New Years!

Happy New Years!! Today is very symbolic for the two of us as we close an incredible chapter in our lives and look to opening a promising new one this 2011! 2010 was filled with so many different adventures, challenges and experiences that have shaped us anew and that we will remember all of our lives. May 2011 be blessed and even more amazing than 2010! 

Goodbye Al!

We sadly say goodbye to Al today – on Christmas day of all days! Al has been here with Living Hope as a long-term volunteer for the past 18 months and was so welcoming to us as new missionaries. He worked in Red Hill as a Life Skills Educator and played a very integral part in the partnership between Red Hill and our church partner from South Carolina, US and the community development in that community. Furthermore, Al is the volunteer who wrote the Living Hope Coffee Table Book called “Faces of Hope” that will be released later this year (so watch this space). Al, we will seriously miss you here!

A Hot Christmas

I can’t believe it’s here already – Christmas Day! Natasha and I drove up to Paarl to spend the day and night with Natasha’s father and family. We were treated to a DELICIOUS home-cooked family dinner with stuffed pork, corned beef, and roast chicken. It was a very relaxing day. We are so grateful for this time off from work to celebrate the very reason we do what we came here to do: Jesus!

Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve! We early on realized that there are a few volunteers that will be around for Christmas this year and not going home. So even though we had plans with my family for Christmas day, we still wanted to give the volunteers something to do for Christmas this year. 13 of us got together as “family” at ours for fingerfoods, drinks, white elephant and other games! Good times! Living Hope will be closed for the holidays over the next week, so we all get some time off to relax and recharge!

A Surprise Visit

We were totally surprised on the 11^th when my little sister let us know that she was coming down for a visit with us here in Cape Town in a few days! To be honest, at first we were a bit worried about the timing of her visit as we had so many things on the big to-do-list to accomplish in our time off. But God is so amazing and knows just what we needed. She arrived on the 14^th and with her here for a week we were forced to take time out and have a little vacation for ourselves – or from ourselves! She wanted to see so much of Cape Town that we got to see and visit many of Cape Town’s major sights with her – as tourists! Ha ha ha! But how great that was as we don’t really get many opportunities to visit them with the crazy busy life we live here. Besides taking in all the beautiful sights and scenery, we decided to bake Christmas gifts this year – since it’s cheaper! LOL So we found a recipe online and baked around a 100 cookies, decorated and then wrapped it in cellophane! Fun fun fun! My sister and I very seldom get to spend alone time together, so t was completely a God-sent. Sadly, the time flew by as she headed back to Pretoria this morning and we have to wait till the next time we get spend such good time together!

Carols By Candlelight

Tonight we got together with several new friends and volunteers to enjoy the beautiful sights and sounds of Christmas at Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. We came early and brought a picnic dinner and enjoyed the garden views in beautiful, sunny weather with the backdrop of Table Mountain. About 1,500 people attended. What an amazing sight it was incredible to see all the flickers of candlelight across the outdoor amphitheater-like area! It was great to sing all the familiar Christmas carols in between re-enacted scenes of the Christmas story, narrated with the words of the gospels. Many people who attend are not Christian, so to hear them sharing the gospel so openly is really such a realization of the freedom we have.

