P2P Earth News, Updates and Opportunties

God at Work

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Mon, 07 Mar 2016 20:26:00 +0000

Proverbs 16:9 "A man's heart devises his way: but the LORD directs his steps."

We are nearing the end of the first quarter of 2016, and I have only now started to see a bit of what our glorious Father's plan is for us this year.

The verse I quoted above, Prov 16:9, has been very practically illustrated for me in my and Michael's lives these last few months.

Near the end of 2015, when we knew that we might very well not receive WCF sponsorship for 2016, it was very difficult for us to "get our heads around" the idea of not continuing the projects we had then been working on for 4 years.

It became a time of intense reflection on and evaluation of all of the different projects we were involved in, as we knew that even if we both had to find conventional employment again we would still continue with as many of the projects as we could find time to. As such we prioritized the projects that had grown the most in terms of relationships built as that is, for us, is the link between outreach and effective preaching.

It was also quite a testing time as we were both tentatively job hunting in a country with an exceptionally high unemployment rate – as well as an affirmative action policy that makes it almost impossible for a white man to find work.

To come back to our Proverbs verse – "a man's heart devises his way". In our minds a reasonable solution to our dilemma was that Michael would find full time work with a salary that at least matched our current sponsorship, and I would remain at home to home school our daughters and then try to continue with the Crèche Teacher Training courses and the Skills Training Academy for Community Kids (STACK Classes) as best I could.

We worked really hard at making this happen – Michael went for several interviews with no success, and even I applied for a job, which I could have taken, except that it would have meant either uprooting our family and moving away from all our support structure, or spending close on 4 dangerous hours a day in travel time with my two young daughters.

We and our family (relatives as well as brothers & sisters in Christ) spent many hours in prayer, praying that our Father would indeed "direct our steps" and while we were waiting, help us to continue in faith.

And direct our steps He did!

In Oct/Nov last year we received confirmation that at least I would continue receiving sponsorship from WCF. I then also started a small home-based Montessori preschool (as I would be home schooling my daughters anyway) in the mornings. Shortly thereafter Michael found half-day work as a tutor at a home school assistance centre (Crossroads Christian Academy), although his salary was less than his sponsorship amount. This meant that we would still need to find another source of employment to cover our needs. A month or so later we learnt that he too would receive WCF sponsorship for this year – the amount sponsored exactly covering the shortfall in his salary!

As an aside – I do not believe in "coincidence". In Afrikaans the word for coincidence is "toevallig" which directly translates to "then the light fell" and for me that is God's light highlighting His work in our lives.

As the projects we had prioritized as the most necessary to continue all ran over the weekend or in the afternoons the fact that both Michael's work and my preschool was half day meant that we could continue all of them.

Of course it is only when one looks back that you really see how our magnificent God was creating a much bigger picture – one that only He was able to see at the time, and even now, one that we only manage to understand in part.

As wonderful as it was that we were able to meet our needs financially as well as continuing our outreach & preaching work this was just the beginning of His bountiful blessings.

The first "extended" blessing was that as the preschool I started had more enrolments I was able to provide one of our Youth members, who is currently studying the Montessori Method, with both gainful employment as well as valuable classroom experience time.

Another way that our "work" has benefitted our outreach efforts is that in setting up and running a preschool myself I have come into contact with several key persons that are able to also assist the teachers we are training in the Crèche Course with legalizing their preschools. I am also able to speak to them from more recent experiences and provide examples which reinforce the lessons we provide.

The next blessing we discovered during our first STACK Project Class. At these classes we first do our best to assist any of the children there with any projects & assignments they need help with, and also try to help them if they have work that they do not understand. We then do activities that develop various skillsets with them. Last year we found it really hard to effectively assist them with especially the math work that they struggled with, as we ourselves hadn't done that kind of math in about 10 years!

This year however, Michael is teaching this very math as part of his work at Crossroads Christian Academy! As such he knows exactly what they are busy learning & need to learn next, and can offer them really effective tutorship. This is the same for all of the subjects and grades that he teaches, and has added much value to our STACK Classes!

We have already had instances of members of the youth group stopping by the Adieu Centre, even on Saturdays, with a question, and leaving with a much more confident step!

A little further on in Proverbs 19:21 we read: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."

Looking to the rest of the year, we have many hopes, plans & dreams for the projects we are working in as well as the individuals we are continuing to build relationships with. I hope to soon also share the more practical details and photographs of our projects with you.

I can now, however, look back and know with absolute certainty that as long as we continue to seek our Father's guidance and trust that He is actively working in every detail of our lives, His purpose, immeasurable greater than ours, will prevail.

YOUR BROTHER AND SISTER IN CHRIST

Michael and Lilandi Furstenburg

Women at the Well ReTREAT August 2015

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 09:09:00 +0000

Ever wondered why it is called a women's reTREAT? I discovered the answer during our annual "Women at the Well" Weekend in the Drakensberg at the beginning of August! The weekend was attended by sisters from the Kempton Park, Soweto and Aphiwe ecclesias, a few unbaptized friends as well as visiting sisters Deb Lea, Judy MacKinnon & Jeanne Ploetz.

Jeanne, Judy and Deb

The venue itself is a treat both in terms of luxurious comfort and visual splendour; not to mention the plentiful and delicious homemade meals prepared by the owner herself.

The sisters of the organizing ecclesia's (this year it was the Gauteng ecclesia's) took it upon themselves to make or have made several small gifts which were distributed throughout the weekend, such as traditional edible treats, small cushions, tissue holders, bracelets, bath soaps, key rings and mugs. We also gifted each sister a copy of the DVD "Faith in the Face of Adversity".

One of the gifts was a DIY beaded sugar spoon.

All of the above pales in the face of the biggest TREAT of all though – which was the deeply meaningful and encouraging studies presented by our dearly loved sister Deb Lea. The theme of her studies was "God's Spirit in Me"; focusing especially on the characteristics Paul shares in Colossians 3. The sisters enjoyed the combination of "teacher-led" studies as well as small group discussions and feedback. The small group discussions also helped the sisters from various ecclesias, and even countries, get to know each other better.

On the Saturday afternoon we took most of the sisters on a short road trip into the heart of the Central Drakensberg. This was a huge treat as it was the first time many of them had seen this incredible sight. These magnificent peaks are truly a testament to the creative might of our Father, and one cannot help but remember David's psalms about "looking up to the mountains".

We were blessed with a "God-moment" during our journey to the venue, which I would like to again share and praise Him for. When we started out on Friday morning we were battling a vicious cross-wind, which literally seemed to yank the steering wheels out of our hands at times. Knowing that we had to traverse a very busy and dangerous mountain pass, the drivers were all silently praying for the wind to die down. We stopped at a petrol station/rest stop just before the pass for lunch, got back into our vehicles and immediately realized that we were no longer fighting to stay on the road! God had answered our prayers!

