ReachoutToAfrica

R2A launches awareness program

2011-01-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

Last week we installed poster campaign at the Sports Central Gym in Richmond BC. The idea is to inform the membership of the gym that Sports Central supports Reachout To Africa and that they should consider financially supporting us as well. The display shares in words and pictures the work that is happening with orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa. Reachout To Africa will be working together with the Sports Central staff to build continuous awareness, information and education in their membership about the important issues around AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Africa and how they can help.

December 2010 Camps: The first week

2010-12-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Well we are finally here in South Africa! After a gruelling 66 hours of travel time, the Canadian team arrived safe and sound in Nelspruit at the Mission House with Heather Stephens (Mamkhulu.org). Delays were caused to start with in Vancouver as we were boarded at 9:30pm but did not depart until about 2:00am (we were served our dinner and watched movies while sitting on the tarmac waiting for clearance due to a minor dent in the plane). We landed in London but alas our connecting flight had long since left as well as the final flight to Joburg for the day. It was a blessing in disguise as we were then put up in a lovely hotel near the airport, had a great sleep in a very comfortable bed and the team was able to go into London for a visit. We left at 6pm for Joburg and had a good flight arriving at 6:45am. Our shuttle bus arrived at 11:15am however were not able to accommodate our 15 suitcases and 2 members of the team (Ali and me) stayed behind to wait a further 4 hours for a subsequent shuttle. Heather Stephens and staff were there to meet both shuttles and take us home to settle in for the next month. So we left Vancouver Tuesday evening and arrived in Nelspruit Friday evening all safe and sound but very tired and jetlagged as would be expected!

Saturday we all woke up very early as is usually the case and this was a day of exploring, shopping in the mall, and arriving home mid afternoon to a party being organized for ourselves 2 youth leaders, and Brooke Keller (our fellow Canadian youth who is volunteering until May 2011) who all had birthday's recently. Great fun was had by all … mind you the Canadians faded quite early and slipped off to bed plus the party finished early as many of the youth leaders had to catch buses and taxis to get home to their townships.

Sunday we all woke up early again and went off to Church then another visit to the mall. We relaxed in the afternoon with a swim in the pool to cool off and watched a few movies. We chatted about the week ahead in preparation for the two weeks of camps (Youth Leader Training Camp and Hope Camps at the 6 schools around Daantje - elementary and high school).

The Canadian team received their new camp names:

Megan Young: Nomcebo

Megan Trussler: Zincle

Kaitlyn Hamner: Katiwe

Ali Noble: Nomusa

Monday we were up early and listened / watched a rainstorm. We had breakfast and were out the door by 7am by that time the rain had subsided. We headed first to Penryn College which is a beautiful private school in Nelspruit (Grade 1-12) and is where Heather works part time. Brooke toured the girls around the school. We were there to meet with another driver who was transporting 6 youth (13-14 years old) who were coming out to the Litsemba Centre to volunteer for 5 hours of painting to get it ready for our upcoming Youth Leaders Camps next week. It took about 40 minutes to drive out to the townships and Heather shared a bit of the history of the area. We all arrived and our Canadian team met some of our Youth Leaders and had a tour and discussion about the Centre. They then rolled up their sleeves and got to work with the Penryn youth sanding and painting a few of the rooms. They all took a lunch break to enjoy some local 'peri peri' chips and drinks and finished up their work around 2:15pm. It seemed the youngsters from Penryn were more into paint fighting, i.e. wearing the paint, than putting it on the walls but the Canadians made up for their slacking and a couple of them showed great expertise on plastering! Great work girls!

Everyone came home and relaxed. A couple of the girls have had a bit of a stomach bug but it seemed to pass quickly. Jetlag is quickly dissipating and we are all settling in. A few are feeling homesick and their bodies will hopefully adjust to the culture shock, heat, diet changes and environment.

Tuesday the girls will be returning to the centre to help for a few more hours and then return home to rest up. Wednesday we hope to attend a Food Program for Orphans led by two of our Youth Leaders – Pastor Sthembiso and Thuli (along with baby Blessing).

