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Covenant Women Take Closer Look at South African Ministries
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (January 29, 2004) - More than a dozen women from
Covenant Women Ministries, ages 22 to 86, recently returned from South
Africa Chinese Covenant Church (SACCC) after a two-week stay that
included a Vacation Bible School (VBS) and other activities.
David and Judy Dolan, coordinators for Chinese ministry for the
Evangelical Covenant Church Department of World Mission, helped
coordinate the trip. David Dolan spoke at a mission conference hosted by
SACCC after the CWM group left South Africa. Pastor Frank Tuan of SACCC
was the church liaison throughout the trip.
Nancy King of Prairieview Covenant Church in New Richmond, Wisconsin,
led a VBS program centered on Moses that was held January 7-10. About 25
children and nine assistants from SACCC assisted the effort. King used
puppetry as an integral teaching tool and the sessions culminated with a
Friday night outreach program that attracted numerous parents of
children who participated during the week. The VBS even
received extensive coverage in a local Chinese newspaper, Dolan said.
There were many positive ministry opportunities in and around
Johannesburg that made the trip especially satisfying. On January 5,
SACCC held a thanksgiving and dedication service for its New China Town
Outreach Ministry Center, located in nearby Cyrildene. Several members
of the CWM team attended the event. The new center is especially
important to mainland Chinese arriving from China to Johannesburg
because it will serve as a familiar entry point for newcomers.
Dolan said that a SACCC parishioner from Singapore, Nancy Lim, and two
African residents serving as short-term missionaries with another
organization, Fred and Soekie Woolls, offer English classes, cell groups
and English worship services. Soekie Woolls hosts a local Christian
radio program and she interviewed the Dolans about Chinese
ministry and discussed U.S. ministries and short-term ministries with
CWM team members King, Katie Nielsen, Rosemary Maulden, Beth Sandell and
Lela Sibley. Those interviews will be broadcast in Johannesburg next month.
In addition to coordinating VBS activities, the CWM group met with 35
women from the church for an evening event. Participants made bracelets
of sterling silver and crystal beads that were brought by team member
Donna Britting. Some CWM members also surprised one host mother by
giving her a baby shower - a tradition not traditional in South Africa.
Church members and CWM participants also took a sightseeing tour of
internationally known Kruger Park.
SACCC's history spans nearly a dozen years. In 1991, Frank Tuan, his
wife, Ada, and son, Steven, were supported and commissioned by Taiwan
Covenant churches to work with a group of Indian Muslims in Johannesburg
through a parachurch ministry now known as Serving in Mission (SIM). The
Tuans, who are from the Taipei Covenant Church in Taiwan, discovered
that there were many Mandarin-speaking Chinese
immigrants coming to South Africa. Eventually, SIM asked Tuan to work
with Chinese immigrants, beginning in Johannesburg and continuing in
four other areas.
A Bible study group was formed in 1995 and a year later that group began
church services in a Baptist church building. In May 2000, David Dolan
traveled to South Africa in May 2000 and met with Tuan, pastor John Kuo
of the Taipei Covenant Church and Rev. Franklin Chang, general secretary
for the Taiwan Covenant Church, to coordinate a ministry partnership.
The congregation has recently purchased its own building, which will
enhance SACCC's ministry potential.
For more information about SACCC and Chinese ministries being undertaken
through World Mission, email the Dolans at djdolan@attbi.com. For more
about CWM and its ministries, call CWM Executive Minister Ruth Hill or
Suzannah Worl at 773-907-3332.
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