Willow Hill Family
- Details
- 26 Mar
Friends,
To ‘flatten the curve’ of the Corona virus pandemic, President Ramaphosa announced a national lockdown from midnight on Thursday, 26 March, until 16 April 2020. We at Willow Hill Vineyard Church will fully comply with the lockdown. So, all our small group gatherings will shut down and we will endeavor to find new ways of staying connected and engaging with one another.
The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting our society on many levels. Our government who has had to make tough crisis decisions that will have serious repercussions on our economy. And obviously families struggling to find a way forward and dealing with new ways to keep themselves safe, healthy and productive.
At Willow we are finding our ‘New Normal’ for the next couple of weeks until things return to normal. Whatever that normal may look like. In the meantime, let us stay connected. Let’s keep the joyful, generous and loving heart of Willow alive! There are many ways of doing this. We are using email, Facebook, Instagram and various other social media platforms.
Please ensure you have the Willow Office number saved to your phone so you can receive our WhatsApp updates – 066 327 1945
- Connect with 2 people at 2pm day
- WhatsApp – Regular calls or video Calls to one another
- ZOOM calls - One person will be the host – it can be the Prayer Group Leader, a Life Group Leader or anybody else who volunteers to do it. The other members will join the meeting using the invitation from the host. There is an explanation at the end of this communication in an appendix which explains the process in detail.
- Bible Study - Using discovery bible study method to get people spending time in scripture over Zoom in small groups.
Or get the app:
Apple - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/discover-the-bible/id1138013443
Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.discoverapp&hl=en_ZA
- Weekly short video clips – Which we will share on social media to encourage and convey what God is doing, teaching and preaching combined into 1-3min clips.
- Sunday Morning Message – Via You Tube. You will be sent the link on a Sunday morning. (Live Steaming may follow)
- Share our communications - with those who may not have a community of faith or are just simply alone.
What other creative ideas do you have for how to continue to connect with and love people? Please share them with us! And if you have any questions, concerns, or just need to talk, please reach out to and of us on the leadership or your life group leader!
If you are sick and need prayer please call us and we will pray for you and assist where possible:
Andrew – 083 415 9620
Rob – 072 413 6285
Office – 066 327 1945 (Steph)
Finally, we do understand that these times are financially challenging for all of us, but we want to encourage you to keep giving so that we as a church can keep reaching people with the hope of Jesus and meeting our commitments. (Willow Hill Vineyard; FNB – 62033 202 681)
Stay safe and stay healthy! Friends, it is our hope that this will be a time that will bring spiritual renewal to you and yours! ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’ (Numbers 6:24-26)
Love
Andrew and the Willow Leaders
Appendix:
How to use Zoom for Prayer Group meetings (or any other meeting)
What is it?
Zoom is a video conferencing application available on the internet. It enables a group of people to hear and see each other talking, while not being in the same place. (There are several similar apps available, e.g. Skype – you can use anyone, but we just chose Zoom because it’s simple to get up and running on any phone, tablet or PC.) What do I need?
1) A device like a smart phone, a tablet, laptop or a computer with a web camera. (A smart phone is a cell phone that can access the internet.)
2) The Zoom app, which you can download from the App Store or Play Store for mobile devices. The Zoom Cloud Meetings app is free, and the icon looks like this:
3) Download link for any type of device: https://zoom.us/support/download
4) The host of the meeting must sign up in order to create a meeting. He/she can then send the invitations to Prayer members.
How does it work?
One person will be the host – it can be the Prayer Group Leader or anybody else who volunteers to do it. The other members will join the meeting using the invitation from the host.
The host must go through the Sign-Up steps on the Zoom app or website.
The host creates the meeting, and then sends an email or WhatsApp to each participant containing a link – it looks like this on email:
From the email or WhatsApp, every participant can click on the link and join the Zoom Meeting via the app.
On mobile devices, make sure you allow access to the camera and microphone (allow video and audio recording).
For prospective meeting hosts, have a look at the following Getting Started video:
