jesmond team put video on youtube

this afternoon andy greenshields place a video montage that he had put together of the trip he made with the rest of the team from jesmond/newcastle to the village of hope earlier this year. if you wanna have a look at what mission teams get up to when they come to serve the community via our thembalitsha projects here in grabouw then please follow this link to andy's youtube post.

thanks andy and its great to have a record of what you did for us and our community.

ever wondered what a short term mission team gets up to?

last month we had the pleasure of welcoming joe williams and his team from jesmond onto the thembalitsha projects here in grabouw (see post here about their arrival). one of the team, andy, has made a short account of their trip, which we have posted below. i hope this will give you some idea of what our short term mission teams get up to and will help you see the benefits to both them and to the community that we serve.

Andy’s Africa Account


Our
 time
 at
 the
 farm
 mainly
 consisted
 of
 2
 duties,
 helping
 the
 ‘house
 moms’
 and
 painting
 the
 house.
 Helping
 out
 the
 ‘House
 Moms’
 look
 after 
the 
children 
was 
very 
tiring 
at 
first because
 they 
were 
so 
energetic!
 It 
was 
also 
great 
to 
see 
a safe
 haven
 for
 them.



We
 worked
 to
 decorate
 an old 
house 
that 
was 
being 
converted 
in
to 
a 
new
 office;
 again
 this
 was
 another
 time
 to
 see
 the
 team
 work 
together 
productively.
 Although
 some
 would
 say
 equal
 amounts
 of
 paint
 ended
 up
 on

the
 floor 
tiles 
than 
the 
walls!




I
 was
 also
 privileged
 to
 accompany
 a
 couple
 of
 the
 Themba‐care
 Nurses
 on
 one
 of
 their
 rounds 
of 
the township,
 Rooidakke.
 Feeling 
slightly 
daunted
 as 
I 
was 
split 
from
 Izze, I 
joined
 8 
Nurses 
and 
we 
headed
 out
in 
a 
Combi
 (van).
 It 
was 
a 
relief 
when 
the
 2
 Nurses
 and
 myself got 
out 
in 
the 
township 
to
 do
 the 
round.
 The
aim
 was 
to 
check 
that 
the
 patients 
were 
taking
 their
 medication
 and
 that
 their
 prescriptions
 were
 in
 order.
 What
 they
 explained
 and
 became
 obvious
 as
 the
 morning
 went
 on
 was
 the
 problem
 of
 relocation.
 The
 government
 had
 a
 housing 
improvement
 plan
 where 
they 
were 
building 
new
 houses 
for 
those 
living 
in

shacks.
 However
 this
 was
 proving
 problematic
 in
 finding
 some
 patients.
 Moreover
 I
 was
 astonished
 by
 the
 commitment
 and
 professionalism
 of
 the
 Nurses
 as
 they
 were
 coming
 to
 work 
immaculate
 dressed
 and
 yet 
they 
too 
were 
living 
in 
the 
Townships.



We
 also
 spent
 time
 helping
 to
 run
 a
 holiday
 club
 for
 a
 local
 church.
 This
 was 
great 
to 
harness 
all 
our 
individual

skills
 for
 the
 enjoyment
 of
 the
 children.
 The 
first 
couple 
of 
days 
were
 mayhem
 but
 we
 soon
 settled
 in
 to
 a

routine:
 running
 games, 
teaching
 them
 songs,
 crafts
 and
 everyday
 we
 managed
 to
 give
 a
 short
 Bible
 Message.
 Some
 of
 the
 older
 children
 could
 understand
 English
 so
 we
 pray
 that
 the
 seeds
 we
 sowed
 in
 those
 2 weeks 
can
 grow.


We
 also
 had
 great
 time
 of
 relaxation
 and
 fellowship
 in
 our
 time
 off.



Highlights
 include
 standing
 on
 top
 of
 Table
 Mountain,
 seeing
 penguins
 at
 our 
feet 
and
 celebrating
 the 
4th

July
 on the
 farm
 with
 the
 kids
 and
 the
 American
 Volunteers,
 Britton
 and
 Tyler.
 
 In
 addition
 each
 evening
 we

had
 a
 time
 of
 study,
 alternating
 between
 the
 Sermon
 on
 the
 Mount
 and
 Tim
 Keller’s
 book,
 ‘Counterfeit

Gods’.
These
 were
 great
 times 
to 
focus our
 work
 on
 God
 amongst
 the
 excitement 
of 
the
 trip 
and
 spend 
time

learning
 from
 each
 other.
 In
 each
 morning 
meeting 
we 
would 
close
 with 
The 
Lords 
Prayer 
and 
this 
was 
great
as 
it 
made 
me think
 on
 each
 sentence
 and
 gain 
a 
deeper 
understanding 
of 
God’s
 sovereignty 
at 
the
 start 
of

each
 day.



I
 had
 a 
 great
 time
 with 
Joe,
 Izze,
 Lucy, 
Beth, 
Jen 
and
 Jasper
 learning
 from
 and
 assisting 
in 
the work
 of
 the
 Village
 of
 Hope.
 Many
 thanks
 go
 to
 Tim
 and
 Maz
 for
 their
 hospitality
 and
 the
 great
 encouragement
 they
 are
 in
 being
 a
 light
 of
 God
 in
 Grabouw.
 A
 connection
 with
 the
 project 
has 
been
 made 
and 
I 
hope 
to 
support
 it 
more,
it
 will 
always 
be
 in
 my
 prayers 
and
 I hope
 to 
return. 



One 
thing 
that 
it 
has 
taught 
me 
is 
that 
although
 I 
have 
my
own
 difficulties
 they 
are 
nothing 
in 
comparison 
to 
the
 needs 
of 
those
 in 
Grabouw,
 I
 have 
nothing
 to
 worry
 about.

 It 
is 
my
 prayer 
that 
the
 Lord
 continues 
to 
bless
 The 
Village 
of 
Hope.


thanks for the brief but positive account andy, and we hope to see you again very soon.

newcastle team arrive

jesmond team on strand beach

last week we were delighted to welcome back joe williams, who volunteered with us before the whole of the village of hope was set up in 2008. joe spent three months with us on that first visit, but has bought six of his home church friends with him this time.

the team are from jesmond, newcastle, and they will be with us for just over two weeks. they are all very keen and will be helping out with the children in our unit and some of the holiday clubs that we support during this three week winter break. they will also start painting the new office space, which maz is very excited about.