This brief video highlights these teens as well as some of the babies who are receiving great care at Baphumelele Children’s Home in Khayelitsha from Rosie Mashale and her amazing staff and volunteers.

Thank-you Southpoint Church for your generosity!

Baphumelele Child-Headed Families Gift

Download audio file (20111120-Be-Rich-2.mp3)

TODAY — NEWSFLASH! Come on Sunday as John will be giving an update on your generosity in the BE RICH 2011 campaign! It is looking great! You guys know how to BE RICH! Also bring good used clothes and non-perishable foods for Baphumelele orphans and child headed families.

“I wanna be rich” most of us say. Just about all of us wish we were rich, or we spend much of life trying to get rich, whereas the Bible just commands us to be rich. The way we “be rich” is to: give more and do more (1 Tim 6:18). “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”  So Southpoint Church launched a BE Rich campaign on 13th November. We want to be a RICH church not because we drive flashy cars or live in nice houses but because we have huge hearts and we know how to BE RICH. Below is the letter we handed out on Sunday and the short talk John Hastings gave to Southpoint as we launched this project.

Download audio file (20111113-Be-Rich-1.mp3)

Complete your Be Rich 2011 pledge here

A NOTE FROM JOHN
November 2011
I loved partnering with you in 2011. I can’t think of anything more exciting than hearing the multiple stories of life change from your friends who discovered and embraced a relationship with Jesus Christ this year. The economic doldrums have also been there, but God has been faithful to us, so we should GIVE THANKS to God for all He has done. As we approach Christmas and 2012, I wanted to tell you about two things:

1. BE RICH 2011 – according to 1 Tim 6:18, being rich means to “do good, be generous and be willing to share.” Every year in Nov/Dec, we do a ‘Thank-offering’ where our desire is to BE RICH – do more, give more! This year, in the spirit of  “attempting things that are bound to fail unless God steps in” we invite you to:
- Give more primarily to meet the needs of others, as follows:
i. The first R94,000 will go to orphans, widows, and the marginalised. We will support the following:
- Camp Sonshine’s School Sponsoring program;
- Safeline Child Abuse Treatment & Prevention Centres;
- Baphumelele Child-Headed Families & Orphanage;
ii. The next R86,000+ will go to the Leadership Development Program at SPC. We have six potential LDP’s for 2012 so far;
iii. The next R180,000+ will go to Creating Environments @ Mutualpark – a great place to invite your friends! This will cover the first half of 2012. We have this expense because we are a church that is primarily concerned for people outside the church.
- Do more:
i. Bring good clothes and non-perishable foods for Baphumelele Child Headed Families – place in the basket in the foyer;
ii. Serve in a team at Southpoint – see Information Centre in the foyer;
iii. Do an Intersect Project with your Community Group.
Go to Giving to read more about these projects. For more details of how you can participate in Be Rich 2011.

2. NEW ELDERS – it’s exciting for the Elders to announce their intention of appointing Derek Coleman and Norval Weichardt to the Eldership. We would like to confirm these appointments on Sunday 27th November. Anyone wishing to comment on the appointments please do so by Saturday 26th November, by emailing: office@southpointchurch.co.za

Have a great Christmas and New Year! I love serving with you!
John

Baphumelele Children’s Home in Khayelitsha has provided a home to hundreds of children over the past ten years. However, there is a limit to the number of orphans they are able to help. Rosie Mashale, founder of Baphumelele, has spearheaded an initiative to help orphaned children who are living on their own through their Child Headed Family Program.

These households receive regular visits as well as educational, nutritional, and psycho-social support, access to health care, legal assistance and child protection. Rosie is asking the community to get behind this project by providing clothing, non-perishable foods and basic toiletries to assist these families in their struggle to survive and care for siblings, having experienced the loss of both parents. Their team has put together a specific list of basic items they would like to include in their monthly care packages. Read more about the “Wish List.”

Click here to read about just one of the families in the Baphumelele Child Headed Families program. Read more…

As part of our Be Rich campaign in 2011, Southpoint Church would like to contribute towards supporting the Baphumelele Child Headed Families. There will be containers in the foyer to collect your contributions. This is one way for all of us to Be Rich: Do More, Give More.

Find out more about financially supporting this project (and others) with Southpoint Church Be Rich 2011.

Metro Kids Christmas: Thank You Video from Southpoint Church on Vimeo.

As a church, together we were able to sponsor over 1000 gifts and helped to pack 3000 gifts. Each child received some personal toiletries items, some school stationary items, some sweets and something to play with. Many also received Metro Kids tee shirts.

At Southpoint Church we try to do one thing really well, which is to create environments where people can discover a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. We realize there are a lot of other good things happening in Cape Town which is why we partner with organizations that have a proven track record of meeting social needs.

We want to respond to the greater needs we see around us in Cape Town. Often we don’t know where to start. One way to respond is to participate in an Intersect Project with your Community Group or a group of friends. Our desire is to help your group have a positive experience in serving our community. To this end, we have developed relationships with four different NGOs where your group can serve. If you would like to find out more about joining a Community Group at Southpoint Church click here.

We love to get feedback from groups who have taken on the challenge of doing an Intersect Project. Many groups have already had a great experience at The Warehouse. We are highlighting the work of The Warehouse and how your group can get involved.

The Warehouse

The Warehouse, located at 12 Plantation Road, Wetton, is working in the areas of poverty and justice with the hope of seeing transformation of communities through local churches. The Warehouse supports local churches in underprivileged areas with training, food and clothing parcels, and orphan support, among other things. They seek to change the lives of the poor by restoring their dignity and building meaningful relationships with them.

