What’s happening on the farm?

The building progress / timeline:

Lenco construction are nearing the end of the renovation of the first chicken shed for the crèche, village admin, and utility hall.
Sivest have been working tirelessly to complete all the environmental applications necessary for the rezoning of the land, from agriculture to general use.
The architects await the topography details from surveyor, Glen Millar, who has pledged his skills,  in order to finalize the details of the layout. We will then submit the building plans for the first “cluster” of nine houses.
Brian Bell and Stedone construction have volunteered to oversee the entire planning / roll out of the building process and have appointed Jon Cilliers  to be the project manager. They will be working with Sivest and a number of other construction companies and individuals who have pledged their support to help build the village.

Morgado have given their earthmoving equipment to clear the farm and prepared the way for Don Spiers to put up the electric fence. A big thank you also to the local farmer, Ian Cole, who has assisted with a tractor to clear some of the land.

Summary of the timeline:

We hope to have all the necessary documentation completed and issued to the government department, for approval, by mid August.

Urgent approval will be requested to build the first cluster of nine houses and have the first nine families in residence by December 2010, with the balance of the building plan to be rolled out as finances permit.

Partnership with Government:

Our premier, Dr Zwele Mkize, has again pledged government support, and desire to partner with LIV, business and churches, to help roll out these villages around KwaZulu Natal.
Tich has had a number of positive meetings with the MECs of the different departments. Everyone is committed to get on board and be part of the solution for our orphan crisis.
A document is being drawn up to consolidate this partnership and expectations of the various sectors.

The first family:

Angela and the children are literally blossoming!
Their fruit and veg daily addition to their diet, is causing them to literally shine, and all are healthy again. Thank you for the many prayers, especially for Angela.

Birth of the ‘Acts’ village church:

An informal ‘church’ has developed in the home on the farm, as Angela uses her evangelistic gifting and invites members of the local community for weekday prayer meetings, and Sunday services, led by Derrick Gumede, pastor of the Amaoti community church.  It began with Derrick picking up the family for the ACC services until 3 overloaded transport vehicles weren’t enough for all the extras, and the village house church was born.

Volunteers:

We said a sad farewell to Rhiannon, our ‘Welsh Rose’ who returned to the UK on 18th May after serving LIV tirelessly for 2 months, with her amazing admin skills. God knew what we needed and He sent you to be a blessing and to be blessed. Thank you for having the courage to put your life on hold and serve in this part of His vineyard.
Monika Lindkas, our Norwegian missionary, who is supported by her church in Norway, continues to work tirelessly with the children where she uses her teaching skills to supervise their homework and give them extra lessons. She has become a vital cog in the wheel as she teams up with our English social worker/home manager, Claire Thomas (also supported by church and friends in the UK),  and Ann Moodley, who heads up the training /selecting of the mothers, and networking.
Damien Lourens, our new volunteer sports coordinator, has linked up with Monika, introducing constructive outdoor activities for all the children.
Our speech therapist and O.T.’s continue to work with the 3 little ones. Yobi’s communication skills are improving daily!
We also welcome on board Abby and Sue who are giving of their time to come alongside the very stretched admin staff, along with our special volunteer, Didee.

Without all of you offering your skills so willingly we would not be able to proceed. We are truly grateful.
Many financial pledges are pouring in.
Government are on board.
Together, we CAN do it!
Many blessings,
Tich and Joan