Fundraising Committee

As the new Special Events Coordinator for Living Hope, I’ve been asked to join the Living Hope Fundraising committee. The committee is set-up to discuss different ways in which we can raise funds for Living Hope. With all the funding cuts over the past 2 years, Living Hope is left to find ways to be self-sustainable and to be creative about the ways in which we can fund the current ministries of Living Hope. Although Living Hope experienced tremendous growth over the past 10 years of its existence, the funding cuts have forced us to relook what we have going on right now and how to accomplish our mission more effectively. The main goal is to reach people for Christ – so if we can accomplish that then we would have done what Living Hope set out to do. The projects are the way we accomplish that goal. So the funding is needed to do the community projects to ultimately reach people for Christ. That being said, the fundraising committee comprises of the Living Hope Trust Chair and Living Hope founder (John Thomas), the general managers, a few board members, Marketing Department… and me! LOL I felt a little out of my league, but also know that God has me on this committee for a reason. Its funny how God brings us full-circle… when I felt the calling to go into full-time HIV/AIDS ministry I gave up my career path and dream of Events Coordination - now I find myself in and HIV/AIDS NGO as the Events Coordinator. All you can do is smile.  We will be organizing a Golf Day, a Gala Dinner and an Open Day. The Golf Day and Gala Dinner are both to raise awareness and funds among local businessmen and women. The Open Day on the other hand is to raise awareness among the local pastors and general communities – it seems that most of them don’t really know what Living Hope is about or what Living Hope does. What currently happens is that people come to Christ through Living Hope’s programs in the communities in which we serve. But since Living Hope is not a church, partnering with the local churches is absolutely crucial for these individuals growth beyond salvation.  Tim and I are finding that a large part of our ministry here is in building relationships with these local pastors and their wives. That all being said, we realize that 2011 is going to be an incredibly busy and amazingly exciting year for us!

Cape Town Bike Show

Bike Show at Living Way Campus

Living Way, our economic empowerment division at Living Hope, hosted a motorbike show fundraiser on its premises today, the first of its kind. Natasha and I volunteered to help staff the event, from ticket sales to the Living Hope info table. The turnout was good, thanks to great weather. We hope to see more events like this in the future, not only to raise funds, but also to increase awareness in the local community. Many we talked to at the info table had a very limited understanding of what Living Hope was all about, if at all. We took full advantage of the opportunity to share the news, and got many positive responses and some contacts interested in helping out.

Capricorn Parties

Today we helped host the last 2 of the 12 Living Hope Christmas Parties and without the Extreme Response team! Capricorn and Overcome Heights are the 2 communities in which we have the most Support Group Clients serving over 600 people.  The two parties were almost identical: the 100’s of guests gathered in the Living Hope Capricorn facility (4 containers with a roof cover) with some Christmas music on someone’s boombox, every group prepared some Christmas Carols and music to perform to everyone else and then everyone shared a basic meal together. It was truly a fun day! This past week has been an incredible experience - each party has been amazing and unique. Hosting these Christmas parties has been such a great opportunity for Tim and I to get to meet all the clients, patients and children that Living Hope serves. It actually is humbling to realize how many people are served through Living Hope’s different projects. Had we not helped with hosting the parties, we probably would never have gotten to meet all the staff and clients that we did over this past week!

Another good friend leaves

Praying for Al and Michelle

Today we said good-bye to a great man of God who has been serving at Living Hope continuously for the past year and a half, and then some before that, both individually and on visiting church teams. Al has played a huge role in Life Skills Education, particularly in Red Hill. I had the privilege watch him in action when a team from his home church was here last month to do outreach there. He has a quiet strength about him, and when he is in his element, whether teaching God’s word at kids club or leading by example to the Living Hope staff he works alongside, he leaves an impression. I’m encouraged to be a better person when I’m around him, and I know he has had the same effect on others. Al, we’ll miss you. You’ve faithfully served with your whole heart here, and we wish you the best in what God has next for you!

A quiet Christmas Party

The Health Care Centre Christmas Party was relatively uneventful. The Health Care Centre is a 22 bed In-patient Unit for extremely ill individuals. The Heath Care Centre started as an AIDS Hospice, but over the years the patients started getting healthy from the personal touch, good nutrition and controlled medication intake and more patients were leaving healthy than were passing away. Hence why the name has changed from Hospice to Health Care Centre. However, this morning the patients were all a bit under the weather and bed-ridden. The ER team came in to sing them some Christmas Carols, served them some finger-foods and visited and prayed with some of the patients that were more upto it. Thanks so much ER for all you did for all of our different Christmas Parties this past week!

