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• The
men kept coming
• A defining
moment
• UK organist thrills
• Small group, but
powerful prayer
• NIRSA
declaration of intent
The
men kept coming
[ Lindsay Renze of All Saints’, Kabega
]
I was fortunate to
be invited to attend the ‘Mighty Men Conference’ on Angus Buchan’s
farm, Shalom, in the Greytown district of KZN.
One of the largest tents in the world had been set up for this
conference. It was a beautiful sight to see as we pulled up on the
farm. The tent was surrounded by four different camp sites for cars,
caravans, tents, etc. Friday evening began with amazing praise and
worship. This and the talks by Angus were so awesome over the weekend
that I cannot put into words how I felt, but one thing was for sure –
the presence and the power of the Lord was there. Wow, what faith! It
was amazing to see 60 000 or more men praising and worshipping God.
The talks were based on “Dying to live and empowering the head of the
home”. He spoke a lot about the head of the home getting godly values
back into our homes, workplaces and our beloved country.
Everyone was fed breakfast, lunch and supper by the organizers. They
did not expect so many people, but God was in control and everyone had
enough to eat, and the cost was only R100 per person. There were
homemade showers, toilets and running water for all.
I have ordered the DVD on the talks and the Praise and Worship CD, and
will make them available to all churches or house groups. Contact me
on: 082 575 4454
Angus wrote the book “Faith like potatoes” which was made into a movie
recently. If you’ve
seen that or read the book you will relate to Angus Buchan’s
faith.
Pic:
Some of the tents
and caravans at the Conference.
A defining moment
This is an exerpt from what Tom Bartley, a retired Anglican priest,
wrote for ‘Contact news and commentary’:
To be with 60,000 brothers in
Christ, kneeling on the dusty ground of Shalom farm, was a defining
moment for me. Gentle tears trickled down my face as I grasped the
enormity of the occasion. I felt humbled to be part of God’s amazing
miracle. No advertising in the press, nor radio, nor TV - simply an
inner calling to come and worship;
to change our hard hearts and our attitudes; to fear this gracious
Father who gave us physical life; to confess our shortfalls and sins to
Jesus our saviour and judge of all - in
addition, to experience the infilling of the love and assurance of the
Holy Spirit, the giver of new spiritual life. Such grace, such love has
blown me away. The space under that tent was holy ground, inhabited by
our holy and awesome God as we were challenged to be God’s army in our
beloved land. When he calls, he always equips. Let us all be expectant
as God’s plan unfolds by doing our part to bring healing, humility and
hope to our beautiful country.
UK
organist thrills
[ Maureen de Villiers
]
The highlight of
The Royal School of Church Music’s ‘Year of the Organ’ in Port
Elizabeth
was the recent visit to the city of the world-renowned organist, Dr
Gordon Stewart, who
directed a “Festival of Organ Music, Hymns and Sacred Songs” at St
Mary’s Cathedral. Those who came to the concert expecting it to be a
rather staid occasion were in for a big
surprise. Gordon is not only a superb organist and choirtrainer of note
(he is a regular
conductor of the popular BBC Television series, Songs of Praise), but
he is a great entertainer as well. His many anecdotes, told in his
delightful Scottish accent, soon had the audience almost rolling in the
aisles with laughter! As all good choir trainers know, there is nothing
like a good laugh to help the singers relax and produce a good sound.
Gordon certainly put this to good effect and soon the Cathedral was
filled with the enthusiastic singing of some well-loved hymns, expertly
accompanied by Eric Spencer, the Cathedral organist. Gordon also showed
his prowess on the organ by playing some thrilling organ solos.
An Organ Master Class was held during the morning during which Gordon
donned his “teaching cap,” and what a brilliant teacher he proved to
be. We were indeed privileged to
have had a musician of this calibre in our midst.
Pic:
Organist, Dr
Gordon Stewart, with some of those who enjoyed the ‘Festival of Organ
Music, Hymns and Sacred Songs’.
Small
group, but powerful prayer
[ Rosalie Wallace
]
Members of Christ Church, Kamma Park, as part of the Western Suburbs,
joined in the Global day of prayer at the Westering Primary School on
Sunday 11 May, co-ordinated by our priest, Lawrie Wilmot. We were a
fairly small group of people who met from all the churches in the
Western Suburbs - but what a wonderful experience!
Though small in number, Jesus more than kept his promise that ‘where
two or three come together in my name, there am I with them’. The power
of the Holy Spirit moved in and among
us powerfully as we praised and worshipped together, led by Sydney Ting
Chong and the
Emanuel musicians.
