Tuesday- Home Visit - Mafambisa

When we got back to the hub after the weekend. I was really excited to go back and see a young 18 year old girl whose baby had been due on the 5th and we had heard she was delivered.

She was very anxious on our first visit like any 1st time mum and a little confused about what was to happen to her or her due date. 

The weather had been awful in the night and continued to rain as we negotiated a pathway. 

This time we were inside the house and all greeted and congratulated her. We were overjoyed to see this beautiful baby snuggled up in his mothers arms. She was being watched over by others in the absence of her mother who was working at the Care Point. 

We asked her some questions on how the baby was doing. Both mother and baby looked fine. We were told via an interpreter that she was bottle feeding and breast feeding at night. 

She had free medical care and milk powder for baby. 

They had kept her in hospital for 2 days till baby was feeding better. 

I learnt that ambulances are not provided for those in labour so taxi's  are taken to the hospital from the main road.

It seems she had everything she needed and certainly people were on hand to help. She was just a little sore but well. I was told she was planning to return to school in a week! Most women would have 6 weeks or maternity leave from work of 6-12 months in UK. 

One of Service Centre Team also went to congratulate her later. 

I wondered what papers / birth certicate this baby would have as many are excuded from graduating education without one. 

We had the great privilege to see her and hold her special 'gift' called “Our Gift” in English. It was a special thing to happen on what had been a day that started on a low. 

It may be possible to see her again before we leave…

Blogged by Lesley 

Tuesday - Ladies and Men’s Prayer

​Ladies prayer - blogged by Carolyn 

Exodus 34:6–7 God reveals His very nature to Moses:

“The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished…”

Brooke shared how faith has woven in and out of her life, sometimes strong and sometimes faint, but always present. Her story reminded us that God’s character remains constant even when our faith feels fragile. His patience and love meet us in those moments of struggle.

We split into small groups and we discussed which characteristics of God felt most important to us right now. Some spoke of His forgiveness, others of His faithfulness, and still others of His justice. We shared personal stories of how God had revealed Himself in our lives through answered prayers, unexpected peace, or moments of conviction.

Together, we prayed for the qualities of God we long to experience more deeply in this season. Whether it was His compassion, His patience, or His steadfast love, we asked Him to show Himself to us in ways that would strengthen our faith.

Men’s Prayer - blogged by John 

This Tuesday morning’s prayer meeting met in the main room at the Hands Hub to the sound of the rain on the metal roof, and a chill in the air outside. Fourteen of us sat on chairs in a circle and after a time of quiet Never, a member of the maintenance team, led our session. 

We began by going around the room, as is often the practice at Hands, introducing ourselves and reflecting on our weekend and how we were; praying for one other and giving thanks for all that God had given us since last we met.

Then we dedicated a time to pray for those working for Hands at Work; firstly for Levi and Prag, who now head up the organisation, praying for their leadership, for wisdom and strength as they take important decisions. And particularly for Prag as she embarks upon a trip to Nigeria next week, with her son Jackson, to support the work of Care Points there. Secondly for the Hands executive board members, as they support Levi and Prag, and guide the direction of the work, overseeing the tasks of the various departments. Then praying for those different departments: the maintenance team, keeping everything running smoothly; the welcome and hospitality teams, playing a crucial role; and the service centre teams, being the eyes and ears on the ground, supporting the Care Points and Care Workers in each community.

After reflecting on the work already happening and the plans for the near future, prayers then turned to individual prayer requests of those present. We prayed for one member of staff’s sister and his brother-in-law, undergoing a breakdown in their relationship; a longterm volunteer’s parents, struggling with his father’s Alzheimer’s; and then the whole group prayed for our church at St Andrew’s, and our ongoing relationship with Hands.

The meeting concluded with Never sharing a verse from Habakkuk, encouraging us to sometimes be patient - God enables things to happen in His time.

“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Habakkuk 2:3

Tuesday - Mafambisa

​It rained and rained and rained all night and all day! We drove back to Mafambisa today unsure of what to expect. Can you believe that in 11 years it has not rained whilst a team had visited Hands? We were unprepared with not enough warm clothes, no umbrella or rain coats but we were ready for what the day would bring! 