Ocean View Kids

I will forever remember today’s Christmas Party with the children and teens in Ocean View – one of our communities. The ER team helped with a beautiful Christmas story, facepainting and games. But the best part by far was that the Ocean View team used their budget to hire some bouncy bounces and a water slip-and-slide! The 150 kids had a ball – the majority of them did not have bathing suits and would either go in their undies or turn their clothes into makeshift swimsuits! You know, I just always associated slip-and-slides with tons of dishwashing liquid bubbles to make the ride so much more slippery.  Well I learned today that that was a privilege of my white-suburban upbringing in South Africa that I completely took for granted. I didn’t realize that it was not norm until we heard the shrieks of excitement as the kids were slipping down covered in bubbles from head-to-toe and until we heard the adults saying they’ve never seen this before! One even said: “Jinne my bru – you could wash a thousand dishes with all these bubbles!” LOL! Well I hope we didn’t come across as wasteful, but the kids had an absolute blast!

One of the most moving bits about today was when one of the Life Skills Educators called a young teen girl to the front and asked everyone (the team, the children and the other teens) to pray and give her a moment of silence. A couple days prior this young girl (that could not be any older than 14 or 15) lost her prematurely born 5-day old baby. It was amazing to see everyone coming around her and supporting her in her mourning. But then the challenging part came again in seeing this same girl playing with the other kids. She is just a baby herself and was having fun like one of the children. I could not imagine this your girl being a mommy herself. But this is the reality in Ocean View for so many young girls – this community has an extremely high teen pregnancy rate. Seeing this young girl just broke my heart to pray for the girls in this a broken community. 

Masi Christmas Parties

Today was a full-day for us of Christmas parties in Masiphumelele - the township we serve across the road. The first of the 3 parties hosted today was for the littlest of Living Hope’s clients – the Pre-schoolers! There were probably over 150 little ones crammed into the small Masi Baptist church hall. They sang Xhosa songs, they shook their little bodies and danced the cutest little dances – but then the most incredible thing happened: all of them sat quietly and listened intently to the Christmas Story! I could not believe how well behaved they were. It is such a testimony to our Life Skills Educators and how they have played such an influential part in these little ones lives! After the story, they all received some party packs, a sandwich and an ice cream cone! It truly was Christmas!!

The second of the three parties was for the children and teens that attend our Children and Teens Clubs. You could not imagine how many children were there – we prepared for about 200 kids, but there was easily close to 300. No idea how God stretched the supplies, but he has a tendency of doing that! The ER team leader tells of how God stretched their rice in Quito Ecuador to feed a 1000 people – so when we started getting nervous about having enough food for the kids we started joking and saying that “if God can do it in Quito, He can do it in Cape Town”! And he most definitely did! It was miraculous to watch. The only negative to having so many kids in such a small space is that not all of them got to participate in the games and bouncy bounce outside. But you know, I am always blown away at how these kids are so happy about anything – even if they don’t get to get the same experience or portion as another child. It is so humbling.

Then the last of our Masi parties today was for the older of our Masi clients – it was so neat to gather all the adults that attend the Support Groups. The food was late (sidenote: everything is always late in Masi – something we are still learning to adjust to) , so for the first hour the people just danced and sang traditional Xhosa worship songs. We didn’t have a budget for table cloths so we covered the tables with paper – when we were still waiting for the food, I decided to place a handful of crayons on each table. It is amazing to see the reaction: some were worried about what to do and wanting to do it right; others went right to it and like little kids had a wonderful time drawing varieties of pictures. It was just so amazing to watch! Still waiting for the food, some of the clients came up and gave their testimonies. Not understanding the Xhosa I asked one of the ladies to translate what they were saying. A couple of the testimonies were about living lives HIV+ and the struggles that go along with it. For all of them they thought they had to walk this journey alone, but testify about how God brought them into these Support Groups to live in community with others and with Christ. I was floored at their joy and freedom regardless of the circumstance they find themselves in. The food arrived just in a nick of time and everyone had a wonderfully festive time together. Its these things in our lives here in Cape Town that make me appreciate the little things so much more!

