From serving hands to tender hearts

Earlier in the month of February, the Paarl Valley was blessed with a visit from a dynamic short term team of 3 young women...Laureen Fung, Genevieve Eng and Christine Song. These women were childhood friends and grew up together in New York. In our earlier correspondence with them, they shared that volunteering has become a very special part of their lives both locally in their own city and in some cases overseas on other short term mission trips. When they heard about Monte Christo Miqlat (MCM) last year, they prayed about coming to South Africa to see what God was doing here, made plans to come, and arrived on February 10th. After spending the weekend sightseeing and getting to know Paarl's beauty, they were eager to dive right into ministry work. They primarily spent time in 3 of our ministry areas...Community Nutrition, Tiffany's Community Care Center and Community Health.
After experiencing a full ministry tour on their first ministry morning, their first serving opportunity was at the Drakenstein Food Center...home of our Community Nutrition ministry. There they were blessed to learn all about rusk baking and participated in packaging dozens of rusks, knowing that they would later be consumed by patients in one of our local hospitals. They also had the opportunity to clean and prepare some of the fresh vegetables that are donated by local farmers. These veggies help to boost the nutritional value in some of the meals that we prepare for distribution throughout our various food distribution sites.

Later that afternoon, they spent time at Tiffany's Community Care Center where they joined right in with serving soup to the local community members through our daily Family Feeding Program. They finished each of their ministry days at Bowy House...home of our Community Health ministry. There they assisted the Caregivers by playing with the kids in the play yard while bath time took place, as well as assisting the children during their dinner time.

On their departing day, they shared that one of the highlights of their ministry time was being able to do home visits with two of our Tiffany's Community Care Center community workers. This opportunity really brought their 'serving efforts' from their hands to their hearts as they listened to stories of community member's life struggles. They were further blessed to be able to pray with them right there in their own homes. Genevieve shared that "what I saw and experienced in Paarl showed us a true vision of the modern day Acts community, and I thank God for showing me a little bit of heaven on earth."

Laureen, Genevieve and Christine...we thank you for sharing your tender, selfless hearts with us. We were all blessed by your visit!

The Fellowship of the Believers (Acts 2) 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The road from intern to chef

Meet Rafeeq Blakenberg and Emile Truter...two young students at Boland College (in Paarl) who spent several days interning with Monte Christo Miqlat in our Drakenstein Food Center towards the end of 2011. These two young men are enrolled in the 3-year Hospitality and Catering program at Boland College where in addition to time in the classroom, they are required to acquire 4,000 hours of practical experience. In their 'classroom' courses, they study topics like Catering Theory, Sanitation and Safety, Knife Skills and Applied Management. In this latter course, they learn how to start a restaurant business, how to manage costing, food purchasing, stock taking (inventory), menu planning and more. The students shared that their knife skills have improved a great deal from interning at the Drakenstein Food Center, mostly because the ministry received a ton of tomatoes and a bin of carrots while they were here. They were the ones that cut all of them up.
Under the watchful eye of our Food Center Manager, Marvin White (picture right with the students), the interns also learned about baking and how to do things like de-boning a chicken, with the end result being chicken fillets. Marvin shared that Boland College does a good job of teaching theory. But he likes to give interns and students the real world background, so that when they get out on their own in the 'cooking world' they can handle whatever comes their way.
When asked what their favorite part of the 'practicals' was, Emile said he just likes to be out practicing away from the school. Rafeeq, on the other hand, said his favorite part is plating the food. He said that the plate is the place where he can be creative, use his imagination and allow the food to explode with color. The students certainly were creative with the plates pictured here.
Although these were the first interns to have spent time in the Drakenstein Food Center, Marvin feels it will be the first of many. Marvin would like to see Boland College continue to take hands with Monte Christo Miqlat by sending more interns because he feels that it is good for students to get the type of experience like they can get here. This is the ground basis for getting experience with banqueting. We are the only institution in town where they can get that experience.
Marvin shared that he sees natural born talent in these 2 students...that they have a natural feel for food and keen instinct to cook. We wish the very best to Rafeeq and Emile and hope to have them spend additional 'practical' hours with us in the next 2 years.

Monte Christo Miqlat's Annual Strategic Planning Retreat

Amidst several 38 degree+ (100+ Fahrenheit) days in a row, January 22nd arrived with some early morning rain. It was only appropriate, as board members and the leadership team of Monte Christo Miqlat (MCM) came together at the large meeting hall at Schoongezicht Restaurant and Conference Center. We began our strategic planning day in worship singing "Let it reign," and the Good Lord saw to it that it did rain! And thanks to Riel Malan (who led that worship time) and Deon Blackburn (who brought a message after our worship), we were blessed to begin the day's sessions honoring the One we all serve. Shortly thereafter, it was awesome to go around the room and have each board and leadership team member introduce themselves and share their area of expertise as well as their personal history and experience with MCM. We were all blessed to consider how many amazing people God has brought together in this ministry. Then began the hard work of re-examining our Vision and Mission Statements. Gary Helling, who facilitated the strategic session this day, told the team that if we accomplished nothing else, agreeing on the Vision and Mission for the new consolidated ministry would be a good day. After brainstorming together, and offering various phrases that were recorded on flip charts we broke into 4 different teams and came up with various vision and mission statement options. Through these sessions, and some additional e-mails that were exchanged the following week, the team unanimously agreed on the following new Vision and Mission for the ministry:

Vision: "Living and experiencing God’s kingdom of heaven through a life of faith in action."