Your group can get involved and learn more about The Warehouse by simply scheduling your weekly group meeting at The Warehouse. Carolyn Powell will show you a video of the work of The Warehouse and give your group some valuable insight into how to serve the needs of the poor in greater Cape Town. After the presentation Carolyn will guide your group in a project of some sort! They have mountains of donations to sort and organize into parcels that are given through churches in needy areas to families in need.

A visit to The Warehouse is also a great way to invest and invite. Many of your friends who don’t attend church are interested in responding to the needs of our city and will love the opportunity to join you in your project at The Warehouse.

Bring your snacks – The Warehouse will provide great coffee for you. Bring your clean, gently used clothing, shoes, and household items. To book your regular group night at The Warehouse contact:

Carolyn Powell
gleaning@warehouse.org.za
www.warehouse.org.za/gleaning
021 761 1168

INTERSECT Projects provides service opportunities for individuals and Community Groups. The partnerships we’ve formed focus on aiding low-income families or children-at-risk in the Cape Town area. If you would like to find out about our other partners, check out the Community Partners page. If you have questions or would like more information, please email intersect@southpointchurch.co.za.

Favor SA (Faces and Voices of Recovery) provides some helpful information in this article on some common myths related to drug and alcohol addiction.

Southpoint Church is hosting an information session presented by FAVOR SA on 23 October from 09h00 – 12h30 at The Attic, 23 Stellenberg Road, Pinelands. All are welcome and feel free to share this invite. Cost for the session is R30 for Southpoint attendees and R50 for others. For more information send an email to the church office or call on 021 531 3317 between 9am and 4pm, Tuesday – Friday.

Our Community Group Intersect project…

I became aware of a very needy family over a year ago. There is a mum, dad and 5 kids. The oldest girl, Thandokazi, is a junior leader at Metro Kids Africa in KTC and is on the Metro Kids pen-pal program.

I first got involved with this family about 9 months ago when I noticed Thandokazi’s small brother, Sonwabile, at Sidewalk one week. Sidewalk is a program for underprivileged children that my husband and I spearhead in the townships. Sonwabile had a huge extended stomach. I followed him up and discovered the most awful living circumstances I have seen since being in South Africa. It was so bad that even Asanda, who has grown up in the townships, went home and wept at seeing people living like that.

They lived in a small shack with no water and no toilet near by. But it was the state of it that upset me. It was dirty and had clothes, bedding, pots and pans strewn all over the floor. The mom had no hope – she really was like a living dead person. She was quiet, withdrawn and uninterested in her family. They survive by collecting metal each day. One shopping trolley fetches R50 per day.

We took Sonwabile to Red Cross and that is another story. Briefly, he has AIDS and is now in a children’s home for the care of the chronically ill. I visit him regularly and have now got rights for taking him out for the day. He has really touched my heart and if ever I was close to bringing a child into our lives it’s this little boy. Anyway… This could be a book!!

The family were given a house in Delft by the government so when I visited them I wondered about how we could improve it for them as they had so little – not even a chair to sit on. Our Community Group was looking for an Intersect project so I asked if they would consider painting a house.

Everyone was keen. Ruth was telling a friend who worked at New Media, who had recently moved offices and were keen to donate some furniture. We collected that one morning. That was hard work lifting and loading the furniture. Then this Saturday we went from 10 till 3 and did our Delft makeover!! One member brought a friend who was keen to help even though he is not from our church. So an Intersect Project is a wonderful Invest and Invite opportunity!

Janet Senior

Instead of having our usual Wednesday evening, our Community Group met at Rainbow House, a home for up to 12 abandoned children in Goodwood. Afterward, one of our members remarked, “I think we got more out of it than the kids!!”

Our group loved the experience and have decided to make Rainbow House a regular once a term visit. We are reminded of how much love we experienced as children from our parents and want to be able to help these children experience some of that love.

This week I was reminded of that when a group of people from North Point Community Church sacrificed hugely to come to Southpoint church simply to pray/connect for one week. This they did.

On Sunday following the week of prayer someone commented that there was an “anointing” about the service — which simply means there was something special happening between the communicator and the listeners — God’s message was hitting home in unusual ways! It was true! The response and show of hands at the end of the sermon indicated that a battle was won in the hearts of men and women. We had prayed with the North Point group for this to happen and it did!

Another thing we prayed for was for the GIVING in the church to be increased. He did that as well! The last week of March was a huge week financially.

They also prayed for Metro Kids (MK) and Camp Sonshine. This week MK had a bumper crowd (1200 kids) and God supplied Camp Sonshine, through North Point and Southpoint, a much needed Wendy House for the kids before winter.

To the North Point Global X team…thank you. Thank you to Traci, Brian, Bri, Scott, Darryl, Brad, Mary, Mara, Dana, Emily and Shawnie for praying and connecting with us, as well as honouring the volunteers.

To Southpoint people – thank you for joining in! God is answering our prayers. God is winning the battle of Southpoint, God is winning the battle of the church as He wins the battle for the souls of men and women! Who would imagine that a group of people would sacrifice their vacation, their money, and their comforts to travel 10,000 miles to another part of the world, just to PRAY? Seems ludicrous! Except if you know that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers and through this brings about what we cannot do. Let North Point people travel here again to PRAY, let Southpoint always be a “House of Prayer”. Why? That pastor I previously mentioned was me, and that young restless man was Nathanael, my son!

John Hastings