Some photos from Visiting Liz's sponsor family

Liz, Anita and Siyabonga with the family that Triangle supports plus a few extra kids

the food parcel we put together (larger than usual)

a couple of the kids modelling their new hats (thank you Grandma!)

New plans and opportunities

Many of you know I've been praying for God to reveal His way forward for a long time now. Well, I think that He might be revealing some of the answers this week through Liz and Anita as they visit me...

Just over a week ago, Liz (my sister) and her friend Anita arrived for a 2-week stay. We've certainly packed a lot into these weeks and they are not over yet! (I'm planning a quiet weekend...) Anita sponsors several children at GGA and wanted to spend some time with them so we've spent a fair amount of time up there.

Firstly Church@GGA has been interesting. I returned from the UK keen to start Youth Alpha with the kids but we were greeted on the first Sunday back with a visit from a group from the Zion Church. That would have been fine except they were under the impression that they were going to run the church there from now on, which would not do at all. Google them if you want to know why... Anyway, after a morning with them, the children were upset and we were not too happy either. Praise God that the situation was sorted this Sunday and now we are back on track to start Alpha next Sunday, just a week later than planned. So far, 29 children aged 11 and over have signed up and it looks like it could be an amazing course. Please remember us in your prayers over this term.

We've also spent a bit of time catching up with a couple of older GGA boys who've been relocated to a township in Pietermaritzburg. It was great to see them and also challenging as they were already out of the food that had been given to them. Thankfully we had some food to leave with them and we've popped back today to check on them. It's obvious that their spirits are lifted by our visits and so I've no intention of stopping seeing them... In fact, plans are coming together to help them in alternative ways. More details to follow soon...

Also, Liz's church - Triangle in Ipswich - has been sponsoring a family in the valley of Mophela and today we arranged a visit to them. We collected the local community health worker this morning and took her with us as well as Siyabonga, Anita's sponsor child. Liz had been given some money to buy food for the family and we had a good time in Spar yesterday purchasing lots of different food to give them. I'd visited 3 years ago with my parents and I could thankfully remember where the house was. We borrowed a wheelbarrow from a neighbour and took the food down to the house. The oldest girl in the family was there and she was overwhelmed by the gift to them. It was a real blessing as today they were down to their last bit of food and she had been praying for a miracle. There are 6 people there including 2 small children and they were all grateful for the donation.

While we were there Anita and Liz got to pray with her and to encourage her. We also discovered they want some chickens and have built a chicken coop but couldn't afford them. So we set off to find a man who could sell us some and after a few enquiries we found some chickens. However, only kids were at home and the chickens were out wandering so we couldn't get them there and then, but we arranged with the CHW to collect them later on. Apparently chickens regroup in the evening and are easier to catch!

I'd brought along some woolly hats that my Grandma had knitted and the children were really excited to receive these. It was chilly first thing but then the sun came out and the hats were still on their heads. They will be useful when the cold season starts again later in the year. Photos to follow...

In amongst all this, we've managed to pack in a quick trip to the Game Reserve over the bank holiday and finally saw some lions. Later in the week the girls are treating me to a Spa Day which will be lovely and relaxing. We are having an amazing time but also we are quite tired. We've prayed together a lot and we know that God has brought us together for a purpose and for such a time as this. There will be many more good times together. I've also realised that my time in South Africa is not over yet and that I must stay longer and trust God to provide for my needs. It feels good and it's exciting to be a part of established and new ministries out here.

Please continue to pray for God to direct His work out here, and as I said before, there are very exciting new projects in the pipeline and I'll reveal more about it in due course...

Holiday Feeding

This week Inchanga Primary School is on holiday. After several weeks of strikes there was a chance that this week would be taken up to make up for lost time. Then the Government decided they should close for holiday after all. They are only off for a week.

My sister Liz and friend Anita are visiting these 2 weeks (more about that in a minute) and they came with me to give the '40' kids some food to see them through the holiday. We went to Makro and bought the usual Maize meal, sugar beans, soya mixture etc and a few 'luxuries' such as a bag of cheese crisps each.

We went in to the school on Thursday morning and gave out the food parcels. Despite the crowd of eager pupils gathering round the car and pressing in for something, I managed to identify my '40' and we gave out a total of 30 bags of food. Not bad for the end of term. Not all kids make it in on the last day of term so I was happy with that. Unfortunately the rest of the kids had to be chased back by one of the teachers with a big stick and it was impossible to give out the rest as there was not enough. However, every orphan in the school would have been given a bag of porridge from another donation so nobody went home empty-handed.

