Radical Advent: Sandy’s Story from Balaka, Zambia

Seven-year-old Sandy lost both of her parents to serious illnesses back in 2006. Sandy now lives with her aunt in Balaka, and her other siblings are all scattered in different homes with relatives. Though she has a guardian, Sandy faces many difficulties. Her household relies on her aunt getting casual work to buy food, but her aunt struggles with alcohol abuse and the family often goes without eating. There are currently nine people living in her small home.  Sandy’s clothing consists of only two dresses and she attends school bare-footed. 

Though Sandy continues to have a difficult home situation, Balaka Community Based Organization (CBO) strives to provide her with the love of a family.  The Care Workers have adopted Sandy as one of their own, and she is now attending the Care Point every day where she receives one nutritious meal a day.  Those who know her say she also now wears a smile!  For a girl who has faced many challenges at a young age, this love and care provides the hope she needs to have faith in her future.  Hands at Work supports CBOs like this one to reach the most vulnerable children like Sandy.  Make this a Radical Advent by supporting Hands at Work in serving orphaned children in Africa!  Please consider making a donation to our Christmas campaign here.

Radical Advent: Samuel & Elijah's Story from Ilaje, Nigeria

As a part of our Radical Advent Campaign, we want to share a story of two precious boys from Ilaje.  Samuel is 7 years old, and his brother Elijah is 4 years old. When Elijah was still a baby, their mother was chased away from their home after being accused of adultery, leaving Samuel and Elijah in the care of their father. However, the boys’ father died in a motor accident three years later.  Since then, the boys live with a relative who tries to provide for them with the little money he earns from fishing. Unable to pay for their school fees, the brothers had been out of school for two years before being discovered by the local, volunteer Care Workers of Ilaje Community Based Organization.  

Today, they are enrolled at Masory School; Samuel is in first grade and Elijah is in nursery school. Both boys receive a nutritious meal each day and are able to play with other children in the program. The regular home visits they receive from the Ilaje Care Workers shows Samuel and Elijah that they are loved, and that they still have parental figures in their lives that care deeply about them.  Make this a Radical Advent by supporting Hands at Work in improving access to secure sources of food and education for poor children in Africa!  Please consider making a donation to our Christmas campaign here.

Radical Advent: The Story of Eight Siblings from Ago-Okota, Nigeria

As a part of our Radical Advent Campaign, we want to share a story from Ago Okota, another community located within Lagos, Nigeria.  Ally, Precious and Caleb are the youngest of eight children in their family.  They lost both parents to a tragic car accident a few years ago.  Since the accident, the children have not been able to afford their rent.  One by one, they dropped out of school, unable to pay for their school fees, uniforms or books.  A few of the older siblings had to move to stay with a relative while other siblings tried their best to find menial work to earn enough to feed their younger siblings.  They were eventually forced out of their home for not paying their rent and ended up living in a slum in Ago-Okota community.  Ally, Precious and Caleb would stay home while the older siblings would go out looking for ways to make enough money to afford even one meal a day. 

Things started looking up when a couple of the older siblings, Martha and Florence, were told by one of their neighbors in the community about the 'We Care' community school, which supports and cares for orphaned and vulnerable children.  The sisters visited the school to see if their three younger siblings could be enrolled. Several assessments were made by the Care Workers who realized these children were indeed incredibly vulnerable, and they were enrolled at the community school.  Both Ally and Precious are now in primary school while Caleb is in nursery. The children receive one hot meal per day--their only meal--at the community school. They are so happy to be back in school, learning again and making new friends.  Make this a Radical Advent by supporting Hands at Work in improving access to education for poor children like Ally, Precious, and Caleb!  Please consider making a donation to our Christmas campaign here.    

Radical Advent Campaign: Ilaje, Nigeria

As a part of our Radical Advent campaign, we want to highlight Ilaje, located within Lagos, Africa’s largest city, on Nigeria’s southern coast.  A city of 16.5 million people, it is home to some of the worst slums in the world. In a 2006 report, the World Bank identified nine slum communities requiring urgent response. Hands at Work is active in three Lagos slums, including Ilaje, which is notorious for its location on the edge of an ocean bay and even extending out over the water with homes built on stilts.

