate some funds along the way" said Theo Groeneveld, the pastor of the two congregations.

Peter, a veteran professional cyclist, was wondering how he could make a contribution to the fête, when he had the idea of doing a 24 hour cycle. He planned  a 44km circuit on the Lynnwood Cullinan Boskop road loop and began organising for friends and colleagues to sponsor him and ride with him. "I felt that this was something I could do for God's glory," said Peter.

Doing long distances on a bicycle is nothing new to Peter, but he admits that the longest time he has spent in the saddle was about 8 hours. He was about to exceed that in a big way. Fortunately there was a lot of support and Peter received sponsorship from FIT (a supplements company), Velo Cycle Club (who provided a following vehicle) and the Boschkop Police Station who provided a secure place for cyclists and assistants to park their vehicles and checked up on the cyclists while they did their night loops. Liz-Mare Lusardi at My Diet Clinic http://www.mydietclinic.co.za/ also gave some much needed expert advice on Peter's nutritional requirements during the ride.

The most significant support came in the form of those who volunteered to drive the support vehicle and cycle with Peter. Of the 12 laps that Peter did, there was only half a lap that he rode alone. Friends and members of the congregation rode laps with Peter and broke the monotony of being alone in the saddle. The rider who spent the most time riding with Peter was James Ross-Marsh who rode from 18h00 on Friday night to the end of the challenge at 11h30 on Saturday. James heard about the ride from a friend who attends at Peter's church.

The ride Peter did was not the easiest possible route, the route profile indicates that they climbed 380m every loop and had to contend with a stiff wind on Friday afternoon and on Saturday morning. Fortunately the evening stretch was windless and not too cold except when they dropped into the Swavelrivier's valley near the Boschkop police station.

Peter stopped for about 4 minutes every two hours to take on food and drinks and to allow the support vehicle drivers to change over and new cyclists to join him and then he would get going again. At about 4am he was hit with diarrhoea and took a 45 minute break to allow the medication he had taken to work. Then he was back on the bike.

Peter also received assistance in the form of the prayers of members of both congregations who received sms updates of his progress until he finished on Saturday morning. He and James arrived just after 11h30 to a hero's welcome at the fête and there was hardly a dry eye among those gathered there as the minister reminded the congregation that Peter had set out to do this ride for God's glory.

Was it worth it? Donations are still coming in and Peter has made a significant contribution to the life and work of the two congregations who are involved in outreach in various ways in the local community and beyond, but more significantly Peter has demonstrated to young people that faith and courage go hand in hand and that one's life can be lived with purpose.

Easter 2010

Trudi

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, so perhaps today is a good time to look back at Easter 2010…

The formal services in preparation for Easter provided a sacred time of communal worship.  The succession of Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and Lent, the Holy Week with Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, helped me truly anticipate the light and hope of Easter Sunday.

A more informal highlight of Easter 2010 was the Music Evening, where Theo (and co…) put together a program of contemporary songs with an Easter theme.  Sometimes deep theology can be transmitted through the pen of current Christian songwriters.  Although there was some difference in opinion as to which songs did so most powerfully - I recall that the young bunch seriously out-noised the more chronologically advanced among us!

The children’s addresses are always special, and not only during the Easter period!  The Palm Sunday lesson, where the children were taught to fold crosses from palm leaves, had wide appeal.  Some parents were trying hard to fold palm leaf crosses unnoticed...

Although this annual spiritual journey is undertaken in the fellowship of community, it is also intensely personal.  Each year I have grown through the introspection afforded by the beautifully set up ‘Stations of the Cross’.  In 2010 the ‘Stations of the Resurrection’ added to this considerably.

Another lovely addition was the large number of fresh flowers brought on Easter Sunday, symbolizing the joyful new life of Easter.  It was also the first year we had the Easter Sunrise Service in the gorgeous garden of Emmanuel. Even though we weren't able to see the sun rise, we could still feel its warmth and rejoice: the Son is risen indeed!

A Very Special Baptism

When Martin was born just over a year ago, he was 12 weeks early and we nearly lost his mom Stephanie because of internal bleeding. We got everyone praying and today we were able to celebrate God's goodness in baptism! Thank YOU Lord!

