As you pray -14 April 2009

My dear friends

"Our Lord is risen from the dead!
Our Jesus is gone up on high!
The powers of hell are captive led,
Dragged to the portals of the sky." - Charles Wesley

On Sunday evening as I listened to Radio Khwezi listeners share about the different Easter services they attended I was encouraged. The messages they passed on contained a lot of truth in them. I identify with the sentiments expressed by the Khwezi presenter, Phakamani Mkhwanazi, the prayer that the blessing of the Passover will not pass with it.

As you can imagine, the Passover weekend at KwaSizabantu was special. How could one over one weekend exhaust the treasures to be found in the suffering, crucifixion, death and resurrection of our Lord? As the Brownriggs sing, the story of the cross is "old, yet ever new."

It was amazing to see how well the account of the burning down of the auditorium and the miracle of its restoration within a short space of time blended into the Easter message.

As Onkel Erlo had said on Saturday the political leaders who joined us for the dedication of the auditorium spoke like preachers. They quoted generously from the Bible. I had a private inner chuckle when I noticed that one of them had a special ministerial tone.

Another lovely aspect for me was the different expressions of joy on Saturday. Those who were not there should imagine how it must have sounded like when the Eurochoir sang and the Zulu women ululated.

We were moved to see how many of our overseas brethren flew over together with the Eurochoir for the Passover and the dedication of the auditorium. When one considers the logistics and costs involved one realises that it was a giant step for them. May the blessings they take back with further enrich their lives.

We marvel at how God drew in people with various skills to assist in the reconstruction of the auditorium. One of them is Paul, Victor Matveyuk's twin brother. The Russian American identical pair were, humanly speaking inseparable. When God's call came Victor and his young family were led to KwaSizabantu; Paul and his young family were led to mission work in Russia. 

Back home in Colorado the brothers were involved in the construction industry. They specialise in a beautiful wall-finishing technique. That is exactly what they joined hands to do at the auditorium. May the Lord be their reward. 

On Sunday Philip Stegen and Priscille Rasteiro (from France) got engaged. We thank God with them and the family and wish them His blessing.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr Peet and Andra Botha who are presently ministering in different states of the USA. They have a hectic schedule behind them already and they are thankful for God's working so far. Your prayers will be appreciated.

Our prayers are also with Dr Albu van Eeden who left yesterday to join Peet and Andra for services and meetings in the USA.

These days I received greetings from Pfarrer Friedrich Heckel (Ernst and Ulrich's father) in Bavaria. He shared with me about a special service they had. Although Rev Heckel is officially retired he still ministers from time to time. When he and Tante Hedda were in South Africa recently he recorded some sermons for Radio Khwezi. Let us remember the Heckels. 

Here is another striking illustration from eSermons:

The Cape of Good Hope

I can still recall a geography lesson from elementary school in which we learned that the southernmost point of Africa is a point which for centuries has experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one even knew what lay beyond that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell the tale. Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms," and for good reason. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century, Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed around that very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope.

Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter morning, those ancient visions of Isaiah became the victory of Jesus over our last great enemy. Suddenly, like those ancient explorers, we can see beyond the storm to the hope of heaven and eternal life with the Father. More than that, we dare to believe that we shall experience in our own human lives exactly what the Son of God experienced in his, for the risen Christ says to us, "Because I live, you shall live also." This is the heart of the Easter faith.

Robert Beringer, Easter People, 

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