The scale of overcrowding in Ilaje is mind boggling: Up to 30 people live in some single room shacks where people are required to sleep in shifts. Aside from a few private schools just outside Ilaje, no school is accessible to the poorest children. Half-dressed children roam the streets during the day, working as peddlers to create at least a small income. The ocean bay floods the community at high tide, leaving residual water lying around homes and feeding a malaria epidemic. HIV is prevalent in the area. There is no access to clean water.

In early 2007, a pastor named Rex was transferred to take over a tiny church building in the slum. Rex and his wife, Patricia, were shocked at what they saw in the community. They challenged their congregation members, as well as others in Ilaje, that something had to be done about the situation, and so began walking the streets as a team to seek out the most vulnerable among the children, widowed and sick in the community. Eventually they formed a formal community-based organization (CBO) reaching out to many vulnerable children in this community. Hands has been supporting this CBO by mentoring and training volunteers, and through monthly donations from a group of advocates in southern California and a non-profit group from the U.S. called Poverty Stops Here, Hands has enabled local volunteers to to care for 150 children in Ilaje!  Make this a Radical Advent by supporting Hands at Work in reaching more vulnerable children in Africa!  Please consider making a donation to our Christmas campaign here.    

A Garden of Hope (ZAM)

A little tomato plant produces so much more than just juicy red fruit.  In the bush community of Baraka in central Zambia, it has provided hope.  The Community Based Organization (CBO) in Baraka had little in terms of finances to start a garden, but the Care Workers had a desire and a vision to see the children they were feeding enjoy balanced meals with valuable nutrients from fruits and vegetables.  

With the partnership of Hands at Work and the funds raised by the Gilchrist family from the U.S., the community of Baraka was able to plant two gardens in July of this year.  The Gilchrist family, including their four children, was so moved by the story of the orphans in Baraka, that they spent a whole summer doing odd jobs and pet sitting to raise money to support this community (you can read more about their story here).  Presently, the gardens are filled with tomato and colza plants.  The Care Workers all take ownership of the gardens and come together multiple mornings a week to weed, water, and cultivate. 

Not only is Baraka CBO able to sell some of the vegetables to the local community and invest this money back into their garden to purchase seeds and fertilizer, but they are also able to feed the harvest to the children.  The daily meal that they serve to 50 of the most vulnerable children in the community now looks a little more colorful and is filled with more nutrients with the vegetables they are now able to serve.   The CBO is planning to expand the garden and to plant more vegetables in the future.  After the rainy season, they hope to plant cabbage and spinach.  

It Takes a Family (ZAM)

By Jed Heubner

Jed (L) and his family with the care workers in Chisamba, Zambia

Fall is officially here.  We say goodbye to the long days of summer with kids staying out playing with their friends until late in the evening, and we say hello to children getting up early and heading off to school.  For many children school might seem like a burden, homework, bag lunches, and schedules, but to children in Africa, school means possibilities.  As you walk past nearly any school in Africa you will most likely see a sign that reads, “Education is the key to success,” in some form or another.  For many children in Africa, however, school is just out of reach. 

Most schools in Africa charge school fees.  Now these school fees for primary school are usually fairly low, around $25 a year, but for high school these fees can get up to $100 a year.  Now that may not seem like much, but for a family earning less than a dollar a day and having multiple children, this amount is extremely difficult to raise. 

In August my family had the opportunity to visit the community we are supporting in Chisamba, Zambia.  They have started a preschool and have a feeding point where over 50 children are getting a meal once a day.  While in Chisamba we also got to go on several home visits, meet the children we are supporting, and see where they are living.  On one home visit we met David.  David is a 16-year-old boy who lives at home with his mother and his two younger siblings.  David's father left their family several years ago because it was too difficult to support the family.  They do not know where their father went.  David is a very intelligent young man, who was doing well in school, but his family couldn’t come up with the money for school fees.  The headmaster at his school told him he was not allowed to come back until he paid all of his back fees and paid for the current school year, about $200 altogether.  As David's mother was telling us the story, I watched David closely.  I could see the embarrassment as his mother told us how he was pulled out of class and chased from the school, but I could also see the hope as he looked at these strangers who had come to visit him. 

After leaving we sat with the coordinator of Isubilo Home-based Care, Peter.  Peter is a local pastor who was challenged by what he saw going on in the community and decided he could make a difference in these children’s lives.  He doesn’t have much, but he and his wife Cecilia have done so much for the children of Chisamba.  However, helping David was beyond what they could afford as well.  Peter knows David well, and told us how much he loved school.  With Peter’s help, we made a plan to fund the fees so David can go back to school.

