Love-in-a-box - harburgchurch

Love-in-a-box The Sunday School Kids are at it again… taking Love to the community!

Cake, crackers, hats and singing….. laughter, giggles and balls flying everywhere….. that’s how the Sunday school kids started the Christmas season and ended their biggest most ambitious project set for them to date! This year the Sunday school team decided to get involved in the Love-in-a-box campaign and get the children involved as much as possible every step of the way!!! It took a few Sundays, a mountain of e-mailing and a monstrous portion of TEAMWORK from the kids to pull it all off!! The children collected boxes, and many congregants helped on this one, and then the decorating and painting began! The older kids prepped and painted and the little ones coloured hearts and stuck stickers galore to make each box individual and beautiful! Children then helped pack boxes with toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, washcloth, books….. a lot of stuff to fill the boxes to bursting!! Everything a little kid needs to smile ALL of next year!! To top it off, each box was also accompanied by a special cuddly toy for the little orphans to love and keep company! When the boxes were done and the hard work over, a number of Sunday school kids came together and drove along with Pastor, Judith, Rosi and the Sunday school helpers Maika and Debra to Efaya to have a party with the orphans and hand out boxes! At first there were many wide eyes and shy smiles but after some bangy crackers and cake the party got on its way…. The kids sang together, played ball and finally ended the visit by handing out the amazing boxes!!!! Mission completed: Share love. Have fun. Glorify God! If this were a facebook page God would be clicking LIKE!

More pictures coming soon….. so keep a look out at Church!!

Lieber Leser, liebe Leserinnen, “Es ist Zeit Abschied zu nehmen – auf dem Gehweg stapeln sich Umzugskartons - es geht in eine neue Stadt. Im Gepäck auch eine Portion Spannung und ein Stück Ungewissheit. Es sind Gefühle die oft zu Aufbrüchen gehören. Es schmerzt das Gewohnte aufzugeben. Wir werden ermutigt das Leben nach vorne zu leben – auf Hoffnung hin. Neues wagen – im eigenen Leben, in Zusammenleben mit anderen, in der Kirche, in der Gemeinde, in unserer Gesellschaft. Neues wagen, weil Gott Zukunft schenkt!” Diese Gedanken gehen uns allen irgend wann mal durch den Kopf. Es soll eigentlich eine fröhliche Zeit sein fürs neue Leben, Abenteuer und ein neues Jahr. Aber trotzdem haben wir Menschen Angst vor dem Unwissenden. Was wohl auf uns zu kommt in 2015? Aber wir können getrost wissen, daß unser Himmlischer Vater alles in der Hand hält und unseren Weg schon geplant hat. Pläne muß man schon haben, oder? So wünschen wir uns allen, besonders Reiner, Anne und Michael, ein erfolgreiches Jahr ,im Wissen dass Einer schon für uns vor-geplant hat.

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” – Jim Rohn

Dear readers, “Its time to bid farewell - cartons are piling up in the doorway, as a new city beckons. In the luggage are feelings of stress and uncertainty. We are reluctant to give up that which we know for sure. We are however encouraged to live our lives looking towards hope, in taking on new experiences , and in our engagement with others in our Church and Community. We are to embrace new challenges because God has given us the gift of the future.” At some stage in our lives we go through these feelings. And being human we are afraid of the unknown. However we can be assured that God has already planned and paved our paths ahead. So we wish us all, especially Reiner, Anne and Michael Godspeed and a prosperous year ahead in the knowing that God HAS indeed planned ahead for you and us.

Lieber Reiner, Liebe Anne und Lieber Michael. Wir müssen leider von euch Abschied nehmen nach vielen Jahren. Wir danken euch recht herzlich für Euer Wirken in unserer Gemeinde mit den verschiedenen Gaben welche unser lieber Gott Euch geschenkt hat. Unser lieber Gott hat Euch jetzt neue Herausforderungen gegeben und wir beten, daß ihr Euch bald in der neuen Heimat einlebt.

