Newsletter #54

Dear Friends

 

I love how books have chapters. I love how a thought, or a season, or a life, or an episode gets captured in a chunk of time and then as a chapter closes, as the last few words are read, we get to pause for a moment and reflect on what has just happened, but with the eager expectation for the next chapter to continue the unfolding story.

Well, that's what I feel like writing this. I feel like a chapter is closing, but that only increases the excitement of the opening few lines of the next chapter as it continues to tell the story and reveal more of the plan.

 
Friends, as I write this last letter to you, it holds with it that bittersweet tension of emotion. Bitter because it carries the pain of separating ourselves on a day to day basis from you who have been family for the past few years, but oh so sweet because what lies ahead are pages about to be scripted, even though the author knows them so well and has planned for this next chapter to be written, for both you and for me, before even the first was put to paper.
 

Look ahead friends. Look ahead with expectation, with joy, with freedom, with eagerness and with a willingness to be part of the unfolding story. Throw your hands into the mix and put them to work, as Paul so beautifully urges us:

Philippians 3

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

 

Southcity has a wonderful call; a call to make known the gospel throughout the coast both in word and deed. I urge you friends, give yourselves to this. Building on what has gone before, turn your attention to what still needs to be built and be a part of the bride that Jesus is preparing for his return.

 
Thank you for having given me a place of honour amongst you, and my sole desire is that I have served you well.
 

My love and affection is with you now and into the future.

 
Rich

Newsletter #53

Dear friends

As I was sitting down to write this letter to you, desiring to capture something of the essence of this Easter period and to encourage you to take hold of Jesus and his finished work, I had the privilege (and pain) of witnessing dear friends go through an unpleasant experience yesterday and their incredible response.

What follows is a letter written by Mark's sister, and I encourage you to read it, since I believe Mark and Olivia's response is the purpose of Jesus' life: to seek and to save the lost. I trust the Spirit of God inspires you as you continue reading.

I look forward to seeing you on Friday at 8am, and then on Sunday at either 9am or 6pm.

Much love
Rich

(This is written by a humbled and proud sister, in response to conversations that I had with my brother today who with his wife, seek to live their lives in a way that speaks love, hope and healing)

The Better Way…..
To quote my brother, Mark during a conversation today- there has to be a better way.

Today has been a wild day.

I had tea this morning with a friend who has spent years working with high risk youth and gangs on the Cape Flats. He has a wealth of experience and understands things that I don’t think he even knows he knows. I am trying to get him to document his story, and the stories that make up his story into a book. He knows more than “the numbers” and gang names. He knows the faces, feelings and people behind the 26’s and 28’s; he knows what made a gang become a family as opposed to the biological family that a child, with the same potential as you or I if circumstances were different, was born into.

That isn’t what made the day wild though – as inspired as I always am after meeting with this friend.

What made it wild was that this friend and I met to talk about what it means practically to meet the world with hope through the work he is seeking to do; less than 24 hours earlier I had started formulating what I dream about seeing happen on the Cape Flats (an area known for its gangs and poverty). Dreams that I believe can change the way children learn and grow and hopefully offer them a different way of life and being as they grow and develop. Dreams that if we can get this right – the things he dreams of as well as mine - perhaps communities and children can consider a better way – a better way that does not involve “the numbers” : A better way that involves new concepts of family, community and justice rather than what is currently seen but not inspiring hope or a future.

What made it really wild was that in the early hours of this morning, a member of the “26’s” on the South Coast of KZN took off his jeans and jacket and climbed through a window in order to break into my brother, Mark’s home. Olivia heard a noise, and realised that someone had switched a light on. Mark went to investigate and ended up rugby tackling and wrestling the wannabe thief. Despite ending up covered in bite marks, numerous bruises and a wife who got punched, as well as bitten when attempting to stop the chap from attacking Mark (brandishing a wooden bowl as a weapon), Mark and Liv managed to restrain him until the police arrived. He begged Mark not to let the police come. The police knew this guy. His tattoos told some of his story without him needing to talk at all.

It was wet, it was cold and as Liv said, something on the bucket list of things you never want to repeat, but in the midst of this Liv also had a clear sense that there was a bigger purpose and picture in all this that was going to unfold.

