David has recovered from jaundice and is back home at St Mark's

What a day for a boy in blue ... David is back in his bed in his flat at St Mark's. It doesn't get better than that.

Dear friends,

Now here's news hot off the press. Solomon has just phoned to say that young David has been discharged from Johannesburg Hospital and he, Perpetue and their son are home in their flat, a family unit once more. In fact David could have returned home last night, but there was no doctor to sign their baby out. David, who had jaundice, is now fit again and his temperature is normal. Solomon thanks all of you who prayed for his family over this stressful time.

Shalom,

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

Great feedback from Jean Greig as to the way forward for St Mark's

The WA cake sale ... not much left to buy after tea in the A S Welsh Hall

Many of our members miss out on reading the daily Marksman Online, simply because they do not have access to computers. Nora McIlroy has a friend next door with access to the internet and she has an arrangement where she can pop in for an update every now and again. But this is not ideal. Jean Greig is one of those, who would like access to printed copies of our editorial content.

The current plan is to publish the Best of the Web in the quarterly printed Marksman, but this is not ideal as the daily ebb and flow of the news surrounding our community is not shared. The only other solution is draw up a list of those interested in hard copies of the Marksman Online and print off the key content for these for interested parties once a week for collection at church on Sundays. Alison Jackson is already supplying Jean. Thank you Alison..

Your thoughts on this matter would be appreciated.  Please use the "comment" button below to have your say. Remember you can access a slideshow of the weekend's pictures by clicking on the thumbnail photograph on the right of your screen lower down this website.

On a totally different tack Jean also informed your scribe that the curtains in the A S Welsh Hall could be repaired if they were taken down. Evidently the major challenge is simply that this represents a major challenge for potential seamstresses among us. Men for the Master take note. This must be an agenda item at Wednesday's executive meeting.

Jean, quite rightly, also feels that change is happening at breakneck speed without consulting those, who have given so many years of service to the church. Indeed it has caused distress to some. Jean this is noted and thank you so much for the input. It will be a priority to involve Session even to the level of getting the Marksman Online to all who are interested.  The wisdom of those who have gone before is needed as we build for the future.

The St Marks Editorial Team.

So, who's the head of your family?

There are plenty of men among our new members ... this is a chance to get involved in the spiritual life of  St Mark's.

"So, who is the head of your family?"is a seminar for men exploring their responsibilities in family church and society. The seminar will run from the 20th March to the 21st March at St Mark's and will be led by the Rev. Amon Kasambala, CEO of Focus on the Family, South Africa.

What is critical now is that we know how many men will be attending. All those who are interested in attending must please confirm their participation with Maxwell  Sewornu either via e-mail at 36899143@mylife.unisa.ac.za or SMS. His mobile number is 083 952 2222.

It essential to we know how many of us are interested to facilitate pre-planning.  At this stage a Saturday afternoon session, a Sunday morning session, which includes the 10h30 service for the whole family, and a Monday morning session are envisaged. This is of course over a long weekend.

The St Mark's Editorial team. 

New membership, fellowship and hope at St Mark's

A proud moment for our new members of St Mark's ... the congregation continues to grow.


It was a joyful day at St Mark's on Sunday. It was Harvest Festival and the congregation had given generously. More importantly there are visible signs that we are growing as a church.

Nine regular attendees have completed our new members course with Solomon and in recognition of this our Interim Moderator Moshe Rajuili and our session clerk Elizabeth White formally welcomed them into our midst. Francis Makia, who has been attending St Mark's for 11 years, was among those, who was delighted to finally receive his certificate of membership. They were also welcomed by the Elders as the flashes from the cameras of family and friends popped.

Irvine Florence helped on the door and then was reader on the day as well. Thank you Irvine.


Moshe's sermon, which was nearly torpedoed by a power failure at his home which impacted his PC,  laid down a challenge to all of us. The readings, which Irvine, delivered flawlessly, were Deuteronomy 6 10-19, Hebrews 4 12-16 and  Luke 4 1-13. The theme was "To know the Word of God " and for that Moshe stressed that we have to know the Bible.

To know the Bible we have to read it every day Indeed, he said,  we would benefit enormously from memorising key verses as we dig ever deeper into the scriptures in search of the Lord's will. Moshe pointed out that there were numerous aids to guiding our reading. Publications such as Closer to God and the IBRA Bible readings were cases in point. He said that we must make time for God as we build up to Easter and key to that is reading and understanding the Bible.


Solomon then asked all those, who were members of Bible studies to stand up. Only about five percent regularly attended Bible Study of any kind. He then laid down a challenge to the new members - to join him every Tuesday at 17h00 for Bible Study in the A S Welsh Hall. One thing is for sure. Our Pastoral Assistant will be waiting at the door come Tuesday.