Impressum: The newsletter of the Ev-luth. Neuenkirchen,Harburg. Published on behalf of the Councillors by the editorial team . Congregational Councillors (in bold) and Group Leaders: CHAIRPERSON VICECHAIRPERSON

0716818735 0823721208

SHEPHERDING MINISTRY

Pastor

Reiner Focke

033 5061003

STEWARDSHIP MINISTRY

Treasurer

Jaco Tredoux

0823971446

Dieter Küsel

0823721208

Deon Schröder

0828536256

Judith Witthöfft

0723599939

Men’s Auxiliary Women’s Auxiliary Care Group

Heinz Lütge Mem Meyer Carmen Lorenz Werner Schröder

0716818735 0836361009 0828088803 0827724344

Grounds Funerals

Heinz Lütge Heinz Lütge Rainer Talanda

0716818735 0716818735 0848549070

Kinder Gottesdienst Sunday School

0827456211 0722327143 082 4948752 0846027522

Youth Adults

Debra Schröder Michelle Witthöft Adina de Vries Heidi Schröder (Ron) Louis Lorenz

Choir Worship Team Brass Band Home groups: Eng Fröhlicher Morgen Stammtisch Men’s Interecession Ladies’ Intercession Synod Representatives

Ingrid Lütge Liesel Joosten Louis Schröder Annette Joosten Christa Schröder Henning Klipp Heinz Küsel Judith Witthöft Heinz Lütge Martin Schröder

0844470609 0726728989 0823311546 0824890911 0827012060 0828202995 0823721208 0723599938 0716818735 0828023999

Retreat Centre

Anne Focke

0726905006

OUTREACH MINISTRY

Idwala Lomshwati CARE-GIVING MINISTRY

PROPERTY MINISTRY

FELLOWSHIP MINISTRY

Youth (Scholars)

Auf wiedersehen.

Heinz Lütge Dieter Küsel

0828442336

Gemeindeveranstaltungen / Werke und Dienste Congregational Activities / Ministries Bibelstunde

1.+ 3. Mittwoch im Monat 8 Uhr 15 im Gemeindezentrum Reiner Focke 033 5061003

Home groups

Wednesday evenings Annette Joosten

0824890911

Bläserchor

Donnerstags Abends um 18:30 Louis Schröder 0823311546 0338152208

Sängerchor

Chorüben mit Verabredung Ingrid Lütge 0844470609

Worship Practise

Liesel Joosten

Fröhlicher Morgen

Einmal im Monat Christa Schröder

Women’s Intercession

Friday mornings at 7am Judith Witthöft 0723599938

Men’s Intercession

Wednesday mornings at 5am Heinz Küsel 0823721208 033 5061213

0726728989

0827012060 033 5011727

Closing date for March/April 2015 START contributions: 02 February 2015

Dear Rolf, Jessica, Mia, Anna and Eva. We would like to welcome you in our congregation. Our congregation is not very large but God has blessed its members with a multitude of talents and we pray that under your spiritual leadership these will be used effectively to glorify Him. We trust that you will settle down soon in our midst.

I

n January we are going to become one of you, a special people in the heart of KZN. We are looking forward to meeting you but first we want to introduce ourselves.

Rolf grew up in KZN in the ELCSA (N-T). At his youngest years he grew up on the family farm near Winterton until the age of 6. Thereafter the Schmidt family soon moved to live in the old mission house in Moorleigh until 1997 during which time Rolf attended the Moorleigh Primary School before it was shut down. From 1998 to 2002 Rolf completed his High School years in Hermannsburg. Straight after completing matric, he felt called to study theology before feeling God’s call to the ministry. Jessica was born in Seymour, a small town in Texas, USA, where she lived until she started studying Theology in Abilene, Texas. In 2004, Jessica felt called to come to South Africa as an exchange student. .

