FELSISA Witness VELSISA Boodskapper

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Contents / Inhoudsopgawe Watchword for 2012 …………...…………………..…………... Evangelical Lutheran Salem Congregation Uelzen …..……. From the Bishop’s Desk …………….…………………………. Teenager camp 2011 …..……..……………..………………... Sinodale Jeugweek 2011 — Wittenberg ……..…………....... In Conversation with… Kurt Wittig ………………………….... Symposium in Oberursel, Germany ….………………...……. Youth Camp — with a Mission ……..…..……………….……. Farewell of Pastor Siegfried Köhne ………………………….. Official Announcements ……….…...…………………………. Mrs Ute Johannes has resigned from the editorial staff, effective with the publication of the previous edition of FELSISA Witness (4/2011). We thank her for her contribution in recent years. Title page: Pastor Michael Ahlers with son Joel at a Sunday Service on a camping weekend of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation Newcastle on the outskirts of Glencoe, KZN. FELSISA Witness / VELSISA Boodskapper Comissioned by the Synodical Council of the FELSISA Editor: Pastor Michael Ahlers P.O. Box 111, Wartburg / KZN 3233 Email: mahlers@felsisa.org.za Assistants in translating and editing: Pastor Toby Ahlers and Pastor Helmut Straeuli Please send your contributions, remarks and questions to the editor. All contributions for the next edition to be submitted by: 30 April 2012 2 3 4 7 9 10 12 16 19 22 24
Watchword for 2012 Pastor Christian Tiedemann, Wartburg Jesus Christ says: My power is made perfect in weakness. 2. Corinthians 12:9 We people can’t really handle being weak or not being able to do things on our own. It already starts at a young age… And when we become older and our bodies start to weaken, it takes a while for us to accept that things are changing, that my hearing isn’t that great any more, that I am losing my sight and I am impaired when walking. It’s not easy to then admit that one needs help! Nobody wants to be weak and dependant on others! Being weak was also part of Paul’s lifeexperience. He had some kind of a disease, an ailment which interfered with his work! We don’t know what it actually was. Paul suffered under this sickness and he repeatedly asked God to heal him. But God did not heal him, rather Jesus answered his prayers by saying to him: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. We too are sometimes quite weak, even if we find it difficult to admit! We too sometimes need help but often are too proud to realize it. And our weakness doesn’t necessarily need to be a 3 Watchword for 2012 bodily ailment as it was the case with Paul. No, there are other situations in life, where we seem to be at wits end, where despair seems to creep in and we just don’t seem to understand the world anymore! These are the situations in life where Jesus says to us: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Jesus doesn’t get rid of the pain and hurt in our lives. Paul continues to suffer of his sickness, and we too will continue to struggle in this world, carry our burdens and have a tough time. Jesus doesn’t take away the suffering, no, but what he does do is, that when despair creeps in and we do need help, and we fold our hands and pray to God Almighty, he will hear our prays and help! That is what Paul did and God was with him! And Paul became a great servant of the Lord, the first missionary to go out into the heathen world and proclaim the Good News, a true servant of God! We too are servants of God. We are His children and with and through us He too wants to build his Kingdom here on earth. So what we can learn here is that not one of us is too weak for God! Why? Because His power is made perfect in weakness. And that should be more than enough for us, because His grace is sufficient. At the beginning of this year, we need to be reminded of this, especially when the church seems to be getting weaker and
Page 1: 01/12 March 2012 FELSISA Witness VE
Page 5 and 6: The church at Uelzen before the ren
Page 7 and 8: From the Bishop’s Desk: Actions o
Page 9 and 10: Teenager Camp 2011 Anke Scharlach,
Page 11 and 12: vrae oor wat “kerk” en wat “l
Page 13 and 14: Pastors Helmut Paul en Michael Ahle
Page 15 and 16: helpful. Many of the prison guards
Page 17 and 18: “Apartheid and Mission” — Sym
Page 19 and 20: find the right disposition towards
Page 21 and 22: taping and painting the passage wal
Page 23 and 24: � He diligently preached the Word

FELSISA Witness VELSISA Boodskapper

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?