Goodbye Lauren!

Today we say goodbye to our very first volunteer – not first departure, but the first volunteer that we welcomed to Cape Town. She came here from New York City where she worked in the fabric printing industry. Lauren has been more than just a volunteer – she very quickly became a friend. The crazy part is, as much as we want Lauren to come back, I have a very strong feeling that Lauren is supposed to go to Uganda. I have told her multiple times that I feel very strongly that she should check out One Mango Tree, an economic empowerment NGO that is known for their beautiful fabric designs. We came across One Mango Tree during our travels through Africa and just fell in love with them. Long story short, Lauren contacted them and it turns out they need a fabric designer!! Imagine that? How cool is our God? So we’ll be praying for her as she figures out what is next for her!

Table Mountain at Night

We’ve been there before, but not at sunset. A few fellow volunteers got together and took an evening out on top of Table Mountain. It’s called “Ride and Dine”, where a single price covers a cable car ride to get to the top and back, and a voucher for dinner at the Table Mountain Café. It was a stunning sight, to see all the lights of the city from that view. I was awed. We live in such a beautiful place, day or night!

Team Building

The Living Services Team!

What a fun day! Today all of Living Services (the operations and office staff of Living Hope) went to a Theme Park for Team Building. As the Volunteer Department, we are a part of Living Services. It was amazing to have everyone from the managers to the garden staff riding together on the rollercoasters, water rides and more. I realized today why I love Living Hope as much as I do – everyone gets to play and be a part of what God is doing, no matter what you do to keep the organizations running. And even more importantly, we are all so different, yet God brought us all together as the “body” who all share our talents and gifts. We stayed at the park till after closing and everyone dragged their feet out as we were having so much fun together!

Answered Prayers

I love how God makes divine appointments. Just a few weeks ago Natasha and I were discussing with others regarding the need to better communicate the story of Living Hope in words and pictures. We could envision it, but knew it would take able-bodied hands, in addition to our own, to make it happen. For starters, a photographer and copy writer would be a welcome addition. Someone who could add this kind of content to the website would be a bonus! But without funds to cover such a position, we had to trust that the Lord would send the right people at the right time. Well, just a few days later, I received an inquiry from a local gentleman who owns his own photography and web design company. He is a strong Christian and wants to give back to the community in some way. We met with him today, and had a very exciting discussion. He is very enthusiastic about contributing to communicating the work of Living Hope both locally and abroad in the next year. How good is God?! 

Welcoming the Christmas Team

Today we welcomed a team from Extreme Response. They have been coming to Living Hope to put on Christmas parties for clients and kids for several years. In fact, my first trip to South Africa and Living Hope was on an ER team! So this was special for me, six years later, and be on the other side this time. The Christmas parties – about a dozen of them(!) – will be held next week. But so much planning goes into them in both scheduling and supplies. Today the team is organizing and making up hundreds of gift packs for men, women, and children. Each gift is meaningful, containing toiletries and other useful items. Christmas will be here in a few short weeks, and these Christmas parties are a great way to celebrate all that the Lord has done in the past year, from the kids to the support groups to the patients in the health care center, everyone is getting a bit of Christmas spirit early – and a wonderful reminder of Who it’s all about!

Roadtrip Wedding

Reunited after years!

