Ncumisa

On World Environment Day, 5th of June 2015  the Anglican Youth Fellowship of the Diocese of Mbashe hosted an environmental workshop in pursue of their aim to be “young green Anglicans”. The theme for the weekend was “Let’s go Green and save the nation”, in that spirit they launched a garden and implemented a few activities that would take place in their respective archdeaconries to kick start the care for creation program. The conference was blessed by the presence of the Diocesan Youth Chaplain Revd. Luzuko Doda, Diocesan Dean- the Very Revd. Mluleki Fikizolo. The Green Anglicans team Lwandile Malakhiwe Bada & Ncumisa Magadla came to All Saints Cathedral assisting the young people on practical ways of achieving this goal.  

INTERDIOCESAN GREEN CARNIVAL The three Dioceses of the Western Cape held their first ever Green Carnival to celebrate World Environment Day on the  5th of June. The theme for the day was recycling and it was a day of great fun and excitement! Our two Very Important Persons for the day  were Bishop Margaret of False Bay and the Tin Man ! Bishop Margaret, wearing green pants and a flowery sweater inspired the youth to make a difference and the Tin man entertained us all and inspired us to Collect a Can! Music was led by Jazzinco and the wonderful musicians of Church of the Reconciliation Manenberg. There were stalls explaining the importance of recycling and wonderful crafts from the Khayelitsha craft market which showed how to make a living from crafts such as beads made from old magazines, ornaments made from old tin cans. We were inspired by Sedrico Husselman who started with an fun ice breaker which showed how we can all be leaders not just followers. He then challenged the young people by talking about the need for us to follow God by caring for Creation and explained some of the new technologies that are making a difference. Various youth groups had wonderful eats for sale, from the ASF, Diocesan Youth Council, Church of the Resurrection, St Michaels,  and the smaller members had fun on  the bouncy castle. And the moment we had all been waiting for – the Green Talent competition! The talents were quite impressive, from the little children of St Michaels Sunday school, the beautiful dance of St Marks District Six. Music was inspirational from St Dominic’s and from Kraaifontein. The competition was tight but the winners were the St Michaels who walked away with great excitement with the Green Carnival Trophy.. A huge thankyou to our wonderful MC, Barry who made us laugh and wowed us with his incredible voice! Rev Renee August inspired us to Care for God’s creation and to love the world as God does.. So we are left with one question…who will gain the trophy next year!!!

DIOCESE OF LEBOMBO – SUNDAY SCHOOL CHILDREN LEARNING TO CARE FOR CREATION   Diocese of Lebombo, Mozambique: Sunday School Teacher are engaged in teaching children how to care for creation. The Parish of St. Stephen and Lawrence ( Diocese of Lebombo) had their workshop on “how to care about the creation” by:   1- Saving water 2- Planting Trees, small plants and flowers 3- Recycle, Reduce, Reuse   The above topics were accompanied by practical activities:   a)  They had Gymnastics to warm-up since it was a cold morning b) Children watched a 5 min movie on “if all trees disappear, all things die” c) They did research… children were separated in three groups: one group to find cans another group for glass and the third group for paper and plastics. They all won because the managed to put the garden clean.   Children also identified things that are not good in the parish garden:   – The way the waste is kept – Trees are getting dry – Erosion is taking part of the garden land   Two Children from the group were chosen to take notes of the findings and they have a proposal which will be sent to the parish council.   The last activity of the day was gardening. We now have a little Sunday school garden. Children have planted some palm trees which they say will be used during the next year palm Sunday. They also planted different kind of flowers seeds. They are anxious to see the results in a few months.

  We would like to share with you some materials for World Environment Day. You might like to use them on Sun 7th of June or for your youth service later in the month There is a drama and some prayers. Follow this link: Youth Materials for World Environment Day  

The Confirmation candidates of two of South Africa’s best known Anglican schools – Bishops and St Cyprians gathered at Mizpah centre for their confirmation retreat. In this beautiful setting they learned about their faith and creation. They started the morning with a quiet reflective space and built their own prayer labyrinths. Then they had a workshop with Rev Rachel Mash, Environmental Coordinator, who challenged them to think about the challenges of Caring for Creation. The fifth mark of Anglican Mission is to sustain creation, and we as humans have done a bad job so far! They did a bible study in small groups looking and the story of the Fall in Genesis and its consequences. We then looked at what a holistic understanding of salvation would mean for our lives. The learners then used their creative talents to prepare short dramas on the themes of climate change, litter, and water. A lot of fun was had by all, and they were able to educate the late comers who arrived from sports just in time to watch the dramas..!!