FRAUENGRUPPEN / WOMEN’S AUXILIARY We met in a lecture hall, as we were both studying theology. Our first conversation was centred on Rolf’s name, where Jessica laughed and jokingly asked if he was German. She was still surprised when Rolf affirmed that he could actually speak the language! Imagine her shock at finding German being spoken in Africa! We were engaged at the beginning of the next year, and Jessica moved to South Africa permanently after her university graduation in May of 2005. She immediately began as youth worker at the Hayfields Lutheran Church in Pietermaritzburg. We were married on January 14th, 2006 and continued to work with the youth in PMB until our first daughter, Mia was born in January 2008. The same year Rolf began his internship, Jessica began work on her fifth year of theological studies. She passed in October of 2009, but chose not to begin an internship as she felt called to focus on our family. We spent 2010 in Köln, Germany, where we welcomed our second daughter, Éva. Once we returned, Rolf passed his second theological exam and subsequently was ordained in May 2011. We moved to Empangeni, where we were blessed with our third daughter, Anna in May of 2012. In these three and a half years of ministering as a family, we have learned many lessons, made some mistakes, laughed, cried and grew together in love both as a family and as a congregation. We are looking forward to walking with all of you and we pray for God to help us build relationships and faith in order to live out Jesus’ commission for us as the Body of Christ. We ask that you would remember our family in your prayers as we begin this time of transition, especially as Mia and Éva begin school in New Hanover. Thank you for all of your prayers.

A hearty Welcome. Herzlich willkommen.

Tea will be served every Sunday after the service. Milk must be supplied by the lady responsible for tea duty! Tee wird an jedem Sonntag nach dem Gottesdienst serviert. Die Frau, die den Teedienst hat, muss bitte selber Milch mitbringen. IMPORTANT: The lady whose name is underlined, is responsible to remind the other ladies of their tea and flower duties for that month. Reminders are also on the current “START” calendar. Please find a replacement if you are unable to do your duty on that particular Sunday.

Tea & Flower Duty List

January 2015 04/01 Pinkie Meyer Cath Meyer 11/11 Debra Schröder 18/11 Christa Schröder 28/11 Frieda Schröder

0828213415 0788014757 0827456211 0827012060 0824070812

February 2015 01/02 Heidi Schröder(Ron) 0846027522 08/02 Ingelore Schröder 0823692208 15/02 Irmela Schröder 0794304555 22/02 Karin Schröder 0836451642

NB !!! ONE flower arrangement is required in the Church and ONE in the C.C. It is up to each individual as to whether they feel they would like to do two arrangements in the church. Only ONE arrangement is needed when there is Holy Communion.

Geburtstage in der Gemeinde….

01 02 03 04 06 08 09 12 14 16 23 28

Februar Ralph Appelt Sven Klipp Edith Thies Mia Schmidt Debra Schröder Ingrid Wittig Desiree Wittig Maika Talanda Mark Joosten Krystal Schär Nicole Coetzee Werner Schirge Nicolas Schröder Manfred Stegen Annette Joosten Stefan Tredoux

GOTTES SEGEN ZUM GEBURTSTAG !! Dein Leben ist ein Geschenk Du bist wunderbar gemacht! Gott, den wir für dies alles danken, Begleite und schütze Dich im Neuen Lebensjahr !!

