Update on Ebenezer

1. New Apprentices: The new apprentices joined Ebenezer on the 18th July. There are 13 boys and 7 girls. It looks like they have settled and are enjoying their group work.
2. Volunteers: A 19 year old volunteer from the U.K – Benjamin West served at Ebenezer for 12 days. Much of his time was spent helping the apprentices in the field and teaching them to play soccer. Thanks also to Matt Romans who served Ebenezer for 5 months and left at the end of June.
3. Frost: Quite a bit of the crops were wiped away by frost. There are still onions in the field and they are doing really well. The 2nd year apprentices are ready to plant their maize.
4. Chickens: Of the 3100 chicken that were delivered to Ebenezer, about 900 have died due to the cold temperatures in Kezi.
5. Soccer: Soccer has been going pretty well. In the last month, 3 matches were played and Ebenezer won 2 and lost 1. The challenge has been trying to fit the new apprentices on to the team. Some are gifted soccer players while others......well......they need a little more practice.
6. The model farmers are preparing to leave for Antelope......Read previous post.....

By Molly Manhanga

Farewell to the model farmers

There was a special dinner to bid farewell to the 6 model farmers: Brilliant Khoza, Mkhululi Ncube, Tawanda Moyo, Mqondisi Moyo, Simangaliso Ndlovu and Sithabiso Thsuma. The evening started off with a bit of humour after the dinner and with a song by the Union Brothers. Two of the model farmers gave testimony of their time at Ebenezer and encouraged those remaining to give it what they got and not be sidetracked.

I really enjoyed listening to the remaining apprentices publically honour the 6 that were leaving. It was beautiful. The 6 have been at Ebenezer from August 2007 and have done extremely well. Seeing the change in their lives from 2007 until now is wonderful. They are more confident, well trained and equipped in business, agriculture and spiritual, they have given their lives to the Lord and are ready to go out and teach others in another community. In one sense it was quite sad and touching saying goodbye and praying for the model farmers but in another it was just so momentous seeing young people rearing to go and start a new life for themselves and impact a new community.

The two girls Simangaliso Ndlovu and Sithabiso Thsuma capped the evening by making biscuits for everyone. Thanks so much to Marlene Poe for the discipleship of these girls and for the many biscuit recipes she left behind.

It was a good evening!

By Molly Manhanga

"Letter to the apprentices....."

from Stephen Manhanga

Superslide

Judges 16:20 “Then she screamed, ‘The Philistines are here to capture you, Samson!’ And he woke up and thought, ‘I will do as before; I’ll just shake myself free.’ But he didn’t realise that the Lord had left him.”

The book of Judges is the story of Joshua’s once powerful nation on a spiritual superslide. Today we will look at playboy Samson. He kept living on the edge and thought he could always get away with it. His relationship with Delilah cost him his eyes and ultimately his life. You see, you cannot continue with sin and expect it to go unpunished. God is a God of love, but He is also a righteous and Holy God. Samson had been given many chances and yet he did not listen to God. He did not even realise that the spirit of the living God had left him. All he could think of was 'I will do as before and shake myself free.' Sadly for Samson and some of us, it will cost us something precious that we can never get back again.

Let’s live upright and pure lives. Let’s be accountable to each other and guard each others backs.

Well said Stephen. Well said!

Molly Manhanga