illuminate… I Will Show My Children What I Can Do Episode 4 Thank you for listening to illuminate, a podcast by Hands at Work in Africa. Hands at Work seeks out the most broken places in Africa to bring life to the poorest of the poor and most vulnerable people by way of His Church, both internationally and locally.For the past few weeks, we've been able to sit with the Hands family here in South Africa as George Snyman shares about the Goma region. Since his return, much has changed… If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/finding-the-most-vulnerable.

illuminate... Episode 3 - God is still busy with Katembe. We want to share about where we work, the types of communities that we are called to, to see Jesus bring life where it looks the bleakest. Just as Jesus came to bring life to a broken world, Hands at Work seeks out the most broken places in Africa to bring life to the poorest of the poor and most vulnerable people by way of His Church, both internationally and locally. The chief, I said to him, "You take me to Katembe or I go on my own, but we are going now." So he said, "Okay, let's go." If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." 
Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/finding-the-most-vulnerable. 

During Advent, this podcast channel comes to you in the form of Illuminate. Episode 2: Katembe - Jesus in a War. In this podcast series, we will take you to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we will visit three communities in the Goma area. Let's listen to George discussing the people and places where we work and what God is busy doing there. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/finding-the-most-vulnerable. 

Advent Podcast by Hands at Work in Africa. George Snyman, a co-founder of Hands at Work, has spent a considerable amount of time there this year. We're about to hear George talking to a group of volunteers in South Africa on October 30th. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/finding-the-most-vulnerable. 

Each year, the "Meanwhile in Africa..." Podcast becomes something new for the Advent season. Hands at Work in Africa works among the most vulnerable people in some of Africa's most vulnerable communities. Our seasonal podcast series will focus in on some of the people that we know and love in the Goma area of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hope joy, love and peace are the hallmarks of advent and these are what we pray for as we meet Jesus in these stories. You're listening to “illuminate” each Friday from December 1st to December 22nd.If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/finding-the-most-vulnerable. 

8/07 Today was my last day here in Goma, and it's like God just gave me the most beautiful evening to look at the sunset, and the lake is dead calm. It's like a mirror. Early this morning, I decided to spend my last day in Buhimba. When I arrived, Laurine, our coordinator, Sylvia, Teresa, were all down with malaria, coughing, sweating, but they were at the Care Point. We sat outside this morning under the tree to try and get more fresh air around us to try and prevent more of us to get sick. And as Bindhu desperately tried to get us to worship and sing, I could just sense such a fragileness, a heaviness, among everybody as they were sick, and the toll of the ongoing war. Then they asked me to share. How do I share? How do I encourage them? What do I even say to them? It's times like that where God's tears speak the loudest language. And I think, as we sat all together, realising that I'm leaving tomorrow, there's just the silence and, and the weeping. We said kind words to each other, we reminded each other that we love each other. Afterwards, I got up and I walked into our Care Point and I sat in a dark room where 25 kids were sitting on a dust floor eating porridge. Boys, like Bahati, which I couldn't imagine would ever have survived if we didn't initiate the zero to five programme only six months ago. There's a gratefulness in my heart as I watch these kids eating, and I realise how desperate their brains and their bodies need this nutrition to become strong and healthy. I looked outside and I see our Care Workers coughing and sweating. I just handed out the last bit of medication I carried for myself and I was thinking, "I'm leaving tomorrow morning, and we are so fragile." We are so fragile. But if I look at the children sitting in front of me, it's a miracle! It's beautiful! Isn't that how it is with all of our lives? It's beautiful. It's a miracle, and yet we are so fragile. We are always only one step away from a disaster.

8/06 This morning I'm recording the "Meanwhile in Africa..." out of Goma. I've been here in our children's camp since very early this morning with Bindu, where we are facing a cholera outbreak, and we really ask you to pray with us, that God would protect all of us. But this morning I wanna speak to you about 'ongoing love'. You know, many, many people all over the world respond at the moment to me and say, what can we do? And I'm hesitant just to answer, because I don't want a quick response, and then we forget. I want us to become aware of what's happening in the world ongoingly, and I want us to respond. [Hello Sasha!] I want us to respond changing our lifestyles, the way we pray, the way we live and the way we give. That's not easy for all of us. Many of you can remember the story of Alliance, the girl with a stick that had such a cross face. Nobody knew where she was from. Then we tracked her down and she became part of our Care Point, and I saw her change into this amazing girl, full of laughter and joy. Well, when I met her again this time, she was just dirty, depressed, and broken. It shattered my heart, you know. I found out that somebody was abusing her physically. They burnt her school clothes, burnt her school books to prevent her from going to school. And there she was weeks after it happened. I saw her. And I just realised, you know, love is not a success story instantly, it's ongoing. So, we had to pull her out of that depth - that miry pit, you know. Buy her new school clothes. Get her new books. And this week I sent her to school again with Bindu, and once again I could see that smile on her face. You know, it just helps me to understand Alliance's story, in the beginning, was a great story. But that's not enough. We're gonna have to keep fighting for Alliance because she was rescued once, but like all of us, she needs to be rescued continually. As we reached out and gave her a second chance, that's what Jesus does for all of us. That's how we need to be with each other. For that, we need to have eyes that can see, and we need resilience to continue to push. May God bless you as you change people's lives.

