July Newsletter (YFC and HopeHQ)

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From Ghila's pen...

We’ve been down this road before, trying to find new and innovative ways to continue ministry even though we are placed under level 4 restrictions once again.

"How do we continue ministry in the communities, with the thought of a third wave of Covid-19 well underway and it is said to be more contagious?" "Do we allow fear to control our thoughts and actions or do we trust God that He will guide us to where we should go and what we should do."

The Options team and I prayed the Monday afternoon after the president addressed the nation on the 27^th of June. I was incredibly grateful for the acute awareness of God’s work through my team in the communities they serve. So I asked God "What’s next?" "How do we continue?" "Where to from here?"

God clearly gave us the game plan and Good News ZA gave us the donations we needed! So, round two of our soup kitchen drive took off and we were excited! We decided that Holy Spirit will guide us to places where we needed to go on the days that we wanted to serve the kids we find on the street. To minimize contact, we got Styrofoam containers to put the food in, packed it in crates and into the streets the team would go. Thoko said the following about the soup kitchen: “The good news about the new idea of a 'mobile' soup kitchen is, it was really heart-warming to be able to provide a meal to ±80 kids twice a week around the locations in Knysna.”

Proverbs 3:6 in the NLT comes to mind: ⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.”

So whatever we face, be encouraged that we can trust our Lord with all our hearts, seek Him in all that we do, so that He can show us which path to take. Please believe me when I say, His path is always the best one for us.

From Philip's pen ...

I think all of us experienced July as a very unusual month. It was perhaps one of the ‘darkest months’ in the history of our beautiful country. On the other side, we were encouraged by the many stories of hope we heard and read about, as communities were coming together to protect what is valuable to them and re-build the ‘war-zones’ that was caused by the looting and violence. In response to the unrest, HopeHQ and Youth for Christ Knysna have co-signed a press release with other like-minded organisations and NGO’s. We resolved not to lose hope and that we would do all we can to create a better future by serving our own community with greater passion and enthusiasm.

Although we planned to give our students a few day’s break, we did not envisage lockdown level 4 regulations and a ruling of no gatherings. We had no other choice as to close the campus to align with the school holidays. This however gave the Programme Managers of our two Skills Centres a well-deserved break, whilst catching up on their paperwork and planning/preparation for the new term.

It was obvious that the KILT Afterschool Study Clubs (ASC’s) also would not be able to continue with their normal activities. This created an excellent opportunity for our ASC supervisors to each embark on a mini-project which is aligned to our vision and mission. Each supervisor received a budget as they planned to serve/support their immediate communities. These projects will be assessed, and its success will be based on level of impact, creativity, originality, level of outcome, goals achieved as well as feedback from the community. We are looking forward to receiving their various portfolios of evidence and we plan to share some of these successful project initiatives/‘stories of hope’ with you next month.

On the administrative side, July was ‘POPI (The Protection of Personal Information) Act’ month for us! We were kept busy getting ourselves aligned with the requirements of the Act and this will continue for a while.

Philip Schröder
Director: HopeHQ

Luke 3:11 – TPT – John told them, “give food to the hungry, clothe the poor and bless the needy”

As per the POPI ACT:

Declaration of Confidentiality

HOPEHQ/YFC, our staff and volunteers, hereby wish to confirm that we respect and honour the trust placed in us by all. We unambiguously comply with the conditions and stipulations of the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA) and confirm that we will honour and respect the integrity of all, and any information disclosed to us, or information contained in records regardless of the nature of such records.
We will not divulge any confidential information about the affairs of our clients/donors/stakeholders, their systems, processes, finances, suppliers, their affairs or personnel and their relatives; nor will we use or publicise any such information for our own benefit or reasons, or for the benefit or reasons of any third-party. In addition, we will remove all information relating to personal information entrusted to us as per your instructions unless required to be retained for a lawful reason.
We will on a regular basis, as part of our compliance plan, consult with you on personal information entrusted to us or personal information required by a third party for lawful reasons or for your benefit.

Philip Schröder Ghila Soldaat

Director: HOPEHQ Centre Director: YFC KNYSNA
director@hopehq.org ghila@yfc.co.za

-Psalm 105:1-
"O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the people"

OPTIONS CARE CENTRE

Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
Psalm 25:4

Lockdown Level 4 but the show goes on.........
We mainly focused on handing out food parcels and soup to the less fortunate

Lilian and Thoko making up food parcels with rice, flour and samp to hand out to the needy -

A community project in collaboration with Knysna Kerk

TOGETHER WE SERVE .......

Thank you to Charmaine Hopkins that knitted and crocheted the most beautiful baby clothes (Thank you, uncle Ian for delivering the clothes)

These will be distributed to mothers and babies in need

WHAT A HUGE BLESSING!

