Such a great trip… so much more than we’d expected!
We were ‘on mission’ and it was rich… but we also ‘were the mission’ and God was so good to us all!

Here’s an overview of what we did:

Young Orphans Have a Special Day

Direct involvement with children, orphans, widows, the under-served and the under-resourced:

• “Brothers for Life”- forty young gang members (age 16-26 yr.) looking to leave the street life. Mentoring, Bible studies, Prayer ministry, participated in their worship, discipling, built friendships & trust, counseled, small group ministry, spoke into their lives.
• Litsemba Leadership Development Camp – twenty-five young men training for leadership in upcoming weeklong camp for primary school aged OVC ‘s.
• “Girls Who Say No”- thirty primary & middle school aged girls addressing life challenges around issues of sexual integrity and character development. Providing women mentors who instill practical, spiritual truths, re-affirming to each child that they are precious, of great value, and hugely important to God. “We shared from our own lives and life lessons, speaking of Jesus’ goodness, love, and healing presence. We spent time with the girls, listening to the girls’ stories and praying with them. It was wonderful; it was powerful.”
• “Outside the Box” Christmas Party – a day-long Christmas field day celebration provided to 100 OVC’s from Daanjtie. These children are participants in an ongoing feeding and discipleship program.                                      • Masoyi ‘Grannies’- grandmother caretakers for grandchildren. Learned of their stories, prayed with women, trained in income generation (scarf making). “This is the other side of the OVC story, viewing through the eyes of mothers who have lost their children to AIDS and are now raising their grandchildren. These are amazing women.”

· “Project Purpose” – coming alongside Katie Magill in her seasoned ministry to the ‘street princesses’ and their children in Maputo, Mozambique. Learning of the great work in the city and helping at the ‘safe zone’ home for children in the outlying Matolo area. Spending three days at the Project’s center; helping the staff, playing with the seventeen children living there, and bringing in needed clothes. It was powerful to see the impact of a ‘healthy touch’, ‘healthy men’, and loving prayer on these children.

The team also was able to help in providing tools and ministry in spiritual and psycho-social restoration and healing; hosting workshops on Children & Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, Issues in Trauma, Caring for Wounded Caregivers, Building Resilience, and Vicarious Traumatization. These seminars were provided by our great Canadian members, Sandra Robinson and Stewart Wakeman, both seasoned psychiatric and family counseling professionals well experienced in the African context. This couple also offered individual counseling services to traumatized children living in small group orphan homes.

The Litsemba Center Really Does Impart HOPE into the community

Times of prayer, preaching, worship, teaching, and building friendships with groups and churches: “Working on Fire” fire-fighter training school, Surprise Sithole’s Nelspruit church, Kamagugu School for the Disabled, and Betor House.

Hammer and nail actions: renovation and rebuilding of the kitchen at the Litsemba Center in Daantjie.

Fostering the presence and mission of Jesus in our midst…
*It is great to have an impact, to have a sense of missional accomplishment. We had, we believe, such an experience.  *It is great to be impacted, to be aware that God has also used our trip to minister to us, to build us up as His mission field and as His ministers.    *In the coming days we will strive to be increasingly effective in our work in Africa –in aid, development and discipleship.   *We also seek to be increasingly faithful stewards of the fire and gifts that the Lord imparts to team members to bring back to our home ‘mission field’.  *We are so excited to see team members radically impacted by their short-term experience in Africa, and we will continue to hone this dimension of our work at MeniscusInc., ‘Equipping People for The Work of The Ministry; Serving, Equipping, Transforming’

The Power of the Testimony… A link to hearing three people; Eric, Jenn, and Ben share of their experiences in
The Power of Partnership… Links to like-minded friends and partners in ministry: www.reachout2africa.org, www.theHeart.us, www.Mamkhulu.org, www.Emoyeni.org, www.globeintl.org/missionaries/magill-katie, www.project-handsofgrace.webs.com, www.project-handsofgrace.webs.com