8/05 It's One of the things we love in Hands is vision. We love the Hands Vision. All of us bought into the Hands Vision. All of us believe that the Hands vision is what God called us to do and we are passionate about it. This last week, here in Kachele in Zambia, I had the privilege to spend the week with over 50 church leaders and their wives. Oh, it was so wonderful to see all the pastors bringing their wives. We sat down and we dug into God's word. We looked at the mandate he gave the church. We listened to stories. There was one pastor from Kapiri - he's in his late sixties now - he said last year, it was the highlight of his year to come together. This year he brought his wife and at times we watched them, tears in their eyes, as they listened to God's word and they heard young pastors full of fire and zeal. Then we got to a place where we shared about the Hands vision - to get to the communities where nobody goes. I started sharing with them about Alugbo in Ibadan, Nigeria. How some of our Service Centre staff had to walk through rivers to get to these isolated communities, and how the children were dying, and how they are caring for them now, and how the love of Jesus was brought. We spoke about many other areas. The Democratic Republic of Congo and in Zimbabwe! Then we said to the churches, this vision belongs to the church. We are only with you to help you, but the time is coming when you must take this and run on your own, because we need to get to more communities. We need to go further. I held my breath. I didn't know what was gonna happen after we shared that, but I want to tell you, the pastors wept. They stood up, they shouted to us, "You must go! You must go! We receive this vision. This is our call!" It was one of the most incredible moments many of us have experienced for many years, as we sat back there under the thatch in Kachele. All of us were just committing ourselves before God, before one another, that we're gonna go further and deeper. The churches that already saw Hands, and they saw the model in front of them, they are putting up their hands and they say, we are ready to run on our own church. There's something beautiful, happening and we are part of that.

8/04 It's One of the things we love in Hands is vision. We love the Hands Vision. All of us bought into the Hands Vision. All of us believe that the Hands vision is what God called us to do and we are passionate about it. This last week, here in Kachele in Zambia, I had the privilege to spend the week with over 50 church leaders and their wives. Oh, it was so wonderful to see all the pastors bringing their wives. We sat down and we dug into God's word. We looked at the mandate he gave the church. We listened to stories. There was one pastor from Kapiri - he's in his late sixties now - he said last year, it was the highlight of his year to come together. This year he brought his wife and at times we watched them, tears in their eyes, as they listened to God's word and they heard young pastors full of fire and zeal. Then we got to a place where we shared about the Hands vision - to get to the communities where nobody goes. I started sharing with them about Alugbo in Ibadan, Nigeria. How some of our Service Centre staff had to walk through rivers to get to these isolated communities, and how the children were dying, and how they are caring for them now, and how the love of Jesus was brought. We spoke about many other areas. The Democratic Republic of Congo and in Zimbabwe! Then we said to the churches, this vision belongs to the church. We are only with you to help you, but the time is coming when you must take this and run on your own, because we need to get to more communities. We need to go further. I held my breath. I didn't know what was gonna happen after we shared that, but I want to tell you, the pastors wept. They stood up, they shouted to us, "You must go! You must go! We receive this vision. This is our call!" It was one of the most incredible moments many of us have experienced for many years, as we sat back there under the thatch in Kachele. All of us were just committing ourselves before God, before one another, that we're gonna go further and deeper. The churches that already saw Hands, and they saw the model in front of them, they are putting up their hands and they say, we are ready to run on our own church. There's something beautiful, happening and we are part of that.

8/03 It's Thursday evening in Kachele and we normally all gather on a soccer field outside the big thatch where we eat together. What a fantastic evening this is. And to look at people that you love and live with. People that have the same passion, and to just realise the privillege we have to be together. This week, as I was in Kapiri Nissi, I met two Care Workers. One's name is Ruth and Judith is the name of the other lady. Judith is our 0 - 5 Champion, and Ruth is our cook. They arrive seven o'clock at the Care Point every morning. If it's going well, they leave by two o'clock in the afternoon, all by themselves, going home to be alone with children. I asked Judith, who's about my age, I said to Judith, "How do you survive if you spend so much time at the Care Point every day?" And she said to me, "I'm doing piece jobs." I said, explain to me what does it mean to do piece jobs? She said maybe somebody will come to her with a huge bucket full of dirty clothing and they will ask her to wash it, and she said she will start at two o'clock and she might finish at five o'clock in the afternoon. And she said if that happens her heart is so full of joy. I said, Judith, "How much will you get for that?" She said, "Well, if people are generous, I can get up to 30 Kwacha!" 30 Kwacha is one and a half US dollars. For Judith, a good day is to start seven o'clock in the morning to serve the children that she so passionately loves, and then to go home and to trust God to give her, an elderly lady now, a massive bucket full of dirty clothing, and she will go on her knees and she washes that, and then she gets paid one and a half dollars to look after her and her grandchildren. I'm standing here and I'm watching the Kachele community and we've got a fire going. We've got fish on there. I watch people talk and laugh and children cycle and swinging on that huge swing on a tree. And I'm thinking, "God, you are good. You are so, so good to me." But how focused am I to make life easier? And how aware am I of people like Judith and Ruth? May God help us to be a major blessing, and may we have grateful hearts counting our blessings every day.

