Choice

Every day we have so many choices. We probably don’t even realize many of the things we do in our days are choices because we have become so accustomed to them.

The choice to open a fridge and find food inside.

The choice to turn on a tap and have water flow out.

The choice to cover ourselves with a blanket at night.

For nearly all of us, these do not seem like choices. They seem like our rights.

But for so many families across Africa, these things are not a right or a choice. 

The choice to find food is not a choice because there is no food. And no money to afford food. 

The choice to have water every day is not a choice because the wells, rivers and boreholes have all run dry. 

The choice to have a blanket was always a luxury but now completely out of sight because the only income source has been taken away.

What makes me write all this? It is a crisis that is currently devastating people’s lives across Southern Africa. The drought crisis. It has made a few headlines overseas and only a few more in Africa itself, but across many of the communities we are working, it is all families can think about. Why is that? The drought. We are not seeing and feeling the full effect of crops that have failed and water sources that have completely dried up. This means that for many families, their only source of water has disappeared and their only source of food (and therefore small income these families did have) has also now disappeared. 

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting our local office in an area called Oshoek (another part of South Africa, about 3 hours away). My primary reason for this visit was to train our new bookkeeper. From this office, the team support 5 Communities. One of these communities is called Sthobela and I was able to visit this community and go on some home visits. 

We visited Moses and his mother. On the day we visited, Moses was not in school. When the Care Workers asked why, the mother said that she saw other kids were not at school so she assumed it was not a school day. This struck me and reminded me that so much information in our communities is communicated by word of mouth and it is just taken as truth. It was not a public holiday or a non-school day so Moses should have been at school. It is one of the many cultural things that our Care Workers have to encounter on a daily basis. Later in the home visit, one of the Care Workers asked if we could do anything to help the family. They asked if we could collect firewood for them. Two Care Workers, Devon (a Canadian volunteer) and myself got up to follow Moses to a nearby forest. We brought empty sacks to carry the wood in. As we followed Moses, it made me think that he knows the way to the forest, which isn’t unusual. But when we collected the wood and started carrying it back, it then hit me that Moses does this every few days to collect wood for his family. The sacks were very heavy, far too heavy for a 7 year old to be carrying and yet he does it because there is no choice for Moses. If he doesn’t get firewood, there will be no way for his family to keep warm or to boil what little likely contaminated water they had, making it safer to drink. At the end of our time together, we prayed for this family for God’s provision to continue for them but especially for the Care Workers to continue visiting this family and especially to ensure Moses keeps attending school. We encouraged Moses to work hard at his studies as it can open so many doors for him when he grows up. It is families like Moses’ that are being hit by the drought crisis. The only water that is available is right at the bottom of the mountains. Moses’ family lives part way up a mountain. So it is easy enough to get down to the water with the bucket but hauling it back up the mountain again is difficult, and it is if there is even water available. 

What can you do about the drought crisis? First of all, please share it with others you know. Friends, family, work colleagues. We need to get the word out there that many children and families across Africa will not survive if we do not respond. Secondly pray. God can make all things possible! Pray for unseasonable rain, pray that we know how to react well to needs we meet in our communities and pray for God to comfort those who we haven’t yet reached. Thirdly, please give. We want to be able to reach beyond what we are currently doing by helping even more kids and families for this drought season. But to do that we need extra funding. Consider how you can help get food and water to those who have no choice. 

If you want more about the drought crisis and how we are responding visit our website or send Morgan and I an email.

Morgan’s mum recent shared a heart-breaking story of her experience in Malawi and how it is affecting our children. Please take some time to read it. 

- T

Going on a Lion Hunt

 

Back to Nigeria

My recent trip to Nigeria was one that I had been eagerly anticipating for a few months. In my first few years with Hands, I had the privilege of visiting once or even twice a year. But the past couple of years, for many reasons, the timing hasn’t worked for me to get there. The last time I was in Nigeria was October 2013 when Morgan and I travelled to Nigeria together. As soon as I landed in Nigeria, it was like coming to another home again. Even though your senses get assaulted as soon as you land, it definitely felt very comforting to me to be coming back to a place I think of so often. The traffic is loud, the smell of car fumes is so strong and there are people everywhere! All this being said, it always such a blessing to be among people that have a special place in my heart. 