In the local language "Isubilo" means hope.  We were able to bring something to David to help his situation, but we know there are many more children out there like David, children who aren’t heading back to school this time of year.  My hope is that through our relationship with Isubilo Home-based Care in Chisamba we can make sure that all of the children we are supporting will have the opportunity to go to school and have a much brighter future.

To find out how you can support a child or even a whole village with your friends or your church visit www.handsatwork.org/advocate or email our partnerships coordinator at brooke@us.handsatwork.org.

Hope for the Forgotten Villages of Kisunka (DRC)

Walking 15 km to the nearest school in a neighboring city is considered a blessing for those who can afford to attend a school in the first place.  For many families living in Kisunka, where there has not been a school for the past twenty years, the cost of education is simply beyond their means.    

Kisunka, a cluster of remote villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is trapped in a cycle of hopelessness. It is so remote and difficult for non-profit organizations to enter that it has been all but completely forgotten. The five villages that make up Kisunka lack access to clean drinking water, education, health care, and sustainable work. These circumstances all contribute to an overall hopelessness shared among the approximately 5,000 villagers. Everyone is focused on oneself, not because the people are selfish but because each one is struggling to survive.  One old man summed up this sentiment this way, “No one notices when someone is busy dying; they only pay attention when someone dies.”

The cycle begins with the basic but unmet need for a reliable source of clean drinking water. Though the Kisunka community shares two wells, both are reduced to mud during the dry season. Because the wells are open, if anything such as a sick animal falls in, it poisons the well and spreads disease throughout the entire community. When people in the community do get sick there is no local clinic in which to receive care, and villagers must travel 15 km to the nearest health center.  This long distance means that villagers who need urgent health care often die on their way to the clinic, creating orphans of their children.

Kisunka survives on farming maize and cassava, but with the rising costs of farming materials combined with poor farming techniques, the harvests yield barely enough for villagers to survive.  Members of the community may take on other menial tasks or try to fish in Changalele, a large lake nearby that is well-known for its good fishing. At the same time, the good fishing also means that large numbers of seasonal workers travel to the area for fishing and other trade.  As is common in other areas of sub-Saharan Africa, this has led to the sexual exploitation of those who are most desperate for survival, such as orphaned young girls, contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The story of John is typical in Kisunka, where young children bear the burden of providing for their families, thus sacrificing their own education and future for day-to-day survival. John is a 13-year-old orphaned boy from a family of five in Kimboyi, a village in Kisunka. He lost his father to tuberculosis when he was 9 years old.  After this loss, John and his other siblings, together with their mother, were forced to go and stay with their granny, as the father’s relatives took all their possessions after his death. The boy’s mother was sickly but still remarried after 4 years.  Unfortunately this didn’t improve the situation for the family as her new husband wouldn’t allow her to bring her children to live with them. 

John only went to school up to grade 3, and has not attended since the death of his father due to the inability to pay school fees.  Instead, he is wandering in the field trying to help his granny with farming.  Sometimes when farming is not doing well, he will go to Lake Changalele at the edge of the village to try fishing in order to support his family.

Hands at Work is supporting local Christian leaders within the vulnerable community of Kisunka who are already demonstrating a passion to serve the poor and broken among their neighbors.  Hands at Work is helping these leaders to develop a locally-owned organization in their community and beginning a long-term relationship of service and partnership, where we continually work to increase the organization’s capacity to provide care in an effective and holistic manner.  Are you interested in partnering with Hands at Work by advocating for Kisunka within your church, family, or group of friends?  Visit www.handsatwork.org/advocate or email our partnerships coordinator in the U.S. at brooke@us.handsatwork.org.

A Special Summer: A Movie Night Fun-raiser (USA)

By Hannah Yeh

At Wellspring Church, I learned about an African man named Royie, walking to different parts of Malawi to help others, and he has no shoes.  Wellspring was going to raise funds for Royie to get a motorbike. 

I was thinking that it would be fun to have a fun-raiser and to help somebody.  I thought a good fun-raiser would be a movie night because I LOVE movies.  With a donation, guests experienced a pizza dinner, time of worship led by Joey Chen and Noah Lee, carrying 2 gallons of water like a child in Africa, and a movie with popcorn. 

I invited my Sunday school group, my close friends, and my family.  I was happy to be able to help Royie with the help of my friends and family.  

