BCSA National Assembly Dec 2011

Dear Groundbreakers,

Over 200 BCSA leaders had the priviledge to meet together from the 09th to the 12th of December 2011 in Grahamstown.

Leaders from all departments, ministries and regions (HIV/ Aids Desk, Women-, Men-, Children- and Youth department, MINSPO...) met for fellowship, to celebrate what God has done in the past, discuss different issues regarding the organization and how to "impact lives" for Christ.

In the departmental meeting of the youth the national committee promoted its new strategy and challenged the young people to be part of it. Furthermore we promoted the upcoming regional youth-camps in Great-North, Capricorn, Central/South and Mpumalanga.

We had a blessed time together and are looking forward to where God will take us in 2012.

Here you find some impressions of the Assembly:

BCYD Roadtrip to Regional Baptist Youth Rally EC 7-9 Oct 2011

Dear Groundbreakers, The "brother's keeper programm" is part of the new BCYD strategy plan for the next years. National and regional youth leaders want to practically support each other's youth ministry in different ways. Therefore 13 young people drove together around 28 hours (~2266km) to take part in the Eastern Cape regional youth rally.
We had a great, fun, challenging, growing, celebrating and wonderful time together. We praise our Lord and Saviour for the experience and thank God for a save trip and an awesome journey!

Your BCYD Committee!

Here are pictures to get a glipse of our experience:

For more pictures go to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150477777178047.462504.753838046&type=1

The Ultimate Goal (TUG) Conference June 2009

What is TUG?


Is the outreach initiative for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ (hosted in South Africa), a collaborative partnership of various Church Denominations, Para-church organisations and agencies towards SERVING the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The Ultimate Goal is to share the love of Christ as well as the gospel in many different ways to players, their families, coaches, officials & game organisers, visitors / fans and local residents.

To get started for next year there some regional leaders from the BCYD participated in the TUG conference (22-25 June). The main focus was to inform and empower the local church of what can be done in terms of evangelism in 2010. The vision is to see the hope rise over Africa as the continent is impacted by the body of Christ, moving with influence into society to eradicate Afro-pessimism, bring reconciliation, alleviate poverty and establish sound family units etc. by the development of leadership. And the mission is, by the Spirit of God and the collective effort of the church, to develop transformational disciples through sport.

Here are some comments about the conference:

I enjoyed the unity of all congregations, denominations, cultures and races in 1 meeting in agreement to win souls in 2010. I realised that the World Cup isn’t just about the soccer, but an opportunity God has blessed us with. (Pat Lebea)

I realized that God can’t and mustn’t be limited to church services, but can be shared with other people through sports as well. (Safira Mdhluli)

God showed me how different kinds of people are rearing for him & how he is causing hunger among professionals to preach his word through their work. (Gobakwang Kabelo Moalosi)

I learned that there are different things we can do in our local churches in terms of sports ministry for 2010 and beyond, like organising big screen events for people in the community to come and watch the games at our church or to have children’s ministry during the holidays, when the games (soccer) have commenced. (Phindile Nkabinde)

Youth Summit 2009

From the 08th to th 10th May we had our yearly summit from the BCYD. Around 50 leaders (national, regional and local church level) from almost all the provinces met in Ga-Rankuwa (north of Pretoria) to discuss different issues, give reports, learn and fellowship together.

The theme was “Understanding the times & breaking into new grounds” (1 Chr. 12:32), and Rev. Fele presented a workshop called “Branding” (discussing the idea of who we are and what do we stand for).

We had a good time sharing, discussing and fellowshipping during the weekend. The only thing we were lacking was sleep J. We want to thank everyone again who was involved and participated on this summit.

Greetings, BCYD

Cultural Exchange Groups: Germans visit South Africa

As reported, there was a group of South African’s who visited Germany (July- Aug08), recently as part of the cultural exchange program 12 Germans visited South Africa (Dec08 – Jan09) for two weeks. In the first week they participated at the National Youth Camp and in the second week they experienced the cultural beauty and diversity of the “Rainbow Nation”.

