Day 3 - Mafambisa

 

Today we had our first day in community! The children were still on their holidays so the Care Point was bustling!

When we arrived we were greeted by the Care Workers and children. After greeting and introducing ourselves, we got out some bubbles, toy trucks and balls for the children out of the van and started playing with them. 

Some of the team were helping the Care Workers prepare the food for lunch. Some time later we all gathered in the shelter to worship and pray. After that, lunch was served and all the children lined up to get food and eat.

For lunch today we had pap, potatoes, gravy and cabbage. We sat and ate with the children and it was a lovely opportunity to talk to some of them. After washing up it was dance time! We got the big speaker out and did all the holiday club classics including shine several times which is a Mafambisa favourite. 

It was then time to return to the hub. Tonight for dinner was bring and share meaning we shared food with all of the hub and ate together. Following this we had a barn dance. Everyone got involved and a good time was had with lots of laughter and chaos! After a long and busy first day in community we had some time to debrief with our host and to relax as a team.

By Pippa and Rachel 

Day 3 - Men’s Prayer and Morning Meeting

This morning started nice and early (and a little chilly) for the men as we had men’s prayer at 7am in the chapel. 

Today’s men’s prayer was led by Mark (visiting from the international office in Canada - used to be a international volunteer in SA) - we looked at Genesis 3 where Eve was tempted by the serpent and eat from the fruit tree. Mark reminded us to take time to be still, to listen to what God is asking of us and not be tempted by the outside world. 

We then took some time to be still in our hearts, to pray and to listen to what God is asking of us. This was followed by a time of collective prayer - focused on prayer points which we had discussed  

After a quick breakfast on the veranda we started Hands Monday morning prayer meeting. We were led in prayers for different people who were travelling or visiting. We then were led by Dan (international volunteer from the UK) and Daytona (international volunteer from Canada) to look at Hands as a whole - international offices including the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia etc., for teams that support and visit, for Hands Regional support teams across Africa as well as the care workers, care givers and children within the community. 

We were led by Pinky is some worship songs including Bless the Lord oh my Soul as well as African worship songs and NeverMind closed our meeting with prayer. We were very pleased to see lots of familiar faces and some visiting faces from international offices for the Hands at Work Board meeting this week. 

Blogged by Oliver 

Day 1 and 2 - We have arrived!

Saturday

 

The Africa team gathered in the Chapter house for a final send off from members of the parish around 11 a.m. Thank you for your good wishes.

We then gathered at John and Lucy's for a meal before we set off for Heathrow terminal 5 .The rain was chucking it down making travelling around the M25 horrendous!

We meet Adam and Alice at Terminal 5 and distributed the 100 bottles of bubbles and repacked them into Adams and Olivers cases. This caused some hilarity in the middle of Terminal 5! We were surprised at how heavy they all were together! 

We had a smooth transition onto the plane (an A380 double decker)  only for then an hour and half delay due to staff cabin sleeping quarters issues and the thunder storms over Europe. 

Once in the air we enjoyed the BA food and inflight entertainment! 

Sunday 

After our slight delay, we made good time getting to Johannesburg, and after a somewhat tasty breakfast on the plane we headed in to land. 

Once we collected our rather new hire van from the airport we headed off on our 4 hour journey across to the Hub. 

We made our mandatory group stop at Alzu Services and used the facilities with the rhinos (if you know you know) before having a quick bite to eat before getting back on the road. 

On arrival to the hub we were greeted by our hosts and given the tour for the newbies and then got ourselves unpacked and showered. 

At the time of writing the blog we are just waiting for our dinner to cook and preparing ourselves to head out to Mafambisa in the morning.

By Nick and Adam 

Commissioning Service and Prayer Points

 

The time has finally come for our team to make way to South Africa. Following our commissioning service last Sunday, it was so lovely to be able to get together and worship and bless our hands to the work that we will do out in South Africa. 

Please read our prayer points below as we begin our travels:

• We pray for safe travels throughout our journey, both to Johannesburg and our onward travel to The Hands at Work Hub. We also pray for our travel while we are out there, that we might travel safely, with good time and have time to reflect and share stories and feelings. 
• We pray for health and safety of all our team as well as those who can’t come with us - in particular for Chris and Sally as they continue their recovery. 
• We pray for the relationships we will form with the care workers, for the fun we will have with the children. For singing, for dancing, for games, for cooking and worshiping with the care workers. 
• We pray for the words of encouragement we will provide to the care workers and the holy home visits that we will undertake. 

We look forward to sharing our stories and seeing your comments to give us encouragement to keep us going. 

Meet the Team 2025 - Alice

My name is Alice, and I am excited to be leading this year’s team alongside Oliver. I am a Teacher and Special Education Needs Co-ordinator for three Primary Schools in inner city London. In 2023 I also spent the year volunteer teaching in a Primary School near Durban, so South Africa really is like a second home! I love my job, and it is a privilege to walk alongside vulnerable children and their families, and I feel the same about spending time in South Africa and Mafambisa.

I have visited Mafambisa and Hands at Work for a number of years with a number of teams and every time is different and special. I am excited to be returning back home to the ‘Hands Family’ - to be hanging out and encouraging the Care Workers and spending time with the children that we have come to know and love over the years. I love to chop vegetables particularly the beetroot!! I love that they are excited to see those of us that have been before and get to know those that they haven’t! It is like a family reunion!

Every time I am blown away by the joy and hope that shines out of the Care Point, Care Workers, Service Centre and ultimately the children. Mafambisa and other Care Points that we have and will visit are beacons of light in a broken and hurt community but yet despite challenges the children are put at the forefront!

My prayers for this year as we embark on our trip are;

- Safe travels to SA and around the Care Points

- For the team to be able to encourage and empower the Care Workers and Service Centre - that we maybe a blessing to them in the short time we are there

- For the ‘first timers’ on the team are to experience Gods love peace as we journey and navigate this together

- That the whole team will hear from God, be lead by his Spirit and be changed by these next two weeks

- For fun and laughter in every aspect of our trip