I'll put up some photos as soon as my laptop is fixed. Yesterday it died somehow, I think the powerpack has broken but unfortunately it looks like you can't just buy a new one here in South Africa. Tomorrow my mission is to solve this problem... it's an urgent one as ALL my files are locked on there and I'm currently having to borrow Steve's laptop to update this (without all my photos ;-((( )

Sithembakuye - The new house

We said that Russell and Precious would not be able to keep out of their new house once we left the country and we were right! It was great to see yesterday what they've done with the place.

Lionsraw built this house from nothing and they still need to link up the electricity, water and put in the kitchen and bathroom, but apart from that, it was almost ready for moving in.

The Sithembakuye family have moved in, although some of them are still sharing beds until they get new bunk beds at some point in the not too distant future. The nice people at Pentravel came to paint and are coming back to finish the job soon. Everyone is overjoyed at the new place and the kids especially are excited about their new rooms.

Up till now about 12 kids were sleeping in a very small room and it was extremely cramped. Look at how many teddies they have for a start! ;-) Now these kids are shared out in 3 rooms with the boys having their own room for the first time in their lives. It is awesome to see how this new home is turning out. No one can be more excited or happy than Russell and Precious themselves, you can't wipe the smile off their faces these days!

Best of British...

Despite the ridiculous set up at Birmingham Airport, where you have to pay for a trolley now if you want one when you collect your baggage, which was extremely irritating after 15 hours of travel, I had a great time in the UK. I spent most of the time meeting up with family and friends and trying to chill out and also think about my future. It was a busy but happy time.

To begin with, I went down to Cornwall with my parents for a week of complete 'holiday'. The rain didn't disrupt too much and we had a lovely time visiting several National Trust gardens, the beach, St Ives and discovering some really fantastic food places too. I'm liking the 'Great British Food' industry that has sprung up and developed over the past few years. Particularly good were the meals at Trevaskis Farm outside of Hayle. We also loved the jacket potatoes at the cafe at Trengwainton National Trust Garden. Try it and love it too.

Back in the Midlands from Cornwall and it was time to catch up with many friends. Kath, who I met in SA, came down and we had a very enlightening time at Warwick Castle. It never ceases to amaze me how the people who run that place can alter it every year so that it's still interesting! The jousting was good. (see photo). I mean, what's not to like about grown men in medieval costume playfighting on horseback? There was the usual pantomime atmosphere in the park as we enjoyed that show. The powers that be at Warwick have also totally redesigned the 'Edwardian Weekend Party' Exhibit so that it doesn't just introduce us to the characters but now gives us an in depth look at all the scandal of the day as we now know who was messing around with whom. It was quite shocking to realise that morals seemed to go right out of the window during weekends like those. However, I must have seen that exhibit over 10 times and this is the only time I've actually remembered any of the names! (And that's why HEAT magazine is so popular... I guess ;-) )

I managed a trip to London to see friends there and enjoy a few meals out in Covent Garden, which was great. We also had some excellent dinner parties at home with various couples who have supported me over this past year. I spoke at a couple of churches and it was great to see so many people at my tea and talk at St Paul's in Leamington.

My village church had a cheese and wine evening, which was brilliant fun and I even won something on the raffle (Gotta love raffles!). Mum and Dad took me to their Folk Dancing group as well and that was surprisingly good fun, and thankfully I didn't dream about square sets afterwards!

Thank you to all the people who donated money to me during my time in the UK. It was great to meet up with so many people, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.

Back in South Africa!

It would appear the strikes are over, at least for the moment. We arrived back in South Africa this evening and over the next few days I can find out what's been going on. First of all, though, I need to pack and most of all I need to SLEEP!!

Everything seems ok at the house, apart from the heat that has built up over the past month which makes sitting here quite unbearable. No critters in the house though, which is great!

and the strikes continue...

Apologies for my absence, I am in fact currently on holiday in the UK and enjoying a relaxing time of catching up with family and friends. I return to South Africa on 15th September.

Meanwhile, in SA the strikes continue to cripple the country. I received a phone call from the Headteacher of Inchanga School this week to inform me that the 'stay away' is still continuing. They had hoped that a resolution would be reached this week but it appears that this is not going to be the case. The schools have now been shut for over 3 weeks. All this takes its toll on the children, who actually want to be in school and come every day to see if it might be happening!

Pray for a resolution to be reached and for good talks between the Unions, government and all involved. It's not just teachers and schools affected, also hospitals are being assisted by volunteers and army medics as the staff there 'stay away'.

After the exuberance of a glorious World Cup, the mood of the nation has been brought down with all this action. Issues certainly need addressing and let's hope and pray that they are addressed and resolved as soon as possible.