House of Wells Enrichment Centres
Quarterly Newsletter (October to December 2020)

         RESTORING HOPE, RELEASING POTENTIAL

STAFF MEETING

Our staff meetings continue online on Tuesdays and Thursdays via Zoom.  All staff members in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya join the Zoom call where we have our bible study and pray for H.O.W children and all staff.  We also plan for the weeks ahead and discuss the lessons for the children.  All staff members look forward to these meetings as it is always a time of refreshing, where we draw strength from the Holy Spirit. We have also seen that coming together twice a week has helped to forge unity and strengthen the camaraderie among the team, as they are based across four nations.    


     



                  CENTRES NEWS – OCT to DEC 2020


H.O.W. TEENAGERS
Frasia, one of our teenagers in Port Elizabeth, invited the Centre Leader to her school’s Awards evening, where she received academic excellence awards in various subjects.  She was also named Best Grade 12 Student of the year.  Frasia has been nurtured and mentored at H.O.W since she was 9 years old, she is now 18.

   

It was lovely to be able to meet with our Teenagers again on 17^th October, after months of postponement due to the lockdown restrictions.  We found a way to safely meet with them in parks to conduct a short session in a covid-compliant manner and serve them take-home food.  Our teenagers always come to H.O.W with the willingness to learn from the scriptures.  We could see that they had greatly missed the Saturday Classes.  Passers-by watched, in admiration, the teenagers having fun and passionate biblical discussions in a public space, not ashamed of the Gospel.  Before recommencing the classes, we had been keeping in touch with our young people via social media, phone calls and visiting their homes for safely-distanced doorstep catch-ups.  
 
We are seeing significant transformation in Ayanda, a teenager who joined H.O.W five months ago.  His story was in our previous Newsletter.  He is now calmer, smiles a lot and communicates better than when he joined us.  We believe that constantly being in the presence of God at H.O.W, as well as the scriptures we pray over Ayanda, have helped to turn his life around for good.  We are certain that God will complete the good work HE has started in this young man. 
 
During our Teenagers’ session on 21^st November, we asked them to thank God for at least one thing.  One of them stood up and started to thank God for all HE has done for her family, for the biblical life skills she is taught at H.O.W and for the lunch we give them every afternoon, during the week. She said that for her and some of her friends, it is their only meal of the day. 


          



H.O.W TEENAGERS and the 2020 Matric exams

Some of our young people sat for their Grade 12 Matric exams during October and November 2020.  Usually by now results would be out and we would know who has gained admission to University.  However, due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic, results will be released at the end of February 2021.




H.O.W Centres in PORT ELIZABETH; S.A

There was heavy rain in P.E. for the most part of October and November, but the children still attended the programmes as usual. In fact, 38 newcomers joined H.O.W this Term, we thank God that H.O.W is a platform for hope and transformation.  It has been humbling to see how the community is so desperate for transformation, especially in the lives of children, through House of Wells.  We have observed lately that it has been the Parents/Guardians who were encouraging their kids to invite friends and neighbours to H.O.W.  The parents enjoy the lessons as much as the children and sometimes they volunteer to help with serving lunch. 
 
Our lesson this Term was on salvation and its benefits.  We gave the children flashcards on the “Benefits of Being a Believer” to take home.  We encouraged them to put it on their bedroom walls and speak it over themselves daily.  Their homework was to tell their parents about these amazing benefits that we receive when we become children of God.  They also learned about who they are in Christ and how to enjoy their benefits.
 
Wednesdays are our Quiz days when we use Q & A to help the children remember what they have learnt during the week.  There’s always a joyful and competitive atmosphere around, as each child wants to be the first person to answer the questions and be awarded a prize.  The parents who accompany their children on Wednesdays always feel proud of how brilliantly they answer the questions.
 
Two H.O.W children who do not attend church on Sundays recently asked permission from their parents to attend Sunday School at the church of one of our leaders.  One of them, Luther, told us that his Mum had a knee problem and whenever it was painful, he would pray for his Mum and ask God to heal her knee, because he had learned at H.O.W, that God heals.  The other child, Siyanda, told us she is enjoying the Sunday School, “it is just like being at H.O.W on a Sunday”, said Siyanda.  She said she had learned to pray at H.O.W so she was not shy when she was called upon to pray at the Sunday School.  She said that in her house, they no longer go to bed without praying.  At H.O.W, we start every meeting with a short session of Praise & worship, followed by prayer by one of the leaders.  We then call on a few of the children to lead prayer, one after the other, for the whole group.  This has helped them to learn how to pray and their confidence to pray has gained a real boost.  

