December 2011 Graduation Celebration

It was a grand celebration-

The second Evangeline 2011 Graduation. Eleven students, two men and nine women received their Sewing, English and Computer certificates along with their brand new sewing machines. On Saturday December 3. We were so pleased to welcome Laura McDaniel, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Virginia Womans Missionary Union of the Baptist General Conference and her mother Ginger. For the past five years, the VA-WMU has been a major sponsor of the work of Evangeline Ministries and Laura came to celebrate the partnership and deliver the main graduation address. We were also pleased to welcome Brejgie Piper of the WHEAT Foundation whose sewing machine support has enabled work for EM graduates. And then we formally unveiled our partnership with the Masiphumelele Corporation and Trust and welcomed Chief Executive Officer Andrew Smith who descibed the plans for 2012 to double the current skill development work of EM. This not only means twice as many students but a full employment for the teachers and an expansion of the business arm of this ministry. Yes, there were so many reasons to rejoice. And yet we did so with heavy hearts at the sudden loss of Rachel Twasile our lead sewing teacher who succumbed to cancer on Thursday December 1, two days before graduation. Rachel came to us and made a significant difference to our program. The quality of our work improved and we were able to take sewing orders with confidence to boost our reputation and help the teachers earn extra income. Why she shouuld leave us at this critical time in our EM life we leave to God's hands but are so thankful for her warmth, excellence and deep Christian faith. We knew her family well and will continue to love and see how we can be of help to them.

As we celebrate this Christmas season we thank God for the birth of a Savior who cane to love and serve the poor and opressed and disadvantaged. We thank God also for you, each one who readws this blog and pray for a blessed and joyful Christmas season for you.

Our class and Chapman's Peak

Our class at Chapman's Peak
Last year our Evangeline Board agreed we should add an event to class life to broaden the world view of our students, all of whom come from the confines of shack life. Today, in what was a first experience for most of the eleven students, we drove over Chapmans Peak, a magnificent sweep of ocean and mountain in a drive named one of ten most scenic drives in the world, and a must see when one visits Cape Town. I was touched that some of them were terrified of heights but they enjoyed the drive and even ventured out of the taxi to take pictures. Others soaked it all up and made their phone cameras work overtime. After a fish and chips lunch in Hout Bay, we went over to see the work done by men and women who also live in a township and who, under the supervision of Jill Heyes, does the most amazing art work on tea-bags. They were encouraged to see what they could do with imagination, hard work and God's help. Soon, December 3, they will graduate and they are working extremely hard to make the deadline. It will be a well earned time of celebration when they get done.

A Model We Love

Nosiphiwo was one of eleven Evangeline students who graduated last July 9. It was such a lovely occasion and, normally quiet in class, she sang and danced with such joy as she received her sewing machine, Bible and three certificates for English, computer and sewing work well done.

Married and the mother of three children, she has faced huge hurdles in her life . Thankfully she works for a friend of mine who values Nosipiwo's potential. Janet asked me to include her in the class and I came to love Nosiphiwo's work ethic and sense of humour. She was so afraid to get into the small ferry boat at the Cape Town harbor when we had the class visit, but she told us she asked God to help her. She hugged the Nelson Mandela statue at the Waterfront as she recognized the man who had won her freedom in South Africa. Janet is not letting her rest now. She has invested in Nosiphiwo and how excited I was when they visited me with the most beautiful of place mats and cushions that Nosiphiwo made. Janet,her mentor, has made a financial investment in her and these superbly made items are ready for sale at one of the nicest stores in town. Nosiphiwo is also sewing traditional clothes for others- all this from a new graduate. Janet has plans too for Nosiphiwo 's computer skills in her business. I am so encouraged by this model and how we need more local business or interested people like Janet to help our graduates with a hand up and not a hand out. There is much promise in this area and we are looking ahead to more opportunities for Evaneline gradutes as the year moves ahead.

