Strength and Care
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the faith that we share.
In this report, I would like to share the experiences we had while hosting the first P2P initiative in the Western Cape.
To avoid confusion, I will just state the following:
The P2P group was split to accommodate everyone. One group stayed in Hopefield and the other group in Table view, Cape Town. and ran separate programs in the areas where they were staying and traded places the second week so everyone had the opportunity to work in the new areas, we are ministering. My report is also regarding the activities that were done in Cape Town. For the Hopefield Programs please read sister Valerie Kotkin-Smith’s report or visit our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Day One - Monday 3 January
All the volunteers met at one of the local pre-schools in Green village about an hour north of Cape Town, an area that was created for the local mines that came to a halt once fossils were discovered. We painted classrooms and decorated them with colourful murals that not only livens up the area but also will aid in teaching concepts of shapes and numbers. The brothers began to prepare an area to become a sustainable vegetable garden to feed the children, clear the lawns from weeds that have thorns. Outside of the building was also decorated with murals and an area where the children could ride their little scooters. The bathrooms were also given a fresh coat of paint and some needed maintenance. After many hours of labour in the hot African sun, we retired for the day with supper on the beach.
Day Two - Tuesday 4 January
The Group in Table View Cape town consisted of Brothers Seth Thomas and Ben Link, and Sisters Hannah Link and Rebekah Entwistle. The Sisters accompanied by Sister Lilandi went to meet the children at Little Brinks, while myself, Brothers Llewelyn, Ben and Seth started on the preparation of the Fundani Container. Our work was cut out for us as we had to clear the area of debris, create a small fenced area. Being optimistic only one day was planned for this work, I will honestly say that we spent close to three days to clear what we could dealing with some unforeseen setbacks. God had however provided that our planning was able to accommodate for the extra hours we needed.
Day Three - Wednesday 5 January
Why come to Cape Town if you are not able to ascend (via a hike or cable car) one of the 7 natural wonders of the world? Ben, Hannah and Seth and Rebekah went to Table Mountain in the morning, while preparations were made for the afternoon activities. After enjoying the magnificent views of God's creation from the mountain, we all met that afternoon and prepared food parcels for the Wolwerivier community that we were going to visit later that week.
Day Four - Thursday 6 January
The Brothers and Sisters again parted ways. The sister prepared activities for the children at Little Brinks and also for the first Bible club on that Saturday.
The Brothers went to the home of Brother Assumani, we helped our brother to remove a derelict shack from his property and replaced it with a sustainable vegetable garden.
In the afternoon we all met at the Fundani Container to resume the work that was at hand.
Day Five - Friday 7 January
We loaded the food parcels for the Wolwerivier community and set off to play some games with the children. There were 75 children in all! After a few impromptu soccer games and other activities, we handed out the parcels.
We returned to Fundani and got the last few things ready for Bible Club.
Day Six - Saturday 8 January
I have been eagerly waiting for this day. It was one of the projects that Lilandi and I started and ran for 4 years in Gauteng, since coming to Cape Town we have been praying to start a new Bible club and God has provided. We went to Wolwerivier and over 30 children were eagerly waiting to join us. After singing hymns, a lesson about love and games we gave them each a stationary pack and took them back home.
For the afternoon we planned a Clean-up for Christ initiative to clear a Green belt, fortunately and unfortunately the Municipal clean-up squad beat us to the punch. We set out to a popular beach as a consolation, where we were able to clear some rubbish. Slightly deflated, we returned home to unhitch the trailer. We set course to a restaurant on the beachfront. While waiting for our food, Valerie, Seth and Rebekah went to have a quick swim in the sea, on their return they shared that the beach was covered with rubbish. We all agreed that we would go to the beach after we were served our meals and start picking up the littered bottles and plastics.
In one short hour we had made a visible difference and filled the truck's bed to the roof of the canopy. It was wonderful to have people come to ask us about our purpose, help us, and even made some useful contacts for future beach clean-ups.
