40 Days of Prayer
Hands at Work
Meet Mwete

Raising a large family isn’t easy but Mama Safi isn’t alone in caring for Mwete. He has a bigger family of support at the Care Point, with the Care Workers and the other children.

Meet Mwete

New Footprints Intake

Footprinters.jpg A new session of Footprints is upon us! How exciting to think that this will be our 4th group of Footprints volunteers to join the Hands at Work team for mid-term volunteer service. Training officially began on 25 February 2008, but preparations began long ago, including prayerful consideration of which projects will receive the volunteers when they complete their 10 weeks training and depart to act as “scaffolding” at our projects across Africa. Please remember to pray for them.

View from the Ground

LizeMarie-in-Zambia.jpgby Lize-Marie Theron
For more than a year, I have worked as Hands at Work in Africa’s Human Resources officer, supporting projects across the continent from my office in South Africa. And this January I got my first opportunity to travel with Hands at Work in Africa CEO George Snyman to our projects in Zambia. It was an amazing experience that taught me many things.

We traveled between Kabwe and Luanshya, visitng project leaders and spending time with volunteers on the ground, where I learned much about giving. In Zambia I experienced an unknown freedom in the desire to give. In Zambia money had no meaning. Love was evident and it spoke to me. Of course money is what brings resources to those who serve on the ground, but it was obvious: money is not the solution to Zambia’s problems.

In Kabwe I experienced the heart and passion of a project

Looking Back on my Footprints

brooke2.jpgBrook Bruns
One bright day last May the three of us who were the February 2007 Footprints cohort, walked our final trip down the winding South African dirt road that led from our accommodation to the Hands at Work in Africa staff base. We admired the majestic view of hills filled with huts in the distance, and we teased and joked with one another, remembering our 3-months training time together and anticipating the 6-to-9-month journey we were each about to embark on at separate Hands at Work projects across Africa.

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Hands are at Work in the USA Office

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SanFrancisco.gifWith much excitement and joy we announce the official registration of Hands at Work in Africa (USA). Hands USA, as we call ourselves, was officially formed last fall, and our team and activities have continued to develop and grow from that initiation.

Our Roots

While we exist to work with all churches across the USA, it was with Wellspring Church that our passion to start Hands USA was born. I, along with my husband, Henry, and our 3 children, traveled with Wellspring to South Africa last July. We had decided to visit Africa as a family after hosting George and Carolyn at our home for dinner while they were visiting Wellspring Church in 2006. We had been touched by their commitment and compelled to look beyond ourselves here.

That same evening after our guests had left, Henry and I made the decision to go, but also to be open to whatever further involvement God might have for me in serving Africa rather than going back to work or school as I had anticipated in the near future. In Africa, I told George about this decision. His response was incredible. He said, " Lauren, we have been praying for a year about someone like you,

UK summer newsletter 2008

Christmas in May in Swaziland • Spend two weeks in Africa • UK represented at African Leaders and International Conferences 2008 • British schools help with GoLD future in South Africa • From Halesowen to Africa - college students link with Zambia schools

 

• Regular monthly giving • Financial Statement for first 17 months as a registered charity • Your Will, Their future - a legacy from you will be such a welcome gift to ensure a future of hope and fulfilment for those affected •  Schools Service - From infant classes to agricultural students, talks are tailored suitably • Hairless for Hands! GBP1395 raised!  Forthcoming fundraising events: throw yourself off St Peter’s Church for Hands at Work  Abseiling with local scouts - “hands...at work... in Africa” photo exhibition -  “An evening of Words and Music” - performed by singers of the much acclaimed Midlands Chorale and The Keele Poets - whose poetry reaches parts of your soul no-one else ever has • Christmas is coming...
Give someone something useful this Christmas. Now you can make a difference to the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS - and give it as a present to someone special! • Progress in Nigeria - Local managers report in Nigeria on our Lagos Home Based Care (HBC) Programme, and helping commercial sex workers tackle the daily problems of HIV/AIDS at Isolo. We include some stories of children given new hope by volunteers on our Community Based Organisation (CBO)

Australian School Raises Funds for Zambia

1401168-1110612-thumbnail.jpg The Mt. Pleasant Primary School in Ballarat has reached out to the orphans of Zambia by raising much-needed funds to build a water well for the Chibuli Orphan School . As of October 22nd, the school and its 216 students had raised $911.

Hands at Work CEO George Snyman visited the school in October, where he met the school’s Welfare Officer, Danni Reeves, who has been instrumental in organising the fundraising events. George was pleasantly surprised to be entertained by the wonderful school choir singing an African song, as well as the song-and-dance group, also performing to African music.

Danni says the school hopes to reach the $1,000 mark by the end of the year.

Message from a Partner

Wellspring.jpg

When our first team of six men returned to Wellspring Church (N. California, USA) from their eye-opening visit to South Africa in 2005, all of us at Wellspring became introduced to George and Carolyn Snyman, founders of Hands at Work.