The sisters returned home physically tired (staying up chatting until 2am does that to a person) but emotionally and spiritually fulfilled and energized, already discussing plans for next year's reTREAT – which we will God Willing be advertising internationally. Looking forward to seeing everyone there – if not sooner in the Kingdom!

With love in Christ

Lilandi Furstenburg (on behalf of the Gauteng sisters)

Another treat was receiving the group photo during the weekend so that each sister could sign it to create a lovely keepsake of our time together.

Volunteers making a difference

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 19:26:00 +0000

One of the main contributing factors to the continued preaching pastoral and outreach activities we experience is the flow of volunteers that make their way to South Africa. Having the Adieu Center as an accommodation center is the major reason why we are able to be blessed with many volunteers coming to South Africa and give so selflessly of their time and talents.

Since January this year (2015) we were privileged to have the following volunteers visit us and help us in our work:

Bro. Steve Pitt-Francis (UK)
Sister Elouise Caudry (Australia)
Bro. Kam Sandhu (UK)
Sister Briony Kemp (UK)
Bro Josh Bullock (UK)
Phoebe Martin (Australia)

All the volunteers integrated well with our ecclesia preaching and outreach activities.

Bro. Steve Pitt Francis gave excellent exhortations at the Kempton Park - , Aphiwe and Congolese ecclesias. He was also very good in teaching the youth various skills and spiritual concepts and lessons through a very well prepared series of talks entitled "3D learning." We were blessed with him leaving us all his course materials for use in the future.

It was also great to have Steve's insight into matters pertaining to the youth as well as his help in having a preliminary baptism interview with Keletso.

Sister Eloise did great work and was happy to help with whatever work we threw at her. She is very flexible and did a variety of work, some of which was out of her comfort zone but she did very well. Having to give a Sunday school class on a balcony at the Congolese ecclesia is not easy but we were very impressed with how well she handled it.

She was also very good with the Sunday school children at the Kempton Park ecclesia and continued supporting them when they attended the STACK (Skills Training Academy for Community Kids) project on Tuesday afternoons. It was great that Eloise joined us for a second 3 day visit on her way back to Australia after she was in Durban for a while. Eloise showed a lot of endurance on one particular day when she sorted out a huge load of knitted squares we received from brothers and sisters in the USA a while ago. The squares form part of the SNUGGLES project and are given to Gogos (grand mothers) in the Township who stich them together to make blankets for the needy.


: Eloise and Steve organising the STACK kids to make up food parcels.

Bro Kam Chandu had a similar schedule in which he visited us for 4 weeks, then went to help in Durban and stayed with us again for a few days on his way back to the UK. Kam also did a lot of work with and for us. His DIY skills came in very handy at a time we needed it much. We remain in awe as to how God always send us the right people at the right time. Kam was instrumental (together with Bro Hendri Viljoen) in adding another toilet/shower room to the Adieu center. This was much needed because of the Kempton Park ecclesia Sunday School (which gathers at the Adieu center on Sundays) has doubled in numbers! The addition of the extra toilet/shower has brought a huge relief to the logistics on a Sunday and will be VERY useful in the future when we have bigger volunteers groups staying over.

Bro Kam helping with the Tuesday Feeding Scheme

Kam also did a LOT of much needed repair and maintenance work at the Aphiwe, Adieu and Tsweloppelo community centers as well as a Caravan. The Caravan was used to help a young couple in desperate need with accommodation at Adieu for one month. The couple attended our meeting and showed an interest in the Gospel message. Kam did some wonderful work in building a relationship with them giving them sound council on two lengthy conversations he had with them. They have since found a place to stay and we will see if their interest in the Gospel remains.

Sister Briony Kemp brought her own cheerful personality and skills to our projects and it was great to have her enthusiasm and positivity spill over onto the youth and Sunday School children. See did a great job with the youth at the Youth Bible Study weekend that was organized by Bro Michael and Sister Lilandi. She also did a lot of work with the preparation work for the Youth Weekend. The Sunday School kids also enjoyed interacting with her during the STACK afternoons she helped with.

Josh and Phoebe also made a huge impact with their visit. They help a great deal with the Youth Study week and were very good at building relationships with all the youth.


: The youth camp was a huge success with Josh and Phoebe making the work loader much lighter and adding valuable input with the study sessions

: Phoebe really connected with the young people very well.

We have heard from both Bro. Kam and sister Briony that they plan to return to South Africa to do more volunteer work. It is very rewarding for us to find that many of the volunteers return for a second and sometimes even a third visit to continue to support the ongoing work and sometime even continue and develop work/projects that they started. It is a great privilege and pleasure to be a first "port" of entry for these brothers and sisters and mostly their "port" of exit as well.

Another highlight this year is that the Aphiwe Yout Group have started their own preaching initiative. Under the leadership of Brother Ronald Msomi a group of about seven of them dish out leaflets arounf the Aphiwe community Center area on Friday afternoons and invite passers by to join us for the Baptism classes we have on Friday afternoons. It is wonderful to see them going into the streets with such enthusiasm. Keletso (one of the group) has asked to be baptised and we are in the process of preparing him for an interview.

The Adieu center remains invaluable as a venue for Bible Study days, Youth programs, the STACK (Skills Training Academy for Community Kids) project, Kempton Park ecclesia and Sunday School meetings and various other preaching development initiatives. The meeting room at Adieu center was re-painted and it looks very nice with the verse painted on the wall.

The growth in the Kempton Park ecclesia Sunday School has been wonderful. The numbers doubled since January and this is mainly because of the synergy between the Sunday School and the STACK (Skills Training Academy for Community Kids) that we run at the Adieu center every Tuesday afternoon.

: Our meeting room is pretty full most Sundays

: Sunday School is brimming with lots of Joy singing and quality teaching.

It is an amazing blessing to serve as caretakers, meet so many brothers and sisters, be part of the organizing of so many events and experiencing the joy of so many that we manage to touch and teach through our outreach work.

There was great joy on the 22nd of February when Cathrine Nyamasoka was baptised and became a sister in Christ. Cathrine is a friend of Bro. Itayi (our Recording brother) and he had been teaching her the Gospel for about a year now.

God be praised for his wonderful grace and love towards us all.

Your brother and sister in Christ's service

Lucas and Leona

Gauteng Youth Gathering – March 2015

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 08:44:00 +0000

Only those of us who have organized such an event can possibly understand the myriad of details and challenges that are involved. From finding a suitable venue, confirming dates, planning meals, activities and lessons, to the nitty-gritty of remembering to pack enough toilet paper - there are a lot of things that need to come together successfully for the event to be the experience that you want it to be for those attending. In South Africa the two biggest challenges we face when wanting to host any event, whether it is a day-long fraternal or week -long camp, are finances and transport. The youth that we want to have attend and benefit from such an event do not have either, and these two factors hugely influence the location, venue and duration of the event.

