ANGLICAN CHURCH OF SOUTHERN AFRICA(ACSA)
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5
FRA N CI SCA N
M O N T HLY
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH OF ST FRANCIS OF ASSISI, WATERKLOOF, PRETORIA, RSA
REFLECTIONS ON WORLD REFUGEE DAY By Monique Winn
IN THIS ISSUE:
REFLECTIONS ON WORLD REFUGEE DAY
1
LETTER TO ALL THE FAITHFUL
2
CELEBRATING CREATION
4
CELEBRATING CREATION
4
FOCUS ON PARISH PORTFOLIOS
6
FRANCISCAN TURNS 1
12
SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST:
World Refugee Day Reflections of James Aiello Parish News Meeting SATCHMO
Once upon a time I met a skinny little boy with soft sad eyes. “I saw your husband do plumbing at my school” Kamo* said. “Can I come and do the career day with him”? And so our story began. His parents sent him during a school holiday to visit his sister in Tanzania when genocide broke out in Rwanda and he was not able to return home. He never saw his parents again. Tragically his sister and brother-in-law also died and only his four-year old niece, *Precious, remained. A kind business man arranged safe passage to South Africa where they were moved from foster home to foster home, eventually settling in an orphanage in Saulsville. A home of sorts. Precious was beautiful, sporty and even skinnier than Kamo. I worried about them. Kamo and I became concerned about her safety at the orphanage when one of the young girls became pregnant. I felt that God brought these two kids across my path for a reason and David and I prayerfully considered if we should try and adopt them and/or move them to one of the primary schools nearby. On a sleepover, I woke up in the early hours with Precious standing next to my bed. “I am scared”, she said and crawled into our bed. I thought quietly: “You have no idea how terrified I am”. I felt increasingly hesitant as we explored the process and considered starting another family at this stage of our lives. We attended a children's birthday party. One of the mom's noticed Precious's striking features and asked about their story. In our conversation I mentioned the difficulty in getting permanent residence for them in SA. The Jesuit Organisation does amazing work amongst refugees and spon-
sored their education in part, but had limited influence in the naturalisation process. This meant the future had limited possibilities. To never have a bank account or own anything in their own names. A lady standing nearby overheard our chat and produced a business card. “I work for the UN”, she said. “Come and see me” God in His mercy kept opening doors near and far. The long awaited phone call eventually came, after a number of interviews and many months of prayer. Kamo could not keep his excitement from bubbling over. "God is good. We have been accepted and going to France. I can't believe it” Gesine and I took them to the airport. IOM (International Organisation for Migration) arranged the handover in Paris and with some minor mishaps, they settled in Besancon. A flat of their own and money every month for food and necessities. His first phone-call was delightful. He was so happy to have his very own library card 2018: Kamo has visited Tanzania a few times since their move to France. Married a beautiful girl and became a father two months ago. Precious has finished her matric and is busy jobhunting. A happy ending. *Not actual name
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Letter to all the faithful is not addressed to the clergy and few laity only; rather, it is addressed to the whole body of Christ.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters of St Francis of Assisi community of faith, Dominus vobiscum‌ They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. Acts 2:42-45 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech early in his presidency that went something like this: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." This greatly applies to the church and is especially true in the liturgical churches. Long gone are the days of the mindset that we have a priest and just a few other lay people, to do this or that, so we do not have to. Christianity is not a ranch where we hire hands to share the work. Rather, Christianity is an actiondriven adventure of faith, where we each help to build one another up and cooperatively do the work that Christ has commanded us to. Further, Christianity is not an individualistic organization; rather, we are a team, a "co-op." (John 15) We must have a proper understanding from Scripture of the role for the people of God, and the offices we occupy. Ministry takes place by all Christians, as we are all called to do it, and the ministry takes place wherever we might be - home, work (when appropriate), school (when appropriate), shopping, and recreation. The Christian is to engage the world, and we are to accomplish ministry because this is what our Lord has called us to do. We can only achieve this task with the understanding of what we are doing and why we are doing it. Why? Because of the love we have received from Christ and the grace He has given us. We are to serve out of our gratitude and love, and let our faith and passion fuel our efforts so they do not become exercises of obligation only. We need to understand our responsibility as believers. The great commission
Gifts used to build one another up and to serve were not given to the clergy and few lay people only. Christianity is a cooperative effort, a unity and togetherness. When we function within these parameters and for one purpose, then the ministry will expand. We must be disciples who know how to use our gifts to better one another and in more contexts and not expect someone else to do it. People are needed to help in various roles and various ministries within the church. The clergy need ministry teams around them to realise the Great Commission. Their role, among others, is to train and equip the lay person for ministry, along with administration of Sacraments, and pronouncement of the Word. The Ordination Charge to Priests outlines the gist of what informs priestly ministry, however the rest of the church’s mission and ministry must be a cooperative effort. If it is not, the outcome is a dysfunctional church that is going nowhere. We cannot have an effective relationship with Christ by ourselves, nor can we be a