What originally started as a feeding program in the remote village of Leratong in Qwa Qwa, South Africa has now grown into something much bigger than we could have ever imagined. Changing Tomorrow Children’s Foundation (operated by Wim and Hylien van Rensburg) with the financial support of Susan’s Kids, now provides help for children in five additional villages in the neighboring country of Lesotho. Glory be to God!
- Leratong Village – Qwa Qwa, South Africa – Hylien reports that the children in the daycare continue to do well. Four of the pre-school children have graduated now and will be going to “big school”. All of the other children in the daycare know their alphabet and the 4 and 5 years olds are beginning to read! The children continue to thrive; they are well-fed, happy, and loved. Sunday School and Church have become part of life in Leratong Village. What a blessing to know that the people there are learning about Jesus!
- Matlakeng Village – Lesotho, Africa – There were approximately 60 children attending the daycare in Matlakeng. Eighteen of them have graduated and will be going to “big school” but there are more kids waiting in line to come to the daycare. A second building is in progress at the facility in Matlakeng. Pastor John (Wim’s right hand man in Lesotho) will live in this building when it is completed. It will also have a room which will be dedicated to the one and two year olds who come to daycare, so that they will not disrupt the teaching of the older children. When visitors come for mission trips, this building will also provide a place for them to stay. The building is finished up to roof level.
- KotsonKoaneng, Utloanang, Matlakeng 2, and Futong – Lesotho, Africa – These are four other villages that God called Wim to support in 2011. The daycare facilities for these villages are all in varying stages of development and we are trusting God to provide what is needed to complete the buildings. The foundation was poured early in 2011 for the daycare building in KotsonKoaneng—but then drought came. Because there was no water, all building had to stop for a while, but praise the Lord the building is now completed up to roof level. In Utloanang, Wim and Hylien are waiting for the Village Chief to give the go-ahead to start building the daycare. In Matlakeng 2, the villagers are collecting sandstone to use for their new daycare building. Futong is the most remote of the villages. The children there had no building at all –they met outside. Wim is renting a small building for them to use for now, while the villagers collect the stone for their new building.
A project was also started in 2011 to convert a shipping container to a soup kitchen in Bothe Buthe, Lesotho. Things tend to move slowly in Africa and it seems that roadblocks are constantly thrown in the way, but we know that God is in control and He will bring His work to completion in His perfect timing. Located in the town of Bothe Buthe, Lesotho, the container was placed near the hospital where children with HIV come for their medication. In order for the medication to work, the children must have food in their tummies – so that’s where the soup kitchen comes in. The container has been cleaned out and made ready, but the project has come to a temporary halt due to a logistical issue. Hopefully this issue will be resolved soon so that the children’s feeding program can get underway in 2012.
Jason White was part of our Mission Team that traveled to South Africa in the summer of 2009. He traveled back to Africa in early 2011 but had to return to the US due to health issues. We are thankful for his obedience to go to Africa and we are thankful for the assistance he gave to Wim while he was there.
Wim van Rensburg visited the US in late summer and spoke at several area churches. We were glad he had so many opportunities to share what God is doing in Africa.
In 2010 we started to provided some financial support to Missionary Abraham Thomas and the work he does for children in Trivandrum, Kerala State, India. Thanks be to God, we were able to continue this support in 2011.
We humbly thank God for each of you. God has used you and your generosity to carry out His work through Susan’s Kids. We ask for your continued prayers and financial support in 2012. As you can see, there is still much to do. We can’t do it without your help. We thank God for the lives that have been changed. We give Him all the Glory!
Marvin Gurganus, President
Ladies, don’t you just love these scarves?