These two factors, finances & transportation, were the two things that made it clear to us that "Youth Weeks" were no longer viable for our demographic. However we know how much the youth benefit from what is likely their only chance to "get out" of the squalor they live in every day. We also know that these camps provide them with a very real taste of the Kingdom to come, and as such these camps are an excellent source of encouragement as well as biblical education.

With this in mind we (Hendri & Liezl Viljoen, Michael & myself) brainstormed ideas on how best to provide the youth with the benefits of a camp without the excessive costs we struggled to cover while hosting the youth week last year. We came up with the idea of hosting two "mini-camps" which we call "Youth Gatherings" - where we use a cheaper, closer venue and only stay over one night. Here follows the photographic report on the first such gathering of this year:

With the much shorter time-frame we endeavoured to use the time we had as effectively as we could! We slotted in four "Praise & Worship" sessions along with four "Study Sessions" over the weekend. The studies were very practical and aimed at motivating us to live out our hope in Christ in a way that would inspire others to join us in our walk to the Kingdom.

Digging into God's Word during the first study session on Saturday morning.

We had two "Games Sessions" - one in the afternoon and another in the evening. We played outdoor games in the afternoon - with the "hands-free balloon relay" being the most entertaining to play and watch!

Hands-free balloon relay underway - Keletso just lost his balloon!

During the afternoon the youth were split into three teams and given the challenge of building a fort out of scrap wood, as well as painting a flag for their team. Our goal with this challenge was to keep everyone constructively occupied and ensure that everyone felt included at all times. We were very pleased at how well this worked as the guys learned some construction skills and the girls chatted away while painting their flags.

Michael explaining the challenge to a slightly apprehensive group!

The guys learning how to use a hammer and nails!

At first the teams didn't have a very clear idea of where to begin when constructing a fort - so Michael & Hendri demonstrated by building one of their own. After that most of the teams quickly created some fort-like structures.

Team "Strikas" in front of their fort. Each team had to create a name using at least one letter from each team member's name. Underneath their name it says "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and one is gold".

Team "Dragons"

Team "Pirates"which they claim is just the shortened version of "Pyro-technics..."

Two of the studies were also "object lessons" about being the "salt of the earth" and a "light unto the world", the latter occurring later in the evening so as to be more effective!

Each person received a candle to demonstrate how we should let our lights shine most effectively.

The evening games session was a whole lot of fun! Much to the attendees' delight we played several brand new games - all of which were great fun to play and very entertaining to watch!

This game requires the player to eat several food items and drink a soda as fast as they can - while their hands are taped around a ball! Here the twins are competing against each other!

The classic "toilet paper mummy" game.

This is an hilarious, fast paced, game. Players take turns rolling a dice; when you roll a 6 you have to dress in the clothes provided and try to eat as much of a chocolate bar using only a knife and fork before the next 6 is rolled.

We ended the evening games session with a "fort war" which tested the strength of each team's fort. Once all the forts were destroyed we used the wood to build a massive bonfire, around which we incinerated marshmallows and drank hot chocolate while enjoying an impromptu praise session.

The bonfire - those are adult males for scale.

We all left the gathering energized and encouraged spiritually, and with the happy assurance that this was a winning recipe! As such we have already committed to hosting another such weekend during the July holidays.

Each attendee received a surprise gift - a T-shirt with a picture of a salt shaker and a lightbulb and the words "Be these" written underneath.

This picture perfectly captured the energy and fun that characterized this weekend together!

We would like to express our gratitude to the Many Seeds Ministries organization for providing the funding that made this incredibly special, memorable weekend possible. We also praise and glorify our heavenly Father for blessing this event - we know that we are only His labourers and we are privileged to play our part in spreading His Good News through such events.

With love in Christ

Michael &; Lilandi Furstenburg &; Hendri & Liezl Viljoen

Matt 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Baptism of Cathrine Nyamasoka 22 February 2015

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:05:00 +0000

We rejoice in the baptism of Cathrine after she gave a wonderful confession of her faith Cathrine has been attending Bible classes and meetings at the Kempton Park ecclesia for two years now and we were all SO happy to welcome her as a sister.

Lucas Scheepers

Kempton Park ecclesia Gauteng South Africa

God Gives the Increase

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 18:45:00 +0000

Michael and I have been exceedingly blessed in receiving another year's worth of funding to continue our work here in Gauteng, South Africa. If the past two months are anything to go by, it is going to be a very exciting year indeed!

During December, most of our projects slowly come to a stop as the kids leave the province to visit relatives in other provinces/countries. Although we do set dates for when these projects will resume in the new year we can never be completely sure how many will return and/or remember to attend on that day.

With this in mind we made sure to warn a visiting volunteer, Eloise Caudery, not to expect very many kids at the first Saturday Bible Club this year. "Perhaps about 10" we estimated. However as we turned onto the street on which the Tswelopele Good News Center is situated we saw a crowd of extremely excited children running toward the gate – and they just kept coming! On that Saturday we had 48 kids attend and the numbers haven't dropped below 35 since. Our biggest challenge however is not the large amount of kids but rather the large age difference within that group.

We have some as young as 2 years old and then others who are turning 16 this year – and more often than not Michael & myself are the only adults there. One of the simplest but most effective changes we have made is to have the group together for the introductory songs and the lesson itself, and then to split them into two groups with an activity/craft suited to their different ages – rather than have one activity which is either impossibly hard for the younger ones or mind-numbingly boring for the older ones.

Deandre with the craft he made to reinforce the lesson we learn from the Apostle Philip – invite others to Christ!

Group photo after the first Bible Club of the year – we made an optical illusion craft that places "Jesus"in our hearts.

On this Saturday they all arrived in their swimming costumes (communication breakdown) so we turned on the hose and they had a blast!

We have had a similar increase within our Sunday School group! The first Sunday we had 2 new kids join us, the next Sunday 8 new faces arrived, and the Sunday after that another 4 new kids attended. This left the poor teachers scrambling to find extra stationery but in somewhat of a "God-Moment" everyone had prepared enough lessons!

The majority of these new kids are under 7 years old which means our youngest class now consists of an average of 12 little ones. The 8 that came on the second Sunday are a family that used to attend homework club 2 years ago, disappeared, and have now decided to join us again – praise God! Fortunately we have all the members in our meeting taking turns to present Sunday School lessons so this growth will not place too heavy a load on any individuals. The reason we initially started this was for especially the youth to get to know all of the members – in an effort to make attending the memorial (when they want to) less intimidating.

The youngest class – Leona Scheepers keeping it exciting as usual!

The middle class admiring Michael's artistic talent (or lack thereof) – 4 of these kids are new attendees.

The youth class being led by Itayi Mutseka, choosing the African sun over a classroom that is no longer big enough!