witness to the non-Christian as a solo effort. For us to know Christ and make Him known, we have to have a love for the church and its purpose, not just a love for our own whims and plans. We cannot have a vital impact on our community without that connection with the Triune God and the body of Christ. We cannot do it alone. (John 15; Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12; 1 Corinthians 12:27) God works through people; God works through us. We must believe this and we must live our lives allowing this. Otherwise, we could become just like the proverbial person who refuses to work, but buys lottery tickets, hoping their ship will come in. Dear friends in the Lord, your ship is not coming in! You have to build it yourself with the tools and the supplies and even the empowerment that God gives you to do it. When we have the attitude in the church that we need to wait for our ship to come in, we are, in fact, making an excuse for not doing anything, like a kid trying to get out of their chores. The call of God is for us to stop verbalizing acceptance but going on to practice it. As Christians we can easily get comfortable and familiar with what we know, and the ability to go beyond our experiences and knowledge can be scary and disconcerting. So the Christian, or any person for that matter, will resist and fight change even though it is to our best interest, and even though this is what God calls us to do. The cross replaced the old way of the church, and the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom to lift up our Lord and the church became poured out by the Spirit to us, the body. Thus, the ministry and responsibilities became real and relevant to all rather than to just a handful of priests. The experience of the church was for all, and the ministry for
FRANCISCAN MONTHLY
all believers became our call (1 Pet. 2:5). God still chooses people into Holy Orders as a call and vocation, and their responsibility is, inter alia, to administer the Word and Sacraments. They are responsible to equip and train lay people and do the other priestly duties and proclaim the Word.
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that projects further than from one Sunday to the next; it requires a strategic faith journey. Living out Acts 2:42 creates an intentional journey. And the process entails: Worship, connect, grow, serve and go.
The veil has been torn, and we have to fulfil our responsibility and calling. We are not called to put on the bathrobe of complacency instead to put on the armour of God - Ephesians 6:10-18. We are called to be the hands and feet of Christ. We are all called to be participants, not spectators. Ministry is not to take place solely in the church; remember, we are the church, so wherever we are, there is the church. The ministry of the church takes place in the context of the need, not just the location; wherever people are, there is the need. The body of Christ needs to keep the focus of its call to Christ, of one another, and of the world. Ministry no longer takes place by the few chosen priests alone; it has been franchised out to the rest of the Christians who are blessed and equipped with the various gifts and abilities for doing the Will of God. The baton has been passed - the baton of the responsibility to care and to live out our faith effectively to one another. Christianity is not a spectator sport. We are the people of God, called to do God’s will. When we start to function as a cohesive group, we will be amazed at the impact we have and the incredible, increased effectiveness in the building of the Kingdom of God. God's Word tells us that we have "diversity," yet in it all, we also have "unity." We are not to allow the diversity to be our focus, but we need to embrace it, train it, and direct it to the call, goal, and purpose our Lord has for us. We will have a healthy form of co-dependency and cooperation, filled with encouragement and love. Bitterness, strife, and the unhealthy co-dependency that ruins lives instead of building them up will no longer consume the ministry. We all have different gifts and abilities given to us by our Lord for God’s purpose and glory. "Doing ministry" means we are to exercise the gifts that we each have received to accomplish God’s purpose. And, until the Lord calls us home or comes back, we are to keep plugging and persevering on. We must be intentional about transforming the church — the Acts 2:42 Way. We, therefore, must be the Church that worships, connects, grows, serves and goes. Thus becoming intentional about moving wholly from maintenance to missional with a casting vision
We strive to be a church where people are eager to serve. The more people serve, the more faithful they are in attendance and stewardship. We will have to effectively train and empower people to balance all forms of evangelism methodologies. Compassion ministries, friendship evangelism, relationship building with a redemptive purpose, proclamational and incarnational evangelism, personal evangelism, preaching, teaching, and lifestyle examples are all necessary to impact our society. As the process moves forward, it is envisaged people will find a place to belong (connect), be transformed through Holy Spirit discipleship (grow), express adoration to God (worship), develop ministry to God and the church (serve) and fulfill its personal responsibility by forming redemptive relationships (go). In Prayer and in Partnership, Pax vobiscum Fr Meshack The Venerable Dr L Meshack T Mariri† RECTOR THIS SPACE IS AVAILABLE FOR ADVERTISING. WE WELCOME ADVERTISEMENTS FROM INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATES ALIKE WHO WOULD LIKE TO PROMOTE THEIR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO THE COMMUNITY. PLEASE CONTACT ANTONY: consultgws@gmail.com
FRANCISCAN MONTHLY
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Celebrating season of creation MEETING SATCHMO BY JAMES AIELLO
an old tin clarinet when I was in the seventh grade, and quickly saved up the money to buy an ebony one, with silver keys. Lots of Louis’ jazz fea-
Growing up in Globe, a copper mining town
tured clarinets with great rills of notes running all
in the middle of Arizona in the 1950s meant
over the place. I was keen to be able to do the
that our information sources were limited to
same thing.