SANSSA Training Blog

(By Brenda Groeneveld)
This morning 5 of our Sunday School teachers attended a SANSSA (South African National Sunday School Association) Training morning. Jean Geerthsen, a children's pastor from Westview Methodist Church shared thoughts about 'Discipline in Children's Church' and 'Partnering with Parents'. It was a thought-provoking and inspiring morning, bringing together more that 40 people from various churches around Pretoria, who share a passion for teaching children about Jesus.

Jean had some creative ideas regarding discipline in Children's church. We discussed loving firmness and establishing rules that make children feel loved and welcome and safe.

Jean pointed out that one of the trends in parenting these days is to 'out-source' some of our children's training to professionals because we, as parents, feel inadequate or ill-equipped. We send them to Master Maths, OT, Reading Courses, Cricket Academy, remedial programmes, swimming lessons, play therapy... This is all fine and good, until it comes to our children's spiritual development. Jean feels that there is a danger that Sunday School teachers could be seen as the 'professionals' in spiritual development of children. Many parents feel too stretched or ill-equipped to teach their children about the things of God, but feel 'that's okay, at least I send them to Sunday School'. Since the Sunday School teachers see the children for less than 20 hours a year, even if they attend EVERY week, we cannot be the primary source of spirituality for the children of the church. Jean encouraged us to encourage the parents in various ways. Some of them we are doing already. Some of the ideas we will be working on during the year.

Here are some of the ways we feel we can partner with you, as parents, in the spiritual development of your children:

• We encourage parents to make use of the church library. We have some very helpful Christian parenting tools available there. We will continue to look out for great parenting books to stock the library. If you have any Christian parenting books you would like to see there, please let us know.

• We provide Scripture Union Bible Reading notes to aid in all-age Bible devotions. These are available in the foyer of the church at a very reasonable price.

• We recommend Focus on the Family Resources as a trust-worthy source of advice and guidance in Christian Family growth.

• We encourage parents to get to know your children's Sunday School teacher, and also to ask your child what they learned in Sunday School and reinforce it at home.

• We will be sending out more Sunday School Newsletters this year to keep you as parents informed about all that we are doing

• We ask for your prayers as we strive to give God the glory and to share his message of love with the children.

• We will be trying out some other ideas this year too, and would appreciate your advice, questions and suggestions.

Grace Birthday Braai

The year got off to a great start for the members of Grace Presbyterian Church by having a celebratory 3rd Birthday braai.

The Birthday braai got underway after our Sunday Service, Errol and Dave had already got the fires ready so it was all just a question of getting the meat on. One of the families, along with their extended family, just about took up a whole braai on their own ;-).


The afternoon was spent enjoying the warm weather and warm fellowship. The ice-creams, for pudding, were luckily cold and many folks ended up having at least a few more cones than just two!!! So happy third birthday Grace Presby, may you have many many more!

Session wonders at Wonderboom

Today our elders had a get-together at the Wonderboom nature reserve for a time of fellowship and sharing about our vision and strategy for the next cycle of work in our congregations. It was a good time of sharing, catching up and confirming that we were on the right track.

Seeing the Wonderboom was part of the object of the exercise because the tree is an unusual phenomenon which we hope will become a symbol of our endeavours for the next three years.

Here's what has been written about the tree:

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A 5,5 m diameter trunk at the heart of the Wonderboom is the remains of the original wild fig that began growing here over than 1 000 years ago. Branches of this trunk first spread out radically but gradually drooped towards the ground, where they sent out roots from which sprang a circle of new trunks.

In time, two of the offspring produced a third generation. Today the Wonderboom has 13 distinct trunks that cover an area of 1,5 ha. The branches spread over an area of 50 m, and can provide enough shade for over 1 000 people. A typical example of the species Ficus salicifolia? Not so, say the experts.

The wild fig is a hardy tree flourishing in open woodlands, on rocky hills and outcrops, and near streams and rivers. The bark of the young trees is smooth and a pale grey, while the bark of older trees is rougher and darker. The leaves are thick and leathery, and the tiny white fruits, only about 5 mm in diameter, become a yellowish-pink colour when they ripen between August and May.