That's it for now. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to prepare for the next two weeks of camps and do some local exploring.

This weeks report from Brooke Keller:

2010-08-14T07:43:00.000-07:00

This weeks report from Brooke Keller:

We've started soccer clubs! We are currently running them in 6 schools! It's about an hour or so after school of soccer, bible study, and sweet times! A lot of the
kids that are attending the clubs are kids that were involved in the soccer camps we ran during the World Cup which is super cool! It's so awesome to see them again!

It shows they enjoyed the camps!!

We've also been giving out beans which has been pretty sweet. However, it's been a little bit of a challenge because we've had some people that come to get beans and then send someone else from their family to do the same. We're trying to make it as fair as possible and to give them to the really needy ones. So prayer for that would be awesome. It's just been kind of difficult when we have to say no because we wish we could give them to everyone.

The center is looking better and better everyday! Sipho and his team are doing such a good job!

Also Enock is doing great. He's still working hard on interviewing kids and getting his stories together.

Heather is in Swaziland this weekend. She's going for work but was able to bring Sipho with her so that he could go and stay with his mother and brothers this weekend. He doesn't get to see them very often so it's really cool when he does.

This past Saturday we had another DBS training at the center. It was a lot of fun to see the youth leaders again and see them so interested in the bible studies and learning how to lead effective bible studies. It's so cool to see how much they want to be involved in the lives of the kids in their communities. And seeing them lead the soccer clubs. God is working in their lives and the lives they touch. It's so awesome to be a part of!

World Cup Mission: A Few Words From Judy

2010-07-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

It's great being back in South Africa. I think this is my 8th trip. My home away from home although the left side driving still remains a bit of a challenge at the start. I jumped into assisting on the driving (but thankfully rented an automatic vehicle for the week). Between the jetlag, lack of street signs (and it seems my lack of direction also), numerous bumps and potholes, it took me until pretty well the 5th day to remember the directions to the Pinnear township area, the Litsemba Centre, and the 6 schools! I had Thuli, Sam or Sthembiso with me so that helped to keep me on the straight and narrow. The weather was pretty good all week. On day 2 I damaged a tire rim on one of the long dirt roads to Yedwa resulting in a leaking tire. However, when Thuli and I went to get air in it I was blessed to have one of the attendancts offer to chang my tire to the spare for which I tipped him of course. One of the highlights for me was on the last day having the time to watch the orphans play their own World Cup. The children were split into 4 teams and they choose their countries. Many of the Youth Leaders and some kids brought their Vivuzelas and blew them loudly while cheering on their favourite teams. Pastor Sthembiso, his wife, and Pastor Thuli visited 3 schools each day and presented a short sermon (15 mintues). They had a theme centred around a specially coloured soccer ball. (Yellow-God, black-sin, red-blood of Jesus Christ, white-purity, green-growing in Christ, and yellow returned to God and the filling of the soccer ball with air-Holy Spirit)

After the end of the camps we returned to the Litsemba Centre for final celebrations. Each Youth Leader, Canadian volunteer, and cooking staff were recognized for their hard and successful efforts. Brightly coloured certificates were presented. Two dance teams (Duncan's and a second leader's) put on a fabulous presentation. Well deserved stipends were paid to the Youth Leaders and the END of the camps were here. Everything ran late...camps, food, broken down truck, transport of Youth leaders back to the Centre etc. But all was resolved and a good time was had by all (and a few community people who snuck in to watch the celebrations) We didn't manage to get on our way back unitl after dark but did so safely - Thank you Lord!!! The 3 boys from Canada were safely put on the bus to Johannesburg early Satruday morning and we have now had the weekend to recover. Hallelujah!

One piece of bad news was that Healther's car has definitely died now, no way to recover. So we will start looking at a replacement soon. In the meantime we will share our rental car. Brooke and Amy will be helping out at the Litesmba Cenre this week - taking inventory, visiting each of the shcools with their trophies and seeing the children, possibly do some tutoring, helping Enock with his orphan stories, helping Youth Leaders with University applications, and on Wednesdays there are plans to help Pastors Sthembiso and Thuli with their community feeding program.