      
   





CAPE TOWN Centres; S.A
Due to the staggered opening/closing times of schools and different grades attending school on specific days, our Centres in Cape Town have had to adjust the format of our programmes in order to adhere to school and government safety regulations.  H.O.W children in Cape Town now attend our programme in groups of 12, but that has not dampened their spirit. The enthusiasm and drive that they bring each time they attend is so heart-warming that we always look forward to the next meeting with them.  The challenge we face in C.T at the moment is having to say “not yet” to some children who want to join H.O.W, because the schools are only allowing us to meet in small groups at the moment. 
 
In the community where H.O.W operates, many people are full of anxiety and fear over the pandemic, we have had to keep lifting up the whole community with prayer and declaration of scriptures.  H.O.W. being a beacon of hope to many families through their children has been very refreshing.  We believe that continuing to speak the word of God over the children and their schools at this time, is not only enriching the children but the community also.  Teachers and Principals at the schools that we use have remarked – “you have brought light into a very dark world at this time”, “We certainly need your programme in our school, it has been pivotal to the wellbeing and spiritual growth of our school this year” and “we can see our children showing leadership qualities and more focused on their schoolwork, thank you H.O.W”.   


     



ZIMBABWE Centres
Our centres reopened in October after the lockdown restrictions were relaxed. We were really excited to have all the children back. 
 
Teenagers Group: We have about 40 committed young people who regularly attend our Biblical Life-Skills programme where we use poems, drama, and other creative media to emphasise our bible studies, some teenagers even make “rap” music as it helps them to remember scriptures.  With our young people we always focus on career guidance, their vision and goals for the future and equipping them with the necessary skills for a promising future.  Our lessons this term include Purpose, Guarding our minds and the Power of our thoughts. 

Under-13s Group: The children were happy to be back at our centres after the government restrictions were lifted, and 90 children attended regularly.  The children always enjoy the weekly memory verse competition, music and dance lessons. We taught a lesson on prayer and the importance of praying for their parents, teachers and community.  We have had testimonies of how some of our children have been leading prayers at home during this Covid Pandemic. 

CHRISTMAS Food Packs: 135 food packs were given to all our children and youth.  Our sincere thanks and appreciation to all House of Wells Partners for their generosity and kindness. God will definitely reward you.

   

   



UGANDA Centres
The H.O.W in Lusaze has been a channel of God’s love to the community.  Not only through the Biblical Lifestyle lessons we teach the children, but also through our several feeding programs, especially during the pandemic.  In addition to this, seeds of faith are constantly being sown in the hearts of the children through the Word of God and prayer.  Parents are forever grateful to God for the amazing change they are seeing in the lives of their children.  In the past few months, several praise reports have come in, and in a season where many people experienced loss in different ways, we cannot but thank God for these testimonies which were as a result of His mercy.


The highlight of this quarter is the children’s Christmas food hampers. Due to a challenging year, many children had no hope for Christmas, and so we thank God for our partners who made it possible for every child in H.O.W Lusaze to receive a food hamper for Christmas.  Over 140 children received a hamper packed with an assortment of food stuffs.  Parents have shown their appreciation for the hampers through calls and messages.    

    

    

  



KENYA Centres
Our “Movie & The Word” initiative, which we started in September, is still very popular among the teenagers.  They watched a series of movies to emphasise the lesson for each week, followed by a time of exhaustive discussion on the topic, with snacks and drinks.  During a lesson, one of our teenagers, Kaselina said that prior to joining H.O.W Teens’ Classes, she never used to like herself.  She said she used to think that everyone hated her and so she just did not love herself. After regularly attending our meetings for a while, she now sees herself as a child of God and loved by God.  She is now growing strong spiritually to the extent that we see her encouraging other young people around her.  She thanked God for all the lessons that we have been teaching them.        
 
We resumed our classes with the younger children in November after a long break due to government pandemic restrictions.  The children were quite excited to be at H.O.W again, with 55 of them attending on the first day we re-opened.