Hannah is a 10-year-old girl from northern California.  She attends Wellspring Church with her parents, where she learned about Hands at Work in Africa.  Hannah loves school, especially reading, and she loves baking (and eating what she bakes!) and riding horses.

One Teacher to 150 Students! (NIG)

Can you imagine a teacher, jumping from one room full of students to another, teaching lesson after lesson to 150 kids captivated and eager to learn?  Peter is the coordinator of the Hands at Work Service Center in Lagos, Nigeria, and he has transformed many children’s lives because of his dedication and passion for education and a desire to bring children renewed hope.  

Peter’s journey to Lagos came with a great cost.  Peter turned down an offer to teach at a university and a scholarship to study at a university in the UK, because it was not what God desired for him.  God had a different but greater purpose for Peter.  He says it was a tough decision, a decision he wept over.  However, God soon led Peter to Elekuru , one of the poorest areas outside of Ibadan, Nigeria.  The village was wrought with devastating poverty, and Peter saw the lives of the children there wasting away without anyone to help them.  This is where Peter unleashed his talent and passion, and he started a school in February of 2002.  

Peter would start each class with a short prayer asking God, “Where do I start today?” and the Lord would lead. The school began with thirty students, but pretty soon it grew to 150 students in seven classes with Peter as the only teacher.  Peter would jump from class to class and he did this for eight years!  He says it was the grace of God that allowed him to sustain this work.  In 2010 Hands came in to help with two additional teachers to reduce Peter’s work load.  Peter’s wife is also doing a similar work in another community with sixty children.  Peter says, “It was God all the way and I give him thanks for all he has done and would yet do.”

Oliver for Oshoek (USA)

By Jungjoo Pak

“MOOOOOMMY~.”  My days often start with my almost three-year-old son hollering for me to come and get him out of his crib.  Who needs an alarm clock when you’ve got young kids eager to start the day?  Most of my days are spent running after my two very energetic boys (Owen who’s almost three and Oliver who just turned one), cooking meals after meals and wiping the floor countless times.  Faces and names of the precious children I met in Africa on my last trip in 2007 often seem so distant and irrelevant to my hectic day-to-day life.  I know this about myself—my tendency to be so self absorbed and caught up in my own world.  That’s why I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to volunteer with Hands U.S. office for the past several years.  More than my small contribution to Hands, I really do receive so much more by staying connected through my involvement.  Every story I read from the different communities adopted by Hands reminds me of the stark reality I saw, touched and felt back in 2007. 

How can I ever forget a precious little girl named Thandazile who fell asleep to my “amazing grace” lullaby with tears rolling down her small cheeks as she drifted into sleep?  She couldn’t have been more than two at the time.  Yet when a bus came to pick her up from a Hands care center to take her back home at the end of the day, she just got in line and walked up to find herself a seat in the bus.  Her independence at such a young age was a necessity for survival.  The image of this little toddler walking up to that bus is still so vivid in my memory.  Now with children of my own, these memories dig even deeper into my heart.

It does seem so overwhelming to think about all the orphaned children in Africa who are desperately in need, both physically and spiritually.  But I am so encouraged by Hands’ focus on reaching one child at a time.  One of the songs that spoke to me so deeply during my trip to Africa was a song called “He knows my name.”  This song talks about how our heavenly father knows every child’s name.  Though often lost in a seemingly insurmountable “number” of orphaned children in Africa, every child is known by God!  This is the approach I’ve been trying to take—trying to be faithful with the opportunities God is giving us in reaching and supporting the most vulnerable children in Africa one child at a time. 

When it came time to plan for my younger son’s first birthday, which tends to be a pretty big deal in my culture, I had a vague desire to somehow use the party to remember and support many precious little children in Africa as we celebrate my precious little son’s first year of life.  At around the same time, I became aware of a small community in South Africa called Oshoek.  This community had been in relationship with Hands for a few years and infrastructure has been put in place to bring in practical help (such as providing one nutritious meal a day for the most vulnerable orphans in the community).  When I found out about Oshoek, I wanted to connect my son’s first birthday to the lives of children in Oshoek.   We sent out invitations to our family, friends and co-workers along with a note that asked our guests to consider bringing a donation for Oshoek instead of a gift for Oliver. 

The party was held at a local park on a beautiful Saturday morning with 80+ guests.  Along with cupcakes and a popcorn bar, I put together and displayed a poster of Oshoek that included a brief community profile along with pictures of the community and its people.  Through the party we were able to raise $855.  I was overwhelmed by the generous response of our guests.  I am reminded through this that there really is no village/people too remote or too small for God.   I know that it is ultimately the Lord who caused us to come to know and remember Oshoek.

