2012…from the rearview mirror

Can you believe it? The year is over. As we spend time on holiday, reflecting on the past year, seeing what God has done in and through us, we feel so privileged to be part of what God is doing. We are also grateful to God for you, family and friends, for your support and prayers. You all have been a blessing to us through generous giving, encouragement and prayers. Siyabonga Inkosi inibusise.   

Trainees 2012

At the beginning of this month (Dec 2012), this year’s group of trainees met for a time of debrief and evaluation. Bhuti and Skip and Tina Smith accompanied the students down to the Berg for their final time together this year. During the hike the students shared their highlights of the year and lessons they’ve learnt. It is a tremendous privilege to observe the growth that takes place in their lives through the year.

Missions groups



During the second half of this year we hosted a group from Charity Baptist in North Carolina, USA. The group was mostly teens and we had a great time taking them into Siyathemba to do Lifeskills lessons in 2 different primary schools there. It was good to watch them becoming more confident in sharing themselves with the kids in the classrooms as well as with each other.

 




 

In August we hosted a team of 60 from St Mary’s Longfleet in Poole, UK. This was quite a challenge for us as we’ve never had a missions group this big before. For 6 days during their stay a smaller group stayed at Camp Eden, while the other groups moved to Lanseria and White River to works at orphanages there. The team that stayed with us were able to a variety of things that included a course on relationships in iSifiso Sethu High School in Siyathemba, kids ministry and the Alpha course in Ratanda Extension 23 and building a ‘Survivor-type’ challenge on the campsite. Many of the teens on the mission belong to a dance ministry of the church and the impact the trip made on them will be my lasting memory.

GC² training

This has been a great journey for us. As we train and coach youth leaders for implementation. And we not just using the word ‘journey’ to sound cool, it really is a journey (Four Module, four session over a year to a year and half). We are currently training two groups. Our first group was made up of youth leaders all from township churches. All these guys have found it difficult to implement the training as it is a new concept in their church culture. We have slowed down the process so we can help them find a way to introduce and implement the training.

Our other group is made up of youth leaders and pastors from the Presbyterian churches in Jo’burg. There is a dire need among these churches for trained leadership.  We have had great discussions around Jesus’s life and its impact on ministry during our times together. As most of these churches are in the beginning stages of youth ministry the going is slow but we pray that we are helping to lay a healthy foundation.

VAC Camp

What an amazing five days! Well, each year I usually lose about 10 days before and during VACJ God really moved in a powerful way amongst everyone on camp. Bhuti and I had the awesome opportunity of being part of the team of camp speakers. I initially thought the idea of me speaking at VAC ludicrous but became convinced that this was what I needed to do. Getting up on stage and facing 350 people was definitely daunting but in the end I did have fun. And got some good responses from those who were listening.

 At the end of camp a collection was taken to help us buy a car. It came to nearly R7 000! Thanks to everyone who gave so generously. Thanks to the rest of the VAC Crew for their obedience in all things – big and small.

 Promotion

We spent a lot of our time establishing new relationships with church leaders and promoting J-Life, with the hopes of increasing our network and impact. We made inroads in the North West and Limpopo provinces, where we have not done a lot of training. In both these provinces we have potential GC2 groups to start in the New Year.
Margate

At the beginning of November we had the pleasure of visiting the site where training will start in 2013 and helping Donovan Olding conduct interviews with potential trainees. The training will run from River Valley Nature Reserve along the iVongo River, another example of God’s beautiful creation.

Note: On 2013 we will blog better (It's our new years resolution). Please drop us an email if you would like to receive our newsletter and prayer request calender. email: thekheswas@gmail.com or jann@jlife.org.za or bhuti@jlife.org.za

Added on 23 Jan 2013: Expect our January edition soon. Exciting things are already happening as we are in our second week of training in both our training centres, Camp Eden (where we are based) and Rivervalley (Margate).