At the SGM on Wednesday 13th November, the church members agreed on four important decisions affecting the church for 2020 and beyond:
Tag Archive for: Members
I was sceptical at first. Although I didn’t say it, I was thinking things like: “you haven’t given yourselves enough time to fall pregnant before considering adoption,” “don’t rush into it,” “have you tried this or that procedure?”, “it’s scary adopting, you don’t know what you’ll get,” “it’s a life time commitment.”
We were sitting opposite each other at her place of work as she shared her experience of trying to fall pregnant in the few years she and her husband had been married. She had just ordered a book called “Adopted for Life” which had been an inspiration to her brother on the adoption of his second child. She shared some of the thinking in this book by Dr Russell Moore. My scepticism gradually moved to intrigue. I don’t remember ever hearing “adoption” considered in the way Dr Moore wrote about it.
“Adoption is about an entire culture within our churches, a culture that sees adoption as part of our Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself.” Adopted for Life, Dr Russell Moore
A few days later when Dr Moore’s book arrived, my friend loaned me her copy. As I read the opening chapter to Leigh we were both moved to tears.
Leigh and I invited a few families in our church who in recent years had chosen the adoption route to our home for Sunday lunch. As they shared their personal journey with adoption my admiration for each person’s compassion and love for their children grew. Each one’s story was different and very personal. Let me introduce them to you.
Having a mother who worked at Princess Alice Adoption Home for 26 years, Lucille Gerry has been exposed to abandoned children for much of her life. As children, she and her sister, Carol-Anne (who adopted 4 children of her own), helped at Princess Alice, feeding and playing with the babies. Working at Starfish also made Lucille very aware of the vast numbers of children without parents and saw many 2 year olds looking after babies. When Lucille and Billy married, they chose to adopt rather than have their own children. Both their daughters, Sarah, now aged 4, and Hannah, 2, were abandoned at birth. Lucille is relieved that both girls have similar backgrounds so that there is no comparison or feelings of inferiority because one may have had a “better” start to her life. The Gerry’s got Sarah from Baby Haven and Hannah through a Roodepoort Child Welfare social worker.
Ashlea and Ralph Martin always felt that adoption was a good idea so decided to have one biological child and then adopt. But while Ashlea was helping at Thula Baba, then one of Rosebank’s Rays of Hope projects, she met and fell in love with Christi who was 3 weeks old at the time. When Christi was 3 years old, Ashlea met Thuli who was from Tsolofelo Baby Sanctuary. Once again, Ashlea fell in love with Thuli who was so tiny and very under developed. Both Ashlea and Ralph are career musicians and are thrilled that both girls share their love of music and are themselves very musical.
In Gael and George Gilchrist’s situation, God used infertility to get their attention. As Gael said “Adoption came from the heart of God. He gently spoke the possibility into our hearts and slowly kindled an excitement and anticipation as the idea became a reality.” Gael has made available an honest and beautifully written account of their movement from believing they would have their own biological children to embracing the idea that God puts families together in many different ways. As Gael so eloquently told us “All hardship can draw us to God or alienate us further…the choice is ours. We decided to draw nearer.” If you would like to read Gael’s full story, just email her at gaelgilchrist1@gmail.com and request a copy.
Gael and George were thoroughly screened and eventually accepted to be adoptive parents. Unlike the other stories of adoption, Joshua was chosen for them; they did not choose him. But they loved him from the moment they met him in February 2012. He was 6 months old at the time and had spent his entire life at Impilo.
Charles and Louise Pitt have two children, Jenna (14) and Matthew (12). About 6 years ago, Charles and subsequently Jenna, who was 8 at the time, began thinking that adoption might be a possibility for their family. Louise was terrified. They as a family then became involved in Hotel Hope, a home dedicated to rescuing abandoned children and AIDS orphans. See their website www.hotelhope.com. When they met Phindle who is now 3, she chose the Pitts to be her “forever family”. Although they’re only in the beginning stages of the adoption process, Phindle, is well and truly part of the family.
When a couple gets married, the thought of not being able to have children never crosses their minds. But after a few years of unsuccessfully trying to conceive, the reality sets in and it’s often shattering. “Instead of entering the pastel halls of nurseries and baby clothes, they begin the slow, miserable trudge through the white coat world of infertility. It’s a sterile setting where every last ounce of mystery and passion is leached out of conception”* and one often feels so alone…alone with unanswered questions, alone with a feeling of failure, alone with a sense of being abandoned by God. One young woman so aptly described her situation this way…”what did I do to deserve this? Why me? Why anyone? These are the questions that continuously run laps around my head.”