Monatspruch Februar Ich schäme mich des Evangeliums nicht: Es ist eine Kraft Gottes, die jeden rettet der Glaubt. Römer 1,16 Eine griechische Sage erzählt von Antäus, der Sohn der Mutter Erde. Er war unbesiegbar stark. Niemand konnte ihn im Kampf bezwingen, weil er über unermessliche Kräfte verfügte. Lange rätselte man über das Geheimnis seiner Kraft. Eines Tages kam Herkules und löste das Geheimnis der Kraft. Im Kampf mit Antäus packte er ihn mit beiden Armen und hob ihn vom Erdboden hoch. In dem Moment, als die Verbindung zur Erde unterbrochen war, wurde Antäus kraftlos und bezwingbar. Das Geheimnis seiner Kraft war die Verbindung mit seinem Ursprung, seiner Mutter Erde. Als Herkules diese Verbindung löste, konnte er Antäus besiegen. Seitdem gilt Herkules als der stärkste Mann.Antäus bezog seine Kraft aus der Verbindung mit seinem Ursprung, seiner Mutter Erde. Christen beziehen ihre Kraft aus der Verbindung mit ihrem Ursprung, Gott Vater. Der Feind hat diese Verbindung durch die Versuchung; durch Sünde und Schuld unterbrochen. Durch Jesu Leben, Sterben und Auferstehung ist diese Verbindung wieder hergestellt worden. Ohne Jesus und ohne das Wirken seines Geistes in uns werden wir kraftlos, schwach, anfällig und besiegbar. Paulus macht uns wieder auf diese Kraft aufmerksam wenn er in Römer 1:16 schreibt: “Denn ich schäme mich des Evangeliums nicht; denn es ist eine Kraft Gottes, die selig macht alle, die daran glauben.“ Im griechischen Urtext steht für das Wort “Kraft” das Wort “dynamis”. Das Wort Gottes, die gute Nachricht, das Evangelium ist Dynamit. Das Wort Gottes besitzt eine unglaubliche Sprengkraft. Es sprengt Ketten der Sünde die versklaven wollen. Es sprengt Schlösser von Vorstellungen, Vorurteilen, Weltanschauungen und Egoismus die uns gefangen halten wollen. Es sprengt unsere selbstgebastelten Bilder von Gott und zeigt uns das wahre Bild des Vaters. Das Wort Gottes macht selig und verwandelt Menschen und damit sogar Epochen. Die Reformation entstand durch die Wiederentdeckung dieser biblischen Grundlage in Römer 1. Komm wir entscheiden uns, weniger das Schlechte und Hinfällige in der Welt zu verbreiten und mehr die seligmachende Botschaft Gottes zu verkündigen. Kommt, lasst uns durch die Verbindung mit Christus, diese befreiende Gute Nachricht der Rettung Gottes durch Wort und Tat in unsere Umwelt verbreiten. Sie braucht sie und wir sind ALLE dazu berufen. Pastor Reiner Focke

Pastor WICHTIGE Focke‘s Farewell DATEN -Speech 2014

Birthdays in our Congregation

DATES TO REMEMBER

To God for being my Saviour and giving me gifts to serve and the strength to do it, for carrying me during difficult times and the growth and many blessings I could experience. To my wife, Anne, for her love and support, for her valuable insight in premarital courses, leading the worship, the library and Retreat Centre, and for being the wife of a pastor, even when it is at times not so easy to be one. To my son, Michael, for the great relationship we have and the help he gives. To all the Councillors who diligently served this Congregation and the many hours we deliberated, prayed, served, laughed and even cried together. I will cherish these good memories. To all those who served on the Strategic Planning Committee and helped to get the various aspects of our English and German Concurrent Sersitting in helped the shade today because vices up“Someone's and running, those who with the various courses like alpha, a life worth living, the gift course – Network, marriage course, and planted a long part timein ago.” lead homesomeone groups: You played aa tree fundamental my growth in faith and helped me and this congregation to take steps in faith. Warren Buffett Ich schätze dass der deutsche Teil der Gemeinde den englischen Teil nicht nur tolerierte, sondern akzeptierte. Through the English we can learn to allow a bit more emotions in our faith life and through the Germans to keep a level head. We need one another. To the Ministry Leaders and the diverse ministries where members use their gifts and give of their time to diligently serve both within and outside the congregation: you enable the various aspects of the Body of Christ to find expression by serving people and glorifying God. It was great to connect to the two neighbouring Congregations in Wartburg and New Hanover. To have 3LC Services together. The Community Services with other denominations in our district was also for me a highlight. To the Secretaries who served and had to put up with my “flexibility”, thank you for your hard PR work and handling the administrative work so friendly and efficiently. To the Gardeners Bheki & Gloria, for making the church and manse grounds look great. To the cleaners Florence & Sizani for tidying the Church, Manse and Retreat Centre.

