ST KIARAN'S

CHRONICLE

February 2019
 As we feature Banners in this
issue our cover picture relates
to Martina de Wit's
interpretation in the magazine.
The only way to display it in
colour was to place it there.

New Year Resolutions for Every Year..

From Colossians 3

2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ...

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:...

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate

hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against

another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must
forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect
harmony.

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were
called in one body. And be thankful. ...

17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ...
 Dear family and friends at St Kiaran’s

It’s so wonderful to see life in the

church in full swing. The beginning of
2019 is full of things that are happening.
We’re very excited by the wonderful
kitchen renovation and how that is going
to make working in it a lot easier (and
fun?). A big thank you to Les and Jawn
as they have, not only managed the
process throughout, but travelled around
to shop for some of the important items
used for the upgrade, such as taps, sinks and the hot water
boiler. Also, they have had to come to the church at odd hours to
open and close the premises. We really do appreciate their
ongoing efforts.

In addition to that, and even more exciting, we welcomed Mr

Andrew Snyders to St Kiaran’s. For those who are not in the loop
yet, Andrew is with us to the end of June this year. He is
completing his Probation period with us and we hope that this will
be a time of further growth for both him and us. Please pray for
him as he works in our congregation during this period. Pray also
that his transition from being a Probationer to being called or
appointed to a congregation will be smooth.

It goes without saying that our own candidate for the

ministry, Herman Strydom, will also need our prayers and
encouragement as he goes through the various processes that
are part of seeking entrance to the ordained ministry in the
UPCSA. In case you haven’t heard, Herman and his fiancée,
Dawn Cowan, will be getting married on the Monday after Easter.
Exciting times indeed! Please pray for them as they journey
together towards full time ministry.

3 John 1:2 (the shortest book in the Bible) says: “Beloved,

I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be
in good health, just as it is well with your soul.” It was
customary in the first-century letters to begin with a little prayer.
John, the Apostle, prays here for Gaius (the original recipient of
the letter), that his affairs would prosper in the same way his soul
prospered. John obviously had a close relationship with Gaius. He was more
than just a dear friend and John wanted God’s best for him “just as it is
well with your soul.”
Some have mistaken these words to imply a promise from God. But it
is not. It is a prayer to God. One commentator quotes an author by the
name of Akin as having said: “What if such a prayer was made to God for
me and it was answered? What condition would I find myself in physically
and spiritually? Compare your bodily health to your spiritual health. Dare
we hope or pray for ourselves or others in this manner?”

My prayer for all of us is that it will be well with our souls as we

journey together towards Lent and Easter. Pray for each other that God will
move in our lives and help us in the work of sharing our faith with our
community.

With much love

Mike

Time, to quiet our souls??

Leisure
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
W.H.Davies
 MADE FOR GOD'S GLORY

The “Made for God's Glory” banner hangs on the wall on the
organ's side. It is near the exit door to the hall.

What first caught my eye was the splash of radiant colours, with
rays emanating from the shape of the cross.

God's glory and the singing of God's praises comes to mind.

Hebrews 1:3
The son is the radiance of God's glory
and the exact representation of his being

Revelation 4:8 – joining the creatures in heaven

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
who was, and is, and is to come

The coloured rays could be speaking of us. There is cheerful

orange, sunny yellow, pure white and shining silver.
John 15:8
This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit,
showing yourselves to be my disciples

I had to look twice at the cross on the banner. There is the shape
of the cross, but no cross! It is like a footprint on wet sea sand.
The walker has moved on. He was resurrected, and He ascended
to His Father.

The pots immediately remind me of our creation.

Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image,
in our likeness.”
So God created man in his own image;
male and female he created them.

Isaiah 64:8
Yet, O LORD you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Romans 9:21
The potter... makes... some pottery for noble purposes and
some for common use.

What joy it is to live for God's glory!

Martina de Wit

In creating this banner we were led by:

2 Corinthian's 4:7
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from
God and not from us.
The Banner Group in 1986-1990s

Bannermaking at St Kiaran's
In the later 1980s, in the time of the Renewal, an off-shoot,
world-wide, of the various changes which came into churches of
several denominations, was an interest in a new creative work –
the making and displaying of colourful banners which used
Scripture and other words or pictures for Christian
encouragement.
A few of us in St Kiaran's formed such a group – some might
remember Margaret Minnie and Rose Sheldon, who worked along
with Annica Muir and myself; the latter two the only ones still
standing!
Annica was the leader of the group which in a sense, became
a praying group, for, practically speaking, we only created
banners as we felt led by the Lord. One or two other banners
were made at a couple of church camps where others were
encouraged to try their hand.
About this time, in 1986 in fact, David and Linda van Duyker,
during his long leave, went to the UK on holiday. While there they
went to York especially to attend a series of workshops
related to the new things happening because of the Renewal.
This was at St Michael le Belfrey, an Anglican church next to York
Minster, and which was pastored by David Watson, a leading
figure in the Renewal.
Linda was interested in Drama, so one afternoon while she
was occupied with that and David, having no particular event at
that moment, found himself sitting unobtrusively at the back of
the hall, not really engaged in the subject being presented which
was Bannermaking. His attention was sparked though, leading to
a great interest which he brought back to us, even buying a
booklet which was to be very helpful in understanding the role of
particular colours when used in a banner.
All the smaller banners in St Kiaran's were made by our
group.
In recent times, Jill Stoll, working on her own, has made the
larger banners which we enjoy.
Mary Suter

