St Kiaran's

Chronicle

He Is Risen!

April 2016

Christ is Alive!
A poem by Fenny Fenibo West, Nigeria
Christ is alive!
He's risen!
Christ is alive,
alive for ever more.
Death could not hold the King, the King of kings.
Christ is alive,
He's risen.
As he's alive,
so we'll live.
As he's alive,
we'll live for ever more.
We were raised with Him
to live for ever more.
As He's alive.
So we'll live.
He's alive! alive forever more.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth!- the resurrection and the life! He rose up
triumphant - truly the Lord of Glory.
The grave could not hold my King, your King. The stone was rolled away
and the King of Kings came forth. (Mt.28:1-6)
The angel said," Look not for the living among the dead. He is not there.
He's is risen just as He said." He is now seated at the right hand of the
Father as my attorney, and advocate, interceding for you and I.(1Jn2:1;
Luke24:5-6)
And because He's alive, you and I can live also. For when He was
crucified, we were crucified with Him; when He died, we died with Him
and were buried Him, and raised together with Him. We are now seated
with Him in heavenly places - far above principalities and powers and
dominions. Alleluia!

Dear Family and Friends of St Kiarans

By the time you receive this we will have just come to
the end of our Lenten period which concludes with Holy
Week. Holy Week, for some, is a week-long period of
services, prayer meetings, devotions and reflections on
Christs final journey to the Cross which reaches its climax
with Easter Sunday where we celebrate his bodily
Resurrection from the dead.
In our case, we mostly focus on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter, or
Resurrection Sunday. Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, is the
name given to the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples,
known as the Last Supper. In the Presbyterian Church tradition we observe a
service known as Tenebrae.
It is true that a number of our Christian celebrations do not take their precedence
from scripture meaning, we have no examples demonstrating their existence and
so we are neither forbidden nor commanded in scripture to observe certain days.
With this in mind, the Church throughout history, the world over, has chosen to
remember various aspects of the life and ministry of Jesus. This would include his
sufferings, death and resurrection.
The real reason for this is at least two-fold:
First, that for a brief moment, certain important aspects of the Christian faith
may be brought into sharp focus so that as Gods community and privately we
may reflect on our own lives, with due earnestness, on the love, mercy and
grace of God; and

along with the other churches, as an ever-present witness in our community of

Fish Hoek, to proclaim the Good News of Gods kingdom, as we do through our
regular worship services.

What better way to do it than with our various special days and celebrations! So
may we grow together in the grace and the knowledge of our risen Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen (2 Peter 3:18)
With much love
Mike

Sunday Morning
Eva van Belle and Herman Strydom
Telling the story
with
Suzanne and Gideon

CATCH UP WITH WOTZUP

Mark Liprini

Saturday the 05th March

... Back in the left hand seat of a MAF
Kenya aircraft after almost a year. The
welcome back flight was into a ticklish
airstrip where you have to land uphill, and
you have to take off downhill. Because all
my MAF re-currency checkouts are not
totally complete our chief pilot flew us in to drop off the pax, and now empty, I got to
fly it home again.
Lots of calculations regarding wind, slope, surface, weight, elevation,
temperature .... And pretty soon we were bouncing down this rough strip and back into
the air again. This original three week secondment up to 25th March has been extended
to mid-April by mutual consent. Until end March I will be covering for the two
programme Caravan pilots, and during April I will be spending time covering for the
C206 pilot who will be on home assignment.
It is really good to be back in Kenya, renewing old friendships, and being part of
a team that is making a difference in the lives of so many people in this part of the
African continent.

Our dear country (RSA) is going through a turbulent time, and its ever so
easy to allow ones focus to shift from where we are ultimately headed, and
our calling along the way, to the troubles around us ....
Paul in Gal 6:9 - Let us not be weary in doing good, for at the proper time
we will reap a harvest if we do not give up - he lived in a time of change.
This encourages me!

St Kiaran's Women's Fellowship

On 20 April Amy Aaron from Living Hope will
come to talk of the work done there.
On 25 May Gill Fogan will speak about the work
of the Neighbourhood Watch
All are welcome!

Eugene and Tina Wessels' News an extract

Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and glorified God
with a loud voice.

