What a lot of work and a lot of joy; with each pack prepared one closer to the goal, and one more child that would get special gifts to assist in furthering their education!

Some of the ladies of Helping Hand stayed up nearly till midnight, preparing these special Valentine’s gift hampers for women at a crisis centre. We hold a Bible study there weekly, to help encourage and show God’s Love to each and every one, regardless of their background. (Wonderfully, over the years many of the ladies passing through the centre have given their hearts to Jesus, and their lives have been changed for the better!) This time, the special focus was the Love of Jesus, and how He will always be there for us, no matter if others abandon or disregard us. And all the women loved it!

We sent a box FULL of Bibles, Activated magazines, tracts, and much more material to a couple who are good friends and former Bible students of ours; now living and minstering near Mosselbaai. They use these materials to disciple those they have led to salvation, or are mentoring and encouraging.

We are all so inspired to see the fruit borne as others are taught to teach others, and show the Love of Jesus where they are. (2 Timothy 2:2) That’s the way the Light spreads into hearts and lives all over!

All puns aside, what a special thing to have the means to pull off this much-needed food distribution. With multiple kilos of carrots, 2 packs of cold meat, a whole bag of rusks or cereal, fresh bread, tissue paper, and Gospel material for each person, this was really a work of the Lord, with foodstuffs coming together plentifully from different directions to make the project a reality! We are so happy, and so were those that received it. With prayer before beginning distribution and praise both throughout and after, we continue to strive to point all receivers straight back to Jesus as the One Whose Love brought this to pass.

What a joy and privilege to be able to help this family’s two little girls with supplies to facilitate their learning. They all live on a small farm and are struggling to make ends meet. These everyday school and Gospel items will make such a difference as they strive to uplift themselves through education. Honestly, their smiles say it all!

The 82 children at our Sunday School last week listened and laughed and learned as we shared the story of the Good Samaritan – which our Helping Hand children helped to act out! After the lesson we reviewed memorized Scriptures, and all together sang songs like “He’s Got the Whole World” and “Jesus Loves the Little Ones Like Me”. Then with fresh bread in hand, the little ones happily headed home!

When we showed up at this youth skills training centre and halfway house, both the house “fathers” and young people enthusiastically poured out to see us! As we unloaded and showed off the different things we brought, one after another there were exclamations of “yes! Just what I wanted” (skateboard) and “no way…movies!” (upon seeing several boxes FULL)

One young man just stood for a moment looking at the crate of dumbbells, stretch bands, and other exercise equipment. The one house father came over to us and said quietly “He works out to clear his mind… just the other day he made dumbbells out of bricks and rope because that’s all we had. This is going to be amazing!”

Two of our full time missionaries – David and Amy – spent time weekly uplifting children through coaching sports and teaching music respectively. They pray with the children before their music lessons or sports matches, and by God’s Grace are able to be mentors and fun positive influences in the lives of these kids. Some of the parents have even shared that their children are more interested in knowing and following Jesus than ever before. That’s what it’s all about!!! (1 Corinthians 10:31)