HAPPY EASTER
2020
Dear family, friends and loved ones,
We wish you a very Happy Easter! Yes, our circumstances may not be
ideal and we may be missing the opportunity to gather with our
friends and loved ones in order to celebrate, but we would like to
remind you that when Paul was imprisoned he wrote the letter to the
Philippians and in that epistle he spoke of joy and rejoicing more
than any other time. This shows us that his circumstances did not
dictate whether he was able to rejoice or not, but rather true joy
comes from within and is born of our relationship with the Lord.
We pray that you will be enjoying the Lord’s love and care and
rejoicing in all He has done for us that is of eternal value and
cannot be taken away from us, regardless of the condition of the
world.
We would also like to take the opportunity to give you a quick
glimpse into this month as it has been unfolding this far.
THE ROLL - OUT PROJECT:
We are very happy to let you know that the Lord has gone above and
beyond in reaching out to the especially needy, and we are so happy
to be an instrumental part of it together with you our precious
partners. Also, the Lord, through Lions Club and their connections,
raised up even further help.
Since we have a permit as an essential service which allows us to
be out and about in connection with our work of collecting and
distributing food, we were asked to help with a project called,
Roll-Out. Part of the assignment was to identify five “leaders”
(faithful, diligent and trustworthy people) in Sir Lowry’s Pass
that would each help buy and distribute food parcels to the most
needy in their immediate vicinity. Through this we have been able
to distribute food parcels to approx. 100 families a week for the
past two weeks. The longer the lock-down remains in place the
greater the need. We therefore seek to rotate the recipients to the
best of our knowledge of where the greatest needs are at the time.
The Roll-Out project has been a tremendous help and blessing to an
already impoverished community.
We mentioned our concern for Nomzamo and it needy families as well.
The sponsors got in touch with the councilor of Nomzamo and a big
Roll-Out initiative is taking place there as well. We are so
thankful for people who deeply care and for those of you who have
been partnering with us for a while and have given above and beyond
at this time. May you all be richly blessed. Our prayers are that
the Corona Virus will soon be a thing of the past and that life may
resume normality.
Shopping at Cash and
Carry.
40 families received generous food parcels from this.
WOOLIES:
Due to the Daycare Centers being under lock-down the soup kitchens
are receiving more food than usual. This is a very welcome help as
more people are now depending on the kitchens to assist them than
ever.
We have also collected 100 liters of milk from Cape Town (thanks
to Sonnendahl/Lancewood).
FACE MASKS:
Also, with the help of Lion’s Club we were able to sponsor 130 face
masks for the developmental forum leaders of Sir Lowry’s Pass.
We ourselves since sponsored an additional 30 this far as we have
been concerned to see the close interaction seemingly still taking
place in the townships especially.
MINISTRY:
Since we have not been able to meet in person with our various
groups we have formed What’s up groups. This far we have 4 groups
that we minister to. We tried to keep the groups small in order to
do What’s up calls, but we have found that it does not work that
well for us. Therefore we mainly use voice notes and text, but it
has enabled us to stay in touch with many of our friends and to
continue to minister to them. As you can see we ourselves are not
under lock-down as far as ministering essential needs and the
life-giving Word of Jesus!
In closing we would like to share an Easter message with you which
we hope will be a blessing to you and your families!
With much love, prayers and appreciation for your help and support
and enabling our ministry to keep going during these trying times.
Philip and Rita
Philip and Rita
Easter Story
Highlights from Bible Verses
Understand the following is abbreviated version of
the Easter Story to just capture the highlights. We'll begin
from the night before Jesus' crucifixion because His example of
being a servant is so important! Using the New Living Translation,
we have taken Bible verses from the Gospel of John highlighting
main events of the Easter Story.
We chose the Gospel of John because he was an eyewitness of these
events. John was one of the three of Jesus' inner circle.
John, James and Peter were present at events such as the
Transfiguration and the closest to Jesus as He prayed in the Garden
of Gethsemane.
He calls himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved" in John
20:2 not because of feeling pride that he was better than the
others, but because he valued the love of Christ above all.
It was amazing to him as it should be to us!
The
Passover Supper & Jesus Washes Feet
Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that His hour had come
to leave this world and return to his Father. He now showed the
disciples the full extent of his love. It was time for
supper, and the Devil had already enticed Judas, son of Simon Iscariot,
to carry out his plan to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the
Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come
from God and would return to God. So He got up from the
table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and
poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples'
feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around Him. (John
13:1-5)
Jesus'
Arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane
After saying these things, Jesus crossed the Kidron Valley with his
disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. Judas, the
betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had gone there many times
with his disciples. The leading priests and Pharisees had
given Judas a battalion of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to
accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons,
they arrived at the olive grove. Jesus fully realized all that was
going to happen to him. Stepping forward to meet them, he asked,
"Whom are you looking for?" "Jesus of
Nazareth," they replied. "I am he," Jesus said.
Judas was standing there with them when Jesus identified
himself. And as he said, "I am he," they all fell
backward to the ground! Once more he asked them, "Whom
are you searching for?" And again they replied, "Jesus of
Nazareth." "I told you that I am he," Jesus
said. "And since I am the one you want, let these others
go." (John 18:1-8)
Jesus Is
Tried & Beaten
Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The
soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head,
and they put a royal purple robe on him. "Hail! King of
the Jews!" they mocked, and they hit him with their
fists. Pilate went outside again and said to the people,
"I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand
clearly that I find him not guilty." Then Jesus came out
wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said,
"Here is the man!" When they saw him, the leading
priests and Temple guards began shouting, "Crucify!
Crucify!" (John 19:1-6a)
His
Crucifixion
Carrying the cross by himself, Jesus went to the place called Skull
Hill (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they crucified him. There
were two others crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus
between them. And Pilate posted a sign over him that read,
"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." The
place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the sign was
written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read
it. Then the leading priests said to Pilate, "Change it
from 'The King of the Jews' to 'He said, I am King of the
Jews.'" Pilate replied, "What I have written, I
have written. It stays exactly as it is." When the
soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the
four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven
in one piece from the top. So they said, "Let's not tear
it but throw dice to see who gets it." This fulfilled the
Scripture that says, "They divided my clothes among themselves
and threw dice for my robe." So that is what they did. (John
19:17-24)
Jesus'
Death
Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the
Scriptures he said, "I am thirsty." A jar of sour
wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a
hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had
tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his
head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:28-30)
His
Burial
Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of
Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for
permission to take Jesus' body down. When Pilate gave him
permission, he came and took the body away. Nicodemus, the
man who had come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing about
seventy-five pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and
aloes. Together they wrapped Jesus' body in a long linen
cloth with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial. The
place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb,
never used before. And so, because it was the day of
preparation before the Passover and since the tomb was close at
hand, they laid Jesus there. (John 19:38-42)
The
Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came
to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the
entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other
disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken
the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have
put him!" Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb
to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there
first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying
there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went
inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there,
while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying
to the side. Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw
and believed -- (John 20:1-8)
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