Merry Christmas... or is it?

So its been like a month I know, I suck at updates.

Well its that time of the year again when people have gone crazy and over spent on presents that are used once or twice then left fogotten in a cupboard.
Yup you guessed it, its Christmas.

I love Christmas because its a time away from school, work etc.
Not this year it isn't... well not for me.

I have deicided to stay in Masoyi the entire time 'till next year when I go home.
Mainly for security reasons but also for personal reasons.

How many of you spent over R1000 this year on presents? How many of you spent more???

Now think of this: Every couple of minutes a baby is born, unwanted and unloved by a mother that bore it for about 9 months. That child then gets left somewhere to die. The child who we will Call "Peter" lives from house to house not knowing who his parents are.
Peter spends Chistmas alone for years on end and never really understands it all.
One day Peter will die... Now let me ask you this: Did you ever let Peter into your home to share a meal, give him a present over this blessed time we celebrate? Did you ever explain Christ's love for him?

I ask you a few favours this Christmas period:
1. Buy a toy(even if its small) for a needy child this year
2. Invite someone over that society has said isn't worthy of anything
3. Tell all your family how much you love them all(You dont have to like them, But we MUST love them)
4. Share Christ's story with atleast one person you dont know
5. Pray for those less fortunate than ourselves
6. Pray for those who travell during this time that they arrive at all destinations safely
7. Pray for those that wont see family yet again this Christmas
8. Pray for security here at Hands Village and all over the country
9. Show people Christ through your actions
10. Be safe and responsible this festive season

May God bless you all richly in this time of giving.
Remember, its not all about the presents.

Merry Christmas and a Happy new year

Lotsa angry elephants!!!!

So this weekend we went camping.
its was a very last minute thing that I hopped onto.

On Friday night we went to a place called "Merry Pebbles" in Sabie.
it was very beautiful, but it was raining so it almost sucked.
We started braaing only at like 11:30 or so.
While doing that I put in a cd sop we had some music. Paul started rocking out to it and slipped down the hill and bailed into the river, It was freaking hilarious, you had to be there.
We only ate at like 3am or so, was just awesome.

On saturday we went to the Kruger National Park.
it was just so beautiful because it was so green and lush.
we stayed the night there and decided to drive around in the morning.
we spotted a few buffalo, lotsa impala and a few others but the highlites were:
5 wild dogs, a rare sighting at the park.
1 Goliath Heron catching a fish, very amazing.
+-150 buffalo crossing a road in front of us, beautiful.
1 dead impala in a tree, a Leopard must have put it there.
A herd of Elephant crossing the road in front of us, we tried to get through them but it didn't work.
one of the oloder ones blew his trumpet and shook his head which was really cool.
A slightly smaller, half grown, 3 ton or so elephant decided to get feisty with us and actually charged the car I was in.
I almost freaked out!

thinking back on it all, it was one of the best weekends I have had in ages.

With lots of love and many blessings

Helo ppl

Hi people

Yes it's been ages since I've sent anything home so I decided to say hi.

Well its been a pretty busy period yet again but life is still going on well.
I got a bit of a concussion on sunday playing soccer.
David and I hit each other pretty hard going for the ball, but we are both ok luckily.
I actually dunno what to say cause im feeling rather slow.

Well South Africa beat Wales now 20 points to 15 in rugby, but wales deserved the win.

So a date has been set for me to come home, or is it go home( im a bit confused)
I will get back to Johannesburg on the 20th of January 2009.

Please pray for wisdom, courage and strength for us all as we face this last stretch of 2008.
pray for security on the Hands village, ASM property and for the Lodge up the road.
Please pray for me as I start looking to find a place in a University next year.

Many blessings and lots of love
Callan

Liberty teens song

This is a song that a couple of teenagers from Liberty church wrote while in Masoyi.
I hope that it touches your heart as it did many of the people here including mine.

I was sitting in Masoyi on the porch on a hot summer’s evening
There’s a poker game going on inside but I don’t get the meaning
Been working hard all day with the sun beaming down on me
My eyes are now open and now I see

I see
They don’t have much but they have enough
I see
The way they live is pretty tough
I see
They have faith in God not stuff
I see

The day is now over but the battle rages on
As my eyes grow heavy I think of the work I’ve done
The world didn’t change today but I understand
Every little action is part of God’s great plan

I see
They don’t have much but they have enough
I see
The way they live is pretty tough
I see
They have faith in God not stuff
I see

And it makes me wonder
Who is the real me?
But as I close my eyes to pray
I see

So...