That's all for now! Please keep us in your prayers!
Many blessings,

Judy

World Cup Mission: Soccer Week 2

2010-07-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hi this is Brooke writing the update!

We're finished our second week of camps here at 6 different schools - Hillaria, Duma, EJ Singwane, Sheshela, Yedwa, Phumalo. They went amazingly! It seems we got most of the kinks sorted out this second time around. The Canadian team is having a great time! They've now gotten to know the Youth Leaders as friends which makes it a lot easier to help lead activities. Every aspect this week went a lot smoother. The kids are loving the camps as well. We've got soccer and white people, what's not to love?

Actually, that's truer than you think. Caucasian people are very rare in the townships. We get some of the funniest looks! It's been really cool though. Every day when we do our Discovery Bible Study (DBS) the first thing we talk about is what we are thankful for. It's amazing how many kids say they are thankful for the Canadian volunteer at their school because most of them haven't ever been outside their township and have never seen a Caucasian person. By just being there and loving these kids, we are changing the stereotype that all umlungus (Caucasian people) are rich, arrogant, and don't care about them or their circumstances.

The first day of camps the kids are usually pretty shy towards the Canadians because they don't know what to do, but by the end of the week they can't let us go! They love teaching us the language and they laugh at us when we try to speak it with our horrible accents! Enock spent the week travelling from school to school to meet and interview some of the children. So many of them are single or double orphaned and have many significant needs. He will be writing their stories and sharing them soon!

One of the Youth Leaders wanted to end off by commenting on the success of the camp:

"As one of the South African Youth Leaders I learn more things from Canadians. More soccer skills, including preparations of soccer match. But what have touch my life about Canadians it's the way they worship the Lord. They showing more interest so we learned to be serious when we praising the Lord. They show love to us but they learning hard to know our language and we are trying to teach them. And about the camp, everything it's awesome!! We have shared the same food without complaining because some of our food it's their first time to see it but they manage to share!! Their belief is black and white are the same!! And the camp have saved more child on trafficking because of the World Cup. So the camp is awesome and people are enjoying it and the communitites too!!!" --Daniel

World Cup Mission: Friday, July 2nd, 2010

2010-07-03T17:12:00.001-07:00

Soccer Clinics Day Five

Today was the final day of the first Hope Soccer Camp. The program changed around a bit for the last day. We provided breakfast followed by the bible teaching and study period. This was followed by soccer matches between the various teams at each of the six schools. They competed for the 2010 Hope Camp Soccer Club trophy sponsored by the Litsembe Centre. The winning team's trophy will reside at the school where the program was hosted. This was followed by lunch. As I mentioned yesterday, we were blessed with the donation of half a ton of beans. Today every child that came to our Hope Camp was sent home with a bag of beans for their family or caregiver. This was our way of passing on the blessings to as many people as possible.

Every child that I spoke to today told me that this was the best thing they had ever done. It's amazing to see how what we consider to be so little, means so much to these kids and our Youth Leaders.

At the end of the day we provided a huge cake to thank the Youth Leaders. Sam, our Program Manager, thanked the team for their hard work and support. This was the first time we have run this type of program and all things considered everything worked really well. It will be easier in so many ways next week but with one new challenge. The schools next week are further away from our base and this will require even more travelling each day. Our leadership team wants to thank you all for your continued prayers and messages. We are very fortunate to have a very solid core team of seasoned Youth Leaders: Enock, Daniel, Tony, Space, Duncan, KK, Sam, Tuli, Sister, Edward, Piet, Morris, Nhlanhla, Nelisiwe, Veronica, Mbongiseni, and Sipho. There are many new leaders who have joined us for the first time as well. They are all doing a great job.

The Canadian team moved to Heather's house for the remainder of our time here in Nelspruit. The young people had a bit of a party this evening while Heather, Scott, and Mr. Green (Heather's neighbour) went out for dinner.