Kirsten Legg was once one of those women who desperately longed for another child but couldn’t conceive. Kirsten and her husband, Andrew, were next door neighbours from the ages of 10 and 11, respectively. After five years of marriage, God blessed them with a beautiful daughter, Emma. But they just couldn’t seem to have another child.
Five years after unsuccessfully trying to conceive and after a failed IVF (in vitro fertilisation) procedure, she asked God, “Why?”. She didn’t get the answer she was expecting. God’s word to her was, “You need to help others battling with infertility.” And so “Footprints in the Sand” was born. It’s a support group for people battling with infertility and has just celebrated 5 years of existence. Since its inception, 50 babies have been born to those in the group.
Footprints in the Sand, which meets every six weeks in Kirsten’s home, is a safe and warm place for ladies to share their hopes and dreams, struggles and pain. Out of Kirsten’s seven year experience of pain and anguish in not conceiving, she has been able to offer comfort, hope, ideas and support. And lots of prayer. The ladies rejoice and thank God together each time a woman becomes pregnant.
You can find the group on the Vitalab website (www.vitalab.com). For more information, contact Kirsten Legg at 072 249 8790.
But what about Kirsten’s own journey with infertility. Kirsten described her “infertility road” as “damaging every part of me.” Another woman described her feelings this way, “I never knew how heavy empty arms could be.”
Steven Lungu, at the end of a sermon he preached at Rosebank in 2006, asked those who felt that they had something in their life that was hurting them or stopping them from living a fulfilled life to come forward for prayer. Kirsten went to the front with others. He then said “There is someone here that has been trying to fall pregnant for many years and the Lord has told me that they will be blessed.” Some who knew Kirsten, felt he was referring to her. For many years she held on to those words.
Other amazing things happened to Kirsten which gave her hope and encouragement along the way. She journaled her walk with God which enabled her to see His activity and work in her life. After a special prayer experience in December 2009, and being told “Your heart’s desire is to have a son. This will happen soon and the glory will go to God.”, Kirsten fell pregnant in January and Bradley Campbell James Legg was born on September 23, 2010.
What an incredible story! What an incredible journey! What an incredible ministry, “Footprints in the Sand” that came out of Kirsten’s experience. As someone so aptly said, “Often our greatest ministry comes out of our greatest pain.” May Kirsten’s story continue to inspire and give hope to many.
*Quote from Phil Reinders’ article in the Calgary Herald Newspaper.
In 2009 Rosebank Union Church did a four week study entitled “Faith @ Work” which dealt with the significance of work from God’s point of view, bringing our faith life and our everyday life together. Before she did this study God had been working in Joanna Coetzee’s life with regard to this important truth and the study confirmed what the Lord had been doing in her heart and mind. Wanting to use her profession to actively show the love of Christ to all she treated, Joanna had begun to run her biokinetic practice along these lines.
After my hip surgery at the end of 2011, I was one of the patients Joanna treated. I wanted to do hydro-therapy so chose to go where my recovery would be the easiest. It wasn’t long before I had a strong sense of God being very much a part of this practice.
Outside her rooms at San Sereno Retirement Village is a notice board with a Bible verse on it that is changed regularly. A page on the board has the words “I am thankful for….” and anyone walking past can write something on the by this board. People have written some wonderful messages and it’s been a means of encouraging people as well as identifying other Christians.
Patients know that they will never get an appointment between 8:00 and 9:00 on Thursday mornings because that’s the time Joanna and her colleagues pray for each other and for their patients. I have been fortunate to be included in those prayers! They record what they are praying for and praise God as they see Him answering those prayers.
While I’ve been doing my exercises in the water, I’ve seen some of the very sad and heart wrenching circumstances of other patients, such as those crippled by rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson’s and other degenerative diseases. As a result of a motor cycle accident, a very severely handicapped young man is unable to function normally but Joanna works with him regularly in the water with the hope and prayer that she can help him have a better quality of life. Sharing Christ and his love with her patients is Joanna’s deepest longing. How powerful it is for someone to know that the person treating them is asking God to help and heal them, both physically and spiritually.
Twenty-nine year old Stephen, a Zimbabwean, was severely disabled in a car accident. Not having medical aid, Joanna and her team treated him for an entire year at a very reduced rate. Their prayers and treatment worked miracles and Stephen has improved significantly. One can’t help but wonder what quality of life Stephen would have today if he had not been able to be under Joanna’s care and influence.
