It is just after six in the morning and I cannot sleep anymore as I am so filled with God’s Word for us for 2010. For the first time in many years I not only received one verse as a watchword but two :} Well let me rephrase that; I believe God gave us a verse on how He saw us in the end of 2009 and then He gave us a verse for 2010. The verse He gave me on Hands ending 2009 is in Isaiah 57:10, “You were tired out by the length of your road, Yet you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewed strength, Therefore you did not faint.”  What a description of 2009! Not just for us as Hands family but surely even more for those we were called to serve. We think of the families we met in Zimbabwe like Prince and Bismarck; the children like Illary and Felsh in Bushbuck Ridge; the woman in Likasi whose house burned down and it killed some of her children; Pastor Chris and the women he works with in Lagos… and we could add many more to this list. It was a tough year for many but somehow we managed to keep one thing alive: HOPE!!  

In the light of the above Scripture I believe we received Psalm 130:5 as the Watchword for 2010, “I will wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope”

“Hope and Wait” are hardly words we would like to hear in a year like 2010 but it is exactly the word we need to hear. It is as we wait upon Him...

I believe it has three areas of application for us as Hands family. Firstly as always “We are before we do”. This is a personal cry from each one of us as we wait and hope in God to complete the work He started in us. That we are never too arrogant to think it is done... It is a cry from each one of us, “Lord I wait on you... my soul waits for you and my hope is in you!” 

Secondly it is a message of hope to our friends we were called to serve. We bring a message of hope in a dark time of despair. We believe God can and wants to do a new thing in Africa... turning the dark continent into a place of hope! We remind ourselves that Jesus came from Nazareth and the Bible says, “what good can come from Nazareth?”

Thirdly we hold unto the call God gave us in Hands to reach a 100 000 children that would not have been reached if we didn’t go. As we face mountains in so many areas like the need for workers, resources, and as we face political challenges we cling to this word... “we will wait upon our Lord and we have hope in His word!” His promises are always YES and AMEN!!



Jimmy is a friend of mine. We have been friends for most of his life. I met him as a young boy who lost his family. He became an orphan at a young age. Today at the age of sixteen he lives alone in a small house close to me

Consumers want to do good while still consuming and living well. McDonalds, Avon and Reebok use social causes to encourage consumer purchasing. More companies are doing it all the time. According to some recent report about three-quarters of  Americans are willing to switch to another brand or store associated with a good cause if the price and quality are comparable. Of course we also recently saw very wealthy individuals like Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates and Bono make bold stands by giving away most of their wealth for certain causes mainly on the eradication of poverty.

As we continue to grow in reaching more vulnerable children and their caregivers like the volunteers and grannies, we face many challenges that we trust God for. Those of you who had the opportunity to walk with us in Africa will understand what I am talking about. Many of us just returned from countries like the DRC (Congo), Nigeria, Malawi and Mozambique. Although it is encouraging to see what is happening we also realize that unless God is going to do miracles it would be merely impossible to reach all the most vulnerable children we hope to.

This is such a well known and quoted verse today. I’ve heard it quoted hundreds of times by Christians all over the world. I have been thinking about this verse for some time now, though not in a way I have often heard it spoken about before. Try and imagine the following situation: two siblings, a girl called Nonsipho, ten years old, and her brother Lucky, four years old, lost both their parents and are living in what we call a child-headed household in a very poor community. There are no adults in their house. As one school principle described them to me recently, “They are dirty, hungry and confused. Confused and disorientated not knowing what the next step should be.”  Now let’s imagine these kids go to church one Sunday. A visitor is preaching the service and uses the verse John 10:10, “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”

I just returned [to South Africa] from Zambia and the DRC. It was a trip of mixed experiences. The joy and pain together as I held children with no hope. In Mulenga, I met a girl of four that was raped just before I got here. She held unto me for dear life. The same day I met volunteers indescribably committed and compassionate (see James' story here). The exciting part is God is busy raising couples all over Africa with the Hands at Work vision burning in their hearts. Some of these couples (please pray for them) are James and Sukai from Mulenga; Samuel and Juliet form Chipata; Levi and Pragcidens. Without these leaders we cannot go forward. These couples could "make it" wherever they live but chose to spend themselves to reach those without hope.

Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation raped into the ground. I met Church leaders in slums waiting for me on a Saturday afternoon ... The expectations in their eyes kept me awake. ... I bring hope to these Churches ... [by saying] to them I have friends who are together with me.

We are knitted together in our hearts. And I know I speak the truth. As Catherine Booth once said, “You are not here in the world for yourself. You have been sent here for others. The world is waiting for you!”

Recently speaking to a team of nurses visiting us from the US, I said, “Open your hearts, and allow the pain here to touch you”. Jesus said it like this: “Weep with those who weep.” Afterward, someone commented that as nurses they are trained not to become too close to patients. They are trained not to get too emotionally involved with the people they care for. My advice to them on their arrival in Africa was exactly the opposite – allow the pain to touch you!

In a way, each of us in Western culture has been trained to do the same. We are trained to be problem solvers. When we face a situation, we analyse it and find a solution. This is good, and tremendous advancements and progress come from this way of thinking. But there is a negative side to our automatic problem-solving. It keeps difficult situations from getting too close to our hearts. It becomes a mechanism to keep everything at arm’s length.

Recently I found myself in a village in Zimbabwe desperately trying to solve some challenges faced by families there.

During my visit to Canada in May, I confronted this in mass when visiting many former volunteers of Hands. Canada is just an amazing country in many ways. It seems that the harsh weather produces people with perseverance and people who can go the biblical extra mile once they see a need. They come to Africa from Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Saskatoon. And they serve in excellence! It seems that the tougher the challenge, the bigger the adventure for them. Hands at Work is eternally grateful to Canada for that great spirit.

They do, however, face a challenge when they return home.

The first time I went to Sakubwa last year I met Agnus, a grandmother with fifteen grandchildren. They all lived together in one room measuring about 3 meters by 5 meters. The youngest grandchild, Valecia, left a permanent mark in my life. I called her the girl with a yellow hat because she wore all the clothes she had, including her yellow hat, to ensure nobody stole her only possessions. Her grandmother told me that if Valecia had one meal a day, then she had a good day.

The day I met her she smiled from the moment we met until I left. Now on Sunday at Stuart’s church, as I walked into the room I saw both Agnus and Valencia again. Agnus was now nearly completely blind and Valecia had stopped smiling.