Market #2

Josh had another farmers market today. It looks like they are going to have it every other week. It went really well again. He was better prepare and had a lot more stock. He sold a lot of herb seedlings as well as veggie seedlings. It is such great exposure for the project as well as a way to generate some income for Growing Hope.

travelling mercies

All I can say is “Thank you Jesus!” That the long journey to the states for the kids and I is over and that it went amazingly well. Thank you everyone who prayed for us. I know we really experienced the grace of God. The boys did so well and slept a lot on the flight. We even had an empty seat beside us so Noah could stretch out and sleep. It was so great to see the grandparents at the airport and the kids are having an amazing time. Today they got to spend some time with their cousins. Now we are just trying to get used to the time change!

how did it go?

Yesterday’s meeting with the Department of Agriculture went really well. They were very impressed with all that is happening. Josh says it really felt like they experienced favor with the main guy who is in charge. He has asked them to submit an official application for funding with their proposed budget for next year. He told them to include everything even all the day to day running costs. This is a huge deal because there are lots of people and organizations willing to give funding for materials but almost no one will give money for running costs like Freedom and Sidwell’s salary. So the fact that he has asked that all that be included in the application is a huge deal.

He also said that if we get the application turned in by next friday they will review it at their board meeting the following week. It is a lot of information to get together by next week, but hopefully we can get it done!

Department of Agriculture

Last week Josh and Freedom had a meeting with the local representative from the Department of Agriculture. They shared with her all about Growing Hope and what they have been doing with the gardens. She was very excited to hear about all they had done and decided that it was worth them meeting with the higher ups to see if they can get some funding. So, today at 2pm they will be giving a presentation to a group of officials from the Department of Agriculture. It is exciting because there is an opportunity for funding to come out of this. And there is a chance to share our heart with government officials. It is really God’s grace that has brought us to this point and we trust Him to take us the rest of the way!

Farmers Market = Huge Success!!!

This morning bright and early Josh, Freedom and Sidwell set out with all their goods to go and raise some money and awareness about Growing Hope. They took vegetable seedlings, a few herbs, bags of organic fertilizer and composted chicken manure to sell. They also took two big display boards with lots of pictures of the gardens and handouts with lots of info about the garden project. And…they sold it all!! With two hours left everything was gone!! They made over 1000rand about $125! A huge amount of money that will go a long way for the project. It was really exciting. Lots of people were interested in the project. A guy from the local farmers co op came by and after hearing about what we are doing said he wants to donate seed! We really experienced God’s favor in the whole thing. They even let us rent the space for less than half the normal price because the guy in charge is so impressed with what we are doing.
It is all very exciting and we are already looking forward to the next one.
Thank you Jesus for an amazing success!

Getting ready for the Market

A new Farmers Market is starting up in downtown Mossel Bay this Saturday. It is going to be a once a month thing and we are very excited to be a part of it! We have the opportunity to sell vegetable seedlings there to raise money and awareness about our garden project (now tentatively called Growing Hope while we wait for approval on our non-profit status). It is a really great opportunity for us because not only can we, hopefully, make some money but we are also going to have lots of pictures and information available and on display for people passing by to see. It is amazing how much favor God has really given us with this project already. Just the fact that we were accepted into the market was a huge deal. You had to apply and only 30 stalls were accepted. The man running the market is very excited about what we are doing and has encouraged us to really get our information out there. It is a little stressful getting ready for it but we are excited and expecting it to go well.

getting ready to set up our display

 

a few of the seedlings we are going to sell on Saturday morning

 

Herbertsdale

One of the community gardens the municipality has asked Josh to oversee is located in a very small town outside of Mossel Bay. It is called Herbertsdale. They have a huge piece of land there available for a garden. They have had a garden there in the past. Apparently in 2009 they had a huge harvest but because of the drought we experienced last year they didn’t have anything. The people there are really knowledgable about gardening and very eager to work and care for the garden. That is the best kind of people to work with! Josh went with the social workers last Friday to check out the site for the first time.

the boys

Food for everyone!

There is a very small community close to where we live called Powertown. There are about 150 families living there. It is an informal settlement made up of wooden shacks. Some of them are bigger and quite nice but most are small and rather haphazard looking. It is built in a flood zone so every time we get a lot of rain most  of the people have to be evacuated. Some of the people living there have jobs and are very hard working people. Including the woman who comes and cleans for me once a week, Maria. There is also a couple living there who have been coming to our church since almost the very beginning. They are a very amazing couple and they really have a heart for their little community.

There is also a couple in our church who in the past have done a lot of work with feeding schemes, and distributing food parcels. This man has developed a new computer program for running a food parcel outreach and he wanted a place to test it. So, the connection took place. For at least the next year, our church will be working in cooperation with these two couples and be distributing food parcels to every family in Powertown who wants one, once a month.

This past wednesday was the second time the food packets were given out and Josh and I were very excited to go and be a part of what they are doing. We got there early and everyone worked together to make the parcels and then once the people came in we sang songs with them and then someone shared a brief Word with them and Deon shared a quick scripture with them. And then, we handed out the food! It was really cool.

The vision for the outreach is that our church here, Word & Life, would really take this community on. That people from the congregation would come and be a part of reaching out to these people. Next year they are going to start doing a more in depth Bible study with the people and really work towards discipling people, not just handing out food. Physical food and spiritual food. It was exciting to see everyone who came to help out yesterday and the way that the people responded to us being there.

I really believe it is the start of something great for our church and the people of Powertown!

every food parcel has a big bag of flour, a big bag of corn meal, a bag of sugar, a bag of beans, a bag of lentils, a bag of pasta, a can of sardines, and a box of soya meat stuff. All very basic staples.

 

Josh and Freedom putting together a food parcel

 

143 food parcels ready to go

 

this is the woman whose husband has designed the program. They are the heart behind this outreach.

 

Getting Baptized!

Yesterday Josh had the awesome privilege of baptizing a new member of our cell group. She is someone that we have known for a while but she just started coming to our cell two weeks ago. She is a new Christian and it has been so cool to see her hunger and the way God is working in her life. Last week she said she wanted to be baptized. So we made a plan to go as a cell to the river to baptize her Sunday afternoon. Sunday morning it started raining and it rained all day. It was very cold but she said she wanted to be baptized no matter what! So yesterday afternoon we went down to the river and she was baptized! About half our cell group was there and her parents and another friend came. It was a really special, exciting time. We feel so privileged to be a part of her new walk with the Lord!

walking down to the river in the rain

 

Chantel, Lizelle (the one who was baptized), and Josh