As you pray -30 November 2007

Last Sunday's service at KwaSizabantu warmed my heart. It was just too wonderful to listen to reports from different parts of the world.

Ian and Karin Engelbrecht who have just returned from Australia testified of God's hand and faithfulness.

Peet and Andra Botha together with John Powys are back from the USA. Peet shared about their trip and experiences with the Lord.

Onkel Erlo, Onkel Friedel, Didier and Arno brought back with them a serious challenge from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The need out there is great, the terrain is tough and those whom the Lord sends need special grace.

Our thoughts are with Peter Rice who has gone up to Limpopo (Northern Province) for the annual meeting of the National Community Radio Forum.

Our prayers are with the staff and pupils of Domino Servite School (SA) as they prepare for the Prize Giving Ceremony this evening.

Let us remember the young people as they return to the warmth and challenges of being at home during the Christmas and New Year period.

We are thinking of the matriculants who will soon be entering the world of young adulthood with all its challenges and temptations.

Jan and Gwen van Hasselt came by today together with their family. As they shared about some of the doors that have opened for the Good News in their area I was reminded of the song 'Brighten the corner where you are.'

We are rejoicing with the families and friends of Zwelandile Ngidi and Nokuthula Ngema as the pair will be getting married at KwaSizabantu on Sunday. May the Lord bless them.

Your ongoing prayer support for the KwaSizabantu Youth Conference (7-14 December) will be appreciated. Early next week there will be sessions with the ushers and other young people who have offered to serve in one way or another.

Once again, I was encouraged by the message from Peter Wenger yesterday requesting prayers as CFT-Switzerland would be passing on the message of life outside the venue of Marylin Manson's concert.

Our prayers are with the Eurochor as they will be performing at two Christmas concerts in France this weekend.

Onkel Friedrich and Tante Kathrin Reufer from Switzerland came by. Onkel Friedrich is also involved with the training, accompanying and conducting the Eurochor.

The Reufers also told me that this is a special weekend for Hans Koller and the brethren in Romania as they will be celebrating 10 years of the ministry in Voiteg. We join the brethren in thanking God and pleading for the grace to march on with Him.

Bettina Marayag from Times Square Church in New York requests  for a Ministers' Conference in El Salvador (29 November to 1 December) with Pastor David Wilkerson and his son, Pastor Gary.

The story 'All This You Did For Me' in eSermons moved me deeply. Read. Ponder. Be blessed.

'All This You Did for Me

The Archbishop of Paris once stood in the pulpit of Notre Dame Cathedral. He
was there to preach a sermon, and his sermon was built around a single
story. Thirty years earlier, he told, there were three young tourists who
had come into this very cathedral. All of the young men were rough, rude,
and cynical persons, who thought that all religion was a racket. Two of
these men dared a third to go into the confessional box and make a made-up
confession to the priest. The two bet that the third young man did not have
the nerve to do as they dared.

The third young man went into the confessional box and tried to fool the
priest. But the priest knew that what the young man was saying was a lie.
There was a tone of arrogance in the young man's voice - which could not go
without notice. After hearing the confession, the priest told the young man
his penance. The priest said, "Very well, my son. Every confession requires
a penance, and this is yours. I ask you to go into the chapel, stand before
the crucifix, look into the face of the crucified Christ and say, 'All this
you did for me, and I don't give a damn!' "

The young man staggered out of the confessional to his friends, bragging
that he had done as they dared. The other two young men insisted that he
finish the performance by doing the penance. This young man made his way
into the chapel, stood before the crucifix, looked up into the face of
Christ and began, "All this you did for me and I ... I ... I don't ... I
don't give a ...." At this point in the story, the archbishop leaned over
the pulpit and said, "That young man was this man who stands before you to
preach."

That's the miracle of the cross. When we begin to understand the love on the
cross, we want to change our relationship with God. We cannot remain the
same, anymore. We want God at the center of our lives, again.

Burton F. Blair, Amid His Pain He Said

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

Have a blessed weekend.
 
Pressing on!
 
In His love
 
Fano Sibisi