“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
It was so great being back in the USA and spending time with family and friends and most importantly sharing about my ministry in South Africa. But the time came for me to return to South Africa. I arrived back on March 9th and was excited to be in Ntshongweni again. I missed my home in South Africa. It was an easy readjustment since I was staying in the same apartment and all of my stuff was there. It took a few days for the jet lag to wear off so that I could get back to work. Then it was full speed ahead. There was much to catch up on. The creche now had 80 children enrolled and at some point I would need to visit with the teachers to assess the needs of the creche. Pastor Thwala, Julia and I met to discuss two new orphan families that needed our help. In the first family, the children lost their mother only 3 weeks prior to our visit and they were now being cared for by their uncle. These 4 children are now living with 5 others in one house. The eldest boy has epilepsy and stays home, the other three are attending school. The only source of income is the disability grant that the eldest boy is receiving from the government. We were able to help them with some food and toiletries. Their greatest need is a home for the 4 children. The second family will be receiving a new home in July. A team is coming from the USA to build it. There are 3 orphaned girls who lost their mother to AIDS a few years ago. The youngest, age 3 is attending our creche. The caregiver is struggling to provide for them and the current house is falling apart. When we visited them and told her that they would be getting help with a new home she was so happy, I was almost in tears. She said that “God is looking after them.”
In addition to visits with these families we had meetings with the sewing teacher to get back on track with the sewing group, the social workers to schedule a time to start groups again and we visited some of the project families. During our visit many of the caregivers greeted us with hugs and told us that they were happy to have us back. It felt good to know that the relationships that we have developed remained strong. One of our big meetings was with the ECD (early childhood development) coordinator for the Department of Social Development. We wanted to follow up with him on the process for funding and to help us track the NPO (non-profit) certificate for the creche. He made some calls and it was returned to the office in Pretoria. He then informed us that the business plan for funding for 2011-2012 was due the next day. Yikes!!! So Julia, Pastor Thwala and I spent the day in his office filling in as much as we could. Julia and I stayed up until 3 am doing even more. The following day we had to open a bank account and get affidavits from the police department in addition to what seemed like a 101 other things. God blessed us with a few days extension. So we were able to finalize it and get it turned in. Now we wait and pray that we get funded.
The highlight of March for me was finding out that the soccer team has been doing so well. Last October the some of the boys came to Pastor Thwala and said that they wanted to form a team and they needed help with uniforms. Little did they know that their request would be granted. The team from Arizona brought uniforms for the boys. There are currently 3 teams: the under 13, under 15 and under 17 all coached by Sandile Mzobe, the lay pastor at the Ntshongweni Lutheran Church. A few weeks ago there was a tournament and the boys 15 and under made it to the finals and were the tournament champions. It was a very exciting game that went to penalty kicks. So far they have only lost two games. I asked two of the boys and the coach what the soccer team has meant to them:
Simphiwe Cele - Defender: “I have learned a lot from other people and and I am learning more about being a better soccer player.” He is currently in confirmation class.
Menzi Mzobe - Defender: “I have learned how to play with other people and have made new friends.” He is currently in confirmation class.
Sandile Mzobe - Coach: “The soccer team is very important. It keeps the boys out of trouble and keeps them fit. The boys are coming to church.”
There are only 8 teams in the soccer association in Ntshongweni and there are usually 15 teams in an association. Coach Mzobe hopes that in the future there will be more teams and that they can play some away games. The soccer team has been such a positive activity for the boys. You can see that the friendships are strong and most importantly they are attending church. God continues to pours His blessings on this ministry in Ntshongweni.
Thank you for your prayers, love, support and encouragement as I serve in Ntshongweni.
Salani kahle (stay well)
Love in Christ,
Shara
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