September 2014

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What a busy and great August we all had at Tabitha Ministries!

Our gymnastic stars shined very bright at the National Gymnastics Competition. Mandy (centre) won the Gold medal in her division. Tim Tim won the Bronze medal with Lulu bringing home the Silver medal. Mrs. Jean and Mrs. Val are so proud of them as you can see!

Little baby Miriam is starting to walk now. It was her birthday present to us all!

Painting Away! The boys’ dorm construction is complete (HOORAY!) with the last murals getting their finishing touches pictured above. Now we are remodelling the girls’ lounge. Our South African donors have really stepped up. They have provided materials from paint, to curtaining, to lounge furniture. What a blessing these new rooms will be to our children here!

9 Birthdays!!! Happy Birthday to Miriam, Thabo, Thobeka&Thobile, Bekkie, Essie, Shihle and Khule!

Sweetwaters training classes are in full swing. Mrs. Gail gave a training session to over 75 young mothers and Gogo’s in the community. She taught them how to safely prepare & clean a baby bottle. She told them the importance of breast milk and how to use formula properly as well. After the session, many mothers were excited about getting donated milk and porridge.

Sweetwaters house visits. We are still going out on house visits to the sick patients in the community who need help and hope. We gave away 6 Bibles to believers who didn’t have a copy of God’s Word in their home.

The new school shoes are here! A special thank you to our friends at Baptist Global Response. They sent 539 pairs of new school shoes for our kids and the Sweetwaters community kids. They will send a total consignment of 2000 pairs in all. At the present moment, we are doing a survey in the SW community to determine which children are in the most desperate situations. Those children will get the 539 pairs. The rest of the consignment will be distributed for the next school year so every child of school age will be able to attend and not be “left behind”.

Praises:

• So grateful to Birchman Baptist Church for the VBS they taught here, our Midmar Dam outing, and how hard they scrubbed our boy’s dorm floor!
• God providing school shoes for the underprivileged in the Sweetwaters community
• Thanking God for donors who provide the funding for our remodelling effort at the Hope Centre

Prayer Requests:

• God to give us wisdom with how to bring up our children according to His principles and staffing issues
• God to bless us with good health for our kids and staff
• God to show us which children most desperately in need of the new school shoes
• God to draw near to our hospice patients and let them feel His presence daily.

Donations

• Duvets/Comforters for the girl’s bedrooms (9-10 total)
• Curtains for girl’s bedroom • Shelving for boy’s and girl’s lounges
• Replacement flooring for girls lounge, hall, and bedrooms
• Dressing tables for girl’s bedroom
• Soccer goals replaced in our school
• Barbie dolls for girls and toy cars for boys
• Watches for kids
• New PJ’s for all kids