But while the Ficus salicifolia seldom grows higher than 9 m, the Wonderboom stands taller 23m. In addition to its great height, the way in which it has extended itself makes it an extremely rare natural phenomenon.

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Our time spent there was very meaningful and has confirmed that we as Session believe that we are on the right track in the direction we believe the Lord is taking us in.

Christmas Services

We had lovely Christmas morning services at Emmanuel and Grace, celebrating the awesome love of our God who became a baby for us, and the overflowing mega-joy that that brings into our lives - the same mega-joy experienced by the wise men in Bethlehem, and the women at the empty tomb. What do a crowd of excited kids, a 'telequack' and a story about geese have in common? - they're all part of the Christmas Children's Address!!

Christmas Eve Service

We had a lovely Christmas Eve picnic and Carol Service. Although there were fewer people this year, the sunset was beautiful and we had a lovely time together. People brought a variety of munchies and some of the boys got a game of cricket going in the garden.

Once the picnic baskets had been emptied we got everyone together under the office and we sang some of the old favourite carols and Theo showed the children Brenda's clay nativity set and a carved wooden camel. We wondered whether Joseph would have carved a wooden replica of the nativity scene to show Jesus as He was growing up.

After a time of thought and quiet prayer we joined together in singing "Silent Night" and folk headed off to their homes.

Refilwe Party

The 5th of December saw the Emmanuel buildings all-a-buzz with smiling children and willing helpers, all participating in our Annual 'Refilwe' Christmas party!

Two busses delivered 120 Orphans and Vulnerable children from the Cullinan area. These children are supported by the 'Kids Care and Support Trust', a fantastic organisation, with whom we have enjoyed a growing relationship over the past few years. It was a real privilege to give these children a happy day, and a box of lovely goodies to take home with them, and in some small way, to share the love of God with them.

We were also able to send 80 extra gift boxes to children who were not at the party, and to provide gifts to express thanks to 20 care workers who look after the kids on a daily basis.

The children were divided into 16 groups, under the loving care of a whole bunch of group leaders, each with their own coloured team head-band. The groups rotated through 4 games stations - soccer, jumping castles, relay races, and the water pipe challenge.

There were over 100 Emmanuel and Grace helpers there on the day, and many folk who helped with all the preparation - wrapping and packing and decorating of gift boxes, tea packets and lunch packets. What an awesome team we are!! A BIG thank you to all who participated - I'm sure you felt as blessed as I did.

Subzero Decade

SubZero is our youth club for gr.4-7 and has been running for 10 years. To celebrate this we had an evening of boerie-rolls, pancakes, waffles and lots of games to celebrate. Although the weather was really wet, we did not let it dampen our spirits and a load of fun was had by adults and children.

A big "THANK YOU" to all who helped and especially the ones who've been helping for the last ten years. May there be many more years of life change in our pre-teens!

Cross Installation

A year or two ago Gavin Tucker was able to organise a metal cross for the church through a work contact he had. We already had the wooden cross being made for the office side and so we agreed to mount this one on the Western Side of the church.

Peter Fourie made some size and proportion adjustments and painted the cross. He also organised the rope-light to provide lighting from behind and voila! We were ready to mount it.

Peter provided the equipment and expertise and Theo was the "handlanger" and the cross was mounted. We'll still post a night-time photo...

Wedding Dress Show and Tea Party

The Ladies of Grace (in particular Joy Smith and Tracey Campbell) organised a Saturday afternoon fund-raiser that was well attended and very successful.

The concept behind the function was that ladies who still had their wedding dresses, made them available to be modelled by a willing group of volunteers. There were a number of ladies who hosted tables and each of them had to lay their table and decorate it.

There were some song and dance items and in between delicious eats were enjoyed by all the ladies.

The show of all the dresses was what it was all about and those present found the display of dresses interesting and nostalgic. There were many happy memories and the odd tear or two. The oldest dress was nearly 49 years old and one dress was modelled by the owner's grand-daughter.

All in all, it was a great success and a big thank you must go to all who helped make it happen!