Category: News

Open Air Carols by Candlelight

Join us this Sunday at 7pm for a great time of Carols! Live band.

Bring your own camp chair or picnic blanket, Christmas treats/ Flask, and face mask

Click here to book your place

For more info, contact Estelle 083548 8660; The event will be hosted at Knysna Baptist in the open air, with social distancing, in keeping with regulatory protocols.

Update: Church Gathering During Lockdown

We will keep meeting!!

The elders of Knysna Baptist Church have decided to open our church for public worship from this Sunday, June 14. Our reasons are:

  • We see a FIGHT: to strengthen faith and worship during a time that works against it.
  • We LOVE meeting in worship, regardless the number of people.
  • There is a special EDIFICATION in worshiping together as One Body
  • COMMUNION and BAPTISM cannot be left undone indefinitely, these are the unique signs Christ gave His disciples
  • We need ACCOUNTABILITY – seeing one another keeps us from drifting away without notice

A threat

We recognise that if you shouldn’t attend, you may feel “on the outside”. In one sense you are, just as anyone who wouldn’t normally attend misses out. But you are by no means on the outside in our hearts. We are together in Spirit. Not even all the elders will be attending. There is no judgement on anyone who shouldn’t come…

We expect that each person will be responsible in their decision to attend or not. The pandemic is real; Covid-19 can cause death. We don’t want to have untimely memorials!

Our goal is to provide as much of the corporate mood as we can online; It looks like we will continue to run parallel physical and online services for a long time.

(Please remember – If you are over 60, or have pre-existing health conditions, the government has advised you to remain home and follow online.
Whatever age you are, if we have reason to think you’re unwell, you will be asked to return home.)

What to expect::

A different kind of service

It will be different in length, items, and singing. The uniqueness of Christianity is that we worship “in Spirit and Truth”. We are not tied to any one form. The only pillars which never change are Scripture reading, Prayer, Singing, Preaching, and the ordinances (communion and baptism). But how we do this and what it looks like is a matter of liberty. We do what makes most sense at the time.

Social Distancing

  • there will be no hugging, shaking hands; no gathering in the foyer; and no tea afterwards
  • the chairs are spaced apart by regulation; including between family members.
  • Though this may feel strange, we are thankful that we can even be in the same room!

What to bring

  • Cloth mask (no shields),
  • Your own Bible,
  • Your own cushion if needed – we are using plastic chairs which are easier to sanitise.

Arrival

We will record your attendance as you arrive, measure your temperature, and ask you questions about your health
If we get close to 50 attendees in the future, we may need to plan some pre-registration.

 

Pray for our Church.

The new setup involves a lot more work; it requires us to have backup people if anyone on the team becomes ill; We believe we can still sustain this. We will get better at it each time, by the grace of God and your grace.

in some ways, this will be like 1st century Christianity: Meeting was not easy; but it was delightful. Being Christian meant their comforts were stripped, but the worship of Christ was greater comfort than anything in the world.
These days are dark, and may get darker yet – this is when the Light shines brightest.

Christianity in Action – Masks for Knysna Provincial

Recent information on the effectiveness of everybody wearing a face mask to prevent a spread of the “Corona Virus”, has come out of Czechoslovakia where the incidence of the disease is very low. Those at Knysna Provincial Hospital who are ensconced for other ailments are at higher risk than you or I who can self isolate at home, so Alan White decided to try to help them by having masks made. 
Charlotte Cameron provided the pattern, Lapland and The Linen Shop in Market street both agreed to donate material and tie-on ribbon for the project and Chipo Bags who lives in the township and Greg Mountjoy, expert kite maker, agreed to provide the necessary sewing skills at a very reduced prices. 
Thus as of today, some 160 hand made masks have been made and delivered to the hospital for which they are very grateful. 
We can all make a difference to the world around us by simply using our God given gifts without counting the cost…..
“He will supply all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
We just need to step out in faith.

Pastors’ Conference 2018

FROM Privilege to Purpose

Calibrating our local churchES to God’s plan!

Join the conference, connect with other pastors in Christ, gain fresh encouragement from the messages, and use the opportunity to re-calibrate your ministry to Christ’s design for His church. Each message will focus on 1 of the 3 mandates of God to His Church and their relevance in the 21st century.

MESSAGES:

  1. Christ-centered Worship – What is the one thing – more than anything else – the enemy does not want for the pastor or his flock?
    Rob Ayliffe, Jeffreys Bay Bible Church,
  2. Renewing the New – Between Conversion and the Final Resurrection, every believer is in a state of renewal. What role does the faithful pastor play in their new life?
    Malcolm Cunningham – Knysna Baptist Church
  3. Evangelism in Exile – Christianity no longer occupies a central position in our culture. We Christians now live on the margins – just like the early Christians in 1 Peter. How does this shift from the centre to the margins shape our approach to evangelism?
    Bradley Trout – George Whitfield College

A light lunch will be served. Christian and Minsitry-related books will be available for purchase. The conference is FREE, but registration is essential for catering purposes.

 

REGISTER ONLINE : https://goo.gl/forms/iTf9Tix4si9uaNOz1

or Contact Estelle directly at 083 548 8660

Holiday Club 2018 – Don’t miss out!

