a wholehearted walkers update III

yes handri its ice!

if you have been following us recently you will know that we have been busy with a tour around england with a wonderful worship band called wholehearted, we have had an amazing time and we just wanted to capture a few highlights of the tour with you. 


last monday morning we met the band at Gatwick at 7am and were joined by 'tour manager/driver/sound enginer' and wanna be drummer, mr james porter, after the first of many coffees we exposed the band made up of charl folscher, pierre and helena smith, handri and jaqueline de villiers and daniel botha, along with danni's wife sanmarie (who worked her magic with the multi media presentations during the evening) to the icy cold english weather, which was nice and frosty. we then drove down to Bath (taking around 3 hours!) and settled them in....later we met up later in Bath to show them the christmas market, but it was shut by 7pm! (typical!)


tuesday we met up for prayer and then ventured down to taunton for an evening event at the living light church, during the set up we were able to see the new video that had been shot in grabouw to accompany the bands new song 'hope is herre' which with the video images is very heart wrenching and certainly made an impact to those who saw it during the rest of the tour. the evening went really well, sound was great and we had a lot of people there, we even managed to get the text message service working linked to our justgiving page which was good, we shared about the work we do in grabouw, which i think touched people and the worship was also amazing.

at monkton combe

wednesday we had the day to spend with our son chris and wife claire and their two boys, the UK was on strike so it was busy everywhere so we chilled and then went to a farm with the kids...was nice, the band had a few issues with procuring equipment for the evening event which was to take place at 6pm at Monkton Combe school, around 130 kids who attend the school came along, plus my friend Mal and his wife, and chris and claire and the kids, me and maz gave a brief overview of our work in south africa and after a meal in the 'harry potter style' dinning room we hosted another event for the older more committed kids this was a more chilled event where charl shared and we ministered.


on thursday we met up for lunch in bathhampton with the band and left for Aylesbury, we arrived to set up for the event at aylesbury vale vineyard which was great, our UK marketing team made up of ellie and jess, ably supported by andy were wonderful, there were loads of people from different churches, some we knew and some we didn't and we raised a huge amount on the night!

river boat ride down the thames

our friday started with prayer and communion with mick at the vineyard, where he was also able to show the guys around their storehouse project which they were very impressed with, we then made our swift drive to london for the first gig at EN hammersmith, a great venue in a old church, no pews!, band were a little tired but we really enjoyed the cheese and wine on what was a bit more of a chilled out evening, where we once again raised quite a large amount for thembalithsa and we also had good conversations with new and old friends from wolfi's church.

wholehearted worship

now for our day off......well we were up and out by 9 for our tour of london, we managed to fit in lots of interesting things and had great fun with the band, we were in westmister at 12 noon for big ben, then onto horse guards and down to see the queen, the band we introduced to the london underground as we got on the tube to covent garden (the band were disappointed that there were no flowers!), then another tube to tower bridge, tower of london, then ferry down the thames back to the london eye for a quick spin, we then took a wander down south bank christmas market to a pub overlooking the river for a pint or two....then back to the station and home!...nice relaxing day off!


sunday had a bit of a different feel, i went to slough and shared with about 50 people at the EN church

charl sharing his highlights!

there, i gave the talk and finished at 12, but we took another hour to pray for people who were moved by my talk, which was great, maz and the band were at hammersmith, where they lead worship and maz spoke, it sounded like they had a good time, then i drove back to london to meet met maz and wolfi and spent the afternoon with them. the band went off to play at EN Stratford for their 3.30 service. me and maz then shared at the EN6pm service at Imperial College London, which went really well well.


we all met up in richmond for our last supper together and in true village of hope style shared our highlights and low lights of the trip, which was very touching.





it was an amazing time, we shared joy, fun, laughter, shed a tear or two and celebrated the new hope which thembalitsha are providing via the 7 projects in the western cape....thanks for joining us guys.

the walkers return.....

well after nearly 4 weeks in england tim, maz and arron have returned to the village of hope, where barbara, emma, daz and lisa held fort, thanks to them and their efforts which are very much appreciated.

there were obvoulsy some very taxing times when we were away, especially with our 10 year old boy being taken into the red cross childrens hospital with life treatening complications but there were also some very positive improvements made, johan has done a great job of turning our new shed into a very workable office space and we thank him for completing that before we got home!

whilst we were in england we had an oppertunity to share the work that we are doing with serveral hundred people at various events and we would like to thank the wider thembalitshauk team for setting those events up, they included a barn dance, two speaking oppertunities at local churches, an evening event at ashby de le zouch, speaking to junior school children in oxfordshire and a 'safari' supper (where you have an evening meal at various homes and come together for pudding at the end).....

we think the greatest blessing on our return was the oppertunity that we had to visit our 10 year old boy immideiatly we landed in cape town, to see his face light up as he saw 'mommy maz' was amazing, we continue to pray for him and he certainly isn't out of the woods yet but when all is said and done our calling to south africa is all about making a difference, whether that be to a large community or to one very sick little boy.

walkers home and our eldest boy back in hospital

tim, maz and arron have been back in england for the last couple of weeks and have spent time catching up with friends and family, time is going fast and it's not long now till they return to south africa on the 14th september. if you would like to see them before they leave then please come along to the fundraising barn dance at the church of the good shepherd in aylesbury on the 11th september!

whilst they have been away daz and lisa, along with barbara and emma (and jenny) have been holding the fort.....please pray as the news from the village of hope is not good for our eldest (10 year old) boy who is back in the red cross children's hospital....thanks

school days, tour dates and americans

tim, maz and arron continue their themba speaking tour throughout the south of england, but are spending a few days down with their son and daughter in bath, in the rain. they have had some amazing times chatting with children and young people at school assemblies and catching up with 'old' friends and making some new acquaintances at various churches including meeting up with the everynation church in hammersmith where daz and lisa hail from.

news from the village of hope, via daz, is that our eldest boy, 9 years old but with learning difficulties, started school on monday, which is brilliant for him and will help our mums to care for the little ones easier!......our 8 year old girl is back in hospital with pneumonia, not good but she is in the best place at the mo.

finally we have had two teams from america over since we have been in england and they are doing some amazing stuff out in the community as well as supporting some of the other thembalitsha projects......