south of somewhere

The journey to Maputo

2007-11-15T08:54:00.001Z

Well, we made it safely to Maputpo, our furthest point North on our trip. We spent a lovely few days relaxing in St Lucia last week, and got used to having to do a scan for hippos before leaving the backpackers in the evenings. They like to feed on the grass and drink out of the hotel swimming pools, apparently.

We then travelled north to Kosi bay, which has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. Itºs a river mouth that flows in to the Indian Ocean, and is full of the kind of fish you see in aquariums. The water is warm, and we did a bit of snorkelling to visit the fish. We were quite glad to know that there were no hippos or crocodiles, as there are further up the river!

Yesterday we said goodbye to Kosi bay and headed for the Mozambiquan border. What a place! After making it though the border crossing, we were faced with a choice of 3 sand tracks, and no signposts. We were told that the middle one went to Maputo, so off we set. It was very difficult driving, to say the least! We were glad we had brought a shovel with us, because it was well used after we became quite badly stuck in a deep stretch of sand. With a lot of pushing we managed to get the car out, and made the rest of the journey ok, including a ferry crossing shared with lots of people and cars squashed onto the deck.

Other than Maputo, it is a very rural area. We didnºt pass many villages, only the odd group of straw huts, goatherds and women carrying water containers on their heads every now and again. So, we are now off to explore the city for two days, and hopefully fill up on some Mozabiquan cuisine after all our efforts spent on the journey getting here!

Hangin out with Monkeys

2007-11-10T11:54:00.000Z

We are writing this from St lucia, on the coast near Mozambique. it's been an amazing few days, with two full days of driving to get here. It was wonderful watching the scenery change as we drove across the vast interior, the Karoo, and into the lovely rolling plains of the Free State,and then into the lush green hills of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). We have seen many Zulu villages scattered across the hillsides. We stopped to go and talk to some of the people living in one of the villages. They explained to us that they build their houses from mud and dung. it is a very rural area here.

We reached Hluhluwe-Imfolzi park in the pouring rain, which meant we had to make a couple of river crossings. We were really glad to have a fourwheel drive and for once packing far too many pairs of shoes was very helpful, in giving us a bit of extra weight against the flow of the water! We had a bit of a close shave with a frisky elephant, and saw lots of wildlife (zebra, monkeys, baboons, giraffe, rhino, lion, buffalo, wildebeest, mongoose, and many different kinds of antelope.

Yesterday we went down onto the Imfolozi river and saw crocodiles and hippos in the water. We also went down to the local beach to hang out with the monkeys there. We're hoping to see some of the coral reef tomorrow if the sun will just come out for a bit!

We still need a buyer for our house, so we are praying for this still.

Adventure here we come

2007-11-01T12:32:00.000Z

We've finished our work now, and are off on our travels today! We're heading over to Franschoek and Cape Town, where we'll be collecting Nathan's brother Joel tomorrow. He's signed up to a 3 week road trip with us! On Monday we head West to the Free State...

Please keep praying for a buyer for our house. We had one offer at the asking price but it fell through.

well, we'll keep you posted on our adventure!

For Sale

2007-10-03T15:12:00.000Z

Our house now has a For Sale sign outside which feels very strange. It's been on the market a week and tomorrow we are having a kind of 'open day', so hopefully people will come and look at it. A few months ago new laws were introduced which have made it much more difficult for people to get mortgages, which is good in that it should help people avoid getting into unmanageable debt, but bad for us in that the housing market has become very slow. PLease pray that we would find the right person to buy, at the right price!

We finish 4 weeks tomorrow, and are planning our road trip with Nathan's brother Joel - very exciting! Thanks for all your suggestions, we have taken note!

you lose some... then you lose some more

2007-09-20T12:29:00.000Z

This week we've endured a double sporting embarrasment, cheering on our woeful rugby and cricket teams as both were destroyed by South Africa. First up we got all the Next Level kids round to watch the 36-0 drubbing and they had a ball! Face paint,fancy dress and a lot of taunting. The winning fancy dress costume included a genuine Springbok tail sticking out of Ronel's jeans! Full marks for attention to detail and innovation (she got it from the local witch-doctor!).

Then on Sunday sarah and I joined Paul & Elaine at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town to see the 20/20 cricket. A huge crowd, with Table Mountain in the background and a not too shabby scoreline, meant we had a great time. We think we were out-numbered by 1000 to 1 as England supporters, which made it more exciting to cheer on all those fours and sixes (yeh, all 3 of them).

Quick update on our renegade Next Level member who stole our ipod: He appears to have left town without a trace! His mum has reported him to the Police as a 'missing person' and none of his friends have seen him. Please pray that he keeps safe and that he comes back soon.

Disappointment this week

2007-09-11T14:11:00.000Z

I'm writing this with about 45 minutes to go until we have to be back at the house, where we'll be meeting the police. Last week one of the young men in our youth group stole a cell-phone from the house, whilst we had left him alone doing some work in the garden. He had asked for work because his family were running out of food.

We confronted him about the phone, but he denied having taken it. However, the following week at church, some of the other boys confessed that they had seen this lad with the cell phone during the week, boasting that he could get free calls! When we got back from church we found the house had been broken into, and the charger for the phone stolen, along with an adaptor. We confronted him again, he confessed, and returned all three items. However, the following day we discovered that our ipod had also been taken, and the young man in question was nowhere to be found.

We took the difficult decision to take the matter to the police and let them deal with it. We really didn't want to go to the police becuase of the serious implications for this lad, but at the same time we know that he's committed a crime and crossed a line that we don't want any of the other young people to cross, with ourselves or any other staff members. So we are hoping that whatever the outcome he will come to his senses and look at what he is doing with his life. We were very shocked and disappointed at what he's done, but still have hope that he can pull himself up with God's help.

Newsflash!

