Update

The entrance to the mission.

 I am going to take you on a little of a tour of the Mission.

Another view from the play/school area.

Very early on we realised that people cannot be "uplifted" and helped to move on to a better future unless you look at ministry holistically.  You cannot just say "I will pray for you". and walk away.  Our ministry is based on the four major elements:

 

The rooms are small but clean and safe

1.  SOCIAL SERVICE:  We have to provide safe shelter ,(a place they can call home) decent clothing and good food.  Our motto is " ...a place to belong...a place to become..."   When a homeless person comes to us, they complete a three month life skill program and are allocated a work area.  They are also encouraged to spend time with the social worker and the counselours. At present we have approximately 200 people on our program and a total of nearly 600 people living on the premises.

  The kitchen provides three meals per day to 260 people.  

We have seen how the Lord provides in every need...and not second best either.  We are on the social responsibility program of a large retail company that supply us with their "sell by" food on a daily basis.  There is no shortage of fruit, vegetables, jogurt and even luxuries.  Our Lord is not poor;-)

2.   HEALTH:  Our people are seen to by a doctor, dentist and optometrist.  These medical professionals give of their time to assist the precious people in our care.  

3.  EDUCATION:  This is a very important part of what we do.  We have an ABET (Adult Based Education and Training) school on the premises where our people are assisted to complete their schooling which will enable them to find work where they would be able to provide for their families.

The ABET computer literacy classroom

Computer literacy is also a very important component.

Shortly after we started the Mission we saw the need for a creche to care for the little ones.  They need to be safe while their parents are working.  We also found that people that are struggling to survive don't have the energy to spend quality time with the children.  The children are not stimulated and are way behind other children in their development. We now have a remedial teacher that owns her own creche that allows our children that have to enrol for Grade R next year to attend her pre-school free of charge.

The baby room. (We have 17 babies/toddlers in this area)

The "bigger" class;-)

Adorable little things!

4.  JOB CREATION: This have become a very important component of the Mission.  THERE IS NO WORK out there, so we had to create work.  Two very important reasons for this.  Firstly the people on the program have to learn that they have to work for what they want.  Life is not about hand outs.  It builds their self esteem when they work and it gives them worth.  Secondly, the Mission needs an income to survive.  We don't apply for funding and are self sustained.  When we started out we only had a few people and our job creation side of things started small.  

The prefabricated pillars and posts or vibracrete panels - this was the first project we started.  People with addiction problems are put to work.  They need to be so tired at night that they would not even have the energy to think about getting the next fix.

Welding works are also done.  We try to allocate people to "positions" where they have knowledge and feel happy to work.

Recycling the posters that are put on lamp posts with daily news headlines.

Recycling PVC products.

Woodwork

Every work area has a leader that have to care for his workers.  Very much like a shepherd would care for his flock;-) 

We are tremendously blessed.  The work we do is not easy but it is SO very worthwhile and so very rewarding.  We fall in love with the people that are placed in our care and our joy is when they overcome their problems and move on and back to society.  Some people are able to do this in a short space of time and some have had such traumatic lives that it takes longer, and sometimes a few years before they are healed.

Stanley Street Christmas Party

The children of Vistarus get taken out and spoiled over the Christmas season.  This year was no different!  Stanley Street in Central gets blocked off and the children get entertained and given gifts.

We want to thank each of our sponsors for making this possible again this year.

Santa Shoe box Party

16 December 2010 11:00 am, what an exciting morning!!! Something to look forward to if you are a kid. Oh yes Santa Shoebox comes to Vistarus!  The children were bubbling with anticipation and excitement as they came into the hall were the party was held, a long table was piled high with all the pressies from Santa’s Shoebox. 

The party started with the handing out of sweet packets that was sponsored by Pizza Guys from Greenacres. The kids were so excited, and all you saw was packets being opened helped by the adults from Pizza Guys and Santa’s Shoebox. As they were enjoying the sweeties Kim told the story of how Santa’s Shoebox started.  Then it was time for the real excitement to start as each child was called forward to receive their present, oh boy! And had to wait for everyone to  receive theirs before opening it.  Wow…. and was the excitement great as each kid opened his/her shoebox and saw what was inside, you can just imagine the noise level and loud appreciation when they saw what was in the Shoebox.   The day ended as the  kids sang their popular song “Ons se baie baie dankie”!!!

Our first 3 matriculants

This article was in the Eastern Cape Today Newspaper and written by Lourens Schoeman.

The Vistarus Mission in Sydenham, Port Elizabeth, for underprivileged people is extremely proud of its first three matriculants.

Frikkie Eloff, Bianca Murray-Bates and Angelique Volschenk, were the first three learners to write matric in the mission's 11 year history. Both girls want to become lawyers, while Frikkie is aiming to become a chef. An excited Frikkie told Eastern Cape Today that he would be writing an entry examination at Port Elizabeth College next week. But, he hastened to tell how school was not always without difficulties. "While in Grade 10 I wanted to leave to get a job to assist my parents financially, but the mission's staff convinced me to work for my matric. It was difficult times, because I attended seven primary schools before I got to high school. Now I can't wait to begin my studies to become a chef," he said.

Bianca was in a serious car accident in June last year and could not write the winter exams. "I had a lot of catching up to do, but all the hard work I put in was worth it in the end. If I can just get the finances sorted out. I want to start my studies to become a lawyer this year already," the petite teenager said.

A confident Angelique said she also wanted to start studying this year. She made up her mind to become a lawyer a long time ago. Her studies suffered a setback in March last year when she had a baby, but it did not deter her. "I came back to school, put my head down and worked as hard as I could. I want to achieve my ambition and my results is one more step in reaching that goal." she said.