Different times of the year are inspiring to different people. For example, Advent, when we remember that the Son of God became a baby, is very, very inspiring for most of us. We always look forward to Christmas to be inspired and to be reminded of the son of God that came all the way to save us. January in Zambia is a season like that for me. There's just something hopeful and beautiful in Zambia in January, especially late afternoons when you watch those dark clouds come rolling from the distance, and you know that tonight, as you go to bed, it will be pouring. In fact, it will be pouring for most of the night. It'll happen night after night. When you go for your early morning runs, you sidestep through the water pools and you watch people, young and old, with their hoes and forks and bags of seeds. That's one time of the year where everybody's smiling when we greet each other early in the morning. Because the soil is wet. You smell the fertile soil. There's a hope, there's a chance that this year is gonna be a good year. Then when I take the turn to Jacobi Road, back to the farm, I run past this long the of children on their way to school for the first time in the new year. You can see new shoes, new shirts, if they're fortunate. Those who couldn't get new ones, wash them until they're shining. But everybody will have a step in their walk because it's a new year and it just feels like this year will be better than last year. We had a sense like that here in Kachele this year. God just touched us right from the beginning and the richness of his word penetrated our dry hearts. For the last two weeks, every night, we packed the lounge in the main building and we sat there and together we worshipped, and then we tuck into God's word, young and old, new Christians, and people who've been following Jesus for decades. You could see the Holy Spirit moving in our midst. You could sense and feel the hope. Yes, Lord, I want my heart to be soft like the soil outside. As it rains tonight, may your Holy Spirit reign in my heart! How is it with your heart? When you go outside early in the morning, how do you feel? Is it well with your soul?

Thank you for listening to "illuminate", the Advent podcast from Hands at Work in Africa. Throughout the year in Africa, we focused on a different Bible story. In the first week, we read from the Gospel of Luke in chapter one - Gabriel's message to Mary, the soon-to-be mother of the Most-High. Each week leading up to Christmas, we will hear from African leaders. They will describe how the scripture is seen in their context and on the ground in Africa. This week we are hearing from Sisanda. He is a leader in Youth Discipleship with the South African Regional Support team. The story of Gabriel announcing to Mary, a teenage girl, that she would birth the saviour of the world isn't just another Christmas story for us. It's God's invitation. Mary said, "Yes!". Now that's a powerful statement. It's a really powerful statement because it highlights our relationship with God as his children. We are adopted into his family because he invited us into his family. Jesus says that no one comes to him apart from the Father drawing them in. God initiates and we respond. We only love because he first loved us and invited us into his family. I wanna pause that thought and pick it up again in a moment. Mary was from a small village called Nazareth, and like Nazareth, there are many communities we work in across Africa that a majority of people don't even know exist. Not just outside of Africa, but within Africa. They are forgotten, and the few who know of them have a "Can anything good come out of that community?" kind of attitude towards them. For example, I grew up around White River. Communities like Zwelisha and Mafambisa have always been around, but I have never known of them until I joined Hands at Work. Those are the communities we believe God has called us to. Back to God's invitation and Mary's response. Mary said yes to what God wanted to do through her. Now, I don't believe her life was meaningless and without purpose. As you know, in the first century, women only found their space in society through who they married. And Mary was on the verge of being married, so she was finding her place in society. Those of us who can remember engagement season know that it's a season where our list of to-dos is endless and all our attention is focused on the big day. It's one of life's busiest seasons. Yet, Mary could pause and say yes in the middle of life's busiest season. Which reminds us of two parables Jesus taught his followers about a father who sent out wedding invitations, and everyone on the invitation list was so busy with life that they actually had excuses. And some even harassed and harmed the messengers. What a tragic story. Jesus says that we did not choose him, but he chose us that we would go and bear much fruit. And I'm sure that being the mother of the Messiah was far beyond anything young Mary could have ever thought or imagine or dreamed. God is inviting people, and he's sending us out into all our communities to go and invite them into his new covenant, transforming hearts and drawing them into his redemption story for their whole communities. We are called to bring life and life in abundance through the power of the Holy Spirit that is at work in us. The reality is that we cannot control the responses. All we can do is just give the invite and trust the rest to God. Like Gabriel, we are just his messengers. The reason this story has struck such a nerve for some of us here in Africa is because we've seen how God has been doing this throughout Hands' history. Busie, one of our leaders on the ground here in Africa, was a single mom when she first joined Hands at Work. Out of obedience to God said, "Yes!" to what God wanted to do in and through her life. Out of her obedience, our Young Mom's programme was birthed many years ago. She poured her life into these young girls whose lives have been marked by endless disappointment and immense trauma. She invested herself into them and God used her mightily. Recently one of those young ladies named Carol, who came from Masoyi, our very first community, came back to share a testimony with us. Her testimony was so inspiring that it left us full of faith for what the Lord could do in our young girls across our communities. We've continued that legacy through our Youth Discipleship where we have been going out into our communities and finding young people and inviting them to commit to being discipled, formed and shaped by God. We've been doing this for a few years now, and we've had various responses. Some said yes immediately. Others went to go think about it a little more. Some said yes but didn't show up. Some said yes they showed up, but turned away sorrowful because they couldn't sacrifice. And others said yes, showed up, and they've stuck through with us and now we've slowly seen the fruits of that. Again, like Jesus said at the end of his parable, many have been invited, but few have been chosen. We are so encouraged by this Christmas story knowing that we have been chosen to experience salvation because of a young woman from an obscure village who said yes in the middle of one of life's busiest seasons, planning a wedding. Recently we went and identified a few young girls from Sommerset Community and invited them to be part of our 2023 Youth Discipleship, and later we are hoping to extend that invitation to all our other communities across Africa. We trust that they will not just say yes to this invitation, but they will show up, they'll be present and they will engage with what the Lord wants to do through them. Because we are convinced that the Lord wants to give them life and life in abundance. He wants to change their destinies, and inevitably he wants to transform their whole communities. Our hope and our prayers are that they, like Mary, will say yes. We know that these young ladies have been set apart by God for his purposes. So we ask that you partner with us in prayer, that they would say yes to God. That it will have as much of a ripple effect as Mary's yes has had on all of our lives.