2007-08-29T09:08:00.000Z

Hello! It’s steadily moving into Spring at long last, so we’re enjoying sitting out in the sun a little bit more, and not being freezing cold at night. The Northern Cape of South Africa is famous for its Spring flowers, so last weekend we finally broke out of the Western Cape, and took the long drive North (with friends Anna and Gina) to go and see the flowers. It took 6 hours and we ended up in Springbok, not far from the Namibian border. It was worth it! The flowers were stunning, and we did a 4x4 drive to see the best of them, which was VERY fun (for the driver and for the people hanging off the back of the car!) We chased some ostriches down the road and were very impressed that they were running at 45km/hour, and then enjoyed having a herd of springbok run alongside the car - they are amazing when they leap!

It also feels like a new season for us here. We have agreed with the team to finish our work here on 1st November. This decision has followed quite a difficult period of processing with the team what our length of stay should be, and although in some ways it will be very difficult to leave, we all feel that the right decision has been made. So, we are beginning to make plans to return to Sheffield in December - the next leg of the adventure!

Nathan’s brother Joel will be arriving on 2nd November and we are planning to travel together to see a bit more of the country before returning home. If anyone has been to South Africa and has suggestions for what we have to see before we go, please let us know!

Another week in the Life of Next Level...

2007-08-03T14:17:00.000Z

We were very pleased to have Jenny (a friend from Sheffield) arrive on Wednesday. She will be spending the month with us here, which we have been so looking forward to!

This last week we have been trying to support a girl in our youth, Suzanne, who was worried she had TB. We were able to pray with her and encourage her, and the good news is that yesterday she was given her results - all clear! We are going to try and find Suzanne some cleaning work with people in the town, so please pray that she will be able to build up her working hours.

On Monday we accompanied a different girl in our youth to court. She is a witness in a case against a man who assaulted her a few months ago. She was very concerned about having to see him again in court but did very well, and as it was, is not required to give evidence until later in the month.

You might remember that a few months ago we had one of the lads, Fidel, doing some work for us in the house and that reluctantly we took the decision to sack him for being late every morning (by 2 and a half hours on the last day!). Well, we gave Fidel a second chance this week and invited him back to do some further work, and he has been half an hour early every day! So we are really pleased that he seems to have learnt from his earlier experience, and hopefully this will help him to hold down any future jobs he may get.

We have also been busy trying to train two ladies in the church to start planning Sunday School. It’s slow progress but they are getting there!

Things we love about this place: Ordering drinks in cafes. When Nathan tried to order a Black Americano the other day the waitress left him alone for quite a while before returning to ask what time he was expected. It turned out the waitress thought Nathan had said he was waiting for a Black American. Brilliant.

It's been a while...

2007-07-26T12:37:00.001Z

Sorry that we haven't 'blogged' for a while... Very lax (must have been having too much fun, playing crazy golf!).

We've been back in Worcester for a fortnight since our UK trip and actually haven't had any chance for crazy golf, just a to-do list a mile long and an email inbox spilling over into cyber space.

Just a quick update on our time away... we had a fantastic month catching up with friends and family in Sheffield, London, Manchester, Alcester and Norfolk, as well as a timely week's holiday with Pete & Ro. It felt like particularly good timing to be around while Nathan's mum has been in hospital and to get to Nath's brother Joel's graduation concert (2:1, good man, who said you can't read!).

We're back in to the swing of things here (no pun intended), starting the Christmas Card range at People's Crafts and beginning to work with a couple who we are training to take on some of the youth work that we're currently leading. Their names are Jackie and Shannon and are both South Africans who speak Afrikaans. They've got a huge heart for the young people in this area and started work a couple of years ago in one of the isolated farm communities on the outskirts of Worcester. We're really excited to see home-grown leaders getting equipped and involved.

We've also had Anna Wrigley from Sheffield with us since June. She's staying with us and has come with lots of great ideas and initiatives for youth work in particular. Anna's here for another five weeks and has already had a massive impact, helping us all to take it to the 'Next Level'!

Thanks to everyone who spent time with us and encouraged us while we were in the UK and since we've re-entered South African life... As always we really appreciate you.

We promise it won't be so long until the next entry.

2007-05-28T11:48:00.000Z

It's freezing here! We are getting used to having numb hands and feet in a house with no central heating, and sleeping under 2 duvets and a blanket. The cold weather started off as a bit of a novelty and a pleasant change from searing heat, but we are now looking forward to some sun when we're back in England. The snow has settled on the mountain tops, and in the towns higher up from us, there is enough snow to build snowmen. Even Nathan has finally packed away his shorts and flip flops!

It took us 2 mornings to teach the employees at People's Crafts how to use a ruler (none of them finished their schooling), but they are now up and running with the new card range, and they're looking great!

We had employed one of the young men from our youth group to do some DIY projects around the house, as an apprentice to one of the men in the church, but unfortunately we had to sack him this morning for turning up 2 and half hours late for the third day in a row. We are struggling to instill him with a sense of his future being in his hands, and therefore the need for him to make wise choices. We keep trying to encourage him to think about how his choices are restricting his opportunities in life, and we are far from giving up! We have noticed a general trend amongst the young men in particular for making poor choices out of a lack of foresight and discipline, and seeming to be baffled by the consequences. I don't know whether they have ever had any accountability or responsibility in their lives - i am guessing not, given that the townships are full of toddlers roaming the streets even late at night, and young people seem to be able to drop out of school without any protest from their parents.

Please pray for us for wisdom in knowing how to counter this.

So much happening!

2007-05-14T14:51:00.000Z

Hello everyone,

We're getting excited now - only four weeks until we arrive back in the UK. We can hardly believe 9 months here have gone so fast! We're just finalising our itinerary, so we'll let you know where we'll be and when, so we can arrange to see as many of you as possible when we're back.

It feels like there's a lot to organise before we fly out. The People's crafts has a new card range coming out, so we have been busy getting the stock together to start production, and next week we should be able to start training the employees to make the new cards. They are more complex to make then the current range, so our training abilities will be put to the test!