With the lovely bride

4 Au Pair Friends Reunited!

This past weekend we travelled to see a very dear friend’s wedding. It’s a long-haul drive, but totally worth seeing a good friend make the beautiful step into marriage. It was in Aliwal North, a town about 1,000 km (625 mi) northeast of Cape Town. We hired a car to get there, as taking a flight was much more expensive, not to mention there was no airport within 2-3 hours’ drive. The interior of South Africa is gorgeous. I loved driving through other parts of South Africa during the final leg of our overland journey earlier this year, so it was great to get behind the wheel again and discover more of this amazing country. But that was just a bonus; the real treat was to watch our friend tie the knot. What a lovely couple! We were even blessed to visit with them this evening for coffee and cake at our home while they were honeymooning in Cape Town! Marieka and Piet, we wish you the very BEST!

A summer Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving with all our American and Life Skills Educator Friends!

With some of the female volunteers!

Together with other U.S. Volunteers, we joined with the Life Skills Educator team to celebrate Thanksgiving. Everyone contributed to the spread – what a feast! – and some took time to present the history of Thankgiving by telling the facts and conducting an interactive skit with pilgrims, Native Americans and all! The LSEs really took a great interest, and of course the food was delicious and made us all stuffed, as a proper Thanksgiving should be, no matter where you celebrate it! 

Tim's application submitted!

We went for it and decided to apply for my South African residency through an immigration firm. We got the confirmation by realizing that this endeavor could be a long and continuing distraction from our work here if we took it on ourselves. It was an expensive decision; we paid for it with money we don’t have. But we are confident that this was the right decision, and that the expense will be covered in time. Today I have felt a peace, knowing that it’s all taken care of in advance and in God’s hands.

Breakfast Meeting

Before 8am, the cell phone rings. It’s our good friend Mike from African Encounter, a Christian tour company based in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa. Living Hope works with African Encounter to set up logistics (housing, transport, food, etc) for many of our short- and long-term international volunteers, including teams. I first met Mike almost exactly 6 years ago, when I first came to Cape Town on a trip with my church on a short-term team to learn about Living Hope. That team was Mike’s first on the job, and he was essentially our guide and go-to guy for the entire time. Since then we’ve gotten to know Mike better, each year we brought church teams out here ourselves. So not only is Mike a partner, he is a good friend, and a significant part of why Natasha and I took the step to be here full-time. Mike is calling so early because he wanted to see if we’re free for breakfast. He wants us to meet his business partner and founder of African Encounter while he is in town. Amazingly, the first part of the morning was free for us, so we said, sure! I’m so glad I met this guy, full of experiential wisdom and a lot of great insight into international short-term missions. It was great to get his take on what short-term missions looks like, where it came from, and where it could go from here. It made me think, most of all, confirmed Natasha and my desire to spread the word of hope of Jesus and opportunity to serve to our respective home countries. Yes, there are many not just in the U.S., but also in South Africa who haven’t really yet heard about what the Lord doing here. May what we’re doing and what we see and communicate be a beacon of hope and catalyst to move others to act.

Australia Represented

We spent much of the day getting to know a kind older gentleman from Australia. He was no stranger to Christian humanitarian work, after many years serving the homeless and others disadvantaged. We took him to visit Living Grace, Living Hope’s ministry to the homeless and those battling with substance abuse. He quickly took to John and Joan, the husband-and-wife overseers of the homeless ministry. We are hopeful that he can commit a portion of his planned 3-month stay in South Africa serving with us – and he seems keen to do so!

Volunteer Family Dinner

This evening we had dinner with the current short-term volunteers at their residence. It was great to share stories and ideas about our volunteer experience over a meal together, outside the hustle and bustle of what is missions work. I sat back and looked around: one volunteer is here for just 3 more days, another just two three more weeks, and yet another just arrived a few days ago. The environment is so transient, yet I firmly believe there is a community, and one worth investing into. It is so important to us to seize the moments we’re in here and now, and to make the most of them before they’re gone. Spending time chatting with and challenging each other, linked by a desire to make a difference in God’s name, is invaluable.