A knock-on effect of the increase at Sunday School was that most of those kids also attend another of our projects – our Tuesday "Homework Club". Here too we have the challenge of there being a large age difference within the group with only Michael and myself coordinating the activities. During the holidays we came to the rather sudden realization that our older group is all preteen boys and as such we have needed to adapt the activities and games to suit their interests! We have also started giving them the responsibility of doing their own online research for projects rather than us finding it for them – following the "teach a man to fish…"principle.

One of the more manly activities we have attempted – building a catapult.

Sipho, Chigozile and Cameron with their catapults.

After building the catapults they shot tokens toward targets – after which they could modify their catapults and try and make them shoot further – the further the target the higher the points – and lots of cooperative learning happening in between! Little Lexi found the flying tokens very entertaining!

Despite the challenges these increases sometimes create, we genuinely thank our Father for entrusting us with the responsibility of showing His love and goodness toward the many children He has brought to us, and pray, and ask for your prayers too, that we may play our part in bringing them to a fuller understanding of the glorious hope that they may have in Him.

With love in Christ

Lilandi Furstenburg

Gauteng Youth Camp 2014

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Sun, 21 Dec 2014 15:10:00 +0000

The youth camp, centered around the theme of the Kingdom, was a great success with 38 youth, 8 mentors and one baby (David Onwordi) attending. We all left eagerly anticipating the Kingdom of God on earth - and with very concrete kingdom visions to encourage us when life starts eroding our hope. We had youth and mentors from Kensington, Soweto, Yeoville, Aphiwe, Kempton Park, Boksburg, America, Australia, England and Isolation and their spirit was such that not one person felt excluded at any time.

Besides the studies we also enjoyed a variety of indoor and outdoor games, swimming, hiking, treasure hunts, Hebrew dancing, praise sessions and a concert. The food was delicious and plentiful, the accommodation rustic, and the cold showers refreshing! I feel that this comment, overheard during the homeward journey, sums up how everyone felt at the end of the three days: "If camp was a boarding school, I would be so happy!"

Here are some photographs of the camp:

One of the older youths main study sessions underway in the hall. Their studies were led by Michael Furstenburg, Josh Bullock (UK), and Solomon Onwordi.

The younger youth attended their main studies in the living room of the leaders' home. Their studies were led by Lilandi Furstenburg, Phoebe Nyria (Aus) & Michael Furstenburg.

Besides the main study sessions we also split the group into 4 smaller groups for "mentor sessions" where they discussed more practical topics such as how to apologize correctly and how to properly and safely use social media. These sessions were also helpful for the leaders to pay more individual attention to each of the youth in their group and provide a safe space for more personal questions.

Another of the "mentor sessions" underway.

The afternoons were filled with lots of outdoor games - here they are playing a variation of dodgeball.

Nothing was going to stop the kids from swimming!

Tumi drying off after a dip in the pool.

Another activity they all enjoyed was creating a handprint keepsake that we plan to send to a couple that were very influential in raising funds for the camp in Australia. Most of the kids commented on how they hadn't done anything like it since preschool!

Following on a mentor session about how your words can both hurt or heal we had each attendee write their name on a page. During the rest of the camp everyone then wrote something positive about each other on their respective pages. The kids had fun writing on each others' pages and would often come and read what others had written for them. It was a very encouraging exercise that we will definitely repeat - next time we will have more durable cards and colorful pens!

The girl in pink is Refilwe - it was her first time attending a youth camp. She is the granddaughter of the lady who runs the preschool at the Tswelopele Good News Center in Boksburg and has been attending Saturday Bible Club since it began in 2009.

It was Chigozile's first youth camp too and he brought a delightfully playful spirit to all the activities. We look forward to seeing him more in the future!

Beautiful sisters Nolwazi & Nobenguni (our youngest attendee at 10 years old, excluding baby David).

The whole happy group!

We are very thankful to our heavenly Father for so many prayers answered throughout the year - culminating in these beautifully encouraging three days where we were able to experience a little taste of the magic that will be eternity in the kingdom to come!

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg & Hendri & Liezl Viljoen

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isa 55:12)

Biblical Read-a-Thon: Psalms

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 09:29:00 +0000

7 hours, 24 pies, 4 cakes, 3 quiches, 2 milktarts and several liters of juice later - 150 chapters (whole book of Psalms) DONE!! Ch 117 took 21 seconds and Ch 119 took 24 minutes - but together we did it!

When the Aphiwe & Kempton Park Youth took up the challenge of reading the entire book of Psalms in one sitting we had no idea quite what to expect - and were delighted to find it one of the most rewarding and enjoyable activities we had undertaken thus far!

God's provision - a huge donation of cakes, garlic rolls, quiches, tarts and pot pies to sustain us!

These were our readers:

Keletso started us off with Psalm 1.

Sabelo has great difficulty with his eyesight but that didn't deter him from participating.

Michael stepped up to the plate for any chapters with more than 50 verses!

Ronald

Osywen

Sipho

Taffi - between him & Sipho the others had to fight for a chance at the microphone. Their energy really drove the event.

Mokete. His reading ability is extremely poor so the others would scout ahead and assign any chapters with less than 5 verses to him!

Kgopotso.

Junior (the oldest of the Kempton park youth and a really lovely young gentleman eager for knowledge)

Siyabonga (which means "thank you" in Zulu)

Lilandi also taking on the longer chapters.

Happy who joined us after spending the whole morning at extra classes at school. The love for and excitement about God's Word that these children have is fantastic to be around!

Cherish - not yet able to read but she was an excellent little helper and "spirit-lifter"!

As we read we tabled the chapters and how long it took to read each one.

At this point - already a couple of hours in, it felt as though we had perhaps bitten off more than we could chew. Energy levels were dipping, readers weren't jumping up quite so quickly, eyes were glazing. However when we suggested that we only do 100 chapters it was unanimously decided that we would push on to the end. A life lesson in itself!

To keep ourselves occupied when not reading we had a side challenge going - to create a loomband that would stretch all the way around the Aphiwe Good News Center. Loombands are still very much a craze in South Africa and the kids were very excited to have access to a seemingly unlimited supply!

Lots of colors to choose from!

They kept their bibles close at hand so as to be ready for their next reading turn.

Relationships built and strengthened.

There are such beautiful friendships among these kids - we pray for these to last and provide a "God-based" support system as they face life as adults.

They made individual bracelets which we then joined together at the end of the event to create one long loomband.

This challenge too was met - at the end of the event we had created a loomband of 38 meters - more than sufficient to wrap around the Aphiwe Good News Center! Another life lesson - together we can achieve much more than when we try to do everything by ourselves!

It was a somewhat surreal, and incredibly uplifting experience - listening to the Bible being read for hours on end. We picked up on many "themes" and repetitions in especially the Psalms of David which you do not so readily see when reading them piecemeal. We concluded the read-a-thon by all reading Psalm 150 together - you can view the video of that Psalm on the Ignite2020 Facebook page. It really felt as though we had just completed a marathon - completely exhilarating!

