3,500 Word Essay

Yesterday I embarked upon an essay of 3,500 words for a premier magazine in the USA. It seemed like an impossible task when I began. But I have completed it less than two days later. Here is ChatGPT's assessment: an overall 87%. OBSERVATION: The subject is religious lobbying in the USA.

AIDS in 1994-2004

Here is something little-known about my city ministry -- and this may be the first time that I blog about it. I began in city ministry at precisely that time that AIDS exploded on the scene in South Africa, in 1994 -- and I was there when Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) first became widely available, in 2004. Few people know this, because I kept people's HIV and AIDS status confidential -- however I was involved with many people, both inside and outside the Church, who were not only HIV positive, but suffered from AIDS. This included many churchgoers, and some members. Many of them died. OBSERVATION: They all stay in my memory. I needed to deal with the HIV and AIDS status of children in the Church, too -- which I also kept private.

Large Donations

I get a little edgy when anyone talks about a large donation to the Church -- particularly when a name is revealed, or if someone should say: "If it hadn't been for that donation ..." A Church is neither rescued nor upheld by windfalls. It is upheld by Jehovah Jireh, who is the Giver behind the giver -- and it is upheld by faithful, God-fearing tithing. And then, I know as a minister that some people give small amounts which may be all that they have, and this is touching. Then I feel so bad if anyone highlights a large amount in itself -- although the Church is grateful for large amounts. OBSERVATION: These things might seem obvious, but all too often they are not.

Silverleaf Decline

This photo dates back to 1974 -- cleaned up with Gemini AI -- the original was very fuzzy. It is me, on top of Table Mountain. But there is something quite striking in this photo. Behind my left shoulder, one sees a large silverleaf forest. Today, that is almost all gone. The range of silverleaf forests has shrunk by three-quarters since records began.

Priorities for Ministry

Getting back from my leave one year, and plunging into work, I wondered at the end of my first day, "Where did my time go?" I asked myself therefore, "What strategic importance should I assign to the various areas of ministry this year?" Here was my answer -- with some qualifications below:

HIGH IMPORTANCE:

• Preaching
• Ministry by members
• Evangelism
• Elders' and deacons' meetings
• Crisis intervention
• Counselling congregants
• Church order
• The spiritual education of the congregation

MEDIUM IMPORTANCE:

• Church groups
• Conducting Bible studies
• Church staff
• Office-bearer recruitment
• Membership applications
• Police matters
• Our Associate Church
• The Church programme
• A ministry journal
• Personal relations within the Church
• Reporting to the congregation

LOW IMPORTANCE:

• Finances
• Property
• Missions
• Charity
• Routine visitation
• Social events
• Administration
• Advertising
• Counselling non-congregants
• The community
• Correspondence
• Paperwork
• References and referrals
• Church strategy 

OBSERVATION: The above does not, however, reflect the absolute importance of each item. For instance, finance was vital, but was not my department. For instance, missions was fundamental, but not urgent as a daily priority. This list did not include my personal priorities.

West German Bridge

I took this photo of my father in 1974, at the West-East German border. The East Germans had dismantled all the bridges from the border to the East, while the West Germans had maintained them from the border to the West. The sign says -- as did all the signs -- HALT HIER ZONENGRENZE. OBSERVATION: It looks as though I was just inside East Germany here.

Student Communication System

I now completed an entire Semester of lectures -- 40-50 90-minute lectures -- using my own-design WhatsApp system to communicate with distance students. The challenge: my computer was not compatible with the Seminary's 360-degree video conference system, KanDao Meeting Pro. I therefore connected with distance students via WhatsApp Scheduled Calls, and amplified the calls. This meant that the whole class -- distance students and those present in person -- could hear one another. It meant also that distance students and lecturer could see one another. However, distance students could not see the class and vice versa. Everyone reported that the system worked well -- and it is in fact due to be published soon. OBSERVATION: There was one downside. WhatsApp audio quality is not good -- at least in South Africa -- and amplified sound could be unclear.

Vote EFF

Since October, I wrote 10 articles or article proposals (pitches). I took a photo to show a list of them to one of my correspondents -- who took the liberty of altering the photograph. OBSERVATION: The EFF are a Marxist-Leninist and Black nationalist political party in South Africa. They obtained over 6% of the vote in this month's elections.

Democratic Grading

In my Homiletics class at Seminary, there was some demurral over the low grades I gave for Sermon Delivery -- curiously all of them distinctions. I said to the class, If I give you higher grades, the principal will haul me over the coals for awarding extravagant grades! I decided, though, to open up the grades to democratic decision. By democratic decision, the class raised them all! OBSERVATION: Each grade broke down into 12 categories, so that they were all well grounded.

South African Elections

South Africa held "mid-term elections" yesterday, and the results are still coming in (less than 50% complete at the time of writing). I claimed that I loved all our politicians equally, so that I found no reason to discriminate and vote for any ones in particular. Wife E, however, claims that if she had collected one cent for every unkind word I had said about South African politicians, she would be rich. OBSERVATION: For an event of such import, there seems to have been comparatively little media coverage. I took this photo after the last elections.