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
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40 Days of Prayer

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Hands at Work in Africa is asking you to join with us in 40 days of prayer for orphans.  This is only a suggested guide.  This time of prayer will coincide with our multiple Hands at Work Regional conferences that are happening all over Africa.  If some faithful members can meet daily, so much the better, but if not, do not let that discourage you.  Pray alone if necessary and meet whenever possible.  Know that many across the globe are joining you daily, together in agreement in prayer.  Gather 2 or 3 (or more) people in a home or a church or anywhere and the Lord will be with you and hear your prayers.  Matthew 18:20, "For wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am with them, in their midst."  

 The most important part is to commit to praying daily!

Thank you for choosing to join us on this 40 day journey in prayer starting Monday, 15 March, 2010.  Please keep in mind our conference theme, NOW IS THE TIME, LIVE IT OUT, "So that the poor have hope and injustice shuts its mouth."  Job 5:16

Partnering with The Forge Church, Listen to George's Message.

Hands at Work in Africa has little hubs of activity popping up around the world, one of them is in the UK where an office was birthed to be able to support existing church partners and foster new ones. An example of this is The Forge Church, near Ipswich, UK which was introduced to Hands at Work through another church partner. Since being introduced to Hands at Work two years ago, the Forge has sent two couples to work long term in Africa. Through an introduction from a trusted friend grew a quick and deep relationship between this church and Hands at Work. Although small, The Forge Church was able to quickly open its doors to the Hands message and as a result is having a huge impact in Africa. 

Recently George had the chance to go and speak at The Forge Church, we invite you to listen to his message:  http://www.forgechurch.com/sundaynotes.php

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From a Small Church (UK)

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George and Sheila Green came to visit Hands at Work in Swaziland in 2007. An organic relationship of prayer and support has grown from there with their church, Hands at Work and a small community of women and men caring in Swaziland. Recently George Snyman from Hands at Work was able to visit and encourage their rural church: St John’s in Heath Hayes, Staffordshire, UK.

Below is George Green’s account of their story.

For two years now, our small church in Staffordshire, UK, St John’s Heath Hayes, has supported Hands at Work in Africa, with a particular interest in one community based organisation in Swaziland: Asondle Sive Bomake (ASB). This relationship developed when my wife, Sheila and I visited their community and worked briefly with their coordinator, Nomsa Lukhele.

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Let it Rain (Zam)

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A cool rainy morning is not uncommon in Kabwe, Zambia during amayinsa (rain season). Yet the gloomy sky does not affect the excitement of the hard-working care workers of Shalom HBC from preparing for the activities of the day. The anticipation of this project is great; today 50 children being cared for would be receiving a meal for the first time from the new feeding program. Morning finds eager care workers cleaning the church that will be used to facilitate the program. The work continues even though the rain drizzles down. Everyone knows the grim conditions that many of the innocent orphans face every day. This one meal a day, most likely the only one given, will provide these young vulnerable ones with their daily bread. With this understanding so vividly imprinted on their hearts, the workers together share the load of the day.

Listen to George Speak in Pretoria

Join us at Missions Fest (SA)

Listen to George
Thurs., FEB 18th (19:00-20:45): Compassion and Proclamation
Sat., FEB 20th (10:00-11:30): Compelled by Compassion
Where:                Central Baptist Church 827 Schoeman Str., Arcadia, Pretoria, South Africa
Who:     everyone is invited

Missions Fest is a catalyst to enable people to catch a vision of the Great Commission spoken by Jesus (Matthew 28:19).  This locally driven missions festival helps people find a place where their interests and abilities can best be put to use. Missions Fest’s three-fold purpose is to inform, celebrate and challenge people of all ages to get involved in missions by sending, praying, giving and going.

And listen to other motivational speakers, Jackie Pullinger and T.A Ralekholela

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Zambikes Testimonial- Melody (Zam)

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Melody is a 16 year-old orphan living in Magandanyama shanty compound on the outskirts of Kabwe. Her mother, Twas a patient of Makululu Home Based Care until she died on the 23rd of November 2003. At the young age of 11, Melody was left to look after her 2 little sisters and 3 brothers. Although forced to drop out of school to find work in order to survive, the earning was not enough to buy food and other needs.