150 chapters done!

The kids were already trying to decide which part of the bible we should do next! Spoiler alert - it will, God Willing, be the letters of Paul to the various ecclesias. Until then the Aphiwe/Kempton Park Youth would like to challenge all other youth groups (and even ecclesias!) to pick up their bibles and start reading!

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg

Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. (Jer 15:16)

Sister Del Lea took Gauteng by storm.

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Sat, 30 Aug 2014 15:36:00 +0000

Volunteers adding Value – Sister Deb Lea visits Johannesburg, South Africa.

Over the course of the last few weeks we have been blessed with overlapping visits by Sisters Rachael Schaen & Deb Lea, both from the greater Cleveland area in Ohio. Both of these sisters were, we believe, literally a "God-send" in that their various skills, wisdom & experiences enabled them to add such incredible value to the many ongoing outreach & preaching programs & activities that we in Gauteng are responsible for. As Sister Rachael has already penned her thoughts and experiences herself I would like to just share some of the wonderful experiences we shared with Sister Deb - and perhaps elaborate on just how much of an impact her short visit (two weeks) had on the many lives she was able to touch.

Jetlagged or not, Deb got straight to work in assisting myself, Rachael Schaen & Liezl Viljoen in presenting the Creche (Preschool) Teacher Training Course. We currently have three courses running - two at the Aphiwe Good News Center (presented by Leona Scheepers) & one at the Tswelopele Good News Center - which meant that Deb would do "back-to-back" sessions with the only time for lunch being in the car on her way to the next Center! Her many years of experience in the teaching field meant the attendees received valuable "tips" regarding their work with the children in their care, & we as presenters learned many new & better ways of sharing the information with the students!

Aphiwe Good News Center Creche Course: Explaining the importance of providing nutritious meals.

Aphiwe Good News Center Creche Course 1 - we had to split the attendees into two courses so that everyone would fit!

Tswelopele Good News Center Creche Course - explaining the importance of reading & sharing ways to make it both enjoyable & educational.

As part of the CUDDLE Program we often host one-day seminars to the teachers that have completed the creche course, which focus on and provide more in-depth information about specific topics such as the "Praise & Participation for Positive Assessments" seminar that Rachael presented. Deb also presented such a seminar titled "PRESCHOOL BRAIN DEVELOPMENT: Teaching the right things at the right TIME". She also visited a school for mentally handicapped children where she showed the teachers how to use various Braingym exercises to increase the learning potential of their students. The teachers were very encouraged by the almost immediate results they could see in the children's listening and concentrating abilities & promised to continue with the exercises in future.

Continuing on the "outreach" front, the Homework Club kids greatly enjoyed the assistance & instruction Deb provided them with especially their math work. During her previous visit in 2013 she encouraged one of our students, Junior, to be more positive about his math skills - and he was very eager to show her how he has put those skills to work throughout the year she was away. We should never underestimate the power of a few encouraging words spoken in love.

Homework Club - Tangram fun!

On the "preaching" front Deb encouraged, enriched & enlightened so many - the members & youth at the Aphiwe Meeting, the members at the Kempton Park Meeting, the youth from the Yeoville Meeting, the kids at Saturday Bible Club, and the sisters from the Kempton Park & Johannesburg Meeting to mention just a few. Here are some of the bible classes that she presented:

Over the two Saturdays that Deb was here she presented the Saturday Bible Club at the Tswelopele Good News Center. Using a book called Hope for the Flowers Deb shared with the children the imagery of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly - and how that applies to us spiritually. The kids loved the crafts that she had prepared for them as she was able to bring with her craft resources that are quite costly in South Africa. They made a caterpillar the first Saturday and both a craft butterfly and an edible butterfly the second Saturday.

Saturday Bible Club - learning from the Scriptures.

Saturday Bible Club - "Yellow" the caterpillar.

Saturday Bible Club - Edible Butterflies and big smiles!

Saturday Bible Club - spot Deb!

On Wednesday mornings Deb led the sister's classes at either the Aphiwe Good News Center or at sister's homes. The sisters were encouraged through her object lesson on key ingredients for salvation and Godly living & the ladies at the Aphiwe Good News Center enjoyed the culminating activity of making their own chapattis!

Aphiwe Good News Center Sisters Class - making Chapattis.

Aphiwe Good News Center Sisters Class - making Chapattis - spiritual & physical education.

The youth that attend the Preparing for Baptism class at the Aphiwe Good News Center also enjoyed the Chapatti ingredients object lesson as well as learning about the Jewish feasts - their origin, practicalities, New Testament application, as well as their possible prophetic applications. This was possibly the "deepest" study many of these youth members have engaged in and their active participation & keen concentration were proof of the value it held for them. Deb was also able to present this study at a Sisters Class which set a very high standard for the poor sister presenting the next one!

The Aphiwe Youth learning about the Jewish Feast Days.

Perhaps the most ambitious of her undertakings was leading a Youth Study Day at the Aphiwe Good News Center, tackling some big issues including premarital sex, homosexuality, faithfulness in marriage, & Jesus' marriage - to mention a few! This was a marathon 5 hour study day - through God's grace Deb's voice stayed strong throughout. It was encouraging that the youth felt comfortable and safe enough to raise questions and participate in the discussions. There was much laughter, some tears, but by nightfall everyone left feeling encouraged & armed with useful decision making tools & tactics.

Youth Study Day at the Aphiwe Good News Center - telling it as it is!

Sister Deb both touched & taught many during her visit - changing each life through the power of God's Word & His love shown by the energy & compassion she brought to each new day. Even though it was with sadness that we bid her farewell we were encouraged by the idea that, God Willing, she will return next year - and bring along others wanting to work in His vineyard.

"He said to His disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields."" (Mat 9:37-38)

With love in Christ

Lilandi Furstenburg

Baptisms of Riziki, Anastazia, Kisanga, Promise and John.

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 20:24:00 +0000

The Water was BITTERLY cold but nothing was going to stop our new sisters and brother from taking the all important step of baptism. There was great joy to witness the baptisms after each of them gave wonderful testimonies of their faith. Riziki, Anastazia, Kisanga, Promise and John have been taking baptism classes with Bro. Paderi of the Congolese ecclesia in Pretoria for several months now and it was wonderful to hear of their convictions at their interviews. God's word is truly a power unto salvation.

Your brother by grace

Lucas Scheepers

Puppet Ministry - Gauteng And then He told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone." (Mar 16:15)

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:29:00 +0000

This year we wanted to focus more on getting God's Word "out there". We have always felt that although we have neither the power nor the responsibility to "convert" anyone, we do have both the power AND the responsibility to expose everyone to God's Word. Similar to the farmer sowing seed on all the different types of ground - only God knows who the "fertile soil" will be.

