CAPE TOWN REPORT BACK
this is the report back that was sent through from the team I work with in Cape Town....

We were once again delighted to welcome Lynn Swart to Cape Town.

We had planned a few visits to various nonprofit organisations with whom we work and in addition, Lynn spoke at our quarterly breakfast meeting and spoke and led workshop at our annual retreat day. Here are some more details about her visit:

1. Connect Network’s child sexual exploitation (CSE) conference
Connect Network is a network of 70 Christian organisations working with women and children in need in the greater Cape Town area. The network is affiliated to Viva Network and the CSE conference was linked to the Viva Asha forum which works into the area of child sexual exploitation. 50 people from 20 different organisations working with children at risk met for 3 days at a retreat centre in Malmesbury outside Cape Town to receive training, share practice and plan collaboration. Lynn was invited to open the conference, which she did with a short talk, some worship and then breaking of bread. Lynn’s participation helped to position the conference from the start as focusing on Jesus. We have had reports that people were blessed by her ministry and she had been invited back for next year’s conference – only this time they want her there for longer!


2. Beautiful Gate
Beautiful Gate, situated in the Crossroads township of Cape Town, is a ministry founded about 12 years ago by Toby and Aukje Brouwer. Originally started as a hospice for HIV positive babies, the ministry has now become a place of successful anti-retroviral treatment for their HIV positive children who are now mostly attending local schools and living relatively normal lives. In addition, Beautiful Gate is increasingly involving itself in community support and empowerment activities aimed at preserving families and supporting foster families in the face of poverty and HIV/AIDS.

Lynn attended their weekly staff devotions and after that met with some of the leaders of the organisation and a small team who are responsible for prayer, worship and discipleship within Beautiful Gate. She provided valuable input on how to approach this work, as well as prophetic input for the organisation and for the individual team members. Her input came at a time when the team was experiencing some challenges and they greatly appreciated her input.

3. Pregnancy Help Centre
Situated in the bustling heart of Wynberg suburb, Pregnancy Help Centre (PHC) is a drop-in centre for women to receive pregnancy and HIV tests and related counselling. In addition, PHC provides post abortion counselling and involves itself in advocacy issues around legislation pertaining to abortion. The organisation has been functioning for 11 years and is now faced with various growth challenges. Lynn spent the afternoon with about 20 team and board members, sharing from faith experiences in her own life and then gave prophetic input. Lynn is quite well known in this group from the Women of Promise conferences and everyone enjoyed their time with her. Subsequent to her visit, PHC board and staff members have started reflecting on her input and it has helped give them the courage and confidence to push ahead with new strategies and relationship building with local churches.

4. NewDay Breakfast
Each quarter, NewDay hosts a breakfast to which they invite people with whom they are currently working and who are involved in one or other form of social ministry. The breakfast aims to provide spiritual input and encouragement and create a forum where people can get to know one another and pray for one another. The breakfast was held at Jubilee Community Church Centre in Observatory. There was a time of worship after which Lynn spoke, encouraging people to see that this is a time of transition. Speaking from Exodus and the passage where the spies inspect the Promised Land, she encouraged us to see ourselves as the giants, rather than as locusts. This was followed by a time of prayer with people lingering to talk to Lynn and one another.


5. Day Retreat
A one day retreat was held at the Schoenstatt Centre in Constantia. People from organisations with whom NewDay is working we invited to attend. Special attention was given to inviting those we felt were really in need of such a time and also those who might not normally have access to such an event. The fact that Lynn had raised funding to cover the day was a great blessing and while some of the attendees made financial contributions, some would not have been able to attend without the funding being available.

The focus of the day was to create a space and provide some guidance for people to worship wholeheartedly and to talk to and hear from God. Lynn led the worship, supported by Jono and Belinda from Valley Christian Church. This was followed by a short talk on Matthew 11:18-30 – about Christ’s rest and his yoke. People spent some time alone silently meditating on questions arising from the talk. This was followed by a talk by about Jesus seeing us, and us seeing him. This led in to another time of silent meditation. After lunch, Lynn led worship again and what a good time it was! After this she spoke about Jesus’ double calling of Martha and helped us to apply it to our own lives. After more time for silent meditation, we were joined by Nigel – the lead elder from Khanyisa Community Church in Guguletu – who led us in breaking of bread and gave a talk about Rahab the prostitute.

The day was greatly appreciated by those who attended. Many have subsequently shared how clearly they connected with God and heard him speaking to them. It was a significant day for many. The combination of worship, short talks and lots of time for silent reflection worked well.

A total of 22 organisations were represented
In conclusion
We loved having Lynn with us and now that she is gone (for a while) we miss her already! As she is South African, I think we feel a special connection with her. Certainly she has a natural ability to link with people across racial, gender, class and denominational barriers. Without exception, the people she ministered to were so blessed by the way God used her. Her visit was, for us, a time of heightened connection with God and we look forward to welcoming her back next year.

