Volume 19, Issue 03
St. Augustine Evangelical Bible Church, Cor. Agostini & Bellesmythe Sts. Curepe
Editorial
Revival of Area Group Meetings in 2023
To promote fellowship and outreach, we will be reviving our monthly Area Group meetings. The program will be launched in Church on the evening of Sunday 26th March and meetings in homes will be from 7:00 to 8:30 pm on the last Sunday of each month.
If you were missing our Area Group meetings because you had enjoyed them…this is for you.
If you missed out on previous Area Group meetings because you did not attend…this is for you
During 2022 a survey was done and members indicated that they would like to see Area Groups revived but ONLY if they could be held live because the online sessions did not adequately meet the need for interactive fellowship. Now that the Covid-19 situation permits the resumption of group activities, the time is right for reviving the Area Groups that once involved 6 to 8 groups and 70+ individuals.The Groups give us opportunities to meet one another in informal settings where hospitality, fellowship and love can be displayed/experienced and relationships grow. OF COURSE, this is all in keeping with our theme for 2023, “Grounded and Growing in Love”. These Area Groups will provide the roots we all need to be grounded and to grow in love.
The revived groups will operate a bit differently from our previous Area Groups:
They will continue to encourage and welcome participation by all/any SAEBC members.
BUT, there will be a greater emphasis on inviting/involving our friends, relatives and neighbours.
Any home that is willing to host an Area Group will be encouraged and assisted to do so.
A Spanish-speaking Area Group will be held in the Church building.
Groups will be provided with materials and guidelines for effective operation.
Group leaders will be appointed and will meet quarterly for prayer, review and improvement.
The Pastors and Elders will be free to visit any of the Groups.
A Typical Area Group Meeting
Opening (10 minutes): Welcome, Prayer and Worship
Ice Breaker (10 minutes): An activity or discussion that leads into the night’s topic
Bible Study (40 minutes): Scripture portions from 1 & 2 Peter will be studied
Closing (10 minutes): Sharing and Prayer
Refreshments (20 minutes): Fellowship time
We look forward to seeing you at the Area Group Launch (7:00 pm in Church on March 26th) and at one of the Area Groups on the last Sunday of each month (commencing April 30th)
Missions
Streams of Prayer
Wycliffe Global Alliance | February 19-25, 2023
Training
Many people with different areas of expertise are needed in order to translate the Bible in a way that is clear, accurate and natural. The skills are so important that many Alliance organisations regularly offer courses in topics relevant to Bible translation programmes, sometimes in cooperation with other organisations. Training in Bible translation roles is therefore one of the seven Participation Streams.
The current theme for Streams of Prayer is Training. We will pray for those who are teaching, the students, and the organisations and institutions that host these training programmes. We will ask God to provide instructors, administrative staff, finances and equipment for the programmes and workshops. We will pray that through this provision the people who staff translation programmes will be equipped in the many disciplines required to finish Bible translations well.
Embedding Bible translation instruction in training centres and seminaries: Latin America
Over 30 mission leaders representing 16 organisations and/or denominations participated in an event held at the Baptist Seminary in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 10-13, 2022, to discuss the theme of language and translation in the mission of God. Several participants commented about the event:
"It was a game changer in doing missions."
"It was a defining moment in my life and ministry."
"Receiving the available content and interacting with brothers and sisters of such capacity for the fulfilment of God's mission deeply impacted my life."
"As an indigenous person I felt valued and challenged by the themes presented, and I saw the appreciation of those involved to make things easier for us. It was precious and very positive for me as an indigenous missionary."
Cintia, a Deaf translator who participated in the event, plans to share the material presented with Deaf colleagues in the Brazilian Sign Language translation project. Pray that God will help all participants to incorporate what they have learned into their own contexts. Pray for wisdom as mission leaders meet in the coming days to define the next steps and ways to collaborate to include Bible translation as part of the study plans in the training centres and seminaries in Latin America.
Partnership that helps equip students: South Africa
Wycliffe South Africa has many interns that are pursuing their studies, thanks to the funding they receive from Seed Company. Thank God for this partnership. Pray for good insight for these students and that they will have success in their studies and their mentoring relationships. Pray that as they learn, they will grow in their knowledge and ability and thus their participation and contribution in the various aspects of Bible translation. Wycliffe South Africa also has a number of Oral Bible Translation projects. A “train-the-trainer” course supported by Faith Comes by Hearing is planned for March. This training is aimed at building the capacity of the participants in this area. Please pray that all planning for and roll out of the training will go well. Pray that the participants will have an open mind to understand all the technical aspects of the lessons that will be given to them.
