Playing host to many

Natasha and I hosted the largest tour group (60 people) to date at Living Hope, according to others who have been here for some time. Because so much of what we do involves public relations, we often get the chance to welcome individuals and groups that want to learn more about Living Hope. Conversely, it gives us an opportunity to learn more about other like-minded individuals and organizations. This particular group was no exception, as it was full of Christian delegates and missionaries from across the world! We gave them an introduction presentation and then loaded up two buses and gave them a tour of some of our communities - trying not to make a spectacle of the people we serve in these communities. A hard balance between sharing the poverty with others so that they can get involved and not putting those we love and serve on display.

Partnering Churches

This evening we had a wonderful time getting to know a new team from two churches in Colorado, US. They will be partnering with a newer local church in Masiphumelele. Natasha and I had worked with Living Hope’s senior chaplain in the past few weeks to determine which church with which this team would partner. Through the process we’ve gotten to know Pastor Nevson and his wife, and his vision for his church.  After a few key discussions with Pastor Nevson, we were able to work out a plan in which the visiting team could “meet his church where it’s at” to help its leadership in an outreach initiative. Tonight we arranged for Pastor Nevson and his wife to meet the visiting team over dinner, discuss the plan, and pray for the coming days. It was an inspiring time to bring everyone together tonight. We are so excited to see what the Lord will do!

A New Volunteer

Today we met and welcomed a new addition to the volunteer family. Tammy is a school teacher from the UK (mind you she was born and raised South African) and has taken leave for the next 6 months to volunteer at Living Hope, joining the team of Life Skills Educators. God’s timing is perfect, as the team needed another person to help fill gaps in certain areas. We know that she will do this and more!

Volunteer Braai

We invited all the international volunteers over to a BBQ – known as a ‘braai’ here. We are excited to start using our home as a ministry itself. It’s one of the main reasons we know we’ve been blessed with a house, and one larger than we need as a couple. I was personally excited to test out the built-in braai grill for the first time. It was a great time of getting to know each other better outside of daytime work hours – and the first of many to come, I’ll be sure of that!

Returnee

We are privileged to welcome back a dear Living Hope friend. Myrtle lives in Canada but will be living here for the next 6 months to volunteer in multiple areas including Living Grace (Living Hope’s ministry to the homeless) and CCFM, the local Christian radio station. Welcome back Myrtle!

Saying Farewell

We say farewell to the team from Tennessee today who has been working in all of our 6 communities to facilitate Holiday Clubs this past week. They did a phenomenal job at not only teaching the kids about God’s plan and love for their lives and by encouraging the Life Skills Educators. The most memorable part of this week was the parents night on Thursday – the Life Skills Educators invited the parents to come and see what their kids have been upto during the week. A few emotions from that: 1) I wanted to cry to see the sadness in some the kids faces when their parents didn’t show up – out of the 80 or so kids there, only about 25 parents came; 2) The pride in the parents who did come’s faces when they saw their kids performing these songs and dances also moved me to a tear; and 3) and then seeing the way the Life Skills Educators were encouraged and inspired this past week made me want to do this all over again! Thank you guys for what you did for us here this past week!

The Background Info

This past month has been nothing short of hectic. We literally jumped into the deep-end. But we made a commitment to each other to take this time until December to not only do our job, but to also observe and learn as much as possible. Already we’ve been given some amazing opportunities to watch, learn and meet a variety of people that we will be working with closely over the next few years. We quickly came to the realization that we are the only two people in the organization that have to interact with every aspect of the organization – we not only work with all the volunteers (international and local), but we also have to have a close relationship with the different General Managers, staff and local community pastors to keep a finger on the pulse of the ministry and the communities. How humbling? Amazingly we’ve already had opportunities to meet with the different managers and hear what their visions for their respective branches are. Then we also had the privilege of meeting a number of local pastors at different events we were invited to. So God is giving us what we need to complete this task.