I decided that I haven't been on in a while so I decided to drop a line



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A LINE: ---------------------------------------------------
sorry bout that, now that the randomness is out of me, HI

Its been a while since I sent mail home.
Im doin fine, just putting that out there.

There was team from Liberty church here this past week and it was really nice seeing them.

I only got back from Capetown on Tuesday afternoon and then came home and saw my kids.
Seeing everyone again was really awesome, Especially all my kids from relentless.

We spent time in Masoyi on all the days I as with them and it was really cool.
Thursday was really awesome cause we had a holiday club in the 40 degree heat with practically no shade and no water either.
The relationships that were built and old ones that were brought back together again was so cool.
seeing the kids interacting with people thay probably wouldn't have in JHB was really nice.
Seeing kids out of their comfot zones was so cool and I'm really proud of them for their work.

This week was really cool and I really loved it.

My time has been amazing, I've been here for over 8 months now and its been so great.
I've learn't so much about myself and relationships and a whole bunch of new things.

Well im off.
Love you all

Individuals can make a change

This is just a quote from George Snyman, everytime I read it I'm just blown away by it.

"If we really want justice, we must wake up. When I look at the devestation of HIV/AIDS in Africa, meet dying young mothers or eight-year-olds heading households, I feel deeply sad, but also heavily challenged:
I know I could make a difference. I know individuals can change the world. Just look at Jesus.
His sacrifice changed millions of lives forever. His followers should do the same today, sacrifice comfort and safety and follow him among the poor and broken."

Everytime I read that quote I feel like I am part of something, realising that I am a part othe body of Christ.
Every part of the body has a unique role and cannot say to another part "I am better"
So it is within the body of Christ, every person has an individual role to fill and none of us are better than another.

I hope that the quote above inspires you to go out and make a difference in your environment today by trying to be like Christ and changing the world for the better.

Equal yet unique

How often do we say "But I dont deserve this, I'm so much better than that!"

Well I hate to break it to you but...clearly the things you go through are just part of life.
God would never give us something that we cannot deal with.

I've noticed that there are many times in my life that I look at other people and think "man I wish I could have just a bit of what they have."
But then I have to come back to my senses and realize that God has a greater plan for my life.
We may not see the plan God has for us but in the end we will see it and be amazed!

I cant remember who told me this but I found it very amusing, "we are all gonna have flat foreheads in heaven one day, cause we gonna see the answers to the questions we have asked and smack ourselves on the head and say 'of course that was the answer'"

We aren't better than the person sitting in the next office, next classroom desk, the guy sitting on the side of the road or anyone for that matter. God created us all equally, and that may not sound all happy and nice to you but get over it!
God created us all equally but also all unique, he took the time to create us all different in our own special way. Nobody in the history of this universe is exactly 100% like you, aren't you happy about that?

Well that enough of my ravings for now, back again soon.

With tons of love from me to you

Tourist in my own country

So I went with Jon and Heather, who are also volunteers here, to go sight seeing.

We started by taking a back road to Sabie and went to see one of the falls there. It wasn't the greatest one but the bridge right by it had this awesome swing and slide from the top of the bridge into the water below...looked so awesome.

After Sabie we started to make our way towards Graskop for the legendary "Harries" pancakes.If you have evr been there you will know what I'm talking about.On our way there we stopped by Mac Mac falls, we had to pay 10 Rand enterance fee,what a tourist trap....the fall was ok I guess but dissapointing cause we had to pay to see it.

After that waterfall we headed to "Harries" and satisfied ourselves...I ordered a venison and sweet potato, Jon got a tomato lamb bredie and Heather Got a spinach and feta one... desert was a Banana and home-made caramel sauce( absolutely divine!!!)Jon got a sugar and cinnamon.
After that we walked around town a bit to check stuff out... then Heather decided she wanted to try biltong.She bought us all a piece of Kudu biltong...I was so in heaven at this point.Jon and Heather struggled with their pieces of biltong... not African enough i guess.