In many ways we have been well "trained" for Puppet Ministry as Lilandi worked as a puppeteer for just over a year fresh out of high school, and Michael played leading roles in several theatrical productions during his time in high school and still enjoys doing lots of different "voices". Lilandi & her sister Liezl had also hosted a very successful "puppet roadshow" a few years back using smaller hand puppets. Isn't it encouraging to look back and see how God was already at work in your life so many years ago - preparing you for something wonderful before you ever even imagined it?

So started our journey into puppet ministry. First of all we created the puppets:

(from left to right) Pam (the mom); Gogo (the gran); Wilson (the dad); Lihle (the older daughter); & Benni (the young son).

Here is a close up of Oupa (the soft-hearted grandfather).

And another close up of Gogo - a very spirited, fun granny!

These puppets are the ones that interact with the kids, and then we tell a bible story using paper characters:

The story of Zacchaeus - Jesus, Crowd, Zacchaeus & tree.

Zacchaeus up in the tree.

Our first two shows were great learning experiences - mainly we learned that most kids are absolutely terrified of puppets! After that we made sure to take extra time beforehand to explain that there is nothing to be afraid of! We found that it helps if Lilandi touches the puppets to show the kids that they are harmless.

We also learned to add more "slapstick comedy" to the show as the language barrier makes verbal comedy fall flat. Often we have a teacher translate the show as we do it - which means the show takes quite a lot longer and places a lot of strain on Michael who has to work the puppets with his arms above his head!

"Meeting" Gogo.

We finish the show with an action bible song. With the Zacchaeus show we do " Jesus' love is bubbling over"

The "Love" action - isn't it cute how Benni can also do it!

The "hallelujah" action.

And here are some photo's of a few of our audiences:

If you were wondering, as the kids always do, what it looks like "behind the scenes":

The puppetmaster!

We are very excited about the response we have had to the shows so far - we have been invited back to every school, & have even been asked to perform at some of the schools' graduation ceremonies. We have also been invited to perform the show at a private "rich" preschool in town which may be a great opportunity to bring exposure to the Kempton Park Meeting and Sunday School.

We are currently practicing our second show which features the "loaves & fishes" story - with the "take home lesson" being about the importance of sharing.

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg

Woman at the Well Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 17:13:00 +0000

The sisters (and some interested friends/family) in South Africa have much reason to celebrate - this year we hosted our 10th Women at the Well Weekend Gathering! And, true to tradition, Women at the Well 2014 was filled to the brim with incredible fellowship & insightful studies. I believe I speak for all who attended when I say we returned home spiritually refreshed & energized. (Physically energized... not so much - thanks to all the late night chatting!)

The venue was perfectly suited to hosting a women's retreat - it was beautiful & full of interesting odds & ends to explore. Most of the rooms were grouped together in houses which meant nobody felt isolated.

The entrance to the Purple House -

our venue for Women at the Well 2014.

We were surrounded by the beauty of God's creation at all times.

Each morning started and optional devotional and coffee where we explored practical ways to prioritize your life according to God's purpose.

All the early-birds at the morning devotional.

Our studies, led by sister Hannah Fadelle from the USA, were centered around the theme of "Fearing God vs Fearing Man". Sister Hannah's unique and invigorating teaching style and "facilitated discussions" class format made for meaningful, thought-provoking and (hopefully) action-inducing studies.

Sister Leona Scheepers providing feedback from her groups discussion.

Many thanks to our "band" for leading the musical worship at the camp.

We managed to fit in a lot of fun & fellowship during the little

"free time" we had! Not unexpectedly there was a lot of chatting going on!

Enjoying the sun during a quick tea break.

We were blessed with warm weather and could enjoy lunch outside.

Every women under her own palm tree? There are three different ecclesias represented in this photo - meeting together is one of the reasons this camp is so special!

Lots of informal discussions happening.

Sister Liezl Viljoen organized a craft activity for those of us feeling creative. We decoratively painted glass bottles with blackboard paint - these can be used as vases or for storage and you can write special words on them.

Time to get creative!

Sister Jennifer Onwordi with her completed project.

More of the sisters showing off their work.

Our second evening was spent at play - we played a biblical version of "Cranium" - where you have to either draw (with your eyes closed), act, sing or spell certain words/events from the bible.

Sister Karen Scheepers drawing a bible event for her team to guess.

It was a very memorable weekend with our beloved sisters, and we look forward to (in the event of Christ not returning) meeting together again next year!

With love in Christ

The Gauteng Sisters

This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.

Youth Leadership Gathering.

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Fri, 11 Apr 2014 12:16:00 +0000

I know when I was at school I used to really look forward to the holidays - after all, what's not to enjoy about sleeping late, pigging out on snacks, spending hours outdoors in a lush garden, and just generally doing fun stuff like arts/crafts/playing electronic games.

The KINOS Kids however, dread holidays. They do not have such luxuries as gardens; snacks; would far rather be with their friends at school than a very long walk away from those with whom they enjoy spending time. So after our youth camp in December they have been begging us for more camps during the holidays- but camps are simply too expensive.

We were thus faced with two challenges:

Challenge #1 - how do we make their holidays fun?

Challenge #2 - finding a cheaper alternative to "camps"

We then developed the idea of hosting shorter "gatherings" of just two or three days - at the Adieu Center. The big benefit of hosting it at the Adieu Center is that we cut out the cost of both accommodation; transport, so our only expense is food. (Which by God's grace we were able to provide using Many Seeds Ministries funds) The one "con" is that space is limited but we used that to our advantage in that the event became almost a "reward" for those invited.

Here follows a photo timeline of our first, very successful, Youth Leadership Gathering at the Adieu Center:

The lessons were focused around learning to research, prepare and present an oral presentation - be it a speech for school or bible class. Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg led the various classes.

The one "tool" we shared was how to use mind-maps - here is the collaborative one we did on the days of creation.

The kids had to then make up a mind-map about themselves which takes quite a bit of introspection. Although we promised that these would remain private they granted us great insight into each teens' level of self-worth & in some ways their level of maturity as well.

Getting going on their "Me" mind-maps.

Table tennis proved to be a big hit during the breaks. Here Tumi and Ronald are challenging each other.

Having fun around a game of cards.

We were blessed with two sunny days midst a week of rain - which made such fun action shots possible!

Always eager to help out - the kids made short work of packing 250 food parcels.

Making up smaller tea packets for the food parcels - the most delicate & time-consuming part of the process.

Taffi - the youngest attendee (12 years old) takes some time to work on his speech re his favorite bible character.

During the afternoon Liezl Viljoen also taught us all two Hebrew Group Dances - you can view the videos on the Ignite2020 Facebook Page.

At the end of a jam-packed day we built a big bonfire, drank hot chocolate & roasted marshmallows.

