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• Children called to serve at St Matthias
• Letters to the ed
• Father’s Day visit by the Bishop
• TEE College 2009
• A new experience
Children called to serve at St Matthias
[ Thami Nyondo
]
On 6 July Mthetheleli Vena, priest-in-charge of St Matthias Church in
Motherwell, increased the number of servers from nine to 35. The servers
were noticeably joyful and excited about their achievement. Thami
Nyondo, who has been ‘mothering’ them by making sure that the gap
between the school - their training sessions/church services - and home
has been bridged from early this year, sponsored each child with a New
King James Version (NKJV) Bible. She said that she hoped and prayed the
servers “will build their lives on the word” as quoted on the cover of
the Bibles they have, and that by bringing them to the church to serve
the Lord this way, their parents are fulfilling what is said in the
Gospel of St Mark Chapter 10 : 14.
Mthetheleli’s message for the day was from Ex 1:10 “… Because I drew him
out of the water …” The message suited the occasion very well as these
children are drawn out of a Motherwell community that is known for a
very high crime rate and unemployment.
Thami visited the homes of former servers and asked for unused cassocks
and cottas in order to make sure that the orphans and vulnerable
children who are unable to afford to buy the robes are also able to
serve God. Our thanks to the kind parents who donated the robes.
Pic: Back row: Unathi Mbolekwa, Xhantilomzi Magaba, Zukisa Ntantiso,
Mandilakhe Mrayi, Nomfusi Busakwe, Siphosethu Lutweyi, Anelisa Langbooi,
Mandla Menze, Athenkosi Mnweba, Siphokazi Mazilana, Pumeza Cakwebe,
Chwayita Lugalo, Nandipha Platjies; (middle row) Vuyo Nodwele, Vuyani
Nodwele, Sinesipho Madlingozi, Bulelani Kwitshana, Asemahle Busakwe,
Vuyolwethu Maqoko, Lutholuhle Sangotsha, Thembela Ndimba, Siphokazi
Dlabongo (front row) Asemahle Tshiwula, Lisakhanya Njalo, Sinoxolo Kani,
Sesethu Sikani. Mthetheleli Vena (with glasses on) is standing at the
back of the group.
Letters to the ed
Caught by a hoax
The claim that the United Kingdom has removed the Holocaust from school
history syllabi (iindaba, August 2008) is an email hoax which has been
around for a while. The truth is that it remains compulsory in England,
and optional in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. None of these
jurisdictions have changed their syllabi recently. There is an American
variant of the hoax that has the University of Kentucky scrapping the
Holocaust from its curriculum. It seems that UK stands for “University
of Kentucky” in the USA! Readers can refer to the URL
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/uk-holocaust-removal.shtml for details.
This is one of several so-called “Gospel hoaxes”, designed specifically
to raise the ire of Christians. Others assert that the CEO of Proctor
and Gamble donates 50% of his company’s profits to the Church of Satan;
religious broadcasting will shortly be banned in the USA; a film
entitled Corpus Christi is being made which portrays Jesus and the
Apostles as gay; and Barack Obama is a Muslim. Some are ancient and some
are recent. All are equally false. None should be forwarded.
The current hoax is also nasty in that it denigrates the tens of
millions of Soviet citizens who died in World War II. I certainly hold
no brief for Stalin, but the ordinary people of the Soviet Union paid a
heavy price in the war against Nazism. Far from looking the other way,
it was they who liberated the worst of the death camps – Auschwitz,
Maidenek, Treblinka, etc. These were mostly in occupied Poland.
The Holocaust is a dreadful reality which must never be forgotten. But
we do the six million who died no credit by making them the subject of
scurrilous hoaxes.
Geoff Booth
Parish of the Zwartkops River Valley
iindaba also received a note from Mary Burnett in the UK pointing out
our error. iindaba apologises that the article was not checked with
www.snopes.com
The UK Holocaust claim may be a hoax but this report certainly is not –
Hamas Holocaust perversion:
Jews planned Holocaust to kill handicapped Jews
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
Palestinian Media Watch 30 April 2008
Jewish leaders planned the Holocaust to kill “disabled and handicapped”
Jews to avoid having to care for them, according to a Hamas TV
educational program. As much of the world prepared to commemorate Yom
HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Hamas TV presented its latest
sinister twist on Holocaust denial.
