Wessel's blog

Recently, the "official" student newspaper of the University of Stellenbosch published an edition of the bi-weekly (hotlink to PDF) which boldly depicted two men kissing on the front cover.

This past Sunday, I attended Southern Cross church, which is a new CESA congregation in Constantia in Cape Town. It was the six month anniversary of their establishment, and for the occasion, the speaker was bishop Frank Retief. He was involved with St James in Kenilworth when, in 1993, it suffered a terrorist attack which killed a number of people and maimed many more. And so he spoke to us about the question of suffering, although it was not a regular sermon. Rather, he spoke to us about the attack, describing the immediate aftermath in vivid detail, and then proceeded to explain how they as a congregation worked through the experience, trying to make sense of that horrid ordeal.

Change is a characteristic of life. When change is good, we delight in it, such as when a child is born or there is an exciting new opportunity in a new city. But change can, of course, also be bad: the loss of a job, a serious illness in the family, a piece of unsettling news... all of these things, and many more, can throw what we perceive as a spanner in the works. It is then time for adjustments to be made, plans to be altered and strategies to be changed.

Last night, CESA bishop Des Ingelsby preach at TBT. His sermon on wisdom and making plans for the future was really good and one which I enjoyed and found relevant. At present I do not know what will happen after this year, when I finish my studies. Preliminary thoughts are to stay in the Cape area, but I have no idea whether I'll move to the City, stay in the Boland or go somewhere else (perhaps back to the northern suburbs?). With difficult and daunting life decisions laying in front of me, it was a great encouragement to hear a message on how to make wise decisions.

As a general rule, I am not very much into World Cup events. I am not big on most sports, and especially not soccer. While I am grateful for many of the benefits which hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup has brought South Africa (such as improved road infrastructure), I do feel that the billions of rands spent on building stadiums could have spent on housing or long-term poverty alleviation. Also, I am not very keen for the "cult of personality" used to create hype for the event, although I understand it is necessary so we can present a happy and enthusiastic face to the world. I am a grinch like that.

Today I got back from spending a week in the coastal town of Hermanus, were I helped out with the annual Holiday Club, which the church I attend organises every year. This was my first experience of being on a "mission" and came back with a lot to think about.

I have signed up to take part in a mission. The church I am at periodically has outreaches to the children in Hermanus, a popular sea-side town here in the Western Cape.

When I first heard that some people were claiming that the world will end on 21 May 2011, I wanted to furiously post a rebuke here. But I decided to rein myself in until I have learned more (or at least until I had actually read the whole tract).

Of course there is actually a lot of information to go through: the tract points one to websites and books, even a radio station, and a forum has been set up to discuss this matter. But what I want to do is write a response to just the tract: what should someone think who has been handed such a flyer at a traffic light or walking through a park?

Recently I changed the way I do my daily prayers for the first time in a very long time. I reached a point where I couldn't fit everything into my personal Bible study time anymore: it was taking too much time. Of course, I would like to spend a lot of time every day in prayer, but I also have responsibilities which I have a duty towards.

The past weekend (wait, what do you mean it's weekend again already??) we had the Equip 2010 conference. It was great, really great... so much so that, 4 days after it, I'm still a little in denial that it is over!

Equip is the amalgamation of the previous years' MYCs and YAECs. This year, just like MYC last year, it was held at Rocklands, in Simonstown. Rocklands is a beautiful camp ground and certainly ranks amongst my personal favourites.