Soul Action South Africa

As a church we support Phil and Rachel Bowyer, through prayer and giving, in their work with Soul Action in Durban, South Africa. Here is an update taken from their latest newsletter. Copies of the full newsletter are available in church.

Many of you will know that we spent the Christmas break in the UK. We clocked up a few thousands miles traveling England and Scotland sharing what God is doing through Soul Action in South Africa.

We were surprised how 5 weeks still wasn’t quite enough time to see everybody. Even though we did visit all our partner churches, we still ran out of Sunday’s to speak. We hit the ground running by speaking at our home church Hope, who also blessed us with a shared meal. In Dunfermline we had great food and conversations with the leaders at the Link.

There were a few personal highlights – meeting friends in Scotland, the Midlands and London, spending Christmas with our families (although it reminds us of just how much we are missing them). I know that standing on the Southbank watching the NYE fireworks fulfilled one of Rachel’s dreams, whilst Zac and I were treated to trips to Anfield (4-1) and Vale Park (0-2).

Mostly the whole trip reminded me that despite our geographical distance, what we’re up to in SA is incredibly connected to our relationships in the UK. Thanks to everyone that welcomed, hosted and fed us.

ZAC’S BIG YEAR
 
On returning home, I was a little shocked to find out that not only had Zac come second in his year (Jan – Dec 2014), but he had also won subjects prizes for History (91%), Accounting (88%), and Math (87%). It was unfortunate that our trip to the UK meant he hadn’t been able to receive his awards in person, but as Zac said, he, "...much preferred being in the UK."

2015 is a big year for Zac as he sits his iGCSE’s; the results of which will determine whether he can do A Levels or not. It’s the same for every UK child Zac’s age, but the issue where we live is that we’ve previously been told pupils don’t normally do A Levels, since AS are enough for Uni here. Zac will have to do exceptionally well for school to even consider offering A Levels. Pray for him.

2015 Global Conference

We’re very excited that this years Integral Mission conference is going global, with delegates from Southern Africa and the rest of the world being invited to join those involved in compassion ministry in KZN. Soul Action has teamed up with YWAM, Tearfund and Call2All internationally, and We Are Durban and Glenridge Church locally.

Some of the themes we will be exploring include:

Equality: gender, race, economics and many other issues divide. How do we seek justice in a broken world & often with a wounded church?

Advocacy: how does the church find a confident voice to influence the public sphere?

Community: how do we help people without causing harm? How do we genuinely help people realise their God given potential without trapping them in dependency on welfare?

Discipleship and church: how do we lead the whole of God’s people as participants in God’s holistic mission to the whole world?

Creating effective partnerships: building effective partnerships and community across racial, social and theological divides In addition to plenary sessions and workshops, there will be space to reflect,
worship, pray and connect with fellow delegates. For the first time ever, this years delegates will be

able to go & visit Durban based ministries.

 

As a result of this years conference delegates will have a greater appreciation of how compassion ministry relates to the pursuit of justice as part of the mission of God. They’ll also take away fruitful connections with like-minded people and proven approaches to implement in their own ministries.

Centre of Excellence

 

As an organisation we offer different training opportunities to the network, based on where we feel God is leading and needs people express. Training that is planned to take place this year includes:

Business Training

Four workshops during Jan and Feb for people wanting to develop skills to start their own business.

 

Keeping Children Safe

Two workshops in June and September to help organisations develop a Child Protection Policy.

Equip

For people working with children and young people.

Four workshops throughout the year exploring:

• * Creativity and learning styles
• * How to plan/prepare
• * How to manage behaviour
• * Peer mentoring

NPO Know How

Four practical session for leaders of organisations which explore theory, praxis and toolkits.






Please pray for the Soul Action team as they prepare material and deliver training; that they would allow for thinking time and cater for all forms of learning styles. 

For a New Beginning

 

For a New Beginning by John O’Donohue

 

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered, would you always live like this?

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.



