In this Issue...
1. Youth Drama Training
One of the five NEW INITIATIVES of Lutheran Hour Ministries-South Africa (LHM-SA) is to "ATTRACT AND ENGAGE YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS". We have been alerted by Lutheran Church leaders that the church is losing more and more young people, who either don’t attend church any more or go to the more charismatic churches.
Drama seems to be an activity young people naturally gravitate to and Lucas Baloyi, LHM-SA Drama Co-ordinator, has just the right touch to work with them. With a B.A. Honours in Drama and many years of experience in the field, Lucas was ready to grow from being an actor to lecturer.
In April about 40 young adults started a four day training workshop to become equipped to present short skits based on sermon texts of Scripture during the weekly worship services. As part of the exhilarating journey of learning to use the medium of Drama to convey a Christian message, the present group, members of the Reigerpark, Wattville, Eldorado Park and Ennerdale Lutheran congregations, plan to put together a whole concert, and to tour in Gauteng first and eventually down to Port Elisabeth or Cape Town! During the concerts our LHM-SA booklets will be offered to the audience, as well as prayer and counselling. They will also be invited to special youth events at the local congregation.
2. Bishop in Prison !!
In October 2001, the LCSA had a Strategic Planning Workshop. Among the five major areas of focussing our ministry in the subsequent years, we identified prison ministry as an equally important part of outreach for the Lord. At that workshop we had a competent chaplain who gave us the "inside" story of life behind bars. Regrettably as always, it was yet another valuable workshop with no measurable results planned. As congregations we continue to pray for the prisoners, but do not master the courage to visit any nearby prison or owing to our "full-platters" we can not find a window of opportunity to make that pastoral call.
Mr Lucas Baloyi invited me to Sun City Prison, south of Johannesburg on April 21st. I bombarded Mr Baloyi with questions relating to attire choice between formal-casual to clerical-formal. Mr Baloyi suggested complete clerical – no jeans and sneakers! His argument was: "let’s see some clerical shirt in the dungeon!" When Mr Baloyi and I met at the entrance of Sun City, I was still looking for the "most appropriate" text. I scrolled through Paul’s prison letters, quickly looked at Joseph’s experience in the Egyptian prison, and the list of options goes on and on, until I had no text. My training tells me that with no text there is no sermon. So there I was, with the desire to see these men and share with them the hope we have in Christ and no set sermon to share with them. Finally I settled for 2. Tim.1:16.
My first preaching point was in a small, but nice chapel. The men there literally took over the service by spontaneously singing as men, moving songs as we are used to in our congregation, like night vigils and funerals. These songs were about concern, joy, hope and faith. Some had Bibles, other scripture notes, others even received certificates of awards for finishing their Bible correspondence course. There is leadership also among them, those who operate as contact persons or teachers. It was such a marvel to see how they interacted with Mr Baloyi. Nevertheless one could not miss and ever-present dark cloud or blanket of real uncertainty written on the majority of their faces. A greater majority of them have not had their cases finalized and they are still in limbo. These men are from all over South Africa and Africa at large. After opening the text, I asked that it be read in any language that was represented. And behold how many they were: Xitshonga, Venda, Southern Sotho, Portuguese, Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sishangane, Xhosa, etc. The words that captured them most were that ‘the church as a community of believers is there to "refresh" them with the gospel. Anger against self, the system or people would lead nowhere. But asking for forgiveness is real refreshment’.
My second preaching point was far much bigger than the first. There was no chapel, no podium, I stood in the middle of the room. Around me were all these men, hungry for the Word. Faces were all around me. They too heard the same message of repentance and forgiveness. They wanted to hear more, but time did not permit.
Our next stop was the prison hospital. The worst scenario was one prisoner who just bed-ridden. Other prisoners took care of him, washing, feeding, etc. He still had to go to court. We were told that nurses and doctors made regular calls there, but were not there all the time. Even here, one could see Bibles on beds, under pillows, etc. It is mixture of joy and sadness.
I appeal to as many pastors and congregations to make an effort to serve God’s people in jail in whatever way it’s possible. It will open your minds, it is an investment that will go a long way. Just imagine somebody from areas you have never been hearing the Word in prison, then leaving and continuing in the same faith, but forever being thankful for not been neglected by the church in their hour of need. Continue to pray for prisoners, but visit them still.
My gratitude to Lutheran Hour Ministries for taking me along. I’m looking forward to another preaching engagement in Sun City.
Written by Bishop D.P Tswaedi
3. LHM-SA Workshops
Our next workshop is the Youth Leadership Development workshop with Alroy Trout on May 22 at the ELF congregation in Randburg at a cost of R60 per person for the full day. 18 people have already registered.
The leadership mind is fundamentally different from the ordinary mind and represents a departure, a transformation. Some would refer to it as a paradigm shift. Leaders hold themselves accountable—they choose accountability. They understand the value of good thinking and connecting themselves and their organisations with higher purposes. Words such as freedom, responsibility, consequences, will, realism, imagination and courage are part of their everyday language and thinking. They think, talk and act on endless possibilities for growth and mastery. They understand the difference between having 10 years of leadership experience and one years experience repeated ten times.
4. Ministry Responses
Drama Ministry - 220 requests received of inmates to enroll for our "Real Life" Bible Correspondence Course, for the "Break Free" and the "Jesus Christ" booklets, and for counselling and prayer.
Radio Ministry – 167 people called in to receive the booklet "Why Do Bad Things Happen?", which was offered on Radio Pulpit on Wednesday mornings on the programme "Spotlight", produced by Doc Fick.
Web site Ministry - 44 requests were made for our material, prayer, counselling or for more information.
Referrals – 2 people who requested help in finding a church were referred to Lutheran pastors, one living in Orapa, Botswana, and the other person living in Krugersdorp. 10 inmates who asked for prayer and/or counselling were referred to our volunteers in the Johannesburg Prison.
THANK YOU for your donations! LHM-SA has received two wonderful donations this month, of R 1,500 and R 3,000 respectively. May our Lord bless the givers and the gifts! With support from our donors we are able to continue our ministry for the Lord in South Africa.
5. Changes on the LHM-SA Staff
We would like to officially welcome Mrs Marilda Naidoo as our new secretary. Marilda is presently working half-day and has started on the 20th April. She is a committed Christian and a wonderful asset to our ministry. Please call her on (011) 791 1661 on weekday mornings if you would like to give her a word of encouragement, which she will appreciated very much.
Then we are sad to announce the resignation of Mr Alroy Trout, our present Audience Relations Manager. He has accepted an employment contract with the petroleum giant, BP South Africa, as the new Project Manager: Training. We thank him for his work and dedication and wish him all the best and God’s blessings for his future.
Alroy has offered to still present workshops on Leadership Develoment for LHM-SA, provisionally till November and we hope that we will still see much of him in future.
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESSES:
LHM-SA Office: southafrica@lutheranmedia.net
Manager: scharlach@lutheranmedia.net
Lucas Baloyi: baloyi@lutheranmedia.net
6. LUCSA Presentation
The "Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa" (LUCSA) invited LHM-SA to present our work to the 60 participants of the Convention on "Advocacy for HIV/AIDS", held from 19-24 April.
The Church leaders from several Lutheran churches in the Southern African region were present and were very interested to learn more about LHM-SA, especially the use of Drama in Evangelism and the workshops and training opportunities.Most of the participants, some from countries like Angola, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, had not heard of Lutheran Hour Ministries before.
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