radio, television and newspapers – oh, and the “Movietone News” that was shown in the local movie theatres between the feature films. The main music source was the radio, and we had our own radio station,
Several of my buddies were also in both the marching band and the concert band. Fernando and Joe were saxophonists, Ronnie and George were trumpeters and Mike was a drummer.
“KWJB”, which was owned by a mate of
In our high school, we also had a dance band –
mine, Paul Shoecraft.
Los Niňos—the little boys. As little boys do, they
His father ran the station during the daytime, with local celebrities as program hosts. The evening session – from about 19:00 hrs. until the station went “off the
grew up and went away. To fill this vacancy, Fernando, Joe, George, Ronnie, Mike and I formed our own dance band – “The Dots”. George’s girlfriend, Alicia, became our pianist.
air” at 23:00 hrs., was run by Paul. I used
We built ourselves some music stands, so we
to go to the station after dinner and give
could stand and play – with “The Dots” on the
him a hand in selecting records, turning on
front – and started practicing together in the eve-
background sounds, and making sure the
nings and weekend.
lights were turned off when we left.
School Student Body, I booked us for the dance
The evening sessions featured mostly music, and quite a lot of that music was jazz and big band kind of stuff. Louis Armstrong
As President of the High
after the next basketball game – we were just going to play records otherwise – and we had our first “gig” on a Friday night.
and his group featured strongly in our daily
Humbly speaking, we were a hit. Because Alicia
repertoire.
went to high school in the next town over – Miami,
That I liked Louis was not unusual, as I had “grown up” with music. I was in the high school’s marching band as well as its concert band, playing first clarinet. I had found
Arizona, we also got bookings there at a big circular building, “La Ronda.” We probably played either in Globe or Miami one or two nights a month,
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for the rest of the year. We each got $25,
As Louis and the band were walking off the stage
which was big bucks in those days.
as the curtain swirled behind them, he saw us all
So, we got really excited when we heard that Louis Armstrong and his band were coming to Phoenix, Arizona in a month. Phoenix is the state capital, located about 90 miles from
standing there, applauding wildly, and he beckoned us to come backstage (!!) What a thrill! We all clambered up the stairs, down a short hall and into the dressing room.
Globe, with the first two-thirds of the distance
Louis was sitting on a stool, in the middle of the
down a twisty/turny mountain road which re-
room, applying lip balm to his upper lip – a trum-
quired not only careful driving, but a certain
peter’s upper lip gets a real workout. He said that
amount of derring-do. Not for the cowardly.
he’d noticed us sitting down close to the stage
Anyway, we called, got reservations, and got
and he wondered why we – several years younger
ready for the long trek to Phoenix. We left
than the rest of the crowd – had come to the con-
early, so we wouldn’t have to battle the set-
cert.
ting sun on our trip down the hills. We ar-
We explained that we were “The Dots” and that
rived at the fairgrounds, where the concert
we’d travelled 90 miles down out of the hills to
was to be given, at dusk. There was a huge
see him and his band, because we wanted to be a
number of cars that preceded (and followed)
band like his and make all the great music that
us into the fairground parking lot.
he does.
We inserted ourselves into the huge throng of
He nodded and introduced us to the rest of his
people going to the concert – most were old-
band. The only name I can remember is that of
er than we were – and a differentiating lot –
Trummy Young, his trombonist. Then he focussed
Arizona has basically a Mexican population,
on each one of us – asked each of us our name,
being located just north of the Mexican State
what instrument did we play, what was the tune
of Sonora.
A generous sprinkling of white
the band played that we liked the best and what
and a goodly number of black folks made up
was our favourite song. I mumbled something
the remainder of the group. The Dots all sat
about how I wanted to play Dixieland Jazz and
to the right of the stage, right down front, not
was so excited to be right there with him and his
far from the stage door entrance.
gang that I would remember that night as long as
The concert was fantastic – Louis and his trombonist had the crowd on its feet most of the time. We were exhausted when it ended.