Our Service Centre office is also
the place we stay in Nigeria

For many of our Service Centres (SCs) or local offices across Africa this year, we are really pushing to support them better by having a member of an RST (regional support team) for longer periods of time. Lagos SC in Nigeria is no different despite it being thousands of kilometres away from the Nigeria support team here in South Africa. In this last trip, I arrived in Lagos to meet Jackie (one of our Kenyan volunteers). One of the primary reasons for me going to Nigeria for this trip was to spend time training our new bookkeeper, Vivian. She is a young woman with lots of potential. Many of my days in Nigeria were spent in the office training her in our financial procedures and processes. But I also had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in our communities. 

We work in two communities in Nigeria, one in Lagos and one in another town called Ibadan, about 3 hours away. In Lagos, our community, Ilaje, is very urban and a slum area, which is a huge contrast to many of our other communities across Africa. Our other community, Apatuku, is by contrast to Ilaje, much more rural. 

Left to right: Matthew (a teacher in Apatuku CBO),
myself, Efe (Toyin's daughter), Toyin, Jackie

Our trip to Ibadan included Jackie, myself and Toyin. Toyin is our current bookkeeper in Nigeria and transitioning into becoming our SC coordinator. She has been with us since 2009. As with many Nigerians, she has a very determined and unwavering personality. One of my highlights of this trip was to see how much she has grown over the past year. She has taken on a new leadership of this team and wants to see our work in Nigeria expand in so many ways this year. And we are committed to standing alongside her as she strives for that. Our journey to Ibadan began with a car ride on a road which is definitely one of the scariest in Africa! Due to the amount of traffic in Nigeria, drivers are used to driving very close to each other. This is bad enough in city traffic where you are going relatively slowly, but when on the motorway going 100 kph (60 mph) it is nerve-racking. Many prayers have been prayed on this road. Thankfully we made it there and back without incident. Our time in Ibadan was very special. I got to reconnect with kids who I had met a few years ago and meet some new kids. 

On our second day in Apatuku, we were able to do some Holy Home Visits. As we walked through the community, it was very quiet. I think it was made even quieter by the fact we had just come from the bustling city of Lagos a day earlier. On one of our visits, we met a young boy named Joseph. Joseph, who is 12 years old, had lived with his grandmother from birth. His mum and dad realised they could not bring him and his brothers up on the income they had so Joseph's grandmother stepped in to take care of him. Joseph's brother now also lives them after their parents’ situation got even worse because their dad got sick and their only source of income dried up. He now lives with his brother and grandmother. To earn some kind of income, Joseph's grandmother sells maize meal with corn but each one only sells for N10 (3p or $0.06) each. The Care Workers at Apatuku CBO have helped and encouraged Joseph to keep attending school and continue learning. Now, he loves learning and wants to keep on studying and work hard to eventually become a doctor. He will soon be taking the exams to get into secondary school and feels ready. At the end of our visit Joseph shared to us “I am confident that I can get 100% by God's grace”. This is a huge testimony to what God can do through people who are willing to put up their hand and say I will do what it takes to walk with those who have no voice. Care Workers, like Elijah, are able to visit children like Joseph, encourage them and being a parental figure in their lives. 