She Calls Me Mommy (MOZ)

By Dara Hillstrom

“My prayer is that God will wreck you this year, that He’ll change you; so you will not to be able to settle for the things of this world.” 

These were the words given by George Snyman, founder of Hands at work in Africa, as I was starting out a one-year commitment with Hands back in 2008.  I had no idea what that meant at the time but I knew I wanted it. I knew I wanted to gain a better understanding of the things that break the heart of God.  Little did I know that this was the start of something that would turn my world upside down.  It was over the next few months that my eyes were opened to God’s heart for the poor, vulnerable, orphaned and widowed. I started to see that on almost every page of the Bible these things were mentioned.  This must mean that it’s of highest priority to my heavenly Father.

Fast-forwarding a couple of months, I was in Mozambique doing a home-based care visit with the local Hands partner association.  On my very first visit in Mozambique I met a little girl and her sick mom. The 2 ½ year old girl bounced around in her tattered yellow dress with joy contagious, despite the grim circumstances. Her name was Nede.  I left that visit thinking, "what a sweet girl." But, that’s all it was, an unfortunate situation. 

Soon, her mother would become more ill and unable to take care of Nede on her own.  I started spending time every day playing with and loving on Nede. Every day when I walked into the fenced area where Nede and her mother were staying she would run to me, trying to outrun the other children. With her arms extended she would say, “Sista Dala, Sista Dala!” Soon the other children would just call for Nede when they saw me coming.  Every night after Nede was asleep I would go sit with her mom to pray, read scripture and just be together.  She was little more than a skeleton not even having the strength to walk and eating only bites. Our communication was limited but I always knew my faithful visits were meaningful. No one else visited her—no family, only a few other people from the mission.

Shortly after Nede’s mom passed away.  I still remember walking down the dirt road to bury Nede’s mother so vividly.  I thought, “Nede’s another number, add another to the orphaned children in Africa. She’ll likely be walking this road burying someone else’s mom someday soon.” I looked around at the other girls from the mission, knowing some of their stories—all broken, hurting, longing for the love of a family. I was convicted. I can leave Nede to this destiny or I can do what I believe God is telling me to do.   

As I was preparing to leave Mozambique in 2009 I was indeed “wrecked.” I was deeply challenged by scriptures such as James 1:27 that say

“pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”  

One night very late I was awake praying about Nede and different scripture verses just kept coming to me confirming how I should spend my life—James 2:15-18, Matthew 25:35-36, 40; Isaiah 58:7; Luke 3:11; Hebrews 13:2; Psalm 41:1.  I had the conviction that I could either take responsibility of some of what I had seen over the year, or I could walk away and hope that someone else takes care of it.  I then spent the next 13 months in America praying and searching for what it was that God would have me do with this “wrecked” heart of mine, especially for this precious girl who had stolen my heart, Nede.

During that time, I would dream about Nede, lay awake praying God would maintain a bond between us. Having left her in grim circumstances I would stare at this picture of us:

Her eyes, filled with so much pain and hurt at such a young age, but her vibrant personality and her contagious giggle, would not let me rest. In early 2010, God and my family would say, “It’s time you go fight for your child.” I left my only sister in the hospital about to burst with quadruplets that would be delivered 6 days after I departed.  But, as they did everything possible to save their children, I needed to do that for mine.

Now, I have been back in Mozambique for 28 months.  Nede has been in my custody for more than 2 years. We’re working through a challenging adoption process but I remain confident that the scriptures stand true that “he who began a good work in me will carry it through to completion.” Philippians 1:6.  God has used Hands at Work to transform my life—to change me from being a product of my own culture to desiring to be part of making the “kingdom come” with my life. I continue to learn what it means to die to self, to take up His cross and follow him, to sacrifice my hopes and dreams for “one of the least of these.” (Matthew 25:40)

The past 2+ years have been anything but easy.  Despite this, even on my hardest days I can honestly say that there’s no other way I would like to spend my life than on behalf of Him who gave his all for me. I worship him as I care for His little ones, both in my home and in new communities Hands at Work is supporting in Mozambique and throughout Africa. The sacrifice hurts a lot, but if sacrificing is written on many pages of the scriptures, isn’t this where I should be? Is this not where my heart, time and energy should go?  I believe so. And in the meantime, I have a beautiful girl who calls me mommy.   