For these brothers, that visit was a life-changing event that God used to mark them with an indelible imprint of the faces and lives touched by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In October 2006, the Snymans had an opportunity to visit Wellspring to share of God's call for them to care for the poor, sick, and dying, and to remind us of God's heart for and the biblical mandate to care for the widow and orphan. Needless to say, this visit was instrumental in serving as a catalyst for those who would join the next team to Mpumalanga , South Africa.

Our next visit came last July and was indeed an opportunity to witness God's works of mercy and compassion through the body of believers in the midst of much suffering and loss.

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Work Exploding in Zambia

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luanshya-training2.jpg Hands at Work’s initiatives in Zambia are certainly exploding. In West Zambia, incredible new projects are just breaking ground. In Kabwe and Luanshya existing projects are expanding as new communities are also brought into the family. Long-time Hands at Work leaders Sal and Robyn Hunziker recently returned from a 6-week trip to facilitate some of the expanding work across Zambia. Here is a brief snapshot of some of their work, provided by Robyn.

By the way, many readers still know the Hands at Work Luanshya property by its old name: “The Farm”. It’s been renamed, after a gigantic, signature tree growing in the middle of the property. In the Nyanja language the tree’s name is Kachele, representing fullness and vigor. So next time you visit you’ll be welcomed to: “Kachele Village”.

Visit to the D.R.C.

margaret_congo.jpgIn late August CEO George Snyman and home-based care trainer, Levy Mwenda, left to visit Margart and Dominic, our project leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo. George and Levy report that despite a lack of government infrastructure and no access to ARVs, the amazing project continues to grow, showing love to the sick, caring for orphans, and recently beginning a program for the youth.

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Construction Continues

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Hands_Village1.jpgConstruction of the ground-breaking Hands at Work village continues! A large crew of local workers overseen by volunteer Michael Kaufman and construction manager Sal Hunziker have sweated out 10-hour days getting to roof level of the Footprints training and accommodation center and have also started the staff accommodation. A strong boost is expected on October 17 when a construction team from Westside King’s Church in Calgary arrives to lend a hand.

In a previous post it was written that Hands at Work “needs to be off ASM by the end of the year.” This was incorrecly taken by some readers to mean ASM was throwing us into the street on a whim. That is not the case. ASM is also a growing ministry, and a phased transfer over the next few months to the new property will be done in line with the expansion of both ministries. It was, in fact, ASM who generously provided the land for the new Hands at Work village. And the incredible opportunity to move together as a family of staff, footprints, and visitors to our own land far outweighs the challenges!

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Hands 2008 International Conference

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Hands%20Conference.jpgPlanning is already underway for the 3rd annual Hands at Work International Conference to be held 4 - 7 April, 2008 at the Hana Lodge, South Africa. The international conference is a place where Hands at Work partners and project leaders from around the globe gather to share ideas and plans and to encourage and minister to one another. This year’s agenda promises new opportunities for learning and collaboration among our partners.

As usual, the International Conference will be preceded by the 4-day African conference gathering of Hands at Work leaders from projects across Africa. Project leaders spend time learning from one another, communicating with Hands at Work staff, and, especially, being ministered to. Contact Hands at Work for information on sponsoring a project leader to attend the African conference.

Hands at Work in UK Visit

veronicaUKhands.jpgVeronica Caperon, marketing coordinator of the UK team, visited Masoyi, South Africa and the Rubatano project in Central Mozambique in July and returned inspired by the work and commitment she found amongst the Hands at Work volunteers. She will be giving a talk about her trip at St Peter’s Church, Edgmond on Tuesday 16th October at 7.45pm

“It must have been so depressing - how can we get on top of this terrible problem?” That has been a common response from people when I have explained that I’ve just spent 10 days visiting projects for an HIV/AIDS charity in southern Africa. They then seem taken aback when I reply that I have returned inspired and uplifted by the excellent things I have seen.

Footprints all over Africa

footprints-girls.jpg After cutting their teeth at the Hands at Work base in Masoyi, South Africa for 10 weeks, the February, 2007 intake of Footprints volunteers was sent out across Africa. Here’s an update.

In May, Brooke Bruns from Fargo, North Dakota arrived in Gondola, Mozambique to work as a project home-based care nurse with the Rubatano team, doing daily home visits in the community, operating a baby clinic and furthering development of a patient database system for the project. She will continue the work of two other Footprints volunteers, Sarah Irish and Ginna Hardie. They return to South Africa in mid-July before returning home to the US in late July, after serving 9 months as nurses in Gondola. Watch for Sarah and Ginna on a speaking tour of the US in September and October.