We are also praying about possibly holding two one day summits in 2008 – one at the beginning of the year and one towards the latter part as well as thinking through possible ways to ensure ongoing training and support for the various NGO’s.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ZIMBABWE
I got this e-mail this morning and was deeply moved... LETS PRAY... just for one minute...OUR PRAYERS ARE THE MOST POWERFUL ASSET WE HAVE. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Dear World,

I am a 16 year old person living in Zimbabwe. I think the time has come for a more direct appeal, and so I am writing to you, the world.

Maybe, just maybe, there might be someone out there who can help us...

It's tough here now. The inflation rate is so high that if you don't change money within 6
hours you could get half the amount of foreign currency that you would have originally
received.

We're starving now; people die around us. In the last year alone at least ten people associated personally with my family have died despite the fact that they were only middle-aged. Other people don't make it to middle age. They don't even make it past childhood.

Our once-proud nation is on it's knees. We flee or die. This beautiful, bountiful once-rich land has become a living hell. We have dealt with it until now; we have made a plan. That was the Zimbabwean motto: "MAKE A PLAN".

But now we can't make a plan. We're too tired, too broken, too bankrupt. We can't afford life, and life does not cost much, not really. We cannot afford to eat, we cannot afford to drink, and we cannot afford to make mistakes, because if we do we die. We don't have the capital to support ourselves, and those few who do, have to deal with the horror of watching their friends and family fall into absolute poverty as they cannot afford to help them.

We're waiting desperately for a great hand to pick us up out of the dirt because at the moment we are outnumbered by Fate herself, and so we close our eyes and pray. We have fought for too long, and have been brought to breaking point. We simply stand, heads down, and bear it. Our spirit has gone; we are defeated. After a valiant struggle of over fifteen years, we have been broken.
There is no will left, no spirit. Like a horse that has been beaten until it cannot fight anymore; we are the same, and, like that horse, we stand dusty, scarred and alone, with dried blood on our sides and lash marks along our flanks. Our ribs too stand out; our hide is also dull.
Our eyes are glazed, our throats are parched, and our knees struggle to support us so that we stand with splayed legs to bear the brunt of the next beating, too dejected even to whimper...


This is my plea. The thought of picking ourselves up again is sickening; one can only take so many blows before oblivion is reached, and we are teetering on the rim of the bottomless void. One more push will be the end of us all...

There must be someone out there who can do something. There must be someone out there who cares! We are a destroyed nation, and the world sits back and watches, pretending they cannot hear our cries. I appeal to you all...

HELP US!
A 16 YEAR OLD ZIMBABWEAN......

My prayer for this week
Isaiah 11: 2-5

And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by appearance
nor make a decision based on hearsay.
4 He will give justice to the poor
and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
5 He will wear righteousness like a belt
and truth like an undergarment.

A Change in my home church...
From January 7th, 2007, Community Church will be meeting all together on Sunday evening at 7pm at Central Hall. We will be known as New Community Church.

Over 30 years ago God birthed a vision in the hearts of a group of men and women; a vision for what church could be and how it could impact and influence society at large. We celebrate all that God has done in these past few decades in personal renewal and the restoration of local church.

Today, we believe our church community stands at the start of a new season in the purposes of God. Church isn’t what it used to be. God’s Spirit has brought a new freedom and spiritual dynamic that has seen hundreds of new churches established and scores of other churches from all traditions renewed. But still the needs of those around us are more present and urgent than ever before. We believe that we can no longer exist comfortably within the walls of what we call church but we need to find more effective ways to bring and to be the good news of Jesus to a hurting world. God has more for us.

Central Hall
We have a magnificent facility in the recently refurbished Central Hall. We want to continue developing this venue as a place of gathering, outreach and proclamation of the good news of God, as well as enriching our region through the arts, conferences, training and other events.

Congregations
Over the years we have planted out a number of congregations to serve specific communities in and around the city. We want not only to resource and strengthen the witness of these congregations but also see new and innovative expressions of church spring up where no effective church community exists.

Projects
We have established various projects to serve and care for our communities but we recognise that we are only scratching the surface. We want to make our contribution to the well-being of people in this region, demonstrating the love and kindness of God with all sorts of caring initiatives.

New name

In 2005 the name of the charitable company that administers all the affairs of Community Church was changed to New Community Network.

In the light of our proposed changes and in anticipation of the new season that God is leading us into, we will be changing our name from January 2007 from The Community Church, Southampton to, simply, New Community.

Changing the name to New Community makes the connection more clearly between charity and church, marks the start of this new season, keeps a strong link with our old identity and reflects the vision and purpose God has called us to – to be God’s new community and see our communities transformed by the power and love of Christ.

