WhatsApp weekly update (16–21 February 2026)

Hi everyone: For this week, let’s start beyond the end and move backwards….

On Monday 23 February, we celebrate Dr Allan Boesak’s 80th birthday! Some of us know him from the 70s and 80s. What a privilege (a God-incidence?) that he is at Volmoed at this time, especially as the world said farewell to another prophetic figure (Rev Jesse Jackson) this week. We wish him well and thank him for his dynamic ministry over many many years. His 1976 book “Farewell to Innocence” will be re-launched at UWC on Monday.

This last week could turn out to be the most consequential week of the year for the Volmoed Youth programme, especially as the VYLTP Leadership team is currently meeting. On Friday, we had an excellent session with two Volmoed Trustees to determine how we will journey forward together this year, deeply mindful of the governance requirements of the Volmoed Trust and the wonderful presence of the young people at Volmoed every Thursday since March 2023. Part of this reflection is happening because this is the 10th anniversary year of the Youth programme and the 40th anniversary year of Volmoed as a whole. We committed to journeying together as we really are a gift to each other. The 10th anniversary theme “I call you friends” will guide us. Watch this space….

At our Thursday session on reconciliation with John de Gruchy (the author of “Reconcilation: restoring justice” and resident of Volmoed) we were reminded how telling the truth is not only a prerequisite for reconciliation (after all, the truth shall set us free), but how telling the truth is also a skill, if a relationship is going to be maintained, deepened and healed. So is listening a skill in the reconciliation journey. John reminded us that these two skills can and should be learnt and practiced, especially if the church is going to make a meaningful contribution to reconciliation.

On Wednesday, the young people took an almost 90 minute walk to the top of “Hoy se koppie” in central Hermanus and then to Grotto beach via the new cliff path. Hermanus is beautiful, and this beauty was on full display on Wednesday.

On Tuesday we had a visit from members of the Women’s action group based in Mt Pleasant who wants to journey with the young people to assist with their physical health. Our first full session with them will be on Friday and hopefully this will continue for an initial three months.

Next week Thursday the young people meet with the dean of Coventry Cathedral to wrap up the month-long focus on reconciliation. We have come to realise that we need many more months to deal with this topic so we will circle back to it every now and then.

And… drumroll…The following Thursday on 5 March at 10h00, the Gift of the Givers will bring Rev Munther Isaac from Ramallah, Palestine and some students from the Bethlehem Bible college to preach and teach at Volmoed. They will then lead a conversation with everyone who will stay behind after the Thursday service. As Christians started Lent and Muslims started Ramadan this week, we are once again reminded that there is a better way than perpetual conflict and war: that we can indeed build friendships across many artificial barriers and journey together as a human family. True peace is possible…

Again, a big thank you for all your support and efforts to support us. A big THANKS especially to Molly Wood at Volmoed and also to Steve Hendrickson from Boston for all your efforts!

Edwin Arrison

WhatsApp weekly update (9–14 February 2026)

This was another interesting week. Our session on “Reconciliation” on Thursday led by Dr Allan Boesak was preceded by an excellent sermon by him on the Transfiguration text. You had to be there. It was entitled: “there is a boy waiting”.

In our session afterwards, he focused mainly on the Biblical texts related to “reconciliation” (2 Cor 5, Gal 3 etc.) but spent a lot of time on the Zaccheus story in Luke 19. It is hard to keep a preacher from preaching, so we were served a 5-course meal on reconciliation starting with repentance and ending in restoration. One notable insight was that if we all put in the same effort that Zaccheus put in, a deep and profound relationship with God and neighbour becomes possible. At the end, I recommended that everybody should read “When ubuntu takes flight” in his book “Pharoahs on both sides of the blood red waters” and “The re-radicalisation of Desmond Tutu” in the book “Radical reconciliation”. This coming Thursday John de Gruchy will lead us in the conversation on reconciliation.

Speaking of Desmond Tutu: there is a rose named after him, and two members of a Friday online Eucharist group (Lavinia Crawford-Browne and Nulda Beyers) came to deliver 10 Desmond Tutu rose-bushes at Volmoed for it to be planted there. Visitors to Volmoed will soon see this new feature! Thank you to the Friday group who responded so positively to my suggestion.

A member of St Peter’s parish (her name is Gao) has been attending the sessions on reconciliation and (after drumming with the young people) she brought her son on Friday to see how the young people make the drums. Afterwards (while getting lunch for the young people) we went into a small business support office in Hermanus to see if they can support the drum-making project. We are not holding our breath (unfortunately government structures are not normally efficient) but we will continue to engage them.

Thursdays 4pm during Lent: Rev Wilma Jakobsen, chaplain at Volmoed, will lead Taize prayers there every Thursday for 6 weeks. The young people will join from next week. All are welcome to attend this as an act of prayer during Lent.