May - Jun 2004

Index:

• A RETURN TO JIHAD
• TRUE LOVE WAITS STAYS BUSY
• FROM THE CFT PRESIDENT
• LEGAL RECOGNITION OF UNBORN BABY
• HUMAN RIGHTS DAY IN DURBAN

"Awareness among muslims regarding jihad is rising and in the next 10 years, muslims will rule the world." - Daily Times of Pakistan 19 April 2004

This was the view of Amir Jamaat ud-Daawa Irshad Hafiz Muhammad Saeed at a rally at the Shahibagh stadium in Peshawar Pakistan as he called for unity among the Muslims and jihad against the US forces in Iraq. Mr Saeed also predicted that Islam would spread around the world and its past glory restored if the spirit of jihad were revived. He said the atrocities on the Muslim by the infidels would pave way for the revival of jihad. Mr Saeed's voice is part of the gathering battle cry being sounded every day in speeches, suicide bombings and press statements.

On 31 December 2001, The London Times, reported that an estimated 70% of males born in the northern Nigerian city of Kano are being named after Osama bin Laden.

--o0o--

Dr. James Dobson Family News, April 2004

Dear Friends,

I write to you today with a profound sense of concern and apprehension for the welfare of the family, and indeed, for the future of our nation. I do not recall a time since the beginnings of Focus on the Family, 27 years ago, when the institution of marriage faced such peril, or when the forces arrayed against it were more formidable or determined. Barring a miracle, the family as it has been known for more than five millennia will crumble, presaging the fall of Western civilization itself. This is a time for concerted prayer, divine wisdom and greater courage than we have ever been called upon to exercise.

For more than 40 years, the homosexual activist movement has sought to implement a master plan that has had as its centerpiece the utter destruction of the family. The institution of marriage, along with an often weakened and impotent Church, is all that stands in the way of its achievement of every coveted aspiration. Those goals include universal acceptance of the gay lifestyle, discrediting of Scriptures that condemn homosexuality, muzzling of the clergy and Christian media, granting of special privileges and rights in the law, overturning laws prohibiting pedophilia, indoctrinating children and future generations through public education, and securing all the legal benefits of marriage for any two or more people who claim to have homosexual tendencies. These objectives that seemed unthinkable just a few years ago have largely been achieved or are now within reach. All that remains is for the movement and its friends in the media, the entertainment industry, the professions, the government and the military, to deliver the coup de grace to a beleaguered institution that was given to humanity by the Creator in the Garden of Eden. We in North America and Europe are not simply "slouching towards Gomorrah," as Judge Robert Bork warned in his best-selling book; we are hurtling toward it. To cite another metaphor, the old earthen dam that has held and protected the reservoir of Judeo-Christian values and beliefs since the days of our Founding Fathers has been leaking for decades. Even the most casual observer has witnessed greater structural damage each passing year. But in recent weeks, the entire superstructure appears to have given way. What thousands of homosexuals in San Francisco have achieved represents the collapse of the rule of law, with no legal or governmental official being willing or able to stop it or provide more than a temporary stay. A revolution of striking proportions now looms before us.

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--o0o--

TRUE LOVE WAITS STAYS BUSY

TLW-ers are breathing once more as the frantic pace of the first three months of the year begins to slow down. Aside from the various one-day trips and weeklong outreaches, TLW has attracted a surprising amount of media interest without any advertising.

In February, TLW was invited to be a part of a TV debate on SABC 1's "The Chatroom" show. The given topic (which the TLW side won hands down) was "Are one-night-stands OK?" A couple of days later two TLW-ers were interviewed for an 18 March DRUM magazine article. Despite the spin of "this virginity stance is for a strange, elite few" the article generated much interest and various phone calls to the TLW helpline for further information. One girl wrote that she was very relieved to know she wasn't alone, while another father wanted information to help his daughter. About 6 TLW-ers have been interviewed for a positive article on sexual abstinence and virginity that is to appear in a future MARIE CLAIRE edition.

In March a group of volunteers, invited by CFT-Pretoria, conducted a weeklong outreach to various schools in the Pretoria and Atteridgeville areas as well as numerous TUKS hostels. The response was exciting. We have also had inspiring meetings at various high schools in Richard's Bay, Empangeni and Durban. Future plans are for outreaches to Ladysmith and Stanger and Ballito areas.

TLW-SA is also joining in an effort with TLW-International for a large display at the Olympic Games in Athens, August 2004. TLW-SA is sending a large number of our signed pledge cards to Athens, where cards from all over the world will be displayed at a media event arranged for 22 August 2004.

Please pray for us as we face the challenges of the year ahead and especially for the opportunity to give a public testimony to purity and sexual abstinence at August's Athens Olympic Games.

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--o0o--

I thought I sympathised with people who are illiterate but today I had a little taste of what it feels like if you can't sign your own name.

An important document was presented for me to sign and I had to tell the person my hands have become so weak that signing has become impossible. I nodded when the person suggested that I use my thumb, but there was a lump in my throat. Motor Neuron Disease has made me to join the ranks of those who are often looked down upon because 'bagingqa isithupha' (rolling the thumb). Sometimes derogatory words are used for them.

Here am I with many, many pens but I have to use my thumb!

From this seemingly negative side I found myself smiling as I thought of an interesting aspect of my life - collecting! This time let me just stick to pens. My collection of pens evokes pleasant memories.

