The Dutch Reformed church in Lobatse became independent in 1944, and since then it has also become a intercultural congregation, having members originating from Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and South-West Africa. The languages spoken most frequently in our congregation is Setswana, Afrikaans and English.
The congregation is covering an area of almost 160km in diameter, and people are coming from different backgrounds. We do, however, also have the dilemma of a growing number of jobless people, HIV/aids patients, and aids orphans within the boundaries of our congregation.
We currently run several projects to assist in these situations:
1. We have a well established HIV/Aids project in our rural ward, with the following branches:
· We have an awareness program in which we make people aware of the method of infection, the dangers and consequences, as well as the treatment of HIV/Aids patients.
· We have a counseling program for infected people and their families.
· We have a field ambulance which takes sick people to and fro from the hospital.
· We also have a feeding program to supply infected patients with the right food.
· We also have a water project, in which we plan to supply infected patients with clean water from a borehole.
2. Additional to this project we have a project for the poor. We provide our rural community in Maruswe with a meal every Sunday, and give a monthly food basket in cases of severe poverty. We also regularly hand out blankets, second-hand clothes, and new tracksuits to the children. There are around 60 people assisted by this this project.
3. We also have a growing street children project in Lobatse, where we provide them with a meal on Sundays, and provide them with clothing in the winter. We are currently catering for about 15 children.
4. In Metloyane, a village about 60km West from Lobatse, we are also involved with 40 children, which we clothe and feed according to what we have available. We have also built a house for an HIV/Aids patient in this community.
5. We are also assisting a destitute young man, Tumelo Moraka, to complete his training at a Vocational Training Centre in Khumakwane, near Gaborone.
6. We furthermore use the services of a travelling evangelist, Roy Reddy, to do life skill training at the school, using audio-visual materials, pamphlets, and messages.
7. We also support a young student, from Tsabong, Yolandi van Zyl, who is currently doing her year for Christ in South Africa.
Our plans for the coming year is to start a computer lab for underprivileged children at our church, and need second-hand computers for this purpose. We already have a room suitable for this purpose.
These current projects help to alleviate the situation, but we are looking for funds, materials, physical assistance and prayer to really further the projects, and reach more people.
To God be the Glory!
Johannes Wessels
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