Bread for Life

Bread for Life

After a break it is so good to be`back sharing this beautiful ministry through this blog. As I write, winter- an unusually mild one-is giving way to spring and the whales are strutting their stuff, playing with their babies and leaping with delight to our delight in the bay. Our class is a month

old and the learners are making good progress with their sewing. They have so much to learn to be ready for the December 3 graduation. Evangeline's program in Cape Town includes computer, sewing and English classes. This is part of the skill development we give to the students, most of whom live with HIV and AIDS. We also include a healthy lunch in the days's schedule. Once we learned how hungry the students who came to us were, we realized we needed to offer them something to eat. Along with the physical food we show them God's love and care for them and for the world as we study the Bible, the bread of life. It is always interesting for me to see the change in attitude from the time we start to the conclusion of our study time. It takes some time to cross the language barrier. Almost all speak Xhosa and the Bibles Evangeline gives are Xhosa Bibles but the study is done in English. So far they are involved in the study and

readily answer the questions asked of them. We have a varied class and this is a good challenge.

Off to a cold but excellent start

It is a rainy, cold day here in Cape Town but we are not complaining. we need the water and we did not get the snow that confused others in parts of the Cape. At Evangeline Ministries we are delighted as today marks the start of our second 2011 Skills Development Class. This class of twelve is at once the same and yet quite different from the class that graduated three weeks ago. In it we have students from two HIV and AIDS support groups from Living Hope and there are two men. They are ready to go with the graduation date set for Saturday December 3.

They willhave computer, english and sewing classes.

When I asked them if any had had computer instruction, not a single person raised the hand. When I asked why they said because they had never had the opportunity and they are too poor.

I told them God sent them to us and us to them.

I explained that Evangeline is there in the name and under the Lordship
of Jesus Christ who has come to give them "life to the full." I cooked the meal of stew and served with an apple and some cookies and said goodbye to them for a month as I head off to the US.

Each class is a special thrill to my heart. I delight to do this work here and will write more about the many opportunities coming our way and the partnerships we have. This is the day the Lord has made, and we are so thankful. And we are thankful for you friends, supporters, prayer partners and all who read this blog.

Congratulations and Celebrations

Congratulations and Celebrations

These go to the Leesburg Baptist Community Church Evangeline Ministries class of July 2011. Eleven women received their sewing machines, Bibles and certificates in what was the best class since Evangeline Ministries began this skills ministry in 2006. The sewing machines for this class were donated by the Leesburg Baptist Community Church in Virginia. Almost all of these ladies excelled in the English, Computer and Sewing classes they did for the past six months. They danced and sang and could not stop showing just how happy they were when they received their awards. They twirled and posed in their stunning outfits and I was impressed that one woman made a three piece suit rather than a traditional dress. I noted too that for the first time some of the husbands attended and this is a breakthrough since, in the past, it was rare to find one who had come to support his wife . Our speaker for the packed out graduation ceremony was Bishop Eric Pike, born in the Eastern Cape, former home of all of these ladies. He urged them to remember at all times and in all circumstances that they are "made in the image of God." This too is my prayer because everything around these women tell them the opposite and believing this will make all the difference in their ability to succeed.

The next step now is for them to find work , either generated by EM or themselves. Already one friend of mine has contracted with one of the women to have her do the computer work for her business and sew things to sell . We need so many more like her. I am also encouraged that people are calling constantly asking about EM's graduates for work, and however small the start, we are so thankful for this business for these ladies. We move on now to the next class that will graduate in December and we will build on all the things we have learned in this class to do even better in the days ahead.

July 4 in South Africa

Freedom Celebration in Cape Town

It was such fun to be part of more than 200 Americans in Cape Town who met at the residence of the US consular Officer, Dr. Alberta Mayberry for our July 4 celebration. Yes there were more than 22 applep pies in the bake off. In that yellow tin are my otameal cookies that went in a flash.

What I loved most about the event was meeting fellow Americans, almost all of whom are helping South Africans in need, in one capacity or another. Aomg us were a group of students from Coldorado Springs who were at the event with the students from the University of the Western Cape with whom they are working on entreprenurial issues. True to American hospitality, Dr. Mayberry invited children from three groups to attend: the children and staff of the South African Children's HOme in Cape Town, those from the Siyaphambili Orphan Village from Langa and those from Priscilla's Helping Hand from Wellington. Those kids ran around with their painted faces and jumped for joy in the jumping castle on the lovely grounds, framed on one side by Table Mountain and the other, the sweeping Victoria and Albert Waterfront. I will especially remember thebrief chat I had with a student f rom the Cameroon who wanted some advice on how to sell her paintings, based on what we had done to sell Evangeline Bags. I left stuffed with good food, apple pie and the joy of meeting other pilgrims on the philanthropic way.

Thank you to the US Consulate and the American Society for South Africa. And to all, let us always celebrate and teasure our freedom.