In the fields of the Lord - The Cape Missions Executive seeks to foster stronger ties between churches

Colin Banfield, Chairman of the Cape Missions Executive, reports that one of the CME's (Cape Missions Executive) goals is for CESA churches to become more of a family in mission. Two years after the formation of the CME, Colin reflects on the joys and frustrations of working towards achieving this goal.

Are churches becoming more of a family in mission?
Unfortunately not as quickly as we’d like. It remains a challenge to get churches to see the potential of working together and sharing the brilliant resources and people that are already available. There are individuals who are partnering informally, but if we are to make a real difference, Church leadership need to understand the potential and start planning together.

What are some of the frustrations?
For example, one church may be busy planning a mission trip to Lesotho, going to great lengths to develop material of their own, not realizing that we already have access to evangelism material available in Sesotho. Improved networking amongst us will create more awareness of the human & material resources available, improving efficiency of the mission and thus benefitting the people being evangelized and trained.

And the joys?
The Go Outreach in Hermanus remains a great forum for networking and it is encouraging to see so many churches participating. It is here where we unearth some really talented folk, some of whom have gone on to bless their own churches and join us in other projects.

11 Churches and the 2 colleges (GWC and BISA) got been involved in the July 2007 Mission trip to Namibia. Excellent cooperation and teamwork existed between full-time mission workers, students and other church members who had joined the mission trip which contributed greatly to an effective outreach to the Ovambo community.

This year a smaller team have been busy there, mainly led by 'lay' people, as I was not able to go. It has been exciting to see the development of our church members as they have been exposed to this type of ministry. I am sure they are benefitting their churches in the Cape as a result. But the big joy is that we can do it, we don't need to call in the so called 'experts'. People on these trips can see that all it takes is a love for God, availablity, some simple experience of what not to do and a whole lot of following Jesus on the day.

Another area with obvious evidence of cooperation is Lesotho. Work which was commenced by Holy Trinity Gardens is being sustained and continued by them in cooperation with 3 other churches and the Student Y.

Is the focus only on the Western Cape?
Yes, although the Western Cape are busy with missions in other areas, our focus is on better mission practices in and from the Western Cape. I have been, and still am open to, offering assistance where I can to other regions in setting up a similar structure as requested by our Presiding Bishop at the 2006 Synod. I have had invitations to run mission weekends in the other provinces.

The CME has identified 2 outreach ministries, viz to Namibia and Lesotho, as excellent opportunities for churches and individuals to get involved in. Why these 2?

Because they have shown some progress and have provided an ideal training platform for others interested in mission. These projects are not new. They were started by groups who have wanted to include and involve others and have proven to be viable and sustainable projects. After each mission trip, the effectiveness of the mission is evaluated to ensure that the right things are being done, that the work is sustainable and how future plans can be more strategic.

What about other existing mission initiatives being run by local churches. Surely there must be many opportunities for partnering to maximize our impact in the mission field?
Yes there are and we would love to assist the churches in creating awareness of their projects. We encourage the churches to share with the CME their mission plans and goals so that we can share our resources and experiences, thus learning from one another and growing as a family in mission – becoming excited together about what God is doing.

I think there is a really unhelpful and unbiblical idea prevalent amongst us. That is, we think that a church is mature when it is self-governing, self-financing and self-reproducing. Although Henry Venn taught this over a century ago to address colonial patronizing, independence is not Gospel thinking, interdependence is. The ‘Three Self Principle’, as it has become known, ends up working against us as a global church. As Bishop Niringiye of Uganda once said, ‘We are only a rich Church together. On our own we remain poor, no matter what wealth we think we have’. If we think God intended us to go it alone, we are very arrogant and selfish at the same time.

Is it necessary for CME to coordinate these activities? Is this not defeating the purpose of getting out into the field with the Gospel, by adding what could be seen as a bureaucratic process?

The CME is not trying to control the process at all. It has been put in place simply to make us all aware of the different projects, assist in coordinating trips, to learn from our mistakes and to plan strategically together. The projects will continue to be driven by the local church. The CME will not bottleneck the process, but will provide an opportunity for the local church to bring to a wider forum what they’re up to, help them to think through and plan what they’re doing and to help them plan ways to promote and sustain their projects. The Executive really believe that the ‘field’, or receiving church, sometimes needs to be protected from the unquestionably well-intended visits from Churches which often cause confusion and expectations.