(Visit to Pilanesberg Nature Reserve)

Together with the South African Group (which visited Germany) they explored Soweto, Mamelodi, Pretoria and Soshanguve. They visited two HIV/Aids Projects (from the Aids Desk of the Baptist Convention of South Africa), the Apartheid Museum and saw beautiful African animals (Elephants, Zebras, Hippos…) in Pilanesberg.

(Visiting a Orphanage in Soshanguve)

(Handing out gifts to the children in the Orphanage)

In the evening they had discussion groups about the differences, opportunities and challenges of both countries and how God works in both of them. Furthermore, they participated in a Service at Mamelodi BC and experienced a “door to door” outreach as well.

(Cross-cultural Group discussions)

It was a great time together and I am convinced that everyone was able to take home valuable experiences they will never forget. We want to thank everyone who helped to make this trip a success.

BCYD Camp 2008

Around 240 people came together from 27 Dec 08 until 02 Jan 09 in Warrenton (a small town in the Northern Cape) under the Theme: “Descendants of Caleb – young people with a different Spirit” (to see the presentation visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKKRnbDjNXg). We enjoyed a colourful programme including: sports, Bible studies, fun & games, New Year Celebration and a creative outreach in town.

The camp leaders chose the place (Warrenton) because of its many challenges (poverty, violence, HIV/ Aids…). The idea was to bring God’s hope in and we as well experienced spiritual battles because of it.
A wonderful experience was the outreach we had in Warrenton (and Warrenville): Young people visited families in their homes and blessed them with clothes and food. Others cleaned the streets or went into town to talk with people about their faith. Later the Mayor of the town came unexpectedly to thank for the help and that the young people made and impact in the community that day.

We as well experienced cultural exchange as a youth group from Germany (EFG Wetter/ Grundschöttel) joined us for the camp. Even though it was sometimes challenging (for all of us), it was great to have them with us. Furthermore was it great to have help from our EBM Volunteers (Judith & Lisa) at the registration and in the kitchen.

It was all together a great experience and we want to say "thank you" again to everyone who helped and participated on the camp!

BCSA Assembly 2008

From the 12th until the 16th of December over 300 Leaders from the BCSA came together in Meyerton (southern of JB) to fellowship, learn and hear from each other what God has done amongst them.
We heard reports from the regions and departments, listened to sermons, had departmental meetings, enjoyed a wonderful banquet and had good discussions in 7 different workshops.

In terms of the BCYD three meetings were important. The report of the department (of what happened in the last year), a youth leaders meeting (of what lies ahead) and a youth ministry workshop (of what is needed). Even though it was challenging at times, it was a good opportunity to get to know each other better and to find unity in what we do for God.

All in all it was a good four days and we believe that God wants to do great things in the year ahead.

Cultural Exchange Groups: South Africans visit Germany

On the 21. July 2008 nine young South Africans went to Germany to visit in a Partnership Project the EFG Wetter/ Grundschöttel. For one week they experienced daily life in Europe and how Christians worship God there (and it was quiet different). Furthermore were they able to contribute some of their talents (like singing and dancing) in the church service. After one week they travelled together to 15th BYW Conference in Leipzig (visit http://www.dive-deeper.com/ for more information). Over 5000 young people from all over the world gathered together to learn more about God and each other. Together they enjoyed times of worship, fellowship, teachings, drama & music performance, outreach and a variety of workshops. All together it was a wonderful, interesting and sometimes challenging experience.

In the following you can get some impressions of the visit to Wetter/ Grundschöttel and some comments of the South African group about the experience:

"Even though you are in a different country and culture, God will always speak to you when someone preaches in the church. Our cultures are different, as South Africans we like to make noise and they are very quiet people, but it was great. The conference was one of the best organised events I attended and I am thankful for this wonderful experience." (Elias)

"I enjoyed about the conference that I had the opportunity to meet so many people from all over the world." (Phindie)















I enjoyed everything we did there I loved Wetter so much. I was looking forward to come back after the Leipzig Conference and I still would love to come back. What impressed me the most at the youth conference was the singing and the worship." (Letts)