Limpopo 1st lady visits church’s conference to encourage older people to live healthily

THE United Reformed Church of South Africa (URCSA) in Polokwane said its mandate was not just to interpret the Bible for the congregation, but to play a role to encourage people to live healthy lifestyles.

This emerged during a two-day session at the Serala View based church on Friday and Saturday.

The session started with a black tie youth breakfast on Friday themed: A Life of Purpose.

During the session, young people from the church and other denominations in the city were motivated by different speakers on how they could work towards building a better future.

One of the church executives, Lesley Mojapelo, told the young people that education was more important than they realised. He advised them to always put God first.

“Respect and love older people. Work smart to achieve your goals in life,” said Mojapelo.

The second session was a lunch for the elderly on Saturday, which was themed: ageing with grace and compassion.

Limpopo’s first lady, Margaret Mathabatha was among the guests at the session.

URCSA senior pastor, Prof Selaleo Kgatla, said it was sad to learn that there were families that did not respect their elders.

“As the church, we are here to show you love and encourage you to report any acts of abuse that you might experience in your homes and community.

“It is our job to show people that churches are here to shape and build society and to fight the social ills we experience daily,” said Kgatla.

Mathabatha encouraged the elderly to exercise and eat healthily.

“We known that ageing is a natural process that we all go through, but it is good to age in good shape.

“We call on all families to stop neglecting their elderly,” she said.

One of the organisers of the sessions, Selaelo Maponya, said both sessions meant to show that the church cared.