Karabo (the smallest but not youngest) attendee really enjoying her marshmallows!

We kicked off the second day with an epic game of "Bible Walk" which is something like a biblical "Trivial Pursuit". We made it a bit easier by allowing each team 20 seconds to find the reference pertaining to the question if they didn't know the answer. We were pleasantly surprised by their general bible knowledge as well as by how quickly they could find the references!

Here you can see the "Bible Walk" board.

During the second afternoon each attendee presented a speech about their favorite Bible character. Here Sabelo is sharing his about David. The kids chose a variety of different characters, such as Noah, Daniel, Esther & Moses. We will be sharing the video clips of their speeches on the Ignite2020 Facebook Page as well.

"Group Photo" minus Bro Ronald who had to leave early on the second day.

At the close of the gathering the kids unanimously voted that we should have more such events; and since it proved to be such a successful venture we will God Willing be planning a gathering during each of the upcoming school holidays this year.

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg

-->

Showers of blessing

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 06:23:00 +0000

We have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with funds from the Many Seeds Ministries organization - whose mission is to "make and equip disciples while meeting the basic survival needs of God's children."

These funds have allowed us to start making small but significant differences in the lives of many of the children attending the various programs at the Aphiwe & Tswelopele Good News Centers as well as at the Adieu Center in Kempton Park.

As we received the funds near to the end of 2013 our first goal was to properly equip the kids for this years' schooling. They each received a new school uniform (all government schools wear uniforms here) and a stationery pack. We have already seen an increase in their confidence and they are enthusiastic about their schoolwork. They also have a much more positive outlook on the year ahead.

Karabo & Talifhani with their new uniforms.

Frank with his uniform & sports bag.

Junior proud in his new blazer - a real "luxury" item on which he can now display the merit badges he has achieved.

The contents of each stationery pack - imagine receiving this when usually owning a single working pen is a luxury!

Ronald & the twins Zanele & Zandile "discovering" their stationery.

Another life touched through this funding is that of Sabelo, who at a very young age underwent an operation to remove cataracts from both his eyes. The operation did not go very well and he now needs glasses permanently. While attending the youth camp in December his glasses fell and broke, which would have been a disaster if we did not have the Many Seeds funds available. Through Gods abundant blessing we were able to get him a new pair of glasses with an up-to-date prescription.

Sabelo wearing his new glasses.

The funding also allows for us to sponsor children to attend church camps - and last year we were very grateful to be able to help Thuli attend the Youth Camp. Thuli is one of the kids that attends the Saturday Bible Club at the Tswelopele Good News Center. She is an incredible example in serving continually - whether it is helping us by rounding up the neighborhood kids, washing up, or helping her younger siblings.

Thuli's class' group photo at the youth camp - Thuli is third from the left.

And finally (for 2013 at least) we were able to enrich the lives of the kids by offering them the opportunity to visit a bird sanctuary near us. To ensure they paid close attention to the various birds and make it educational we split them into two groups and gave each group a questionnaire. The group that found all the answers to their questionnaire first were the winners. It was a fantastic outing that we all enjoyed very much. The kids had the privilege of seeing many new birds & animals & we trust that their appreciation of Gods' creative design increased too.

Group photo of the group that visited the bird sanctuary.

The look of delight - we saw this look often throughout the visit!

Many Seeds Ministries has sent us a further 6 months' funds and we are already excitedly planning how to put these funds to the best use in these childrens' lives. We look forward to sharing their experiences with you in the near future, if Jesus does not return sooner.

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg

I will bless My people and their homes around My holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. (Eze 34:26)

Baptism of Oliver Ruboneza

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 20:07:00 +0000

Bro. Oliver Ruboneza gave a wonderful confession of his faith earlier this afternoon (12 Jan ) and was baptised at the home of Bro. and sister Larsen in Pretoria. It was wonderful to once again experience how powerful God's Word is and how the Gospel message compels men and woman to take that first step in their walk to the kingdom. Bro. Oliver has been studying and preparing for baptism classes with the Congolese brethren in Pretoria and will continue to meet with them on Sundays for their breaking of bread meetings.

With much rejoicing on behalf of the brethren and sisters of the Congolese meeting in Pretoria

Lucas

Baptism of Bro. Ronald Motsinoni

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 20:52:00 +0000

There was lots of joy when Ronald Motsinoni from the Tembisa ecclesia in Gauteng got baptized at the Family Bible Conference on Saturday 28th September. Ronald has been part of the Youth group in the Tembisa ecclesia for over three years and has been a faithful attendee of our Sunday morning meetings and the youth classes. He gave a wonderful confession of his faith and the surroundings and weather on the morning of his baptism was just perfect. He got baptized in a river and after his baptism there were lots of brethren and sisters to hug him and welcome him into his new family in Christ.

Your brother by grace

Lucas Scheepers

Pre-school upgrades in Tembisa

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 19:07:00 +0000

The past few weeks we have had a record breaking amount of creche upgrades, God has blessed us and is always involved in helping provide the funds and the man power to make a difference in these teachers and children's lives.

This is what happens at most upgrades: We arrive and clean out the class rooms and clean off anything from the walls and then wash them down with sugar soap. We then start painting the classrooms, dark color at the bottom and light color at the top.

Next, murals get drawn on the walls and then people start painting them different colors. Material ceilings get put up and shelves and desks get built and installed. In the kitchens shelves get installed and murals get painted on the walls.

Outside gets cleaned and balancing beams, tyres and jungle gums get installed and painted. If there is a cemented area we paint hopscotch on the floor too.

he teachers of the creches make delicious lunches for all the hard workers and we all enjoy lunch with them.

Below are a couple of photos of creches we have upgraded.

Our community centre in Tembisa, Aphiwe, also got upgraded a little. There is always some program running from the centre so to find a couple days where it was empty was a challenge. We went in and cleaned the whole place properly and also repainted the walls and shelves and the garden was cleaned too.



Liezl Viljoen

Holiday club fun (Gauteng)

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 19:04:00 +0000

During the school holidays we ran some holiday club programs for the children to attend. We ran a games day where we played many different games with children from our Sunday School and then also had children walking by on the street come in and join us. At the end of the afternoon we had just over 60 children attending.

Fifteen volunteers from the USA helped out and ran another holiday club. Close on 55 children attend. There were two crafts for them to make and take home and then we played games with them so they could get to know one another.

Sunday School at Aphiwe

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 19:01:00 +0000

After running some holiday clubs and games evenings we had many new children join us. We invited them to join us at Sunday school on Sundays.

So on one warm Sunday in June we got to Aphiwe and there were so many children and we had some teachers who were sick and not able to help. So we had fun dividing them into classes and also finding space for all of them.

