When we first learned about our upcoming month in South Africa we were informed that the primary ministries of Volunteer in South Africa were surfing and soccer. However, it wasn’t until today that I did one of those things 😛
I have, of course, been kept busy the whole time, with projects I was aware of but also with a number of things that I would never have thought of beforehand.
There have been three relatively consistent projects that I have been involved with:
- Firstly, the reading program that happens every day in the township. Two of the days it is also a homework club where we are able to assist kids particularly with revision at the moment since it is exam time (the South African school year runs from January).
- Secondly, the mentoring project that is run by a guy called Malcolm and his organisation New Chapter Foundation. As well as being generally present and helping out with the day to day running of the two locations we visit, I have had the pleasure of taking my guitar along. At Lotus River I was able to do a little teaching and at Phumlani village we taught some worship songs to the kids there. Malcolm has been really thankful for this as they had struggled to get the kids to sing in the past (when they had used CD music) but now having an instrument there has opened the doors up.
- Thirdly, I have had the privilege of leading worship at Surfside Church on Sundays, with help from other members of our group. This has been a real blessing to be a part of.
As far as other things go I can tell you that I have:
- Built a website in the last week for New Chapter Foundation. (Well, I say built, really I set up a frame on their URL that displays a template site I edited with the relevant content – best I can do as far as web development goes at the moment.) You can see it at www.newchapter.co.za.
- Drafted a constitution document and application form so that Mandy can register Volunteer in South Africa officially as a non-profit organisation and helped talk her through how to set that up (who knew writing a constitution for the Christian Union at Portsmouth would come in handy again later).
- Played at a funeral gathering for Malcolm’s family, who unfortunately lost a cousin who left behind a husband and three children. Please pray for that family at this time. A few of us went and provided backing music for a viewing before the church service, including a rendition of Amazing Grace, and were otherwise able to encourage Malcolm who led a lot of the proceedings.
- Been a part of a radio show about missions on a local Christian radio station, sharing about the World Race.
This afternoon I have finally been able to get along to a soccer practice. I’ll probably try and do surfing at some point…
