“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 {NKJV}
Praise God, Our after school program is now running four days during the week to assist children living on the property with daily homework assignments! We have been blessed with responsible and committed students from North West University to oversee this program. Our goal is to have the center open five days each week, once we have sufficient volunteer support. Presently, we have about 10-15 children participating with hopes that their basic skills will be sharpened with some greatly needed one-on-one assistance! Friday has become the highlight of the week for most of our children… it is the fun day of the week that the children do not have homework and have the opportunity to engage in special activities.
During the first half of the 90 minute session the children are busy writing letters to ‘penpals’ overseas. The writing activity was introduced to the children by explanation of sharing their life with a friend that lives far away. We want the children to have the opportunity to learn about people from all over the world, and celebrate our God-given likenesses and differences. The children have no idea of how the postal system works, or that it even exists… that it is possible to write, post, and receive letters to and from other people all across the world… so once their letters have been completed, we will take them to the post office to actually drop their letter in the mail box. Something that is taken for granted and seems so common to us in the US is a very new concept for the children in the township. Please remember us if you ever want to meet a new friend from South Africa… we would love to write a letter to you!
After the kids have had a chance to practice up on their literacy skills (even though they aren’t aware of it), they move to “dance class” for the remaining time with our awesome dance instructor from Holland! The kids are learning a simple dance routine to use with any song. This is a time for the kids to relax and freely express themselves after a long week in the classrooms! We are working towards a short performance to present to the house parents at the end of May.
Yes, it’s a new season on the calendar and also for our friends at Giving of Life Grant who have launched their “Spring into Action” season of matching grants of up to $1,000 for the 50 ministries receiving the most votes between now and May 31st on their website. We have been blessed to be grant recipients in each of the previous Giving of Life Grant seasons, and with your help will qualify once again this spring. This season we are earmarking the funds raised to go towards the expansion of our teaching, training and resource center in Ikageng, South Africa. We’re hoping to be able to more than double the space we currently have to add a Grade R (kindergarten) to our preschool and increase our capacity from the 30 students we currently have to over 80, and at the same time offer dedicated adult meeting space for Bible studies, life skills training and praise, worship and teaching.
We need your help to raise a minimum of $1,000 to qualify for the maximum matching grant from Giving of Life before the spring season ends on May 31st. You can cast free votes just by clicking on the “Vote” button on our project page, but for the greatest return on your time you should register your email address, Facebook page and Twitter account with Giving of Life and receive 5 extra votes! To get the biggest bang for your buck (literally), Giving of Life allows you to buy votes by donating from $5 to $200 to the project… the larger the donation, the greater the return… $5 = 7 votes, $10 = 15 votes, $50 = 100 votes, $100 = 225 votes, and $200 = 500 votes! Please vote, register and vote some more, and donate to our project to cast even more votes! Here’s a short link to our project page: http://tinyurl.com/buapvkx