heartbreaks for our community

i write today to share some experiences that we hear about daily, the first happened to one of children in the community that we work with, this isn't a request for money but its about how best to show God's love to this families in their time of need.

about 6 months ago a very poor family, 4 people sharing a single room timber built shack, came to me to ask if i could find them a good second hand computer that their 17 year old son could use and that they could buy via me, their son is doing well at school and also helps arron with his soccer club near their home.

well amazingly someone donated a laptop, which was working to a standard that it could be passed on to them, with the agreement that they would pay for it, nominal R500, about £35.00, i just didn't want to give it away as everyone has to understand our roll in the community (that we don't just hand out) and even a second hand laptop has value...

we left for our 6 week trip to england and when i got back the mom was beside herself, she had been waiting those weeks to let me know that she didn't have the means to pay for the laptop as yet, but was going to start paying as soon as she could, my heart broke for her and for the situation, i told her not to worry herself and that payment at any time would be ok...

anyways, yesterday their little home was broken into, and amongst other things the laptop was stolen.........i haven't seen the mom yet but just wanted to let people know the type of place we are working in, the heart break of a family who want to see their son do well in school, provide for him beyond their means....

the second story is of a child from our local community who starved to death in their home not 400meters from where we live, there are people, including thembacare here in town, even some of our amazing volunteers from new york have been out this week, who provide food parcels to the poor and needy, its not a case of not having its a case of best supporting people once we know.

this isn't a plea for laptops, money or anything else other than to pray for these two families, their neighbours and the wider community we seek to serve everyday.

eyes of dispair, oppertunities of hope

yesterday afternoon i returned to work with the kids at the hillside area of grabouw, it had been 6 weeks since i last saw them, and some devastating stuff had been happening to them and their friends from that area. many of the children, mostly the girls who we play/train netball with had been removed from their families due to abuse (of varying nature) and the numbers of kids attending our club was much lower than normal. as i looked into the eyes of some of those children i could see utter despair...my heart broke for them as i thought about their futures, their education and job opportunities, the homes they would create when they grow up.... and what would these children grow up to be like....their parents? or maybe with a little help well balanced members of a new south africa?...

here at the village of hope we not only look after 10 children infected with HIV but we also work with children all around grabouw, the teaching programme we use with the children is the ubabalo eafrica soccer skills, this not only looks at providing the children with a skill, like playing football but also lifeskills with a biblical teaching attached to give them the chance to grow up to be amazing adults..

....we are not looking for the next david beckham or even the next nelson mandela, but we are looking to invest in children who will become key players in their families, homes and communities....if you would like to see a short clip of the ubabalo initiative then please follow this link and see the way we are trying to bring a 'new hope' (thembalitsha) to these wonderful little souls..

village gives hope to another 2 children

today we were able to assist with the placement of two very vulnerable children who's mother has just been taken into our thembacare AIDS centre in grabouw, these two children from the nearest community will be with us while their mother receives the care that will enable her to take care of these children once she has been stabilised by our amazing team at thembacare. we now are back up to 10 children in our 9 bed unit so space is once again at a premium, however with three of our children now attending school or pre-school each day we are able to help these two dear ones at their time of need.

walkers return and tim's birthday!!

well tim, maz and arron have returned from their 6 week long tour of england, during that time they were able to speak to many people, churches, schools etc to share their heart for the poor and needy in south africa, and especially God's call on their lives. they also encouraged others to seek the poor, whether that be in the physical or the spiritual, in their own towns, villages, streets and neighbourhoods.....Jesus doesn't call everyone to grabouw but he certainly does call everyone to do something!..

upon their return they found that the work that was started has continued, daz, lisa and johan have done a sterling job in keeping all the plates spinning and sandra and reagan have continued the work with the children in the town.

the walkers are going to take sometime to readjust back into 'africa' and today tim is gonna be enjoying his birthday with the rest of the team....

more updates will follow shortly.