June 2005 Newsletter

Hi to you all

Two months have past since I stopped work. Funds are coming in, and God has been SO faithful!

It has been much easier, not holding down a full time job, and trying to pilot the Sinakekele ship at the same time, and I have been able to spend more time, giving thanks to God for His provision, and also seeking His wisdom and discernment for every decision that I make. I have been reading "Answers to prayer" by George Meuller. What a man of faith. I have been much encouraged, and I know I have much to learn.

I prayerfully put my house on the market, trusting God for a buyer in His time. (3 months? Maybe 6 months? I thought). Well, the house sold within a month!

So, where are we going? Well I have no idea at all!

I have just been pondering on the state of things, and committing this again to the Lord, as I wait on Him to direct me from here, and as I was paging through my book of devotions by Oswald chambers (My Utmost For His Highest), I reread the devotion of March 19th (my birthday) – Abraham’s life of faith. The scripture references are these:

Hebrews 11:8 "He went out, not knowing where he was going", and Romans 4:3 "Abraham believed God…"

Oswald Chambers writes "Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason – a life of knowing Him who calls us to go."

In just this way I do not know where I am going, but I seek to know God more intimately, and seek to go where He leads, knowing that He has called me to this, and thus will see me through it.

We have about 3 – 4 months before we will have to move. Please join with us as we pray for Gods direction and provision.


KIDZ NEWS:

Sadly, the preschool where Simon and Siya attend, will be closing it’s doors at the end of this year. If we are in premises of our own, this would be wonderful timing to start our own preschool, if not, we will have to search for a new preschool for the boys. In the meantime, they just LOVE going to Morning Star.

Simon will be changing occupational therapists, as his OT specialises in 0 – 3 years, and she has suggested that he now go to a developmental OT. He also needs to go in for a small op to have his one testical surgically dropped.

Siya has had a whole about turn with his anti retroviral therapy. The new drug caused his heamoglobin levels to drop too low, so the ARV’s had to be stopped – again! However, I have to give the doctors at Sinikithemba aids clinic twelve out of ten for their dedication, and determination concerning this little boy Siya.

Even for this child, terminally ill, an orphan, with limited options, they went out of their way to seek advice from experts in Gauteng and the UK, and found another drug to try. The pharmacist kindly informed me that half the population are allergic to this drug, and the side efects are life threatening – so they only gave me one bottle, and we go back to the clinic on Thursday. Siya has been on this drug for almost 2 weeks, and so far so good. Please keep him in your prayers.

Mary is doing good and is now speaking quite well. She is cutting her 2 year old molers and is chewing anything that comes her way. She is a very happy and content little girl, and is a real little girl. She seems to do everything in a little girl way. At the moment she is mimicking Mom, and walking around pointing her little finger and saying "Stop it!" She also loves to take all her clothes off and remove all the shoelaces from her shoes!

Jake is just Jake! He is coy and shy – until he knows you well enough, and then he is a real clown. He loves to laugh and play and get dirty. VERY dirty. He has no fear at all, and the other day he rode down the bank on his little black bike, hit a brick, the bike took a flip and jake went for flying lessons over a rose bush. A few minutes and a few tears and he was back on his bike, ready to roll. He is doing remarkably well on the ARV’s and unlike Siya, has shown absolutely no side effects at all. Doctor Holly just thinks we may need to put him on a diet if he does not start losing some of his fat. What can I say – He loves his food!

Siya, Jake and Mary had birthdays in May/June. Siya turned 4, and Jake and Mary 2. The two little ones each got a new bike, and the two big ones each got a skateboard. Simon was devastated when Siya got a skateboard, and everyone in the house looked at me and said: "How could you not buy one for Simon? He is only little. He doesn’t understand…", so I went and got a skateboard for Simon, and the 2 boys really do enjoy them. Jake loves his bike, and Mary rides her bike, but it is not her favourite toy. I think she would have enjoyed a book with lots of pictures of shoes. She is fascinated by shoes.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids with their birthday gifts. (Pardon the jewelry).

We took the kids to the FLAG animal farm as an outing for their birthdays. It was very entertaining. Simon walked around with his fingers in his ears.

Like I said – He does not like to be taken out of his box.

Siya proceeded with great caution, Mary with less caution, and Jake, well, he was happy to ride the horse, and share the animal feed with the goats, moaning at the goats for taking up too much space on my hand, while trying to make his mouth movements just the same as the goats, when eating the feed. Oh he really gave me a good laugh.

Tazz and Jay are fine and happy to be on holiday now for a few weeks. Justin is in the Kruger park with some friends, for a week, and Tazz is out visiting with her friends so the place is pretty quiet. Tazz went with us to the Flag farm, and like the rest of us, fell in love with the place.

Please continue to pray for my children. It is hard for most adults to understand these steps of faith I am taking, and I think harder still for them to understand. They are quite excited about the sale of the house, although I think they will miss the house. They have really loved this house.

Granny too is feeling a little unsettled, not knowing where she is going, and VERY sad to be giving up her lovely garden cottage, where she too, has been very comfortable and happy. None the less, I hope, wherever we go, we will be able to provide her with a little cottage just as nice as the current one, and hopefully with less steps to negotiate between her cottage and the house.


OUR NEEDS:

Pray is the biggest need we have. If you could all pray for our guidance, wisdom, discernment, direction and provision, that would be wonderful.

Our needs have not changed, and we continue to trust God, and to give thanks for His amazing provision.


OUR WISH LIST:
The wish list has not changed either. I really do need to obtain a good notebook, and data projector for presentations. I have been praying for God to open up opportunities for me to share my vision abroad, and am waiting to see where God opens the doors.


HAPPENINGS:

We have a Canadian volunteer, Rachel, with us at the moment. Rachel is helping me with organizational matters, and has been responsible for the organization of our next fundraising dinner. For those who are local, the dinner will be on 11th August 2005, at Ciao Itallia, (Durban North). 18h30 for 19h00. The tickets are R150.00 each, and they can be obtained through myself or Rachel on info@sinakekele.org.za

Please, if you would like tickets, let us know as soon as you can, as seating is limited.

Also, we will be holding a silent auction on that evening, and if anyone has anything they could donate to us for the auction, that would be wonderful. Please let Rachel know (info@sinakekele.org.za).

It is really great having Rachel here, and she is planning on coming back to SA early next year to study, so I am hoping that her involvement with Sinakekele will continue.

An old volunteer from TLC, Carolyn, will be coming back to visit in August, and we look forward to having her back.

We have Tricia De Boer, from Canada, coming to do volunteer work in Oct / Nov, and Cindee (also an ex volunteer from TLC), coming back early next year.

All our volunteers, both international and local, are really very special to us, and I say a very big thank you to each one of them, for their commitment and dedication. They give so much love to the children.


And from my heart:
I went to enroll Tazz into high school, and on a calendar in the school office was the following saying by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Do not go where the path may lead.
Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail."

Now there’s a challenge!.

May you know and feel the peace and love of Christ during the month ahead.

Yours in God’s service
Ruth