In January 2007, Melody began selling her body on the street and became deeply involved with friends who were a bad influence on her. But when she became bedridden by TB in 2008, the team of childcare workers from Makululu HBC were  there to support her with visits, helping her with things such as buying charcoal, mealie meal, relish, washing plates, fetching water, cooking her food, and bathing her daily.

In January 2007, Mary began selling her body on the street and became deeply involved with friends who were a bad influence on her. But when she became bedridden by TB in 2008, the team of childcare workers from Makululu HBC were  there to support her with visits, helping her with things such as buying charcoal,

Meditation. ~ Ka Phunga. (Swaz)

You are a middle-aged woman living in Ka Phunga, Swaziland, _ older than most; Life expectancy is less than 40 years. You have seen many deaths in your community from HIV/AIDS, leaving hundreds of orphans. There are still many sick people. You hear of a death almost every day.

  • How do you feel? ~ Ashamed at the stigma that goes with this pandemic?
  • A strong feeling that something must be done?
  • Distressed or angry that the rest of the world seems unaware?
  • That it looks as if you are the one who must do something, when you were looking forward to a more restful life as a grandmother.

You remember from your childhood, how the land produced all that people needed. The community lived simply, but there were fields full of maize, and no-one went hungry. Now, much of the land is uncultivated. So many people of working age have died, and orphans cannot work the land and attend school.

  • How do you feel about the problem of trying to feed all of the orphans? ~ Can the food be grown locally or must it be bought?
  • Where will the money come from to feed all of the orphans, or to buy  seed, fertilizer and tools?
  • How can the orphans be helped to begin to produce their own food?

Ka Phunga is up in the mountains, far from tarmac roads. Orphans and sick people are in scattered homes spread over a large area. You and your volunteers travel on foot. Sick people get treatment too late, or not at all. Many suffer chronic or fatal illness for which we would quickly and easily obtain treatment. It is hard to get supplies of food to many of the orphans. For a few days each year, visitors from other countries come to work with you, and for a short time you have the benefit of a vehicle.

  • How do you feel about your isolation from the modern world?
  • Do you feel supported, _ by your king, _ by your government, _ by people from other countries?
  • What would you like the visitors to do when they return to their homes?

The young people of your country are giving up hope. Many would leave, if they could, to make a living in another country. You were brought up to be proud of your country, its king, and its traditions. It is a beautiful country, which could feed itself. You are a Christian.

  • What do you hope and pray for, for the future of the children growing up in Ka Phunga now?
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Barriers (Zam)

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Jessie Monarch is from Kentucky in the US and volunteered with Hands at Work for the last year, serving in South Africa and Zambia.  The following is her account of her first trip to see the work being done in Mulenga, a poor community in Kitwe, Zambia; a work led by James and Sukai Tembo since 2004.

“How many children do you have?” I asked him as we passed through the solid metal gate guarding the entrance to his “mansion.”  I knew he called it that, always following the reference with a carefree laugh, to warn us of the simplicity of his lodgings.

“You will see,” he said with a grin.  In the brief stint of our acquaintance he had used this phrase to answer almost every question I had concerning his work, as if believing to revive the sense of mystery and anticipation so often lost with age and life. 

When we exited the car, he immediately pointed across the yard and a large field to Mulenga.  As he enthusiastically pointed out the house from which the twenty orphans are fed daily amongst the mass and spread of huts far in the distance, we pretended to know exactly which hut he was pointing to.  It didn’t really matter; we knew the beautiful work he was doing there, we knew the beacon of light that house was in the sea of darkness surrounding it and in the lives of the children

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2010 Conference Dates

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In the past we have done two conferences, both in South Africa.  An Africa conference with our African service center partners and an international conference with our African partners and many international churches and donors as well. 

This year instead of having the conferences in just South Africa we will be holding four regional conferences that will be open to anyone interested in attending.  The Hands at Work family is growing at a rapid rate which means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get everyone to South Africa.  This means we can bring the conferences closer to home for the Service Centres involved, also allowing our international visitors flexibility and possibly allow them to attend in the country of their interest. In the past we have only been able to have a very small number of community based organizations (CBO) representatives present.  By holding regional conferences it will also enable greater CBO participation and give more people exposure to the vision of Hands at Work. 

