Greetings in Jesus’ Name,
EVEN THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY,
OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL
FOR YOU ARE WITH ME, YOUR ROD AND YOUR
STAFF, THEY COMFORT ME.
Psalm 23 : 4
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC CONGO.
Rebels are again active in Luhongu Village, Gomo, where Hands at Work is caring for vulnerable children. These children live in constant fear and are extremely traumatized. Please pray for their protection and that feeding schemes can continue.That grannies and Care Workers will be able to comfort these children.
Thank you for your prayers.
Be blessed.
Oumie.
For the Lord loves justice, he will never abandon his faithful ones.
Greetings to our Prayer Warriors,
UK
George Snyman has been invited to travel to the UK from the 4th to the 16th of this October.
Pray for God's grace, wisdom and discernment as he speaks in churches and meets with people. Pray that all who hear him will have an open heart to God's message of love for poor and vulnerable children.
Pray for travelling mercies for George and that his health will be protected.
ZAMBIA
Pray for our Service Center and Regional Support Team members from around Africa as they come together in Zambia from 21st to 24th October.
Pray that they will be lead by the Spirit and the work will be forwarded out of this time spent together.
Please pray for the vision trip for church leaders from Canada and America which George Snyman will be leading the first week of November. They will spend time together in Zambia and Malawi. Pray that God will prepare the hearts of those coming on the trip and prepare the way for them to connect with and be an encouragement to our communities.
NIGERIA
In October a team from our Hands at Work Hub in South Africa will be going to Nigeria to support our Service Centre.
Pray for their health and safety. That they will build relationships and be guided by God’s wisdom in all their decisions.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC CONGO
Zambian Regional Support Team are doing training and supporting the Service Centre in the Democratic Republic Congo.
As this is a very volatile area with many challenges please pray for their safety, building relationships and wisdom in their work.
Pray for God's justice to reign and for his faithful ones to be protected as it says in Psalm 37v28:
For the Lord loves justice,
he will never abandon his faithful ones.
They will be protected forever.
A Pathway Through the Wilderness
Greetings to all who faithfully pray for HANDS AT WORK
For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun. Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness,
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland
Isaiah 43 : 19
Please keep these countries and their communities in your prayers as we continue with training of our care workers in WALKING WITH WOUNDED CHILDREN.
1. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC CONGO
2. SOUTH AFRICA AND SWAZILAND
Please pray specifically that the right people will be identified in South Africa and Swaziland to become facilitators of the training for all the communities in that area.
Pray that all facilitators will be able to balance their new responsibilities with their regular care workers responsibilities.
3. ZAMBIA, MALAWI AND ZIMBABWE.
Please pray for the facilitators in these countries, that they will be able to train the Care Workers to apply their knowledge to bring continued transformation to their own lives and their communities .
That there will be a way to continue mentorship of our facilitators as they face many challenges and are scattered in many places.
Be blessed in Jesus’ Name
Oumie.
Fighting a Cholera Outbreak
War-torn, rebel-ridden, poor and down-trodden Goma: It's hard to believe that things can get worse for the vulnerable communities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). After refugee camps closed across the DRC and in neighboring countries on the eve of the country's 50th independence anniversary, groups of stunned and, again, displaced people congregated to form makeshift communities.
Here is an extract from the account of Hands at Work founder, George Snyman's, first visit to the area a little more than a year ago: "The eight-year, bloody war has been over for seven years, but the fighting continues. Despite this, the government which is celebrating its 50th year of independence, has closed most of the refugee camps scattered across the eastern provinces of the DRC leaving millions of people homeless. Left with little choice, refugees are returning to their burned-down, vandalized towns often without family members. Stunned, groups of people - unrelated other than sharing the same adversity - congregate to from huddles of make-do communities." (Read a second letter about Goma here.)
One such community is called Luhonga. It is remote, poor and extremely vulnerable. George and Hands at Work DRC representative, Erick Rukang, made a follow-up trip to this community a few months ago and started work in the area. Erick is presently back in Luhonga and found the village awash with a cholera outbreak. Known for his compassion towards suffering children, he wrote a letter to the Hands at Work Hub yesterday:
We found the village of Luhonga in a big crisis. The entire village is in profound distress, but they were strengthened when they saw us. One care worker lost her child in this incident.
The Luhonga people were very grateful for George's last visit. They said that if he did not come at that particular time, teaching about emergency medication to fight diarrhoea, all the children could have died at this time; perhaps even the entire village! So far only one child has died though the clinic is full of patients laying everywhere, even on the floor. Almost everyone--from the leaders to the children--has been affected. Tomorrow [Monday, 31 October] we will look for a way to purify the water.
We are so grateful for your prayer support. Your prayers are effective: It is amazing to see children surviving in such critical conditions, a situation of desperation. All the people are frightened because of death on their doorstep, especially in light of the other challenges they are facing.
We invite you to intercede with us for all those residing in Lahonga: the widows, orphans, leaders, clinic staff and Hands at Work representatives. Let's pray for no more deaths, for a quick and effective intervention, for wisdom and strength for Erick and his team, and that God will use this seemingly hopeless situation to transform and strengthen the community.
Prayer for Hands SA and Zambia Training
Greetings to all our friends and family. Trusting you are all keeping well.
“The Lord heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.” - Psalm. 147v3
We thank all our faithful Prayer Warriors for their commitment to intercede for all the workers and children.
Praise Report:
Granny Bethanya and her granddaughter Buhle were so thankful for many donations given to them after they tragically lost all their possessions. They stayed in Cork, S. Africa .
Please pray for:
Hands at Work in South Africa
Hands at Work is starting a new office in South Africa. Their aim is the same as the UK, Canada, USA and Australia, to challenge the Church outside of the communities where we work to also get involved in caring for the orphaned and vulnerable.
Please pray for a strong management team to run the day-to-day activities of the Hands South Africa office. They are looking for passionate and skilled individuals from anywhere in South Africa to join.
Training in Zambia
During September this year there will be further training in Zambia for the selection of future leaders for Hands at Work. Community leaders from Zimbabwe and Malawi will also attend.
Please pray that the right leaders will be identified and that they will be committed to the work of Hands. As there will be much responsibilities on these leaders we really need God's guidance.
God bless you,
Oumie.
Spirit of the living God, a prayer
Apart from you, we can do nothing.
Transform our hearts.
Transform Your Church into the image of Jesus Christ.
Release Your power to bring healing to the sick,
Freedom to the oppressed and comfort to those who mourn.
Pour Your love into our hearts and fill us with compassion
To answer the call of the homeless and the hungry
And to enfold orphans, widows and the elderly in Your care.
Give us wisdom and insight for the complex problems we face today.
Help us to use the resources of the earth for the well-being of all.
Holly Spirit, we need Your comfort and guidance.