Day 8 - Wrenchville

Today's matches:

Slovenia 2 v. USA 2

England 0 v. Algeria 0

Germany 0 v. Serbia 1

The Parish of St. Peter, Wrenchville is composed of Wrenchville and a few outstations - Khosis, Khathu, Dingleton and Deben.

There is very good leadership in all departments, Mothers Union, Anglican Women Fellowship, layministers, servers Guild, Sunday school, Youth Club, Church choir and Anglican Mens Fellowship. Sunday services begin at 8.30am on Sundays and at 8am on Tuesdays. The parish priest visits the out stations once a month. The Sunday attandance in Wrenchville is approximately 90 members. The people speak Afrikaans and a little English, in Kathu the majority are Tswama speaking. The parish priest conducts the service in Afrikaanse but preaches in English or his own language.

Most of the people in Wrenchville are working in the mines in Hotazel (Manganese) and Kathu. In Wrenchville there is one High School and one Primary School. Kathu is rapidly growing with a beautiful shopping mall and many people are flocking to this area for opportunities of work.

Kathu, 31mi southwest of Kuruman, is the youngest town in South Africa, founded only in 1980. Its name means 'town under the trees, after the Camel Thorn forest it is situated in. It now has a population of almost 10,000. The town owes its existence to the Iron and Steel Corporation (ISCOR), which has erected modern functional buildings here and in the neighboring settlement of Sishen to house miners working the nearby deposits of iron ore, believed to be one of the five largest open-cast iron ore mining operations in the world.

There are many needs in this vast parish - people with HIV/AIDS, people suffering from asbestosis and a shortage of things for young people to do.

We pray:

• For scattered communities and the demands on the local priests
• For a new partnership between Wrenchville and the parish of Lane End in Buckinghamshire
• For those working in the construction industry and in the iron ore mines
• For those with little to occupy themselves, who are driven to alcohol and drugs.
• For Fr Thebeethata, the parish priest