The Hamas TV educational programme broadcast taught that the murder of
Jews in the Holocaust was a Zionist plot with two goals:
1 To eliminate “disabled and handicapped” Jews by sending them to death
camps, so they would not be a burden on the future state of Israel.
2 At the same time, the Holocaust served to make “the Jews seem
persecuted” so they could “benefit from international sympathy.”
Amin Dabur, head of the Palestinian “Centre for Strategic Research”
explained that “the Israeli Holocaust - the whole thing was a joke, and
part of the perfect show that [Zionist leader and future Israeli prime
minister] Ben Gurion put on.” The “young energetic and able” were sent
to Israel, while the handicapped were sent “so there would be a Holocaust.”
The full transcript from Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) April 18 2008 is available
on: www.pmw.org.il
Father’s Day visit by the Bishop
[ Lena Hopa
]
Bishop Bethlehem visited St Stephen’s, New Brighton on Father’s Day, 15
June, and confirmed 29 candidates. The theme of his sermon was ‘The
family that prays together stays together’ and he said a healthy family
life is based on trust, communication, love and understanding which can
mould the family into living a Christian life. He encouraged the fathers
to pray with the family in their homes. He spoke of the escalation of
crime, especially among fathers who abuse, rape and murder their own
children because they do not appreciate family values.
After this Lovely Doda, the rector’s wife, rendered a poem based on
fatherhood which was cool and awesome, and the Sunday school children,
under her guidance, showed Bishop Bethlehem how talented they were by
singing for him.
Bishop Bethlehem thanked everyone for their hard work saying ‘Nangamso’
after being presented with a live sheep. It was a wonderful day for
everybody.
TEE College 2009
The important news for TEE College in 2008 was our long-promised
official registration by the Department of Education. This means that
now all the courses we offer, which had been previously accredited, as
well as the college itself, are fully certified.
The college offers a wide range of programmes from the Level 2 Award
Course (most of which are available in Xhosa), the Level 4 Certificate
of Competence in Theology, the Level 6 Diploma in Theology and Ministry
and the Level 7 Bachelor of Theology.
In addition, there is the range of Special Focus Courses, especially
geared for equipping people for various areas of parish ministry. These
short courses consist of various combinations of four subjects from the
Level 4 Certificate of Competence in Theology. They are Preach your
Faith, Care for People, Know your Bible, Spirituality - the Broader
Picture, Live your Faith, and Know your Christian Context. Students
interested in taking courses in a particular area may now do so and
receive a certificate of completion once they have achieved these
components. The first three titles of these Special Focus Courses are
also offered at Award level.
Registration is about to open for 2009. An information Meeting is
scheduled for 16h00 on Saturday 1 November 2008 at All Saints´ Church,
Kabega Park.
Prospective students are invited to attend to find out about the various
options available to them through TEE College and to collect
registration forms. Enquiries to the Revd Howard Lancaster at 041 360
1267 or petee@mweb.co.za. You may also wish to visit TEE´s website
www.tee.co.za
A new experience Pic: Angela Hambury, deacon at St Katharine’s, Uitenhage, is seen with the
Confirmation candidates and parents who attended a service at St Simon
of Cyrene recently. It was a new experience for the youth and their
parents as it was a very different type of service and an exciting time
for them, which they enjoyed.
Wanted ... copies of the ‘English Hymnal’ for St Mary Magdalene Church,
West End. If any parish has copies they don’t want please contact the
parish office: 041 481 8686.
Fried ‘eggs-actly’ right
Pic: Adèle Erasmus, Avril Nolte, and Sigcobile Dipa do the selling while
‘chef’ Dean Erasmus makes sure the eggs are cooked to perfection at the
Holy Trinity fête. The weather smiled on the parish with sunshine, no
wind and many customers to buy the large array of goodies for sale.
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