Other bits of news:
A. The Sunday school was bursting at the seams on Sunday. Colleen reported that it was a very special time for all involved. She shared the story of the harvest with the children ably supported by Portia and Veronika.Sharai and Norman are also part of the Sunday school teaching team, which means that Colleen had ample support. There were smiles all around as the children share in half an apple each on Harvest Sunday.


B. We continue to pray for Solomon, Perpetue and baby David. Perpetue and David are still in Johannesburg Hospital where David is recovering from a bout of jaundice  They were expected home home on Saturday, but it was not to be.

The WA cake sale ... Alison gives thanks and Marianne is all smiles. It was a good day

C. The WA's cake sale after the service was a success. The women of St Mark's had baked into then night and Alison and Marianne were on hand to sell the goodies to an appreciative tea time fellowship. The cakes that were not sold were given away, so there were no losers on this wonderful. Our thanks must go to the WA.

D. It does not end there. Thank you Sophia for driving the process around cleaning the walls in the ladies and men's toilets. Your scribe can attest to the cleanliness of the men's loo. The walls are shining white. Johar and Jotam, you guys did a grand job for us. The leak in Edward's roof is also fixed.

E: And if you did not know the fruit and vegetables gathered for Harvest Festival will be given to Guild Cottage, the Frida Hartley Home, Mother Theresa and Meals on Wheels. Help wold be appreciated with the distribution process on Monday.

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

St Mark's is ready for Harvest Festival, but the Surwumwe family is in need of prayer

Nora and Eyong busy packing the vegetables for the Harvest Festival display 

Sophia Williamson, chairlady of the Women's Association, woke up to a big day ... this would not be a run of the mill Saturday. The WA had organised two major events back to back from 14h00 - first was the decorating of St Mark's for the Harvest Festival and secondly it was Perpetue's Baby Shower.

Marianne and the sunflowers ... they looked even more jolly when the arrangement was completed with more greenery

Mindful of the tasks at hand the Men for the Master arrived to lend a hand as well and soon bags of vegetables, fruits, maize meal and rice were artfully strewn up front for all to see. A bowl of magnificent sunflowers made the scene just that bit more jolly ahead of Harvest Festival on Sunday.

The congregation had given generously and the charities that will benefit from these "fruits of the earth" will have meaningful contributions. That distribution will take place on Monday. Our thanks goes to the women of the church for making it another memorable year.

Jackie Turner, Sophia's sister, and Solomon survey the gifts at the Baby Shower

Solomon and Perpetue's Baby Shower was tempered with a bit of concern. Solomon had left for Johannesburg Hospital on Saturday morning thinking he would bring his wife and young son David home. This was not to be. David, who has a form of jaundice, is not well enough to come home as yet, but the party went ahead anyway and Solomon thanked one and all for the gifts that he and Perpetue will find most useful in the weeks to come. Please uphold them in prayer and pray for a speedy recovery for newborn David.

There are plenty more pictures. Just scroll down the web site until you see a thumbnail picture on your right. Click on it and all will be revealed.

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

Twitter, Archives and other Marksman Online issues

Sophia and Solomon, who was guest of honour at Perpetue's baby shower today ... she and David are still in Johannesburg Hospital.

Dear Friends,

Remember the Twitter column on your screen is where you will get the breaking news in the St Mark's community. E-mail the editorial team or SMS in your news and it does up on Internet immediately. All that detail is under Contact details on this web site. 

The other issue is where you want to continue receiving the Marksman Online updates. Just e-mail Geoff on vanheerdeng@gmail.com to have you name removed. The process is also the same if you would like to add a friend to our Marksman online Christian community. 

For those of you who want to troll our archives that is also possible. Just track down the header Blog Archive and scroll back in time.

And we'll be updating you on Twitter as news of David's progress comes to hand. Solomon is taking food and milk around to the hospital as he anxiously awaits news of when his family can return home.

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

Eunice Rajuili is fighting fit .... thank you for the prayers

Dear friends,

Our Interim Moderator Moshe's wife  Eunice was  in great pain on Thursday. A suspected kidney stone was the suspected problem.  Moshe ashed us to uphold her in prayer. The Prayer Chain was alerted and we are pleased to report that Eunice is now fighting fit. She was in sparkling form at Perpetue's Baby Shower and posed with baby Angela, the daughter of one of the members of our congregation, and was all smiles and out of pain. Thank you to those you upheld Eunice in prayer. And thank you the Lord and doctor for the heasling.

The St Mark's Editorial Team.

Eunice Rajuili and baby Angela ... they made such a pretty picture at the Baby Shower on Saturday. 

This was the e-mail that sparked our concern and thank you Moshe for involving your brothers and sisters at St Mark's.

"Dear Geoff,

Just come back from hospital after four hours of tests to find out what caused Eunice the excruciating pain on her right side.  Results revealed that a kidney stone is making its way merrily down her eurethra.  She has been given strong medication to help it on its way down and she is resting.  I am zonked.  Please pray that the little hard rascal disintergrates.  Doctor says there is no need for an op.

Shalom

Moshe"