Posts from April 2018

Wait patiently for the Lord

Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.(Ps. 27:14)
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12)

“Wait patiently for the Lord”: It is a recurring theme in the psalms, as for example in Psalm 27 quoted above. It reminds me of moral stories, that we tell children to teach them that honesty will eventually be rewarded, although that may take long. But how long? At what point will we conclude that perhaps God’s plans are different, and opt for second-best? Will our hearts become sick by the deferred hope, as explained in Proverbs 13:12? How will we find the promised life?

Charitable Givings Update

This was submitted by Sheila Kooijman I want to thank you and through you Holy Trinity Church for your unwavering and faithful support to the school feeding program. Our estimates are that it costs USD 5 to feed a child for a year, your donations last year helped to feed 220 children, who got breakfast every single day they went to school. The donations from Holy Trinity Church were a life line. Last year we…

Mothers’ Union at UNCSW62

This article was submitted by Judy Miller  The 62nd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) takes place between March 12th and 23rd and for the second year running Mother’s Union will be sending a delegation of members and staff to attend. The theme for this year is “facing the challenge of empowering rural women and girls”. As an organisation with around 4 million members, many of whom are rural women themselves, our…

Christian Classics Study Group – The Epistle of Barnabas – Friday 13 April

Dear Friends in Christ: As mentioned at our last Christian Classics, this Friday the 13th of April we will be led, by the Rev Dr Jos Strengholt, through the very early anonymous Christian writing – The Epistle of Barnabas.  Though we don’t know for sure who wrote The Epistle of Barnabas, this work has been ascribed to Clement of Alexandria in Egypt.  It is generally thought to have been written sometime between 70 and 150 AD.  The Epistle reflects on the Old Testament practices…

Chaplain’s Letter

In the forty days before Easter, we remember when Jesus, just after his baptism, was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, to fast and to pray, but also to be subjected to temptation by the devil. Jesus resisted the devil’s beguiling offers, parrying each with robust and apt responses from Scripture. Jesus passed the test. In the original Greek, the word πειρασμός can be translated as ‘temptation’, but also as ‘test’ or ‘trial’,…

My relationship with God

Written in response to an invitation in the #LiveLent 2018 app, where it said: “Make some time to write down the story of your relationship with God, how it began, how it has grown, what it means today”.

Can we have a relationship with God? What would, or could, be the nature of that relationship? Is anything like an equal balance and mutual respect possible? When I read the invitation in the Live Lent app, I was immediately enthusiastic to reflect on my own relationship with God, which has not always been easy, but still fills me with gratitude, awe and love.