January 01 03 04 05 07 08 09 12 13 15 16 19 20 21 24 25 26 28 30

Kate Johnson Annette Stegen Hilda Freese Michael Schirge Melanie Meyer Tessa Lorenz Pamela Erasmus Roger Schröder Justin Wittig Marcel Wittig Carol van Eck Deon Schröder Monica Johnstone Jacqui Thies Jacqui Klipp Roland Schröder Noah Redinger Jessica Junge Evelyn Stegen Ria Freese Heidi Tredoux Stella Freese Henning Klipp Helga von Fintel (Peter) Luke Pearce

WICHTIGE DATEN DATES TO REMEMBER 31 January 2015 WA Fundraiser 2-7 January 2015 eQuip 8 February 2015 WA/MA AGM 15 February 2015 AGM 19 February 2015 Lent Service 22 February 2015 Youth Service in Wartburg 22August 2015 TOUR de KRANTZ

“Someone's sitting in the shade today because

someone planted a tree a long time ago.” Warren Buffett

Calling all Volunteers We are still looking for volunteers to join our editorial team. Helga is ‘retiring’ and we need someone to take her place Should you be interested, please give her a call and find out what she has been doing for the magazine. Should anyone also wish to take over running with the Start magazine please contact me (Annie) and I can share with you what its all about. If you are passionate about the ‘printed media’ this will push all the right buttons.

To each Congregant, thank you for the privilege to walk a few steps with you in your life, for sharing the joys and sorrows, celebrating Festivals, mourning losses, for allowing me to counsel you personally and in relationships, grappling together on current issues like Land and the Environment. I trust that God used my preaching and pastoring gifts to enable you to meet your Saviour, to help you grow in faith, find forgiveness of sins, receive blessings, discover your gifts and find your place of service. What was difficult? Facing the operation of a skin melanoma, and mourning the loss of 4 of my own relatives in the course of 17 months knocked me. I made mistakes and hurt people and tried as best as I could to ask for forgiveness and to reconcile. The process to find another congregation was tough for me. I share these with you not to illicit sympathy, but to show that we pastors also have our own struggles and vulnerabilities. What stood out? Too many to mention. 17 years is a long time, but I would say, the confirmation camps, the courses, the men’s retreats, the realization of the Outreach to the Farm Workers and definitively the 125th Celebrations of our Harburg Neuenkirchen Congregation. I also honour you for keeping the bigger picture of Church in mind for e.g. by volunteering to host the Church Festivals and Synod. We are also very grateful to you that our son, Michael, could start and finish his Primary Education here in the district. Thank you for the lovely house and beautiful area which we could call home for 17 years. We will miss you.

I My Message to you: Look after your soul and guard your heart. Make time to nourish your faith. Don’t take this for granted. Make time to foster relationships = visit God, family, friends, congregants and strangers. See diversity not as a threat, but as an asset – God does. Harburg was my first fully fledged congregation. I had a chance to grow over many years. Therefore accept Pastor Schmidt and his family and grant him the same opportunity to grow. Pray for him and pray for us. Try to live a balanced life: work and play, exercise and rest, learn to dream big and to be content and to live within your means. Pay a compliment, pay respect and pay your bills. Nurture the right attitude: Stop comparing yourself to others and be yourselves, admit your part in a fight, forgive others, love and reach out to people. We all live by God’s grace and blessings. I close with Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Or put differently in words which might be more easily remembered: “Don’t forget to celebrate, vasbyt, and speak to Jesus - your best mate!”

Monatspruch JANUAR So lange die Erde besteht, sollen nicht aufhören Aussaat und Ernte, Kälte, und Hitze, Sommer und Winter, Tag und Nacht. 1 Mose 8,22

A memo from God

am God. In the coming year and every day I will be handling your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help! If life happens to deliver a situation that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it into the SFGTD (something for God to do) box. All situations will be resolved ......BUT in my time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life now. If you find yourself stuck in traffic; don’t despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege! Should you have a bad day at work; think of the man who has been out of work for years. Should you despair over a relationship gone bad, think of the person who has never known what it’s like to love and be loved in return. Should you grieve the passing of another weekend, think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children. Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance, think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk. Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what life is all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Fröhlicher Dienstag

The annual Community service took place on Sunday, 7 December 2014 at the Wartburg Kirchdorf School Hall. The Theme was “World caught in the fall… Christ is born for all”.