I was reminded of sporting events where the spectators rise and sit
together in a Mexican
wave as they support their players - only we offer a great wave of
support and love for,
and commitment, to our King. What an exciting thought that right across
the world a great
wave of believers stood up at different times across the time lines
creating a huge spiritual wave, as together we declared that we
acknowledge only one true God who is Master of this Universe and
beyond, and who is in control of all that happens in it - our God,
deserving of nothing less than a ‘global voice’ which offers and
dedicates all that we have and are into his hands and simply pours out
its love.
In smaller groups we prayed and interceded around a number of issues
that we acknowledged
can only be healed and restored though the movement of the Mighty Right
hand of our God. As we prayed around crime and AIDS, youth and family
life, the church and revival. The Spirit
moved to bring us into a harmony and unity of one voice and spirit.
Although of different
churches and denominations, strangers to each other in the natural,
Christ brought us into a
relationship with each other and spiritual unity that is only made
possible when believers become ound by and of one mind - the mind of
Christ. As though we had known each other all our lives, we pleaded the
blood of Christ over a world and country that has become a war zone
with mounting casualies daily, and prayed in the powerful name of Jesus
Christ.
We gathered around group members who were hurting and wounded, and
prayed with great love for each other. As we prayed no-one spoke with
sense of doom and gloom. Rather there was a deep felt pain for a world
and our country that operates largely outside the protecting umbrella
of our Father’s love, and the consequences of this. We prayed instead
with hope and
expectancy - and this hope must have spoken to our Fathers heart of his
children’s trust in him alone. Our joy of knowing that nothing is
broken or lost forever when we approach our promisekeeping God and our
trust in Him alone to fix what would appear to be unfixable. And this
He has promised to us in 2 Chronicles 7: 14.
As we stood together as South Africans and also the sojourners in our
land, I thought of all the Nations of the world that had prayed and
were still to pray that day, and were filled with a sense of great
gladness that we as South Africans together had sung out, Father here
we are, the South African contingency. I felt joy to be part of a
nation of whom the Heavenlies could say – Yes as we saw the wave right
across the nations of the world, and we
saw too the great wave that came from the South Africans of sunny skies
and braais. They were there, and in one voice declared and believed
that only God can forgive their sin and heal their land.
NIRSA
Declaration of Intent
The first edition
of the Declaration of Intent from National Initiative for the
Reformation of South Africa (NIRSA) has been received by iindaba. The
meeting drew 450 participants, representing different areas of
leadership in all domains of South African national life, and was held
at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, from 22 -
23 April.
The introduction to the declaration begins “We … hereby declare afresh
our commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord, Saviour and Coming King. We
reaffirm our confidence in the Bible as the inspired Word of God and as
our supreme authority in all matters of life and faith.
(2 Timothy 3: 16 -17). Said Jesus: “The Scripture cannot be
broken.” (John 10:35).”
Readers wanting to obtain a copy of the full seven page document can
request the Bishop’s Administrator, Mark Derry, to send it to them – markderry@telkomsa.net
or they can obtain a ‘hard copy’ from Jenny Cowling, Bishop’s
secretary.
Property
Manager needed
A Property Manager is required to assist the Diocesan Secretary with
matters pertaining to church properties. Position will probably suit a
retired architect, estate agent, town planner, conveyancer or civil
engineer. For futher information phone Keith at 041 365 1393.
World-wide
Anglican news
The Anglican Church is going through many challenges at
present such as: The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) being
held in the Holy Land and being attended by many bishops who are
boycotting the Lambeth Conference; The Archbishop of Canterbury saying,
the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK "seems
unavoidable", and much more.
Stay in touch through: http://contact-online.blogspot.com
Do visit the blog and check out what all the news and views - and the
simple way it works.
If you have any suggestions or comments to make, please email David
MacGregor at dsmacgregor@gmail.com
Keep
up to date with what is happening among Christians in the NMM:
www.pechurchnet.co.za
iindaba
Editor: Frankie Simpson
Layout / design : Frankie
Email: iindaba@anglicandiocesepe.org.za
Tel/fax +27 041 360 6808
- evenings only.
iindaba is the vehicle for sharing
your parish news with the rest of the Diocesan family.
Please send contributions and photos to the editor.
Deadline for contributions:
6th of the month prior to publication
Opinions expressed are not
necessarily those of the Bishop nor the editor.
Articles may be reproduced but
credit must be given to iindaba.
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