We have added another 2 members to Next Level youth group - a brother and sister from an American family, so our group now has 18 young people in it! This week sees the last session in a special 3 week series where the boys and girls have had their own meetings, looking at identity, self esteem, body image, and relationships. It has taken a lot of preparation, but the sessions have been great so far, and we feel we are seeing some breakthrough in the lives of the young people. There has been an increase in openness and emotional warmth in some of the girls particularly - as if some barriers have come down for them somehow.

It's also been a busy week with Next Level as we try to increase their responsibilty and involvement in Kinderbond - the outreach work with children in Worcester's townships. This week two of the young peopel will be performing a puppet play, and next week five of them will be doing a hip hop dance at Kinderbond - it's wonderful seeing them getting so involved, and each time they experience success we can see a tangible difference in their confidence and self esteem.

Well, it's our day off today, so we're going to leave you and have a nice cup of tea - keeping in touch with our roots!

Snow joke!

2007-04-30T11:35:00.000Z

We woke yesterday morning to see snow outside! Ok, so it was only on the mountain tops, but it was still not what we had expected to see here in Africa. It has been getting really cold over the last few days, and we have been digging out our scarves and winter coats. I’m regretting our decision to leave gloves behind in the misguided belief that it doesn’t get that cold here!

With the weather getting colder we have started flicking the TV on a bit more in the evenings. And what a choice there is... a veritable televisual feast! These were the options from the TV guide for yesterday evening (these are straight from the TV guide – no elaboration on our part!)...

Submarines: Worthless, wet war-movie
Hurricane Smith: Dismal Action Drama
New York Minute: Deeply inane teen comedy
Venom: Bad slasher horror
A Sound of thunder: Awfully confusing sci-fi drama
Supercross: Stupid sports drama
With a choice like that, what do you go for? Bad slasher or worthless war film? Decisions, decisions!

Over the next 3 weeks we are doing girls only and boys only evenings with our Next Level Youth group. We will be looking at issues of identity, relationships and sexuality, but hopefully with lots of fun as well. It’s taken a lot of preparation but we’re really excited about the sessions. With two teenage parents in the group they are pressing topics.

Avian Park Township, on the outskirts of Worcester, has had two racially motivated crimes take place within 2 days. This is the township that is mostly home to ‘Cape-Coloured’ people, and tensions have been rising over the presence of Asian families who run several small shops around the area. In one incident, the owner of a shop was shot dead, and in another, the shop was looted and the shop-keeper left with nothing. We have heard of similar violent attacks in other parts of the country against Somali immigrants.

The attacks in the townships are thought to have been carried out by a local gang, which is largely made up of ex-prisoners who are pretty much forced to sign up whilst they are in prison. In the 1970’s/80’s Worcester suffered with high levels of gang related violence, but this subsided in large part thanks to the work of YWAM (Youth with a Mission) here. No-one wants to see its return.

2007-04-19T08:16:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone whose sent us cards, pressies, parcels, etc... It means a lot, especially when we're missing Blighty and all our folks.

We're putting the finishing touches to our latest newsletter, so if you're on our mailing list, one will be arriving soon. If you want to receive one and don't at the mo, just let us know.

Rachel & John's visit

2007-04-19T07:51:00.000Z

We had a great time with Rachel and John (Sarah's sister and her husband) when they stayed with us at the beginning of the month.

They explored some of the Garden Route and came back with some amazing photos, so we're very jealous and just hope we will be able to explore a bit more of this amazing country before we leave!

Highlights of their stay with us included watching the sun set over Table Mountain (just on the left in the bottom photo - the mountains stretching into the distance are The Twelve Apostles)and the Atlantic Ocean, exploring the Bo Kaap part of Cape Town (the place with all the colourful houses in the photos) and chillin with the penguins at Boulders Beach in Cape Town. We love having visitors because we always get to do new things ourselves! And of course because it's so good to catch up with friends and family...

If these pictures make you want to see South Africa for yourselves, we'd love to have you stay with us!

Food & Clothes going out!

2007-03-29T14:21:00.000Z

The young people in Next Level did a great job this month of organising food and clothing parcels for the most needy famillies in their communities. 3 groups went out, taking the parcels to famillies in the local Government flats (with serious over-crowding problems), to the township of Avian Park (that you can see in the picture), and to the homeless people who sleep rough in Worcester town centre. You can see Sabelo, Quinton and Leonie in the photo.

The outreaches were all thought-up and organised by the youth themselves - we are so excited to see leaders emerging!

PS - please do pray for Quinton. His Father has a drink and drug addiction, which means Quinton is sometimes unable to stay at home because he is not safe there. We recently lent him a cricket bat and had to tell him off for leaving it a friend's house. It later emerged Quinton had to leave the bat at his friend's house several times because his Father keeps trying to sell it. Quinton came to us as an exceptionally quiet person who really seemed to be taking nothing in and was basically responseless. In recent weeks he has blossomed - he's cracking jokes, mixing with the other kids, making suggestions of things he'd like to do with the NextLevel (and he's even organised a film evening for us complete with a projector onto the wall!) His confidence has increased no end, but we know just how hard he finds it to go home at the end of the day.

Beaches and Budgeting

2007-03-29T14:04:00.000Z

Waaaaay back in January we took some of our NextLevel youth Group on a trip to the beach in Cape Town. We had a fantastic day, swimming in the sea, trying not to think about sharks, and finishing with fish and chips. The youth loved it - I think you can tell from their faces!

The only disappointment was having to leave 5 members behind who hadn't managed to raise the money for the trip (about 4 pounds). Part of the exercise in doing the trip was to try to teach the kids some basic budgeting, by encouraging them to bring 10 Rand a week (about 70p) over 6 weeks, and also trying to encourage openness with us when they were having trouble finding the money. The 5 who didn't go hadn't given their money in, but more importantly hadn't told us they wouldn't be able to, despite our weekly pleadings that they must tell us if they are in any difficulty, so we could put back the date of the trip!