Thank you for listening to "illuminate" the Advent podcast from Hands at Work in Africa. Throughout the year in Africa we focused on a different Bible story. In the first week we read from the Gospel of Luke in chapter one - Gabriel's message to Mary, the soon-to-be mother of the Most-High. Each week leading up to Christmas, we will hear from African leaders. They will describe how the scripture is seen in their context and on the ground in Africa. This week we are hearing from Cecilia. She is a coordinator in the local hands office in Chisamba, Zambia. Most of the time, when God asks us to do something for him, something that seems impossible, we say, "How am I going to do it?" Now, let us look at the story of Mary. Mary was engaged to Joseph and she was supposed to get married to him, but the angel appeared to her to say, you're going to have a child, and this child will be great. Then Mary answered, "How is it going to be, because I'm a virgin?" So, if we read further, we'll see that Mary at last obeyed the voice of God. She obeyed the voice of God. So, same to us. You know, we are taking care of our children in our, different Care Points and when God tells us to do something for Him, maybe He tells us take care of that child. We ask, "How am I going to do it? Because even me, I live in poverty. I don't have enough. How can I help that child?" Sometimes maybe you are told to go and bath the child. Saying, "That child is very dirty. Can you get your soap at home and bath the child?" It's like, "How can I do it because I don't have enough? Even my family needs some soap. How am I going to do it?" So, let us learn from the story of Mary. Mary was supposed to get married and she was told that she's going to have a child. Now she did obey the voice of God, because she knew that the angel came from God. Most of the time, we miss the blessings of the Lord, because we might think, "Ah, but why is God telling me to take care of that child? In the community where I live, there are rich people. They have a lot of money. Why can't God speak to that person who has a lot of money?" Look at Mary! All that time there were many people with good names. Rich people. Well-known people. But God chose Mary! She was not known. God chose her to say, "You are going to have a child and this child will be great." Children of God, let us obey the voice of God. When God tells us to do this, we shouldn't ask "How?" God knows better than us. So, we are here - different Care Points. We are chosen by God to be here. In the communities where we are, you don't have enough. You're not rich people, but why did God choose you? He chose you for a purpose, so that you can take care of the children. You know, in this story of Mary, I've learned a lot of things. If people knew, they were going to say, "Hey, come here! Come here, come!" But they didn't know. Same with the children who are taken care of. Well, you can look at this child, say, "Ah, she's dirty. He's dirty. He's poor." But you don't know the plan of God upon that child. You don't even know. Only God knows. If God tells you that this one will be the President of Zambia, we are going to take care of the child very well. Now it is a secret of God. So, these children we are taking care of, how are they going to remember you when they grow up? Are they going to remember you as a person who was chasing them away, or a person who embraced them, showed them love, cared well for them? You bathed them. You gave them food. You gave them love. How are they going to remember you? One day I was going to Capiri. As I was walking, a boy ran to me. He said, "Auntie, auntie, auntie!" Then I said, "Auntie? Here in Capiri? Do people know me? Do I have a relative?" Who was this boy calling me Auntie? Then I continued walking. The boy continued running towards me and said, "Auntie! Auntie!" Then I stopped. Then he came near and he said, "Auntie, you don't remember me? I'm Michael from Chisamba! You remember how you took care of me? Now I completed grade 12. I stay here in Capiri. I'm staying very well." So I said, "Oh, Michael!" I greeted him. I hugged him. Then, I learned something. If I was chasing him or maybe using bad language to him, he was just going to look at me, and tell his friends, "You know that woman? I know her. You know what she used to do? You know how she used to talk to me? She's a bad woman, that one!" But he ran to me and I was blessed in my heart. So same with us. Let us take good care of the children God has given us. These children were given to us by God so that we can take care of them. The how belongs to God! Remember how Jesus came into this world? The Bible says nothing is impossible with God. If he tells you to do, you have to do it. You know, there's a song in Zambia which says, "The one who gave me teeth, is going to give me what to chew." So, God knew that these teeth are supposed to chew something. Even when you are given something to do, God knows how you are going to do it. He's going to give you strength. He's going to provide. Let's believe him and let's obey him. Hey, I tell you this work we are given is not an easy task. If you are coming to the Care Point as a Care Worker, just with your mind, you are going to fail unless you have that heart for the children, you have that love inside you, then you are going to do it. Before coming to Chisamba, my husband was at Bible school. When he completed, different churches came to us to say, "Come and join us. We're going to take care of you. We'll be buying suits for you. Then your wife, we are going to give capital for business." Then another church came to say, "If you join us, we are going to take you to the USA. There you are going to learn about our doctrine. When coming back we will give you a car, and we'll give you a good house." So, we were taken by those things, especially going to America! Hey, I've never visited America. We talked to say, "No, we are not going to pray about it because hmmmmn! Now, if God tells us, "No", what are we going to do?! I think this is a good thing." Then, at night, we said, "No, no, no. We can't go anywhere without asking God." We prayed to God and God said, "No, you are not going there. Where I've sent you is Chisamba." By that time, the executive for our church did not tell us where they're sending us. Then they said, "We are sending you to Chisamba." We said, "We knew this." We had a small book where we were writing some processes. Then we showed them to say God spoke to us that we're going to Chisamba. When we reached Chisamba, my children cried, "Why are we here, mom? Why can't we go back to Luanshya?" The day we took them to school, they said, "There are no desks at school. So we were sitting on the floor." We started in 2006 taking care of the orphans. For six years, we had no support. We were using the little we had. When God tells us, "Do this", we were not asking, "How?" We started with Isubilo in 2006, 2008 Miswa. We have Mutaba, Kamaila, we have even a Service Center. We have seen that obedience to the word of God brings blessings. Hands at Work has touched many souls in Chisamba because we obeyed the voice of God. So, children of God, let us obey the voice of God as Mary obeyed. She was not a rich person, but she obeyed the voice of God. It is because Mary obeyed, that a saviour would be born through her. We are enjoying the presence of God. You've been listening to the “illuminate” podcast by Hands at Work in Africa. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/JoinUsThisChristmas.