Tomorrow we start work on the shopping list for next week's camps. We are lucky to have last weeks experience to base our needs on. Please pray for the next batch of kids who will be coming to the soccer camps, for safety of the teams in general, and for the Canadians in particular.

Blessings

World Cup Mission: Thursday, July 1st, 2010

2010-07-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

Soccer Clincs Day Four

Today was a little cold with a breeze blowing in from the South. It brought a little light rain with it which made the Canadians wonder what had happened. Except for one day they have had no rain or cold weather since they got here!

The soccer camps went off without a hitch today. The program ran smoothly, the food was on time and more kids showed up than ever. We are dealing with a couple of very distressed kids now but hopefully they will get the right support soon. Tomorrow we will be providing clothes to many of the children who have very little. You can tell this because they wear the same clothing every day.

The one thing we have been expecting happened this afternoon. Heather's car made it home and no further! The automatic gearbox has said it's final good-byes. We are getting someone to look at it tomorrow but I do not hold out much hope for a lasting recovery. Heather has spent a lot of money trying to keep it on the road and even renewed the license yesterday for another year.

On a more exciting note we have been blessed in a very very big way. This afternoon an eighteen wheeler flatbed pulled up outside Heather's house and we received 100 50kg bags of beans! Beans are a staple in this country and you can imagine how many people we can feed with this unexpected donation. God is good--everyday. We have already given some away and some has gone to the Litsembe Centre where we will make good use of it for next week's camps. This donation came via one of our past Youth Leaders from a few years back who has a job at a milling plant. He was asked what they could do with their surplus and he called Heather to ask if she could use it. What a blessing!

Our team is moving from where we are staying currently to Heather's house for the next week. It's going to be pretty full but should be a lot of fun! I depart on Monday and Judy will be taking over the leadership from me. Please pray for continuing safety and an effective program next week. Someone will be assigned to do the daily reports to keep you up to date on events each day so don't worry!

Please continue to pray for the issue raised this week.

Blessings

World Cup Mission: Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

2010-06-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Soccer Clinics Day 3

Hi from Mpumalanga, South Africa!

Day three started out well, although a bit overcast and cloudy. The soccer camps got up and running on time with a record turnout of registered and unregistered participants. Our Canadian volunteers were at the schools on time and the program started on a positive.

Heather's poor car is on its last legs but keeps going just for us, and our little rental car carries five people, very uncomfortably. We have about a 45 minute drive each way to Dantjie so naturally the troops are complaining they can't walk when they get there! Oh well, we will survive.

I didn't mention before that four of the volunteers insisted on jumping off a 100 meter cliff last weekend! This was a giant swing on which you free fall for about 70 meters before swinging out into the gorge. I'll leave them to tell you who did the jumping and who did not, suffice it to say I was NOT one who took the plunge. I was however at the top praying that all would go well and safe, it did. We have a team of adrenalin junkies over here! They have their certificates to prove their courage.

Back to the camps, the team are really starting to get into the program and are making connections with the kids and Youth Leaders. As has always happened in the past, it is on day three that things start to work and communication begins to happen smoothly. Aaron tells me that wherever he walks he has a child holding onto each of his fingers, that's five kids on each hand. He's having the time of his life! They are all learning some Siswati, Amy and Brooke in particular are learning the language very quickly, even having conversations with the Youth Leaders.

All aspects of the program, including discussion and study time, went off without a hitch and nearly on time today. The kids love it. We made a bit too much food today and it was a thrill to give some to the people who live around our base and to the Youth Leaders to take home to their families. Still too much driving around but that should improve as we develope better systems and procedures.

It was great to see Peter Cooper walk around with one of our cook's little babies attached to him. From what I saw he didn't want to let go and head back to his work location. He was having such fun. Roger's school has settled down and ran smoothly today. Thanks for your prayers around this issue even though you didn't know who was involved. He is very happy with his work situation now. Brooke and Amy continue to have a great time at their schools without anything going wrong other than their food arriving late on the first couple of days. One of their Youth Leaders, Duncan, is very vocal when things don't go as planned and even he was happy today!

