Kedesh – a city of the ancient Israelites that God set apart to be a city of refuge. This was what John Wickes had in mind when he founded the Kedesh orphanage back in 1994. It is one of the most interesting ministries I have ever experienced. Kedesh is home to John Whickes, Heather Pritchard and almost 30 boys. The compound is [acres] large. Not all of the boys are orphans by the standard definition of the word. Some know very little about their family, some have immediate family members in the surrounding area, but the home is not a suitable place for the boy to grow up.
John is a former builder, turned pastor, turned international missionary. He classifies himself as a "Torah observant" Christian. In summary this means, that he believes that Jesus died in order to offer us forgiveness and to free us from our sin nature. Where his flavor Christianity branches away from mainstream Christianity is that he still observes the laws of the Old Testament. It has been very interesting and enlightening to live in a place and participate in this unique way of life. As far as I can tell, the only big difference between vanilla Christianity and Torah observant Christianity is the observation of the Sabbath on Saturday. Other than that not too much is different.
Heather, came to Kedesh on a short term missions trip 13 years and has since returned to assist John in the running of the orphanage. Auntie Heather, as she is referred to by the boys, helps manage the finances, and works with the boys on their homework, their English and does crafts with them. Heathers background is Occupational Therapy in which you use activities to help a person grow and develop.
Currently the boys are on vacation from school until the end of January. The daily operations of the orphanage is part structure part chaos, as you can imagine with 30 boys. Each morning the boys, and the rest of us, are awaken at 5 AM by the music that blares from the main house. The boys then get up and run a single lap around the 1.2 km trail/obstacle course on the property. Once the boys are finished with their run they head out to tend to their individual gardens. Some boys have a 1 square meter plot some have 4-5 square meter plots. They water and weed their gardens, something that the team helps them with. They grow a variety of herbs and vegetables, such as basil and peppers.
Breakfast is served unpromptly at 8 AM and typically consists of oats, cassava, dried and ground up root, and something like Cream of Wheat. After breakfast, is when the chores and projects get done. The boys aren't overloaded with work, and most of the time they are able to finish in a matter of 2 hours. One of the most amazing things about the boys here is how independent John and Heather have trained them to be. The boys all do their own laundry, they cook the food, do their chores, all with little intervention from John and Heather. John has partnered all the younger boys with an older boy who will keep an eye on the younger boy and ensure that he is doing what he needs to be doing. The system seems to work very well.
Lunch is usually around 1 PM and consists of rice and beans. After lunch, it is usually ridiculously hot, so everyone just lies low for a while. Sometimes, depending on the heat a game of volleyball, baseball, or ultimate frisbee will break out. Currently the boys are particularly obsessed with baseball. John is working with them on learning all the rules and strategies of the game. The boys are all very good sports and can tell that they are happy to be playing. After the games die down dinner is usually started and we have rice and beans around 7 PM.
After dinner is cleaned up and the popcorn is made the boys will watch a movie on the projector that John has setup. Recently the Kedesh boys finished the Lost TV series and they are very interested in the High School Musical movies. The movies not only give the boys something fun to look forward to, but it also helps them with their English, which is evident by how well they can understand us when we talk to them. On most nights the movie is wrapped up by 9 PM and the boys will head to bed.
As I mentioned previously John is "Torah Observant" which means he observes the Sabbath, which starts at sun down on Friday and ends at sun down on Saturday. This means that Friday's dinner, and Saturday's breakfast and lunch are prepared ahead of time. After dinner the boys are given a piece of bread, juice, which is a special treat, and some candy. John then gives them a five to ten minute lesson from the Bible. The adults (John, Heather, and the team) celebrate the start of the Sabbath with a glass of wine and a variety of cheeses which John picks up earlier in the day. After the teaching that John gives to the boys, the adults head off for a Bible study.
On Saturday the boys are pretty much free to do whatever they want. There is no specific wake up time or chores, it's a very welcomed day of rest. Every other Saturday the John and Heather arrange for the boys to go to the beach for a swim. Some of the kids will go to church others will go on Sunday. Breakfast and lunch on Saturday's consist of homemade bread, butter, peanut butter, jelly, and hard boiled eggs. After the sun goes down on Saturday prep begins and we usually eat around 8 and then watch a movie while eating.
Sunday's are pretty chill like Saturday's. Some of the boys will go to church. John does not force the boys to go, and he does not pick out a church for them. He encourages them to find a church that they like, and then will follow up with them about conversations about what their church believes. During the school year Sunday afternoons are typically reserved for big group projects, such as ridding the property of certain types of invasive plants. And of course, like most days, Sunday afternoons are also used for games.
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