2 Pigeons for a Prop

I just have to include another
short story, remarkably like the one
reported in the scripture I quoted
above. While our American friends
were here we began to disperse a
number of wheelchairs, crutches and
walkers to help a group of disabled
people throughout the areas where
we minister. During a previous
journey into the Caia district I
noticed an elderly man who had lost
a leg and part of a hand in a
landmine explosion. He was
struggling along, using a branch from
a tree to try and prop himself up. I
stopped and told him that when I
next travelled through his area I would bring him a proper set of light aluminium
crutches. A short while later, as I passed through the district again, I proceeded to drop
off a pair of light, modern crutches with one of my sons in the faith. He in turn knew
where the old man lived and took the crutches to him. Time passed and once again he
heard through African bush-telegraph that we were in the area for the launch of the
Literacy outreach work.
He woke early, took his new crutches and proceeded to walk the 6km between
his home and the place where we were working. I was called from the training session
to meet him and discovered that he had brought 2 breeding doves in a tiny woven
basket, which he duly presented to us as an offering of thanksgiving for the new legs
he had been given.
In order to understand the full impact of this small story, perhaps it should also
be mentioned that Moambique is currently suffering through one of the worst hunger
seasons that the country has experienced in almost a century. Currently the news
informs us that more than 800,000 people are starving, as the effects of El Nino are
ravaging the land. From the depths of his own poverty, in the midst of his nothingness,
this man came and gave us, who already have so much, his food for a month. I was
emotionally, physically and spiritually blown away by his simple gesture of gratitude.
He then got up once again and turned to walk the 6km back home. I was so deeply
affected by this humble, impoverished man that I was hardly able to continue teaching
afterward.
He also mentioned how he now goes around showing off his new legs that the
Christians had given him and testifying about the love of Christ extended to him.

Church Family News

Jessica Hawkridge

celebrates her
21 Birthday on 4 April
st

Ken Freeman and Joan Ward

were married on 20th February 2016

Jimmy de Jager
Juliana Lothian

reach a milestone on 25 March

when they celebrate their 80th
Birthdays

as does

Jean Pretorius

on the 6 April

We congratulate all these friends on their special occasions and wish God's
richest blessings on them all.

Easter Baked Pudding

(Think Bread & Butter pudding !)
YUMMY ! Tried and tested April, 2015
In a rectangular oven dish place:
6 Croissants stuffed with 12 chocolate marsh-mallow
Easter eggs
Whisk together:

375ml milk
3 eggs
250gm (1 cup) castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch salt

Cover croissants with this egg mixture

Bake in oven at 180C for 30 35 minutes, until egg mixture has set, and golden brown. Serve
warm with cream, custard, or ice-cream
Again ... YUMMY !

Lesley Stoll

Meet Lyn Gildenhuys

I was born in Fish Hoek in 1940 in the house one up from our church. The plots on which
the church is built were our playground. They were sand dunes. I was one of six children 4
girls and 3 boys and our home was always open to many.
Our mother and father first lived at 28 Recreation Road, then bought the bungalow at 26
- 7th Avenue which was at the bottom of a sand dune. It was before Kommetjie Road had proper
gutters. Therefore, when the winter rains came all the storm water ran down into the lowest
point, which was our property. Dad decided enough was enough so he and three friends
decided to raise the bungalow. They used motor car jacks to lift the bungalow and built pillars to
the height above road level; hence the three level home as it is today. This was then turned into
a brick and mortar home.
I attended F.H.P.S. which was where the College is today. In 1955 F.H.H.S. was started
with just 21 (Standard 6) pupils. I was one of the first intake. We had wooden prefabs and a lot
of sand. Our P.T. classes were spent clearing the grounds for the new building. Great fun was had
by all; a little buck would come out whilst we were in class
plus many mole snakes.
For many years F.H. Beach had C.S.S.M. each
Christmas holiday. This was very well attended. We played
beach games, sang and had Bible lessons.
On leaving High School I played tennis and hockey
for F.H. Our ladies' hockey was top of the log for six years. I
worked for the S.A. Mutual until Johnny and I were married
in 1961. We then built our home in 9th Avenue.
I joined the Presbyterian Church when Glen Craig
was our minister. I was invited to join the flower ladies and
am still doing flowers today and enjoying this task. Johnny
also did church maintenance. We worked for all the church
Lyn and her grand-daughter
ftes to help raise money to complete the church buildings.
I was asked to go on the Session in 1977 where I served
for about 20 years.
We had two children Deon and Liane. They also attended the F.H. Schools. Our children
were brought up in the Sunday School and Youth Group which helped to give them a good
grounding for their adult lives. They enjoyed the time spent with Ken Freeman as the Youth
Leader. Due to a shortage of room for the Sunday School I ran a group for the little ones at my
home until the church was built. I also ran a daycare for 22 years and still see some of my
children who are now married with their own children.
We owned a caravan so we travelled S.A. a lot. When Johnny retired in 1985 we were
asked to become assessors for the S.A. Tourist Board and the Caravan Council. We trained in
Natal with 8 other couples for 4 months. A book was compiled with all the information for the
S.A. Tourist Board.
My son Deon and wife Sabrina live in Burghersdorp. They have four children Julian is a
chef in Swellendam, Katelyn is a school teacher and lives with me. Donovan is a farmer in
Middelburg. Gareth has been sent to Holland by the company he works for but will be home this
May for a holiday.
Liane lives here in F.H. with her 3 children Dylan studied Hotel Management but he is
now working on a travel ship; Chad is an Orange River Guide and Fay is writing Matric. then
going off to study at Stellenbosch University.
Johnny passed away 10 years ago. My life is always busy as on the first Wednesday of
the month I am part of a Meals on Wheels team who cook for about 40 people. I also run a
sewing group for the Clothing Guild. In church I am a member of the ladies' Fellowship and
belong to the craft club. I enjoy family, neighbours, friends, my animals and my garden which
complete my days.

