As this year hurries on, it feels like we have only just started and yet we are already nearing the end of March. I am sure this is how many people feel every year but it is really this year that I have felt this in particular. The things that have kept Morgan and I busy have ranged from end of year reporting to going out to communities and spending time with our new group of volunteers. Here at Hands at Work, very February and September we have times set aside to allow new volunteers to come and join us as part of the family. This February, we had twelve people come to join us from all over the world. We had couples, a family and singles from Australia, UK, US, Canada and Germany. It is the first time in a very long time that we have had such a diverse group within a group of new volunteers. The volunteers come for an initial 6 week orientation program and then stay on usually between a year and three years. If anyone is interested in finding out more about this then head to www.handsatwork.org/come. It is very exciting for us who have been here a few years to see what God is doing in the lives of the new volunteers. Last week we got to hear about their community stay. For those that remember, this is when we go into the community for the weekend and stay with a family. The relationships we build here can often be long lasting as you can understand by the relationship we still have with Silo. We ask that you keep these new volunteers in your prayers as they will be heading out to various countries in the next few weeks. For those who do not know, one of the couples who are part of the new volunteers are Morgan’s mum and dad. It has been great to have them around and they will be spending most of the year in Zambia helping our construction team and Regional Support Team (RST).
Over the past month, Morgan and I also had the privilege of joining some other members of the Hands family to go to a community called Share as a part of a monthly meeting called community prayer. We do this every month and visit a difference community each month and it is a time where we can go and encourage our Care Workers and children by praying and worshipping together. On this particular visit, we also had the opportunity the do home visits. The home I visited was of a young girl named Alice and her gogo (grandmother). When Alice was born, her mum did not want to look after her and so dropped her off at the door of her gogo. As a result, Alice has only ever met her mum a few times and was raised by her gogo. Alice has never met her dad. Her gogo not only cares for Alice but other children in the community who have no parents, she is a real beacon of hope in the community of Share. Alice is able to get a meal a day from the life centre in Share and gets a regular visit from her Care Worker, Doris. As we prayed and left the family, I couldn’t help but think what Alice would do if it wasn’t for the love she receives from her gogo and Doris from the life centre. We need to keep praying for our Care Workers in the community as they give of themselves every day to serve the most vulnerable children in Africa.
A couple of weekends ago, we also spent time as the Hands family having an afternoon of fun together by having a Potjkiekos and playing some Boer sports. Not through literal translation but these are Afrikaans words for a stew cook-off and Primary school sports. We had four teams and each cooked their own version of the Afrikaans stew which was then judged later in the day. We also played many games in our teams including egg and spoon race, three legged race, apple bobbing, tug of war and a sack race. Our team managed to come second overall on the day and everyone had lots of fun!
Lastly, we have been blessed and have been able to be able to buy a car. It is a Ford Focus and after a few hiccups at the beginning is now working great and we feel very fortunate to be able to have that extra bit of freedom.
- Tommy
