It being February, the theme for last month’s Stonecroft Ministries meeting was love. Love your town and love its people.
The meeting started on a high note with the musical artistry of Siyabonga Dzingwa.
His rich voice and presentation brought a new depth to his selection of modern and older standards, and he was well received by the audience.
Stephen Herbst of Tidy Towns Shelly Beach to Margate enthralled guests with his passionate and lively presentation of the work Tidy Towns does and the impressive results they are achieving.
He gave a brief history of its formation in 2021, arising from a small group of concerned residents and business owners needing to revive the tourism industry, the lifeblood of the South Coast.
He quoted that ‘evil triumphs when good men do nothing’.
Their first action was to address crime, as this was identified as one of the root causes of diminishing tourism.
This was achieved by the motivation and participation of all the key roleplayers and organisations working together towards one goal.
Since then, the improvements to the area in terms of safety, cleanliness, sewage control, water shortages, Blue Flag beaches and many other aspects are ongoing and effective.
He spoke about the role of the Urban Improvement Precincts and their importance to communities. He answered numerous questions from the audience with clarity and detail.
Trevor Downham, Pastor at Norwegian Settlers Church, gave a thought-provoking and insightful message on real love. He said that real love is not sentimental, and it can be undervalued when it’s made to be sentimental.
Real love, the deepest version of love, comes from Jesus Christ, who came to an unloving world in meekness and kindness.
Jesus saw the value of humans; He embraced and healed the leper, He forgave the woman accused of adultery, He freed the demon-possessed man, and He cared for the little people.
Jesus brought the love of God to them all. Trevor referred to the parable of the good Samaritan and said loving is costly, and how does one sustain that kind of love?
The way we treat the ‘little people’, the poor, and the marginalised is the measure of real love.
“We should value people by what we can give to them, not by what they can give to us,” he said.
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