We had Bro. Hendri outside with the youth class, Bro. Andrew led the adult class (also outside). Sis. Liezl had ages 10 – 15 inside and also kept an eye on the children ages 4 – 9 who played outside on the jungle gym. They later colored in some Bible story pictures.

It is an amazing feeling to have so many children come to learn more about the Bible. With God and Jesus on your side you just always have energy to do the work.

Coloring in on the play ground

Regular youth class led by Bro. Hendri and Bro. Lucas

New girls attending Sunday School for first time.

Kingdom Kids

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:02:00 +0000

Recently the "Kingdom Kids" have been working through lessons following the theme of "Lead the Way, Jesus". We have been exploring events in Jesus' life, such as when he stayed behind to discuss biblical matters with the priests and elders, and then finding ways to apply his example to our own lives.

Here are some examples of these applications:

We should always strive to please God & our parents through obedience.

We should serve others with caring hearts.

We should know and live the Truth (God's Word).

We should praise God and be grateful.

We should show kindness to everyone.

Of course no lesson is complete without a craft of some kind - and I would like to share some photo's of the craft we did for the "kindness" lesson. The event we looked at was Jesus healing the two blind men, even when the crowd was rebuking them. Since blind people usually wear dark glasses I picked that as our craft basis, and then added colored cellophane for lenses.

Cherish showing off the example craft

Tania chose to make heart-framed glasses

Tumi & Junior acting cool - these two teens are really great kids with hearts full of love for the younger Kingdom Kids

Taffi (Cherish's older brother)

Cameron gave his glasses a more modern look

Angelo. They wrote their memory verse (1 Thess 5:15) on the frames

While doing this craft it really struck me that, just like the world looks different through the glasses they made, the world looks very different when you are looking through Jesus' perspective. Then you realize that every single human being is special, uniquely made in God's image. You realize that each and every human being deserves to be loved and respected. You realize that everyone deserves to hear the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

For us, that last realization is what inspires & motivates us to keep looking at the world through "Jesus-colored" glasses.

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg

"... always try to be kind to each other and everyone else" (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

SNUGGLE up for Bible Study!

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:01:00 +0000

Greetings!

I am very blessed to be back in South Africa for another stint with the Scheepers family. Upon my arrival, I was again very quickly integrated in their normal activities. I was pleasantly surprised, and thoroughly tickled to see how much the Wednesday Tembisa women's bible class and SNUGGLES distribution program had exploded since I left back in November 2012. There was a gathering of twenty-five women at the bible study, and about five more that came just for the SNUGGLES distribution.

Seven months ago this gathering was only about ten ladies! The women were all actively involved in the bible study and discussion. We read and talked about Abraham and how we are made part of the promise God made to him.

This topic was suggested by one of the ladies, and at the end they openly expressed that they understood how we are Gods children though we all come from different "blood" and color. After our bible class, we laid out one suitcase of SNUGGLES squares, totaling between 800-900, and let the ladies take one prepackaged stack of 25 plus pick out 25 more from the pile. Talk about excitement!!!

Later that day we visited a crèche where we handed out some finished SNUGGLES blankets. The children loved them, and the teacher could not stop smiling! This is truly a Touch to Teach program, directly showing the people how much we love them!

Kaitlin Ross

Sunday School kids making a difference!

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:53:00 +0000

The 1st of May is a public holiday in South Africa - called "workers' day". Public holiday for most means a day to rest and relax; not so for the Gauteng volunteers though! As it was a Wednesday and we had the homework club kids coming over anyway we rallied some ecclesial members and put everyone to work packing food parcels. We made up 300 food parcels in just under 2 hours!

Fresh-faced and eager to get started!

Taffi took up the 1st post - opening the packets (a "small" job that makes a huge difference in productivity!)

Pippa was in charge of the jam; Angelo & Frank in the background.

Karabo took charge of the peanut butter - "yum yum" as it says on the tin!

Hendri & Birgit made up the smaller tea bag packets.

Liezl had some help making up her tea bag packets :)

Cameron & Sipho packed the maize & sugar.

Junior was the end of the line - put in tea and tie up the bags.

Dieter sorted the veg for packing - 5 years old and able to work for a good cause!

Zante trying her hand at packing maize - she would try to pack the heaviest item! Amazingly she persisted and did her part for at least 10 packets!

With love in Christ

Michael & Lilandi Furstenburg

Creche Course Creativity

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:59:00 +0000

This year we have been busy with the Creche courses again. We have already had two groups complete the 6 week course (one in Tembisa and another in Delmore Gardens) and had an amazing graduation day. Some ladies say little speeches just to show how thankful they are that God brought them to this course, others sing songs and just keep on singing and singing. Some photos below of our last graduation.

Our current group attending the course are such great students and have been very creative with the different things you can make out of recycled goods. Here are some photos of the ladies on the course and their creative designs.

We are looking forward to building stronger relationships with some of these ladies and enhance their teaching by giving Bible classes at their creches.

Ignite2020 team Kempton Park

BEC Graduation at Aphiwe

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:56:00 +0000

Our Bible Education Center in Tembisa has been running for more than a year now from the Aphiwe Good News center, and in this time period we have had a few baptisms, and many people doing our Bible courses. We decided to follow Durbans idea and host a graduation for all these students.

We had our first graduation for this year on 6 April and had about 20 people attending the graduation, and out of those 20 there were 12 students who received their certificates. We started the graduation with an opening prayer from one of our new brothers; we then did a 45 minute Bible Study with them. After the Study we handed out the certificates, and had a lovely discussion over a cup of coffee.

There were 5 of the students who started the course, that were baptized in last year, it is so rewarding to see some individuals take action and get baptized after learning and finishing the courses.

Hendri and Liezl on behalf of the Ignite2020 team in Kempton Park

: Bro Hendri giving Bible talk

: Bro Andrew handing out certificates

Praise and Worship Night - Aphiwe (Gauteng)

noreply@blogger.com (P2P Earth) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:55:00 +0000

We hosted a Praise and Worship games evening for our youth in Tembisa. Bro Michael created a music quiz for us on the computer and we then got the youth together and it went super.

We split the group in two teams so that they had some competition going on. Each slide on the Quiz would ask one of the following questions: 1) Name that song, we have a tune play and they would have to name the song. 2) Sing a song with this picture, we would have a picture on the screen and they can choose any Biblical song that has that picture in it and sing the song. 3) Sing a song with this word, same as the picture except this time we have a word on the screen. 4) Fill in the gap, we would have the Title of a song on screen with a missing word and they would then have to guess the word and sing the from t song. 5) Charades, we give one person from each team the title of a song and they have to act it out to their group. And the there are also some "blessings" where they get 5 free points and also some "curses" where we subtract 5 points from their score.

The children love singing and having the games going with it is just great fun. We have many new children join us with these evenings and then start joining us on Sundays for Sunday school.

Liezl and Hendri

On behalf of the Ignite2020 team in Kempton PArk