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The Frequency |
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March 2008 Year 7 No.2
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Newsletter of the Amateur
Radio Christian Fellowship (N.Z.) |
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We send greetings to all members, families and
friends of the New Zealand Amateur Radio Christian Fellowship at this time
approaching the Easter season. A few members we have little contact with,
either by radio or other medium, but as a Fellowship there is a bond which
unites, and this is our common faith in Jesus Christ, in His sacrificial death
on Calvary, His resurrection, and our expectation of His return some wonderful
day to take us Home. These are the “non-negotiables” of the Christian faith,
without which this Fellowship, and countless others, would never exist. Thank
you all for being there. We trust your
life journey over the past month has not brought too many challenges but, if it
has, that you have been strengthened through them all.
Fellowship
News
Alan
ZL2TAG and Averil (Thailand)
will be arriving in NZ this weekend of 15th March, for a three-week visit. Although their
time will be very fully committed, no doubt they will be able to make some
contacts. We wish them God’s protection in their travels, and a time of joy and
rejuvenation with family and friends.
Kelvin
ZL1LY and Penny have been blessed with a new Grandson, Jordan
Isaac. May God richly bless this little boy and his parents, Patrick and
Judith.
Gary
ZL3SV and Christine paid us a most welcome visit
this week, complete with new mobile antenna attached to front of car. As usual, the conversation never lagged for a
moment, and it was good for Gary and Graham to discuss radios, and for us all
to discuss the things we share in common. They will be enjoying catching up
with other hams, friends and family while in Christchurch. May God keep them in
safety for their journey home.
Bob
ZL1BMA – Has enjoyed a 10-day holiday in Waihi Beach/Taupo.
Bob will be sending us his “profile” which we will put in this letter, and
enjoy reading.
Cecil
ZL1BXT – Has passed license for a further two years’
driving. Both Cecil and Mavis are in their nineties, and we really value
Cecil’s input on our nets. May they be aware of God’s presence and strength in
these days of increasing age and challenge. We were informed by Brian ZL1HN
that at a recent meeting of Hamilton Radio/Electronics Club, Cecil was
unanimously voted Patron of this
group. Warmest congratulations, Cecil; we thank Brian for making this known to
us.
Eric
ZL1ASI and Rowan have enjoyed a short visit from
son Peter, home from Australia. They will be in Palmerston North during March,
so hopefully will catch up with some Fellowship members there, as well as
family, of course. We wish them journeying mercies.
James
ZL3FV and Sarah to Tauranga for a recent wedding. Good to hear
James on net when his job allows.
Brian
ZL1HN – reported on a meeting of the Hamilton
Radio/Electronics group, where one minute’s silence had been held in memory of Malcolm ZL1UE (Silent Key). Thank you
Brian for coming onto Net – always so welcome.
We
continue to remember in prayer those members who either themselves, or a family
member, face challenges in health or other areas. Kelvin
ZL1LY; Stan ZL4OW for journeying mercies as he travels to be with daughter in
Ashburton; Hans ZL1JA and Colleen;
David ZL1UTS; John ZL3TR; Keith ZL3AHL; Peter ZL2CDF; Cecil ZL1BXT and
Mavis. May our Lord touch you, and in fact all members of this Fellowship, as
we travel this journey of life. We give thanks for the faithful attendance of
Netmasters Trevor ZL2TN, Kelvin ZL1LY and Ken ZL3OZ each week, with Gary ZL3SV
helping out in their absence. Your participation makes the Nets really
enjoyable.
Radio
Station HCJB – David ZL1UFE phoned to say this Christian station
has now done away with the analogue, and is going digital. Their web site (www.hcjb.org) is well worth a visit. Thank you David for your call.
Members’
Birthdays – From our current record, there are two birthdays
remembered in March: Alfred ZL3QA (6th) and John ZL3TR (19th).
February has now passed, but we send a special greeting to Kelvin ZL1LY, who
turned 60 on February 8th. God bless you, each one. We hope to make
this a regular feature, and will be emailing those whose date of birth is
unknown to us. Please advise us if you
would prefer not to have your name published, or do not reply to email when it
arrives.
Personal
Profile – Stan ZL4OW Looks Back
I was born in Timaru on 29th January 1922
into a family of four, later to become eight, and had the most wonderful
Christian parents.