1st Registered Volunteer Nurse

Today we welcome a new long-term volunteer to Living Hope. Tracy came over with the team from South Carolina and will be staying with us for 5 months. Not only are we excited to add another long-term volunteer to our community, but we are doubly excited as Tracy will be the first full-time volunteer nurse running a shift in the Health Care Centre. She jumped through all the hoops to get certified in South Africa as a registered nurse, which allows her to practice. If she did not get certified, she would only be allowed to accompany our Home-based Carers, So we are extremely grateful for Tracy and look forward to seeing what God is going to do in and through her here!

Prospective Missionary

Today we had a wonderful time getting to know a prospective volunteer who has been a missionary for the past decade or so in other areas of the world. During the day, we told her the Living Hope story and purpose, and gave her a tour of the communities in which Living Hope ministers. Her medical background, particularly her training as a nurse and HIV/AIDS education would make a wonderful addition to the Living Hope team. It’s all in God’s hands as she goes back to her sending church in Europe to determine the next steps in her missionary journey. We wish her the best wherever the Lord leads her!

Whirlwind Trip

Holding the most precious God-child!

With the beautiful bride!

I arrived back in Cape Town today after a whirlwind trip to the States. It was great to be there with my dear sweet friend as she prepared for what was the absolute perfect wedding day! The traveling back took about 2 1/2 days - but was so amazing to catch up with some friends and to get to meet our God-child (who is absolutely perfect)! Now as much as I miss everyone already and need sleep, I am ready for the next exciting stage in our lives.

Sad goodbye!

Today we said good-bye to Mike and June who have volunteered with us for the past two months. Their selfless work in the chaplaincy and the health care center during this time has been nothing short of a blessing. We pray that as they return to the UK, that they leave a piece of their heart in SA with Living Hope. They’ve been an incredible inspiration to LH staff as role models, living their lives for God and His purpose. They’ve also been a wonderful encouragement for Natasha and me as a couple, serving together and showing their undeniable love for each other after many decades of marriage. How powerful!

An Amazing Week

Their time here was too short, but today we thank the South Carolina church team for coming and helping to make a difference in Red Hill. I had a chance to spend time with them during some of their outreach events. My fondest memory is when the team organized a “Celebration” event one evening, after days of spreading the word about it in the community. There was a local choir, worship songs, and an inspiring message by one of the pastors in the community. Attendance, at first glance, was okay. But then as I looked around the hillside, I saw all kinds of people watching it all from outside their homes or from the makeshift shops. Keeping a “safe distance,” I suppose, these people effectively doubled the number of spectators. It was as if the people watching from a distance were in the place of curiosity, perhaps a critical moment of deliberation about life. It brought me a great feeling of anticipation to what’s going to happen in Red Hill in the future. The Lord is certainly there, and that evening at sunset, it was as if I caught a glimpse of a community full of people who love God and each other. A huge thanks to the team for helping  to get Red Hill closer to that place!

Back to the States

Today I leave for the US for a very quick trip. It is one of my dear friend’s wedding and when she asked me a year ago: “If I get married next year, would you be there?” and I said without a doubt “of course I would”, I had no idea I was going to a full-time missionary! LOL So, I made the commitment and God was going to have to come through one way or another as I am one of her bridesmaids. And he did! Miraculously our taxes came back with a lot more than what we expected – that money covered my plane ticket back to the States. So I am off for a very quick visit and to support m dear friend as she prepares for this amazing dream day!

Full Circle

Today we said good-bye to someone who’s been volunteering with Living Hope for more than a year. Among many other things, Kendra has been a faithful part of the Life Skills Education team, particularly in Red Hill, a poor informal settlement not far from Cape Point. We (actually Natasha) first met Kendra in London back in August 2009, when she was on her way to Cape Town. We had just finished our annual short-term work with Living Hope in the previous month when we were told of Kendra’s impending arrival and the opportunity to meet her during a long layover in London! Even though we weren’t here for most of Kendra’s volunteer time, it is cool to see how much she’s grown through it – and how much she’ll be missed by the staff with whom she worked. May God bless you in your next chapter, Kendra!