A Prayer

"See, I am doing a new thing!" Isaiah 43: 19

 

Prayer

Jesus - Help me to stop remembering and dwelling on the past in ways that are unhelpful. I choose to not live in the past or to live in regret. I choose to leave the past in the past, and refocus on the new work God will do today

I choose to make room for God to do a new thing.

I open myself to the grace of a new year and a new beginning, acknowledging that you are the God of the fresh start, that your loyal love will never run out, that your merciful love will never dry up but that they are created new every morning and you are the God of great faithfulness.

I choose to make room for God to do a new thing.

God I seek you and open to you the deepest desires of my heart. I choose to be honest with myself and you and I let go of who I think I ought to be, who everyone else wants me to be, who other people think I am and I choose to be who you say I am.

I choose to make room for God to do a new thing.

Sometimes I don’t perceive the new thing. It is hidden in the profound mystery which veils creation. Give me eyes to see it spring to light, to come out of the darkness.

I choose to make room for God to do a new thing

It appears when and where it chooses. I cannot force it, and I cannot calculate it. Readiness is the only condition for it. So make me ready and able to see what former things in my life have become old. Help the new to break the power of the old, not only in reality, but also in my memory.

I choose to make room for God to do a new thing

Help me to see that the new bears the mark of its eternal origin in its face, the origin of the new thing is you God, you have said “I” am doing a new thing.

I choose to make room for God to do a new thing

Athens Link Fellowship

Iain and Norma Allan have just returned from a visit to our sister church in Georgia USA, Athens Link Fellowship. As well as ministering at the Sunday services and the Wednesday evening meetings, they had the opportunity to meet and pray with various people throughout their time there. There were a number of healings reported, including:

• Paul Wiggins who was unable to open his hands properly for around 15 years. After Iain prayed for him he was able to fully open both hands.

• A lady who was in severe pain from a fractured elbow was healed.

• A lady who had worn hearing aids for 25 years was healed of deafness and able to remove her hearing aids.

Praise the Lord!

1050 and 1051 Baxter Street

   

Athens Link have recently purchased these two buildings on Baxter Street, and Iain and Norma were able to see them for the first time during their visit.

This is both an exciting and a challenging time for Athens Link as they take on these buildings to renovate and use them for the Kingdom of God.

Work has just begun on clearing out the pink building. The people of Athens Link are trusting God to provide for repairs to the roof and ceiling, which must be done before they can get permission to use the building. Among others plans for this building is the possibility of doing Messy Church here. Diana Zylow of Athens Link will be visiting us for the second time in October and she is looking forward to finding out more about Messy Church while she is here.

Work starts on clearing out the building

 

    John and Cindy Gaultney

               The Athens Link Family

Soul Action South Africa

As a church we support Phil and Rachel Bowyer, through prayer and giving, in their work with Soul Action in Durban, South Africa. Here is an update taken from their latest newsletter. Copies of the full newsletter are available in church.

Peer Mentoring

As part of the work we're involved in training and empowering teachers to teach phonics, we've put in structures and encouraged teachers to observe colleagues - peer mentoring.

Rachel felt it was important to give teachers the opportunity to be involved in peer mentoring since it:

• is a way in which staff can support their colleagues by helping them to identify what they are doing well
• allows constructive feedback to be given
• helps people to learn from one another
• can help to promote good practice

When Rachel and Diane facilitated the termly workshop in July, Rachel introduced the concept by considering:

• what peer mentoring is and what it involves
• the advantages and challenges of peer mentoring
• ways to give constructive criticism

The response was varied. Some teachers were incredibly excited about he prospect, whilst others questioned why it was necessary. Having been through the process several times as a teacher herself and knowing the benefits, Rachel did not let some teacher's doubts alter her plans, but it did make her more aware of the need to carefully guide teachers through the process for it to be of value.

Well, in August all the teachers were peer mentored and, from the feedback, it is clear they all felt it was a good and worthwhile experience. The teachers were all able to identify what their colleague was doing well, thus encouraging one another and promoting good practice.