Mark and Liv are involved in Southcity Cares - the social justice outreach at their church. They have been involved in advocating, in accompanying people to court for court hearings, in relief work and in wanting to see systems change and poverty challenged. The guy that broke into their home comes from one of these communities. It appears easy to be involved in a hard, challenging space when you can go home and debrief from the day. It’s not easy at all when the space comes into your home with all the “what if’s” and craziness that we watch documentaries about.

Love your enemy. Act Justly, Seek Mercy and Walk Humbly. In this world you will have troubles. For all have sinned and fallen short. Bless those who persecute you. Cry aloud, do not hold back – lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgressions, to the house of Jacob their sins. God’s goodness brings us to repentance. Break my heart for what breaks yours. Everything I am for your Kingdom’s Cause.

Scriptures we quote and songs we sing.

Then something like today happens and we have to choose whether we going to do what seems radical and actually practice them, or retreat to what seems normal and manage life the way the text books say we should, our context says we should, our fear and anxiety want us to.

Today I got to witness what it means when the writers spoke of “love your enemy” and “cry aloud”. I got to witness what it meant for someone to seek a story of redemption knowing that there wasn’t much likelihood of a “Hollywood happy ending outcome”). Today I got to witness my brother and his wife, battered and bruised and sore, and very aware that grace covered this story, take goodness into a place where the police and prisoners were perplexed by their action.

Goodness was packing up the clothes that the guy left outside in the rain in order to get into the house in a bag and returning it to him. Grace was sending dry clothes with so that he could get out of the shorts and t-shirt which were soaking wet by the time the police took him off to the police station. Mercy was Liv proudly telling me how she saw something snap in Mark – and yet he controlled it- and didn’t use any force other than what was necessary to restrain this guy.

Mark and Liv didn’t just pray and say “thank you for your protection Lord”. They didn’t say that’s the end of that – let justice, whatever that looks like, take its course. Today people who in our current context had every right to be angry and fearful both reflected how sad they were for the guy who broke into their home. What person, who has any dreams or aspirations, within a healthy, secure childhood context chooses to live a life that is characterised by high levels of violence, very little hope and no easy way out? Grace today was Mark and Liv seeing the man behind the number and the bruises and the bites.

Today wasn’t about the bite marks and bruising as awful as that is.

Today became about this one man’s life actually matters. Today became an opportunity as Mark prepares his preach and thoughts around Easter to reflect on what it meant for us as individuals, as well as for the murderer next to Jesus on the cross.

What started off as a day talking about macro issues needing hope and healing, and telling stories about this all became personal when the macro issue invaded my world.

It became personal when my nephew’s parents are now on ARV’s and anti-biotics and are trusting that their home will once more be their safe place, where they can dream and rest and seek justice for the communities that they are involved in.

Justice, mercy and humility.
With God.
This is what He asks of us.

The Better Way.

Newsletter#52

Dear Friends

I write to you today incredibly excited for what lies ahead for Southcity. One of the promises God gave to me when Jacs and I came was from the prophetic life of Haggai where God declares, 'I will shake the nations and the desired of all nations will come and i will fill this house with glory.' (Haggai 2:7)

We have had the privilege of seeing multiple men and women come from all over the world to help us on our journey over these past years, and as we look forward, God continues to give us good gifts from both near and far to help his church.

This year, we have the incredible privilege of having Monique (from near), giving our community her full attention as she serves us all by leading our children's work, as well as Janay and Nicole (from Gauteng) and Sarah (from USA) giving us a full year of dedicated work into the youth of our community.

We cannot thank God enough for these young men and women who have devoted themselves to seeing boys and girls come to know Jesus and grow in their maturity in him. Surely God has been very good and kind to us! Church, I ask you to receive them as precious gifts and to throw your weight behind them in order that our influence and witness may continue to extend throughout the South Coast.

Below are two letters: one from each of them. Please would you read them and consider how you can free up resources in order to support this work.

Thank you friends and see you during the week.
Lots of love
Rich


Letter from Monique:

Dear Southcity

It is with much excitement that I take over the children’s ministry here at Southcity. I believe that there is something profoundly special about the relationship between Jesus and little children. It is for this reason that I have found a great passion in honouring and serving any youngster and his/her family in their growing relationship with God.

The vision for City Kids this year is purely growth:
- The growth of individual relationships with Jesus Christ.
- Seeing families grow closer to God, together.
- Seeing children and their teachers growing closer through learning and exploring the word.

Our Father in heaven loves family, he loves it when we work together, grow together and ultimately love each other. It is for this reason that the foundation of City Kids is laid upon growing as a Holy Kingdom family.

