Bringing bread to a widowed woman
Just wanted to share with you guys a few things that we’ll be doing while we’re in Africa. We’ll be living in Pretoria, South Africa and from there we will be working all over the continent. Starting in Mamelodi, a desperately poor township suffering the consequences of apartheid. There are an estimated 1.8 million people living there. We will also be in Bulembu, Swaziland. A small country that has been devastated by the effects of HIV and AIDS.
So what are we going to be doing there?
Well, we go as servants of the Kingdom and as servants to the people. We go as students. We go to build relationships with the poor and desperate, to understand better their plight. We go to rescue orphaned children and take them from the streets and the gutters to bring them into a place of peace, love, and acceptance. We go as the hands and feet of Jesus, to bring a message of love and redemption.
House of widowed woman raising two orphans in Mamelodi
More specifically, here are but a few of the projects we are working on:
Baby Rescue Facility.To provide a safe place for babies who have been abandoned or who cannot be cared for, we will be establishing a baby rescue and adoption facility. By converting an existing home, we are able to significantly reduce the cost to provide this for the community. The facility will need some remodeling and then we will be looking to pickup the required supplies of bedding, diapers, formula, etc.
Orphan Care Facility.In the same community of Mamelodi, we are working toward acquiring a piece of land on a 99 year lease to build an orphan care facility. This project will require a larger budget but the land we are currently trying to acquire overlooks the entire township of Mamelodi. It would give us the ability to perform many services for the township way beyond caring for the orphans, including agricultural training and production, educational opportunities, evangelism, food distribution and so on. It will be a light and a beacon to a dark and desperate place.
Educational Resource Center. Already established is the computer lab offering continuing education for the community. We will continue to feed this ministry and help it to grow.
Feeding Scheme. With the cooperation of local grocery stores we are picking up foodstuffs and redistributing them throughout the community of Mamelodi. This is an incredible opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the hungry, build deeper relationships with the community and discover the real needs.
Teen Center. In Bulembu we will acquire an existing building to convert into a recreational, mentoring, counseling and eventually, living facility for pre-teen and teenaged orphan children. A desperate need in the country of Swaziland.
Telling the Good News. The overal purpose of all we are doing is to share the story of redemption through Jesus Christ. By caring for the poor we gain a responsive heart.
Cara talking with a young boy in Bulembu
As God leads us we will go. So join us in this great adventure. You can be a part of it in so many different ways. Through your financial support you enable this work to be done. Through your words of encouragement and support you feed and help nourish our hearts. And through your powerful prayers you cause the gates of hell to tremble. You open doors that make way for us to walk through and bring this great love.
Join us as we go. You are so greatly needed. And you have something to offer that the world desperately needs.
“We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:10
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Jason and Cara.
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September 5th, 2009 at 7:02 am
We’re excited for you guys and will be following closely!