We see this as such an important step in helping them to understand the concept of budgeting in a culture where very few people have bank accounts (you have to pay to open account, then pay to put money in, then pay again to get it out!) and where people face the prospect of long stretches without employment and income. We also see openness in these areas as a vital step to helping these kids form a community where they can be honest with each other when they face financial difficulties, so that they can work together to help meet each other's needs. We believe that helping to build a church community where people can be honest and do look out for each other will be key to avoiding dependance on people like ourselves who won't be here forever with handouts.

And we were pleased that on our next trip out every single member came along!

We've been to Toronto (kind of...)

2007-03-23T13:11:00.000Z

We spent a couple of days this week at a conference in Cape Town, run by a team from the Toronto Airport Christain Fellowship. We used our day off on Monday and then had a nice suprise of a Bank Holiday on Wednesday that we didn't know we had. So we had 2 days of brilliant teaching and time with some Sheffield friends, Alex & Maureen Roberts who had come all the way over to be part of the ministry team there. We had a really wonderful time and left feeling blissfully chilled and the most rested we've felt since we arrived!

half a year in SA

2007-03-16T09:48:00.000Z

Can't believe that we've been here in Worcester for six months this week. It's certainly been a hectic half year, changing our way of doing just about everything; work, rest, socialising, exercising, money, cooking, key relationships, church... I'm tired out just writing about it!

Seriously though, it's been a fantastic adventure so far and great to feel like we really are in the right place at the right time. So a big thank you to all of you who have played a part in getting us here, keeping us here and generally encouraging and 'big-ing us up'.

By the way, we can't seem to get to our pictures at the moment, so no photos this entry, sorry... don't know if it's a problem with our computer or camera, or just plain technological incompetence! We'll get some images asap. So watch this space for the latest on our UK 'tour' in June/July as well as new Next Level members. Also, please pray for Sarah who is teaching at this Sunday morning's meeting at church... preach it sister!

Introducing the People's Crafts

2007-02-22T08:38:00.000Z

In 2006 the People's Church established a small card-making business, the People's Crafts, which has created employment for 3 members of the church, Poppy, Nadia and Irene. You can see Nadia in action making one of the cards. Regular employment is so difficult to find here, and when you add to that the fact that many people were unable to complete their education at secondary school, you have a large group of people who struggle to find work outside of the annual grape-picking season.

So for these three women, regular employment that they can rely on is such a life line for them and their families. In the last week, Nathan and I have started to help with the day to day running of the business. It had been a real need in the church after the previous managers finished their work with us at Christmas, so we were so pleased to know that we could help with something so necessary. You can see one of the cards in the pictures - they are really beautiful! There's a further 5 designs, all with an African 'flavour', that we sell at local tourist hot spots but also in the UK through our agents over there.

We'd like to ask you if you could get involved by placing the cards somewhere that they can be sold? May be on your desk at work, or at church? Can you think of anywhere else you could place them - at the doctor's surgery, a school reception, a bookshop or cafe? If you can help the People Crafts in this way, or if you would like a more active role in selling the cards, we'd love to hear from you! Just leave a comment on the blog with your contact details, or email us at sarahandnathan@btopenworld.com . As the business grows our hope is that we can offer much-needed employment to many more of our friends over here.

Mobile Mallet Madness!

2007-02-22T08:18:00.000Z

This week was Sarah's turn to lead the Wednesday afternoon sessions with the Mobile Ministry Unit. We're going through the 10 commandments and Sarah was given 'Don't misuse God's name'. So to help the kids understand the concept of names carrying meaning, the wonders of Mallet's Mallet were introduced to the Southern Hemisphere! (Do any of you Eighties kids remember that crazy program where the kids got whacked on the head with a mallet (inflatable, obviously) if they were too slow to think of related words?) So if you can spot a giant hammer in any of the pictures don't be alarmed!

The session went really well and the kids seem to love the mix of teaching, games and icepops. We really hope that as they get to understand the 10 commandments they will act as signposts to guide the kids in making wise decisions in their lives. When you go into the townships at 10 o clock at night and see 2 and 3 year olds wandering the streets (under the care of siblings only a couple of years older themselves) you start to realise how much guidance and boundaries these children need in their lives.

A week in the life of a youth-worker...

2007-02-16T11:45:00.000Z

Last Friday night... Had the youth round for the Next Level meeting. Fun and games followed by small group time. One of the lads lets us know that his mum pulled a knife on him earlier in the week when he refused to give her money to buy drink. We need to arrange to meet him later in the week to see what he wants us to say to her. Another lad confides that his Dad has been knocking him around a bit this week.

Saturday afternoon... Invite 3 of the lads round to mow the lawn - we try to generate employment opportunities whenever we can, even if they are only very small scale at the moment. They seem to suffer from a bit of 'weed-blindness' but other than that, the bald square in the middle of the lawn, and the wonky edges, we were quite pleased with the job.

Sunday Morning... The youth are inviting the church to help them with an outreach to famillies they know who don't have enough food and clothing. The youth came up with a lot of the ideas themselves - a major breakthrough and something we were very proud of. The girl supposed to be doing the announcement bottles it and runs out of church before giving the announcement - something to work on next week!

Tuesday afternoon- Computer training lessons, starting with the adults and then later in the afternoon, 3 of the youth. They are doing really well and we have spotted a lot of potential in one of the girls, who we are really trying to encourage to stay at school and consider taking a further education course of some kind at college afterwards. Sabelo asks for help with a school project - we are very proud of him because just 2 moths ago he took the decision to drop out of school before graduating. We encouraged him to go back and he now seems to be taking it seriously and enjoying it.

Wednesday - Childrens' outreach in the new Mobile Ministry unit. Another crazy afternoon in the heat but reaching many precious kids. They love the songs and games - so do we, despite the exhaustion afterwards! Meet with the youth who help us out and start planning the muppet show for next week.

