"If you suddenly had R500 (SA currency value of $65) and had to spend it in the next 24 hours what would you spend it on?"

Sitting on the top of a little hill of the Concordia informal settlement lies a little Anglican church where the Hospice Support Group meets weekly. This week, it was my turn teach the lesson on "Values". Starting off with the illustration of different denominations of coins and bills, a student was allowed to choose one... he chose the one with the most value. Then in groups they answered questions to help define their values. The answers to the question above was 1st groceries, 2nd clothing, 3rd start a business, 4th toffee apples... showing that most of them value taking care of the needs of their family before their own personal needs.

Wrapping up with Jesus command to "Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you" (Matt 5:33) with the reminder that God wants to supply all our needs, when we value our relationship with Him above all else, the other things we value are provided by Him!

Winter break is over and it is back to class for the kids and back to the Hostel for us. We missed hanging out with these great kids over the last few weeks, and were excited to show them some new Youtube clips and play games until their teachers have homework for them.

Nathan was also looking forward to connecting with the student whose father we met a few weeks ago (see blog dated Saturday July 4). All week Nathan prayed with him for God to encourage his father by giving him a job and place to live. On Sunday we received confirmation that the Lord our Provider, sees every tear and hears every prayer... his father has a job and a place to live.

Continue to pray that God will give us insight into the deep hurts of these students and allow us to bring Jesus to meet them at their point of need.

Living the adventure of servants to the King who cares!

FREEDOM...

Are you free, or are you dumb?

Winter break is over, and it is back to the classroom. Visiting The Crags Primary this week, Nathan spoke at the school assembly, asking this question. Freedom means getting to make our own choices. Saying "no" to sex means that you are FREE from worries of pregnancy and contracting STI's.

Following the assembly Mendy (YFC/GOLD Peer Educator) spent the day with us teaching 40 grade 7's about abstinence. At the beginning of class not one single student could tell us what abstinence meant. By the end of the day they made a commitment to stay abstinent until marriage. Pray for these boys and girls, that they will remember the strength that they have in Christ to remain free from the consequences of premarital sex!

Holiday Club... (remember it is winter here)

In order to give kids something constructive to do while on winter break, Nico (YFC staff) organized a holiday club at the Apostolic Faith Mission in Hornlee. We visited None afternoon and played games with his kids. Too much fun!! After games they showed off their memory skills by reciting all their memory verses... Way to go NICO!!

Left over bananas and hot chocolate from the Forest Marathon made a great snack...

What is your "Attitude"?

These 6th through 8th graders discovered the meaning of "attitude" as Nathan explained the word with an illustration from an airplane instrument panel. If the attitude is off, then the plane will turn you right into the ground. If your attitude is off, then your life will also crash.

Identified as needing support, Hospice Knysna has established relationships through helping the families of these students deal with HIV/AIDS and death of family members. The Lord gave us the opportunity to spend time with games and a teaching after they share a meal weekly.

ocean baptism...

Saturday was a special day for Elizabeth (Liza) De Witt. About 2 years ago, God softened her heart (along with 5 other friends) and through true friendship evangelism, she chose to rely on Jesus as her Lord and Savior. In obedience to publicly proclaim her relationship with Christ, she asked Nathan to officiate at her water baptism. Symbolizing her identification with Christ's death on the cross, and new life through His resurrection she chose a beautiful tide pool at Buffalo Bay. It was an honor for Nathan to officiate as he has watched her grow in her relationship with the Lord in an ever increasing dependance on Him only to fulfill her every need.

A very intimate time of sharing followed as we enjoyed hot chocolate and the encouragement of God's Word.

Last week... Knysna Oyster Festival.

The busiest week of the year for Knysna coincides with the winter school holidays. In the past, the Knysna Lagoon was a the oyster capital of South Africa, due to changes in the environment the oyster beds have been shut down... but the festival still continues. Eleven days filled with bicycle races, fun runs, yacht races, carnival rides, cooking classes, children's art and culture workshops, oyster eating contests, music, dancing, art exhibits, flea markets, etc... something for people of all ages!

2 events included the involvement of YFC (with more planned for next year):

The 2 day "Sport Fair" provided over 2000 children the opportunity to try their hand at a variety of sports and games from dominoes to cricket, surfing to soccer, archery to fishing. YFC staff member Johannes worked the rugby field, running drills while Nico brought kids from the informal settlements to enjoy a day of fun. Our friend Warren brought inflatable soccer fields from Johannesburg, while Nathan and I had the tough job of taking photos!

The Knysna Forest Marathon is an annual fundraising event for YFC Options. 18 volunteers met at 4am on Saturday to set up refreshment tables for the runners. Due to the location of the starting line in the forest, and limited parking, almost all 8,000 runners were bussed to the starting point. Waiting up to 3 hours for all the runners to arrive - coffee, tea and hot chocolate was served to the athletes. While Nathan proclaimed that he has "done his time freezing his bum off in previous years" (and therefore he kept warm in bed) the Lord blessed me with the warmest ever morning in the history of the race... I didn't even need my jacket! By 10am I was back home and preparing my Children's Church lesson.

Nathan is spending his school holidays in school! To add to the tools of his already acquired psych degree he is attending a month long class presented by Rev. Winston Dickerson, Winlow Biblical Counseling. Based on Dr Larry Crabb's book "Understanding People" and Selwyn Hughes' notes from Waverley Abbey House in Farnham England (founder of CWR - Crusade for World Revival and author of daily devotional "Everday With Jesus").

The Lord provided the perfect timing and provision for the course fee... God is good... ALL THE TIME!!

"My plan was to kill myself tonight unless I heard from God... here is the razor blade. " A disillusioned homeless epileptic, Daniel (real name with held), who gave his life to Christ a couple of weeks ago shared his story with us...

After group prayer for the Holy Spirit's leading, members of The Island Church spent Saturday morning fishing for men. One of the first people that Nathan and his team ministered to on the street gave his life to Christ and 4 hours later the team found him sitting with Daniel. As the team encouraged Daniel with the Hope he has in God, Nathan discovered that Daniel is the estranged father of one of the students that we minister to at the hostel every afternoon... he cried when he realized that God was taking such good care of the son, and he came to church on Sunday for more prayer.

Angels are rejoicing in heaven as 64 people prayed with Island Church 'fishermen', to know Christ in a more personal way on Saturday. The teams reported back that they were encouraged by the many other Christians they met on their fishing expedition. One of those Christians is a car guard (parking attendant) in downtown Knysna who considers his job to be his 'ministry'. So excited to have another fishing tool he used Nathan's prayer card and the first fish that came his was was caught for the Lord!

"for 'Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.' How then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.'" Romans 10:13-15