Ilaje Care Workers and teachers praising
God for his faithfulness

A few days after returning from Ibadan, our team travelled to our other community, Ilaje. As I said earlier, this community is very urban and in a slum of Lagos. In this community, we have a great community school which caters for vulnerable children for nursery classes and primary classes. The group of teachers and Care Workers serving in the Community Based Organisation(CBO)are incredible. They are some of the most dedicated volunteers I have ever met. One of our teachers there, Mrs Joseph, has taken in vulnerable children from the community and makes sure each of them is at school every day. If she sees one even just one of them is not attending for a few days in a row, she goes to visit that child and makes sure they are ok. This is the sign of a true Care Worker. As we were sitting with the Care Workers and teachers they shared a story with us of one of the children who was assessed and started receiving care in January. Her name is Sarah and she is one of 5 siblings. Sarah and her family used to live in another state of Nigeria but last year her father left the family for another woman, a common situation in that particular state of Nigeria. As is the custom, the mother and children moved to the community of Ilaje. Over a few months last year, the mother grew sicker and sicker. At this stage the Care Workers in Ilaje were not aware of this family. Unfortunately the family did not have enough money to get the mother to hospital and she passed away in December. By the end, she was very sick and she actually died in the house they were living in. The family’s neighbour heard about this and tried to phone the father. He did not really want any part of their lives but he suggested that the church could help. Unfortunately, when the mother was sick it meant they could not get to church and the elders of the church decided that because the family had not attended the church in a while, the church couldn’t help. This meant the mother had a government funeral. The kids were then left with no mother (having watched their mother die) and no-one to look after them as they lived far from relatives. A groups of ladies in the community came together, but the only way they could help these 5 children was to care for some of them each, meaning that the siblings could not all live together. Sarah, who is 14 years old and in grade 5 and her young brother Abraham were taken in by a lady named Angie, who already has 6 children of her own. She knew the struggles of the family and also knew there was a place in the community where vulnerable children can revceive hope. Angie introduced Sarah and Abraham to Mrs Michaels, one of the Care Workers in Ilaje. Both Sarah and Abraham now attend Ilaje school. The trauma they have been through is enormous but we pray that through the Care Workers in Ilaje, they are able to be with other children, play games, receive a hot meal every day and receive parental love and support. 

As I reflect on my trip to Nigeria, I am constantly reminded of the dedication of our Care Workers who give absolutely everything they have to care for the most vulnerable children in Africa. It gives me an increased motivation to know that the numbers I work on most days are helping to support Care Workers like Mrs Joseph care for children like Sarah and Joseph. 

- T 

Acknowledging Him with our Lifestyle.

I sometimes find it hard to write blog posts. After almost 6 years of living in Africa and serving with Hands most of my life has become very normal. It's weird to write about your everyday life, like it is something extraordinary. But one thing I am constantly reminded of is that it's a privileged and a gift and I want to share that with people. As we have teams and visitors come and we share about what we do everyday or we share with people at church a bit about our week, I realize it is extraordinary! Not because of anything I have done, but because of what He is doing in the transformation of the lives of people in Africa and across the world. 

- M

40 Days of Prayer
Every year Hands at Work journeys though 40 Days of prayer leading up to Easter. Every year I find it such a humbling time. Daily as we pray for Gogo's, children, men and women in Africa and across the world I am reminded of what I am a part of. Of what God has called us to and what he is busy doing in the lives of the most vulnerable and those who serve them. 
 

Celebrating Community
One of the things that I have come to truly love about our life, is the community we live in. Men and women from all over the world, living and working together. They are a constant source of strength, encouragement, laughter and grace. I always say we are a group of people who seemingly shouldn't fit together, but somehow we do! 

Recently I read a quote by Brenden Manning  “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” We live in a community that daily reminds us and holds us accountable to the not denying him with our lifestyle.

In this picture alone we capture 5 different countries!
I am blessed by these women everyday.

Community Prayer in Zwelisha Community

Once a month the Hands family visits a community near by to encourage, worship and serve together. In February we went to Zwelisha Community and were joined by a team from the UK called the Filling Station. I had the opportunity to go on a home visit before we left the community. We visited a sweet old man and his wife Gogo Betty*. He fled Mozambique in the early 50s and his wife followed a few years later. They have 16 children, but only 6 are still alive. I couldn't image losing over half of my children. They now care for a number of grandchildren, the youngest being only a few months old. Their grand kids have been left with them, and their parents have yet to return. Before we left we asked what we could pray for them, Gogo Betty shared with us what keeps her up at night. She told us about her youngest daughter Sara* who is 17 years old, she is a bright young girl in grade 11. Because they are Mozambican refuges, they are not eligible for IDs or papers in SA. This extends not only to Gogo Betty, but her children, her grandchildren and generations to come. Sara should graduate next year, but she won't be able to write her exams. You need an ID to write exams. Gogo fears what will happen to her family with out IDs. She has tried a few times over the years, but she has been scammed by people in her community claiming to be able to help her. She asked if we could pray for a miracle, if we could pray that somehow Sara would be able to write her exams and get the credit she deserves for her many years of hard work. She asked if we could pray for the future of her family, that somehow they would be able to get IDs and papers. ... I have gone to sleep many nights this week praying for Gogo Betty and Sara. Sadly their story is one we hear often among the most vulnerable people in South Africa. Please pray with us for a miracle for Gogo Betty and her family. 

