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Newsletter December 2023

 

Message from the Board

As the year draws to a close, we would like to thank you for all your support during this past year – be that by means of prayers or financially. God has been good to us during the past year. We were able to continue with the work He called us to, both in taking care of our patients and foster children, as well as in encouraging the missionary youth to walk in His ways.

A few months ago, we sent a newsletter detailing the work done in our home-based care programme. In this newsletter we would like to highlight the work done in our foster care and awareness programmes.
 
Proverbs 22:6 tells us:
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Many Christians in the Reformed circles were blessed to be born into a Christian home and church community. The same cannot be said for our foster children. However, by God’s grace He placed them into our care, and we may now guide them in His ways. The missionary youth have also not all started out in a Christian home, and they certainly do not grow up in a Christian environment. For sure, most South Africans call themselves Christians, but in reality, they follow a mixture of traditional African and secular beliefs and morals with some sprinkling of Christianity. God does not want us to remove ourselves from the world, but He does call us to be different from the world. Please pray with us for the children and youth and for their church community. Also pray that God may use us to encourage them to lead holy lives which honour him.
 
We pray that you may have a Blessed Christmas and 2023!

Foster Care News

We are thankful to report that the foster care court orders for three of our children were extended until they are 18 years old. All the children now have a long-term foster care order, except for the youngest child, who recently got an extension of two years. Having long-term orders helps create more stability and we are thankful for this.
Mathematics continues to be a tricky subject that our children struggle with. We have therefore arranged extra classes for our three oldest children. These classes take place on Saturdays and are presented by a woman from the community. The results are already visible.
 
One of Mother Thoko’s children has neurodevelopmental delays as well as ADHD. For the latter he is using medication and has received occupational therapy. However, he needs to be placed in a Special School. For this, assessments must be done by an educational psychologist, and government employed psychologists are fully booked. To speed up the process we arranged a private educational psychologist to do the tests. The results came back showing that he has severe developmental delays in addition to attachment issues. Hopefully he will be able to start at a new school at the beginning of 2023. We will also need to consider what to do about his attachment issues, which are sadly common for foster children.
 
Our oldest children are now teenagers. While the teenage years are often a difficult time for both the teens and their parents, this is even more the case with foster children. For them it is even more difficult to develop their own identity while their biological parents are missing. This has, unfortunately, resulted in one of the children displaying inappropriate behaviour at school such that she was suspended. She and Mother Eggy are now both receiving therapy from a psychologist.
 
The foster mothers receive frequent visits from the social workers from the South African Women’s Federation. They have now also recently employed a male social worker who specialised in working with teenagers. He is providing parental guidance sessions for the mothers. As board we would also like to give more spiritual guidance. We are therefore looking for a wise older woman from one of the mission churches who can visit them regularly.
 
Although the teens don’t always attend church eagerly, they do enjoy going to the youth conferences organised by the churches with the support of the Khothatsong awareness programme. One of our older girls was even asked to open a conference with Bible reading and prayer.
To attend the conferences, they need to pay for their own transport. This means that they must somehow raise funds. Mother Eggy started baking classes to support the children in their fundraising efforts. The classes were very well attended, but so far, no money has been raised because the products were given away and not sold.
 

Prayer Requests

  • Thank God for mothers Eggy and Thoko, as well as assistant mothers Violet and Mathapelo, who love the foster children as their own.
  • Thank God for therapists and that He has provided sufficient funds to pay them.
  • Ask that the mothers may receive strength and wisdom to handle their growing children.
  • Pray that the mothers will be living examples for the children and that the children may grow in faith.
  • Pray that we may soon find a wise woman to support the foster mothers.
  • Pray for all the children as they struggle with attachment and identity issues – "Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me" (Psalm 27:10).
  • Pray that a suitable school placement may be found for the boy with neurodevelopmental delays.

Awareness News

You may recall that in the previous newsletter we asked for prayers for the awareness event that was held in September. The event was well attended by the youth. Given that it was on Heritage Day, the topic was God and Ancestors. Despite the secularisation of South Africa, consultation of ancestors and the need to appease them remain a daily reality. There are rituals for birth, marriage and death as well as for dealing with sickness, poverty and mental health. Pastor John (the Spiritual Carer from our Home-Based Care programme) presented on this topic and pointed to the demonic powers at work in consulting the ancestors.

A few months earlier, on 16 June (Youth Day) there was another awareness event about gender-based violence. This too is a major issue in South Africa, which unfortunately has one of the highest rates of rape in the world. Three guest speakers were invited, to give different perspectives – the police, a pastor, and a social worker. Although the day went longer than planned, it was a beautiful day in which a lot of useful information was shared. The youth were engaged and asked good questions.
 
We are in the process of forming a new awareness committee which includes youth, parents and pastors to take this programme forward. Our aim is to not only focus on the youth, but to also encourage their parents and congregations to support them in their walk with God.
Our home-based care office also hosted an awareness event on 22 November. Although only 10 of the 36 patients who were invited attended, the day was a great success. Sr Christina Segoe did a very good presentation about diabetes – the silent killer. This lady has worked in the area of diabetes for many decades and has a lot of knowledge about this “silent killer”. The type of diabetes plays a role in how the illness is treated. Good nutritional food specially for diabetes patients, exercise, and sufficient hydration by drinking water, can do a lot of good. Good questions were asked after the talk, and sr Christina answered the questions in such a way that everyone could easily understand. She also showed us how to do a particular exercise with your toes (using newspaper!) to improve blood circulation in the feet.

Less than a quarter of our diabetic patients have a glucose monitor at home to check their own sugar levels. Monitoring sugar levels is vital if you have diabetes, especially if you need to use insulin injections. If anyone can assist us with providing glucose monitors, we would love to hear from you!
 

Prayer Requests

  • Pray for the youth of the missionary congregations – they face a lot of temptations and peer pressure to forsake God and His law.
  • Pray for wisdom for both the pastors and Khothatsong volunteers in providing guidance to the youth.
  • Pray that the parents and congregations may stand around the youth and support them in their walk with God.
  • Pray for our patients with diabetes that they and their families may be motivated to take care of their health using the information they have learned.
  • In the last newsletter we shared with you about the girl with diabetes. We are sad to report that she went into a diabetic coma and passed away. Please pray for her family and our staff as they deal with this loss and grief.

Stay in Touch


Follow us on Facebook or send an email to info@khothatsong.org.za. If you aren't subscribed to our newsletter yet, you can do so here.

You can also read more about the work we do on our website: khothatsong.org.za.

Please Consider Supporting Us Financially

Account Name: Khothatsong Association
Account Number: 2634051794
Bank: Nedbank
Branch Code: 198765
Account Type: savings
Swift Code (BIC): NEDSZAJJ

Account Name: Khothatsong Foster Care
Account Number: 2603162640
Bank: Nedbank
Branch Code: 198765
Account Type: savings
Swift Code (BIC): NEDSZAJJ
NOTE: Khothatsong is a registered “Public Benefit Organisation” (PBO 93/0026898) and donations in South Africa are tax-deductible


Acc Name: A.N. Kleijn Khothatsong Association
Account Number: 83-055-2189
Bank: National Bank
Branch: 194 Jull Street, Armadale
BSB Number: 086-461
Account type: Flexi Direct Account
 
  1. Go to http://www.crwrf.ca/get-involved/donate-now.html
  2. Please note that you need to identify “Khothatsong Association” as the project you want to support
  3. When doing an online donation, choose the General Fund and write a message specifying the donation is for Khothatsong Association
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