That's it for today, please pray that tomorrow goes as smoothly, we are truly blessed to serve these young people in such small ways in our terms but to them what we do is life changing.

Blessings to you all.

World Cup Mission: Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

2010-06-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Soccer Camps Day 2

This morning we got off to a much better start. Unlike yesterday water was available and the cooks got to work really early to get the 45 dozen eggs boiled and the bread buttered. Our team was able to get going a little later but we were on time. As we predicted, many more children showed up today, some schools even went over the number of kids expected by quite a bit. When the kids in the area find out that those who signed up are getting two meals a day they decide to show up too, and it is very difficult to turn them away.

We did have a security scare this morning when a group of about 25 young male adults showed up at one of our schools where we were working and tried to disrupt our program by saying they had booked the soccer field. This was not true but things escalated with them demanding out soccer balls as well. Our communications system worked out well and in no time our senior Youth Leaders on site followed about 10 minutes later by 6 burly police officers who took control. Because these individuals had threatened to do this every day that we run our camp, we have unfortunately decided to cancel the program at that location and move our people and kids to another soccer field. While this was happening I was in my car coming back from Nelspruit, about 35 kms away. I didn`t know my little rental car could go 140 km`s an hour! Praise God that nothing bad happened in the end and we are all safe and continuing with our work tomorrow. No one ever said it was going to be easy and stress free serving his people.

At another location our leaders came across a very unhappy little girl who has been referred to a local NGO Child line. She is not in a good situation and needs help and treatment. I`m not sure of her name but we can still pray that her situation improves from now on.

As mentioned above, I did about 260 kms of fetching and carrying today. This is very trying but we only have three vehicles (two cars and a pick up truck). Anyone feeling the desire to donate towards a pick up for our program use, please call me when I get home, it really is a major need going forward.

I don`t think I mentioned that it was a beautiful and sunny day today; this helps the volunteer`s moral and enthusiasm. For the most part they are having a blast working with the kids, the younger ones especially.

Well it`s 10 o`clock at night here and only two of us are still awake and I`m about to make it one. Please pray for safety and for the kids to be blessed.

World Cup Mission: Monday June 28th, 2010

2010-06-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

Soccer Clinics Day 1

This weekend was spent preparing for the camp and on Sunday we all went to visit some of the local sites and places of interest. The team really enjoyed the day out.

Today was our earliest start so far. We left Penryn at 6:30 just as it was getting light out and we arrived at the Litsembe Centre just after 7:00 AM. It rained so hard last night and continued into the morning. To my surprise we were the first people there other than the cooks who had spent the night there and been up very early to boil 450 eggs and butter 2, 200 slices of bread. The Youth Leaders slowly started rolling in and we were able to get all six locations set up with the equipment. This was the last time in the day that everything worked according to plan!

Having said that, the program worked well although it ran between 1 to 2 hours behind. The reason for this was that in some locations the caretakers had not arrived to unlock the school or a school principal had forgotten that we were there this week. With the rain last night some kids did not show up to their schools and the food took longer than we anticipated to prepare so breakfast was served a little late at each location. This meant that lunch was also late. Needless to say all the important content and bible studies got presented. I also spent the day driving around picking up last minute or forgotten items.

In the end it all worked out and everyone had a great time. We had an end of day meeting with all the Youth Leaders and discussed all the issues that arose so we will see a much smoother operation tomorrow. We wrapped up the day with a youth dance team performing a Zulu dance routine especially for us. The Canadians were located at different schools some distance apart so on the way home (before they fell asleep) there was much chatter about their experiences at their particular locations.

Please continue to pray for us as this program is the biggest challenge we have undertaken and I seem to have licked up a bit of a cold!

