HEARTS ATTACKS AND BLESSINGS
This year has been a year of blessings and challenges. To start the year we found out that one of our major South African donors could no longer support us financially. This was a huge blow as Lyndall and I had already found different “jobs” to supplement our income as the donations have been decreasing since 2020. Lyndall is now the children’s church organizer at our church and I’ve taken on more and more basketball opportunities at different schools around ballito and Durban. In saying that these new “jobs” have been such a blessing as our ministry to our church and community has grown so much.
Through basketball one of my former players started interning for the year at our church and has grown so much, and then 3 other boys from my Northwood team are signed up to go on our church youth camp in December. It has been such a blessing to be a mentor to all these boys and show them a fathers love. Lyndall, through running the Sunday school has got to know every parent in the church and every child in grade 5 and below and has great relationship with all of them.
Back to the challenges. We felt we have done everything we can to make ends meet for HTH financially and they just weren’t lining up. We kept having to dip into our savings. It is one of the most stressful things when you have been saving up for 10 years and now each month have to take a little of those savings to make it through the month. Finally in June we sat down together and reminded ourselves how God has been faithful since I started in ministry in 2007. We serve a faithful God; I kept saying this over and over to myself. God loves His children; of which I myself am one and so are all our children. I kept declaring these truths and we have seen amazing things in giving since then.
1. One of our supporting churches back in the states had their 3rd and 4th graders pray for us. Every prayer they prayed was exactly what we were praying and asking for without them even knowing it. Then we needed to buy clothes for our children and they gave a gift to HTH and along with our local winter warmth campaign we had the exact amount we needed to buy everyone new winter clothes and shoes.
2. I spoke to the pastors of our church about our struggles and our church got on board to help us and partner with us. I got to share our needs in church in August and since then the money each month someone new from the church tells us God put it on their heart to start giving to us. Even an old church member in Dubai listened online and is now giving monthly to us.
3. We had one of our boys really struggling in the school he is at and we needed to move him to a private school. This moved seemed crazy as financially we were already on the edge; in faith we decided to move him because he needs the extra support and just recently someone has pledged to pay half of his school fees.
Those are just a few of the answers to prayers. God’s mercies really are new each morning!
On another note, the stress of this past year did get to me. On Sept 18th I suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the operating table as I had a bad blockage of one of my arteries. What is amazing is I had the best heart Dr in KZN on call and he looked after me so well. It was only 2 hours from when I went in to see a Dr to when I was wheeled up to ICU with a stent put in through my wrist. I went back on the 21st of November to get a second stent put in and that also went so well.
But I’m so grateful to God for the wake-up call he gave me. The one thing that was amazing was as Lyndall was taking me to the ER and I thought I might die, I actually realised that I have no regrets in how I’ve lived my Christian walk with God. Yes I’ve sinned a lot but that is what the cross was for and I still sin but I know my salvation is in God’s hands and I have full faith I am taken care of. I just didn’t want to leave my family and HTH family behind without a dad. But how amazing to have that feeling that life is not over after death! I will be worshipping at the foot of Jesus forever.
As we go into the end of 2023 and 2024 we still have not meet the needs we have. We have school fees of +-R575,000 ($35,000) or R47,917 ($2,917) a month. We are hoping more people can start partnering with us, or those that already do support us can up their giving by 10/15%. This will help take some of the pressure off. Our dream has always been to pay school fees up front for the year as then our biggest expense is taken care of. If you would like more information on the different ways that you can give please let us know and we can help you.
We have also sent out updates on each child to their individual mentors and supporters; if you would like to hear more about any of our children we would love to share that information with you as well. We are so proud of our family!
Thank you so much for your support this year, we could not do it without you!