CME has also highlighted the Student Y and the Ministry to the Deaf as Strategic Regional Ministries. How would you like to see individuals and churches partnering with these ministries?
It should be understood that these are ministries not every Church is able, or has the opportunity, to run but which may interest some of their members. They are ministries which hopefully will be seen by every church as theirs in some way. They are ministries that need us all if they are going to be more effective.

For example, Lisa Harvey, heading up a ministry to the deaf called ‘Talking Hands’, has been accepted by the selection conference as an approved CESA ministry person. We’d like to see churches inviting her to introduce this ministry to their members. Apart from creating more awareness of this ministry and equipping our church members to do sign language, Lisa is also needs financial support as she has gone full-time from 2008. Who knows, there may be people in your congregation who would love to be part of this mission.

The same goes for many of the student workers – what a strategic ministry that our churches can sustain and encourage!

Are there any other ministries that could be of strategic importance?

Other work that is seen as important is in the Cape Flats. Many on the Cape Flats are feeling the hopelessness of the crime. We’d love to stimulate the churches in the Cape to think about how to draw alongside our brothers and sisters in such areas. One of the pastors from the Cape Flats has joined the CME committee to create awareness of their weaknesses and needs and to assist in our planning for growing this ministry. It’s been good to see partnerships of churches beginning to happen!

There is also huge potential for increased prison ministry. Can you imagine the potential for reaching our most crime-affected areas through converted criminals who have been equipped for ministry while in prison? Can you imagine the impact if our Churches worked out a strategy together with others in these areas. It could include caring for the families of converted prisoners, creating probational job opportunities for prisoners on release through the many business people we have in our churches so that they can get on with ministry and provide for their families. Greater networking between various prison workers will assist in formulating a strategy to maximize the impact of the Gospel in the Cape.

The environment is another key area. The church should be seen to be taking a leading role in environmental concerns – caring for the world which God has entrusted to us. I would love to see a coordinated ‘Enviro-Mission’ headed up by members of our churches, educating school children and church members to know their creator and love His world. The right people are sitting in our churches. They simply need to meet and plan. Talk to us, we have already started thinking about this. Can you imagine our churches taking the lead in their communities to encourage such things as: Community brainstorm parties on the environment; Connecting with local reserves to offer manpower with any help they may need; Providing recycle bins for the neighbourhood; Taking responsibility for a park or river to protect it’s eco system; Etc.

Think about it, if we say we know God and by our actions show that we care nothing for what belongs to Him, the world may think there is something not quite right!

What are the current opportunities for people wishing to get involved in Missions?

We’d like to encourage people to actually get into cars or planes and support the missionaries who are out in the field. They welcome the support and encouragement a visit from God’s people brings.

Attend the GO training and outreach experience taking place in Hermanus, and at other venues each year.

People can get involved in any of the missions mentioned above. Several mission trips take place throughout the course of the year. We can assist in helping you identify the Mission best suited to you and put you in touch with the leaders of the relevant group/s.

Take sign language classes with Lisa from Talking Hands and get involved in ministering to the deaf in your area.

Then there is also a missional Church conference weekend being held at Durbanville in September. We will be instructed by Dr Frans Hanke who runs a movement geared to transitioning churches into understanding their true identity in Christ as missional churches. Call Colin for more details and for booking - or email colin.mission@gmail.com . It is for all Pastors and leaders.

Cross Cultural relationships vital for ministry in the Cape

Our denomination’s desire to focus more intently on ministry to the poor, to the oppressed, to widows and orphans, to prostitutes, prisoners and street people has resulted in a re-evaluation of the way the GO training & experience is structured.

Colin Banfield reports that the GO committee is discussing ways in which to position GO to facilitate the local church moving out of their comfort zones and to discover that it is possible to live in, work with and learn from Christians in another community which is very different from their own.