World Cup Mission: Friday, June 25th, 2010

2010-06-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

This morning there were no early "stretchers" and everyone got to sleep in for half an hour extra. We kicked off with morning devotions lead again by Paster Sthembiso followed by breakfast. After breakfast the Youth Leaders did some leadership training until it was time to finish up coaching practise. this was important because Monday will require the Youth Leaders to run the program themselves with minor input from the Canadian soccer stars. They have to remember the various drills that have been taught to them, the sequence that they run them in and the objective to achieve in the end. For some it will be easy and for others not so much. This session was followed by lunch and after this the bus came to pick everyone up to take them home.

This afternoon the Canadian team whent off to the last soccer match for the World Cup to be held in Nelspruit. The match was between North Korea and Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast dominated the game 3 to 0. It was a fun game to watch and 30,000 of our closest friends enjoyed watching it with us.

Tomorrow the team gets to sleep in as late as they want. They are all looking forward to it. I will be up early to go shopping for a long list of items we need for Monday. We need everything from buckets to paring knives and dish clothes. Does anyone know where I can find 80 head of Cabbage for Tuesday? The leadership team thinks we are well set to run some fun and successful weeks of soccer camps. I'm looking forward to getting the program under way. This is a new challenge for us and although we do have a core team of experienced Youth Leaders, most of our current team are new to our program. Please keep them and us all in prayer. This Sunday the Canadian team is heading out to explore the local sites and history for the day. I am looking forward to seeing places I have not been to in thirty or more years. Keep praying for the team and the camps starting on Monday morning. (Sunday night Pacific time)

World Cup Mission: Thursday, June 24th, 2010

2010-06-26T22:45:00.000-07:00

This morning started out very early for the Youth Leaders, and some of our Canadians also managed to brave the early morning cold to go to "stretchers" as they call them here. I must admit that I was not one of them but I did catch up to the program at morning devotions lead by Pastor Sthembiso. After that it was off to breakfast, some of the Youth Leaders have been complaining that they do not get enough food so we have stepped up the supply.

Breakfast was followed by an hour of bible study lead by Scott and Becky, a missionary couple who we work closely with and who hail from South Carolina. Then it was straight off to soccer skills training. The difference this time was that the Youth Leaders had to set up the program that the Canadians taught them the day before. this worked without a hitch and the team is almost ready for Monday when they run the program themselves.

Our lunch meal was great and enjoyed by all. This was followed by the seminar on bullying and team work presented by Mumkhulu (Heather). We all go by our camp names and the Canadians are named after players on the Bafana Bafana (South African) soccer team. It takes a while and a few shout outs for them to remember their new names. In the afternoon they played soccer matches between the four teams we have here. This has become very competitive and has much yelling, shouting, and passion from on and off the field.

While all this was happening I was out and about buying supplies and equipment we need to host hundreds of children coming on Monday. Equipment like gas burners for cooking, pots, 4500 styrene containers for the food (breakfasts and lunches) for the kids, and various other things were needed. Scott was out finishing the construction of tables and making sure our base of operations is ready which is a big project all on its own. Heather was out seeking donations of food like eggs and vegetables. We have been blessed with R5,000 ($700) worth of meat, discounts on 125 loaves of bread every day (1250 loaves), discounted 450 dozen eggs, and free vegetables. We are truly blessed as we were not sure how this was going to happen with the limited resources available.

The evening program was inspiring and focused on the fact that God has a plan for each of us, he sees beyond what we can plan for ourselves. In local terms he sees beyond the mountains that we see in front of us. Please continue to pray for the program and the team; we wrap up the training Friday at lunchtime. The Canadians will be off to watch the Ivory Coast vs. North Korea game tonight and many of the Youth Leaders have tickets as well. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

World Cup Mission: Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

2010-06-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Pre-camp Training:

The crew arrived in a bus to the Penryn school where we are staying and undertaking the training for the Youth Leaders. They will stay with us until Friday while we work through the program to be provided to the kids starting Monday next week.

