KENOSIS COMMUNITY TRUST NEWSLETTER
Issue 2
Kenosis
Community
Trust
Newsletter
July, 2015
RELEVANT COMMUNITY - BASED ACTION
Dear Friends of Kenosis.
More than half the year has now flown
by and they have been intense months.
It almost seems as if André has always
been with us, so much has he become
part of the fabric of the institution. There
is much good news and also some sad
news. We want to thank all our friends
for the good support over the last
months.
We are still running at a monthly loss,
but a deficit so much lower than we had
budgeted for when we appointed a
manager, that we are already now
looking forward to a time when Kenosis
will be financially sustainable again. We
are still battling the bureaucracy with
signing powers still not sorted out and
the bank freezing the account because
of missing documents (we are adamant
they were all submitted, but now
Trustees
are
overseas.....),
but
fortunately Chantal was able to secure
enough money to see us over. Please
see later financial report.
Kenosis is looking neat and tidy and we
have invested a fair amount in
maintenance.
We have had some
successful small group retreats which
have brought in some income. In the
first week of the holidays, Kenosis
IN THIS ISSUE
hosted a very successful Kids’ Week.
The
Numbers in the crèche are growing
again, although still lower than hoped
for, and most of the foster children are
thriving.
Xolani is feeling a lot better and the low
key chemotherapy is keeping him
stable. He has started with his studies
and is doing very well. The school is
very understanding as he still needs to
go to Durban regularly for his treatment.
Khelo is doing very well at SLOT and we
have no doubts she will find a positive
way ahead.
Michael may get the
opportunity to be trained as entertainer
for children's hospitals. We are waiting
for news. The children are generally
developing well, but there are obviously
also frustrations and worries.
Beyond the normal issues that
teenagers face, these are traumatised
children and issues are exacerbated.
Some
relationships
are
severely
strained and we ask for your prayers
and wisdom to help guide these children
on a path of self-worth and selfdiscipline. Another upsetting piece of
news was that little Mhlengi has been
diagnosed with haemophilia and will be
needing constant
monitoring.
medication
and
However in general the news from
Kenosis is tremendously encouraging, a
great relief for me personally as I have
had a lot less time to get involved. I will
also be moving away at the end of the
year, but will stay on the Trust. I am
thankful to know that the work is in
capable hands and is being managed
well.
Kids Week – Mid Year Holidays
Page 2
Restoring, connecting and
realizing new responsibilities
Kenosis show support for Cancer Suffers
Page 3
The lasting legacy
of a Humble
Attitude
by
Sr. Happiness
KENOSIS COMMUNITY TRUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 2
2
life journey of faith. He explained that
remaining in this strength would only be
made possible by staying under and
holding onto the Cross. It is only from this
vantage point that we (Kenosis) could
then look beyond ourselves to see the
needs of the world. This unity of the
Kenosis community to its surroundings
would in turn, give direction to our best
course of action to serving that “world”.
This year we celebrated along with
Monica Wittenberg’s 80thbirthday, the
memory of her late husband and our
founder, Prof Wittenberg. It was a
wonderful
and
moving
occasion,
especially when we watched the DVD
funeral of Prof Wittenberg, as recorded
last year.
As we look to the needs of others first, we
become in humility, Christ’s offering to the
world.
Dear friends, I send you our love and
greetings as you continue to read the
news and experiences as shared with you
in this newsletter. Shalom.
As part of this celebration, the family then
placed a memorial bench at the newly
developed memorial flower garden at
Kenosis (henceforth to be known as the
“Baba Mkhulu” Garden). It was also here
that I had occasion to call to mind Phil 2
verses
5 – 8, a text which Prof
Wittenberg originally left for the Kenosis
Community as a founding text and which
forms part of his lasting legacy.
The text speaks of few things, but
highlights two words, I) Attitude and ii)
Humbleness / emptying oneself. These
days I ask myself, to what extent does my
life reflect the attitude of Christ - as Paul
described in the text. As sisters this is the
questions we grabbled with at a recent
communion service at Kenosis chapel.
We discovered that unity is one of the key
descriptors of this attitude, as well as a
key to every relationship. The question is
how are we contributing to both the
attitude and unity, which Paul demands
should “remain” with us?
. We have a small crucifix in our chapel,
with two figures under the cross, both are
holding onto it while gazing into the world.