Mission founder, Kobus Jacobs said they were extremely proud of Frikkie, Bianca and Angelique's achievement, adding that the mission would continue to support them wherever they could.

Vistarus PRO, Fatima Collins, said study funds have already been secured for Angelique and Frikkie, but that they were still negotiating on behalf of Bianca. "We are confident that someone will come forward to support Bianca to also reach her dream. Their achievements is proof that one can rise above your situation. It really is not where you are coming from, but where you are heading." she said.

Sadness that goes with our ministry

Last year little Chuma's mother came to the Centre. When Chuma was born it was found her gall bladder was not functioning, after several operation it was found that her liver was infected and she was placed on an emergency waiting list to receive a liver at the Red Cross Childrens hospital in Cape Town. The family's finances were depleted by all the medical costs and we decided to be of assistance to them with food, clothing and linen.
We are so sad, the wait just proved to long for the little one and the seven-month-old girl died on Tuesday and her funeral is today. Our PRO, Fatima pictured here with the christmas hat, helped with the funeral arrangements and the Centre will assist in the provision of food for the funeral.

Carols by Candlelight

We had an open air "Carols by candlelight" evening last Sunday. We set up in the park in front of the Centre and first had a "boerewors" braai. When it started getting dark we lit the candles and started singing Christmas Carols. There was such a festive air about the evening that we would like to see this type of service more often in the future. People in nearby houses set up their deck chairs in front of their homes to listen to the singing...it was magical. A lot of the children from the surrounding area also came to take part and see the nativity by our children in the Centre.

The nativity: The children practiced for weeks to get it perfect. They were so well behaved, we are so proud of them.

The animals...you actually saw the little lions playing with the lambs:)

A pretty little goat.

A lamb.

Our little angels.

The three wise men.

More little angels

A lamb eating a boerewors roll...how did she stay so clean?

Another angel.

Beautiful little angel.

Modern looking shepherds.

A little donkey.

An angel and a lion.

Little cow.

We wish all the supporters and friends of Vistarus a Blessed Christ centred Christmas.

A journey inward...

I have neglected this blog so terribly....I promise to post a run down of the past month and some pics in the next few days...but first things first.

This wordart is by Melanie of http://mmdcreations.blogspot.com/.

In this past week we have come to know just how difficult the journey inward is. Oh boy....where to start....when we start reflecting on our own lives, often times we don't even want to be honest with ourselves. For the past 10 years (from 8 July 1998) we have been in full time ministry. We take care of approximately 450 people, providing accommodation, food, spiritual guidance, etc. You know how bad the weather was last week...well when I started thinking up excuses to not go to work, I knew I was in serious trouble. When we started the Centre 10 years ago I can truly say that we did what God called us for, with DIGNITY and DELIGHT. Why did I lose the delight I had, what happened, why was it no longer a pleasure to serve? Was it burn out....or something more serious?

Many years ago the Lord gave us this scripture from 1 Corinthians 3...on how to do the work He has called us to. That whatever we do, our foundation had to be Jesus.

1Co 3:7 The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow.

1Co 3:8 There is no difference between the one who plants and the one who waters; God will reward each one according to the work each has done.

1Co 3:9 For we are partners working together for God, and you are God's field. You are also God's building.

1Co 3:10 Using the gift that God gave me, I did the work of an expert builder and laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each of you must be careful how you build.1Co 3:11 For God has already placed Jesus Christ as the one and only foundation, and no other foundation can be laid.

1Co 3:12 Some will use gold or silver or precious stones in building on the foundation; others will use wood or grass or straw.

1Co 3:13 And the quality of each person's work will be seen when the Day of Christ exposes it. For on that Day fire will reveal everyone's work; the fire will test it and show its real quality.

1Co 3:14 If what was built on the foundation survives the fire, the builder will receive a reward.

1Co 3:15 But if your work is burnt up, then you will lose it; but you yourself will be saved, as if you had escaped through the fire.

Last week when I felt so despondent I was reminded of this scripture again. Those first years were hard. We were out of our comfort zone, we had given up everything that we always thought so important...and we were so incredibly dependant on Him. To finance the ministry we had to start various projects...we believed in being self supporting. Not to beg, or ask the government for help...after all this was God's project not ours, surely He will sustain us. Well He did...and today we can truly look back on a project that is very successful, and not by our doing.

But somewhere in all of this our vision changed slightly and we were no longer on the solid foundation of Jesus. This had to be rectified and quickly. At this stage we have more than 150 people on our destitute program, and all we are allowed to build with is Jesus...the business side of things cannot ever become more important than Him. The admin and financial side of things have become such a burden that I no longer wanted to be part of it. So on Thursday last week it was with heavy hearts that we called a meeting with all our leaders and told them that things are going to change and we must go back to the order that God has for the Centre. With many tears I told them that lately I had found so many excuses not to go to work...that all I saw was the admin and finances...and that is not what I live for. I get so bogged down by the admin that I no longer have time for the precious people that God has entrusted to us.

I live to see people led back to Jesus and I live to see them grow in maturity and wholeness. I want to work with people not paper...paper and finance is not what God had called me to. I want to be part of their process of healing...that has substance...that is what will have everlasting worth.

Please pray for us, that we will keep our eyes firmly on Him who is the author and perfecter of our faith. Please pray that we will continue to build on the Solid Foundation of Jesus and that the work that we do will not be burned up by fire.

Lynette