This morning at our Sunday School in the Morningstar informal settlement, we spoke on Jesus’ Love for children, and how He never sends any of us away if we come to Him. And wonderfully, many of these precious ones are coming, week after week! (Matthew 19:14, Matthew 18:3)
After many hours of sorting, packing, and labeling, we had teams go out to three different clinics, gifting mothers and babies with care parcels – nappies, clothes, shoes, blankets, rattles, and more! Many grateful mothers received these gifts of love; enabling them and their little child to face tomorrow with just a little more assurance.
Jean, Kristina, and their children in France got the idea to make a special gift for each child at our Sunday School in Morningstar settlement off the N7 highway. They got a lot of white tshirts, and handpainted each one with the wonderful message “Jesus Loves you!” And on the back “with love from France.” How lovely! And it didn’t stop there. Some of their relatives in Italy heard about the project, and got involved! So in the end, 40 brand new handpainted tshirts, from both France and Italy, made their way with Kristina down here for her brief visit. Yesterday, she was able to personally greet the children, explain the whole background of where the tshirts came from, and then have each child come get a shirt in their size! So many smiles, and so much joy! Then we sang Gospel action songs with them, including their old favorite “Jesus Loves Me”, played some games together, and ended the amazing time together with yummy nut bars for all! Thank you Jesus for these precious children, getting closer to Him week by week, and a huge thank you to Jean, Kristina, Rachael, Magali, and all their children who brought yet another reminder of Jesus’ Love to these little lives!
Yesterday, we were so thrilled to celebrate 20 YEARS of Helping Hand! For this special occasion, we were able to host at a donated venue – Ruslamere – and welcome many of our friends and sponsors to celebrate all the miracles of the years with us! The children put on an amazing show and play, and the highlights video showcased a selection of projects from over the years, along with personal testimonials from beneficiaries, friends, and Bible students. Thank you to everyone who faithfully supports us, and to those of you who helped make this Celebration possible! We appreciate you! Praise the Lord for bringing us this far by faith; we look forward to many more years of blessings and miracles, as we do our part to help others and spread His Love.
Just a few weeks ago, we received an unexpected call from a local factory shop, to collect up a donation of ice cream – lots and lots of vanilla ice cream! Originally it was estimated to be about 1000 tubs, but ended up being more than double that. What a special treat for so, so many people! Our men picked up vanload after vanload, distributing to centres and individuals all over Cape Town and surrounds. We were able to give to libraries, orphanages, creches, soup kitchens, drug rehabs, hospices, feeding schemes for the elderly, clinics, schools, and youth centres, as well as homes for quadriplegics, disabled children, women in crisis, and more! We even discovered and were recommended to a few new centres and beneficiaries, making our circle of God’s Love recipients even larger! So special to be able to supplement regular food distribution with this unusual, but wonderful gift of delicious ice cream!
As before, a Paarl company donated large bags of leather off-cuts for use in a startup community project which makes clothing, blankets, etc, and has started doing crafts, earrings, and more as a method of sustainable income for the local ladies. This time – as one of our focuses for October – we also brought several knitting looms, expanding the possibilities of their creations. We really believe in helping those who are trying to help themselves, and are glad to be a part of this initiative.
In addition to our mass food distribution projects, low-income families, community centres, soup kitchens, underprivileged creches, and quadriplegic homes are some of those that regularly benefit from foodstuffs. We are grateful to be Jesus’ hands and feet to show His Love, and help these dear people – each of whom is infinitely precious to Him.
Thanks to a friend who gave us tickets, we were able to take all the children to a local agricultural expo, where they enjoyed the many animals, stalls, and educational shows.