After a month of added preparation for her project, Megan Christopherson, from Phoenix, Arizona, arrived in Luanshya, Zambia

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Hands is Moving

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hands-expansion.jpg When George first spoke it to the Hands at Work staff, the message was a hard one: “Hands at Work must be off ASM property within six months,” he said. “By January, 2008, we will not live on this campus any longer, we must be on the land we’ve been given.”

A hard message, when spoken on land yet completely bare of buildings. Yet George spoke with a smile, because although it will take a literal miracle to get the property ready for the staff, teams and footprints students to live and work there by January, and although the alternative—scattering the Hands at Work staff around the region—would devastate operations and momentum, he says this is a chance to forge the collective character of Hands at Work like no other.

Since the beginning in 1998, Masoyi Home-Based Care (MHBC) and Hands at Work have operated from the Africa School of Missions (ASM) property in a wonderful partnership that gave Hands facilities and housing and gave ASM students practical outreach opportunities. Last year the process of moving MHBC offices into the community began in faith; in September they will be open.

A Place for the Church in Nigeria

Kano-woman.jpgI flew to Lagos in late May, worried sick about the sermons I knew I would have to preach. Three of us— Levy, a Zambian nurse and youth worker; Ginna, a young American nurse; and me, a Canadian former petroleum explorer—were in Nigeria for 10 days to strengthen Hands at Work’s two youngest projects in Lagos and in the desert region Kano, training pastors, teaching home-based care, ministering to prostitutes, and teaching illiterate women. I sensed something about the trip would drag me to my knees. I thought it would be the preaching. It’s not the first time I’ve been wrong.

It wasn’t the foreign setting that disturbed me. Though in Lagos the air was always hot and heavy and the dusty streets vibrated beneath the rumble of at least a million people on the move at all times. We slept in the home of the Lagos project leader, Pastor Rex. And each morning at 5 am the crackling cry of a prayer call blasted into the rooms from a speaker mounted on the tower of the mosque behind his house.

Care Center Dreams in MOZ

care-center-MOZ.jpgThough it is 3am, Carlos Giua cannot sleep. The coordinator of Rubatano Home Based Care (RHBC) in Gondola, Mozambique spends many nights awake. His wife, Pascua, laments her husband’s constant inability to rest. “But how can I?” Carlos responds. “There is so much for which I must pray.”

Eight miles from Carlos’ house in Gondola, a woman named Amelia also wakes early. Her husband passed away nine months ago from AIDS. She knows his killer is returning soon for her. She feels deep pain, but more from the soul agony of knowing she will soon leave four young children behind than from the physical trauma of the virus on her body. Death weighs heavily on her mind. Though she has watched many people die, Amelia often wonders, “What will it be like? Will I die in great pain?” Each week she is visited by an RHBC nurse who helps to ease her pain.

Deeper still inside Gondola, 5-year-old Joalinho wakes to his baby nephew’s cry.

Report from the Congo

As the children were waiting for their teacher to mark their tests, Dominic sat outside with them to have a friendly chat. The teacher informed Dominic that many of the orphaned and vulnerable kids in the Esperance Home Based Care (EHBC) school are improving rapidly in their studies. They love to participate and to be acknowledged by their teachers. Thirty of the children have written a test, which, if passed, will allow them to go to a public school with the help of EHBC . The children also receive Biblical teaching. It is important for them to know the nature and spirit of God that can overcome the problems they have gone through and may face in the future.

Another school is on the brink of opening here. With a strong belief in the Church fulfilling their Biblical mandate in caring for orphans and widows, EHBC has posed that challenge locally. After a meeting with the three pastors and elders of a church, one said that if they do not know how to care for the orphans and widows in their area then they do not know how to worship God. The church/school, based in a steel-framed structure scarcely covered in tarp, will have its humble beginning in September. Until then, there needs to be the provision of siding for the church, school furniture, two teachers and a cook.

The support for orphans is also expanding to the area of Kikula. With this addition the total number of orphans and vulnerable children supported in Likasi will increase to 500. EHBC has recently begun a school program for orphaned youth between 14 and 22 years old. Once the caregiver of a house dies, the family often has no means to carry the burdens of school fees, uniforms, and books for their children. If the children do find a way to go to school, most of them drop out in their teenage years, meeting heavier fees and more pressure to provide for their large families. This program has been given the vision to care for such youth. They meet every Saturday as a large family, having fun, exploring the scriptures and their relevance to our lives, forming friendships and an understanding that we are not alone in life’s struggles. The program is moving towards starting life skills training for those who do not plan on going to school, as well as those who need to secure an income to do so.

Something has come up in meetings with the youth that is pointing towards the opening of a new service. Many widows, uneducated and unemployed, remain in this state long after the death of their husbands. Many seem uninterested to find jobs once a church or other service decides to provide some assistance. The vision is to bring widows facing this challenge together in order to provide encouragement and life skills training, enabling them to provide for their families regardless of the loss of their spouse. There is immense value in helping to reconstruct broken families, and we are excited to step out in the direction of equipping widows for such a task.