Our Holiday Club is going to be a smash hit as we take off to explore countries and cultures around the world. Children 6 to 13 years welcome, and entrance is free.
Please do register and complete the indemnity form!
Tuesday 26 to Thursday 28 June,
8:30am to 12:30pm

Stories of Fire: Timber Village

Daniel Hennessey lost both his house and business premises in the fire. One day, I visited him in their temporary factory space. He told me one of his Malawian workers, Geoff, had something for me. Geoff handed me a wood carving which he’d made on his own initiative. He had crafted it with the tools he’d received from Honeyridge Baptist.

 

Created by Geoff as a monument to the help they’ve received

“There is a story to this,” he said, “You can see this carving is of a father, a mother and a child. The parents are surrounding this child with love. You have rescued a baby – You have come around us and helped us. Thank you.”

 

Timber Village, the famous wood carving and crafting business, was completely razed by the devastating fires and many of their staff were left homeless and jobless. But through the generous giving of many churches, businesses and individuals, it has been rebuilding itself into a stronger body than before. Knysna Baptist were privilege to personally assist Daniel Hennessy who has now taken partnership in rebuilding the business.

While the original site is being rebuilt to house their factory, TimberVillage operate from temporary quarters in Knysna’s industrial area. It’s a squash, but production needs to continue and previous projects lost in the fire need to be urgently reproduced.
Bosch Power Tools, in coordination with Honeyridge Baptist Church were able to supply a superb donation of equipment which stunned the new owners. Carl, partner and friend of Daniel, recalls, “Every week, Daniel would Whatsapp me again and again, saying ‘Look what the Church has given us!’ – I couldn’t believe it, and I don’t know how to thank you enough.”

Timber Village has been able to employ 14 staff, including a young jobless draughtsman who had sunk into addiction. He is now off the streets and significantly contributing to the work. The effect of the help Timber Village has received is almost impossible to quantify.
It has been and continues to be a difficult recovery with heavy emotion, but among those emotions are a bounty of tears of gratitude.

Donated Bosch tools

Donated Bosch tools

Geoff using the Dremmel tools

Malcolm (Knysna Baptist) and Daniel (Timber Village)

Site rebuilding beyond burned remains

Stories of Fire: Van Zyl family

The Van Zyls were one of the families in our church who lost everything in the Knysna Fires of June 7, 2017. Here is their memory of the day

Retha’s account: Upon returning from a playdate with my two little boys (Christopher 5 & Jean Louis 3) from the opposite side of town… there was this unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach staring into the enormous cloud of smoke that seemed to be growing bigger and creeping closer with every passing minute…yet, I had full confidence that everything was under control… Having every intention of getting home to get a pot of soup on the stove and delivered to the fire station…non of us the wiser as to what was about to go down in the next hour or so…

My husband, JC, was still making his way back from George and due to a low battery..and disruption on the networks, keeping in touch became next to impossible…
I tried to settle the boys all the while preparing the soup but could not refrain from constantly running back onto our deck to check on that cloud of smoke.. I tried to stay as calm as possible… For my boys sake, but decided to pack an overnight bag for us…just in case, you know?!… My mother in law, who was also home at that time, gave a helping hand with the soup..but after a few minutes, thought the better of it and instead decided to rather also grab a few of their items as well… Limbs and personal possessions flying all over the place..
Upon emerging from our bedroom 5 min later, I was rattled at what I saw..a wave of flames, enveloping the whole of Eastford …. that’s when I came to the stark realisation that we were in a whole heap of trouble..
I rushed to grab our few essentials and put that, together with my two boys and two dogs into my car…trust my mum in law to grab the pot of soup as well!! I opened the gate, ran to the car only to discover that my keys were nowhere to be found.. My mum in law, idling in her own car, waiting on me as I parked her in..
I begged the Lord to please.. please just keep me calm and collected.. I rushed back into the house and by His Love and Grace, He provided… I found the keys on my kitchen counter and as I grabbed it I looked up one last time to take in my surroundings..something I’ve had the privilege of enjoying for a whole of ten days since we bought the place and moved in only end of.the previous month.
As I looked out onto our deck I saw the flames making it’s way towards our neighbour’s picket fence… We made our way out of there as fast as we possibly could…from there, all “hell” broke loose and chaos ensued.
Yes, we may have lost our livelihood, our memories… our sentiment. However, we were reunited with my husband a few hours later, who in turn didn’t know where we were or whether we were still alive and safe…Our lives were spared and in the end, that’s all that truly matters.

JC’s account: It’s been a tough year for our family. My father had a heart attack in March. They stayed on the same plot as us in a separate dwelling. We all lost our homes and earthly possessions in the Knynsa fires…but not our loves ones. We however have learned as a family that God is gracious and merciful beyond imagination…he provides in many ways. Through the love and kindness of many people but especially our Christian family, we felt loved and a closeness to God beyond comprehension. In many ways the support we received was so humbling . It was not only an encouragement to us in times of great need but it was also a testimony to the world that the Lord provides and looks after his flock.
JAMES 1:2-5 states that we can count it Joy when we have trials and tribulations because it produces steadfastness in our faith.

We praise God and thank everybody that made contributions towards us and the greater Knysna area. God is good and gracious beyond all measures and expectation…We will never be able to replace the material things we had…but we have gained so much more…as a family we have grown tremendously in our faith and dependency on God our father and we have experienced the love of our greater Christian family…people we have never even met but have a special bond to through Christ … every good and perfect gift comes from Him, our Father of light.

To God be the glory and praise forever…Amen

JC

JC, Retha and their boys after the fires