Meet the team - Sally!

Hello – I am Sally and am I excited to be part of the 2026 team from St Andrews. I first went to South Africa as part of the team in 2024. We went as a family - my husband Christopher, our children Adam and Pippa and myself. It was a life changing trip for all of us and I was so proud when both the children chose to return again last year. Adam could only get one week off work - but still went anyway for the time he could - and Pippa was brave enough to go without her parents (with Alice volunteering to becoming her legal guardian for a fortnight!).

I would have loved to have gone last year as well, but at the time I needed to commit I was still in the middle of my main breast cancer treatment. And of course I was not the only person to be frustrated at not being able to travel last year. I visited Chris Parker at Lister Hospital a number of times during the time the team were away including on the way back from dropping the team at Heathrow and on the middle weekend while Adam was flying back on his own from Skukuza to Johannesburg and then onto Heathrow. We enjoyed reading and commenting on the blog together over a cup of tea and monitoring the team’s progress thanks to the fact I could track both my children’s phones. We both were determined that we would do our best to make the trip this year whatever condition we were in! Sadly in Chris’s case this was not to be and he will be very much on all our minds while we are away.

I am looking forward to returning to the communities in Mafambisa, Seville B and Pfunani which we visited back in 2024 – meeting the care workers and the children again and seeing how things have changed and developed. You may recall from my intro blog in 2024 one of the things I was concerned about was whether our two-week visit really could make a difference to these vulnerable communities. I can confirm that I saw first-hand that simply by going and supporting local care workers, listening to caregivers and sharing God’s love with the children, we can provide encouragement and hope in extremely challenging circumstances. It is a real privilege to be going again and having the opportunity to do this. Whilst I am still coming to terms with the ongoing impact of my treatment and worrying how I will manage the trip with my fatigue and aches and pains, I am acutely aware that I have been blessed with access to excellent healthcare and support over the last two year and in the big scheme of things and compared with the challenges these communities are facing I have much to be grateful for. 

 

Meet the team - Jack!

Hi I’m Jack and the reason I have chosen to go back to South Africa this year is because I believe that the last time I went I didn’t quite fulfil the true meaning of what it was like as I was quite young. So this time I feel there is more to learn and achieve while I’m there as I have matured since last time and I would love to make the same connections with the same people and make more connections with others. I also feel that God is pushing me towards South Africa again because he also knows that there are gaps that I need to fill since 2022 and I know that there are gaps so this time I want to make another massive difference when we are there by helping at every possible opportunity that comes towards me. I am excited to travel to Africa with our team this year and I hope that everyone will hold all of us in their prayers as we go and stay there for 2 weeks to help with Gods work as he looks down upon us keeping us safe.

Meet the team - John!

Hi, I’m John, I’m married to Lucy, we have four adult children and two young grandsons. I have worshiped at St Andrew’s church for many years and have been involved in various aspects of church life, but few things have given me greater pleasure, and belief in God at work in the world, than our partnership with Hands at Work.

I witnessed firsthand the effect going to visit and share in the work of Hands in Africa had on my daughter, Jessica, and my eldest son, Oliver, about a decade ago; and have had the privilege of being part of two previous teams in 2022 and 2024. I have been thrilled by the way our relationship with Hands, and our partner community of Mafambisa, have developed and grown over the last number of years.

The visits were humbling, inspiring and uplifting; to see the work of the Hands team, the kindness and dedication of the Care Workers, and the pure unbridled enthusiasm of the children was a real joy. Along with that was the strengthening of the faith we share, seeing God’s love for his people in action and feeling God’s presence amid challenging situations. We prayed, we ate, we played, we laughed, and we shared in moments of difficulty and anxiety, but it certainly made me think again about the priorities of life and what I consider to be important. One of the things that made a great impact on me were the Holy Home Visits; being invited into the homes of people in communities, listening to their stories, however challenging, was very special and something that has stayed with me. Since my return, amidst all the busyness and strains we experience in everyday life, it has made me appreciate things more and be thankful that I am truly blessed.

I’m eager to see what our visit this year may bring; I’m excited about going back, seeing how things have progressed, meeting old friends and new, and traveling with this year’s Team. I’m looking forward to join again with the fantastic work of Hands, and walk alongside the care workers as they cook, visit homes and care for the children of their communities.

Team 2026

It is that time of year again when we start to introduce our 2026 Team that are heading out to our partner community of Mafambisa, South Africa. Each trip and team has been different over our 10 year partnership and we are excited for what God is going to do within our team, in ourselves and in our time with Hands at Work and in the communities we visited. We believe that God has called and curated this years team for a particular reason so please follow on as we introduce this years team and as we prepare for out trip this August. 

Day 14 - Mafambisa

 

This morning we had Word and Worship. At the start of the meeting Rachel, Nick and Noah fed back about our two weeks in South Africa. 

The hub then prayed for our safe travels home tomorrow and Prags sang a song about never giving up over us. We continued with worship before listening to the word for today’s meeting which was a recorded video by David Newsome about ‘Doubting’ Thomas and how asking questions shows courage not ignorance. 

We went to Mafambisa today to do Care Worker appreciation. We helped the Care Workers with the daily cooking and preparing before all gathering in the church. 

Before we could start our appreciation day we had to wait for the water delivery. It costs R300 for about a two week supply. 

We began with checking on each other and Oliver shared some words of encouragement based on Psalms 3:1-4. 

We gave all the Care Workers some cross bracelets and a little goody bag as a thanks for all the amazing work they do for their communities. They loved them thanks for all your donations. 

We then began appreciation with the boys washing the Care Workers feet. 

We painted all the Care Worker’s and Service Centre’s nails in many different colours. They also had some coke and cookies which quickly disappeared. Afterwards the Care Workers wanted to take a moment to thank us for the day and to explain how much our partnership with Mafambisa means to them. 

After this the final touches were being added to the toilet block as children slowly started to arrive. As usual all the Care Workers wanted to get stuck in with helping to paint their Care Point. 

Once more children had arrived we did some parachute games with the children and colouring in the shelter. Then it was time to worship and pray with the children before the service centre asked the children if they had any messages they wanted to share with us. After this we got the opportunity to say thank you to the children for being so incredible, resilient and for always putting smiles on our faces. Today for lunch we ate pap, beans and cabbage. 

After food it was time for our final dance of the trip. We then wanted to give the children some postcards with the words of shine printed on, along with a little tube of bubbles. We then took a massive group photo with everyone at the Care Point before saying our final goodbyes.

This evening we took our host Lonneck out to dinner at Gum Trees before returning to the hub to pack in preparation for returning home tomorrow.

By Pippa