Holy Home Visits - Houtbos

Visit 1 - Ben, Carolyn, Chris and Lucy 

Today’s home visit was to a family of 6. The husband had two 17 year olds sons from a previous relationship. They were all from Eswatini and therefore didn’t have any papers. 

His daughter from this relationship already attends the carepoint and the reason for our visit was to encourage the two sons to attend the carepoint.  His other son was too young to attend. 

We arrived and the husband ran from his vegetable patch where he was growing beetroot, green peppers and potatoes to warmly greet us. He got out a bench and mats for us to sit on. We all introduced ourselves. He was grateful for his sons to be invited to the carepoint.  He was also very grateful for the door and step which Hands had provided which has helped the security of his family.

We all prayed together and left. It was lovely to see what an impact Hands had made to the family. We pray that the sons will attend the carepoint so that they get food each day.

Visit 2 - Alice, Jack and John 

We walked from the Houtbos care point to visit Nomsa, one of the Care Workers, at her home. She, and children of the family, have been unwell recently, and have been unable to attend the care point. We were warmly invited into the home and eleven of us sat around a wood burning stove in a small room. Everyone introduced themselves and we checked on the health of the family members; Nomsa was feeling better and the granddaughter had been given medication and was now improving. 

In addition to recent illness, the family had lots of unresolved issues which were worrying to them; the daughter had passed her final school exams and would like to go to college, good news; but her school wouldn’t release her report and grade achievements until they were paid a fee of R300 (about £15), which the family didn’t have; going to college would also require more fees!!

The grandfather was disabled from an accident, but a file had been lost so he was unable to claim any recompense. Nomsa’s brother, in Eswatini, has a disabled son who has trouble walking, but lives a mile and a half from school, and no other way to get there. Also the family home leaks when it rains heavily, so they were keen to build something more stable and secure.

Despite these mounting concerns the family were interested to know more about where we came from and life in England - the houses, the countryside, schools, healthcare and job opportunities. We spent a long time chatting (through an interpreter); the grandfather was extremely grateful for the support his family received, through Hands at Work, at the care point, and Nomsa remembered the last time a group from our church came they’d enjoyed the singing and dancing, which led to a conversation about Holiday Club at church - amazing how topics crop up!

When it was nearing time to leave, we shared in a short time of prayer, concluding with John praying for the family’s concerns and their hopes for the future. We asked God to bless the family, and gave thanks for their welcome and hospitality. 

We were pleased to see that, later in the day, Nomsa and the children felt well enough to come to the care point and share lunch, games and fun - they didn’t want to miss the singing and dancing!!