The day kicked off with introductions where we all shared our names, where we were from, and which team we support in the World Cup. There's still a lot of support for Bafana Bafana even though they have been knocked out of the competition. There is also a lot of support for Ghana and Brazil. This was followed by a good breakfast, there can never be enough for 30 or more young guys but they were all content. After breakfast we hosted a short Administrative meeting and everyone went off to their rooms to get settled in. In the meantime the Canadian team set up the coaching program and laid out the drills. Once the Youth Leaders arrived at the field they were divided up into four groups. We started each team on a different drill and rotated each team through the program until they had all completed all the elements. This was followed by lunch and a short bible study.

In the afternoon, we played soccer games which became very competitive and resulted in a very energetic game being decided by a shoot-out. After the game the team had personal time. At around 6pm dinner was served and the evening program started. This was a great time with singing, sharing and a local pastor shared a message about how small things and humble backgrounds can be the beginning of great things for God. He shared that he grew up on a farm in the area and is now the pastoral leader of 10,000 churches in South Africa. He has traveled to every country of the world and met with many of the world's leaders. His point is that even if we come from humble situations, God has a plan for each of us. This was followed by more singing and some stories and jokes by some of the team members. The evening was wrapped up with everyone watching the Germany vs. Ghana game. Everyone was in bed by 10:30 after the long day and we had a 6 AM start the next morning for exercises.

The day was a great success. Our leadership team was concerned because this is the first time we have run this kind of program. We feel priviledged to serve these young people as they prepare to serve the children in the community next week. Blessings to you all, please keep praying for the work we are doing here. Our job is to change lives - one child at a time.

World Cup Mission: Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

2010-06-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

We went back out to the Litsembe Centre this morning. The team painted steel door and window frames, and a couple of more rooms. We finished at lunch time in order to get back in time to go to the fan park to watch South Africa vs. France in the final game of the first round. Although Bafana Bafana (the South Africa team) did win the game 2-1, it was not enough to give them a shot at the second round. The crowd of about 6, 000 South African supporters at the fan park were happy for the win but were sad that their team has become the first host team not to make it past the first round in World Cup history.

Tomorrow morning we start with the pre-camp for Youth Leaders. This is a very important time as we teach them what we want them to share with the kids when they come next week. Please pray for both the instructors and youth team. There is still a lot of organizing that needs to happen to prepare for the camps like having food donated, getting gas for cooking, as well as knives and spoons. We will be boiling more than 450 eggs each morning for the kid's breakfasts. The team is doing well!

World Cup Mission: Monday, June 21st, 2010

2010-06-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

The first week is when we take our days off and visit the Kruger National Park. Once again the team were spoiled ans aw many wild animals including four of the big five, Buffalo, Elephant, Cheetah, and Lion, but we missed the Leopard. We enjoyed a barbeque under the stars. the night before we went to Kruger we were llucy enogh to attend a FIFA World Cup soccer match at the new local stadium. This stadium is really unique with all the stands being held up by Giraffes. The team has been having fun at the local World Cup fan parks and street parties and on Sunday we all went to the New Covenant Church for the Sunday morning service.

Today was the first day we worked where our soccer camps will be held next week. The site is still largely a construction zone but is slowly being transformed into the Litsembe Centre (Hope Centre). The team got down to work and painted four rooms, cleared garbage and a lot of rocks from the new vegetable garden at the rear of the building. We hope to have at least the four rooms and the kitchen where all the meals for the kids will be prepared ready by the end of the week. Heather and I have been planning, reworking our budgets, searching for deals to get the place ready, and getting all the food donated and brought in time for the first 450 kids next Monday morning.

Please continue to pray for South Africa (Cup fever has swept over this land with so much good will and friendship) and our Canadian team. Once again we have been blessed with a group of young people who are full of enthusiasm and energy, who are open to the mission we are on, and who get on so well with each other and look out for one another. It's a pleasure to be their leader. Also pray for Heather and her team. She has a really full program already and this mission just adds to the workload. She now lives at the Mission house with two great foster boys she is caring for. Thank you for your ongoing support, we are still short on our budget but trust the Lord for his guidance with the resources he has given us so far.

2010-06-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the New Reachout To Africa blog. We will be updating this blog with news and information about our trip to South Africa to work with AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children during the FIFA World Cup.