Newsflash: Friday, 14 January 2022

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NEWSFLASH: Friday, 14 January 2022

 

RESOURCES

1. AFM of SA: National Calendar 2022
https://afm-ags.org/afm-calendar-2022/

2. Prayer & Fasting – January 2022 (New!)
https://youtu.be/RAfncm_j30w

3. NOB Inauguration Photo Album: Highlights
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1586119138392238&type=3

1. A MONTH OF PRAYER & FASTING

January is our month for Prayer and Fasting. I want to encourage you to set time apart as an individual and as an assembly or small group to really focus on prayer and fasting. Through prayer, we can share our hearts with God and through fasting, we can regain spiritual focus and hear God’s voice. As believers, we are changed by praying and fasting – focussing less on the world around us and more on God in us and with us.

Join me as we look at various scriptures about prayer and fasting in Matthew, Jeremiah, 2 Samuel and 2 Chronicles. Let us be quiet, pray and study God’s Word. Let us allow God’s power to work in us. May every one of us experience spiritual renewal and refreshment as we enter a month of Prayer and Fasting.

2. 2022 ACADEMIC YEAR: ENCOURAGEMENT AND HOPE

Although many learners and students would probably rather continue to enjoy their vacation, the new academic year is starting and comes with new challenges and exciting opportunities. The last few years have been challenging due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the lack of resources for many, as well as the absence of access to and availability of enough job opportunities. However, it is important that we encourage our children and students to do their best in making use of the opportunities available.

There are two Bible verses that I think parents and grandparents can share with their children and grandchildren at the beginning of (and throughout) the 2022 academic year:

Joshua 1:9 (New Living Translation): “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Ensure the learners and students in your household with this promise in God’s Word that He will be wíth them – wherever they go and whatever they have to face this year. Many learners, especially those going to school for the first time and those moving from primary to secondary school, as well as students enrolling in tertiary institutions, are anxious and feel insecure in the new environment that they must confront and navigate. This also applies to those for whom the previous academic year did not result in attaining the grades that were expected.

Parents should not ridicule or downplay this but rather encourage them to be strong and courageous. A positive and brave attitude is very powerful in facing the challenges of the new year.  It is even more potent if it is based on the foundation of knowing and believing that God will never forsake you but will be with you all the way.

Secondly, 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 (New Living Translation) gives some guidance as to the best attitude and approach a learner and student can have to the new academic year: “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

I can confirm from experience, the transformative and supportive power of a thankful, praying, and joyful attitude – instilled and continuously nurtured in the life of learners and students by the example and mentorship of parents and grandparents. We can teach our children and young people to be authentically joyful, despite circumstances – to find something to be thankful for in all situations and to learn to pray about everything and to trust God for the outcome, whilst they are doing the best that they can from their side.

Encourage the learners and students in your household to shine in this academic year like the stars that they are and ensure them of your support and prayers. My prayer is that all our children and young people will experience God’s enabling Presence and Guidance in 2022.

 

3.    BACK TO SCHOOL MESSAGE: AFM OF SA NCM DIRECTOR

Yesterday we shared a special message from Past. Sam Tshabalala, the Director of the National Children’s Ministry (NCM) on The AFM of SA social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram & the MyAFM APP).

To download this message in PDF format, kindly click on the link below:

Back to School Message from NCM