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Christmas 2006 Extra - Page 1 | Page 2
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• What's happening at the Haven
• The mechanics of budgeting
• 50 Wonderful years in Ministry
• Learning to listen
What's happening at the Haven
A Canadian Bishop’s
daughter, Rachel Johnson, RN, BscN, came to South Africa, visited the
House of Resurrection Haven, fell in love with the children, and told
iindaba all about it.
Oscar Wilde once wrote “one can live for years sometimes without
living at all, and then all life comes crowding into one single
hour.” That ‘single hour’ represents the time I have
spent here in South Africa.
I came from Canada to spend six months in South Africa, working in
various nursing capacities with people living with AIDS. I am a
Registered Nurse and was working in the Emergency Department in
downtown Toronto, before deciding to leave for an adventure and a new
perspective. I have experienced both since I arrived!
During the International AIDS Conference, hosted in Toronto in August,
I had the opportunity to see the Keiskamma Altarpiece. The presentation
demonstrated how much AIDS has affected the community of Hamburg, and
South Africa on the whole. I was inspired by the message of hope - for
a better future; for a cure; for an end to AIDS. It would have been
easy to concentrate on the tragedy and devastation of the pandemic, but
the representatives remained optimistic. It was at that moment that I
knew that I had to be a part of this.
On arriving in SA I spent my first month in Queenstown, with Kathy and
Johannes Hardnick, who ministered in this diocese at one time. It was
through a series of coincidences that I ended up at the Haven. I spent
most of my time with the children, and absolutely fell in love with
them. After we returned to Queenstown, I realised that I had to spend
more time with these wonderful, albeit mischievous children, and the
dedicated staff who care for them. I returned to the Haven just in time
for World AIDS Day, and spent December here. From working in
Hamburg in an AIDS clinic for a couple of months, I will be
returning to PE to spend the balance of my trip at the Haven. The
children have this incredible way of jumping into your arms and
sneaking into your heart.
My younger brother gave me a book on my departure. It was called
‘Race Against Time’, by Stephan Lewis. I read this
incredible, lecture-style book when I first arrived in South Africa,
and was struck by how he opened the book. “I have spent the last
four years watching people die.” It was a very influential
statement for me, and after that, I felt that I too was spending these
six months watching people die. I arrived at the Haven and met all of
the courageous
people who stay here, and watched the children playing. Within a couple
short days I realised that I was not watching people die, but rather
watching people live with AIDS. It was a defining moment in my life.
This has been a life altering experience for me, and I can say with
confidence that the experience I have been privileged to have here in
South Africa, and the change of perspective that has come with it, will
remain with me long after I return home to Canada. I grew up just
outside of Toronto, in what I like to call an abnormally typical
family. I am the middle child of three, and was raised by my mother, a
grade 2 teacher, and my father, an Anglican Bishop for the Diocese of
Toronto.
The mechanics of budgeting
Charles Qoto continues his very informative articles on money and how to get the best use of it.
A budget is an itemised summary of income and spending during a
specified period. It is a plan of how money will be spent or allocated
during that period, normally a month. Many retail outlets like grocery
shops and butcheries, for example, advertise “budget” packs
of meat or other items of food, meaning that those advertised packs or
items are suitable for people with a limited amount of money to
spend.
This reminds me that we budget because we do not always have
enough money to spend on all the things we want. The aim of making a
budget is to arrive at a balance between your income and your spending
for a specific period. If you do not get that balance then you have to
make meaningful adjustments to your spending. This is where
prioritising comes in, i.e. to rank or order spending items according
to importance or level of necessity.
A typical household monthly budget is made out of two
sections, i.e. income and expenses. The guideline below illustrates
this. Draw a column on the right end of the list and write down the
amount for each category listed under income and expenses.
Income
- Wages/salary/stipend (net after taxes and deductions) plus other net income, e.g. rental
Expenses
- Tithe/giving/offerings/charities
- Housing (mortgage, rent, rates, repairs, maintenance, furnishings, etc.)
- Utilities (electricity, water, environmental, telephone, gas, paraffin)
- Food and household (groceries, school/work lunches, household needs)
- Clothing
- Transportation (car loan, fuel, repairs, bus/train/taxi fare)
- Insurance (vehicle, life, health/accident, home owner)
- Debt repayment (personal loans, credit cards, etc.)
- Health care (doctors, dentists, medications, eye care, etc.)
- School and child care (tuition, books, fees, day care, tutoring)
- Investmets (savings, retirement annuities, special projects, emergencies, etc.)
- Recreation (eating out, vacations, hobbies, sporting events, family gatherings, etc.)
It is important that your budget is written down and that
monthly budgets are kept together or filed. This is so that you can
compare them and see whether you are reaching or maintaining your
target spending. This will also help you pick up any deviations from
your set goals and take corrective measures in time. The idea is that
you be clear about where your money comes from and where it is used.
This will tell you what your spending habits are. Tracking your
spending from month to month without fail is an initial step toward
effective management of your money.
Next month we will look at how to tackle your debts and manage them effectively.
 50 Wonderful years in Ministry
Michelle Werth reports on Eric
Kleb's 50 years of ordained ministry, which was celebrated during a
service at St Cuthbert’s on 19 December.
During the service Bishop Bethlehem also made Eric an Honorary Canon of
the Diocese. At the age of 13 while Eric was attending a Methodist
Sunday School, he felt the call to ministry and priesthood. When he was
22 he enrolled to train at St Paul’s College in Grahamstown in
1953. He was ordained as a deacon in December 1955 and served his title
at St Katharine’s in Uitenhage. In December 1956, he was ordained
into the priesthood.
Eric served in many places ranging from Queenstown to Cape Town and St
Helena Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. He says he spent a very
memorable time on St Helena from 1964 - 1966 and it was definitely one
of his ministry highlights. In 1999 he retired and moved to PE where he
became assisting priest at St Cuthbert’s.
Eric loved to take the Word of God outside the church buildings. He has
many stories and one is about outreach in Queenstown. He got the church
members involved in a street ministry where they would stop at corners
and spread God’s word, and as they did this, they created quite a
stir and a crowd, so there were plenty of people listening to the Good
News. Another adventure was while he was in Cape Town. He showed the
Sunday School teachers how to make Mardi Gras heads. Naturally, once
they had been made, they had to be worn! As they walked along the
streets of Cape Town they gathered many children and shared God’s
love with them.
Bishop Ross Cuthbertson
Bishop Ross, who ministered at All Saints’ in Kabega Park for a
few years, celebrated his 50th anniversary to the diaconate in
Pietermaritzburg just before Christmas. Ross sends greetings to all our
readers who remember him.
Learning to listen
A team of four Christian
Listeners, led by Lindsay Woods, visited Somerset East recently and
presented a weekend course on ‘Learning to Listen.’
The course was held at the museum and offered plenty of insight and
learning of the skills in this much neglected Christian ministry of
listening to what people are really saying - and not saying. The
weather was perfect and partici-pants were able to wander around the
museum gardens for their times of reflection and prayer. Heather Lapan
and Pru Cloete of All Saints’ United church fed the participants.
The participants were carers looking after people living with HIV and
AIDS and other terminal illnesses and came from Pearston, Cookhouse,
Somerset East and outlying areas. Most of them are involved in the Blue
Crane Hospice which was set up by Jean Underwood, self-supporting
priest at All Saints’ United.
Thank you! Thank you!!! Thank you !!!
The editor thanks all of the wonderful parish representatives who have
sent in articles during the past year. Without your contributions
iindaba could not come out. It would be great if more parishes sent in
news too.
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