Prof Wittenberg used this to teach
Kenosis a way of life, which we hold true
to this day. He kept emphasizing our use
of the crucifix to remind us to see the
world with the eyes of Christ. Where
Christ humbled himself to the point of
death to enable us to have strength in our
2. be able to identify people and
institutions around them who can
assist – particularly where they
feel vulnerable
3. To know where to get help if
necessary.
One of the challenges we face for this
program is funding, as it involves feeding
the children during the time they are with
us. This Kids Week, we catered for
between 200 to over 400 children per day,
excluding the group of young people, +/30, who helped lead the children groups.
In past years, we used to have outside
folk helping us “full-time” during the week
but
since
this
required
both
accommodation and meals; we realised
this was an additional expense, we could
not afford. We have therefore In recent
years used young people, themselves
past Kids Week participants, to fill the
gap. While this has been our practice for
the past few years’ we have concerns that
this is not working as effectively as when
group leaders were “full-time. For
example the current leader’s late-coming
is sometimes unavoidable and this can
disturb the start and flow of a day’s
programme.}
Kids Week
by
Sr.Happiness
Our Children’s holiday program is one
of the most popular programs Kenosis
offers the local community of
Bishopstowe
and
the
wider
community. During this time our aim is to
keep children off the streets, away from
drugs and constructively engaged (as
opposed to idle) during school holiday
winter and summer breaks. This is
constructive program, which was started
in 2006 and which has grown in size ever
since.
This winter, we had four full days of sports
activities, Bible stories, joyful Church
singing and group discussions and even
an art celebration - on the last day of the
event. The theme throughout, was to
1. Help children to be able to
understand their identities.
It is for this reason that we appeal to our
friends for any additional funds, to
specifically invite the young people from
churches around us, to lead the children’s
groups. We also foresee that such an
incentive can help strengthen local youth
groups from our surrounding churches’
Along with these positive growing pains, it
can honestly be said that we experienced
a wonderful kids Week.
We took a leap of faith in appointing a
manager, and budgeted for a R500 000
deficit for the year. If this had been the
case, it would have meant using up
KENOSIS COMMUNITY TRUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 2
3
our capital within a few years, and we
are grateful that our donors have risen
to the occasion. At the end of May our
deficit stood at R76 000, which is
about one month's worth of expenses
(currently averaging about R83 000).
This is better than expected, in spite of
the fact that we have invested in
maintenance, new equipment and
repairs. Some more donations have
come in since then.
Obviously it would be the best if we could
end the year deficit free and not having to
touch the capital from the Retreat. That
would be a miracle indeed. The audited
statements (2014) have ready and have
been sent out to donors. If you would like
to receive a copy, by email or post, please
let the manager know.
We are also planning to streamline our
process of saying thank you, and realise
that we do not always get the information
about who gives what for what purpose.
We would like to thank our donors
directly, so would like to ask you to
also inform our manager directly when
you deposit money, especially into the
account in Kassel, if you would like
this donation to be acknowledged:
[email protected].
This will also help us ensure that we have
everyone on the mailing list that should
be getting it and that the money is booked
into the correct cost centre if it is for
something specific.
Hi Friends,
Some explanations of the cost centre
breakdown:
The salaries of the various employees
have been subdivided according to what
they do in the different areas (e.g. ground
staff mainly in estates, manager
distributed, Sr. Happiness mainly in
Admin and Outreach etc.). Costs for
maintenance,
insurance,
security,
electricity and water has been divided
over the various projects. Anyone who
would like a detailed breakdown of the
divisions may request this from us.
Climb every
Mountain
by
Gertrud Tonsing
The Jade Skywalk is an annual walk up
Sani Pass in memory of little Jade
Preston who died of Leukaemia aged 9.It
is mainly in Aid of the Sunflower fund,
which raises money for the bone marrow
registry for Leukaemia patients.
The Tonsing family participated in the
walk through ice and snow to the Lesotho
Border, before unfurling a banner painted
by the community.
The expenses of 2015 divided into cost
centres until the end of May, 2015 were
as follows:
Administration
75,605.67
Estate
80,592.70
Creche
79,681.12
Foster Care
103,907.18
Convent
34.013.99
Outreach
39,889.85
Education Fund
5,960.81
Special Projects
0.00
TOTAL
R
416,651.22
Making progress is indeed one of the
aspects that most satisfies the human
soul. We are continuously reminded that
whatever we do, life is a journey, and that
the best place to be, is on the move.