I lived. See lyrics of the song “What a Wonderful World” on page 11
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5
FOCUS ON PARISH COUNCIL ACTIVITIES
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FRANCISCAN MONTHLY
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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5
FOCUS ON PARISH COUNCIL ACTIVITIES
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PARISH ENCOURAGED TO RECYCLE DURING SEASON OF CREATION
By Elizabeth Bojé Yes, we are grateful to have taken over 1 million plastic tops to InterWaste this year – but what has happened to the million plastic bottles? Yes, we are also grateful to have taken nine thousand bread tags for recycling – but what has happened to the plastic bags the bread came in? If they ended up in a landfill, as most of them probably did, they’ll be there for the next 400 years, the time plastic takes to degrade. So how can we teach people to take a (manufactured) shopping bag from home when they go to the supermarket? How can we teach them not to buy a new plastic bag when they have bought two or three items already wrapped in some way? How can we stop function organizers from giving every participant a water bottle, when one water cooler and glasses would do? The Pretoria News editorial on 3 July was headed ‘No time to waste’. It states that: “South Africa produces more than 100 million tons of waste a day, with only 10% of it recycled”. I read this injunction as a spur for us to do better as guardians of God’s beautiful, world. It is possible, using
very little time, to recycle plastic wrappings and bottles, paper, glass, tins and cans. We can separate at source and leave recyclables to be collected, or take sorted recyclables to a depot such as: St Mary’s DSG, St Paulus or to Waterkloof Primary School early on a Wednesday morning. I’m hoping that more supermarkets will use a corner of their grounds to provide labeled bins, as is done in many parts of European cities. Recent reports state that 90% of shopping bags are not biodegradable as they are made from petroleumbased chemical materials. The good news is that a team at the CSIR has developed a bag made from by-products of maize and sugar cane and this, though costing more at the moment, breaks down completely in three to six months. We can be grateful that Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay are going to test this product. “No time to waste” is a neat play on words. The challenge facing us is to convert these words into action.
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REFLECTIONS OF A COSMOPOLITAN LAY MINISTER By James Aiello
was currently taking French at school as well.
We conclude the story by Lay Minister James Aiello on his experiences at a typical African funeral in Burgersfort, Mpumalanga Province.
With that, he and his father went back to the tent to be with the rest of the family.
I’ve honestly never seen so many great, elegant, headstones and structures as there were in that cemetery.
In South Africa, when a family member passes on, there are two services – the church and burial service I just described, and then, a year later, the unveiling of the tombstone. My friend and I discussed this and the fact that we’d have to come back a year hence.
There was a tent set up for the family, near a freshly-dug grave surrounded by an artificial grass “carpet”. People were standing behind the tent, but I decided to walk down to the next row and stand near some of the existing tombstones, but with a line of sight towards the grave. The casket was on a frame over the grave, with straps, etc., which clearly indicated that at some time in the service, it would be lowered into the ground. As I stood there, my friend came up behind me, and I turned and offered my condolences. He was standing a bit behind me. The grave-side service commenced, the brass band started playing, and slowly, slowly the casket was lowered into the ground. My friend turned away until it was done. Shortly thereafter, his son, whom I had met when he was probably about 10 so, came to our side. I greeted him warmly, remarking how he was no longer a kid but indeed a young man. He is now going to a private school in the Nelspruit area. I asked whether he was still speaking French as well, as he had lived with his mother in Geneva for quite a while. He said he was and that he
Now it was time to go to his family house, nearby, where his mother and the rest of his family would host (literally) the entire village for lunch. I and my colleagues then drove the kilometre or so to the family house, which was perched on a hill, rising some fifty feet or so, from the street that we had travelled on to get there. We trudged up the hill and there were three or four separate “buffet” tables set up at different places in the yard, some next to open-sided tents and others next to places where people could sit. There must have been hundreds of people there – each buffet table had a queue 15 to 20 people long. The food and drink (nonalcoholic) kept coming and coming. My colleague and I got in a queue next to a tent, filled our plates with pap, wors and green beans. We greeted our other colleagues as we ate and also talked to other folks from Pretoria we knew that had come to the funeral. That meal was the first one I’d eaten since lunch on Friday. Lunch over, Lucky and I started our return journey to Nelspruit. This time in broad daylight. Now I could appreci-
ated the thousands and thousands of acres of pine forests that we had driven through the night before to get to Burgersfort. These are state forests, and the trees are used for everything that trees can be used for, so we drove past newly-harvested sections of bare earth on our way back. And we were also able to enjoy the pleasure of passing the chrome ore trucks again – but this time, they were loaded, so they could only travel 25 km/hr. at best! What a pleasure! But it was a beautiful, blue sky day – the cliffs and buttes between which Burgersfort sits faded into the distance – Lydenburg came and went – and White River – a beautiful town north of Nelspruit hove into view. Lucky told me he had a shortcut to the airport which he was going to use, so he turned onto a road that I am quite familiar with, as it passes the premises of our potter, where we have purchased all of our “special day” dishes, plates, cups, and other food/beverage containers. Lucky was impressed when I pointed out their shops as we drove by. We arrived at the airport about an hour and a half before my flight back to Pretoria. I gave Lucky a 50 Rand tip and went into the SA Express lounge to contemplate what I’d just been through. It was a moving experience in more ways than one and for which I feel privileged to have attended.