Thursday - Meet another member of the youth group to plan a CV for her. She currently works selling drink from her parent's home, and we are hoping she will find a job of her own at the age of 21. She left school in year 9 (3rd year at High School) but by looking at all her work with the church it was an encouraging afternoon showing her all the things she can do. Encourage her that it was the right decision to break off a relationship with her boyfriend who is taking drugs and pressurising her. Talk about HIV awareness - since the New Year there has been a big campaign on television - "Say No till we know", which is helping to raise awareness of this killer disease.

Friday - We'll be picking up 4 of the youth this afternoon to make sandwiches for this evening's homeless outreach - the first time that we have done this with the youth. It will be an exciting evening - we'll fall into bed about midnight, after dropping the kids home and unwinding - tired but knowing that there's lots of good stuff going on.

PS somewhere between all of this is when we plan the discipleship course, 2 sermons coming up later this month, sunday school planning and team meetings - and sleep! it's busy but wonderful!

Going mobile...

2007-02-06T11:42:00.000Z

Hello from a hot and sticky Worcester. Sorry it's been a while since we actually published anything about our work. I guess we've been too busy working! Anyway, last week saw the start of a new venture for The People's Church, the Mobile Ministry Unit(otherwise known as 'Big Bird'). With this purpose-built trailor we were able to take our weekly kids program in to two townships for one hour of games, songs, quizzes and ice pops. It's exciting that we can go to where the children are, rather than waiting for them to come to us... and they came in their hundreds.

Nathan's parents also returned home last week after a great month with us, seeing what we're up to and falling in love with this beautiful country. So we're readjusting to a quiet house again. Keep your comments coming. We love to hear from you whereever you are. Right then, back to work.

Rooms and phones

2007-01-26T09:05:00.000Z

Just a quick one to let you know that we've got a spare room to rent in our house in Sheffield. We are renting it out to FORM student (St. Tom's year out programme). But unfortunately one student has had to leave. So if you, or anyone you know needs a lovely room in our house, let us know (sarahandnathan@btopenworld.com).We're hoping to get it filled asap, as we're currently looking at a 200 pound shortfall on our mortgage without this rental income!

More exciting, we now have a telephone line and our number is 0027 23 347 3081 (including the dialling code if calling from UK). So you can give us a ring. We look forward to hearing from some of you soon.

Feeling hot hot hot!

2007-01-23T14:29:00.000Z

Hi everyone! We're feeling the heat a bit over here as it's been 39 degrees for the last couple of days.

Tomorrow is the launch of the long-awaited new Mobile Ministry Unit. We'll be going into two of the townships, with a program of games, quizzes, teaching, singing and free ice pops for every child! We'll be drawing on every ounce of energy as we're expecting to see a thousand children over the two sites, and we'll be out in the heat from 2 o' clock until 6 in the evening. PLease pray for the smooth running, and thabnk you to every one who has supported the fund-raising. It is so exciting to see the dream finally become reality, and we're so pleased that the children will no longer have to walk so far ( the walk was several kilometers, and many of them arrive carrying smaller brothers and sisters.)

We are having a great time with Nathan's parents, and have been seeing some new places in Cape Town for ourselves as we explore with them. We have been so blessed to enjoy their company for a month and will be very sad to wave them off at the end of this week. They've had a really good glimpse of what life is like here, including some of the wildlife - another great spider story to be shared on next week's entry...

Empty Cupboards

2007-01-05T09:18:00.000Z

This week is a hard week for many in the church. As businesses and shops shut for weeks at a time over the Christmas season, the employees find themselves with no pay during the holidays, and cupboards are literally bare. We have been giving out food parcels with rice and other staples to try and help see people through this period.

We found ourselves in the position of having to empty our own cupboards one evening, after finding one of our youth had not eaten since the previous day, but the shops were shut. He had been out working in the fields for 12 hours on an empty stomach, but with no pay until the end of the week he was facing the prospect of another 2 days without food. Please pray for him and his family. His brother has just been sent to prison for a stabbing, and with both parents alcoholic, he is carrying a heavy burden at the moment. We are trying to encourage him to buy food for the week out of his wages to ensure the family will have enough to eat. His name is Marthinus.

More Christmas pics

2007-01-05T09:17:00.000Z

Christmas Day Pics!

2007-01-05T09:10:00.000Z

Here's us with some of the youth on Christmas Day. You can see Nathan preparing the ill-fated braai (see last entry for the story...). Still, we had a fantastic day, and so did the youth from what we could see!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-02T11:46:00.000Z

Hello everyone, Happy New Year!

Thank you so much for all your cards/emails, we were so encouraged by them all. They took on a new significance this year, an encouragement that we might be miles away but still in people's thoughts!

We had a great Christmas here despite the disaster that was our Christmas Dinner (having prepared a roaring fire ready to barbecue lots of lovely meat, we discovered it had all turned green, so had to chuck the lot. We were spared a completely veggie dinner after salvaging a couple of chipolata sausages and barbecueing those on our humungous fire.

We had thought we would be spending Christmas on our own (not something we particularly wanted to do), but then discovered that some members of our youth would be spending Christmas Day wandering the streets in the township. So it was a no-brainer, and we had them over with us, and had a fantastic time. For one girl, it was the first time in her life that she had ever received a present. They were also thrilled with the gifts in the Christmas crackers (most kids in England would be distinctly unimpressed with a plastic smiley face key ring, but not here!) Pictures coming up soon ...

Gesende Kersfees (I think that's how they say "Happy Christmas" in Afrikaans!)

2006-12-19T10:15:00.000Z

We are now the proud owners of our own home! After several weeks the sale has gone through successfully, and we are still amazed at this answer to prayer and not just that, but a house which suits us and our needs so well too.