Report of Little Streams Gathering
This report came through about the Gathering for NGO's in Cape Town in September... I was so encouraged as I read it I thought I would share it with you too!!!

...Early in September 2006, 38 men and women - all involved in various community based ministries in Cape Town - gathered for a time of spiritual refreshing, and a time out with God. Each person was personally invited, and they joined together in the beautiful setting of Little Streams Conference Centre – a large house in a rambling garden on the edge of the Constantia Vineyards.

The idea for such a gathering had first been discussed in early 2005 when Lynn was visiting Cape Town on sabbatical. There was a sense that those people working so hard in the various areas of need in the city should be called apart for a while – not for the usual training or planning sessions but for time to meet with God and one another with no agenda except to be in God’s presence away from the business of their ministries.

Lynn and others led the two day event, with worship sessions and talks interspersed with time for personal reflection, application and prayer as well as time to share with and pray for one another.

The first day focused on the greatness of God and then against this backdrop we looked at how we might be encouraged and overcome disappointment and discouragement.

The second day focused on the need to push in and find a clear focus of what it is God has called each of us to, emphasising that this can only be achieved through coming humbly and prayerfully before the Lord.

The focus then shifted to the seasons of our lives and work, how we can recognize which season we are in and understand how God moves us between seasons.

The gathering ended with all present sharing together in the Lord’s Supper.

Due to the generosity of various donors, we were able to offer the time away free of charge. This was a great gift as we did not want anyone to stay away due to lack of finance.

The donations also enabled us to use the very special setting of Little Streams and provide delicious, wholesome food and a ‘goody bag’ for each person. We invited people to make donations, and a fund has been started to enable future gatherings of this nature.

The following comments are some of those sent by attendees...

“Thank you so much for planning and arranging the retreat, it was really good to take some time away and also to see old friends and make new ones. The words from Lynn were really helpful. I am glad also that I was able to speak with others about Church relationships, and how the organisation I am involved in can better relate to local churches.”

“Many thanks again for last week’s retreat. I found it most helpful and refreshing.”

“Just a short note with a BIG thank you for a splendid/blessed time I had these two days. They really did me a world (heaven) of good!!!! I had some good times with the Lord, and with the other participants. I met a lot of people, saw the faces of the people that I sometimes speak to on the phone, and managed to connect some people too!!”

“The retreat was so special, and an opportunity for me to be in an oasis after a spell in the desert. Every detail was wonderful. Thank you also for the personalized letter - wow, hand written, it must have taken long. Also so good to get to know Lynn Swart better. I did not realize she was a singer too - so beautiful!”

“Thank you again for a wonderful time. It was a real blessing to be there. It was such a rich time with a group of amazing and inspiring people. So, thanks again!”

“Thank you so much for the stunning 2 days last week. I found it so refreshing being around others who are in similar situations and ministries/organisations with the same heart and passion. It was great meeting new people too.”

THANKS SO MUCH
A huge thank you to all those who prayed for the 2 day summit with NGO's [ non - gov organisations ] in Cape Town earlier this month... a full update coming soon!!!

CAPE TOWN 7 - 8 September 2006

South Africa has recently entered its second decade of democracy and is, to quote Nelson Mandela, “Alive with possibilities.”

Who would have believed that such a peaceful political and social transition was possible, and for this we thank and give glory to God.

However, the legacy of apartheid remains with poverty being rampant and the fruits of disastrous social engineering having left many people displaced and families fractured.
Add to this the HIV/AIDS pandemic (over the past decade South Africa has earned the unenviable title of being the AIDS capital of the world, with over 800 people dying daily from the disease - 320,000 every year) and the millions of orphans that now live in the country and we are looking at a country that must respond adequately to these issues if the country and its people are to realize their potential as a leading African nation.

The Church and Christians have a key role to play in responding to the social crises in the country.

Many church based projects and Christian non-profit organisations are responding to God’s call in various fields such as orphan care, home-based care, youth life-skills development, economic empowerment to name but a few.

Many of these people work under difficult circumstances with limited resources, basing their work on faith and God’s living word.

I am currently connected to a number of Christian charities (NGO’s) in South Africa and have been invited to co-host a gathering in Cape Town on 7 & 8 September this year for about 50 people involved in social ministry. It will be a time for encouragement, refreshing and waiting on God for his strategies.

It will also be a time to look at how people in social ministry can work together more effectively and for greater impact.

While South Africa is thousands of miles away, you can be a part of what God is doing by standing with me as we coordinate our efforts in the Cape Town region.

While you may not be there personally, you can make it possible for key people to be there by helping to sponsor this two day event.

PLEASE consider sowing into the futures of tens of thousands of suffering people by sharing the estimated £2000 cost of this event.

Do contact me if you are keen to make a donation

THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME TO HELP OTHERS!!