Thank you for listening to "illuminate" the Advent podcast from Hands at Work in Africa. Throughout the year in Africa we focused on a different Bible story. In the first week we read from the Gospel of Luke in chapter one - Gabriel's message to Mary, the soon-to-be mother of the Most-High. Each week leading up to Christmas, we will hear from African leaders. They will describe how the scripture is seen in their context and on the ground in Africa. This week we are hearing from Cecilia. She is a coordinator in the local hands office in Chisamba, Zambia. Most of the time, when God asks us to do something for him, something that seems impossible, we say, "How am I going to do it?" Now, let us look at the story of Mary. Mary was engaged to Joseph and she was supposed to get married to him, but the angel appeared to her to say, you're going to have a child, and this child will be great. Then Mary answered, "How is it going to be, because I'm a virgin?" So, if we read further, we'll see that Mary at last obeyed the voice of God. She obeyed the voice of God. So, same to us. You know, we are taking care of our children in our, different Care Points and when God tells us to do something for Him, maybe He tells us take care of that child. We ask, "How am I going to do it? Because even me, I live in poverty. I don't have enough. How can I help that child?" Sometimes maybe you are told to go and bath the child. Saying, "That child is very dirty. Can you get your soap at home and bath the child?" It's like, "How can I do it because I don't have enough? Even my family needs some soap. How am I going to do it?" So, let us learn from the story of Mary. Mary was supposed to get married and she was told that she's going to have a child. Now she did obey the voice of God, because she knew that the angel came from God. Most of the time, we miss the blessings of the Lord, because we might think, "Ah, but why is God telling me to take care of that child? In the community where I live, there are rich people. They have a lot of money. Why can't God speak to that person who has a lot of money?" Look at Mary! All that time there were many people with good names. Rich people. Well-known people. But God chose Mary! She was not known. God chose her to say, "You are going to have a child and this child will be great." Children of God, let us obey the voice of God. When God tells us to do this, we shouldn't ask "How?" God knows better than us. So, we are here - different Care Points. We are chosen by God to be here. In the communities where we are, you don't have enough. You're not rich people, but why did God choose you? He chose you for a purpose, so that you can take care of the children. You know, in this story of Mary, I've learned a lot of things. If people knew, they were going to say, "Hey, come here! Come here, come!" But they didn't know. Same with the children who are taken care of. Well, you can look at this child, say, "Ah, she's dirty. He's dirty. He's poor." But you don't know the plan of God upon that child. You don't even know. Only God knows. If God tells you that this one will be the President of Zambia, we are going to take care of the child very well. Now it is a secret of God. So, these children we are taking care of, how are they going to remember you when they grow up? Are they going to remember you as a person who was chasing them away, or a person who embraced them, showed them love, cared well for them? You bathed them. You gave them food. You gave them love. How are they going to remember you? One day I was going to Capiri. As I was walking, a boy ran to me. He said, "Auntie, auntie, auntie!" Then I said, "Auntie? Here in Capiri? Do people know me? Do I have a relative?" Who was this boy calling me Auntie? Then I continued walking. The boy continued running towards me and said, "Auntie! Auntie!" Then I stopped. Then he came near and he said, "Auntie, you don't remember me? I'm Michael from Chisamba! You remember how you took care of me? Now I completed grade 12. I stay here in Capiri. I'm staying very well." So I said, "Oh, Michael!" I greeted him. I hugged him. Then, I learned something. If I was chasing him or maybe using bad language to him, he was just going to look at me, and tell his friends, "You know that woman? I know her. You know what she used to do? You know how she used to talk to me? She's a bad woman, that one!" But he ran to me and I was blessed in my heart. So same with us. Let us take good care of the children God has given us. These children were given to us by God so that we can take care of them. The how belongs to God! Remember how Jesus came into this world? The Bible says nothing is impossible with God. If he tells you to do, you have to do it. You know, there's a song in Zambia which says, "The one who gave me teeth, is going to give me what to chew." So, God knew that these teeth are supposed to chew something. Even when you are given something to do, God knows how you are going to do it. He's going to give you strength. He's going to provide. Let's believe him and let's obey him. Hey, I tell you this work we are given is not an easy task. If you are coming to the Care Point as a Care Worker, just with your mind, you are going to fail unless you have that heart for the children, you have that love inside you, then you are going to do it. Before coming to Chisamba, my husband was at Bible school. When he completed, different churches came to us to say, "Come and join us. We're going to take care of you. We'll be buying suits for you. Then your wife, we are going to give capital for business." Then another church came to say, "If you join us, we are going to take you to the USA. There you are going to learn about our doctrine. When coming back we will give you a car, and we'll give you a good house." So, we were taken by those things, especially going to America! Hey, I've never visited America. We talked to say, "No, we are not going to pray about it because hmmmmn! Now, if God tells us, "No", what are we going to do?! I think this is a good thing." Then, at night, we said, "No, no, no. We can't go anywhere without asking God." We prayed to God and God said, "No, you are not going there. Where I've sent you is Chisamba." By that time, the executive for our church did not tell us where they're sending us. Then they said, "We are sending you to Chisamba." We said, "We knew this." We had a small book where we were writing some processes. Then we showed them to say God spoke to us that we're going to Chisamba. When we reached Chisamba, my children cried, "Why are we here, mom? Why can't we go back to Luanshya?" The day we took them to school, they said, "There are no desks at school. So we were sitting on the floor." We started in 2006 taking care of the orphans. For six years, we had no support. We were using the little we had. When God tells us, "Do this", we were not asking, "How?" We started with Isubilo in 2006, 2008 Miswa. We have Mutaba, Kamaila, we have even a Service Center. We have seen that obedience to the word of God brings blessings. Hands at Work has touched many souls in Chisamba because we obeyed the voice of God. So, children of God, let us obey the voice of God as Mary obeyed. She was not a rich person, but she obeyed the voice of God. It is because Mary obeyed, that a saviour would be born through her. We are enjoying the presence of God. You've been listening to the “illuminate” podcast by Hands at Work in Africa. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/JoinUsThisChristmas.