Red Hill Team

Today we welcomed an outreach team sent from one of our church partners based in South Carolina. Over the past few years, the teams that the church sends have worked in the Hill community, and have developed relationships with the Living Hope staff based there, as well as with the locals. This year continues to build on that investment as the team will be doing outreach events with staff, through door-to-door visits and praying, kids clubs, crafts and leadership development for the women in the community. They will also be helping LH staff conduct free health screening, including HIV testing, in the community. 

Family Wedding

My mom with all her kids!

This past weekend was an amazing and brief getaway to visit with my family and friends in Pretoria. My mom flew us up for a family wedding and this gave us a great opportunity to visit with everyone there. The time away was also good for us – lots of time for much-needed reflection.  

The Construction Team

The Construction Team 

The finished product!

Earlier today we took the new missionary family (Joey, Courtney and their kids) and Granny, an 80 year-old lady who joined the Construction team – all from Tennessee, US – on a tour of Living Hope as a whole. It was so sweet to see Granny (who has never left the US in her entire life) and the kids ‘reactions to the extreme poverty they were exposed to. They tried to make sense of it all, but also trying to be in it. The kids got right involved at Kids Club and Granny was extremely observant and asking all the right questions. But as much fun as we had on the tour, we sadly had to say goodbye to the Construction Team that has been working tirelessly to replace the roof of the multi-purpose. We had dinner with them at the Team House tonight and had some incredible conversation about purpose and calling and how to discern God’s calling through desires. Deep, right? But that is one of my and Tim’s favorite topics. We truly enjoyed having this manly group here and look forward to see what God is going to do in all their lives! Thank you all and God bless

New Missionaries!

New Living Hope Missionaries!

Today we welcomed new long-term additions to the Living Hope volunteer family. It’s an entire family from Tennessee – all six of them! The father, Joey, a former business owner, will play a key role at Living Way, specifically in entrepreneurship/enterprise development. The mother, Courtney, will help the family settle in over the next few months and possibly help in palliative care ministries, as she is a registered nurse. They come with four kids, aged 1 to 9. They are a riot, and we already love them dearly, and know that they will also be an important part of Living Hope’s ministries over the next 3 years or more.

Taking off the roof!

The thatch roof is gone!

With much anticipation, we welcome a construction-focused church team today. They have come to use their God-given ability to improve facilities. We’ve got just the job for them: they will help install a new roof on the multi-purpose center on Living Hope campus. This building was the only one on the premises when Pastor John and his church purchased the property over 10 years ago. It had been a pub frequented by seedy characters, and its bad history was forgotten as the facility was reclaimed in the name of Jesus. Just a few days ago, its original thatch roof was removed in preparation for the team’s work. The team is only here for a week, and that is just enough (we hope!) to install the new roof. Their work and blessing of supplies will defray a significant portion of what it costs to do this big project – not to mention help reduce Living Hope’s fire insurance. 

Lausanne to Living Hope

Delegates learning about Living Grace (homeless ministry)

Delegates getting HIV tests at our mobile clinic

Delegates having lunch with the Support Group Facilitators

We learned during training in August that Natasha and I were going to be responsible for organizing a one-day event on Living Hope’s campus. The Lausanne Conference on World Evangelism, the largest of its kind (4,000 delegates), is meeting in Cape Town this month. We were told back in August to expect from 20 to 60 delegates to show up for an on-campus tour of Living Hope. Living Hope was one of about a dozen missions in the area from which delegates could choose to visit during their day off from the conference. Over the past month or so, we’ve been meeting with general managers and others in Living Hope to help plan this day. The hard part is that we didn’t know how many were actually coming until a few days before the day itself. We needed to ensure that what was shown was a good representation since Living Hope is so diverse in ministry scope. We asked general managers to work out a 15-minute “station” in which staff could help interactively describe and demonstrate their respective ministry areas. We helped them achieve this by providing logistics, schedule, and general communication. The rest was taken care of by general managers and their staff. The end result? Over 100 delegates came and saw an incredible and enthusiastic effort amongst the staff to communicate how God is working in the area through Living Hope. We are also encouraged to see what an event like this (and more like it!) can help spread the word about Living Hope to the local community and beyond.