Once we left town we decidd to skip God's window and head straight to Blyde River Canyon.the are so many things I can say about its beauty but to some it up into one word WOW!we went to a very quiet view point and chilled there for about at least an hour and a half.I concecrated the canyon by peeing off a cliff, something i recommend for all 18 year old males.it was pretty fun bein on the edge and just thinking about how long it would take for the pee to get to the bottom of the cliff.After that we went and found a nice place and just chilled, I suntanned in winter!!!!!

We then left there and went to the three rondavels, again just WOW.there was one rock that I sat on that must have had at least a 200 meter drop under it, it was just so scary but so great sitting on that rock.there was also one that i lay on my stomach and looked down, easily 350 meter drop.

We then headed home after that.

On our way ome I was just reminded of God'sajest and his creativness, the evidence is all around us.we placed everything exactly where it is and created us all perfect in his eyes.it was just so amazing to be able to see one of the many beautiful places within my own country.I honestly felt like a tourist cause I took so many photos of everything.I loved the experience so much!!!!

"My life be lifted high...Our world be lifted high...our love be lfted high"My prayer for you is that you would see God' Majesty and his love for each one of you daily,also that you would see each other with his eyes as perfect creations.God showed me that we need to stop making people just a statistc and value them so much.John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever beleives in himshall not perish but have eternal life"God gave his son for each of us individually but also for the world, those that dont know him.let our every action show his love to others.

May God bless you richly.

What a night

So last night I was busy watching the movie “Transformers” again and out of the blue one of “my” kids called me.
It was Jonty, one of the guys that I “mentored” for lack of a better word.
He called me up and said he was thinking of me.
So naturally I was like cool.
He said he had looked down at the floor and seen a coin lying there and it had reminded him of me.
Now in my head I was like what? How does a coin remind him of me?
He then said that he looked at the coin and said that I had dropped all material possessions and gone to do the work of God.
At this point I was practically in tears but went and read my bible, I just opened it and it was the parable of the poor woman. It made me think, am I like the rich in the verses giving out of my abundance or am I like her giving everything that I have?
This morning I woke up with a new freshness upon me and felt like a champion cause I have Gods freedom on me.

No clue of what title to put?

The past few weeks have been INSANE!!!!

We have had to say goodbye to many new friends that were made but are glad to be saying hi to new ones.

As some of you know the new intake of Footprints arrive this weekend, super exciting!
Scary to think I have been here for over 5 months already, but also great cause I've learn't so much.

I'm asking that you pray for the Footprinters, that they would find their place within the organisation and feel like they are part of the family.

I have officially moved up to the Lodge, a farm house up the road from ASM campus.
Sunday afternoon after soccer with the peeps I moved all my stuff up the road.
Its really cool up there and I have one of the comfiest beds ever.

Please continue to pray for our partners in South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, DRC, Nigeria and Malawi.
The guys that are out there every day are heros and deserve our prayers.

Blessings to you all

My place

I wanna just say hi firstly to you all, thanx for taking the time to read my blog.

well this past week has been a very busy one indeed.
I've been helping fix the old Masoyi offices on ASM campus to get them ready for Hands.
I've painted so much that one of my shirts now is basically a new shade of cream, luckily the paint is waterbased or I would have new high-lites in my hair.

When I first started working on the offices I thought it would just be another job, but the longer I spent there the more I felt God say many things to me.
This week has been a growing experience for me and boy its been intense.

One thing that I have to keep reminding myself is that I can't do this on my own, I need the people around me, people at home, people that I haven't met yet and most importantly I need God to help me daily.
My strength is nothing without Him.

I've been thinking a lot about what exactly I'm supposed to be doing in the organisation and its taken me 5 months to realise where that is.
I feel God has put me exactly where he wants me and that is in the construction/Handyman department.
At times it can be a bit much and I just wanna throw it all up in the air and quit, but thats the time I've realised that I need to draw closer to God.

God knows your heart and we may be able to lie to each other but there is no way we can lie to him. And if we try resist the will of God he can very easily pick us up and move us back on course.

So where can we go from here, well there is only one way and that is forward.
No ways do I wanna head backwards in life(Imagine being back at school?)
I wanna run to my father daily and never look back with regrets, so should you.

well im off.
love to you all

I leave you with a question: What is God calling you to do? and are you following his will or are you pretending to follow it?