We are continuing to adjust to life in Africa. We’re getting used to buying seasonal produce – the supermarkets will be full of asparagus one week, so we dig out any recipes we can find using asparagus, go back to the supermarket the next week, and there’s not an asparagus in sight but the place is overflowing with melons! Things are in season for just a couple of weeks at most, and then it’s the next thing. It means you have to cook with whatever is available, but at least we get a varied diet, and ‘expensive’ things like avocado and asparagus are really cheap here when they’re in season.

We’re also still getting used to the plant and animal life. It feels like every day we see a new plant or insect that neither of us has ever seen before. We have butterflies in our garden the size of small birds – you’d pay to see those in England! Like the vegetables, the insects seem to come in waves as well. We had a huge moth outbreak that was pretty disgusting, (if you walked past any bushes they would all fly out in a cloud – horrible!) followed by an outbreak of millipedes (strange!) and then flies. They’ll be everywhere for a week or so, and then seem to disappear again. We also have huge beetles here that seem to like flying round our kitchen in the evenings, although Nathan’s discovered they make a satisfying ‘ping’ if you can hit them with a tennis racket.

We have been doing a lot of employment stuff with the youth this week – helping them to write CV’s, going with them to encourage them as they look for work in the shops, and accompanying them to confront managers who have not paid them their wages (common practice over here).

Happy Christmas to all our family, friends, supporters and devoted fans of the blog! We’ll be posting some pictures of our Christmas celebrations here in the sun...

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas - but it seems unlikely...

2006-12-12T09:14:00.000Z

It seems very strange to be drawing so close to Christmas when it's getting hotter by the day. It's not really the weather for mince pies and mulled wine! But we're still hearing "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas" wafting out of all the shops, which feels a bit surreal. Hope you are all enjoying the run up to Christmas, wherever you are in the world!

We held the last ever kinderbond last week, with around 700 children there to see the Christmas Muppet play and get their presents. After four years of Kinderbond every week, the team has decided to reach more children by taking the program on the road. So from January we'll be towing a mobile unit, complete with fold out stage, in to some of the most populated and poorest areas of Worcester. Children as young as four won't need to walk several kms, cos we'll come to them!

Thank you to every one who has prayed for Sarah's ear. After an infection that turned into abscesses (as painful as it sounds) it's now on the mend. Thank you also to everyone who attended the concert at the Foundry - it was a fantastic success!

Not-so-incy-wincy-spider

2006-11-30T09:12:00.000Z

Here is a picture of a Black Widow spider taken moments before it's death courtesy of Nathan's shoe. We found the little blighter making a home in a drainpipe just outside our kitchen door (it's a good couple of inches long, so this was one big lady spider), and given that a bite can be fatal, we thought this was no time to show mercy. Hope we haven't offended any spider afficionados out there!

Joel (Nathan’s bro) and his brass quintet did a concert on Sunday night in Manchester to showcase the work we are involved in here and raise support for it. Reports are it was a big success. So thank you very much indeed to everyone who was involved publicising, selling tickets and coming along. Joel and band are playing again this Sunday evening at The Church at the Foundary, Lugsdale Road, Widnes at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome for what will be a great night.

2006-11-27T12:14:00.000Z

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has left a comment on the blog over the last few weeks. Please keep doing so, we find them all really encouraging.

Well, it's been a particularly busy week here. We are still trying to sort out the mortgage on the house, so have had several trips back and forward between different sets of lawyers. We still can't figure out what they all seem to be doing, other than creating a need for us to pay them!

In between all of that, we have been busy with a lot of childrens' work. I led my first ever kinderbond (a weekly event that attracts hundres of kids), so spent most of wednesday feeling sick with nerves, but I actually really enjoyed it, and it seems that the kids did too. Nathan did a great job pushing boxes round the stage, which variously represented Noah's ark and Jonah's whale! I'm sure I'll get to return the favour at some point...We are also getting stuck in with preparations for the Kinderbond Christmas event, the Sunday School Nativity play and party, and the Christmas party at the GANG (the whole church youth group). Nathan is getting a band together ready for the Kinderbond Christmas special, whilst I have been overseeing rehearsals for a Muppet play. We are certainly expanding our skill base!

We are also beginning to prepare a 6 week course for new Christians, which we have been asked to start in January. It's very exciting for us both, in terms of being able to help lay good foundations in people's lives, and being given the chance to stretch our skills in teaching.

This week was also a difficult week for the whole church, as one of our youth (part of the GANG) was murdered on Friday night, in one of the townships here in Worcester. He had been returning home with 3 friends (who are all in our youth small group, Next Level), and stepped in to try to break up a fight with people he knew. Unfortunately they were carrying knives, and he was stabbed to death. The townships on a Friday night are so dangerous, with so many people drinking through the night, and most people carrying knives. Our lads are routinely out late to avoid the drunkenness and violence that happens in their own homes, waiting untill their parents have fallen asleep before they return home. We are just trying to encourage them to avoid getting involved in any fights. Please pray for their protection, and that they would experience comfort in their grief, and healing from the terrible things that they witnessed.

Sabelo and Quinton

2006-11-10T09:33:00.000Z

These are pictures taken during our first ever computer training session, with two of the lads from our youth group, Quinton (in the red T-shirt) and Sabelo (in the cap). We hope to be joined by another of our youth, Jessica, once she has finished school exams in the next couple of weeks. We had to start with the basics - how to turn the computer on - but by the end of the session the boys were managing some (slow!) typing using both hands. We hope that this will equip them to go onto further education or to be able to apply for jobs that need basic computer skills, rather than the farm work which is so poorly paid and seasonal.

You can also see in the pictures Sabelo's current house and then the new house that the council have nearly finished building. There's a very long waiting list for these houses, but they are built in 2-3 days. The new house will have a sink and a toilet, and the family can hang curtains if they want any internal walls. Sabelo will continue to sleep in the old house, allowing his parents to move out into the new house. Please pray for him that he would be able to complete school and grow as a young leader in the church.

