Weekly Update 18 July 2025

by Takalani Musekwa | Jul 18, 2025 | News

6^th Sunday after Pentecost – 20 July 2025

Psalm 52:1-9 • Amos 8:1-12 • Colossians 1:15-28 • Luke 10:38-42

Coming Events to Diarise:

Monthly Day of Prayer & Fasting – 9 August 2025

National Women’s Retreat 2025 – 8 – 10 August 2025

Regional Leadership Conference – 5 – 7 December 2025

SEP 2025 – 13 – 20 December 2025

Denominational Conference 2026 – 23-26 July 2026, Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre, Dallas, Texas, USA.

**Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,**

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!

I am sending you this update from Foulpointe, Madagascar, where Margaret and I spent the week at a family retreat with the brothers and sisters in Madagascar. We pass their greetings to you. It was great to experience not just the warmth of the brethren here, but also the warm weather and rain in this coastal town with beautiful beaches. We will be arriving back in South Africa on Sunday afternoon.

As I witnessed the role of women this week during the retreat, it became very clear that women carry a disproportionate share of ministry in the church. Despite this reality, there is still only a small number of women taking ministry leadership roles. It was such a joy for me to participate in the commissioning of three young women to ministry leadership roles.

One of the texts for this week reminds us of this reality. In Luke 10 we are told that when Jesus visited Mary and Martha’s house, Mary “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word” (v39). Sitting at somebody’s feet was an expression used to describe being a disciple or student of someone. In Acts 22:3, Paul describes himself as having been brought up “at the feet of Gamaliel”, meaning that he was a student or disciple of Gamaliel.

Today we don’t see how radical this story is. In those days, women “belonged in the kitchen”. Rabbis did not have female students. Luke, however, adds this story because as he does throughout the gospel of Luke, he shows how Jesus challenged discriminatory social norms of the day. When Martha complained to Jesus about Mary not being in the kitchen with her, Jesus commended Mary for doing what many women and girls would not do. Jesus was saying it is okay for girls and women to leave the kitchen and learn at the master’s feet.

This story is not about comparing kitchen duties with learning. It is about opening the door for women to become disciples, and not be restricted to the kitchen. Perhaps Jesus was telling his disciples to go relieve Martha in the kitchen, so that she too can come and learn from him. The challenge to us in this story is two-fold: will the men get into the kitchen and allow the women to also participate fully in ministry, and will the women take opportunities for ministry, and not be stuck in the kitchen?

My prayer for this week is that we may be a church that supports women like Mary, and also relieve women like Martha from the kitchen, and allow them to also participate in the Hope, Faith and Love ministry avenues of the church. Amen!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Sick Brethren: Please continue to pray for the brethren who are suffering from various sicknesses.

Offerings: Please continue to pray for the offerings and needs of the church in 2025. Our income in the first six months was 8.3% below budget.

Have a blessed weekend!
Shalom!

Takalani

___________________________

Regional Leadership Conference – 5 – 7 December 2025

We are pleased to announce a Special Regional Leadership Conference taking place from 5 to 7 December 2025 at Aruka.

GCI President, Dr. Greg Williams, and his wife Susan will be joining us as the special guests, along with the Superintendent for Africa, Pastor Kalengule Kaoma and all Africa Regional Directors.

A special worship service is scheduled for Sunday, 7 December, and all members are warmly invited to attend. Please watch out for more details soon.

NATIONAL WOMEN’S RETEAT 2025 – 8 – 10 AUGUST 2025

Registration for the Women’s Retreat is full. The women who have registered are requested to settle the balances remaining.

SPIRITUAL EQUIPPING PROGRAM (SEP) 2025 – Applications Open

Applications for SEP 2025 are open. The closing date for applications is 21 September 2025. A non-refundable deposit of R600 is payable by 30 September 2025. The balance is payable by 31 October.

Please read the terms and conditions on the application form. The application form must be completed online by computer or mobile phone. To access the application forms click below:

Camper Application Form 2025 (13-18 years)

Vacation Bible School Form (9-12 Years)

Staff Application Form

REPEAT ANNOUNCEMNTS NOT TO BE READ IN CHURCH SERVICES

NATIONAL BUILDING FUND NOW OVER R1.3 MILLION

The National Building Fund has now passed R1.3 million. The balances for the various congregation are as follows as at the end of April 2025:

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 9 August 2025 (2nd Saturday of the Month)

Our next Day of Prayer and Fasting is on Saturday 9 August 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:

· August 9

· September 13

· October 11

· November 8

· December 13

March 2025 ISSUE OF FACE TO FACE PUBLISHED

Our March 2025 issue of the online Face To Face magazine has been published. Please find it here: Face To Face

Use the gifts we have been given

Messenger of God

The Art of Godly Restoration

Online Bi-Weekly Bible Study

Next Bible Study on 23 July 2025

Please diarise and join the biweekly Online Bible study every second Wednesday at 19:00. The current series is: The Book of Proverbs.

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

OFFERINGS: (should Christians pay a tithe?)

Even though some churches are not able to meet, we urge you to continue to give your weekly Thanksgiving offering that you would normally give during church services. The bank details for EFT and Cash deposits are below:

The Banking details for both the weekly Thanksgiving Offerings and the monthly Freewill Offerings are as follows:

EFT PAYMENTS

GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL-S.A –

Account No: 593 800 27523 – FNB Current Account Number

Ref. NameSurname Church

Please reference your offering so that we can send a receipt.

CASH PAYMENTS