The brothers of construction

So its was pretty cool figuring out that all three footprints males were all here in masoyi.

We are all from different intakes which makes it absolutely rare and pretty amazing if you ask me.

Farzaam was the 1st footprints male, from the february intake last year.
He had to go home early to continue his studies in Architecture.
He came back for a while to Masoyi but had to go to the DRC for his building plans.

Hendri being the second is a Dutch guy from Holland.
He was part of the August intake last year.
he served in Mozambique for a while and was back for a while and will soon be leaving Hands at Work.

Then there is me.
Being the third male and the 1st South African is pretty cool.
I seem to be staying in SA for my time here but im willing to Go where God sends me.

Oh and all three us males are based on construction, hence the name "The brother of construction"

hope you all well

Emotions running wild

On wednesday morning I woke up feeling a tad on the wierd side, but that went away fairly soon.

I went to small group at 8 as usual and was reminded why I felt so wierd, we were doin our outreach that day.
I had completely forgotten about it, we were going to Themba hospital.
Hospital visits aren't my most favourite thing to do if you haven't gathered that yet.
but I had to go so at about 1 30 Pm we left to go there.
we arrived and split up into teams, I went with Sandy a lady from Calvary church in New York( My sister church).
we went to the second floor and asked the nurses if we could pray for the patients, they said yes thankfully.
we started praying for individuals throughout the entire 2nd floor.
2 fairly young gentlemen were there and we asked if we could pray for them, at that moment I saw 2 men shine like nobody else.
we prayed for them and they were so receptive to the holy spirit.
after praying for them I gave them each a mini bible and if I thought they were shining before was I in for a surprise, I practically needed sunglasses!
we then prayed for the nurses on that floor and went downstairs to the next ward.
again we asked if we could pray and they said yes.
we didnt know what to expect but what I saw broke me completely.
many of the people we saw and prayed for were on their death beds.
on family asked us to pray for their son/husband and we did with the family, then unexpectantly we started praying for the family.
it was super emotional.
one old man that I prayed for was so amazing, he practically didn't want to let go of my hand, as I was leaving his bed side I said to him "Nkulunkulu Ukubusise" when translated means God bless you. he looked at me and had a massive smile on his face and couldn't stop thanking me, I just wanted to stay and chat with that old guy for a very long time but visiting hours were over.

we left that place and told our stories to each other and I was so full of teas at that point I couldn't talk.

The whole xperience was so amazing and I would encourage everyone to do it sometime, many of the people never get visitors and just need some form of love from another person.

God bless ya all

YAAAAAAAAWWWWN

Dont you just hate being sick?

well I just thought id put it out there that im going to be teaching Afrikaans for the next while, pray for the students im teaching!
also im building now, its gonna be pretty awesome learning a new skill!

If any of you wanna contact me directly drop me an e-mail and pass it on to your friends, pets, teachers or any of the like

later ppl

The time is now

There has never been a greater time than this for the church to get involved in the orphan situation in Africa!
The need is huge at the moment but think about this: If every church in the world were to do only a small bit there would be no orphans in the world let alone Africa.

C'Mon now is caring for the widows and orphans not a biblical mandate?????

Why is it that we sit back and do nothing while children die, are abused sexually, physically, mentally and spiritually?
Why do we turn away from those which Jesus has commanded us to care for?
Children are the future of our world so why do we turn away from them in times of their greatset need?

Ma Linda

So we met a woman in Masoyi named Ma Linda.
she is one of the most amazing woman out there.
she was a principal of a school and has worked for Masoyi home based care(HBC)
she mentioned many things while we visited her but the most amazing one was
"The difference in our skin colour means nothing, we should be who we were created to be... children of God"
she suffered during the Apartheid era yet holds no resentment against white people.
Why is it then that so many whit, black, coloured, Asian etc people continuously make racial slurs against each other?
weren't we all created equal by God?
yes maybe you have had your life threatened by someone, but one person shouldn't make you hate an entire people group.

I know this might fall upon deaf ears but im hoping that this does make you think a bit

the start of all things

hello ppl
I finally started a blog(big step for me)
well im fairly new to this so dont be to harsh!!!!
ill add things when i feel the urge or have time
later