A few pictures from Community Prayer 

Helping to clear the ground at the Care Point, so the children will have a safe place to play.

50 of the most vulnerable children in Zwelisha Community receive a meal each day. 

A New Year - A Fresh Start

The last update we wrote was the good news about God’s faithfulness and his provision of my new 3 year visa for South Africa. After such a long time away from our home, it was so great to be able to step back into our house. The first few days back were a little surreal as it took me a while to get used to being back. After over 6 months away, it has been great to spend time catching up with those people who I haven’t seen since June. 

We spent December in the UK. Christmas was a special time spent with family and friends. It was Morgan’s first UK Christmas and my first Christmas in UK since 2011. We had lots of time to connect with people and share about our year in Africa and the joys and challenges we experienced. 

As with every New Year at Hands, we begin the year with the Watchword Launch. This is a time when many people from all over Africa come together and we begin the year by hearing from God and his word for us as Hands for this year. The word given to us this year was from Romans 15v5. It reads: “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity amongst yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.” Romans 15:5 (NIV84) 

As I have been reflecting on the scripture given to us for this year, it has made me think about a few things. 

How often to I encourage others? I know that when someone encourages me, it can change my mood in such a big way and I always feel thankful to that person. But it is also a huge challenge to me to actively seek out people and encourage them more. I know how much I benefit from encouragement and I want to be able to lift others up in that same way. But as I have been reflecting, it also takes a spirit of discernment to know in what way to encourage people and at what specific time. This takes prayer. So I guess my real goal for this year is to prayerfully discern who needs encouragement and then being willing to act on God’s behalf to provide that encouragement.

As we grow together and expand our work, we have big plans to break ground in as many as 20 new communities this year and that means a huge commitment for all of us. We will see hundreds more children being reached who will have not previously been supported. The Regional Support Teams will be breaking new ground by stirring up local churches to advocate on behalf of the most vulnerable in their own communities and lay the challenge to them to say what can you do to help. We trust God that this will provide us with local men and women (Care Workers) who will then join together and begin caring for the most vulnerable by visiting children and orphans in their homes. These local Care Workers will bring healing and life to these forgotten children who are so often looked down upon. We will be finding these new communities all the way from the dirty, busy slums of Nigeria all the way to deepest rural Malawi where home visits can be 10 miles apart. Both present their unique challenges but challenges which we are committed to overcome because children’s lives depend on it. 

As well as breaking into new communities this year, we will also be going deeper in our existing communities by moving from Care Points to Life Centres. In the past we have always known we have wanted to do it but now we have been able to put some clarity and plans to our dreams. We want to move from providing a place where children come to receive food and transform these places into life giving communities where children can come and feel safe and willing to share their struggles. There will be Care Workers available to help children talk through their home lives and be willing to pray with them. These Life Centres will also provide a place for children to meet together and share their own stories with other children and start helping each other by sharing their testimonies. 

 In the office, both Morgan and I have been busy preparing end of 2015 reports for our partners. It is such a special thing to be involved in, to be able to look back at all that God provided us with in 2015 and how he was able to use us to accomplish so much throughout the different countries we work in. 

As we look to the next few weeks, we will get some opportunities to go into some of our local communities and also finish off the 2015 reports. 

- T 

I Am A Witness - 2015

For the past five years as part of my reflection at the end of a year, I have gathered a collection of pictures that represent moments I have cherished from the year. As I was looking back this year, I found I had many moment's I didn't have a picture for, it turns out I didn't take many photos in 2015. Life didn't look how I thought it would last year, and many times my mind was caught up in the ciaos of it all. I love taking pictures, capturing that moment in time when nothing will every be exactly like it was every again. Stopping even if it is only for a few seconds to appreciate the beautiful in your midst. It's an art that I have missed being a part of. As we begin a new year, I want to recommit myself to a goal I set when I first arrived in Africa.

I am a Witness

While we journey in Africa, I have committed to posting a collection of picture; moments of overwhelming joy, sorrow, pain, pride and beauty captured in my honest and uncensored attempt to tell our story and those of the ones we love. 

I am a witness; I want my testimony to be honest and uncensored,

I also want it to be powerful and eloquent and

to do as much justice as possible to the experiences

of the people I’m photographing

 – James Natchtwey

Have a look at the rest of my 2015 collection. 

- M

2015 A Year in Review