Mission Statement: “In obedience to Christ, our mission is to sustainably help and empower those in our community who are in need. We and our partners will work together tirelessly to address the root of poverty in our communities, assisting the needy to experience healthy, fulfilling lives, both physically and spiritually.”

Once this part was done, it was time to address our high level goals and objectives - when all was done, the collective group presented the Board with 16 possible options to consider. This next week, the Board will agree on 5 major goals for the year! Please pray for wisdom and that our God would provide for the ministry in many ways!

Christmas for Bowy House kids

For the fourth year in a row Michael and Pamela Hudson, friends of Monte Christo Miqlat, planned a 'Christmas' braai (a South African barbeque) at Bowy House for the children that were there during the holidays. Although several of our Bowy House children were able to spend Christmas with their families, 6 of our kids remained in our care during the entire holiday time. Before the eating began, though, the children were thrilled to be visited by a local family who blessed each one of them with an outfit and a toy. Several of us helped to assemble some of the toys...the big hit that day was the grocery store trolley that they wheeled around the courtyard. Oh, did the kids have fun with that one! After the 'gift giving' and playing, the rest of the 'party team,' which included Gary and Marnelle Helling and Bruce (friend of Michael and Pamela's) as well as the house parents, David and Juleen Adams, got the braai ready and cooked a full array of wonderful meats. Additionally, there were several delicious salads, Michael's cream corn (which was a BIG hit) and Juleen's delicious cheesecake for dessert! WOW...what an amazing Christmas feast! We always find it precious when these young ones will bow their heads (before they touch their plates) and pray for their meals. We wish you could hear their sweet voices as they pour out their humble little thanksgivings. We know that it is music to our good Lord's ears! And then the REAL feasting began. The kids just loved everything, and most of them finished their plates before they went off to their afternoon naps. The adults then had an opportunity to enjoy the feast as well, and we all agreed that there was nowhere else in the world that we would rather have been then right there with those 6 kids. What a Merry Christmas it was!!! (if you would like to see more pictures of Christmas day, find us on Facebook under the name MCM Miqlat and 'Like' our page)

A weekly 'breath of fresh air' at Sonstraal Hospital

(This blog entry was written by Monte Christo Miqlat's recent guest, Jeanne Bayles. Please enjoy her view of one of the areas where MCM reaches into the community. Thank you, Jeanne, for living out the verses that you site at the end of this blog entry!).

This being my fifth trip to South Africa, I was very much looking forward to revisiting Sonstraal Hospital – a place where men, women and children are cared for who have TB and must be treated in a hospital setting.

I accompanied Pam Gass and Cathy Sias, two volunteers who have so faithfully served each week bringing a craft, a Bible story and a sweet treat. Most importantly these two women encourage other women who are in need of a kind word, a gentle touch and the encouragement that comes from sharing the love of Jesus.

One of the most beautiful displays of love I have witnessed was what I saw at Sonstraal Hospital today. There was an elderly patient sitting on the stoop looking as if she didn't feel well. One of the younger patients lovingly sat at her feet and rubbed her feet and legs with lotion as she gently spoke to her. She lived out the attitude of the very craft we created today...an angel.

As I witnessed this, I was reminded of the passage in Matthew 25:40 which reads, "Then those sheep are going to say "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you? Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me--you did it to me.'

Year end activities

For those who have lived in Paarl, you know that December brings closure. Schools, programs, sports leagues, small groups, it seems like everything starts wrapping up for the holidays. It's the same in our ministry. Last Friday we held a wonderful staff get together to talk about 2011 and what we've been able to accomplish. It's a rare event that our entire staff can get together but 46 of us were able to gather at Tiffany's for our year-end wrap up. Each staff member received a certificate of accomplishment as we have met a high percentage of our goals and objectives for the year. Take a look at how much we've grown!!! Isn't that a great looking group? - we can't tell you how blessed we feel to work with such amazing, wonderful, caring people!
Then, a few days later we held our Pre-school graduation. These young ones really put on a show for us. The highlight was clearly the Michael Jackson dance routine by the boys that had the entire room howling... now it's time for a long summer break before many of these kids start real school in January! Congratulations to Glenay, Surita and the staff for a job well done.

Community support breakfast

The morning of 17th November was very special for Monte Christo Miqlat. Local restaurant Schoongezicht hosted a community breakfast that was attended by over 50 community and business leaders. Each of these men and women had been invited by our Board Members to hear about the impact we've had on our community this past year. The numbers are significant... as of 14 November there were: 889,200 meals served, over 2,500 children in sports programs, 275 homeless fed each week and 65 put in jobs weekly, over 400 people per week being cared for at Tiffany's Center and over 375 each week at Lukhanyo. Add in the continuing care at Bowy House, our Leadership Development programming and the school holiday meals and programs and the picture is clear. We're making a difference.
The sad news that we shared with those present was the fact that our R1.9 million funding from the South African Lotto was being eliminated for 2012. Simply put, we were asking for help. If we're going to continue with this level of service for the poor, we need to replace that funding. The initial response after the breakfast has been encouraging. A lot of people want to help. We live in a wonderful community and at times like this, we are reminded of that fact. We are beginning to understand that if we work together, nobody in our community has to go without ways to receive help. Please continue to pray for us as we work hard to rebuild our funding base without a need for the Lotto support.