Early
childhood was spent in Timaru, the latter part experiencing all the modern
wonders developing at that time. Motor cars and Radio interested me most but at
that time the nearest I got to radios was seeing the big aerials going up in
our area. When I was ten, Dad took over a disused Lime Works at Mount Somers
(Mid Canterbury) to where we shifted, and I finished my last three years of
schooling at Mt Somers School. On leaving, there wasn’t money to send me to
secondary school so I went to work at the Lime Works. It was hard trying to keep
up with the adults, but one compensation was a reasonably good workshop where I
could satisfy my interest in radio and electrical experimenting.
The
following sixteen years were very satisfying, living at home, working hard, and
being infatuated with the many young ladies we had in the district. This
however finished when Doreen came into my life due to a blind date, and two
years later we were married. Also at this time my brother George and I took
over the Lime Works from Dad. The following ten years were so full and happy
where George and I completely modernised the Lime Works and Doreen bore for me
three lovely children. This period was cut short though by a proposition by our
then opposition, McDonalds Lime of Oamaru, to take over and shut down Mt
Somers, with George and I to be employed in the construction of their new Lime
Calcining plant at Weston. I was further given the opportunity to take an
electrical apprenticeship under their parent company, Milburn Lime and Cement.
I continued to work for both Companies, living at Weston and travelling
considerably to their many plants throughout NZ, Fiji and Australia.
Nineteen-eighty-seven saw me taking compulsory retirement, which was company
policy, but in 1990 I was asked to be Electrical Engineer in the new Lime Plant
at Dunback. This I happily did until an electrical switchboard rolled and
pinned me, putting me in intensive care for seven weeks and almost taking my
life.
In
1997 my wife Doreen died after a two-year courageous battle with Motor Neurone
disease. I have since lived on my own in our original Weston home.
Looking back, I can’t claim a miraculous conversion to my Christian
faith, having always lived in a Christian environment. At Mt Somers I served on
the Presbyterian Board of Managers, and on coming to Oamaru was ordained into
the Eldership and taught Sunday School for a long time. I also served on the
Board of the Iona Home for the Elderly. At 86 I am so thankful for the
wonderful land and opportunities I inherited.
Thank
you, Stan, so much, for sending this Profile. God continue to bless and keep
you. Stan’s photo also appears in the photo gallery of our web site.
Stan ZL4OW during a visit to Nelson
We would
really welcome your profile, too.
In
Conclusion
“But He was
pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are
healed”. (Isaiah 53 NIV).
At this holy season my mind goes back to “The Passion”, surely the most vivid
portrayal of the death of the Son of God ever made or seen. As a mere human, I
cannot even begin or pretend to understand all that this meant to our Father,
or to Jesus Christ – that He should take my place, and bear my punishment, so
that I (or we) may share in His Glory. Many years ago in India a young boy was
adopted by a headmaster and his wife. The boy became increasingly wayward and
rebellious. One day after the boy had committed a flagrant act of disobedience
the headmaster took a cane and told the boy to hold out his hand. The boy stood
there defiant and full of bravado but stretched out his hand. The headmaster
brought down the cane heavy and hard … not on the boy’s hand but on his own.
Seeing what had happened, the boy cried with inner pain, fell at his father’s
feet and asked for forgiveness. After that the boy was completely different and
was to eventually become a Bishop in India. Every Good Friday he would tell
that story as an illustration of how his father’s suffering broke something
inside of him and freed him from himself.
Other
stories of human self-sacrifice abound, which speak of a genuine laying down of
one’s life in love for another. Yes, we worship a God of love and mercy – but
He is also a God of judgment and righteousness, a holy God. Only the blood of
Jesus Christ, shed on Calvary’s hill, can make us worthy even to approach His
presence. This was the Supreme Sacrifice, above any other ever made. “Jesus,
Son of God and Saviour of my soul, I am humbled by Your willingness to come to
earth, die on a cross, all in order to save me. My soul has been conquered by
You. I worship for ever at Your feet – Your humble and obedient disciple.
Amen”.
73, and God’s peace and blessing be with you all,
until we meet again.
Graham ZL3NZ and Mary ZL3MD
(I
acknowledge Selwyn Hughes in “Every Day with Jesus” for the above anecdote –
also the prayer).
Fellowship Motto
To do
good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)
Contact us: Graham or Mary Dacombe,
20 Allin Drive, Waikuku Beach 7402 North Canterbury
Phone: 03-312 7782 Fax:
03-312 7783 Email: arcf@xtra.co.nz
Nets: Saturdays 7.30 p.m. on 3.650 MHz – Sundays 4 p.m. on 7.050 MHz
Website www.arcf.co.nz