This year for the illuminate podcast, we are taking a different tack from the previous two years. Throughout the year in Africa, we focus on a different Bible story each month. For the next four Fridays, we'll be reflecting on how the Bible story is felt by those who are doing the work on the ground in Africa. Our story for Advent is Gabriel's message to Mary - the soon-to-be mother of the Most High. Join us for the next three weeks as we hear from African leaders. This week we'll read a scripture and gather a little bit of context to lead us through the following weeks. The ANNUNCIATION In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you”Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” "How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” "I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Then Mary said, “My heart sings with thanks for my Lord. And my spirit is happy in God, the one who saves from punishment of sin. The Lord has looked on me, His servant-girl and one who is not important. But from now on all people will honour me. He who is powerful has done great things for me. His name is holy. The loving-kindness of the Lord is given to the people of all times who honour Him. He has done powerful works with His arm. He has divided from each other those who have pride in their hearts. He has taken rulers down from their thrones. He has put those who are in a place that is not important to a place that is important. He has filled those who are hungry with good things. He has sent the rich people away with nothing. He has helped Israel His servant. This was done to remember His loving-kindness. He promised He would do this to our early fathers and to Abraham and to his family forever.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she went to her own home. Nothing will be impossible with God! In this story, you find a girl whom no one thought was special or important. Nothing in her life had led her to believe that she could be called highly favoured by the Lord. She did not feel that way. Who was she? We know from the scriptures that even her name was ordinary. There are six Marys in the New Testament alone. She’s poor, female, and young. A virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph - likely arranged by their parents when Mary was quite young. Nazareth was a very small town, a completely insignificant village. It is so insignificant that Luke feels compelled to explain to Theophilus where Nazareth is. Again, so insignificant that when Nathanael is told the Messiah has been found, Nathanael’s response is, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" The angel, Gabriel, came to an unremarkable girl in an unremarkable town with news that was going to change everything. What feelings flooded her heart and mind, changing the atmosphere and direction of where she thought the day might be going? A child! Born of the Holy Spirit! She will be an unmarried pregnant virgin! How will she explain to Joseph that she is pregnant? Is Joseph going to believe her? He would have the right to divorce her! Imagine Mary sitting down with Joseph and trying to explain that this baby is really God's miracle. Mary is going to have much explaining to do in her community. Can you imagine this teenage girl explaining all of this to her parents, who have set her up with a good man, and they are engaged to be married? We would expect Mary to offer some resistance to this plan. Did Mary really understand the implications of what she had been told? It was only with deep faith and trust that she accepted this message from heaven. She does not find a way to get out of the responsibility placed upon her. Elaborate plans were made and put in motion before the foundations of the earth. The long-anticipated redemption of all creation was laid before Mary. She was not the second or third choice. Our heavenly Father knew she was the one for the job. Many of us prefer familiarity to spontaneity. The known to the unknown. Mary humbly accepted this radical direction in her life. She yields her dreams, her plans, and her life to the Lord. Her reaction? A song! She says, "I'm in!" Our God is the one who lifts up the humble. Our call is to say yes to Him because when we do that, we know he can do great things through us and He will get the glory. You've been listening to illuminate podcast by Hands at Work in Africa. If you haven't already subscribed to the podcast, please find us on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast by searching "Meanwhile in Africa..." Learn how you can give the gift of hope. Visit www.handsatwork.org/JoinUsThisChristmas.