At this point City Kids is entering a season of change. Classes are growing, and relationships with Jesus are forming but in order to sustain the growth of our children’s ministry (one of any churches most important ministries), we desperately need helping hands!

Every young heart in each class is a small flame that can either die out or explode into a raging fire for Jesus. I therefore call on you Southcity to fuel the young hearts in our church through prayer, love and assistance. Speaking from a child’s perspective, it is a blessing to be spiritually guided and taught, and from a ministering perspective it is a privilege to teach someone about, and guide someone closer to, Jesus.

We need teachers and assistants for the following groups:
- Kids age 3-5 years
- Kids age 5-9 years
- Kids age 10-13 years

If you are interested in helping please contact me at 039 314 9480 or send me an e-mail.
Blessings
Monique
Monique@southcity.co


Letter from the youth crew:

Southcity is in the process of setting up a youth group called Friday Fever (F²) which will be running on the Southcity Campus on Friday evenings. There are various resources which Southcity’s youth would highly appreciate having access to during youth events; some of which include:
• a pool table, tennis table or soccer table available for the youth on a Friday night as well as
• bean bags,
• soccer or rugby balls and
• an ice-cream machine.

We would greatly appreciate it if you could help the youth by sowing into the youth ministry in any way possible.

We also need contacts with a business that is centred on hardware, appliances, jumping castles, paintball, catering, etc. We would like to speak to you to discuss incorporating your business and resources into youth events.

If you would like to get involved but are not sure how to do so or simply have questions, please feel free to come and speak to us; Sarah, Janay or Nicole on any of these matters.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

We want you to be a part of what we are doing for the youth of Southcity.

Please feel free to email us on youth@southcity.co or contact us on 039 314 9480.

Newsletter #50

Dear Friends

My family's journey at Southcity started with a call from Craig Meyer and the eldership team in place at the time. They were looking for a couple with vision, capacity and energy that would take Southcity on to becoming a base church in the area.

 
It was to this call that we sought God. And God responded emphatically: 'Take them in, settle them, and grow them'. So matching the call from man, the unique gifts and skills God had given me, and the affirmation from God, we arrived to lead Southcity into their inheritance promised to their forefathers.
 
This has been the mandate with which I have felt the freedom and the constraints to lead the beautiful people called Southcity.

Well, it's now four and a half years on. A short space of time relatively speaking. Yet, God has been unbelievably good and Southcity has established a base from which to influence this coast on the physical land that had been prayed for and seen by her forefathers and promised to by God: these incredible 6.7 hectares in Ramsgate. Southcity is by many accounts, flourishing.

 

Have I fulfilled what was asked of me?

 
I believe a 'base' church in its simplicity is a church which resources others, both with people and financially, opposed to needing to be resourced primarily.

A quick glance over the extent of influence the people of Southcity have in this region, I believe, indicates that we are indeed resourcing others and helping others flourish. We have been able to birth multiple new works, continue to establish and build into existing ones, and been able to support others with their work and ministry. Today, I believe I have been true to the call from Craig for the desire of a base church to be established, true to God to lead you into your inheritance, and true to what God has placed in me, through birthing new works and building into existing ones.

 

So what now?

I am incredibly excited for the future of Southcity! As I have been privileged to be on the frontline for much of this activity, I have seen first hand the work of God and the faithfulness of men and women. I see the beautiful establishment of a community who really and significantly impacts this coast, rather than just exists as a group of believers in Christ. It would be a privilege to continue to lead us and enjoy some of the fruit of the hard labour that has gone before, but I can only be true to what God has given me, and I believe he wants to give Southcity to another man to continue to establish you in your inheritance on the South Coast.

We believe God has looked over the earth and wanted to find a man who he could trust to love this local congregation and to give his life for them. And as he looked, he found Harry. A man who 4 and a half years ago, didn't come here primarily to lead the schools, but carried in his heart a desire to lead God's people. He has served me and he has served you faithfully. He has poured his life into what God gave him to do with Southcity Christian Schools and God has found him faithful and, we believe, has now appointed the time to release Harry into his next assignment, which is to lead you and the people of Southcity.

 

We believe that any transition is for the sake of propelling forward, and we believe this one to be no different. So friends, as you see the kingdom of God, we urge you to lean into this transition, throw your giftings, talents, and resources into the life of this beautiful church and behind Harry and Wendy, and contribute in an even greater way to the flourishing of Southcity for the sake of those that still need a Saviour.