On arrival, we navigated the mud, pools of water and trenches to reach the Children’s shelter where we were greeted by the Care Workers and set to work! There was chopping and grating to be done as well as some warming by the fire! 

The younger members practiced “shine” on the stage in the rain to warm up whilst John checked out the drains on the church roof. 

Next there was some time spent with the Care Workers checking in and sharing prayer requests before some worship and singing both in Siswati and English. John led us all in Siyahumba - We are marching in the light of God and we danced, praised and sang our way around the shelter and also got warm in the process. 

Dudu shared some words of encouragement around Psalm 107 verses 1-2. 

“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?”

‭‭and also Joshua 24 verse 15. 

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

It was clear to the team that these passages summed up the Care Workers and the Care Point. Dudu shared about faithfulness and how God is always there even when we may not always feel that he is! She shared that we shouldn’t take our focus of the Lord even when times are tough. This also linked to the theme of this mornings ladies prayer of faithfulness. 

We then gave the Care Workers and Service Centre a gift that Mark had sent for them of a pair of prayer hands made from an olive tree in Bethlehem. There were lots of comments on how beautiful this was. A poster of pictures of Chris’s (Dad’s) time in Mafambisa was also given to them and displayed in the cooking shelter alongside others from previous years! The Care Workers took great delight in reminiscing the different shots and events that they represented.

After this, normal routines resumed with a slight difference that all the games were played inside today. This mainly involved a big inflatable football and tennis balls being thrown and lobbed around by all the children big and small! It was so much fun that the inflatable ball had to be mended with plasters on more than one occasion! 

Some of the team went to visit the new baby that was born last week but more on that later from Lesley. Others in the team helped cook the Pap well tried anyway! 

John started a drawing and colouring club with some of the children and after a short demonstration were well away! 

The Care Workers at Mafambisa have been making jewellery to sell recently and their next project is making mats like the one in the picture below. Dudu was busy plaiting plastic bags in the corner of the shelter so I went along to help her with this. It was very relaxing and we can’t wait to see the result when they are finished!  

Next up were various singing and dancing games both from South Africa and England; the Hokey Cokey, Shake Shake Banana and a dancing game. After this it was time for lunch of pap, potatoes, soup and beetroot! Sadly no time for Holiday Club dancing today but there was a promise of it for tomorrow. 

On return to the Hub, tea and rusks were enjoyed by all and then preparations for the Kids Day (tomorrow) and Care Worker Fellowship Day (Thursday). 

For Kids day, the bags included the postcards from Edward Peake, postcards with the words of shine on and a picture of the children at Mafambisa; stationery donated by Edward Peake and a cross beaded bracelet. 

For Care Worker Fellowship Day, the bags which had different encouraging Bible verses on included postcards from Sunday School, 3D printed crosses, a bookmark, notebook and pen and a variety of toiletries. 

Dinner and de-brief were next before some games of monopoly deal and rage before bed. Reflections of the day concluded that it went far above our expectations given the weather and was a delight to see how the Care Workers continue to provide above and beyond for the children at all times. 

Blogged by Alice 

National Women’s Day

​Today was National Women’s Day (a bank holiday) which means we weren’t able to go to the Care Point. After a well needed lie in after a few very early starts over the weekend, we got up for breakfast and also made a plan of what to do today. The forecast was rain so we had a few ideas and then there was a vote. Mostly everyone voted to go to the mountains in the hope that the sun would come through the clouds! 

After breakfast we got ready to go to the mountains (also known as the Three Rondavels). It was around a 2 hour drive and we left at around 10:00am. When we got there it was quite chilly and windy but the sun was out! We then walked to the view point to see the Three Rondavels. The view was absolutely incredible and we were all in awe of God’s wonderful creation. 

We took some pictures of the river and the view, a picture as a group and some individual photos. After taking quite a lot of photos, we went for a drink at the small cafe there and as we were sat there we could see the clouds rolling over the mountains which was incredible to watch. 

After finishing our coffees (once we figured out whose coffee was whose!) we went around the small market where a few of us brought some things for themselves or for home before getting in the bus to make our way to Harries Pancake house in Graskop which was really nice. We then went into one of the small shops in the town and I think a few of us brought something. Before getting in the van and going to the shop for some things for dinner. 