Psalms translation course: The Netherlands, Chad
Wycliffe Netherlands partners with SIL Chad to offer workshops for Chadian partners and local language associations in various topics related to linguistics and translation. Praise God that In 2022, 172 Chadians representing 41 different language communities took part in these trainings! In mid-January 2023 a two-week training workshop was held to help translators understand Hebrew poetry, especially for translating the Psalms. They studied:
Songs in local Chadian languages to see what literary techniques they use to make the songs poetic
Literary techniques used by the Hebrew poets in the Psalms such as parallelism, rhyme, alliteration and word pairs
The different words used in the Psalms to refer to praise and worship, the characteristics of God, and God’s law so they could find equivalent words in their languages.
Participants also translated six Psalms into their own languages and each composed a song based on the Psalms they translated. Praise God that workshops such as this can be held because of the partnership between Wycliffe Netherlands and SIL Chad. Pray that everyone who was involved will be inspired by the beauty of the poetry in the book of Psalms and be able to translate them into their languages in an equally beautiful way!
JESUS Film trainings: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore
Wycliffe Malaysia, in partnership with the JESUS Film Project, trained translation facilitators from Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to translate the JESUS Film into their languages. After the training, four new JESUSFilm projects were launched in the Kenyah, Semelai, Jakun, and Tekun* languages. This group learning experience was a reminder of the unity and diversity of the body of believers as expressed in 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” The participants and trainers give glory to God for the opportunity to participate in this training together in order to begin work on translating the JESUS Film. Pray for more opportunities like this for collaboration in training among partner organisations. Ask the Lord to keep this same excitement and momentum going for many other translation projects in the region, to make God’s Word accessible in the heart languages of more people groups.
*pseudonym
Capacity building to increase impact: South Asia
Praise God with an Alliance organisation in South Asia for the opportunity to serve and grow alongside the church and language communities as they partner together in Bible translation. Last year, some staff members were trained as trainers under the “Capacity Building” programme. Pray for God’s guidance and provision for the staff members who underwent the “Final Phase Translation Advisor’s Training” in November and December 2022. Pray that this training will benefit and encourage the team as they serve and mentor language communities that are translating God’s Word in South Asia.
Training Scripture use interns: Papua New Guinea
Pray for the Papua New Guinea Bible Translation Association (BTA) Scripture use intern trainees, Wendy Dowi and Fajiaki Kubo. The two women began their two-year training under Scripture Use Department of SILPNG in July 2022. Praise the Lord for the skills and knowledge they have gained so far. From October to November, Wendy and Fajiaki had the opportunity to participate in workshops as part of their practicum with two language communities in the country. Pray for another good year of learning. Ask the Lord for good health and strength to persevere and thrive in this year’s commitments. Praise the Lord for the partnership among BTA, SILPNG and Wycliffe Australia to make this training possible.
Effective training strategies: UK, Global
MissionAssist has around 650 volunteers, spread out across the UK and many other countries, and because of geographical separation, training has always been a challenge. Please pray for MissionAssist staff as they look to develop new training and learning strategies over the next few years. MissionAssist primarily exists to serve other mission organisations around the world. However, as is now widely recognised, global mission continues to change rapidly. This rapid change requires assessing new needs and developing training interventions that help workers adjust to new approaches and ways of doing things so that MissionAssist can adapt more swiftly as the needs of mission organisations change. Please pray for MissionAssist staff as they look at how best to retrain volunteers not only in skills and knowledge, but also in attitudes and approach over the coming years. Pray that training across all Alliance organisations is well planned and delivered so that everyone finds it helpful.
What's On
This Month
As announced at SAEBC’s October 2022 Business Meeting, the Pastors and Elders are preparing a Leadership Development Program that will begin in February 2023. The goal of the program is to identify and prepare members who are willing to fill leadership posts in the future within SAEBC: Ministry Leaders, Deacons, Deaconesses, Elders, Pastors or Beyond SAEBC: AEBC, Missions, Para-Church Organisations
In the past, SAEBC has found Pastors from within its Eldership and Elders from among its Deacons. The church membership has endorsed this approach to growth and development. This requires that members make themselves available for training and appointment or election to leadership positions.
We invite those who feel the call to Church leadership involvement to prayerfully consider the application below. Please complete and submit this application to the church office (in written form via Email or WhatsApp) by January 8th 2023 and you will obtain an interview for inclusion in the program.
