Thank you to ALL the organizers of the Western Volunteer Appreciation evening!!!  It was a blast, as the photo’s will show.

Everyone got in with the spirit of the evening, dressing up to compliment the décor.

Each year one area of help is highlighted, this year it was the Road Crew that were honoured.  They all received awesome T-Shirts to help them stand out and be noticed.  Well done guys on all the work that you do early on Sunday mornings while most of us still sleep.

Two other couples were also honoured for there commitment and enthusiasm first were Gary and Robyn Coleman, who from the start of the church moving to Old Mutual have been there every Sunday morning, helping iron out all the kinks to get it into the smooth running machine it is now.  Special mention went to their kids, who would tag along in the early hours of the morning, who were made honorary Road Crew members.

Another couple, Morgan and Kelly, were especially thanked as they  were a crucial element in the design and creation of InsideOut, our teen environment at The Attic (old church building).

Unfortunately, not everyone can be singled out, but everyone is appreciated for all you do.

Thank you for all your dedication and help throughout the year.

We would like to thank you all for an amazing response to our Metro Kids Africa Christmas Gift project. We have managed to reach our target of 600 boxes and more.

All the extra’s will be given to Metro Kids to distribute to children in other areas.

We still need volunteers for either 7 or 14 November at 10h00. There is going to be loads of fun, serving and connecting happening. If you do come to help don’t forget to bring scissors.

If you feel like showing off your baking skills, please bring a plate of goodies to share.

Another opportunity to get involved, is the drop off days 25 and 27 November, try to take the afternoon off, it will be an experience to remember.

Please use the reply slip so we can see how many helpers we will have.

Hope to see you!!!

WOW!!! We are making progress, we have almost reached our goal of 600 boxes.  We have an amazing 574 boxes pledged so far.

But, please do not let this stop the generous hearts, if we receive more than our goal there are many children at other Metro Africa’s sites that will be happy to receive a present.

We still need lots of helpers for the 7^th and 14^th November from 10am to pack, wrap or bring something to eat.

So if you are able to help in donating a box or giving of your time on the above dates, please click here to fill in a reply slip, letting us know when and what you can help with.

Lots of fun is to be had by all.  Come guys lets make this happen, you have until the 3 November 2009.

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elvissa/

Dear Mr Pastor

Hey there Mr Pastor, I heard you were writing letters this week, and hey I heard they were to the President, but I never get taken out of this room so I don’t know who that person is but I do know you, and you stand up in front of me every Sunday and you speak like you know it all, so I figure your probably the guy I should send my letter to! Can I tell you a little bit of my story?

My week goes something like this:

• On Monday someone sat on me and they learn about how to make better investments.
• On Tuesday it was someone who learned about how to get along better with his workmates.
• Wednesday was executive day and this guy squirmed like crazy because the company shares were hitting rock bottom.
• Thursday was a free day.
• Friday was another businessman learning how to improve his sales.

So you can see it’s a pretty busy week.

On Saturday there might be a wedding or conference or something, but my brothers and I always chat excitedly about the next day because SUNDAY is our best day by far!

On SUNDAY we wake up really early – a bunch of very excited people come and pick me up and set me out in a nice neat row. It’s by far the most fun day, because they have really great music and what’s really cool is I get to listen to two practices before they start and then twice again after that.

Then they get these really cool videos they show before the band cranks up, and …then this guy speaks:

• Sometimes he’s a little boring and the person in my seat falls asleep.
• Sometimes the person squirms like crazy cos he talks about money.
• Sometimes they cry because the person suddenly hears that God loves them and from what you say they realize God knows them and cares for them.
• Sometimes they are happy because they find answers to their marriage, or their relationships or their finances or their business.
• Sometimes they are really quiet and still because God is speaking to them.

Every week you talk about the forgiveness of sins and receiving eternal life, and every week I so hope that the someone who sits in me will pray to receive these incredible gifts of infinite value, but as of right now I have only heard some of my brothers talk about it.

In comparison to that all the other stuff that happens here is really insignificant, and I would be so thrilled if just once someone who sits in me receives eternal life.

After a Sunday my brothers and I are stacked up again and we speak excitedly about what happened in your service but one Sunday night we were really glad and then we were very sad.

We were glad because we heard that about the 1.1, oh  it might be 1.2 soon …yeah millions of rands your people gave so that you could create a really irresistible environment for people and kids to visit. We were totally honoured to think that you guys were wiling to pay so much for us, but when you speak about eternal life and what you are offering we understand completely why you would pay that much!

But what we don’t understand is why a huge number of us were unused that week and that makes us really sad.

We really hope that this will change because we really like it when people use us and pay for us, but more importantly we know also that if no-one sits on us then they missing the chance to have their life changed forever.

We love Sundays, the music, the happy volunteers, the videos and the message;  so please tell the people to bring some friends next week.

Signed
The Unfilled Chair