7th Sunday after Pentecost – 27 July 2025
Psalm 85:1–13 • Hosea 1:2–10 • Colossians 2:6–19 • Luke 11:1–13
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.
Celebrations
1. Heber Ticas was commissioned as Vice President of GCI in June. You can read about it here.
2. Sidwell Maringa of GCI Pretoria has completed the ACCM Diploma in Christian Ministry. Congratulations to him on this achievement.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord!
Margaret and I travelled safely back from Madagascar. We arrived home on Sunday evening. We bring you greetings from the loving, hospitable and friendly Malagasy brethren.
In the gospel text for this week of Luke 11:1–13, we see something amazing and beautiful. We see Jesus, the Son of God, praying. His disciples noticed this and said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” If Jesus needed to pray so often, how much more do we?
Prayer is not just a religious activity; it’s how we stay close to God. And Jesus doesn’t only teach us what to pray (the Lord’s Prayer), He also teaches us how to pray, namely, with boldness, persistence, and trust. He tells a parable of a man who knocks on his friend’s door at midnight asking for bread. Though it’s inconvenient, the friend eventually gets up and helps him, not because of friendship, but because of the man’s persistence.
Jesus is teaching us that God welcomes persistent prayer. When we come to Him again and again, we’re not annoying Him. We’re honouring Him as our Provider. He tells us, “Ask… seek… knock.” These are not one-time actions. They are ongoing. God is not like the sleepy friend who has to be hounded out of bed. We don’t have to beg or twist God’s arm to hear us, but Jesus still wants us to come with that kind of relentless prayer life.
My prayer for this week is that we may all be a praying people just like Jesus, never stopping to knock, knowing that our Father loves to give good gifts to His children, including the greatest gift of all, the Holy Spirit. 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
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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)
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
JUNE 2025 ISSUE OF FACE TO FACE PUBLISHED
Our June 2025 issue of the online Face To Face magazine has been published. Please find it here: Face To Face
Online Bi-Weekly Bible Study
Next Bible Study on 6 August 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
GRACE COMMUNION INTERNATIONAL-S.A –
FNB Account No: 74451599946
Account Type: 32 Day Notice account
Ref. NameSurname Church
Please reference your offering so that we can send a receipt.