Day Seven - Sunday 9 January
As with creation we chose to rest on the seventh day. Everyone met together, enjoyed a good exhortation by Bro. Joshua and remembered our Lord Jesus. After the memorial and Sunday school we set out for a drive around Table Mountain to Houtbay harbour for a relaxing walk.
On our return, Ben, Hannah, Rebekah and Seth went to Hopefield, Sister Christina Lloyd, Sister Elia Lloyd, Pippa Larsen, Brother Jacob Lloyd and Brother Joshua Budney Stayed in Table view.
Day Eight - Monday 10 January
We all returned to the preschool in Green village to continue and finish the work that we started. All the painting, drilling, gardening, cleaning and fixing was completed at the end of the day and
ready for the children of the community to return to the classrooms. With a full day of work behind us we left tired and satisfied with our handy work.
Day Nine - Tuesday 11 January
In the morning we set out too Little Brinks to meet the children and engage in constructive play, singing songs. Side note: all the activities we do with the children at little brinks is to exercise micro and macro movements as well as cross lateral exercises. The activities are also designed to teach them literacy and numeracy.
After leaving Little Brinks we set off to the Cape Town ecclesia hall where Christina, Elia and Jacob performed a puppet show for the Sunday school children telling the stories of David and Goliath, and Jonah. The P2P team also engaged the children in games and songs.
Day Ten - Wednesday 12 January
You can't come to Africa and not go on a Safari! The P2P team went to a private reserve where we could go and view some of God’s created animals in their natural habitat. The team was spoiled with a well-informed field guide that showed us 4 of the big 5! Lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo. Sadly, the leopards were shy that day. A good way to recover a bit after a very busy week
Day Eleven - Thursday 13 January
The Day started off with a hike up Table Mountain for Christina, Elia, Pippa, Joshua and Jacob. where after the sisters joined Sisters class in the afternoon and preparations for Bible club.
Day Twelve - Friday 14 January
We set out to the Fundani container where the puppet show was presented to a group of children from Wolwerivier. Sister Christina, Elia and Jacob told the story of Jonah to the children where after they played a few games together.
Day Thirteen - Saturday 15 January
The Team from Hopefield came to Cape Town where Ben, Hannah, Rebekah, Seth, Joshua, Jacob and Pippa all went with Lucas, Leona, Llewellyn, Charles and Valerie to Lagoon Beach in Milnerton for a Clean-up for Christ event. Myself, Lilandi, Christina and Elia went to Fundani to present the David and Goliath puppet show to another group of children from Wolwerivier.
After the morning activities everyone met at the Fundani Container to decorate the outside of the container. What made this special is that everyone got to leave their mark on this Project. by using their hands as implements to transfer paint and create images of trees, Butterflies, grass and sky.
We concluded our P2P week that night by eating together, a debrief from Lucas and good fellowship. Sharing our Highs and Lows. Reflecting on the friendships created and the God moments we experienced.
Day Fourteen - Sunday 16 January
We all met to break bread and exhortation from Bro. Seth. After lunch we bid farewell to the Lloyd family along with Rebekah, the rest departed on Monday.
In between all these events we had some urgent family matters such as Liezl giving birth to the Twins on the 5th, Stacey became ill in the first week. We thank God for his provision and strength and care,
That we all continued with the work that was at hand. The differences we made in lives in His name and the Momentum that has been created to carry on with the good work of the Lord.
We have Bible Club every Saturday except the last Saturday of the Month when we have the Clean-up for Christ events.
Later that month I was invited to the baptism interview of Malenga Matundanya who gave a good confession of faith and was baptised the next Sunday at the home of Sister Ruth. Brother Malenga will be joining the Cape Town Ecclesia.
I thank you dear Brothers and Sisters for your continued Prayers for the work that we do in Cape Town South Africa.
For more information and updates on the work we are doing please follow the Cuddle Trust, Ignite & shine and Clean-up for Christ on Facebook and Instagram. Links Below.