Three years ago, in collaboration with Good News ZA, we started reaching out to the children and youth in the Karatara community.  Good News ZA is a ministry organisation directed by a Dutch couple, Theo and Jinke de Jong.  What started off as a “Holiday Kids’ Club”, held on a yearly basis, has now grown into weekly visits to the schools in the Karatara area, monthly “Kids’ Club” programs and a big event once a year.   In addition, our plans for next year are to reach out to the parents of the children and work with the families as a unit.  We are for example planning to do some parenting workshops to equip the parents to work together as a team and are also thinking of organising “family days” to help strengthen family bonds.

We have also recently, together with Good News ZA, started a new outreach in the Hornlee community here in Knysna.  We were granted the opportunity to get involved and reach out to the students at Knysna Secondary School.  Every Tuesday, during their first break, we are building and investing into the lives of the students through music, games, devotionals and small group discussions.  In doing this, we are building relationships with the students who are attending the program which will enable us to assist them with any problems they might face in future.  We have also been granted the same opportunity at the Knysna Secondary School Hostel and on a Tuesday afternoon we visit the students at the hostel and connect with them in various ways.

The collaboration with Good News ZA has really been a blessing from God as their vision and values line up so well with those of Youth for Christ.  We are looking forward to doing some amazing things together in the lives of the people in the communities we serve.

(Jerome Soldaat: Programme Coordinator Team Khanya)