Each teacher was also asked to identify a learning point, something they had observed in their peer's lesson that they wanted to apply to their own class. This worked very well, each teacher took away with them something to implement to improve their own teaching.

Reflecting on the process, teachers from two of the schools shared how much they had appreciated the opportunity to engage with peer mentoring and asked if it would be possible to do it again.


Film Festival
(In partnership with Grace Aid and Film Craft)

Throughout June and July a local charity sponsored a film making course for 30 individuals from 18 different Christian churches and non profit organisations (NPOs) from Soul Action's network. The aim of the course was to teach leaders how to create video stories that:

• advocate for change
• showcase their ministry
• create awareness of their work
• communicate effectively impactful video stories
• provide a tool to market, fundraise and report to donors.

Each organisation was expected to produce a four minute film, that is: writing the script, drawing the story board, shooting the footage, lighting, audio, editing and so on.

In August the film makers celebrated their work with a film festival, complete with red carpet, a movie star walk of fame, mini Oscars, press-style photography and interviews. The audience was treated to free popcorn and asked to vote for their favourite film.

Best Film went to "Voice for the Voiceless" - the story of how Shepherd's Keep provides loving care for abandoned and terminally ill babies.




Good News Christian Radio's captivating film on the positive role the media can play in preventing suicide came second, followed in third by a creative animation by Key of hope and Grace Aid highlighting Anti-Human Trafficking and the need for Christians to respond to the proposed reforms to South Africa's prostitution laws.





Shared Reading and Writing

Towards the end of August Rachel facilitated a workshop for 28 teachers from two Amaoti schools in response to a need they'd expressed for training on shared reading and writing.

Through the workshop teachers were facilitated through a process which helped them to understand what shared reading is. In groups they considered what they could teach through shared reading lessons.

Due to the generous gift from Wesley Hall Church, every Grade 3 teacher was given a big book stand. These will greatly help the teachers when facilitating shared reading.

The teachers developed an understanding of what shared writing is. They were able to  look at key information in relation to shared writing. A shared writing lesson was modelled to the staff and through this the facilitator demonstrated the various stages -

1.  talk before you write
2. demonstrate the writing process
3. write through collaboration with the class

Staff were able to identify the advantages of shared writing and relate to their context.

The response to the workshop was extremely positive. Some teachers are now asking for increased support in their classrooms which is helping to provide direction as we start preparing and planning for literacy in the coming year.

Upcoming Events for Prayer

September 25th - Connect Gathering
We will be gathering staff who are working with children and youth between the ages of 0-18 from organisations who are part of the Network to a meeting where we will be exploring holistic well-being; both their own well-being and the well-being of the children and youth that they work with.

September 26th - 28th Church Weekend Away
The family will be travelling 100 miles south along the coast were Phil will lead five sessions on the Kingdom of God; loving ourselves and loving others wherever we are.

October 14th - Phonics Workshop
Rachel and Diane will be facilitating a workshop to consider the sounds and blends to be taught throughout the term. Also we will use this opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the teacher training programme that has taken place this year.

Pray For:

• Phil, Rachel and Zac in what is proving to be a busy period
• Space to rest, clarity of thinking and good judgement
• The right new opportunities as we plan for 2015

David Storm's summer in North Africa

David Storm is just back from a trip to North Africa with a small team. Here is his update:

 

 

Hospitality the North African Way

Within 10 minutes of entering a North African home you will be seated on the floor, a small round table brought before you, your hands washed and dried, and a wee cup of freshly brewed green or mint tea put before you.

 A large round piece of bread, baked that morning, will be brought to the table at the same time as the tea with the head of the house breaking the bread and giving a piece to each person at the table – does this practise remind you of someone?  Depending on how well off the family are; you may get some butter, jam, olive oil or even honey to dip your bread into.

Remember that this family probably only met you 10 minutes ago. Remember that they are Muslims and live in a Muslim culture. Remember that today you have been praying and asking the Lord to introduce you to people of peace, that today you have been asking the Lord to open a door to someone’s home that He wants to bless.