NEWS FROM MAYOTTE

Dear Friends,
Our Bible Study at Koungou continues to be a time of blessing for us. The group
is faithful even though we have had to cancel the meeting a few times due to the
heavy rains we have been having. The last study was particularly encouraging with our
local friends starting to ask important questions rather than questions that seem to just
want to distract everyone from the real issues. At the moment we are dealing with
Jesus teachings and again and again are shown the wonderful way He avoids getting
involved in fruitless discussions but brings his hearers back to the real issue, their need
of forgiveness. Our friends often sit amazed at His answers especially to the teachers
of the law, because they come up against very similar arguments in the religion they
have been taught since their birth.
We continue to be very involved in our church activities with a new responsibility
that has just recently been added, that of teaching a group of people who have asked
for baptism. So each Sunday morning at 8.30 a.m. we share the responsibility of a
series of Bible Studies where we are teaching the basics of our faith. This of course
involves a lot of preparation but at the same time is a great blessing to us as we are
reminded of all that Jesus accomplished for us on the Cross.
Please continue to pray that we will be kept in good health which is so essential
for us so that we can efficiently and diligently do all the Lord has entrusted to us.
Jeanette and Heather
Some more recent news tells of several attempts to force an entry into the home of
Heather and Jeanette. Please pray for their safety.
Jeanette will be coming to South Africa in a few months to discuss her upcoming
retirement although she and Heather will continue their mission on Mayotte until the
Lord directs otherwise.

TEN THINGS WORTH KNOWING

1.

Having a sharp tongue can cut your throat

2.

If you want your dreams to come true, don't oversleep

3.

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important

4.

The best vitamin for making friends: B1

5.

The 10 Commandments are not multiple choice

6.

One thing you can't recycle is wasted time

7.

One who lacks the courage to start has already finished

8.

The heaviest thing to carry is a grudge

9.

Don't learn safety rules by accident

10.

