Second Sunday after Epiphany – 19 January 2025
Psalm 36:5-10 · Isaiah 62:1-5 · 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 · John 2:1-11
Coming Events to Diarise:
Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting – 8 February 2025
Pastoral Conference: 20-23 March 2025
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings to all of you in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
As we start 2025, I thought I will reflect on the previous year. As you may know, we held SEP at Aruka in December. The highlight of SEP was the gala dinner at which we announced the Youth Ministries of the Year 2024. When we reviewed the entries for the awards, I was impressed by the amount of engagement our youth are having in their local churches. Some of the energy of the youth ministries needs to filter into the whole church. Here are the awards which were announced:
Hope Avenue Ministry of the Year 2024
Winner: GCI Polokwane
Runner-up: GCI Maelula
Faith Avenue Ministry of the Year 2024
Winner: GCI Bloemfontein
Runner-up: GCI Mohlakeng
Love Avenue Ministry of the Year 2024
Winner: GCI Aruka
Runner-up: GCI Johannesburg
Overall Youth Ministry of the Year 2024
Winner: GCI Johannesburg
Runner-up: GCI Redhill
Emerging Youth Leader of the Year 2024
Winner: Karabo Mapalakanye (GCI Mohlakeng)
Runner-up: Oratile Lelaka (GCI Solid Rock)
Our income has also ended the year at 6% above 2023 income, with eight congregations exceeding their budgeted income. Thank you very much to everyone for your generous offerings.
Last year also had the highest number of baptisms over the last five years. We finished the year on 30 baptisms. That’s equivalent to a whole new congregation.
My prayer for this week is that 2025 may bring more exciting developments as we continue to grow into healthier churches that are living and sharing the gospel through the ministry avenues of faith, hope and love. Amen
PRAYER REQUESTS:
Bereavements: Please pray for all the families in our fellowship that have experienced deaths in the last two weeks, and let’s not neglect to mourn with those that are mourning.
Building Fund: Please continue to pray for our building fund and other financial needs of the church in 2025.
Have a blessed weekend!
Shalom!
Takalani
___________________________
REPEAT ANNOUNCEMNTS NOT TO BE READ IN CHURCH SERVICES
NATIONAL BUILDING FUND NOW OVER R1.2 MILLION
The National Building Fund has now passed R1.2 million. The balances for the various congregation are as follows as at the end of December 2024:

Please support your congregation’s Building Fund by contributing additional offerings monthly or once off to the dedicated bank account as follows:
· Bank: First National Bank (FNB)
· Name: GCI Building Fund
· Account No: 6304 180 7835
· Deposit Reference: Name and Surname
You can also fundraise as a group or alone. You may have items that you no longer need or use which you can pawn and donate the funds, or approach friends and family who may be able to donate to the fund. If you need a letter to request donations please feel free to contact me.
Monthly Day of Prayer and Fasting –Saturday 8 February 2025 (2nd Saturday of the Month)
Our next Day of Prayer and Fasting is on Saturday 8 February 2025. Please see the dates for the rest of the year below, and diarise accordingly.
Please find some video links on Prayer and Fasting if you want to know more. Here are the links:
1. Fasting- The Forgotten Spiritual Discipline – https://youtu.be/7MgrVj_w9sY
2. Fasting Questions and Answers 1 – https://youtu.be/Mkk3U2KvPHg
3. Fasting Questions and Answers 2 – https://youtu.be/CghD-uxBbFk
4. Fasting Question and Answer #3 – https://youtu.be/ajKaWRgreLw (Question #3: How should I fast? Are there different types of fasts?)
Future Days of Prayer and Fasting:
· February 8
· March 8
· April 12
· May 10
· June 14
· Jul 12
· August 9
· September 13
· October 11
· November 8
· December 13
December 2024 ISSUE OF FACE TO FACE PUBLISHED
Our December 2024 issue of the online Face To Face magazine has been published. Please find it here: Face To Face
The Invisible God became visible
Online Bi-Weekly Bible Study
Bible Study resumes on 22 January 2025
Please diarise and join the biweekly Online Bible study every second Wednesday at 19:00. The current series is: The Book of Acts.
To connect to the biweekly Bible Study, here are the details: Click
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89054374373?pwd=NFZVaFJjVGxqQjc5K0YyeWEzVVZMUT09
OR enter the details below to join the meeting:
Meeting ID: 890 5437 4373
Passcode: GCI2021
Time: 19:00
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