Throughout the month of November, I was busy attending Christmas plays, award ceremonies for 8 of our children. The kids at Lambano are so diligent in their school work. We were all so excited that they won various awards for such diligence. I also visited a local bird park with some of the kids. I went with them to their routine doctor visits. We are now experiencing the hot summer days here in SA, and let me say, it is quite HOT! But I have a really nice fan that keeps me cool. With the hot summer days we have enjoyed a few days of swimming as well.
Christmas Day!
My first Christmas in South Africa, was so much fun. One of Lambano's faithful supporters invited ALL 33 children to her home. We loaded 2 kombies and a car and we were off. The kids enjoyed a day of swimming, and playing with each other. We had burgers, potato salads, ice cream and lots of liquids. It was such a simple day!! Father Christmas a.k.a. Santa Claus a.k.a. Jesus, brought them lots of presents, which we praise God for!!!!
Zodwa with her new teddy!
Nkosi is excited about his toy!
Katlehong Ministries
- The high school bible study ended in early November due to exams and summer holidays. We will hopefully resume the study in late January.
- Kathorus Orphanage – I last visited these teenagers the week before Christmas. We had a Christmas party and talked about the true meaning of Christmas and the symbolism of receiving gifts that are undeserved and unmerited. This was an opportunity to share the greatest gift of receiving Jesus Christ as ones’ Lord and Savior. I will resume our time on the 15th of this month. I am planning to talk about forgiveness with them. I am concerned about this endeavor because these teenagers have had some horrific things happen to them. So, please pray that they will truly realize that they have been forgiven much, and in turn be that much more willing to forgive others.
Kids at 78
All of our kids are now on summer holidays, and this week I am spending some quality time with the kids at 78. I will leave for the states next month and they will return to school next week. As a result, I am taking advantage of this time to be with the kids as much as possible, so this week we are doing lots of “fun” things. Yesterday, we went to the zoo. We had so much fun seeing the different and beautiful African animals. The kids also enjoyed seeing the seals being fed their nutritional intake of fish. This trip to the zoo provided yet another opportunity for me to tell them about God. South Africa is so breathtakingly beautiful, and I reminded the kids that God made everything from the trees, to the sky, to the animals. One of the little boy who’s 6, asked, “did God also make the rubbish bin?” Of course the answer is yes, He gives man the knowledge of creating something that is so easily overlooked, but yet so necessary. But, the most, beautiful conversation occurred between my self and Thandazo who’s 8 years old. I live with the kids here at ‘78’ so we always talk about the Bible, and who God is, we talk about God the Father and Jesus His Son quite often. So, while at the zoo, this 8 years old girl said in the sweetest & most sincere voice, “but I still don’t understand, do we worship two Gods?” Ok, seriously you are 8, this is like such a theological question that I am still unable to explain. So, with the help of the Spirit, I proceeded to explain to her the doctrine of the trinity, in 8 year old terminology,of course. I simply shared that this is something that we cannot fully understand, but the Bible teaches us that there is God the Father, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins (sins are explained as the naughty things that we say, do and think), and in three days Jesus came back from the dead, and He is now alive in heaven, but He has left us with the Spirit, who’s also God, the Spirit lives inside all those who love and believe in Jesus, and the Spirit, helps us to know how to love and obey God the Father. I shared that there are 3 different person and they have three different responsibilities, but they are still ONE GOD. Whew!!! She still didn’t fully understand, but hey, neither do I. Nevertheless, I think she was satisfied with my explanation. But, I was just so happy for this opportunity, because it shows that she is actually thinking about the things we talk about.
(Note: If anyone knows how to communicate the doctrine of the trinity to children, I would really love your advice, please feel free to leave a comment on my blog)
Cute Sayings by the Kids at 78
Me: “Name one of the 10 commandments?”
Children: “Do not lie” “Do not steal” “Do not disturb”
*Sometimes I wish the latter was a commandment…joking
Me: “So what kind of people does God not like?”
Child: “Ugly people”
Me: “God says that one day we will live with Him in heaven forever!”
Child: “When is God coming to fetch us?”
Me: “So, I will leave soon, and I hope that you guys don’t forget me.”
Child: “I’ll forget you.”
*Clearly ministry is not a self-esteem calling :)
Child: “Why you sing like a girl?”
Me: “Because I am a girl!”
Looking at the horses!
Enjoying the scenery!
The kids really enjoyed watching the seals being fed!
Please feel free to browse through tracks :)
