2025 Feast of Tabernacles: Mossel Bay, South Africa

Mossel Bay experienced another inspiring and blessed Feast, albeit a challenging one, with our numbers being down with a good few members not being able to attend, service and activity attendance being affected by a bug that seemed to be going around not just the Feast site, but the area in general, and fewer international visitors than any of our previous Feasts in Mossel Bay. Our highest attendance at service was on the first Holy Day, with a total of 129, and our lowest being 101, on the Sabbath. We had five international visitors, from Spain and the U.K.

Nonetheless, we were a group grateful to be together, enjoying good messages, inspiring special music, abundant fellowship and many shared meals. Also, with fewer people, numerous opportunities to serve opened up, sometimes unexpectedly, and there was always someone to stand in the gap in ways that were truly inspiring to experience.

As we’ve done for the last few years, we once again had open-house evenings, hosted by one of our elders and those sharing accommodation with him. Here, on any evening without a planned activity, ALL are invited to a meal and fellowship. This year saw a more focused approach, with visitors submitting Bible questions for discussion which encouraged much debate. 

Also, in our eagerness to share a meal and fellowship, one of our mystery invitations (sign up either as a guest or a host, and the coordinator decides who you’ll be spending the evening with) evolved into an evening of over 30 guests! It’s also always so nice to be able to pop into the hotel restaurant and invariably find people to join for a conversation.

In an area where the wind can really howl through, we were blessed with great weather just when we needed it for our numerous outdoor activities—daily morning fellowship walks along a beautiful stretch of white sand beach, a family picnic and “braai” (a barbecue, but better), a game drive at a nearby game farm, and a visit to a family strawberry farm with the largest natural maze in the southern hemisphere, and all the strawberries you wish to pick. We truly have been blessed to have such an abundance of opportunities to experience such a beautiful part of the country.

We also enjoyed numerous indoor activities which encouraged interaction and getting to know one another. A welcome evening, which included teams competing to build the tallest tower of marshmallows and spaghetti, was one of these activities. We also repeated our lively-as-ever musical evening and hymn sing-along, seniors’ lunch, and as always, the bingo evening, enjoyed by a surprising range of ages, from the very young to the most senior.

Our stage décor was again an inspiration to behold, and has become one of our Feast highlights. The banner, featuring Isaiah 2:2, was beautifully complemented by a visual feast of numerous protea varieties and other flowers. 

This has been another Feast of Tabernacles to add to our memories, our spiritual growth and our vision of the beautiful future God has planned for His creation.