Kenosis is on the move with small
tentative steps which progressively lift our
spirits and grow our character. The saying
“sink or swim” finds daily application in
the community and the lesson being
learnt is that even though we take 4 steps
backwards
(broken/blocked
pipes,
monkey damage, timber theft); it’s the
countering with five steps forward, that
denote true progress and give hope.
With all this going backwards and
forwards, it’s pleasing to reflect on
those operational issues which are
giving
Kenosis
forward
momentum - hence the title,” Restoring,
connecting and realising new possibilities”
For example:-
1. Restoration of the Foster Home
for Nomthandazo’s family which
started in Mid-July and has
made good progress (i.e. outer
wall rebuilt and new roof
complete). Their returning to reoccupy the house will then then
make Eden House (the transit
house) available to Hlengiwe’s
family to start the refurbishment
on a second house. In this way,
all houses will eventually be
tackled and placed on a regular
maintenance programme.
2. Local electrician Rory Walker
This banner was in support of Xolani - our
18 year old foster child suffering from
Leukaemia, and for Marilyn Hathorn, a
staff member at PMC, (who does Kenosis’
Administration for us). She was recently
diagnosed with Breast cancer.
The walk and the banner painting helped
raise awareness in the community about
cancer and the eye-catching banner will
help the community remember to keep
our suffering members in their prayers.
Restoring, connecting
and realizing new
possibilities
by André
Boshoff
recently arrived at Kenosis, “out
of the blue”, bearing our water
pump – now fully reconditioned
and operational. This will once
more make possible our own
water source for vegetable
gardening.
3. The excavation of a 20m trench
in preparation for commissioning
a much needed French Drain for
the village. (Something we hope
to complete before the start of
the summer rainfall season).
This last exercise, was done by Rob
Dent, who supplied his own
machinery and operator and who in
the process, saved Kenosis many
hours of manual labour. His is but
one example of the growing circle of
neighbours extending gestures of
good neighbourliness and whose
friendship we appreciate. Others
include-
KENOSIS COMMUNITY TRUST NEWSLETTER | Issue 2
4
 Don and Mary Taylor who have
visited and offered through Mary,
to
help
with
supervising
children’s homework.
 Ewald Thöle who has frequently
popped in and left a supervised
gang of farm labour to clear firebreaks for Kenosis
 Arthur and Linda Knox whose
support, care and community
involvement have continued
unwaveringly over the years.
but absolutely vital for the functioning
of any community.
4) Computers: The decision has
been made for the purchase of two
new laptops and printers, and we
hope this will improve the efficiency
of Kenosis and the communication
possibilities greatly. Particularly
Skype will be used more in the future
to communicate with donors and
trustees who live further away
(Evangelische
Kreditgenossenschaft Kassel)
Stichwort: KENOSIS
OUR ACCOUNT DETAILS:
For these and many other Blessings, we
give thanks!
Special Projects
Needing Support
1) Kids’ Week December: The
Kids' Week has got longer and had
more children than initially expected.
The budgeted amount was enough
only for one week. It is imperative to
give the children a decent meal if one
wants the week to be a success.
2) Repairs on the house of
Nomthandazo: The donations from
the England visit for Linda Knox will
be used for this purpose, but may not
completely cover everything that
needs to be done. Once Eden House
is free again it can be used to
generate rental income.
3) Substantial work needs to be
done on the sewage system – not a
glamorous thing to donate towards,
CONTACT US:
Kenosis Community Trust
CONTACT US:
Kenosis Community Trust
Current Account
Kenosis Community Trust
Gate 15a Ekukhanyeni Road
P.O.Box 46215
Bishopstowe
3252
André Boshoff cell 074 9303403
[email protected]
Sister Happiness 033 940 0465
[email protected]
First National Bank – Hayfields
(22-14-25) 5677 111 4919
Bankverbindung in Deutschland
Mission-EineWelt
Konto Nr. 1011 111 BLZ 52060410
Gate 15a Ekukhanyeni Road
ishopstowe
3252
André Boshoff cell 074 9303403
[email protected]
Sister Happiness 033 940 0465
[email protected]