Will post more soon… Just spent over 4 hours getting the pictures just how I like ‘em on the site… Have a look here for more!
Posts Tagged ‘South Africa’
Hillsong Cape Town Launches in 17.5 hours!!!
June 14, 2008It’s gonna be THE blast of the year in Suid-Afrika!
I am SO EXCITED and I’m not even there… TOTALLY feel like I’m missing out like crazy but I’m gonna REJOICE with them from this side of the world till I get there in A MONTH! YAHOOO!!!!!
So we started with two services, at 9am and 6pm… Then the 9am service filled up (we got RSVPs) so we started an 11am. Then the 6 filled up, so we started a 4pm… and now ALL of them have filled up… so… we just started a one-hour service at 8pm!!! How amazing is it to see people hungry for God! I am so many miles away but I still get the vibe that people are just so hungry for great church.
No doubt a fair proportion of people will be checking the church out… But I believe that a lot more will be wanting to find a place where they call home! I can totally imagine strangers walking off the street into church too and just encountering Jesus when they least expect it… and I am totally believing for that!!!
So for everyone reading this blog,
Hillsong Church Cape Town will be launching on Sunday, June 15 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Auditorium 2 @ 9am, 11am, 4pm, 6pm and 8pm (1-hour service).
Even though I have reported that it is ‘full’, I know that if you show up, they will work to accommodate you somehow. You can quote me on that 
It is going to be but the beginning of great things to come! There are just some things that you KNOW even before you see…
Stay tuned for more updates and pictures 
Soetwater Outreach | 7 June 2008
June 8, 2008
What an amazing experience we had at Soetwater yesterday with the beautiful people who are staying there as refugees because of the xenophobic attacks. These people are in an incredibly tough situation. They have no homes, very few possessions, most have no jobs, and they literally do not know what to do. I can only imagine how helpless you would feel and how hopeless life would seem during a time like this. The good news is that the camp site is becoming very well-organised and the necessary supplies are getting to the people. There are also many amazing volunteers who are helping to make life in the camp more enjoyable and there is an air of peace in the camp. Only God knows how long this situation is sustainable but we are praying for an outcome that will truly assist these people to move forward with their lives.
So back to yesterday… We organised a small outreach team to provide some entertainment and together with the support of Joyce Meyer Ministries, we were able to give out Bibles, plus 100 pairs of shoes we had bought! We gathered the kids together, then Blair and Chantel led with some songs of praise to God (in both English and African). It was so much fun and the kids were loving it! Some of the adults soon started to gather around and we then played the great youth ministry game “Chubby Bunny.” (Yep it even works in a refugee camp!!!) Jon Norman, our English import led in the fun and we had kids lining up to say “Chubby Bunny” with mouths full of marshmallows… It was hilarious! It was so wonderful to see everyone laughing and even more adults drawn to the ‘commotion’ where they smiled and enjoyed watching these little champions with bits of marshmallow flying everywhere… We sung a few more songs as the crowd gathered and then it was time to share a few thoughts with everyone at the camp… I could not help but think of what to say in a situation like this?? We kept our message simple so that the kids could understand as well… We talked about Australia, did some Kangaroo impersonations, and then went on to Lion impersonations… And then talked about how God made all things and how God loves all animals and all people. We then shared from Psalms 40 where it says that God hears our cry and will lift us out of the pit of despair. We then had a time of prayer and you could sense God’s Holy Spirit at work in the hearts of people.
Following that, it was time to give out the Bibles. We had both English and French translations so we decided to wander around the campsite and give them out. As we did, word got round that we had French Bibles and all of a sudden, people started running toward us to receive them. It was amazing to witness the scene as they were so thankful! What we soon realised was that many Africans from the region of the Congo were French-speaking and did not expect us to have Bibles in their language for them!! Some were in tears as they received them…
It was an incredible experience, and we want to thank everyone who has assisted in some way – whether by volunteering, prayer support or through a financial gift. We are planning another outreach next week and will keep you posted with details.
: Account written by Phil Dooley | Pastor, Hillsong Church Cape Town :
For more pictures.. Read the rest of this entry ?
More pictures of Soetwater Camp…
May 27, 2008
Is there enough shelter for 35 000 displaced people in any camp?
Queuing for food…
With everything they have…
For more pictures, click here…
Mobilising the troops…
May 25, 2008The violence in Jo’burg has spread to Cape Town… and now thousands have been displaced from their homes! Everything seems to be happening on a township-level (squatters) where disgrunted Saffas have started looting shops and homes belonging to immigrants (e.g. from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique…)
The wider community is outraged at this recent spade of events as in the days of apartheid oppression, it was the African nations that allowed South Africans to find refuge in their land.
So in this time, the local churches are rising up to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the nation as coordinated efforts are happening right now to reach displaced foreigners in makeshift camps. We must do all we can!
Xenophobia or something deeper…
May 24, 2008My dad has been keeping me up-to-date with occurrences in South Africa by SMS, not remembering that I am a chip of the old block when it comes to reading the newspapers! I am pretty much an information-junkie, so much so that I recently had to embark on a selective reading strategy to keep myself from absorbing a whole LOAD of “noise.”
Anyhow… long story short, the violence in Jo’burg has spread to Cape Town. It started with days of violence of Saffas against other black immigrants (from Zimbabwe…) and now the toll stands at 42 dead, 500 arrested and 16 000 displaced. The army has been deployed to reinforce the police and arrests have been made.
I do not purport to know the extent of what’s happening in SA… but these articles I have read seem to make some sense of it. Have a read…
Why do blacks hate blacks? SA a label manufacturer!
Just in case you’re wondering, I’m still going!!! Even though I do not have the deepest concepts of the culture of this nation and the experience living under apartheid and now in the post-apartheid years, I am firmly persuaded that Jesus is the answer and “the Church is not peripheral to the world but the world is peripheral to the Church.”
The Cause of Christ burns in my heart…
Fashion & Crime
May 19, 2008Amidst trying to discover more about fashion in South Africa, I came across an amusing (but sobering) article by a fashionista…
Read more here: Daylight Robbery