You can follow my journey through my blog: www.thereforego.blogspot.com

My Journey (ZAM)

By Nanci Kim

“Please ask God to alleviate the suffering,” was the prayer request of an eleven year old boy I met today.

We hiked through an hour of bush in rural Zambia to get to his home, a make-shift shelter, made of tied up patches of tall grass around a frame of cut fallen tree trunks and a combination of chitengae (a long piece of fabric, about two yards, women wrap around themselves as a skirt) and plastic temporary door. The family had moved there three weeks prior and had been trying to build a home. To some, this is camping; to others, this is life.

During the journey there, I reflected on how God had brought me here two months ago. My name is Nanci Kim and I am a member of Wellspring Church. Wellspring has been partnering with Hands at Work since 2007, supporting its efforts here in Africa. In early 2012, God put on my heart to jump on the band wagon and come out to Africa to see what he was doing here. I arrived on May 18th, 2012 at Kruger Airport in White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa. For the first five weeks, I was oriented to the work in South Africa, visiting communities, walking with care workers and meeting the most vulnerable in the region. Since my arrival, I have seen much and tasted much. I have seen how God is working and why we are called to serve. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37).

Since being here, there have been many lives that have tugged harder at my heart. One life that has left an imprint on mine is the story of the first family I met in South Africa. In a community not too far from White River, we made a home visit to a small studio home near one of Hands’ community based organizations (CBO). Here, the oldest was an 18 year old boy, who was finishing up his last year in high school while taking care of his seven younger siblings. Fatherless, the children lived alone for months at a time while their mother struggled to find domestic work in the area. Also, because the family members were refugees from Swaziland (a neighboring country to South Africa), the family was unable to receive national identification cards and unable to receive government assistance. It is like not having a green card in the United States. There is no road to citizenship, and often refugees are left to struggle on their own, uneducated and hungry. The youngest of the eight children was the cutest five year old I had ever met since being in South Africa. She was shy, but had the most beautiful eyes. Even her eyes tell of her story and the suffering that she had endured the last few years.

Thankfully, some time ago, the children were identified as being of the most vulnerable in the community by the CBO and its care workers. The children are visited each week by a care worker and are able to participate in the feeding program. Care workers, often vulnerable and struggling themselves, give their time to visit and care for the children. In this particular community, care workers walk anywhere from half a mile to several miles to get to visit the children in their care. In addition to the vulnerable children, care workers also visit the homes of patients who are suffering from various illnesses and diseases, including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, among other conditions.

My time in South Africa flew by quickly, and at the end of June, I was headed to Zambia and have been here visiting communities and learning about the lives that have been impacted by the work that God has been doing through Hands at Work in Africa, Zambia. It is strange to think that I have one month left, but there are so many more communities to visit and people to meet. I almost feel as though three months is too short of a time to see all that God is doing here.  It has been truly amazing to see this team of volunteers, both African and international, venturing throughout the continent, across borders and  countries in Africa, being the beautiful hands and feet of Christ bringing good news and hope to the most vulnerable (Isaiah 52:7). 

Read more about Nanci's 3 months in Africa on her blog http://nancikim.wordpress.com/.

Lean On Me (ZAM)

This precious boy with an infectious smile is Thabo.  He is seven years old and lives in the community of Baraka, Zambia.  His favorite subject at school is English, but his greatest love is playing football with his friends, much like a typical boy of his age here in the U.S.  However, his life is nothing like that of his peers here.  Thabo stays with his father, grandparents and two younger siblings. Thabo's mother is still alive but the family has no contact with her and they are unsure of her whereabouts.  In order to provide for the family Thabo’s father does odd jobs in his community, but he is currently not working. Thabo’s father relies on his own parents to support him and his children, yet they are aged and also struggling to make ends meet. 

Mwangagal Mbuita, a Baraka Care Worker noticed the way Thabo’s family was living and the daily struggles they had to endure.  Mwangagal saw that the father was finding it difficult to care for the three children properly, and was unable to meet their basic needs.  Mwangagal also noticed that Thabo was not attending school as he should, and this led Mwangagal to recommend that Thabo be adopted by the Baraka Community Based Organization (CBO).