Harburg 25. November 2014 – Adventsfeier

a (NT)

It was very well attended by friends around the Wartburg , New Hanover, Dalton and Harburg area. Volunteer Musicians accompanied the carol singing and a Christmas play was performed by members. Thereafter tea, coffee and scrumptious Christmas cookies and cakes

Es trafen sich +- 20 Senioren aus Harburg, Wartburg, Neu Hanover und Pietermaritzburg um 9 30Uhr im CC in Harburg unter der Leitung von Christa , Annette, Ingelore und Carmen. Die Tische waren adventlich geschmückt mit kleinen Glasbehälten, grün und roten Kerzen. Christa bat Pastor Reiner die Andacht zu halten. Es wurden Lieder gesungen, Geschichten erzählt und betont dass die Hoffnung nicht aufhört. Es gab Tee, Kaffee und Kuchen und wurde fröhlich geplaudert. Es war wieder ein unvergesslich schöner Morgen. Leider mussten wir uns dann auch von Pastor Focke verabschieden und ihm alles Gute für seinen Weg nach Empangeni wünschen. Wir danken Euch !

Christian Stewardship & Financial Management

The Chairman On behalf of the New Hanover Preparatory School, we wish to express our sincere gratitude for the generous donation of R 2092.50 received in August this year. May your Council and Congregation be truly blessed for the support shown to our school. Kindest regards Erich & Jane Vorwerk Bursar/Assistant Bursar

Dear Harburg Congregation We wanted to write to thank all of you for your support, both financially and in prayer. We appreciate the kindness you have given to us and we see God’s ever present hand in our situation. He has definitely brought good out of the bad and He has protected us along the way. Our desire is that many people will find Jesus Christ through this traumatic ordeal and rely on His strength and goodness throughout their lives. We hope that one Day we will be able to come visit and meet you all. Once again , a ‘big thank you’! Love from the Passaportis Family Dave, Mary-Anne, Hayley Paige and Emma Rain

The recent course on “Managing God’s Money” which took place at the Retreat Centre from 21-23 November 2014 was well worth attending. The course was compiled and presented by Doris Viljoen from Cape Town. The contents was pitched at a comfortable level for all the participants. Beginners and Professionals alike were able to benefit from the useful information contained in the course. We were all encouraged to advertise the value of the course content as the intention is to promote a healthier approach to making Congregation Members feel comfortable about participating in the different ministries needed to run a church. It was interesting to hear about how different types of people view money differently and how each personality type has an important role to play in the overall picture. There are spenders, money monks, debtors, shoppers, givers and savers and each type of person is able to make a valuable contribution to organising and managing the financial resources of the church. With the aid of cash flow charts we saw how to identify indicators that can be used to monitor financial resources and how these indicators can be helpful when assessing current practices and their sustainability over a long period of time. We were encouraged to view budgeting from an income/vision approach as opposed to an expense- driven option and to promote group involvement when plotting the current and future financial needs of the congregation. For Congregation Members who perhaps have felt ill-equipped for Ministry involvement there is the option of starting on a clean slate. This option affords each member an opportunity to get involved at a level they are comfortable with without compromising an established and fully functional system of operation. All Congregation Members should be encouraged to attend courses like this when they are offered. They help us manage our own personal finances as well as helping us to understand the financial needs of the church and the greater community. The greater the number of participants from each congregation attending, the better it is. This will promote better feed back and implementation of useful information. The organisers would also like to achieve a financial “ breakeven” by having enough people attend to cover the cost involved in presenting such courses.

Heinz Lütge