The head of the Church, Our Lord Jesus Christ, both calls and equips leaders for His body. Pray/work with us as we seek to find His provisions for SAEBC.
Please download and fill out the interest form below
Join author Kelvin Mapp as he takes you on a journey to discover principles and everyday practices for an exciting and fulfilling marriage. Whether you are married, dating, unattached, engaged or divorced, this book is for you.
Kelvin invites you to explore a biblical model of marriage and provides a roadmap to guide you on your way. He offers a unique point of view on several issues, including love and submission, husbands serving as foundations, and wives as skyscrapers. With questions to help you reflect on your discoveries, you will be able to chart a course of adventure and hope.
Fun Corner
13 Stalest 'Police' Jokes
The panel of the TTSPQH ( Trinidad and Tobago Society for the Preservation of Questionable Humour) has released its 13 stalest ‘Police’ jokes from those submitted in its competition:
A police officer is driving on the Uriah-Butler Highway when he looks over and spots an old lady knitting whilst balancing the steering wheel with her knees. “Pull over!” he shouts angrily. The granny shouts back, “No, it's a scarf”
A new police recruit was late for work. When his superior called him he was still in bed. “Sir, you didn’t tell me I was an under-cover cop?”
A traffic policeman pulls a driver over because he was swerving erratically on all sides of the road. The officer asks him: “How high are you?” The man replies: “No, officer, it’s ‘Hi, how are you?’ ”
A police man arrived drunk for his duty on the president’s guard detail. “Sir, you told me you wanted tight security!”
Someone stole the wheels off of all the police cars at a station. The police are searching for him tirelessly.
A shop assistant fought off a bandit in an aisle with a labelling gun. The police are looking for a man with a price on his head.
All the dogs from the Police K9 Unit on Long Circular Rd are missing. The police have no leads.
Someone broke into the police station and stole all the toilets. Police say they have nothing to go on.
An Australian is driving while on vacation in Trinidad. A police officer notices him driving on the wrong side of the road. “Do you realize you're driving on the wrong side of the road?” “Oh I'm from Australia.” The officer says “Well did you come here to die?” “No,” replies the Australian. “I came here yesterdie!”
Police just arrested one person for stealing batteries, and another for stealing fireworks. They charged one man and let the other off!
10,000 chickens were stolen from Arawak Poultry Farm. The police suspect 'fowl' play.
A family of 5 in Malabar was murdered while eating Sunshine Snacks Cornflakes. The police are on the hunt for a ‘cereal’ killer.
A woman in Chaguanas is alleged to have died while eating sada roti. The police say that 'tomato choka'.
This Month's
Prayer & Praises
Let’s Pray Without Ceasing
Cru
God will provide for the students as they trust him to raise their salaries to participate in the Summer Internship Programme.
God will provide more ministry partners for us as we participate in another Ministry Partner Blitz (Feb 5-17, 2023). We're now in our 2nd week.
Ladies Annual Retreat
That everything goes smoothly
A strong/good turnout of AEBC Ladies of all ages at the retreat
The relaunch of area group - Adequate volunteers for the facilitation of each area group (s)
Person to answer the call and enrol to the Leadership enrolment program
Let’s Give Thanks
Cru
We thank God for the 3 students who will be participating in our Summer Internship Programme.
Jon and I have been able to support one more missionary since last month. As you support us, we support others.
Wycliffe
Quality printing and binding for the Bibles.
A wide distribution of the Bibles among Komi communities, including the farthest villages with poor transportation connections. There are villages that are only reachable by river, in the summer by ferry or in the winter by ice roads.
Transformation among the Komi as they use the Bible.
Upcoming
Preaching Schedule
Theme
God is Love
Memory Verse:
"Know therefore that the Lord Your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands" - Deuteronomy 7:9
DATES | SPEAKER | TOPIC |
MAR 05 | Elder Joe Caterson | Love is also a Verb | Communion Service |
MAR 12 | Elder Lindon Mitchel | Love in Action-Men in the Spotlight |
MAR 19 | Sis. Marcelle Mapp | Love in Action-Women in the Spotlight |
MAR 26 | Bro. Duane Weekes | Evangelistic Service |
APR 02 | Elder Lindon Mitchel | Marriage in the Spotlight | Communion Service |
TIMES | SERVICE |
9:00 AM | Sunday Service |
10:00 AM | Sunday Junior Church |
11:30 AM | Sunday School |
6:00 PM | Wednesday CBSI |
7:15 PM | Wednesday Prayer Meeting |