We are really enjoying our new house as well, despite the lack of furniture! But it has its advantages for a quick game of indoor cricket in the lounge. Perhaps we don't need a sofa after all...

5 weeks already!

2006-10-31T12:48:00.000Z

We have hit the five week mark, and although it doesn't sound all that long, it feels like we've been here much longer, especially when we think of all that we've done already! It has also been our hardest week yet in terms of reality hitting that we aren't going to be flying home any time soon! We're getting to know our way around town now, beginning to put names to faces at church, but also really missing our amazing friends and family back in the UK. Many of our friends have shared life with us for the last eight years and that depth of community is not quickly replaced. We're also beginning to notice the things that aren't part of South African life - The Guardian and real ale being two key things! (Guess who misses those the most...)It's funny how the little things play a suprisingly big part in helping us to relax and feel at home.

We had our first youth meeting with all the members on Friday. It was great fun, and we're definately enjoying getting to dream up crazy games and then do them! We also started our teaching series called Lessons from the Garden. We'll be looking together at the three relationships which were going on in the Garden of Eden - people with each other, God, and the enemy,and encouraging the youth to see how these same three relationships play out in their own lives. It's exciting stuff and we're also getting a lot from it.

Please pray for 2 of the young lads in our group, who have dropped out of school. They both took jobs outside of town which has meant they have been seperated from their family and church, so both have taken a step of faith and said they will quit in order to work closer to home. Please pray for the courage to actually do this, for the provision of suitable work here in Worcester, and that they would have the finances to return to school in January since school isn't free here.

The End of the Road?

2006-10-25T18:36:00.000Z

Don't worry, we haven't given up! But this week we did reach the end of the road... literally! Oh Africa we love you. We'd been to the coast and were on our way back when the tarmac just stopped and mud started! It's been one of several things that has made us realise life here is quite different from the UK. The roads in general are providing us with plenty of culture shocks. Undertaking seems to be an art form, the roads are full of pick-up trucks exploding with people in the back, and at road works there's always someone whose job it is to stand a mile ahead waving a little red flag. Businesses don't seem so quick to take your money; they'll happily tell you to go down the road where it's cheaper, or say they'll call you back later (still waiting!). We've seen whales, antelope, a tortoise and a preying mantis in the bathroom (the whales, antelope and tortoise weren't in the bathroom). There's a lot to get used to!

Great news!

2006-10-17T18:18:00.000Z

Thank you for your prayers, we have just heard back that our application for a mortgage here has been accepted, so we should be able to move into a home of our own in a couple of weeks! This is such good news... you may remember that back in June we came over to South Africa to 'spy out the land' and discovered with a bit of a shock that there is virtually no rental market in Worcester, and that the rent would be higher than a repayment on a mortgage! So we started to pray that God would open the way for us to be able to buy something over here. We had no idea how He would provide, but were sure that He would somehow! So to have first the deposit and now the application approved is really great news!

fun-days, wheels and fahitas!

2006-10-17T12:55:00.000Z

This Sunday was a special day for the 50 or so children in the People's Church... a Fun-Day with loads of outdoor games and activities. The church meets at the local School for the Deaf, which is actually a campus of buildings, and we made full use of the playing fields and sports stands. The kids had a great time, but most of the adults were fairly hoarse afterwards!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying that we get a car... We now have our very own set of wheels, a 1995 Land Rover Discovery. It's already proving to be a real asset. The roads in the shanty towns are at best full of holes and piles of rubble, and at worst don't exist. We definitely feel safe and confident in the car's abiity to cope. Being able to fit seven people in is also a real bonus. We've already taken out our first carload of the youth - so nice not to need a minibus!

Last Saturday we took a second group of four girls to the cinema. We were really encouraged that the girls were all really enthusiastic and that they are already beginning to get some ideas of what they would like to get out of the group. This Thursday we are having our first NextLevel meeting (involving fahitas!) with all eight girls. Please pray that this will be a good time for them and for us as we start building relationships.

Please pray for our mortgage application - that the banks will look favourably on it, despite our lack of a salary!
Please pray that we are able to collect our shipping successfully - after several long delays we're just hoping it arrives safely.

Totsiens! (see ya!)

TheNextLevel is launched!

2006-10-09T14:19:00.000Z

Meet Leonie, Jessica, Suzan and Corrie, four members of TheNextLevel!

After many months of planning and a fortnight getting our heads around Worcester, TheNextLevel was launched at the weekend. Our aim is to take 12 young people who have been regular members of the Peoples Church and the GANG (the current youth initiative) and invest in them through building relationship and mentoring them... as well as having lots of fun. The GANG can have up to 40 young people, and the leaders have been wanting to develop a 'next level' for a while, so we've stepped up to the mark, knowing this will be a stretching experience for us! The young people in TheNextLevel are hugely diverse, in their backgrounds, life experience and even mother tongues!

We're starting by taking groups of four at a time so that we can get to know them. But it is just as much of a challenge for the young people to get to know each other, past barriers of language and culture. We hope to hold our first whole-group meeting in a couple of weeks. Please pray for wisdom for us as we guide the group, and for barriers to be broken down.

Here's our house!

2006-10-02T18:40:00.000Z

It's a blistering...12 degrees and pouring. Ahh, Africa. Still it's been good to run around sorting out all the practicalities while it's still cool. Our main news is that we have had an offer accepted on a house, which we are so excited about. We feel it will fit our needs really well, to be a place where we can retreat to but also a place where we can have the youth round. It has old 'servants's quarters' which can be used as a guest flat for all our visitors, so book yourselves in! We are still in the process of looking for a car, and are busy gathering all the paperwork needed to apply for a mortgage over here. We just hope that all of that goes smoothly.

We have started some planning for the youth work and will be meeting with the leadership team to discuss ideas tomorrow. Sarah will be taking the Sunday school once a month (20 - 50 kids, from about 3-8 years old) and Nathan will be starting to lead some of the worship at Sunday church services. With music practices, Afrikaans lessons, planning for the youth and Sunday school, we're beginning to get started with things. Don't forget to stay in touch with all your news!