A tortoise only makes progress when it sticks its head out

With thanks to Mike Muller

Tony Hawkridge Writes

I was lucky enough to have an organisation pay for me to attend a 2 day
meeting in London last month: at R22 to the pound, and over R100 for a beer, I
was glad I wasnt paying for everything. The meeting was at the headquarters of
the Royal College of Physicians, just off Regent Park. I was flying back the same
night the meeting ended, and was intending walking to the Underground and
taking the tube to Heathrow, until a senior colleague discovered we were on the
same flight and invited me to come with her. She is Voyager Lifetime Platinum,
which I think means she has flown the equivalent of to the moon and back and the
airline has made a lot of money off her! Ten minutes later a large black Mercedes
drew up and a suave gentleman with a headdress took my rather tatty sports bag
and computer case and placed them in the car's cavernous boot. It was one of
those new models in which the engine cuts in and out when you start and stop
very fancy. We chatted in air-conditioned comfort as the buildings slipped by and
before we knew it we were at the terminal. My brush with the other half didnt
end there. We were ushered into the express priority check-in queue, the fast lane
through passport control and security and then up to the Air Canada lounge (even
though we were flying on SAA). I sat sipping some excellent French wine, using the
free wifi to read my emails, as the sun settled gently into the London skyline, and
thinking that life could be a lot worse.
One of the first calls I received when I returned to Cape Town was a please
call me from someone I know who lives in a shack in someones back yard in one
of Cape Towns poorest suburbs. He is unemployed, desperately trying to find a
job, a single father trying to support two young children back in the Eastern Cape.
He had bought his daughter a pair of school shoes on lay-bye and wanted to post
them to her, but was told that the postage would cost R120, which he didnt have.
Could I help?
Yes, I did, and was glad to, but that is not the point. The gulf between first class
air travel and me is wide and always will be. But it is narrow compared to the gulf
between those of us who have a decent, regular income and those who dont. I can
only try and imagine the pain of not being able to provide for my family, and the
sense of shame which must accompany it. I have never been in that position and
pray I never am. Joblessness is the societal issue of our time. I am not nave:
St Kiarans cant solve the countrys unemployment problems, or even a small
fraction of them. Some of our members have, I know, been involved in job creation
initiatives. Great I havent. Faced with the enormity of the problem, it is easy to
become paralysed.
What would Jesus do about unemployment? Id love to know. Maybe Mike or Clive
could preach a sermon on it sometime. Meanwhile, I think we must do what we
can, however small. As it goes in the Starfish story: Young man, do you not
realise that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along
every mile? You cant possibly make a difference! The young man listened politely.
Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the
ocean past the breaking waves and said, It made a difference for that one.

Book Review - Jenny Strickland

Things Unseen by Mark Buchanan
I can't better the description of this book on the back cover:
"This book is about heaven and yet not. It is about our longing for heaven,
our instinct for it. It is about eternity in our hearts. It is about the groaning
inside us that is both an acknowledgement of and a protest against death
and at the same time a cry for something else. For that which is beyond the
grave, stranger and larger than it - more enduring. It is about our yearning for things unseen. It is about
you and me longing for heaven and about living here on earth now in light of that longing."
He starts the book "I am dying. Sometimes I forget that". Then goes on to assure us that he has no
terminal disease but, like all of us, he is in the process of dying.
He speaks of being 'Heaven-haunted' - that feeling many of us have that
there is something so much better waiting, something Jesus promised.
However, so much of the time, we behave as if this life is forever.
I particularly liked the 'Portraits' he wrote to illustrate his thesis. One
was of a young healthy Philosophy student who sneered at Mark's beliefs and said "Life has enough
pleasure and adventure in it, not to need anything else. Life justifies living". He mentions several tragic
lives which disprove this.
I enjoyed the example he gave to illustrate the impossibility of describing
heaven in words and how far short even the Bible's descriptions of it must
fall. He drew a woman's face and insisted that she was the Mona Lisa.
Clearly his sketch was nothing like that of the great master Leonardo da
Vinci. Neither are the verbal descriptions anything like the 'place prepared
for us' by the Great Master.
In another 'portrait', he writes "Heaven is like a boy eavesdropping" and
beautifully illustrates the way God uses failure, disappointment,
discouragement, duty and waiting, to carry out His kingdom purposes.
The book is a wonderful encouragement to live "Heaven-bent", consciously
aware of the best that is yet to come.
I have also read, and been inspired by, his book The Holy Wild: Trusting in
the Character of God.

Tongue in Cheek
Adam was hanging around the Garden of Eden feeling very lonely.

So, God asked him, What's wrong with you?

Adam said he didn't have anyone to talk to.
God said that He was going to make Adam a companion and that it would be a
woman.
He said, This pretty lady will gather food for you, she will cook for you, and when you
discover clothing, she will wash it for you.
She will always agree with every decision you make and she will not nag you, and will
always be the first to admit she was wrong when you've had a disagreement
She will bear your children, and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to
take care of them.
She will NEVER have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever
you need it.
Adam asked God, What will a woman like this cost?
God replied, An arm and a leg.
Then Adam asked, What can I get for a rib?
Of course the rest is history!!!!

(With acknowledgement to
Bellville Presbyterian Church magazine)

St Kiaran's Presbyterian Church

Cnr. Central Circle and Recreation Road
P.O.Box 22146, Fish Hoek, 7974
Church Phone: 021 782 6118

Minister: Rev. Mike Muller

All are welcome at our

Regular Sunday Services
Sunday Worship Services at 9.30a.m. & 7p.m.
Holy Communion is served on the 1st Sunday of the month at both
services

CHURCH PRAYER MEETINGS

Tuesdays: 11.45 a.m. in the Craig Room

Prayer is offered after services for healing or other needs, by members of
our Prayer Ministry