St Kiaran's Family News

Death:
Dr George Paterson - long-standing member here, passed away
on 4 January 2019. Our sincere sympathy is extended to his son
Alex and his family.
Engagements:
It gives us great joy to record these
anouncements!! In December 2018 Erin Hudson
became engaged to James Shier. Then Herman
Strydom and Dawn Cowan gave us their happy
news. In January Marian van Duyker, daughter of
David, became engaged to Andries Becker.

The best love story is the one you write

together.
 The Preacher in the Orange Jump Suit
In 2001 we bought a beautiful house in Fish Hoek with Bay
window, lounge, kitchen, 2 bath rooms, 2 bed rooms, a TV room
and a huge study for me plus lots of ground for gardening. It
seemed too good to be true, as we did the exact opposite of
others in moving from a flat to a house, but we thought we
needed more and not less space in retirement.
This meant I had to travel by train to Rosebank. Here I
discovered something interesting. Initially, I travelled first class
as a person in my position should and I made some travelling
friends. However I discovered that travelling early at 10 minutes
to six, third class was much safer, cheaper and gave me great
pleasure. The working class people in third class were extremely
friendly and adopted me quickly in their gang. They were going
to work and handed out funny stories, sweets, laughter and
backchat to all and sundry. They soon found out I was a doctor,
so they wanted me to: ”Give these women pills for menopause.”
They said they would protect me and welcomed me back
when I had been on leave with more sweets. When there was a
delay and the train stopped in the middle of
nowhere, they sang hymns and stamped their
feet while trying to sway the coach. Often an
inspired preacher in an orange jump suit
joined the carriage in Retreat and we were
exposed to Afrikaans preaching with rolling
sentences like: “Julle is losban....dig” and
“Moses lei die Israelite uit Egypte...land.” It
was great fun! Sometime later going home I
met the preacher in the orange jump suit as
an ordinary traveller, he seemed a nice chap and I started talking
to him. He said that was employed by the City Council of Cape
Town and soon would have enough money to buy a second-hand
car.
And then he said something interesting : “I love Jesus and I
love telling people about him”, his eyes sparkled: he meant it!
Arie de Koning
 Another Great Christian – Susanna Wesley
When Susanna Annesley, the 25th (!!!) child of Dr. Annesley,
was born to his second wife there probably was not much
discussion about her or her future. Little could the family dream
that she would become the mother of John and Charles Wesley,
the founders of worldwide Methodism. Susanna was an "old lady
of 19" (almost a late marriage in those days) when she became
the wife of Samuel Wesley, an Anglican minister.
The Wesley family traced their lineage to the 10th century,
but ancestry did little to help the problems of their forty-four year
marriage. They suffered illness, disease, poverty, and the death
of children. Fire twice destroyed their home. But through it all
Susanna accepted the will of God and placed herself and her
family in His hands.
Susanna bore between seventeen and nineteen children; ten
survived. The frequent absences of her husband on church
business left the management of the household in her hands.
Through it all she remained a steadfast Christian who taught not
only through the Scriptures, but through her own example of
daily trust in God. She once wrote: “We must know God
experientially for unless the heart perceive and know Him to be
to be the supreme good, her only happiness, unless the soul feel
and acknowledge that she can have no repose, no peace, no joy,
but in loving and being loved by Him.”
The children were raised strictly. They were taught to cry
softly, to eat what was put before
them, and not to raise their voices or
play noisily. Physical punishment was
used, but confession of faults could
avoid it. All but one of the children
learned to read from the age of five,
including the girls. (Susanna made it a
rule for herself to spend an hour a day
with each of the children over the
period of a week.) After the fire of
1709 family discipline broke down, but
Susanna managed to restore it later.
A Wesley Home She paid special attention to John, who
was almost lost in the fire. He referred to himself as "a brand
plucked from the burning fire," and his mother said that she
intended to be more particularly careful of the soul of this child
“that Thou hast so mercifully provided for, than ever I have
been, that I may do my endeavors to instill into his mind the
disciplines of Thy true religion and virtue.”
It is said that at the age of six or seven John thought he
would never marry "because I could never find such a woman as
my father had." After Samuel Wesley died in 1735, Susanna lived
with her children, especially, in her last year, with John. She died
on July 23, 1742 and was buried in London's Bunhill Fields, where
John Bunyan and Isaac Watts are also buried.
 Feeding The 50!