The conference schedule is as follows:

South Africa & Swaziland | March 24-27 | Hands at Work in Africa near White River, South Africa

Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo & Malawi | April 15-18 | Luanshya, Zambia

Mozambique & Zimbabwe | April 22-25 | TBD

Nigeria | May 20-23 | Lagos, Nigeria

We are excited about the new opportunities that hosting regional conferences will bring.  All are welcome to come and be a part of the different regional conferences.  If you are interested in attending or helping fund the conferences please contact us at info@handsatwork.org. 

View more of last year's conference in photos

George in the UK

Hands at Work in Africa CEO and founder George Snyman will travel to the UK this January to challenge churches about their role in caring for the orphaned, widowed and the dying, to cast the Hands at Work vision, and to attend strategic meetings with the organisation’s country offices and partner churches and donor organisations.

His itinerary is as follows:

 Ipswich - January 17-18 |Speaking at The Forge Church |Sunday 17

London - January 20 |Pastor's Conference at Christchurch, |Fulham

Staffordshire - January 22-25 |Meeting with Staffordshire buddies |program volunteers

Cannock - January 24 |Speaking at St. John's, Heath Hayes

Birmingham - January 25-27 |Speaking at The Blue Coat School, |Harborne January 27 AM |Meeting with Zambia Live team (partnership between Zion Church & The Forge) |January 27 PM

Dorncaster - January 28

Speaking to 6th Form assembly at Trinity Academy

Fareham - January 29 |Meeting with Locks Heath Free Church Leaders

Fulham - January 31 |Speaking at Christchurch, Fulham

For any queries, please email Nick@uk.handsatwork.org.

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Education for Flora

Flora is 15 years old.  Life began well for her, her 3 sisters and 4 brothers.  Unfortunately, sadness came in her life as her father died when she was only 12 years old.  Then the hard work began, as she was now responsible for the family as her mother was also sick and could not work.  Flora, grade 8, has missed much school due to the problems often missing school to sell vegetables and charcoal by the roadside.  The family received help from Gondola Home Based Care (HBC) in 2007.  They have helped with food, clothes and are now helping with her education.  She knows her mother will die soon, but Flora wants to complete her education and believes this will help her take care of her brothers and sister and get them through their education as well.

 

Care Worker Training in Zimbabwe

We successfully ran a training workshop for the care workers in Sakubva, which has subsequently resulted in improved relationship building between the care workers, OVCs and patients/primary guardians.  The training was also successfully closed with a ceremony that saw the caregivers being awarded with medical aid kits. We managed to invite local authorities, including the Councillor for the Sakubva ward, the Deputy Director of the Mutare City Health Department, one of our trustees, Dr. Geoff Foster, and our country representative, Emily Dinhira, all of whom were present and spoke at the ceremony.

Trainees receiving their medical kits

A New Start for Martha

Martha is a 7 year old girl in grade 1 in the Kikula Community School in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She lost her mother when she was only 3 years old and soon after her father abondoned her and her 3 siblings. Martha was taken by the aunt to stay with while the other 3 siblings were taken to Lubumbashi to stay with other relatives. Life is not easy for the small girl with her big new family where the income was not enough to support all the children for feeding and Schooling, but today Martha is attending School for free in our Kikula Community School and receiving a nutritious meal per day together with other friends at the feeding point. Above all she is also enjoying Home visits from care workers and this is bringing a new level of trust and security to the girl.

 

Training Community School Teachers in Zambia (Zam)

For the last five years now, Heather Lawrence has spend part of her summer holiday training teachers from the Community Schools we support in Zambia. In previous years , she has worked with teachers from the Luanshya area at Kachele farm, but this year, three others from the UK delivered a programme to these teachers designed to enable Lead Teachers to train others in their community and further afield. It has been immensely encouraging to see how these Lead Teachers have grown in confidence and skills since Heather's firet visit in 2005. They continue to listen to new ideas and take on board all suggestions readily. It is heartening to see they have implemented previous suggestions, adjusting them to suit their own circumstances.

 From left to right: Blue, Jayne, Jo and Heather with Luanshya teachers 

With Luanshya covered, Heather was able to train a group of teachers from Kitwe, north west of Luanshya. Most of these teachers are

Kachele Farm (Zam)

Samuel and Juliet Zulu and their children moved to Kachele Farm in Luanshya, Zambia, on 29 September 2009, and the Farm is quickly becoming a hub of Hands at Work activities year-round. Some of the activities happening at Kachele Farm in 2009 included training for Hands at Work staff from all over Africa, hosting five international teams from the U.K. and Canada who also used the property for kids’ camps and teacher training, renovating the farm house, raising chickens, and completing construction of a new house on the property.  Hands at Work is excited to welcome Samuel and his family, who moved over 500 kilometres from his home in Chipata, Zambia, in order to manage the Hands at Work property and expand activities there.  Since Samuel arrived, two hectares of maize have been planted and planned activities for 2010 include growing rape and other veggies, installing a new septic tank and a simple irrigation system, and renovating additional existing structures into accommodation.