We really want to thank Good News ZA for their committed contribution towards the Options ministry.
Thank you to Knysna Kerk for your donations of food parcels.
We would also like to thank our absolute angels who made lovely knitwear for our Options babies, especially after the cold nights we’ve had this month!

Our hope is that all the people we meet, doesn’t just hear that “God is their provider” but that they actually have tangible evidence thereof. So thank you again to all our donors for making this possible. You are helping people see that God is indeed their provider. Please pray with us that this revelation knowledge will be rooted in the hearts of the parents, every time they dress their babies with the clothing and nappies received from Options.

We would like to thank the Knysna Marathon Club for allowing us the privilege to serve at the Oyster Festival. Even though it was very different than what we are used to, for example we didn’t have to wake up at 2 in the morning, pick up all the volunteers and be in the forest by 3 or 4 in the morning, at least we could still serve the runners with something to drink and we were able to spend some quality time with some of our colleagues, which is always fun!

Thank you again Knysna Marathon Club and Mr Wayne Kidd.

GOOD NEWS STORIES ......

One of Wandisa and Mpho’s clients, who was referred to them by yet another angel sent from God, has been living for many years in a shelter (if you could call it that - see photographs). These two ladies gathered whatever they could find, some even out of their own pockets, to help this client on the 18^TH of July to celebrate Mandela Day. They collected clothes, blankets, food parcels, and while another good Samaritan was trying to build a proper structure for this client, Mpho and Wandisa blessed him with some much needed essentials. When the team share the story, their faces really light up! It’s because they have this deep realisation that this work can only be done in and through God. So there is nothing else but to thank God for all He does!

Because of all your donations we are able to help so many mothers in need of assistance. One lady for example came out of hospital with nothing but her little baby. The Options team wasted no time, they gathered all the baby items they could find and the food parcels that were available and dropped it off for this new mother.

TEAM KHANYA

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them
John 7:38

With the Level 4 Restrictions implemented by our government, our normal scheduled projects again had to be put on hold.

During this time, the Team Khanya and Options team focused on cooking and handing out food to approximately 80 children per day, twice weekly - mainly in the Oupad and Concordia areas.

Options and Team Khanya working as a team! Well done!

With the project being temporarily put on hold, our volunteers took some time to do teambuilding with the Dutch volunteers from Good News ZA. We all took a day to complete the Robberg Hiking trail and as challenging as it was for some, it was a lot of fun.

This break in normal programs also gave an opportunity for our German volunteers to explore some parts of South Africa. They went down the East Coast to Jeffery’s Bay and ADDO National Park for a few days and then went hunting for whales in Hermanus, whereafter they joined up with the German volunteers in Robertson to visit Cape Town and surrounds.

After the level 4 restrictions were lifted, we took the opportunity and joined the teams from Good News ZA and Iris Ministries Knysna in equipping our local and international volunteers by focusing on training relating to Children and Youth Ministry.

We also started with some of the projects and joined in a small outreach to the Karatara community and surrounding areas - thank you Good News ZA for hosting us

"If you want to give a light to others, you have to glow yourself"

YOUTH FOR CHRIST KNYSNA BANKING DETAILS
First National Bank
Acc No 6200 1575 482
ACB Code 250 655
Swift Code FIRNZAJJ
Paypall: philip@yfc.co.za

"Hope is like a bird that senses the dawn and carefully starts to sing while it is still dark"

KILT AFTER SCHOOL STUDY CLUBS

Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.
-Marian Wright Edelman-

July has been a turbulent month where each of us has been affected by a number of abnormal outside influences in our lives like the harsher COVID lockdown status, extended school holidays and the unexpected and horrible violence that erupted in our country. These factors resulted in varied reactions and responses from individuals and communities throughout the country. NGO and Business projects operating in Knysna were also affected to various degrees and in ways that required human adaptability and project flexibility, once again. For a human to react to unforeseen happenings is not uncommon. However, KILT chose to respond (in favour of reacting) and did this publically through a collective voice by forming a syndicate of NGOs, businesses, schools, and community members. The following is an extract from their formal media response,
‘We will not be paralyzed by fear and inactivity. Our Knysna community strives for kindness and togetherness. We do all we can to create a better future together. Helping your neighbour is something that everyone can do. Collectively, these small acts of kindness and generosity have a huge multiplier effect. It takes everyone to make a little difference, and the multiplier effect is profound.’

