Churches join forces to help community
The churches combined response initiative is rooted in the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council and its affiliates.
Churches in ward 97 have joined hands to present a united resource in providing support and relief for people in need within the community in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Methodist, Anglican, Catholic and Toti Baptist churches in Toti, Warner Beach, Athlone Park and Illovo Beach, together with the Rhema Family Christian Church and Reconciliation Church (formerly Oasis) collectively pool resources, food relief, theological reflection and logistical support.
Rev Ivan Haylock from Amanzimtoti Baptist mobilised the Toti Lean (Local Ecumenical Action Network) which works closely with proactive ward 97 councillor, André Beetge, and his support team, and NGOs Toti Cares and Wonderers Haven to offer a united, efficient and prayerful response to Covid-19.
Rev André du Plooy from Amanzimtoti Methodist said, “I don’t think this has happened before. The churches have always had good working relationships, but now we are actively and consciously all working together as one team. I think that’s a first.”
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Typically Leans leverage relationships with other churches and civil society organisations in order to provide the best response for their churches and communities. The churches combined response initiative is rooted in the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council and its affiliates.
Through the network, relief and care can be efficiently focused to avoid overlaps and to maximise resources. Currently the food relief for the ward is supported by the Toti Lean network. This is coordinated with the other churches to ensure there is daily food relief shared among the network. EThekwini has given every ward R600 000 and ward 97 has chosen to distribute a thousand Hope Vouchers to the value of R600 each to be redeemed at designated supermarkets. The Toti Lean has been part of this decision-making process and voucher allocation and distribution network.
“The need fluctuates. Many families benefit from Sassa grants and UIF pay-outs, but when the grant support runs out, they become more dependent on us. Covid-19 has affected salaries and work, and we are finding more people needing help. The income of our church is down by 50 per cent as parishioners simply can’t support us as they did before and are battling themselves, so our ability to give has diminished. As a church we have reprioritised our programmes – relief is the singularly most important focus right now. What we have realised is that although Covid-19 has a negative impact on our communities, we have also learned that too much focus goes into a one-hour service on a Sunday, and oftentimes we fail to do church ministry outside of the church. This lockdown time has meant we have become far more involved in the community. There has been a phenomenal change. What previously we only have spoken about, has now become practice. What we preached in our sermons we are now living. Toti Lean has learned a lot about community connectivity online. We can share resources. In our church we offer daily devotions and an online sermon every Sunday. This mean we have reached people way beyond Toti. We have people from Ireland, Taiwan and New Zealand using our online resources. The number of people which we can now minister to way beyond our church building is phenomenal. I would imagine online resources will be part of the ongoing ministry going forward. These are indeed in stressful times. We are putting our faith into action and trusting God. He hasn’t let us down once yet,” said Du Plooy.
ALSO READ: A helping hand for Amanzimtoti community
To get involved with Toti Lean, contact one of the member churches, or Rev André du Plooy at Amanzimtoti Methodist on 082-319-1097 or revdup68@outlook.com.
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