Andrew Barnes, Pastor of Trinity Church, Mitchell’s Plain, mentioned that he personally would not have had the courage or even the drive to work in Mitchell’s Plain, if it had not been for the GWC ministry week forcing him to live and minister in other cultures. He also attributed his change of heart to time spent in the UK that taught him that missions is about sharing the gospel and about cross pollination. (Pun intended)

Banfield believes that churches should be intentional about mission in their local communities and at the same time be able to receive the benefits of the GO training and experience right where they are. He and Gary Bedderson, Chairman of GO, would like to encourage individual churches (or groups of churches) to host localized GO events to which folk from their church and other Cape Churches can GO and receive the GO training and experience.

For instance one church can set up an outreach to the farming community, informal settlement and town centre of Durbanville in April; St Stephens could arrange one at the same time or in July amongst homeless people in their area and down at St Thomas's; Mandela Park can organise one in their area at the same time or in September; Hermanus could do something in their area ... etc.

The GO committee would support the local church by providing a framework, training resources and identifying parties who may be able to contribute to the mission. The host church would have a training weekend and a 'camp' happening for the teams who would stay together, either at the church or a place close by, and work together for the outreach period.

Durbanville Community Church (DCC) did in fact run a pilot outreach, including folk from Trinity Church Michell's Plan, at a farming community close to them called Blue Mountain. This is a long-term project with the community, and DCC would love to have co-workers from around the Cape coming to jon them and to learn with them.

Banfield hopes that this approach with GO will result in better follow-up because the initiators of projects will be personally involved and have a desire to see the work in their community sustained. He envisages greater opportunities for local church member involvement in various ways eg, cooking, transport, materials and just generally hosting the ministry team. Importantly, the training would be done with locals and outsiders working together and create an excellent platform for developing relationships between our churches, thus supporting ongoing gospel work as a closer family of churches in mission.

However, Banfield stresses that the annual GO TRAINING & OUTREACH EXPERIENCE remains a great forum for networking, gaining mission exposure, identifying talent and connecting people to the most suitable mission opportunities. He encourages all church members to make use of this supported and safe environment as their first step into the exciting field of MISSION.

This year the annual GO training and outreach experience took place inHermanus from 27th June to 4th July. After 2 days of training, the delegates split into a few target groups where they received hands-on mission experience at various venues.

Congregation challenged to be part of God's plan and become missional as people

Church members left in tears and silence
By Michelle Strydom

Frans Hancke, a theologian from Kimberley, and founder of a mission organisation called ProChristo, and more recently a Church equiping movement called, The Plan, was the guest speaker at a family camp of the Durbanville Community Church. The camp was held in February 2008 in Hermanus, where he challenged the members of the church with several interesting sessions on missional church.

Michelle Strydom from Durbanville reports that the first session focused on "The Living God” who is a missionary God. Frans Hancke taught that it is necessary to align our characters to what God's purpose is for us. It should not be possible for others to be unchanged when they come into contact with us - the Church is a Church in motion, following Jesus. When they look at the church they should say "There strides Christ". Christ's mission is after all the DNA and fibre of the church.

The Second Session was about "The Secret". Frans asked “What is the secret of a church that makes an impact for Christ?” and lead the discussion from John 21 where Jesus did not tell Peter what he wanted (Feed my sheep) and then ask him if he was up to the job. Jesus asked Peter, and continues to ask us today, a relational question - " Do you love Me?" If our answer to this question is, "Yes Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you", this is the secret to making an impact. If this is from our hearts, then there will most probably be at least three things that we should expect, namely (1) there will be a price to pay (Peter soon found himself in prison); (2) there will need to be commitment (Peter had to follow God rather than men); and (3) there will be borders to cross (Peter crossed racial, hatred, cultural and geographical borders).

Frans then challenged the group on whether they were ready to accept that it is their turn to become missional as a people? Most of the church members left in tears and silence ... with a fresh resolve to follow Jesus together.

During his final session, Frans asked whether the members were 11 day Christians or 40 Year Christians. He reminded them that the promised land was ONLY approx. 230 miles away (an 11 day trip) and it took the Israelites 40 years to travel because they did not trust God! He asked, “How do we respond now that we say we love Him and Jesus tells us what he wants us to do. Do we react like the 10 spies who convinced the people they could not do what God expected? Do we also have too little faith, too much fear in our hearts to take Him at His Word. Do we also let our circumstances justify our disobedience?”

