December 2008 NEWSLETTER

Greetings everyone,


Trusting that everyone had a very blessed Christmas and wishing you all a year of growth and peace for 2009.

A VERY BIG THANK YOU to all who supported us in 2008.
For all the donations, the material assistance, the "hands on" help, the prayers, and encouragement - it has meant so much to us. You are all very special and without you this ministry would not have made it this far. You help make it happen.

We have been "home" for 6 months now and I am not quite sure that my feet have touched the ground. It has been a very busy 6 months and the time has flown by in a blur. Sadly, the "busyness" has not been about my Fathers work - as I wish it had. It has been about holding down a demanding job, trying to be Mom and Dad, provider, chauffer, fixer of broken things and the list goes on. . .

We have had some interesting moments and are getting used to the challenges of the rural environment. Bumpy dirt roads; and regular outages of both power and water.

I have to share though - on one occasion we were without water for about 2 days and the water department was adamant that they knew of no problems. It turned out that Siya had found the water mains in the garden and turned off the water . . . Well… that's our Siya…

Goals for 2009:

We are aiming to open our doors to abandoned babies again in April 2009.
Start a weekly youth group for the children in the community.
Expand and formalize our small socials for cross cultural families.
Start a tea service in the pediatric ward at the local rural hospital.
Collect jerseys (black) for the local rural primary school up the road - I would like to have a good supply by the time winter starts (around May 2009).

Then there is the ¾ acre of land across the road where we would like to see a sports centre started.

There are SO many opportunities here where we can give and we can lead and we can serve. Pray with me into these things, and if you are led to give, to lead or to serve in any one of these areas - action on it. It is a wonderful thing to be involved in Kingdom work.

We are hoping to get the building of the volunteer cottage started early this year.


The Children:

Siya has been home schooled since we moved which has been rather lonely for him. Simon joins Siya in home schooling in January, however - due to lack of human resources there is no one to teach them at home at present. Broadacres Preschool has very kindly offered to school the 2 boys in 2009 - using the curriculum (ACE) we have chosen.

Siya and Jake continue to enjoy excellent health for which we give God the glory every day.

Mary and Jake start Grade R (reception class) in 2009. The principal of Broadacres has met with me and has offered Mary a partial bursary for 2009 - saying that she has high academic and leadership abilities and when Mary is one day in her final year of school - she wants to be sitting in the audience listening to the accolades. Mary is very bright and truly does have a beautiful spirit within her.

Mary scraped her knee quite badly the other day. She and Jake came running in - not a tear was shed - but in all earnestness Jake led the conversation as follows: "Mommy - Mary had a big accident. All her skin came off her knee - and we can't find her skin anywhere!"

And so we have -
Siya the investigator and taker-to-pieces of all things to see how they work (hope he never gets his hands on a chemistry set). Siya is very supple and we have enrolled him into gymnastics - which he loves. I took him to work with me a while ago and he proceeded to inform one of my colleagues about how he did gymnastics and ended the sentence as follows . . . "and I preach too!" Well stand around long enough and Siya will share the gospel with you. My little Evangelist.

Simon the gentle spirited musician. His principal calls him "The Pastor" at school. As you know with all Simon's difficulties and low muscle tone he may never take 1st place in a sports event BUT this boy has musical talent. He does piano at school and one of the young adults at Grace church is giving him drum lessons weekly - which he LOVES.

Mary has started Rhythmic Gymnastics which is a sort of combination of dance movements and gymnastics and she loves it :

And Jake - our little bulldozer - who bulldozers first and then thinks after -has started baseball. Oh man it is SO cute. In his little baseball kit and cap, mitt on hand - he is too adorable. And yes - he LOVES baseball!

Justin is on his own now - sharing a rented cottage with a friend and working. It has been a little hard for him - being out of the nest, but he is coping ok. We have enrolled Justin to start a diploma in Marketing Management which he is very much looking forward to.

Tazz has done remarkably well in 2008. She made the KZN touch rugby team again this year - with her team winning the league. She has made vice captain of the 1st Softball team at school - which means she is lined up to be captain when the captain leaves school at the end of 2009. She also received full colors at school for her sporting achievements.


The Volunteers:

Currently we have no volunteers. We are coping though - somehow. We were very sad to say goodbye to Maria who left us at the end of November. We enjoyed a visit from Sarah Van der Kooy which enabled Maria to have some time off, and we also enjoyed having Keith with us for a couple of months - especially Jake who really enjoyed the company of a male role model.

We have Kathi arriving in March 2009, and have yet to go through other applications received for 2009.


From the heart:

The New Year has begun. There is much to be done.

The next challenge for Sinakekele is to generate sufficient monthly funding to be able to pay me a salary so that I can run this ministry full time. The goal is to open our doors to babies in April. This cannot be achieved while I am still working full time though - so the next 3 months is going to be dedicated to generating additional funding.

Someone said the other day - The givers GIVE, and the goers GO. We all have a part to play in furthering Gods kingdom, and just as the body has many parts which work together - so we, all doing the bit we are able to - work together as one for Christ.

You know - sometimes when I am driving home alone late at night along the remote roads I ask myself if I am crazy. (I know that's a yes - but you are not meant to agree :) - But I often repeat this quote to myself:
"Do not go where the path may lead, go rather where there is no path and leave a trail"
Ralph Waldo Emmerson

I know that I can only do what I do because God is with me, giving me strength and courage on a daily basis.

And my encouragement to each one of you reading this newsletter:
Galatians 6:9
"Let us not become wary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."


Be blessed.
Ruth



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