Ncumisa

Green Anglicans  was in the Diocese of Mbashe in Eastern Cape from the 4th  -6th of June for a Young Green Anglicans Summit. We had arranged time to visit Siyakhana Childrens home which operates under the Diocese as one of their social  development projects. Based in Butterworth Siyakhana is home to 35 children under the care of Nonceba and her team. Siyakhana has a very beautiful vegetable garden which they depend on  to serve  fresh and healthy meals to the little one’s.   While we going through what is available in the garden , a member from Farming God’s Way  which we invited came along to assist them in growing their veggie garden better, and advised on different crops they could grow on that type of soil.  Nontsikelelo a trainer from Farming God’s Way agreed to invite Siyakhana to one of the three day training’s.  

  The Youth workers of the Diocese of the Free State, Bino Makhalenyane and Thapelo Mabule organized a wonderful workshop for the Sunday School teachers and St Agnes leaders of the Diocese of Free State. The teachers were trained by Rev Rachel Mash and her team, Ncumisa Magadla and Vincent Letala (Joburg) to use the Ryan the Rhino Manual. This is a ten week programme teaching children to care for God’s Creation in a practical and fun way. If God is everywhere…then the earth a holy place! The aim of the workshop was to teach and train diocesan Sunday school teachers and St Agnes leaders on how pollution impacts negatively to our environment and how we as the church can protect the earth. Once trained we can go out to spread the word and teach our children about caring for Creation. The workshop was also blessed by a visit from, Bishop Steve Diseko and his wife Brenda from the Diocese of Matlosane. Mrs Diseko will be rolling out the programme in her Diocese. “I came to understand more about the existence of God being everywhere when Reverend Rachel Mash and her team taught us how to take care of our environment and surroundings. Quoting of the book of Psalm 24:1, she explained that the earth is a Holy place, so it must be kept clean at all times”: Blondie Buang, Deputy Sunday School President -Blondie Buang

“Cleaning the city, is renewing the environment” In the context of defining new prospects for evangelization and world environment day celebration, the Anglican Youth of Maputo held last Saturday, June 6 a cleaning journey, on the beach of Catembe. This initiative under the theme “clean the city is renew the environment” aimed to celebrate the world environment day, as well as draw attention to the world for the appreciation of nature as God’s creation. The activity was attended by 55 Anglican youth of both sexes, who voluntarily identify themselves and commit to this cause; they collected trash in a length of 1000 meters of the beach. The type of waste collected, include: Glass bottles Plastic bottles Plastics and others To help the young people understand the importance of this initiative, we had a talk about public health and its relationship with the environment. Mr. Carlos Daniel Cumbe explained to the youth the story of creation according to Genesis books Chapters 1 and 2. The District Secretary of the Anglican Youth of Maputo, Mr. Moses Nelson Sengulane, stressed the importance of moving forward the initiative. He invited young people to reflect in the coming days about the sustainability of the initiative, in ways we return to Catembe Beach, to raise awareness on the people who use the beach, because men and women were chosen by God to look after their creation.Carlos Respeito  

It was May the 22nd when the Sunday school bible class of St Augustine’s of Hippo from Lotus River went on a camp. The camp was Organised by Green Anglicans with the purpose of teaching the children more about nature and the importance of taking care of our environment. The camp was in False Bay Ecology Park Environmental Centre which is in Zeekovlei/Rondovlei nature reserve, where there are still a few Hippos .  The Office organised the camp after Rev Mash saw they wonderful drama the Sunday School performed for her during Season of Creation. This was a great experience and a wonderful Camp, because we got to see that most of the kids were indeed aware of how to take care of our environment and they were keen on learning other new things. The Camp consisted of the walk to Rondevlei where we learnt more about the history of Hippos and what they do, We also learnt more on how to take care of our wet lands,  The team building where children learnt more on how important it is to look out for each other, The Devotions which included a few readings from the bible and the Story of Nature from Ryan The Rhino book, and the wonderful night walk which was a great experience because it also taught the kids on how they can depend on each other as they everybody was grouped in pairs. After the weekend I must say I learnt a lot from the wonderful Young hippos of St Augustine’s and their teacher. I would like to thank Anwar, Ricardo, John and Zoliswa the staff of the nature reserve for teaching our young people about the importance of nature and lastly let me thank the wonderful Sunday Teachers from St Augustine’s on their job of guiding the Sunday school and making them be aware of Nature.  Indeed after that weekend I can confidently say St Augustine’s has produced the Young Hippos (Jaden Berry, Jimmy Patrick, Jaden Messiah) to mention a few. Nature is one of God’s beautiful creations. Through nature, God is able to teach us, speak to us, and provide for us. For this reason we can find scripture that we as humans are called to protect all which is of He has created -Job 12: 7-10  

Rev Makhosini conducted a workshop and retreat for young people in the Diocese of Saldanha Bay. He shared life skills with the young people from a theme from the book of Matthew equipping the participants with ways of dealing with the challenges of growing up in the modern world.  He challenged young people on how to take care of themselves as young stewards of God. The workshop was attended by different Youth guilds (Anglican Youth Fellowship, Girls and Boys Friendly Society and Bernard Mizeki Men’s Guild) from five perishes in the archdeaconry of Bellville and Paarl. Green Anglicans was invited to share with the young people about care for creation and being a young Green Anglicans. The presentation started with a drama that portrayed God as an artist who gave his wonderful painting (the world) to humans with a command to take care of it. In the story humans destroy the painting by drawing factories, roads, building as well as replacing trees and grazing velds with landfills. A lot of talent and participation was shown by the youth that present. We  learnt so much from the participants and had an opportunity identify movers and shakers that could assist in spreading the ministry. We would like to thank Rev Maci for his brilliant role in teaching young people about life values and the importance of taking care of the creation.  All the best for the youth as they are starting their journey as Young Green Anglicans. Percy Matanda