We all spent a special evening of singing carols in the beautiful Avondale gardens in Durbanville. Everyone wholeheartedly joined in with old favourites and enjoyed some interesting and innovative new adaptations as well. Well done to all who helped organise and plan this event and especially to the Protea Valley Church for providing the wonderful songs and music.
The Jack and Jill creche in Morningstar received a surprise visit from us on Monday. Our teenagers played games with all the little ones there, causing lots of excitement and laughter. (there are forty children, aged 2-5) Then, after treating them to a special snack, it was time for….Christmas presents!!! It was great fun to see the little faces light up as names were called out and the children were given their gifts. Forty little children waited until all the presents were handed out; and then the unwrapping began! Chocolates and games were sweetly shared and toys were carefully put away to be taken home. As the main teacher shared the touching background and personal stories of some of the children we were grateful to have been able to add a little cheer to these little ones’ lives this Christmas season.
All students of the Alpha Primary School in Morningstar and Cavalleria Primary School in Scotsdene received a surprise at the end of their school year. Each student was given a bag of Christmas chocolates and a Gospel pamphlet to start off the holidays. Altogether just over 2000 packets were distributed . As one can imagine, there were smiles all around; the last day of school, and chocolates to top it off. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas all!
Getting everything ready for the Christmas Outreach projects is part of the fun for us. This year we aim to provide chocolates and toys to around 5000 children. Packaging toys and treats for this amount of people takes the help of many, young and old. A huge thank you to all the volunteers that so cheerfully assisted in this year’s Christmas preparation. We’re ready to roll!! (Note: Not all volunteers are pictured here. But we appreciate you ALL! Thank you.)
Some of us were able to take a few days off in the countryside near Ceres this week. While relaxing on the front stoop (porch) in the evening, we were overwhelmed by the beauty and majesty of God’s Creation shown in the night sky, and thought we would try and share it with you. Truly, “The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork!” (Psalm 19:1) (NOTE: These photos are not edited or Photoshopped. Amazing what God has created!)
Here you see the ladies of a centre for women in crisis gratefully receiving groceries and foodstuffs. They recently received news that one of their main sponsors would no longer be supporting them, and this has left them with the challenge to still meet their budget. These dear women who will soon be bringing new little ones into the World need all the encouragement they can get, and we are thankful to be able to assist them. (Note: Faces blurred to protect privacy of individuals)
A local school with 800 pupils, a center for severely disabled children, and several other centers and feeding schemes were blessed with fresh rolls and milk this week. Thousands of rolls and hundreds of litres of milk were donated to us for distribution, and this food was often enjoyed on-the-spot, as you can see from these pictures.
What a treat it was for us to receive over one hundred 5 Liter tubs of Ice-cream for distribution. Someone kindly donated the cold-storage until we were able to get the ice-cream delivered to the different centers we support. It was such fun to see the children eagerly wait for their bowl of this delicious, top-quality dessert; their little eyes huge and their mouths almost tasting the treat before they got it. Oh, yum! How they enjoyed themselves! And how we enjoyed serving them and seeing the obvious delight as they gobbled it up. There was plenty to go around, and we left many more tubs in the freezers of each center to be enjoyed at a later date.
