“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}

Yes, we know we told you to keep an eye out for our “year-in review” newsletter, but since January 1 we have been so busy getting ready for the start of the new school year at Naledi Christian ACADEMY (no longer pre-school as we have added a kindergarten class this year) that we just haven’t had time!

READY OR NOT, HERE THEY COME! Praise God, as of this writing (10:45 PM Friday night Central Africa Time), at least 71 children will come racing through the gates when they open on the first day of school Monday morning at 8:00. That’s up (way up) from the 31 we ended last year with, and with new registrations coming in daily we are certain we will reach our capacity of 80 before the first week ends. We have doubled our staff, from 5 last year to 10 this year to love and nurture the additional children. Call us crazy but so far we are not freaking out over the impending chaos, trusting that Christ has us all in the palm of His hand. With the help of many prayer warriors, financial supporters and five guys from Pennsylvania that spent the first week of January with us here in South Africa to “get ‘er done” we believe we are more READY than NOT… the building that housed last year’s 31 students is set to go for the four year-old and kindergarten classes, the house we are using for one of our new two year-old classes just needs a few finishing touches, and the new building which will house a second two year-old class and three year-old class is painted and the tilers promise us they’ll be done tiling it tomorrow (Saturday). Not a day too soon…

Thanks to committed sponsors, last year 30 of the 31 children attending were sponsored, enabling the school to operate on a break-even basis. The added enrollment leaves us with approximately 40 students that are in need of sponsorship to enable the school to continue to cover the costs of a quality Christian education, two healthy meals and a snack every day for each child, supplies, utilities and staff salaries. If you are currently sponsoring a a child… Thank you, you make this ministry possible!  If you are not but would like to just click on the “Donate Now” button on this page and sign up for a monthly recurring donation of $25 designated to “Sponsor a child or family”. If you know of someone that would be interested in sponsoring a child please forward this email to them. In addition to knowing you are providing a child with the opportunity to attend a preschool which they otherwise would not be able to afford, you will also receive a photograph of the child you are sponsoring and their family, periodic updates and prayer requests, and have the ability to send cards and letters to the child and their family. Several sponsors have even come to South Africa to meet their sponsored child!

Please keep us, the children, the staff and all of their families in your prayers… for safety and protection, that their eyes, ears, minds and hearts be open to the Good News of Christ’s love for them, and that they may come into a saving relationship with Jesus!