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RESOURCES
1. GBM Online Registration Form
https://afm.easychurch.co.za/?page_id=413
2. Pastoral Letter: 1st Quarter
https://afm-ags.org/pastoral-letter-1st-quarter-2021/
3. The Possible Adoption of a Single Marriage Statute: AFM Response
https://afm-ags.org/category/media/
4. Funeral Guidelines (Updated March 2021 – Attendance 100)
https://afm-ags.org/category/media/
AFM Colleague,
Our State President declared a National State of Disaster on 5 March 2020. There have been many significant consequential announcements restricting movement, business activity and gatherings. It is estimated that the unemployment rate stands at 42.6% which translates to more than 11 million unemployed people (according to the expanded definition). Many businesses have closed.
How are you doing during this coronavirus pandemic? Are you well?
The impact on the church has been immense, especially on our pastors. Many of our colleagues succumbed to this pandemic. The pandemic has also had a negative financial, psychological, and emotional impact on many pastors.
In Job 19:25 we read:
“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth” (ESV).
We all know the story of Job. After he had lost his children, servants and wealth he became sick with what some Biblical scholars call ‘elephantiasis’ (the enlargement and hardening of limbs or body parts due to tissue swelling – due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels). His sickness led him to sit on an ash heap. It was during this time that his friends began to accuse him of some hidden sin that had brought him to this point. In response, Job said: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth”.
If a person were poor and his/her property, or home, had to be sold, a Redeemer would be a person who would buy these items with a view to restoring them back to the original owner. A Redeemer would also be a person who would restore the rights of another person with a view to achieving justice for that person. We do not know for how long this pandemic will be with us. Job did not know the duration of his sufferings, but he gathered strength to declare that his Redeemer lives. It is this conviction that enabled him to be steadfast in his faith.
Amid the storm, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ is with us. He promised to be with us till the end of the age. It is to Him that we sing:
I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small,
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.”
I urge you to be strong in the Lord. I urge you to soldier on. Continue to serve Him. Continue to offer pastoral care. Our Redeemer lives. Be assured of my prayer for you.
Regarding the issue above and as presented in the Newsflash of Friday, 23 April (https://afm-ags.org/newsflash-friday-23-april-2021/), kindly take note of the AFM’s response to the South African Law Reform Commission on 4 May 2021:
https://afm-ags.org/category/media/
Blessings
MG Mahlobo
