Putting Some Sweet Faces to Our Prayers

The children Lynn was able to walk with today.

Today the world of Whatsapp has blessed our little family with a series of sweet faces from Sthobela B. Admittedly, it has been a bit of a challenge to feel connected to this village. Just last night we had a telephone meeting with a member of the Hands at Work community who has helped us get connected with Sthobela B. We spoke a bit about the logistics of sponsoring this community and the challenge of putting ourselves out there to ask for financial and prayer support. We also, kind of unexpectedly, spent a considerable amount of time talking about how hard it was to feel truly connected to this community that we had not visited. To the people we had not met. To the children whose lives we knew little about. In short, while we know we have been led to advocate for the community that does not mean it isn't hard. That it isn't awkward. That sometimes we doubt our ability to do this effectively. Oh how the stuttering Moses must have felt on the brink of leading His people on the Exodus. Completely....ill-equipped.

Children gathered around the "care point" where they receive their meals.

So, in the midst of this lack of connection I get a "ding' on my phone today. A "ding" from SOUTH AFRICA. You see, our good friend Lynn, that very same friend who initially introduced us to Hands at Work, is in South Africa. In fact, he has spent the past several days in the mountains around our village. He is there, right now! Visiting our village, meeting the care workers dedicating their lives to the most vulnerable children and families in this community. He sent us pictures of the children, of the area, of the facility that has enabled the feeding of 54 children everyday since the care point opened. Faces to names, stories to children, pictures to places. To hear Lynn's voice as he took video footage of the place that has been in our prayers and on our hearts was an incredible gift. My heart for this village has been renewed. To see food on the plates of children and know that God enabled our family to play a part in that. Incredible! As always if you are interested in joining us on this journey let me know. We would love to have you along for the ride.

Thank You for Our Daily Bread

Our two children who can talk have two very different approaches to prayer currently. J, is concise, offering up a "Thank you God for today and for this food," kind of prayer before dinner. Ada, on the other hand is a bit more inclusive in her prayers...which often have to be directed to a close after several repetitions, offering up something similar to, "Thank you God for today, for Daddy, Mommy, J and E....and Daddy and Mommy...and J and E.....and Daddy and Mommy. Thank you for today..". Occasionally she diverts to some completely unassociated prayer request such as "and dear Jesus please help Daddy not to drive on the side walk so the police don't give him a ticket" (side note this has never happened before and we don't know why she continues to pray for this :-). Each child is coming to the feet of Jesus in a different way and regardless of the brevity or distracted nature of their prayers they are heard by a God that loves them deeply.
This week we received the following link from our community in Sthobela. It shows children and care workers worshiping together before they receive their daily meal. It was pretty great to put some faces and voices to the little people we are praying for. To hear them collectively worshiping. To know, although I have no idea what they are exactly saying, they are worshiping the same Lord we do at our dinner table. We know some of them by name and consider ourselves privileged to have learned a few of their stories but watching them reminds me that God knows each and every one of them. He knows their stories. He hears their prayers. He is writing the stories of their lives at this very moment and has allowed us to play a small part. To aid in the provision of food. Videos like this one remind me of what a privilege that truly is.
Sthobela Worshipping

Clothing Sale Complete

 A little rest before work!

 The tables of clothing!

Our enthusiastic volunteers. 

Our first official fundraiser for Sthobela is complete. We are so blessed with community that partners with us when we get crazy ideas like collecting and selling a dump truck load of used childrens' clothing :-) We are so grateful for the many, many, many donations that rolled in and tumbled out of the church office, for those who showed up to dump, jump in and sort the giant pile of clothing, and for those who came out to buy...and help sell our clothes. In the end we made over $1100 for our community. We also made a pretty massive donation to the the Crisis Nursery in Saskatoon....kids benefiting both locally and internationally! One of the most incredible things was to watch how excited our kids got in participating. They were so excited to see the donations grow and to invite some friends to help them sort. The morning of they were excited to share information about our community with shoppers and collect donations. It was a lot of work but so rewarding to engage as a family.

With our first fundraiser behind us we are now looking to partner with other families to help support this community on a monthly basis. I will be the first to admit that this makes us uncomfortable. It would be so much easier just to cut a check every month and move on; however, as we receive stories of the kids that are now entering the care point in Sthobela to receive food and care we realize advocating for this village is so much more than providing financial support. We have been privileged to play a part in the story of these children. We pray for them and the workers who support them as a family. We hear of their remarkable stories of overcoming trauma. Our hearts break when we hear of the injustice and recognize the inequality so prevalent in our world. We are challenged to reflect on how we are spending the resources we are entrusted with. Our kids are being exposed to poverty and injustice and are realizing the power they possess, even as kids, to make a difference. Advocating is so, so much more than merely giving financially and in many ways failing to provide others with the same opportunity that we have been given is in many ways selfish. We started this journey to provide our family with a meaningful connection to the birth country of our daughter but I can see that it is already evolving into much more. If you are interested in joining us on this journey, whether it be financially, through prayer or creative fundraising ideas. I would love to hear from you.

Clothing for Kids

Our little family is gearing up for our first official fundraiser for the community of Sthobela. Clothing has been stacking up and the kids are excited to help sort and set up. We have been making signs and spreading the word. It is fun to watch our kiddos get right into the excitement. We even had our first official donation (a generous Auntie who is not in need of any kids clothing). For those of you who haven't been bombarded by my attempts to spread the word on social media here are the details.

Kids Clothing Sale 

9am-1pm on March 24

at Avalon Alliance Church in Saskatoon

Donations still accepted. Drop off location at Avalon Church Office.

All items will be $2 or $5.