"It was 2012, and our large family group arrived in South Africa on a team trip to Hands at Work in Africa. Our three children, 2 of them teenagers and our 2-year-old son, were on the team with us. Little did we know the impact that the Hands at Work ministry would have on our lives and the direction God would lead us, taking us into a new season as we serve Him.
It was on our very first Holy Home Visit that God broke our hearts for what breaks His. We met a teenage girl caring for her one-year-old son, along with her six siblings who were living in a small - approximately 3x3m - home where Hands had provided them with two beds. Not much else could fit into the room and we could only imagine how they slept at night with 8 in the family as well as their elderly Gogo when she visited with them. It was extremely tough to see. We sat with Gogo, and before we left, we asked how we could be praying for her. Her prayer request was not that they would have the food and clothing they desperately needed but that we would pray for the children to know the Jesus she knew, which deeply touched us.
As we entered the Care Point where our two teenagers had stayed with our 2-year-old son, we discovered that he had made a little friend who happened to be the teenage girl’s son. Our God is such a God of detail. We were able to meet each of the siblings as well. It was a privilege to visit this community in the following years and continue building on the relationship with these precious children.
As we returned home from this first team trip, we studied the scriptures, wanting to know more about our Father’s heart for the poor, which Jesus’ life also clearly demonstrates. We began to understand more of God’s heart of love and compassion for the poor, the orphan, widow and refugee, and our biblical mandate to do the same.
How easy it can be to return to the busyness of our culture and not allow our lives to be affected by what God reveals to us and not allow ourselves to be challenged by the situation that our poorest are experiencing in Africa. We knew that we needed to be intentional to seek God and what He was saying to us as we went forward. We felt overwhelmed by the need we saw firsthand and didn’t know how we could make a difference in these children’s lives who had impacted us so deeply. As we wrestled with this, God made it clear that we could make a difference by making it personal to care for one child at a time and to be faithful to advocate and be a voice for our Father for these children who had no voice.
We are so grateful that He took us on this journey and changed the direction of where He wanted us to be serving Him. Over the years, God has shown us more of His heart for the most vulnerable not only in Africa, but also in our own community.
It is a privilege and blessing to be a part of the Hands at Work ministry in Africa and as we serve here in Australia. God continues to shape our lives through Hands, and we see Him busy at work doing the same in many other lives as together we take up our biblical mandate to care for the poor and to live lives of servanthood just as Jesus modelled to us."