One of the pens I keep on my desk was a gift from Dr Nato van Eeden on my 45th birthday. He and his brother, Dr Albu van Eeden, were amongst the friends who joined us on 15 June 2002. That happy occasion had a tinge of sadness about it, with a lingering question - could this be the last one?

My other source of beautiful pens is Christoph Morger, a Swiss brother with a dramatic testimony. The Lord 'lifted him up from the deep miry clay and planted his feet on the King's highway.'

There is another fine pen, with 'Greetings from Australia' engraved on it. Onkel Helmuth and Tante Carmen Trinkle are much older than I but we became friends from the first time we met. That was even before Lindiwe and I had the privilege of visiting them in Lobethal, South Australia in 1990.

During my last visit to Europe in May 2001, Onkel Helmuth happened to be in the area as well. We met in Lindach, Germany, not far from Backnang, his birthplace. Although I had been diagnosed with MND already, I was still very mobile then. He told me that he had visited a friend with the same disease and the man had difficulty even raising his hand. Three years down the line, that's where I am now.

Over there are Promise Keepers pens. In 1996 I had the privilege of joining a South African delegation that visited the Promise Keepers headquarters in Denver, Colorado, USA. That was a wonderful exposure. Those brothers went out of their way to equip us with skills for a successful Christian organisation.

That pen is still in it's original box. As the engraving says, it's from the world class Swiss chocolate factory Confiseur Läderach AG 'Freude an der Qualität'. I have the privilege of being friends with the leading owner-directors of the firm, Juerg and Esther Läderach. The KwaSizabantu and CFT work brings us together on numerous occasions. Juerg is the President of CFT-Switzerland and Deputy President of CFT-International.

One of the things I miss about ACB (Association of Christian Broadcasters) Board meetings is Oom Bernard Roebert's generosity. That pen over there - a beautiful work of art - with TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) on it is one of the gifts from Oom Bernard - the big man with a big heart! He leads the TBN ministry in Southern Africa. I'm pleased to see how he remains a real asset to the ACB.

My German 'mother', Frau Hofer, used to commend me for my hand-writing. I can't say it as beautifully as she did in 'Schwaebisch' to describe my hand-writing - in high German you'd say 'wie eine Frau' (like a woman). Mama presented Lindiwe and I with high quality silver pens with our names engraved on them. Papa passed away a few years ago but the legacy he and Mama leave us with is tenacity of faith and mighty intercession.

That set of lovely pens over there is a replica of a present I treasure till today. At the end of my 1976 academic year at the University of Natal Medical School, our lecturers gave me an expensive set of pens in appreciation of my contribution to the friendly attitude in class.

I remember how the Lord led me in the politically charged campus to reach out to everyone, regardless of race. It was His grace that saw me through. Soli Deo Gloria!

There are more pens with memories attached to them but let me end with these two. I bought them for a special milestone - our 20th Wedding Anniversary on 30 December 1999.

Even then my health was not so good. The dear late neurosurgeon, Dr Errol Ackermann, had operated on my neck in October of that year. But who could have guessed that the year 2000 would usher in a new era for the Sibisi family? The one anchor that's kept me firm is to know that God knew, He knows and He will know!

So dear friends even though MND has robbed me of my hand-writing, my collection of pens reminds me to count my blessings. Indeed, I am surprised to see what the Lord has done!

"Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." (Psalm 103:1-2)

Pressing on!

In His love
Fano Sibisi

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--o0o--

LEGAL RECOGNITION OF UNBORN BABY

On 1 April 2004 President Bush signed legislation expanding legal rights of the unborn. ''The suffering of two victims can never equal only one offense,'' Bush said. ''As of today, the law of our nation will acknowledge the plain fact that crimes of violence against a pregnant woman often have two victims,'' Bush said. ''Therefore, in those cases, there are two offenses to be punished.''

The bill passed by a 245-163 vote in the House and by a 61-38 margin in the Senate. Bible believing Christians welcome this recognition of unborn babies. Pro-abortionists have correctly interpreted this as: the first recognition in law of an embryo or fetus as a separate person.

The legislation defines a potential victim as ''a member of the species homo sapiens, at any stage of development, who is carried in the womb.'' In plain English this means that an unborn baby is a human being. We salute this law and look forward to the time when other governments, including our South African government, will recognize the humanity of the unborn.

Once this principal is established it shouldn't be difficult to establish the obvious next step, the outlawing of abortion.

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--oo0oo--

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY IN DURBAN

Durban CFT came together again on 21st of March 2004, Human Rights Day, at the Auditorium at the end of West Street, next to the old aquarium. This time CFT did not have a march but a road show portraying a fictitious local radio station. The radio presenters did it so realisticly that I thought it was done on behalf of one of the local radio stations and I asked one of the members involved whether this is live. They explained to me that it is an imaginary radio station.

Different action groups like Doctors For Life, TNT, True Love Waits, etc. were interviewed, which was interesting and also relevant for the on-looking public. We distributed thousands of abortion, pro-life pamphlets and "more about CFT".

In between, the 'radio station' played some beautiful Christian and light music. The traffic police came and asked the organizers to turn the volume down, after which some of the bystanders were amazed that the police didn't do a thing the previous evening when people played their underground music at the same spot, much louder.

Andre Delport

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