Latest Newsletter

Don't worry - we've got plenty more to tell what's happened in the past few weeks; we just need time to edit and post them! Look for them very soon. In the mean time, have a look at our latest newsletter by clicking HERE!

LSE Retreat

With LSE's and the US team

Today I played driver! The team from the States took all of our Life Skills Educators on a day retreat to the city. The day did not go as the team planned, but it was a wonderful day out none the less. They planned a trip to Robben Island for everyone, but the ferry was under construction. So the plan changed to Table Mountain, but this morning we woke up to a thick fog and gail force winds! But as with everything, flexibility and adaptability is so key to adjusting to life in ministry - and the team were amazingly flexible. We squeezed the team of 16, and the 20+ LSE's into 3 vans and then the car that I drove. So instead of the set out plan, we went to the Company Gardens where Clynton (the Team House manager) gave us a nice little tour of the gardens. Then we headed over to the Slave Lodge for a very informative (and eye-opening) tour of South Africa's history of slavery. After which we headed over Signal Hill to hear the noon cannon firing and the see the beautiful view of the city. It was so nice for me to get out of the office and to be able to spend time with both the LSE's and the team. We drove back to the Team House via the beautifully scenic Chapman's Peak drive. I left them for lunch and the rest of their program - but what a wonderful distraction from my ordinary day!

Tours have become a lifestyle

People have started joking that we should become professional tour guides as we do lot of Living Hope tours and are becoming pros at it! Today we did the second tour this week for a group of 26 people. Included in the group was 3 Grannies from Alabama (the grandmother and great aunts of one of our missionaries), a family of 5 from SA and US, 1 from our church's social justice ministry and then the 16 from the team that arrived yesterday. The team is from Tennessee in the US and will be doing such a variety of projects in Red Hill this week. With such a big tour we had to divide into 2 vans and do an opposite tour - in other words we don't go to the same community or locations at the same time so that we don't seem like we are putting our clients and the people living in the communities we serve on display.

Home Affairs

This morning we made our way into the city for (what we thought was) Tim's interview for his residency at the South African Home Affairs in Cape Town. We met with our representative at the agency who is handling our application on our behalf to get briefed on the process. After making sure all our documentation was in order, we headed over to the Home Affairs offices. They sent another representative to escort us over and then yet another one met us at the offices - she waited in line on our behalf! Imagine that kind of service.. right? Well, that's what we thought. We walked right to the front of the Home Affairs line (which just felt wrong since there were so many people who have been waiting for hours) only to be told that Tim's application for Permanent Residency can not be processed until he gets his Temporary Residency approved - well of course not! Needless to say we are a bit disappointed that we had to go through all of that thinking we would be able to get his residency sorted, just to be told that we have to wait a few more months before we can even apply. Disappointed that the agency didn't take the time to tell us this before we went through all the trouble and time off of work. So please pray with us so that Tim's Temporary Residency gets approved and that we can then go ahead and process his application.

Singapore Team

With some of the team on the beach.

The team loved doing "jumping shots"

For the last few days we've had the amazing privilege of hosting a team of 26 people from Singapore. The group came out to Cape Town for a few days to see the city and to visit us at Living Hope. They first learned about Living Hope  Rich Stearns (President of World Vision)'s book "The Hole in our Gospel" and decided to send a team out here to come and see what we do and how they can partner with us. On Sunday they visited King of Kings and Masi Baptist Churches to see how we worship traditionally. Yesterday we took on a tour of all of Living Hope, but unlike the regular tour that just quickly visits all the sites and communities in 3 hours, we extended the tour to a full day to get them the full experience. They spend more time at Living Grace (the homeless ministry), Living Way (the economic empowerment ministry) and then joined Kids Clubs in 2 different locations. They were such a wonderful group and such a joy to have. They bring a completely different perspective to our ministry and is such a blessing to Living Hope.

Joining in on the "jumping shots" fun!

Happy Birthday Tim!

Today is Tim's Birthday!! We spent the day giving a tour to a large team and then the evening was spent with our Volunteers in our Small Group. Tracy, a long-term volunteer, baked Tim a beautiful cake! So it wasn't a particularly different day, but we had a wonderful day with friends out yesterday - a few of the volunteers treated us to a seafood lunch out! What a blessing and such a treat for the birthday boy!

A Year Ago Today!

1 Year Ago Today we departed on the trip of a lifetime - we left London on Feb 17, 2010! Can hardly believe that a whole year has gone by since we started the most exciting chapter of our lives so far!


Read all about it: http://changethruhope2010.blogspot.com/2010/02/day-1.html


We’ve decided to do something unique for covering the overland trip from London to Cape Town. We’ve decided to make it a continued feature over the next several months. So right now we’re featuring the preparations and departure from England, and the first days in Europe. We will come out with “new” blogs and pictures from what happened a year ago! So watch this space!