He reminded the group that 40 Year Christians see the giants, they grumble and wander around longing for slavery again, while 11 day Christians see the new future and know that they are a sent people. In finishing Frans encouraged the group to have faith and stop asking God to bless their own plans. Frans said that we should rather focus getting involved in Gods plans because all His plans are already blessed (Apparently a quote from Bono of the group U2)!

Frans Hancke's book, The Plan is available from Colin Banfield at the Church office.

Frans is running a leaders seminar with DCC on being The Plan. This seminar will be on the weekend of 28-27 September. Pastors and leaders from any church are welcome to book in now. Email colin.mission@gmail.com

He can also be contacted at frans@dieplan.org to facilitate workshops with your church .

Christianity Explained with Talking Hands

Passionate about finding ways to help the Deaf, Lisa Harvey has been instrumental in the formation of the Talking Hands ministry. Lisa, a George Whitefield College (GWC) graduate, is committed to serving God full-time in the Talking Hands ministry. Her desire is to create a greater awareness amongst the hearing community of the needs of the Deaf.

To this end Lisa (St. James Church), Agnes (Masimbonge Deaf Church) and Lyndal (Christ Church, Paarl) are running Sign Language classes giving Hearing Christians basic knowledge and evangelistic tools to use amongst the Deaf. These classes are currently held at St. James Church for the southern suburbs, Durbanville Community Church for the northern suburbs and at GWC.
The most important part of the Talking Hands ministry is equipping Deaf Christians to study and teach the Bible. Lynn (Holy Trinity, Gardens) and Lisa have taught six Deaf Christian leaders of Masimbonge Deaf Church to use the Christianity Explained material. Masimbonge Deaf Church has been running since 1985 and is held each Sunday at two venues, reaching about 40 deaf people at present; one at DeafSA (Deaf Federation of South Africa) in Newlands, and the other at Noluthando School for the Deaf in Khayelitsha. Both meetings regularly visit St. James Church to be fed with God’s Word together with the Hearing. At these church gatherings, a Sign Language student, Luanne (St. James church) is being trained to interpret, beginning with leading songs. Other Sign Language students sit with the Deaf at church gatherings. The Deaf also attend weekly Bible studies held at St. James, interpreted and taught by Lisa and Lynn.

Two of the elders who have been taught Christianity Explained are now teaching it to those who meet at DeafSA, with Lisa supervising as this is all new to them. Richard and Agnes Dyabusa have been running a Christianity Explained course to the Deaf in their home in Khayelitsha for the past one and a half years. Initially Richard and Agnes began teaching three Deaf teens, who eventually started bringing their friends, until the group expanded to about fifteen, including young adults. This group of teens and young adults are committed to being taught by Richard and Agnes, and continue to bring friends. They consist of Christians and of non-Christians who are searching, with many questions needing to be answered. Some of the group have become Christians through this course and are now speaking to their friends about Christianity and inviting them to Christianity Explained and to church.

Richard and Agnes have had experience teaching this material to the youth in Namibia too, and have been on 'Churches for Namibia' (CFN)annual short-term mission trips to Namibia for the past three years. It was through Richard, whilst on his first mission trip to Namibia, that the Deaf needs were clearly made known to Lisa and to Colin Banfield, the director of CFN. Richard and Agnes, both Deaf, as well as Lynn Robinson (also a GWC one year graduate) were drawn into Talking Hands by Lisa Harvey just over two years ago, through Colin’s prompting, while Lisa was at the George Whitfield College. Together, they identified the need for solid Bible teaching and evangelism to the Deaf and resolved to work together to this end.

To support the ministry of equipping Deaf Christians to study and teach the Bible, Lisa is working towards creating a visual theological dictionary for the Deaf.

This ministry is in its infancy and needs your support. Awareness needs to be created amongst the Hearing in South Africa and especially among us, Christian brothers and sisters. We need to recognize what it means to be united as a family of God, with our common foundation, Jesus Christ. There are about 400 000 Deaf in South Africa. A fraction of the 400 000 Deaf, which is in the thousands, live in the Western Cape. The number of Deaf in South Africa exceeds the number of at least three of the eleven official languages of our land. It is therefore understandable that the Deaf wish Sign Language to become the twelfth official language of our country.