We love you deeply.

Love

Rich and Jacs

Newsletter #49

Dear Southcity

Privilege! A complete privilege! That's what it is to carry the name of our Father in this world. As most of you know, Paul's words to the Philippians are freshly challenging me, and I trust all of us, as he summarizes his philosophy of life on earth: to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21).

For any of us who have been around Christian community for a number of years, this almost becomes a saying, without much thought into it, while for those of you new to Christian community, a right understanding of this can set your foundation in Christ so it does not need to be dug up and reset later on, like so many of us 'older' Christians.

So what does 'to live is Christ' mean? Yes, yes, we all know the response is to give of ourselves entirely to Jesus while here on earth, and our lives are to be fully for him. But what does that look like? We love to soften things with words like, 'yes, but you mean that in a figurative sense,' or, 'we don't want to be seen as radical, so we will just go in the comfortable zone,' or, 'yes, but we need to bring a balance.'

What if it actually meant restructuring your budget so you could give more away? What if it meant giving away one for one: for every one shirt, give one away; for every pair of pants, give one away; for every one jersey, give one away? What if it meant fasting a meal, and giving it instead to someone who does not have food? What if it meant giving one Sunday in ten to serve in the community context in a way you have not done before? What if it meant... Would you be up for that?

I would like to ask you today to consider one question: have you become immune to the voice of God in areas involving your personal comforts?

Southcity, as we foresee the day we join the rest of the bride being caught up in the marriage ceremony with Jesus, may I urge us to keep maturing in God as a community, and keep being open to the big challenging questions of life in Christ.

Just a reminder to you all about our community central time on Tuesday (5th Feb) at 18:30. If this is new to you, these are great times for all who are a part of Southcity to come along for an evening together so the community of Southcity may deepen its roots together. I look forward to seeing you there.

Much love

Rich

Newsletter #48

Hello friends

Here we stand at the dawn of a new calendar year. Can you believe it! I really do trust that these past few weeks have been good for you, whether you have been able to rest or that it has been fruitful work.

As I have had the privilege of taking a break, God has refreshed and challenged me in a number of ways. One of the advantages of having a break is that we give our Father a bit more space and time with us and we are probably more inclined to hear Him simply because we should have less clutter around us if we rest properly.

Anyway, it is one of the questions He asked me that I believe is helpful and necessary for all of us to answer. In Philippians 1:21-24, Paul writes:

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account."

I find myself entering this year having had to really ascertain whether I truly believe that to die is gain, because that will effect the way I live, the way I steward my resources, my time etc. and then also to get to grips with life on earth truly being necessary for the sake of others, for the sake of you.

So as you perhaps spend some time meditating on these words of Paul's, I encourage you to face up to whether your life, as it would be observed by an outsider, would match up to your stated beliefs, and secondly, whether you believe that while you have breath it is to be spent for the sake of others.

Practically speaking, we have 3 young people who are giving their year to come and serve Southcity, with a particular focus on our youth. In giving their lives for the sake of others, they are leaving homes, family and friends to come from around the country to be with us. We are needing to host them for the year. What does it require? They will be with us during the four terms and away on training camps during the school holidays. So we need 2 young men and 1 young lady to be hosted, either for a whole year or for a term at a time. I ask you church to please open your homes and take these beautiful people in as they come to serve us. Please contact Daine ASAP for more information.

Looking forward to seeing you all again.

Much love

Rich

Newsletter #47

Dear Southcity It is unbelievable how quickly the years roll by. For some, this has been a great year, and for others, there have been challenges beyond what you could have imagined. But it is in these moments, when we reflect on the past year, that we often wish we had done things a bit differently at various stages and in various situations. Friends, as we enter this season where our focus should centre on the celebrating of the birth of Jesus Christ and his life that follows, may I encourage you with these words from the gospel according to John:   The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:9-13 ESV) What a privilege we have to be called children of God, and to be reborn by the will of God. It is this which I wish to leave with you: During this season, I urge you not to lose sight of the great work and call you have received through Jesus Christ. The call to love Him, to love His people both righteous and unrighteous, and to be good stewards of all that He has given you: your time, talents, treasures, relationships and opportunities. Do not lose focus this season. Keep your gaze upon the author and perfecter of our faith, and continue to sow your lives in their entirety into Kingdom activity. Be strong friends. Looking forward to seeing you as we gather on Sunday. Much love Rich