August 2023 The afternoon was beautiful as the Hlanganani kids ran about playing on the play structure and chatting to one another. Lots of shouts and laughter arose as they played tug of war… a great way to “break the ice.” This was good considering the harder conversations to come…the majority of the kids are …
It Takes A Village
August 2023 Flipping through the newspaper, I saw an article about the high amount of shack fires due to the colder nights we were having (August being winter in SA) and many people trying to stay warm by building a fire inside their shacks. At the same time, I received a call saying one of …
When Faith Arises
August 2023 I had driven through countless informal settlements before, but this one felt different, I felt uneasy, fearful…Lord, should I push through? Our little car continued further into the heart of the camp, over the deep rivets and trash down the narrow, dirt road, past the crammed wire & tin shacks. I finally made …
An Awesome Afternoon
17 July 2023 After many days of emails, phone calls, and preparations, Nelson Mandela Day arrived, with a local Mall certainly living up to the wishes of Nelson Mandela, who said, “Together as a nation, we have the obligation to put sunshine into the hearts of our little ones. They are our precious possessions. They …
67 Minutes
18 July 2023 Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, and a well-known freedom fighter, spent 67 years of his life in public service. Each year on his birthday, the 18th of July, the country comes together to celebrate “Nelson Mandela Day”. People from all walks of life are encouraged to use 67 minutes of …
The Youth of Today
16 June 2023 The 16th of June is a day we commemorate in South Africa, it is “Youth Day”. Youth Day celebrates the contribution that young people made to the struggle for freedom in South Africa on June 16, 1976. On this day schoolchildren marched in a protest against the apartheid South African government insisting …
The Gift of Warmth
24 June 2023 Bokamoso headed down to Mpumalanga for the weekend to enjoy a weekend with our kids over there. With temperatures dropping into freezing, we were delighted to receive a huge blessing of warm, fluffy, thick winter blankets for the children in need of warmth this winter! The kids had a blast learning new …
Speaking Into Children’s Lives
21 May 2023 A quick Google search will bring up over 100 Bible verses on the importance of caring for and helping orphans, widows, and those in need! Therefore, this must be a very important matter on God’s heart and thus one we take extremely seriously! The Bible is also very clear on how vital it is to …
Eating An Elephant
19 May 2023 As the famous saying goes, “When eating an elephant, take one bite at a time.” As we enter Winter over here in South Africa and take a look back over the past five months, many positive changes are noticeable within Hlanganani’s children, these changes are done slowly “one bite at a time”. …
The Priceless Gift of Electricity
1 May 2023 We picked our way through the informal settlement, stepping over piles of litter and deep holes in the dirt road formed by the water draining down the street. The shacks lining the street were alive with families socializing and enjoying loud music and food on Sunday evening before work started again. We …