About 12 years ago a member of our congregation, Val

Ruger, was troubled by the plight of the poor and
underprivileged living in Mountain View (next to Ocean View.)
Some of them she knew personally from the days when St
Kiaran's ran a youth upliftment program in Mountain View, which
was unfortunately later discontinued.

She approached Spar in Valyland and they promised to set

aside their 'wastage' i.e. food which had reached the sell-by date,
on Tuesdays.

Recently I joined Val to see if I could be of assistance and

what an eye-opener it turned out to be!!!

Val uses her 'previously-loved' Toyota to fetch from 5 to 7

large bags of stale rolls, wilted veggies, misshapen meat pies and
other battered pieces of produce. After picking me up in Sun
Valley we drove to the Pick and Pay underground parking area to
find a spot in a deserted corner. Val sets out 6 sturdy cardboard
boxes on the ground and proceeds to haul the heavy bags out of
the boot and off the back seat of the car. She then meticulously
tries to distribute the foodstuffs fairly between the various boxes.
When the job is done, a few drops of handsanitizer is applied to
grubby hands to restore them to sanity and we are good to go!

The first stop is Stuart, who does his begging at the traffic
lights between the Mall and Virgin Active. Next it's the
dreadlocked young man at the King of Kings traffic lights. After
that we bless David, the 'hand waving' gentleman at the side of
the road near the old Compass bakery. When we arrive in
Mountain View, children and dogs come running to say hello and
to hungrily eye the offerings.

Val knows each member of the households that she visits

and enquires after each one and regularly prays for them.

Her eagle eye spotted a little boy sitting in a corner one day
and thanks to her efforts Aiden is back in school again after
dropping out for years due to a drug addicted mother. (Now
thankfully drug-free!)

I would like to urge all of our church members to accompany

Val at least once to see first-hand how our unemployed brothers
and sisters live just up the road. It is so easy to become
complacent and blissfully ignorant of the great need right on our
doorstep.
Miranda Moisey

In CONVERSATION WITH …………

Sandy Crews
I had a delightful conversation with Sandy Crews, one of our
new members, and enjoyed a wee cup of tea with her at her
home recently in Peers Hill. She joined our church in 2017 and
since then has become an active member of our Women’s
Fellowship and regularly assists our Church Secretary Lesley with
the Bible readings, which was not surprising when I learned that
she was a fully qualified Librarian.

Sandy was born in Durban but moved

to Bloemfontein in 1961. She eventually
became a farmer’s wife, when, with her late
husband, they purchased a farm in that area
in 1968 and farmed the land up to 2001.
Sadly her husband passed away in 2009.
Sandy has 4 children (2 boys & 2 girls) who
have provided her with 6 grandchildren, all
girls.

Sandy was full of praise for our local

library, it is streets ahead of the libraries up
country. She no longer visits our local
Bookworm as our local library provides all her needs. She is now
assisting at times by reading to grade 3 pupils when required.
 Sandy’s other activities include yoga and she
belongs to a local hiking group. She saved the best for last when
she informed me of her Scottish dancing activities. Well done
lass, you really made my day!
John McDermid

A Bit of History!!
How Long and How Wide?

Foot: Probably the most common story of government

setting standards of measurement is the story of King Henry I
who ruled England from 1100 to 1135. He was responsible for
the law that the foot was to be as long as a person's own foot.
This was one of the first times a standard unit of measurement
was put into place. In ancient times, the foot was 11 1/2 inches.
Today it is 12 inches, the length of the average man's foot.

Inch: At first an inch was the width of a man's thumb. In

the 14th century, King Edward II of England
ruled that 1 inch equalled 3 grains of barley
placed end to end lengthwise!
Hand: A hand was approximately 5
inches or 5 digits (fingers) across. Today, a
hand is 4 inches and is used to measure
horses (from the ground to the horse's
withers, or shoulder).
Span: A span was the length of the
hand stretched out, about 9 inches.
Yard: A yard was originally the length of a
man's belt or girdle, as it was called. In the
12th century, King Henry I of England fixed the
yard as the distance from his nose to the thumb
of his out-stretched arm. Today it is 36 inches.
St Kiaran's Presbyterian Church
Cnr. Central Circle and Recreation Road
P.O.Box 22146, Fish Hoek, 7974
Phone: 021 782 6118

Minister: Rev. Mike Muller

All are welcome at our

Regular Sunday Services
Sunday Worship Services at 9.30a.m. & 6p.m.
Holy Communion is served on the
1st Sunday of the month at both services

CHURCH PRAYER MEETINGS

• Tuesdays: 11.45 a.m. in the Craig

Room
• Prayer is offered after services for
healing or other needs, by members of
our Prayer Ministry
• Prayers with our young people: as
arranged .... or whenever you wish to
arrange times with fellow Christians.