Joanna is taking her desire to do even more for Christ through her practice by letting one of her staff, Riana, work every Wednesday at Park Care Frail Care Centre, helping to rehabilitate residents who can’t afford treatment. They’ve set up a rehab centre with equipment that’s been donated and this enables the residents to do their exercise/rehab programs on their own when Riana is not there. At a time when our culture is very money orientated, it’s remarkable that Joanna is willing to pay Riana to help those at Park Care.
Joanna is now in the process of registering as a NPO “Christcare Therapies,” intending to recruit other professionals (biokineticists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, etc.) to donate their time to help more of the residents at this centre. Their hope is to set up similar facilities at other centres around Johannesburg. They’ve even been approached by the Biokinetics Association of SA to assist them in setting up basic biokinetics centre in government facilities as part of the new NHI (National Health Insurance) drive.
Why does Joanna, a young mother of two small children, do this? In her own words, “to have more and more exposure to spread the Word and the love of Christ through our work.”
Joanna is learning to listen to God and go where He leads. She is truly merging her faith in God with her career as a biokineticist.
Note:
If you are a professional who would like to be part of Christcare Therapies – please contact the church office on (011) 7846214 and we will put you in contact with Joanna.
Lots of people have been part of Rosebank Union Church over the 100 plus years of her existence. It’s interesting to meet people who are no longer a part of our church and to discover what they are doing with their lives.
Earlier this month, Leigh and I had the privilege of attending the SIM Southern Sudan spiritual life conference (SLC). We went thinking that the only person we knew was the one who invited us, Claire Inoue, whom we met while pastoring Central Baptist Church in Victoria, Canada.
To our surprise and delight, an ex-Rosebank Union girl was part of the missionary team. Vicki Beattie and her family, Americans who lived in Johannesburg from 1974 to 1980, attended Rosebank for some of that time. Vicki shared that her time in South Africa had a great spiritual impact on her and she has fond memories of attending SALT–the young adults group at Rosebank at the time.
Vicki became a nurse, and while attending URBANA ’84 (one of the largest student missionary conferences in the world), she had a desire to return to Southern Africa, using her nursing skills to reach people for Christ. She worked in Zambia with AEF/SIM before joining SIM/Sudan, doing community health outreach with TB/leprosy patients. Vicki is fulfilling her desire to disciple and equip the Sudanese people.
Leigh and I were struck with the youthfulness of this team of 42 missionaries. There was only one other couple in our age group with everyone else being much younger.
One of the six people from Nagaland, India, was Asule Angami, who incidentally knows 6 languages! When asked why she chose to come to Sudan to do missionary work, she replied that she wanted to go to a hard place. “I wanted to go where people don’t just want to be comfortable.”
Sudan is probably one of the hardest places to be a missionary–unbelievable heat, sand, loneliness, and danger.
A young woman who studied hairdressing in Canada, is ministering alone in an isolated region of Southern Sudan and seeing remarkable things happen. There is an amazing openness to the Gospel among these people who have suffered so much and one of the Darfur converts in a refugee camp told her that “if you just tell them, they will believe.”
Ryan Weeks is a 26 year old California boy who came to Sudan to do water purification work and has become so burdened and excited about having a relational ministry to the Gauza people. His excitement for being involved in this ministry was infectious, as was his love for the Lord.
I’ll never forget Karissa Cail’s story of how she came to be a missionary nurse in Sudan. Born to missionary parents and raised in West Africa, she struggled at the age of 14 when her folks returned to the States on home assignment. Most kids in her class either ignored her or excluded her but one girl, Sarah, didn’t. Sarah who was “kind, gentle, friendly and godly” was the kind of friend that Karissa needed right then. After that year, Karissa and her family returned to Africa. Sarah died in a car accident at the age of 17. This catapulted Karissa into a time of deep questioning which resulted in her making the decision to spend the rest of her life investing in people. She concluded her story by saying “I am who I am in large part because of Sarah. I am serving the Lord here because of her.” (See her photo with the other nurses at the beginning of this blog.)
We heard so many wonderful stories during our time in Kenya. Leigh will continue to share them with us in his sermons.
Most missionary retreats have a skit/comedy slot and this one was no exception. Some items were ‘in-house’ but I’d like to share one with you to give you a bit of an idea of how missionaries in Southern Sudan live. This song was composed by two of the missionaries.
THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS
Sweat drops on noses and lizards in kitchens
Thanks to no junk food my clothes are loose fitten
Many care packages tied up with strings
Again it’s for Lori—she has enough things!
