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ST CYPRIAN’S CHURCH, LANGA

OUTREACH PROGRAMMES

ST CYPRIAN’S CHURCH VISION:

We are a vibrant, caring and compassionate church, seeking to upholdChristian values in the community, always bringing hope to the people ofGod.

PHATHISANANI MISSION:

· We seek to change the lives of the people, specifically the vulnerablegroups (women, youth, the elderly, people with physical disability,orphanage children, the hungry, etc.);

· To restore dignity and building meaningful relationships withcommunities;

· Continue praying with communities, inspiring and cementing hope bytaking Gods Love to local community;

· Facilitate employment opportunities and support initiatives thatstrengthen social stability.

BACKGROUND:

For the benefit of those who have not yet visited Cape Town, a briefbackground information about Langa Township will be useful. The townshipis the smallest in the Western Cape with a population of approximately60,000 people. Generally the majority of the community is unemployed dueto scarcity of employment, drug and alcohol abuse, infected and affectedwith HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) as well as early and out of wedlockpregnancies. Most families have no father figure. Mothers are heads offamilies and there are also those that are child-headed. All these factorsmentioned above result in dysfunctional families characterised by poverty.

A survey was conducted where it was discovered that within close proximityto the church’s neighbourhood, most families were unable to provide abalanced meal for the day. Mostly affected were children under the age of 10

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years. There are also people affected and infected with HIV/AIDS and TBwho could not take treatment on empty stomachs. They would default dueto unavailability of food on the table. It was on these grounds that thechurch took a decision to establish a soup kitchen, under the banner of ourOutreach programme Phathisanani. A meal is served to the needy twice aweek, i.e. Monday & Friday. Due to unavailability of a church hall or spacefor the community to sit and have a meal, they bring their own containersfor the meals to be served there & they take them home to share with theirfamilies.

· Meals:

Mondays they are served soup & bread. The soup is nutritious andfilling.

Fridays: Different meals are served on alternate Fridays. They are:

· Samp with chicken and one vegetable; or

· mince with rice & mixed veggies.

· Numbers Fed:

The total number of commuters served every month differs. The totalnumber served from February until September is 3484 which is anaverage of almost 435.5 a month. We also have elderly people fromchurch that we call our indoor members that benefit as well, theirfood gets delivered to their homes.

This project is a vehicle for St Cyprian’s church to reach out to the needy inour community, and we have the Middleton benefice community backing usup to achieve this.

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Clothing Campaign:

Running hand in hand with our soup kitchen we managed to have anothercampaign for second hand clothing for the needy. This campaign collectsclothing from the congregants and distribute to the community. In thisventure we are also assisted by organisations outside our churchcommunity. This was also successful as we managed to provide ourcommuters twice with warm clothing during the cold winter months.

Part of the township is the Informal Settlement where people live under poorconditions. They live in shacks made of corrugated iron and wood. They arecongested with no space in between. The conditions are unhealthy and a firehazard. During disasters caused by fire or heavy rains, the church steps inand assists where they can- with manpower, clothing, soup and bread.

To prepare the meals as well as the distribution of second hand clothing weare able to get volunteers from our church to assist. The wonderful womeninvolved are dedicated and committed to the smooth running of the project.As the church took ownership of the project so do the congregants. With thesupport we are getting from you we are proud to say we feed the needy & wefully support the venture.

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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

As sponsors to this priceless programme, we feel that it is in order that weinform you how we spend the funds. Beginning of the year the churchreceived a sum of R42, 000 where we budget R3,500 per month for groceriesand gas for the stove.

For other programmes the congregants have been involved. They havecontributed financially, groceries and clothing where and when needed.

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OTHER RESOURCE:

To meet with the standards as set out in the Occupational Health andSafety Act, the church secured a container that was converted into akitchen. The kitchen is used for the preparation and serving of themeals. The church has raised funds equipping it with the requiredutensils to meet the requirements. This process is still in progress andwill be completed in the next year

OTHER PROGRAMMES:

· Affected and Infected with HIV/AIDS as well as TB.

In addition to the community members that are regulars, the kitchenhad 34 additional mouths to feed. These were children between theages of 6 and 18 years. Their meetings are on Fridays after school.The church provides accommodation, a Nursing Assistant and aparent to facilitate the group, providing support, guidance and adviceto the children.

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The Anglican Women Fellowship (AWF), which is one of the church’sstructures, through encouragement from the church, got involvedwith the group. The AWF celebrated Dorcas Day on the 4th July 2015.

Rev. Z Antoni officiated the ceremony. An inspiring sermon was givenabout the humbleness and giving to the needy. The Reverend prayedand blessed the children.

After service, each child received a goody bag consisting of toiletries,and a nutritious cup of soup with home baked bread was served forthe group of children, their parents and the congregants thatattended. AWF was congratulated for this initiative of extending thechurch to the community.

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The church will soon be commemorating World Aids Day.

· Back to School:

This venture was driven by the AWF, on Sunday 26th July 2015. Thechurch has approximately 60 children attending Sunday School with14 children identified as coming from deprived families. AWF memberscoordinated the event, sourcing sponsors for the gifts to be given tothese children. Each child was given a pair of school shoes, waterbottles, lunch boxes for the rest of the Sunday School children.

Rev. Z. Antoni prayed for all the children and the gifts they were toreceive. He prayed for the AWF to continue the good work.

· Home Visits for the Old and Sickly:

Every Wednesdays at 10am Rev. Antoni conducts a church servicemainly for the elderly members of the congregation, and in fact foranybody who is able to attend. The service is focusing on bible studiesand discussions. The service lasts for one hour thirty minutes afterwhich those that are home bound (indoor members) are visited.

There are structures in the church that also do home visits. They arethe Mothers Union, the Bernard Mizeki men’s guild, Mary Magdalineand AWF. Congregants are also involved. Hospital visitations are alsodone.

· Food Parcels for the Needy:

This venture is driven by Bernard Mizeki for the elderly and homebound congregants. As the festive season is round the corner,preparations are underway. During this time togetherness, fellowshipand sharing are promoted. Transport means are organised to fetch theelderly and the sickly from home so as to worship with thecongregants on a particular Sunday before Christmas. This is a joyousmoment enjoyed by all. Christmas lunch is served to all and theelderly are presented with food parcels.

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CHALLENGES:

· 65% of congregants are either unemployed or in receipt of StatePensions. This creates a big challenge in our fundraising efforts asthey are unable to contribute financially. The result is that we arealways scrambling to meet our Parish obligations and still drive /support other developmental or pastoral initiatives.

· The meals that are served at the Soup kitchen are taken home incontainers that are sometimes not as clean. Ideally we would love tohave these people fellowshipping & sharing the meals at the churchpremises, however we do not have appropriate venue (church hall) forthis and other activities in the church. We have been trying for thepast few years to fund raise for this and get sponsors but our effortshave not yielded any positive outcomes so far.

· Volunteers – this is an ongoing challenge as we experience somereluctance from people to volunteer for this ministry. Those who dovolunteer are unemployed and therefore whilst they understand theministry, they are also looking for some incentives (financially) to helpthem put bread on their tables. This expectation again as a church wecannot meet, and then others get disillusioned and withdraw.

CONCLUSION:

· Rev. Z. Antoni , the Executive Committee and the congregantsappreciate your contribution to our Soup Kitchen initiative. It hasquite a positive impact to the community, as well as to us as StCyprian’s as we are reaching out to others. We pray to the Almightythat this relationship never ends but to grow from strength tostrength.