Feedback from events and church plants.

All Sites Celebration – August 2011

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Written by Lindsay Rielly

The all sites celebration time was awesome. The band rocked out and having the choir on stage was the icing on an already very delicious musical cake. It was great having the Uptown guys and girls with us and their presence definitely improved the dancing skills average by about 98.3%, if not more. We had serious fun dancing and singing together.

The song and dance was followed by a whole bunch of people getting baptised. It’s always great seeing people get baptised and sharing that experience with them. There was a real sense of family and community as we all supported those taking the step of baptism and it was really wonderful to be a part of.

Keeping Up with the Joneses

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Written by Alan Jones

Many years ago I was preparing to do something very big, and very foolish.  I had convinced myself that God wanted me to do it but it took the wise words of Leon van Daele to prevent me from making a big mistake. Read more

SunUp in Braamfontein

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Written by Phil Quinn

Ah! The excitement of new horizons is in the air. We kicked off with our first Sunday meeting at Uptown last week. ‘twas wonderful. We had a load of friendly new visitors and we all crammed ourselves full of cake and coffee. Hooray! God’s hand is clearly on what is happening down Uptown way and we cannot help but feel his approval and encouragement. And so we continue to take ground.

Sundays @ Uptown caters for families with kids and those who are around on the weekends. Thursdays will remain our main meeting for the time being but it’s great to expand our sense of community and permanence in Braamies.

Uptownies really appreciate visits from Centralies, so please consider a visit. 6.30 for 7pm on Thursday evenings. 9.30 for 10am on Sunday mornings. Come see what God is doing in the city! We’re lovin’ it.

 

Mini Jobi Jol – 2011

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Written by Greg Bennett


25 June 2011

It all started on a very, very cold Saturday morning at 9:00am. All of us were freezing but excited for what the day had in store for us. We were all relishing the chance to spend the day in fellowship, praising, worshiping and meeting with the Lord and for some, the amazing chance to experience God’s power and grace for the first time!

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Europe Report Back

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Written by Marcus Herbert

Adele and I recently returned from our trip to Europe. Four countries in three weeks meant lots of travelling but the Gospel energises us to push on. We started in Portugal, moved on to Italy, attended to the Europe team time in Germany and ended off spending some time with our friends, Alexis and Dalene Wadman in Amstelvijn in the Netherlands. Read more

Botswana Report-Back

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Written by Jaryd Nesbitt

The time in Botswana showed us all in many ways how God can work through a youth who is on fire to change a city and even a nation. Throughout the time spent there we saw healing after healing. Many had words of knowledge which proved to be accurate. yet we were still all impacted by God’s voice that is just as vital to the miracles we encountered. During the outreaches we were the ones ministering to the lost, but over the 3 days of the Equip each of us were touched by God in a unique way. The friendships we built and the lives we saw impacted by God’s awesome power will never be forgotten. Read more

Parenting Course at Edenvale High School

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Written by Barry Ward

Wow – what a God given opportunity to run our parenting course at Edenvale High School. It came about after a series of conversations, and the school, along with us, were not too sure on how a slightly modified version would be received by the parents.

Well the first night was somewhat lively, but it quickly got to the point where we all recognised that we need a little help in the responsibility and privilege of raising children, especially the teenage kind!

The 4 evenings gave us time to explore different aspects of parenting, and with biblical truths as a base, we managed to teach Godly principles that work in the family.

The end result was a group of parents that really appreciated the course, and almost all asked that we run something for their children as well. The vice principle and I are busy investigating how we can do this for all the learners via normal schools hours.

To me the best feedback was from one of the dads when he said “When I came to the first night I thought we were just going to be hammered again about what we must and must not do, but now I see that what is taught here is really to help us, and I really needed and enjoyed it”.

That is the gospel hey, when we do things Gods way it “helps” us – hugely – eternally!!!

Mark Meeske Ordains Elders in Secunda

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Written by Barry Ward

Praise the Lord for his timing and anointing. We had fantastic morning where Dieter & Sue Uken were ordained onto eldership with Derek & Heidi at New Covenant Church Secunda (19th June).

Mark preached a really great message on the call of eldership and also what it means for every believer. One of the points made was that timing of the call of God is always right, and it was very evident that the timing for Dieter & Sue was absolutely perfect.

Dieter said afterwards that to him it was taste of heaven, where we could feel the wonderful presence of Jesus, and the united fellowship with all who were there was truly amazing.

Ray Olivier managed to join us and it was great to hear the words and prayers spoken over them and the church.

The church itself looks and feels very different from what it is was at the beginning last year, and we just praise God for His showering of blessings over that church and the people of Secunda. His favour is tangibly evident in all that is going on there, and it is growing well in life and numbers.

So, after a huge spread that was put on for all present, we made our way home knowing that NCCS just experienced another heavenly moment.

Ministry at Foresight Church in Krugersdorp

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written by Colette Meeske

On the weekend of 3rd to 5th June 2011 Mark and I had the privilege of ministering at Foresight Church in Krugersdorp. This church is lead by Chris and Susanne Zeelie. We were asked to do a marriage enrichment weekend. We ministered on Friday night together around “His needs and Her needs”. We spoke around the 5 most important needs of a husband and wife.

Saturday morning saw us sharing the first session together, where Mark spoke about Healthy Communication in Marriage” and Colette spoke on “Learning the Art of Listening in marriage”. Communication actually hasn’t been successful unless the other person has heard and understood what the other person is communicating.

The second session of the morning Mark took the men aside and spoke around “Loving your wives with consideration and respect” whilst Colette spoke about “Living out Loyalty, commitment and faithfulness to our husbands”.

Sunday saw Mark speaking around the Biblical model of Marriage and 2 unbiblical models to avoid. All in all it was a great weekend of teaching and interaction. Loads of question and answer times filled with lots of fun and laughter. I don’t know that Foresight Church will ever be the same.

SOUTH SUDAN TRIP 2011

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Written by Craig Herbert


19 February – 24 March

Our team of 6 men and 1 woman drove for 4 weeks through 7 countries, crossing 10 borders. That’s over 8 000 km driving at an average speed of 40km/h through incredible humidity & unbearable heat. On top of all that we also had a tyre blow out and faced many other dangers all for one purpose; not only to preach the gospel with words but also to be the hands and feet of the Gospel, aiding our brothers and sisters in Christ in a practical way.

The Sudanese church we visited gathers under a tree in a village in Paduk every Sunday for a meeting. During the week the children of the village meet under the same tree for school. Together with seven others who flew into Sudan, we went to build classrooms for the school and a hall for the church. This hall will also be used as a training centre for leaders to meet and be equipped, to form a base from where the church can go and preach the gospel in that village, to other villages, to the nation of South Sudan and the surrounding nations. By the time we had to leave on our long journey back home we had helped build four classrooms and the hall.

I want to thank the Cornerstone family for all the prayer that went into this trip. We needed every bit of it. Please don’t stop praying for the church in South Sudan. In July South Sudan will become an independent country. This is a real opportunity for the church to rise up and display practical nation building. Let’s keep this nation in prayer!