This is the last episode of "Meanwhile in Africa..." for the season. You travelled with me through South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and we ended up in England. I hope it stirred your hearts and it brought hope and faith into places where it is needed. Please continue to pray for our Hands at Work. Pray for our leaders. Pray for our Care Workers. Pray for our grannies and our children, and if you can really, really only do one thing, I wanna encourage you, pray daily for one of our children by name. This coming week is a massive week in Hands at Work. On the 10th of October, we are celebrating 20 years of our Father's faithfulness and goodness! What makes this so special to us this year is that we will have many, many African leaders and teams here at the Hub. We would actually receive them at the Hub. So, please pray for us as we celebrate and we carefully consider "How do we care better for our children?" You know, this is also a huge moment for many, many of our young leaders in Africa. For so many of them, they will meet senior African leaders for the first time. I mean, due to COVID and us not meeting for three years, and in these three years, many new leaders developed and came to the fore. Many of them are gonna meet these senior leaders that they read about and heard about. They're gonna meet them for the first time next week. Monday, we're just going to all sit together and we are going to share stories of the history of each of the countries where we work, and we are going to just enjoy and celebrate God's goodness! Monday evening, that's going to be so amazing. We're all going to sit around the fire pit. We're going to make a huge campfire. And then some of our most senior leaders, scattered across Africa, are going to sit around the fire, and they are going to share some of the great stories of Hands at Work. Just to inspire our young leaders - to help them to dream how God could use them in the same way. What a privilege! Thank you for walking with me through this season. May your feet be beautiful. May your hands bring life. May your tongue speak hope. May your ears hear the cry of the most vulnerable. May Jesus live in you.

Tonight I'm sitting with Carolyn at Heathrow Airport in London. The last 12 days we went from north to south, from east to west to go and see our church partners, our volunteers, families, individuals. So, so many people in England that we haven't seen for over three years. What an incredible surprise it was for us as we met group after group, spoke in church after church. Had such a warm welcome and people came! They travelled long distances just to hear what's happening in Africa, to tell us how they've been praying. The first teams that came to Africa passionately shared just how grateful all the Care Workers were when they got to Africa. As I'm standing here waiting for a plane, my memory goes back only two weeks ago where we had the farewell for Busie - one of our great, great African woman leaders for over 15 years. As we all gathered together, one of the young moms from Masoyi that Busie led over 10 years ago stood up, and she just said, "I am a mother, and I'm a confident woman, and I'm taking care of myself because of Busie!" How incredible! How beautiful! Gratefulness. Serving. Loving. Carolyn and I got to Heathrow, and we met Grace, a long-term volunteer of Hands from a few years ago. We sat with her at the airport, and she just shared with us how she daily applies the principles that she learned in Africa in her new work in a most vulnerable community in England. She said to us, "Thank you for the amazing things we could learn in Africa. Now we are applying it in England." Same story: England, back in the hub, Masoyi early days. I'm flying back to Africa tonight. My heart is grateful. It's hopeful. I'm realistic about the season that we are in, and I know that God is good.