Green coloured doxy’s, each station has oodles
Eating our lentils and living in tukles
Mosquitos that fly with the moon on their wings
This is a list of unfavourite things.
BOOK ME A FLIGHT, GET ME OUT TONIGHT!
CAN’T YOU SEE I’M HAD.
HAVE MERCY ON ME, HEAR THIS SONG THAT I SING
I REALLY JUST WANT MY DAD!
Mud on our dresses and skin with heat rashes
Dust flakes that range from our toes to eyelashes
Ginger in coffee, the heartburn it brings
Kisra and okra with green slimy strings.
Rumbles in tummies and fevers in bodies
Escaping the bug net to run to the potty
Taking co-artum, relief that it brings
These are some common, yet least favourite things.
BOOK ME A FLIGHT, GET ME OUT TONIGHT!
CAN’T YOU SEE I’M HAD
YET SOMEHOW VENTING THROUGH THIS SONG THAT I SING
SUDAN DOESN’T SEEM SO BAD!
Another nurse, Sandy Ewan who attended the same Bible school in Canada that we did, shared with us some advice she was given at the beginning of her missionary career by missionary stateswoman, Helen Roseveare. “If you think you are going into missions to save souls, you are wrong. You are going to grow in Christ!”
Rosebank Union Church members use sport to make a difference in the lives of the poor.
Did you know that Ross Jenvey raised R125,051 for the Rays of Hope Tertiary Education Fund (ROHTEF) when he successfully ran the 2010 Comrades marathon (a gruelling 98 km road race)? ROHTEF provides bursaries to talented scholars who are finishing matric with good enough marks to pursue education beyond high school but who do not have the funds to do so.
The 67 pledges received from friends, family and colleagues boasted his motivation to train well and to pray that the Lord would keep him healthy and uninjured for the big day. This amazing experience taught Ross how generous South Africans are, how vital prayer is, and that God can use this sort of opportunity to help him share his faith with others.
Well done Ross. We are so proud of you.
Did you know that Ian Anderson has raised over R100,000 for Rays of Hope by “grabbing sponsors” whenever he participates in a cycling race.
Ian has been cycling for the past 15 years, enjoying God’s creation on his bike whether it’s riding in one day events, 5-day tours around South Africa or 11 days in France on the Tour de France route. Ian has also discovered the amazing generosity of South Africans, especially towards such a good cause as ROH and has used his cycling adventures to share his faith with others.
Since marrying Irene last December (2009), the two of them have been cycling tandem and Ian has found his new wife to be a wonderful ‘stoker’ (the official name for the rider on the back of the tandem).
Well done Ian and we wish you and Irene lots more cycling adventures.
Do you know that Eugene O’Brien along with others mainly from Rosebank Union Church will be embarking on the “Tour of Hope” cycling weekend with the objective of raising R100,000 for two of the newer Rays of Hope initiatives. The Child Headed Households (CHH) project aims to assist orphaned and vulnerable children in 10 specific areas. Matla-a-Bana is a project doing ground breaking work in reducing the secondary effects of rape and abuse in children.
This group of 7 men will leave from Clarence in the Free State on Thursday, October 27, arriving at Rosebank Union Church on Sunday, October 31 (a total distance of about 350 km). If you would like to help welcome the cyclists, they hope to arrive at Rosebank around 12:30 on Sunday, October 31. Join them for a light lunch and hear about all their adventures.
We wish them cool, overcast days with lots of fun along the way.
For more information about these initiatives, contact Jennifer Adams through the church office.
Welcome to my blog! This is the place where I get to introduce you to some of the amazing people who are part of the Rosebank Union Church family.
Soon after we arrived at Rosebank in September 2004 and started getting to know people, we began to be inspired by who they were and what they were doing. Within months I started a file which I called “Rosebank’s Amazing People.” That file steadily grew as I got to know more and more people.
Through this blog I want to introduce you to people who inspire and challenge me. They are ordinary people who have stretched themselves to do the extraordinary. They are people who have seen a need and rearranged their lives so that they could fill that need. They are people who love South Africa with all his challenges and complexities and are determined to make a difference to this country and her people.
The movie “Australia” ends with a quote by the young boy who plays one of the leading roles. His quote sums up why this blog exists. “One thing I know. Stories are important because that’s how you keep people belonging.”
I’ve met many fascinating people at Rosebank. But I certainly haven’t met them all. To keep this blog going, I need your help. Tell me who inspires you. Who have you met who has a story to tell. Let’s discover together the people who make our church what it is.