Study club supervisors were encouraged to respond to this challenge and make the most of this window of opportunity by the project lead. Each club was tasked to initiate an idea in the form of a mini project: To serve the community. Their initiatives would in turn be aligned to the Study club project’s vision and mission which promotes: mindful focus, self - discipline and active involvement. The Study clubs (23 in total) Mission Statement themes that learners are encouraged to adopt are: positive community practise, task dedication and commitment, mutual respect, goal setting, embracing new opportunities, building relationships, dignity, supporting and encouraging and showing gratitude. Learners who live these virtues out at club sessions afterschool, during school and within their community are acknowledged with a badge as club ambassadors. So the community project provides a great opportunity for learners to ‘live’ some of these virtues in their own community and strengthen existing relationships between their own school’s involvement in that community.

Each supervisor driven project aimed to involve as many Study club learners and parents as possible within the session hours originally planned. Thus, supervisors could still work, learners could stay involved in meaningful interactions, keep making a difference, providing hope and adding to the ‘multiplier effect’!

HANDS & HEART
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

“Failure Will Never Overtake Me If My Determination To Succeed Is Strong Enough.”
-Og Mandino-

We are very pleased to be back in action!
Our students returned on Tuesday 27 July. Being in lockdown meant no students for over a month and this was disappointing for all. There was, however, an upside as we could develop the grounds around the workshop. Concrete was poured where the fibre installation had damaged our driveway and extra paving was added where the cars are parked. Glen Nokana was instrumental in these jobs and he completed many other tasks for us.

Get to know Glen by reading his story below.......

Glen was a successful student in our 2019 class and we decided to give him employment as an administrator, a maintenance man and a very willing assistant. He was not able to study further as he didn’t yet have an Identity Document. His mother never registered him at birth and Home Affairs would not give him an ID even though his father went with him when he wanted to apply. Eventually we convinced his mother to come back from Colesberg to assist Glen in getting his ID. After many months and several visits to Home Affairs, he was issued with a birth certificate, which meant another visit to Home Affairs to apply for the ID. We were delighted when Glen finally received his ID, BUT, disaster struck when Glen was mugged and the ID was lost. This time round the replacement ID was not as difficult to obtain as the first time!

Garald found that, working more closely with Glen during the past month, proved just how valuable Glen is to him and Hands & Heart as a whole. Glen has become skilled in compiling new booklets for our accredited course. Garald trained him to remove old fluorescent ballasts and to restructure the wires for LED tubes and a month after the training, when he was asked to repair another light, he did it flawlessly.

Glen is a humble young man, even though he has completed many tasks of which he can be proud. Garald noticed in the close working and close personal relationship with Glen, that he was no longer drinking alcohol and that he is saving rather than wasting away the little we are able to pay him every month.

Glen could become an even greater asset to Hands & Heart and therefore we would like to ask for support for him. PLEASE help us help this young man to reach his potential. If you feel prompted to support Glen on a monthly basis, please contact Garald on his e-mail (handsandheart@hopehq.org) - your donotations will be tax deductible as we will issue you with a Section 18A certificate OR pay money into the HopeHQ bank account with reference GLEN. Please then let us have your details so that we can make sure you receive your tax certificate

In the classroom, we had a great deal of fun before the enforced break, doing data collection, analysis of the data and then graphing the results.

This term we have begun with the area and volume/capacity of rectangular prisms, triangles and cylinders. This will involve a great deal of practical tasks, which is how it should be.

Mike Mitchley is in his fourth year with us at Hands & Heart.

He covers the more academic modules and does a great deal of administration for the students. He was involved in the accreditation process, liaising with those assisting us and the relevant authorities.

One of his main tasks is assisting our students to obtain ID’s, tax numbers, bank accounts, email addresses, CV’s, learners’ licenses, applying for further studies, etc. This enables our students to make vital progress with their lives in a challenging administrative and technological world.

iTHEMBA CRAFT & SKILLS CENTRE

“Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.”
-Maya Angelou-

Thanks be to God – we are all back safe and sound and ready to continue.

All 12 sewing students are excited to be back and to get sewing again. We all stayed healthy during the latest lockdown

We have been blessed with an order for 100 pencil cases. This will provide much needed income to past students.

Thank you Good News South Africa for supporting iThemba.

The goal is not to change who you are but to become more of who you are at your best.

HOPEHQ BANKING DETAILS
First National Bank
Acc No 6263 5259 973
ACB Code 250 655
Swift Code FIRNZAJJ
Paypal: philip@yfc.co.za

We never have the right or enough words to thank all of you for your support.... but be assured that we are incredibly thankful for every cent that we receive, every prayer, every message, every thought - your love, kindness and trust carries us through difficult times!
WE ARE SOOO GRATEFUL!
THANK YOU FOR PARTNERING WITH US

“Failure Will Never Overtake Me If My Determination To Succeed Is Strong Enough.” -Og Mandino-

The goal is not to change who you are but to become more of who you are at your best.

“Failure Will Never Overtake Me If My Determination To Succeed Is Strong Enough.”
-Og Mandino-