The Coopers have landed!

2006-09-25T14:13:00.000Z

Hope you like the pics... leaving from Gatwick on Wedneday evening, and arriving into Cape Town on Friday morning (we had a stop over in Namibia for 24 hours).

We are now settled into our room at YWAM. The team did a great job of preparing it for us, with some food ready, flowers, and even the bed made up! There are no ants either, which is certainly a bonus. We saw our first Rainman spider at the weekend - a big pale brown thing, body about the length of my thumb and legs like twigs. Just as long as they stay out of our room!

We are beginning the process of settling in, and will start looking for a house and car this week. Worcester has had a lot of rain over their winter, so now the mountains are covered in green, and spring flowers are everywhere. It's a beautiful place to be able to call Home!

2006-09-20T11:48:00.000Z

Well, after travelling the length and breadth of England seeing friends and relatives (900 miles of driving for all you factophiles!) we are back in London and flying out this evening. Nerves are beginning to kick in a bit but also the sense of excitement is rising. We have a day in Namibia as a stop over, so should be arriving in South Africa on Friday lunch time. From there it's over to the YWAM base to get settled in our new room. I wonder what will await us!

On the road

2006-09-11T10:46:00.000Z

We have waved farewell to Sheffield and all our precious friends there, and are now on the road! We're doing a super-sized round of good-byes to all our relatives, before flying out on Wednesday.

We were very relieved to get our visas back at the weekend, having only sent them in the previous Tuesday. We had had some setbacks and were hanging on for our police checks, which meant we sent them in with only 10 working days to spare (the time we had been told it takes to process the application). We also had a nice suprise in that our deposits (£600 each) and our application fees (£35 each) were all returned to us! Praise God, and thank you to everyone who was praying on our behalf.

2006-08-13T19:23:00.001Z

Less than 6 weeks to go now! If this is the first time you've visited our blog then you might like to bookmark it cos we intend it to be our primary message board for our Home Team. You can leave us a comment on the site if you want to get in touch or drop us an email at sarahandnathan@btopenworld.com.

Things are gettting pretty busy in the Cooper house! We are sprucing things up for our new tenants, who move in in 3 weeks time, sending our DVDs across the UK, and generally preparing to move to the other side of the world! Sponsorship is starting to come in. We think our monthly budget will be about £1,200, and already we've got more than £250 pledged each month. A big thank you to everyone who has been so generous in their support for us.

For those who have commited to praying for us, we have some requests!

We need to get our police checks done in order to apply for visas. We are currently waiting for these to come back to us, but have been told it could take a few more weeks. We've had some close shaves with visa applicatios in the past - so please pray that the police checks will come back in time.

Please pray for Elaine Briers, one of the Pastors of the People's Church who we'll be working with. She is suffering with a vitamin B12 deficiency which is making her feel very tired and ill. She is still awaiting some further test results. Please pray for her health, and finiancial provision as not all of these are covered by Health Insurance.

Please pray also for our health as we get very busy, and for times to rest.

There's a lot to get done in terms of finishing things off in the house, packing up, organising things for shipping, tying loose ends up at work etc... - please pray that all of these things go smoothly.

One last thing... We are looking to sell our car. So if you know of anyone looking for a car let us know or give them our details. It's a T-reg silver Vauxhall Astra, 1.8 16v 5-door, A/C, alloy wheels, in good condition with 11 months MOT and 5 months tax. £1,750 or nearest offer. Give us a ring on 07957 47 6016 if you are interested.

in closing, a word of wisdom, "One can not be angry when one looks at a penguin." Have great weeks!

Ten weeks time

2006-07-07T07:27:00.000Z

The wheels are in motion. What's been a dream for so long is swiftly becoming reality. In ten weeks time we'll be heading south for the real thing...

We will be joining ‘The People’s Church’ in Worcester, South Africa, a project launched by Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in 2005. YWAM is a global community of thousands of volunteers dedicated to developing creative and relevant responses to poverty and oppression.

Worcester is 80 miles north of Cape Town and is the capital of the Breede Valley region of the Western Cape. A fertile wine-producing area, surrounded
by mountains and bordered by the Karoo desert. It is home to almost 80,000 people, many of whom are dependent on the seasonal work of fruit picking for their survival.

In joining the People’s Church we will be working with a team of people who are committed to seeing life in it’s fullest flourish in Worcester. We will be involved in community development in its richest sense: building homes and building friendships; standing up for the rights of people who suffer obvious and persistent injustice ; feeding 500 children a week - with food, drink, love and attention; developing ‘micro-businesses’ to create employment and providing mentoring to local young people at a formative time in their lives.

Would you like to play a part in the story?...

If you'd like to support and encourage us in any way, we'd love to hear from you. Our UK address until September is 34 Burgoyne Road, Sheffield S6 3QA. The rest of our contact details are on the bookmark pictures below (just click on them to enlarge). Alternatively, leave us a comment on the blog and we'll contact you.

2006-06-29T20:46:00.000Z

We've just arrived back from a hectic 10 days in Worcester. We've been busy pricing up everything from houses to toothpaste and asking hundreds of questions about what it's like to live in South Africa for more than a few months.

We also spent lots of time with the People's Church leadership team (the people we will be working alongside), getting to know them, hanging out and having fun. It's exciting to realise that we already have friends waiting for us as we head south.

Check out our artwork samples... produced with a little help from Paul (thanks mate, copyright goes to you!). You can see our contact details a bit bigger by clicking on the lefthand image.

2006-06-21T20:35:00.000Z

Going South...

2006-06-21T12:58:00.000Z

Hi, our names are Sarah and Nathan Cooper. We are based in Sheffield in England, but are preparing to move to South Africa in September '06 to join a church planting team in the Western Cape. We hope that this blog will keep you up to date with our progress as we embark on this new adventure. Watch this space...