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5
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GOD ENABLES YOU TO SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE! "I have seen that all [human] perfection has its limits [no matter how grand and perfect and noble]; your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity] (Psalm 119:96, AMP) Dearest friend, the word "soar" has often be used in conjunction with the "eagle" bird. Many people want to "soar like an eagle". But why? You see, an eagle has been well-studied bird and its natural qualities or traits have had practical application in Management Science, especially in the area of Leadership.
Among these traits of an eagle are the following: 1.Eagles Have Powerful Vision. 2. Eagles Are Fearless. 3. Eagles Are Tenacious. 4. Eagles Are High Flyers. 5. Eagles Nurture Their Young. When compared to other birds, an eagle is in a class of its own. It seems to transcend the natural limits placed on other birds to do the extra-ordinary. This is what also happens with humans. There are certain limits beyond which ordinary humans cannot
succeed. However, with God, such limitations become irrelevant. God will take you out of your current limits into the "beyond limits" category of the eagle and you will surely "soar like an eagle". It all begins with a confession of faith that Jesus is Lord and Personal Saviour. Dearest friend, I do not know what limitation you are grappling with at present but what I know is that when you surrender it to the Father, He will remove it and cause you to "soar like an eagle".
READER FEEDBACK: Please send your comments on any story in the Franciscan Monthly to Mrs Zenobia Francis via the Parish e-mail: mail@st-francis.co.za or to the Editor: antonyjongwe@yahoo,com
CELEBRATING CREATION CONT..FROM PAGE4
LYRICS: What a Wonderful World I see trees of green, red roses too I see them bloom for me and you And I think to myself what a wonderful world I see skies of blue and clouds of white‌ I see trees of green, red roses too I see them bloom for me and you And I think to myself what a wonderful world I see skies of blue and
clouds of white The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night And I think to myself what a wonderful world The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky Are also on the faces of people going by I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do They're really saying I love you I hear babies crying, I watch them grow They'll learn much more than I'll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world Songwriters: George Douglas / George David Weiss / Bob Thiele lyrics Š Carlin America Inc., BMG Rights Management US, LLC, Imagem Music Inc.
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5
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FRANCISCAN MONTHLY TURNS 1!
BY ANTONY JONGWE I really would like to thank our Heavenly Father for equipping me and other saints in the Parish Communications ministry with the grace to work on the Franciscan Monthly newsletter over the past year. The idea to have a Franciscan Monthly newsletter belongs to our Heavenly Father and He revealed it through me and used Parish Council of 2016/17 to approve. Over the past year, the Father has given us the grace to produce 12 issues of this medium of communicating news, stories and events which bring the Body of Christ closer and in unity. There are many saints who have committed resources for the success of this milestone. I will not mention them individually but their reward is with the Father in Heaven. The Franciscan Monthly is driven by the Parishioners. In line with the concept of “Citizen Journalism�, it is important that all Parishioners contribute content that goes into the Franciscan Monthly. I am really grateful for those Parishioners who have heeded this call and are coming mightily with fresh content month-in-month-out. Our Parish is blessed with great writers and reading some of the stories in this anniversary issue confirms this. Let us not put the candle under the table in terms of our God-given talents and skills as writers but unleash them for the glory and honour of the Father. As we embark on the next year of our journey, I would like to extend my gratitude to Mrs. Zenobia Francis in the Parish Administration for her unwavering support to the Franciscan Monthly by ensuring that sufficient copies are printed and distributed to Parishioners on time. Thank you so much Zenobia and may the good Lord continue to bless you.. I also want to thank Mrs. Jill Daugherty for her editorial assistance on this product in addition to the valuable work she continues to do in Parish Communications through The Tidings quarterly magazine. Thank you Jill.