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eMseni Christian Conference Centre
Benoni
20 - 23 March 2009
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95 deaf and their few hearing friends (including 35 day visitors) from all over South Africa (also 2 deaf men from Swaziland and 1 Interpreter, Folami Ford from USA) applied to attend the camp so ideally located that the airport is ten minutes drive away. The weather poured cats and dogs on the first day but was sunny for the remainder of days.
The deaf speakers were Hermanus Engelbrecht of Pretoria, William Warmington of Germiston and Phumie Jemane of Worcester, Western Cape. Workshop was held after each message. On Saturday morning Hermanus spoke about Paul’s great example of enduring service for the Lord. Paul was persecuted, beaten many times, stoned to death but raised to life by the prayers of the Christians. He refused to be silenced by his enemies from preaching the Gospel which he knew to be true. Would be quitters were encouraged to forget the hurtful or slanderous talks about themselves and continue to serve the Lord. |
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Jesus said that we should leap with joy whenever we are persecuted for great are the treasures in Heaven for those who refuse to give up. |
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  On Sunday morning before William gave the message, Chantelle, the hearing teacher of St. Vincent’s School for the Deaf, sang in deaf Sign Language which was beautiful to behold. Then William spoke about the Blood of Covenant with the story of the commitment Jonathan, the son of the evil King Saul to protect David. The service ended with the breaking of bread.
We joined the other hearing people at the dedication service on Sunday morning where the brand new conference centre was officially opened and dedicated to the Lord. Warren (H) interpreted for us. Phumie spoke passionately on the last day encouraging the Deaf to reach out with the Gospel. |
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The food was great. In the free time we had a wonderful time of wandering about the beautiful lay-out of the camp site. There is a little dam with a boat where Peter fished. The large church with thatched roof was built at the edge. The open tomb with the cross on the other side of the church graced the surrounding. Many verses encouraging meditation are on the boulders and wooden planks spread out about the site. |
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  The first night we all took turns in worship which was wonderful to behold. The second night was the drama in which some Deafies from different churches took part. On the last night we relaxed with games and had a great fun of trying to disentangle from one another without allowing the hands to separate!
There are five blocks along a circular perimeter with the thatched lapa in the middle. Each block is subdivided into 6 rooms with 3 beds, own shower, basin and toilet. |
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  Three deaf ladies, Thea Brandmuller of Walkerville, Linda Webb of Kempton Park and Enid Morris of Nigel had not seen each other for 55 years! They were so happy to see each other again to catch up all the news. Two deaf men, Makhosini Makhubu & Anthony, made a great effort to attend the camp from Swaziland despite the transport problem. An American Interpreter, Folami flew home after 1 day at the camp - she was in South Africa on a mission.
The next deaf annual camp in April 2010 will be organized by Paula-Louise and Johan Lambrechts (D) of Cape Town. So we better save up as we do not want to miss the beauty of the Western Cape countryside. So start saving NOW!
Eds. (D) |