Since being adopted by the CBO and accepted into the 'Three Essential Services' program, life has changed for Thabo.  He now attends the feeding point everyday and enjoys a nutritious meal.  Having been encouraged to start school, Mwangagal enrolled Thabo into the local community school, and he is now receiving education, which is making a huge difference for his future.  Thabo still faces daily challenges, like having to walk a long distance to school even during rainy seasons.  Mwangagal still visits Thabo’s family once a week to help with their chores and encourage Thabo to keep attending school, even amidst the challenges he faces.  

Hands at Work supports care workers like Mgwanagal all over Africa to care for the most vulnerable children in their communities.  With help from a group of friends in the Chicago area, care workers from Baraka CBO can bring hope to children like Thabo.

Breaking Ground (SWA)

Great news!  These brick walls going up right now will house the future Care Center for the most vulnerable children in Ka-Phunga, Swaziland.  Supported by A Friend in Need, a non-profit organization and a great partner to Hands at Work based out of Racine, Wisconsin, the Care Center will provide a central point from which the most vulnerable children in the community will receive care and attention from loving community volunteer and receive a nutritious meal.  The construction is going well and is planning to be completed by the end of June. 

Hands U.S. at the Global Leadership Summit

Hands at Work is excited to be participating in the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit on August 8-9, 2012.  

The vision of the Global Leadership Summit is to transform Christian leaders around the world with an injection of vision, skill development, and inspiration for the sake of the local church.  We're excited to be a part of it!  Visit their website for more details and look for our booth at Sunset Church in San Francisco, one of 200+ premier host sites.

George Snyman US Tour May 2012

Sunday, May 6^th at 6pm

Immanuel Baptist Church

6009 Pershing Boulevard

Kenosha, WI 53142

www.ibckenosha.com

Wednesday, May 9^th at 10am

Live interview with Nancy Turner on Moody Broadcast

Friday, May 11^th at 6:30pm

“AIDS, Africa and Jesus” - hosted by the Gospel Coalition & Toby Kurth

University Club of San Francisco

800 Powell Street

San Francisco

Saturday, May 12^th at 7pm

Benefit Concert & Art Exhibition – proceeds go to Hands at Work in Africa

Christ Church

856 Cabrillo Street

San Francisco, CA

http://handsatworkbenefit.com/

Sunday, May 13^th at 10am

Wellspring Church

Foothill High School

4375 Foothill Road

Pleasanton, CA

http://www.wellspringsg.org/

Sunday, May 20^th  at 10:30am

Christ Church

856 Cabrillo Street

San Francisco, CA

http://christchurchsf.org/welcome

George at Immanuel Baptist Church, Kenosha

George will be speaking Sunday night, May 6th, 6 PM at the Immanueal Baptist Church, 6009 Pershing BLVD Kenosha, WI.

A Trip That Changed My Life.

I had the privilege of going on a mission trip to South Africa with a team from Wellspring Church in 2007. I had seen my share of human pain, suffering, and disease during my career as a head and neck surgeon. So I thought I would be prepared for anything I might come across while in Africa. I was mistaken.

The trip began with a visit to an HIV clinic. Before I begin to describe what I saw there, I’d like to explain the concept of an AIDS defining illness. There is a short list of diseases, which include mostly rare tumors and infections that only patients in the late stages of AIDS develop. If a patient manifests any one of the diseases on this list, they are defined as having “full blown AIDS”. I saw three patients with an AIDS defining illness on the first morning of my visit to the HIV clinic. To put this in perspective, I have seen only two patients with an AIDS defining illness during my thirteen years in medicine (9 years prior to the trip and 4 years after); I saw three cases in just one morning in South Africa. The AIDS epidemic in Africa was astonishing to witness even for a health care worker.

The next part of our trip was spent visiting the different townships where we saw first hand the devastation this disease had caused on entire communities. A common theme was to see grandmothers taking care of their grandchildren after one or both parents had died of AIDS or other diseases. In the worst cases, the oldest children would head up their household if no other family members were available. Poverty, hunger, and a lack of educational opportunities compounded the problems created by a broken family support structure.

As I paint this portrait of life in an AIDS afflicted Africa, the situation may have seemed hopeless, but it was not. It was actually hope FULL. Hope abounded because God’s love for the orphans and widows was clear and evident. You could see God’s love in the way the children were able to smile and laugh in spite of their circumstances. You could see His love in the resilience and strength of the oldest children when they stepped up to take care of their younger siblings. You could see God’s love in the Hands care workers who devoted their lives to looking after these orphans. The evidence of God’s love for them was palpable and I took great comfort in knowing He had this same love for me.