Feel free to contact Lisa: St. James Church office 021 671 70 70
lisa@stjames.org.za

Lesotho - Gospel Partnerships

Over the last couple of years Holy Trinity Church, Gardens Cape Town, has partnered with Calvary Hope of the Nations Church (CHNC) in Teyateyaneng (TY), Lesotho. It all started with one of the members of Holy Trinity reaching out to the youth in TY through volley ball in Sept 2000 and since then different missions trips have been run on a yearly/ bi-yearly basis with different emphases: children’s holiday clubs; youth ministry; door to door evangelism; training of church leaders & Sunday school teachers and then finally in 2006 Holy Trinity partnered with Durbanville Community Church (DCC) and a successful medical mission was run in TY.

One of the needs identified in 2006 was to partner with some of the closer CESA churches in and around Bloemfontein and introduce them to key leaders of Calvary Hope of the Nations church (CHNC) and so in January this year a missions trip with a difference was organized.

The missions trip to Lesotho started with a conference at Maselspoort resort from 2-5 January 2008. Several different churches came together: Holy Trinity, Gardens; Durbanville Community Church; St James, Bloemfontein, Emmanuel, Bloemanda and key leaders from Calvary Hope of the Nations Church & its sister church in Mokhotlong, Lesotho as well as Ntai Pheko from Eugene Casalis Mission School, Lesotho. How does one organize a conference with 54 people and between six different churches? Only with the Lord help & grace!!

The aim of the conference was to build relationships across the different churches, to continue to equip leaders in all the churches with good Bible teaching tools and to equip those running the children’s holiday club. Neil Henry from the Bible Institute of SA was our main speaker and he did two plenary sessions on Psalm 119 and two workshops on Bible Tools (how to understand & teach the Bible). It was a great blessing having him and the comment made from the folk from Lesotho was - “We need more of this”!!

Pauline Steel was a blessing as well - despite having moved jobs & house. She graciously helped out with equipping the team for the children’s ministry on the farm.

Make no mistake it was not all hard work – the rest of the time was filled with building relationships; mini Olympics (volleyball; Cricket & soccer) & super tubes and enjoying Maselspoort’s wonderful food & hospitality. A special thank you to Reg Krohn & his staff for making this possible!

From there 3 different missions trips were planned from 5-9 of January.

Farm Mission on the Lesotho border - a team of 11 run a Children's Holiday club & outreach to farmers and farm workers

Bridget’s (Holy Trinity Gardens) dream for the last couple of years has been that the empty chapel on her parents’ farm near Tweespruit becomes a vibrant Christian community. She started praying about it and started speaking to Alan Noble and others at HT. And so after much prayer & consultation a children’s holiday club was planned.

A mixed, inexperienced team of 7 people from Holy Trinity, St James & TY, trained by Pauline Steel, stepped out hesitantly in faith and the Lord used them beyond their imagination!! And it was not just a holiday club!! The Sunday service attracted ~130 people from the district. Songs were sung, testimonies shared, Peter Thinyane (Emmanuel, Bloemanda) preached and in the Lord’s grace ~20 committed their lives to the Lord that morning! There were 60 children in the Sunday school and the children’s holiday club attracted ~ 45 children. The children had great fun and teaching sessions covered the lost sheep; the feeding of 5000 and Jesus’ crucifixion.

What about the farm workers??? Well - Nasco (HT) a previous Bulgarian National soccer player ran a soccer clinic with ~15 players in the afternoons and again people’s lives were changed! Alan even discipled one of the new Christian guys, Tsokolo, next to the soccer pitch!!

The team also organized an evangelistic supper for ~20 farmers and Alan Noble lead a Bible study in Isaiah: “Our Hope for 2008”. It was a mission way beyond all expectations.

What is the next step?? Bridget and the team are praying that the Lord would raise up someone to preach once or twice a month. Some of the team are also going back for a follow up mission at the end of April and the ultimate aim if it is the Lord’s will is to have a vibrant Church which can impact the farming community i.e. reach out to the farm school and be the salt & light in the community.

Lesotho TY - Mission - a team of 5 get involved in a practical project, a youth outreach and evangelism
21 people from SA drove up to Teyateyaneng, Lesotho on the Saturday afternoon! Despite car trouble & thunderstorms the team eventually made it! After a good night’s rest the team joined in with the Sunday service and testimonies were shared. Colin preached on 1 Peter 3. For many of the Holy Trinity members it was such a blessing meeting old acquaintances; renewing friendships and being back in TY. It was incredible to see how in the Lord’s grace the church property had grown in the last year - a preschool had been built as well as an office for Pastor Thomas and a soup kitchen.