 

The vision of Kachele Farm is four-fold: 1.) to provide psycho-social support for orphaned and vulnerable children through kids’ camps, 2.) to train and encourage community volunteers like care workers and community school teachers, 3.) to improve food security for orphaned and vulnerable children by producing food and serving as a model to teach on food production, and 4.) a place of retreat for Hands at Work family members who are in need of solitude and restoration.

Thank you to all of you who have stayed at the farm over the past several years and helped contributed to help make all of this possible.

 

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Putting Her Gifts into Practice (Zam)

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Christa Roby—from Chilliwack, British Columbia, in Canada—has been volunteering for Hands at Work in South Africa and in Kabwe, Zambia. A registered massage therapist, Christa had no idea when she applied to volunteer with Hands at Work whether her skills would be useful in Africa, but she came with an open heart to serve.  Since October 2009, Christa has trained volunteer care workers in 12 villages in massage therapy.  Care workers are being empowered when they see the impact they can make in the lives of their sick friends and neighbors with only their hands.  Read more about a home visit Christa made with volunteers from Katondo Home-based Care in Kabwe, Zambia.

“Peter had a stroke in Feb/07 and had lost function of the right side of his body.  I asked Floyd (one of the volunteers) to begin with working on his back while I worked with the right leg.  I showed Floyd how tight Peter’s hamstrings had become and also how to assist them in relaxing.  Peter explained that he is only able to move around on his back.  I was confused, so he took the opportunity to go to the washroom and show me.  From his bed he lied on his back and

Jarna's Volunteer Experience (AUS)

My name is Jarna McLaughlin and I recently went to South Africa with a team of 18 people from my church (President Avenue Community Church) and some interstate friends to volunteer with Hands at Work in Africa. While in Africa our main task was to kill the worms through the de- worming program. Amazingly worms can take up to 30% of children’s nutrition so you can understand the importance of this program. You know how Jesus fed the 5000 with bread and fish. Well we fed 500 orphans with peanut butter sandwiches, chips, really strong cordial and a de-worming tablet. We typical Aussies make a competition out of everything. So the ultimate peanut butter buttering race happened every night.

There are so many sad and inspiring stories I would love to share but, as this is an article and not a short novel, let me tell you about one 5-6 year old girl who particularly touched me. We were in the Joy community doing the de-worming program. On this

Church Team Trips to Zambia During 2009 (UK)

During 2009 between April and August, four teams from Zion Christian Centre, Halesowen and The Forge Church, Stowmarket visited some of the CBOs supported by Hands at Work in the Luanshya area of Zambia. Zion has been partnering with Hands and sending teams for the last 5 years and the partnership with The Forge has been running for the last two years, the latter taking more of a leadership role this year. The focus of the four teams was rural development, healthcare, a children’s camp and teaching teachers.

Rural Development

This team focused on rural development and building work. They ran a 2-day training session at Kachele Farm for 19 Zambians using the ‘Farming God’s Way’ programme. They were able to introduce more hens to the farm, a stock of food and provision for safe storage. They also built a compost bin and bought Moringa trees to be planted out later. 

On the building side, the team carried out school roof surveys at Mwaiseni, Chibuli and Maria Chimona; built roofs at 2 of the schools and left trusses left. They discovered that the well at Chibuli was not working and were able to carry out a repair.

News from Canada

Hands Canada celebrated their first ever National Conference & Banquet in Calgary on November 21, 2009. From the humble beginnings of the five people that Lynn Chotowetz asked to help out a couple of years ago, we had over 120 people at our evening banquet. They came from Parksville, Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Major, Winnipeg, Toronto and Masoyi. Hands Africa's first ever international volunteer, Maggie from Toronto, was in attendance.

We have connected with several new churches and many new volunteers and donors and we had representation  from Westside Kings, First Assembly, Lakeview and St. Martins churches to name a few. The conference itself was