Tree of Life

08/10/2026

30/09/2026

Not every meaningful moment makes it into our newsletter.

Sometimes it looks like someone putting the kettle on. Or staying behind to stack the chairs.

A lot of life at Tree of Life happens in these little in-between moments. They might not look like much from the outside, but this is how we keep learning to share life with one another. In the bits between the big moments.

24/09/2026

Grab a cuppa and enjoy the wisdom and challenge from one of our community's leaders, (uncle) Leon, as he reflects on this Heritage Day.

23/09/2026

Some people understood the assignment. Others had a lot more to say 😂

21/09/2026

We love making room for creativity in our community.

Our Writers' and Artists' Collectives meet monthly. These spaces bring people together to write, make and create things, share ideas and discover what might be waiting on the other side of a blank page.

Here's a glimpse of our community open mic night, coming again soon! 🎤

15/09/2026

School looks a little different around here.

As part of life in our residential programme, we make space each week for learning.

Sometimes that means working on literacy and numeracy.
Sometimes it's practising reading fluency.
Other days we're watching documentaries, talking about current affairs and learning how to engage with what's happening in the world around us.

We believe learning should be accessible to all - no matter why school didn't work the first time, how your beautiful brain works, or even if you think it's too late to start.

09/09/2026

a moment from the prayer room..

"For God did not give us a spirit of fearfulness, but of power and love and a sound-mind."
2 Tim 1:7

07/09/2026

This week, we're joining communities around the world for the Global Week of 24-7 Prayer.

Different cities. Different languages. Different churches and communities. One week of people choosing to stop, make space and pray.

And right here in Manenberg, our prayer room will be part of it.

There's something pretty special about knowing that while we pray for our streets, our neighbours, our families and our city, people around the world are doing the same for theirs.

Prayer has always been at the heart of Tree of Life. So getting to add our small ""yes"" to a much bigger movement feels pretty significant.

**get in touch if you'd like to join in with our prayer room

01/09/2026

Why do we pray?

Not because we have all the right words or because prayer magically makes the hard things disappear.

We pray because we believe Jesus is present in the middle of it all.

In the addiction and recovery. The grief and celebration. The questions we don't have answers for. The decisions we have to make. The people and places we love deeply.

Prayer has always been woven into the everyday life of Tree of Life. Sometimes it's a room full of people worshipping. Sometimes it's a few of us around a table. Sometimes it's one person quietly praying for Manenberg.

Different spaces. Same posture:

Jesus, what are You doing here, and how can we join You?

27/08/2026

How do we read the Bible with Manenberg in mind?

Who are we reading with?

Spiritual Formation is one of the regular rhythms at Tree of Life - it’s a space to go deeper into Scripture, explore the context it was written in, ask questions, wrestle with what we’re reading and think about what it means to follow Jesus here and now.

We’re not reading the Bible in a vacuum. We’re reading it in Manenberg. In a community where questions of justice, violence, poverty, family, forgiveness, hope and restoration are very real parts of everyday life.

So we keep opening the Bible together, asking questions and learning.

And we keep discovering what it looks like to follow Jesus right here, right where we are.