Welsh Film Crew

The production Crew filming in Masi

Well today was new and exciting – we had a production crew from Wales here with us! They are filming a keynote speaker at the Lausanne Conference and her time in South Africa. Menna is a young Welsh women who has fought tremendously for her faith and her Welsh language and heritage. Menna came to visit Living Hope today and the crew wanted to record what Living Hope is and Menna’s reaction to it all. It was great fun to see the behind the scenes of such a documentary and made me come alive as I truly love sharing God’s stories of hope with others… even if it is in Welsh! The only sad reality is that the cameras couldn’t capture the truthfully. I had such great times with Menna in the car when there were no cameras around and we had a nice little cry together for the patients in the healthcare centre. She is truly a remarkable young lady and it was such an honour to get to spend the day with her.

Another English Volunteer

Today we were blessed to welcome a woman from the UK to volunteer in various areas of our palliative care (Living Care) division. She’s here for a month but we’re confident she will not only be a blessing to both staff and patients, she will be blessed herself. We already wish she could stay longer!

Testing Day

The mobile clinic counseling tents!

It was the team’s last day of ministry in Masi. Today they helped the Living Hope Health Counselors to facilitate a Testing Day. All week the team and church team invited people in the community to the Celebration last night and to the Free Health Screening today. People could come in for free HIV, TB, Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Levels tests. The Living Hope Health Counselors are individuals from the community that have been trained to do the screenings and to counsel people as they get their results.  The team brought a very cool craft activity for the adults to do while they waited for their results – people could decorate a pot and plant seeds in it. Such a great gift as it is something they could take and grow at home and not just something that would end up as clutter. The counselors invited us to get tested as well and I jumped at the opportunity for free tests… I’m a missionary now so anything free is good! LOL However, we do encourage our team members to partake in the testing as well as it breaks the stigma and fear in others in getting tested that it is something for the sick and poor. Not making a big deal about it will help break the stigma that we are still fighting.

The "Starter Pack" Ministry

The make-shift cross 

Dancing for Jesus! 

Testimony 

Everyone crammed into the house.

This evening we had the honor of being a part of a community Outreach with the team that is here from Colorado, US. They’ve been ministering in Masiphumelele all week doing door-to-door ministry and training the church leadership (that at this stage is only a few newly converted men and women). We asked our short-term volunteers, Mike and June, to join this small team of 4 for the week and it turned out to be a great experience for them. The team has been working tirelessly in visiting tons of people and inviting them to the Celebration Service tonight. The small church building – which really is someone’s small house that has been converted into a large room, didn’t look too much like a church. So we found some wire and a cross bean to turn the outside post into a cross. I also found some thick thorny bushes outside our house to shape a crown of thorns for the top of our new cross! The little room was packed to the brim. It rained outside, so people were squeezed in and it was amazing to see everyone worshiping and dancing in such a small space. The pastor would joke and say that this building is his “starter pack’! LOL Now that’s a visionary for you! Every single one of the team was called up to share their testimony… and true to African Church services, we were also called up to share our testimonies! Being that today is my birthday, the Pastor and our Chaplain asked everyone to sing Happy Birthday in first English and then Xhosa to me... so special! After our testimonies, the Pastor shared a message of encouragement and so many people were challenged. 3 and ½ hours later, we finally served dinner to the people – we prepared about 150 hot dogs earlier in the day, so we just had to hand it out. It is amazing how people were so hungry for the word that they didn’t mind having dinner so late. They truly celebrated with God tonight.