7/17 As I'm doing this "Meanwhile in Africa..." and I do a 360 where I'm standing right now, I just see gorgeous, beautiful mountains all around me. I'm in Dedza in Malawi and where I stay is only, maybe 40, 50 metres away from the nearest village. Even as I speak to you, I can hear the children in the background playing and singing and laughing. What an incredible joy to be in Malawi. Well, this week, I had this crazy privilege to spend a whole day with Violet. And those of you that know Violet will know, if you go out into the community with Violet, two things will happen. You will walk your legs off, and you will hear things that you won't hear anywhere else. You will see a passion for people and for Jesus that is very hard to find anywhere else on this planet. We were touring up this little footpath into the hills on our way to visit a grandmother looking after four children. One of the children we especially wanted to visit that day, her name is Lemmy. Lemmy had polio when she was a baby. She's 14 now! She sat on a grass mat, and I approached her home, with her grandmother sitting opposite her. I was a little bit hesitant. How should I approach? What can I do to break the ice? But before I could even think about it, Lemmy just gave me this most incredible smile. Just the most beautiful white teeth you've ever seen. She just made me feel so welcome. I felt so special. I was supposed to do that for her. And yes, it's a 14-year-old-girl with polio, who can't go to school because her wheelchair has been broken for months and months. And she can't even come out to our Care Point to eat at the moment. We bring food to her. Yet she's so full of joy! Well, it didn't take me long to work out why she had so much joy. It was when I met her grandmother Forosa. Lemmy was just a carbon copy of her grandmother. Oh my goodness! Full of joy! Thanking God the whole time. I looked around her. She's got every reason to be sulking, sad, and yet she's so full of joy. In fact, it was so striking to me that not only did she look after those four children, but the rest of the surrounding huts - children just kept on coming while we were talking. Sitting on the grandmother's lap. Hugging her. Showing her something, and then just walking away, and the next one coming. Friends, it was so incredible for me, as I've been struggling with godly hospitality lately in my own heart, thinking just how we have diluted it down. We don't even know our neighbours. We don't even talk to anybody. Here! Here's a grandmother, who's got every reason not to look at people around her because she should be so overwhelmed, and yet the hospitality's oozing out of her. Right at the end of my Holy Home Visit, I turned to Lemmy, and I said to her, "Can we sing your most favourite song?" And she ripped loose. She sang the most beautiful song. I hope you enjoy it. I hope your hearts will be stirred today. Be hospitable.

7/16 I've got the incredible privilege to be in Malawi, the warm heart of Africa. I haven't been here since 2019, and so many of us are gathering here together as leaders from Zimbabwe and Mozambique and Malawi, and there are even a few senior leaders like Blessings that arrived from Zambia, and Levy and Tyler from South Africa. Some of us haven't seen each other for three and a half years, and you know, some of these relationships have been going for longer than 15 years. And when we walked into that room and we met each other, the singing and the laughing and the rejoicing... Old friendships! Comrades coming together and enjoying each other and just singing and telling each other just how faithful God has been in our midst! We watched new leaders like Tanazio taking on the Service Centre, and as I watched him speaking to people, I could not believe what God has done in his life. This young, timid boy I met a number of years ago, just an incredible leader. There are also new people like Beatrice. Beatrice who used to be the coordinator from Mngwere (community), and now she's sat among us, eating from all these seasoned leaders... Madalitso, our bookkeeper in Malawi! You know, we always speak about different layers of people in Hands at Work, coming from all over the world, all over Africa and working together. Sometimes you see that difference even on the local level. If you look at Madalitso and Beatrice coming from the same wider community, working in the same Service Centre, but with such different backgrounds. Beatrice grew up in the poorest communities where she learned how to survive. She worked with that beautiful heart that God has given her, and she became our coordinator in Mngwere eventually, and now she's in the Service Centre. She understands the depths of poverty and suffering! And then you look at somebody like Madalitso, who's been well educated and worked in financial institutions, but also this burning heart for Jesus. And there she is, but she's managing our finances and our administration. They sit next to each other, and they learn from the senior leaders and their hearts get swallowed up by the beautiful stories that God has invited all of us to be part of. What a privilege, how beautiful it is. You are part of this. It's amazing.

7/15 One of the things I love so much about our Care Points here in Goma is the rhythms and the safety that it brings to our children, to our grandmothers. Just in the last two and a half weeks, seeing how many of them feel so safe. Now it's school holidays and their normal rhythms are a little bit out of place, but you know what happened when our Care Workers had Relationship Groups? All our youth came! They joined them because they knew they were welcome there, and they knew they had a place where they could go and be prayed for and be heard. There was an old grandmother whose little hut burned down to the ground. When we got there yesterday morning, we stood at the Care Point and she was there because she knew she could come to somebody. She could come and say, "My hut burned down!" A safe place! Little Justin and Chikuru and Baraka, all of them in preschool and maybe grade one and two, they know they welcome at the Care Points. They know they're are always people waiting for them. Little Baraka knows late in the mornings she can have a daily bath there, and she will be received with joy. And when it's cold and rainy, she can sit next to the fire with the ladies who are cooking. They are welcome and there's rhythm and it brings order and it brings safety and it brings hope. It's beautiful. We need more rhythms in our lives. This is something that Africa can teach us. This is something that so many of us are so lonely because we don't have the places of safety to go to. There's a brokenness here in Goma that's so vivid and easy to see. And sometimes it's easier to fix it than it is in our own communities where all of us seem to be so looked after, but there might be chaos inside us. We need those rhythms. We need those safe places. Like Justin and Baraka, and the old granny, who knows she can come there when her hut is burned down. We need those places. God gave us rhythms to protect us and to love us. May you find your rhythms also. May you find your community where you are safe and where you can run to, just like I see it's happening here, in Goma!