 

Into the Saharan Dunes!

Throughout each mission trip we run team devotionals. On this trip we focused a couple of weeks on the character and nature of God. It was brilliant to drive 30 minutes into the dunes and to have devotions in the desert wilderness! Here we reflected on the wildness of God.

Campfire Stories

Sometimes the simple things are the most memorable! Of all the things the team were a part of and experienced, this night was their favourite memory of the entire trip. We drove off-road a few kilometres, scavenged for some fire wood, dug a wee fire pit in a sheltered spot and very importantly brewed up some Galaxy hot chocolate!  Then under a starlit night sky, the licking flames warming us nicely from the chilled desert air, we listened intently for the next two hours to story after story from a couple of missionary friends who had joined us to share about their experiences of God answering prayer and moving among the people of North Africa.  What a fantastic night filled with stories of faith and answered prayer!

 

A Week with Nomads

One of the team, who had been on several trips with us before, had the opportunity to join a mission worker to go and live in the desert with a nomadic family for a week.  This was a family that we had met on a previous short term mission trip (when asking God to open up a door among the tent dwellers).  In between the trips a friendship had been struck up with the missions worker, communication continued and here was the invite to live a week with them and share life together.  This was a huge opportunity, yet also a huge challenge!  It was a very positive time where much was learnt and many stories shared.  Praise God for this time but continue to pray for this line of pioneer missions work. 

 

Update from the Storms

A Cross-Cultural Challenge! 

Well, working in a cross-cultural team has its challenges!  Egyptians, Americans, Brits, an Iraqi, a Brazilian and a Colombian, what a wonderful mix and what a wonderful challenge!  Our goal is the same to see long term church planted among the Bedouin Arabs of the many wilderness areas of the Middle East, however our methods and understanding and training differ hugely (-:

Praise God for mission workers that desire to work together!

Pray for grace, unity and commitment – what an expression of church this would be for the Bedouins to see!

Walking Among the Bedouin  

 

Building relationships and building trust takes time.  How does this start in a nomadic community that has no Christian outreach?  We joined with a long term mission’s worker for a 100km week long trek to walk and live among the Bedouin.  Hospitality abounds, spontaneous invitations for tea and food and to stay the night come thick and fast, and in the context of these visits some key relationships with families of peace are begun.

A new Land Rover to prepare

 

What a gift this vehicle has been.  Given to the work from a generous friend about 9 months ago, April and May was spent in the garage to begin to understand the new TD5 engine and prepare the Landy for its first overland expedition – a six week 8000 mile return trip to North Africa beckons this summer.  Electrics, a crankshaft sensor, greasing the nipples on the prop shaft and universal joints, engine/axles/gearbox oil change, swivel grease, silicone hoses installed, turbo charger to exhaust downpipe gasket replaced, roof-rack flooring made, towbar fitted, more electrics … the list goes on and on!

 

Annelie’s first pee on the toilet!

Yes, not the normal missions blog entry, but for us it was a memorable occasion none the less!  Between her trip to the Middle East, befriending Muslim kids and playschool duties, some of the mundane things in life were standing out.  We were at the Big Church Day Out festival at the end of May to man the promotional stand for World Horizons and after several failed attempts at potty training Annelie decides now was the time … a grotty dark green portable festival toilet it was, first pee on the potty/toilet done!

Anniversary 

We celebrated 9 years with a spectacular treat to the theatre to see the Lion King.  AMAZING!

North Africa 

 

June kicked off with a small team going to Morocco to meet up with some of the nomadic mountain peoples we had initiated contact with on previous short term trips.  Travelling alongside the long term mission worker who had now developed a trusting relationship with the families, we got to see how things were developing.  It is wonderful to report one family in particular are regularly listening to the stories of Jesus on a portable solar device that they carry with them as they are shepherding their goats in the mountains.  Questions and opportunities are coming.  Please continue to pray!