After travelling back to the hub we said dinner will be at 7:00pm so we all did our own thing for a couple of hours and had time to relax. John made dinner which was pasta with a tomato sauce. A chat about the week ahead in the community, some preperations for Kids Day and Fellowship Day before a game of rage and early night so we are rested for our day in community tomorrow. The forecast is rain which is a first for us so keep reading our blog tomorrow. 

Blogged by Rachel 

Video update - end of Week 1

As we enter week 2 of our trip please see a wee update from us that we shared with those at St Andrews Church on Sunday Morning. Thanks for all your prayers and comments on the blog. We appreciate them heaps. 

Weekend at Kruger

Day 1 by Kruger by Freya 

​We left the hub very early at 4:30 am, planning to enter through the Malelane gate however after sitting in traffic for a long while, we decided to turn round and go through Numbi gate. 

As we arrived we were greeted with a herd of Zebras and too many Impalas. 

We then continued on a hunt to find Leopards and Lions but instead found many Buffalos altogether waiting for us on the side of the road. 

We then followed the road for another hour seeing many many impalas, before seeing a massive crowd watching what we thought was zebras and giraffes till we looked closer and saw there was a lioness basking in the sun watching what may of been her prey. (Sadly we could not get a good photo of it as it was well camouflaged).

Not long after there was another large crowd however surrounding a tree which we believe to of seen a leopard in, we then continued our drive and saw plenty of animals till we stopped for breakfast at Afsal where John cooked bacon and eggs.

After breakfast we continued our drive where we again saw many impalas and also a beautiful herd of elephants crossing the bridge 

We stopped for lunch by a waterhole where monkeys watched us eat our ham and cheese sandwiches 

After the park shut, we checked in at the hotel and some of the team ran off to get ready for the pool, for a refreshing swim in yet another unheated pool.

We then wrapped up our day with a lovely dinner at the buffet where some members had a taste of impala meat and some tried to become an ice cream man.

Day 2 in Kruger by Jack 

We started off the day by waking up at 5:30am to go for a quick look around the park just to see if we could spot any of the big cats in the early morning sun. Sadly before we turned we didn’t see any big cats lounging round but we did see a nice sunrise and a Warthog (or as Alice likes to call it Hogwarts). At the last minute Ben saw on the “ting ting” that there was a leopard around the corner so odd we went and success! Whoop! 

We then drove back to our hotel and then thought again that it would be a great idea to go in the pool. After we were refreshed both in body and mind we went for breakfast and set off again to the park to try and spot the big cats again. Although around 5 mins in we stopped at a zebra crossing but instead of 1 there were quite a few.

After the zebra crossing we drove around the roads for a while seeing nothing but Impalas again until we saw many broken trees which gave us the idea that an elephant was near by and low and behold around the corner we saw an elephant eating its breakfast.

We then thought it was time to leave the elephant to do what it liked so we drove off but for a while we had seen nothing and thought that today all the animals had gone to Sunday 10am service until we saw some long necked friends kindly waiting in a group together so that we could take a picture of them.

Although the giraffes were great we were still not satisfied that we hadn’t seen a big cat close up so it took a lot of driving and a lot of looking to try see one until we saw a big queue of people waiting by a potential leopard tree. We all got our hopes up that it would be easy to see till we realised that a hyena was minding its own business on the road protecting and carrying its cubs.

A long drive and a lot of animals (mostly Impalas) later we finally saw a close up big cat which was a leopard walking across the road and not in it’s natural place which is normally lying lazily in a tree but we think it was looking for some lunch to take back to his spot.

It was almost getting time to leave the park until a huge crowd of people were blocking the road which made us immediately think that it was a Lion but of course we were at the back, the furthest point from where the Lions were, so after a while we drove up hoping for an opening to see the Lion but we couldn’t so we were about to drive off until the eager eyed Carolyn spotted it in the distance which made her very happy as she said ‘I’m not good at spotting things’ but turns out you can see as much from the back as you can from the front.

Here are some other photographs from our trip to Kruger.