After the service some of the guys got stuck into manual labor – filling up the water tanks with a bucket & wheel barrow and straightening scrap metal bars for burglar bars. That afternoon Colin Banfield did a leadership course on discipleship which Pastor Thomas had requested.

The next morning the team left for Mokholtong while the TY team - 5 people (consisting of HT; Emmanuel, CT; St James & Peter Thinyane) stayed behind. They were kept busy with painting out the preschool class room; door to door evangelism; volleyball ministry to the youth & in the evenings showing parts of the Jesus Film according to the Gospel of Matthew. Again lives were changed for eternity and the team came away having learned heaps about working together; trusting in the Lord and above all it was such a privilege working alongside the leaders of Calvary Hope of the Nations Church and seeing their zeal and love for the Lord and learning from them. It a real privilege to see how the Lord had grown the CHNC church since 2000 and a blessing being able to expose others to it!

Mountain Mission – Mokhotlong - a team of 19 do evangelism and an investigation

Colin led this team into the mountains near Mokhotlong where a sister church of Calvery Hope of the Nations is situated. It took most of the day to get there, but with the stunning views, no-one was complaining. We did two evening tent meetings run by the local pastor, which were really noisy, but the people loved the testimnonies, some local and some from our team. It was great to see the youngest member of our team, Daniel (9) get up and share how he came to know the Lord ... in front of young shepherd boys and old people alike.

Colin spoke from the Scriptures using the stories Jesus told about sheep etc, considering the pastoral lifestyle of the people. On the second evening he spoke to the people about the conversations he had had with people he met in the mountains around the village. During the day there were lots of kids, so a make-shift Kids team got busy ... including teaching the kids cricket, which they had never heard of!

The rest of the team did some investigation, including the meeting of two chiefs. They discovered that in the mountains, as in the towns, the medical services are very poor ... only much worse. They also asked the local pastor to introduce them to any sick people living near by so they could spend time with them and pray for them.

Some of the time was spent getting to know how much the average person in the fields understood about God. Colin was amazed that in a place where a high percentage of people are attached to a church denomination (almost all), and with a Catholic church in the village (which almost everyone belongs to) there was almost no concept of God coming into the world!!
It appears that everyone needs to belong to a denomination in order to be buried, and they have to pay their annual fees to stay a member. Colin's impression was that the churches are almost designed to keep people in ignorance. Some of the ladies that his team met in the fields had no concept of God as we have come to know Him. It was like the News had arrived for the very first time.

Their concept of life was that "you work the fields and die. If you have been good you go to be with the good ancestors who can help the people still living. The bad ones simply disappear. Yes, there is a creator, but that's all we know ... he is not involved in the world. "

Colin shared about that creator coming into the world, and that this great news has been spreading since then, and was now reaching them! They were amazed and one said, 'If He has, why did he not do something about all our troubles?' The team continued to share how He is not pleased about what is happening and that He showed by many miracles that He is able to make things right ... but in the future. In the meantime He has called on all people to turn from ignorance and their wrongdoing and to learn from Him how to live in His world. We were bringing a message of forgiveness before He returns, because He ended up taking our punishment while still living in our world.

They listened and took things to read. They asked what they should do about this, and Colin told them that God simply wants them to tell Him (because He is present right there) that they have heard the news and what they think about it. Do they want Him to forgive them? Do they want to start listening to more that He has to say? Just tell Him. Then they were invited to speak with the mountain pastor for more info.

What a thrill to bring a fresh message in such a simple way! The team left a few days later, taking 12 hours to get to Bloem! We had a lot to think about for the future.

Talking Hands Ministry to the deaf website launch

We are pleased to let everyone know that Lisa Harvey has her own website.

http://www.talkinghands.org.za/

Lisa began sign language classes for hearing people in the Northern Suburbs a few months ago. If you would like to attend these, contact Lisa at 021 6717070 or Colin at 021 9752500.

For more information on Christianity Explained for the deaf click here

Missions News available for viewing

Missions News now working