I learned many things on this trip but there are two lessons that will stay with me forever. First, I saw myself in these orphans. I thought this is how God must have seen me before I came to faith. I was an orphan living in spiritual poverty without hope for a better future. Then God came along and chose to love me, plucking me out of a hopeless situation, laying hold of my life, and claiming me as His own. We’ve all come from such a place. When you see such a graphic, visual illustration of the depths from which God has saved you, you can’t help but be changed by that. The second lesson was realizing how immeasurably God had blessed me. I had Christian parents who faithfully raised me from childhood rooted in His Word. I had a loving wife and healthy kids. I had a satisfying career that happened to provide a comfortable living for our family. I was blessed by any measure. But I was compelled to carefully examine my heart to see if I had been living my life as if I had been entitled to His blessings or entrusted with them. I felt deeply convicted that I needed to be a better steward of the things God had given me. On our last night, I spoke with George Snyman (founder of Hands at Work) and promised him, and most importantly our Lord, that I would never forget the lessons I had learned and that I would be vocal about the things I had seen in Africa.

After the trip, we moved down to Los Angeles to start a new job. Fast forward three years to 2010. By this time we had been at our new church in LA for 2 years. It was always my hope that George could eventually come speak at our new church but unfortunately, due to logistical reasons, this did not come to pass. However, I wasn’t ready to give up on the idea of George speaking in my hometown, so I arranged for George to speak at my house during a dinner gathering for friends. I knew that it would be a blessed experience for them to hear what God was doing through Hands but I also hoped that a number of them would feel led to help financially support the orphans. I figured if 7 or 8 of the families contributed together, that we could support a village of 50 children. The message God gave through George that night spoke deeply to everyone in attendance. One of my friends, Sam Kim, was so moved that he recruited some of his own friends to donate with us. Before I knew it, the hope of supporting one village became the reality of supporting two. For the last nine months, we have been supporting just over 100 orphans in Ilage, Nigeria. This whole experience has taught me a lesson I have learned repeatedly over my life and that is, if you show a little faithfulness in responding to God's call over your life, He will exceed your expectations.

I would like to leave you with one final thought. If you have never been to Africa, I would encourage you to go and see what the Lord is doing there. I promise that your experiences there will change the way you think about what it means for God to love someone. And quite frankly, I’m certain that in the process, it will change your life too.

Stephen Jo

If you would like more information about how you can go on a team or as an individual click here.

Azeez Aina & Bilikisu

In 2008, Azeez Aina (age 7) and Bilikisu (age 5) lost their father in a motor vehicle accident in Lagos, Nigeria.  Prior to his death, the father’s income provided the girls with housing, schooling, and health care.  Since his death, their mother has had difficulty caring for both girls and her 2 year old son. Without her husband or support from relatives or in-laws, she could no longer afford to provide the same level of care for the children. Aina stopped attending school because her mother could no longer pay for the tuition. 

After her husband’s funeral, Aina and Bilikisu’s mother relocated to Ilaje community to find more affordable housing.  There, she found a one-room house for herself and three children as well as a menial job cooking and cleaning for a street food vendor.  She has worked long 12-hour days between 6 AM and 6 PM.  Although she was able to bring her 2 year old son to work, her young daughters were left alone at home until she returned from work to care for and feed them.

Thanks to the support of a group of Christians in the Los Angeles, California area, Hands at Work has been partnering with the Eagle Foundation CBO to provide basic health care services, education, and a daily hot meal to orphans and vulnerable children in Ilaje. Aina and Bilikisu’s mother learned about Eagle Foundation CBO from another woman who cares for the most vulnerable children in Ilaje community. She brought the two girls to the school to see if they could receive basic education there.

The two girls were taken in by the community school in February 2011 and are happy and thriving in their new school environment. Aina is in Basic 1 and Bilikisu is in Kindergarten 2. Since joining the school, the children have received uniforms and writing materials as part of their education. They also receive basic health care including a de-worming program in May 2011 given to all the children in the community school. They no longer have to wait for their mother to come home from work each day to be fed as each child is given one meal per day at the community school. In addition to providing education and meeting basic physical needs, a care worker from Eagle Foundation CBO also provides support and stability to the family.  The care worker is establishing a nurturing and trusting relationship with the children by helping with homework assignments and making home visits while their mother is away at work.

Would you like to get involved and help support a community?  Find out more here.