"Changing lives by sharing God’s love and hope with children in need"

“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

John 3:16 is one of the the most well-known and often quoted passages in the Bible. It serves as a foundation upon which we build our trust that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and holds for us the promise of eternal life if we believe in Him.

God has given us the most precious and perfect gift. Can you imagine what life would be like without Jesus? Jesus continually gives us hope—even in the darkest of times.

During this beautiful Christmas season of celebration, let us rejoice in this special gift we have been given and let us share it with all who will listen. Merry Christmas everyone!

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR GIVING

In the spirit of giving, please consider increasing your current monthly donation or making a new one-time donation in response to this wonderful $25,000 matching gift opportunity. This must be done by December 31, 2022

As of December 13, $15,893.98 has been given by 20 donors. This is a great beginning!

You may contribute by check made out to Mabopane Foundation with 2022 Matching Gift indicated on the memo line and mail it to 3913 US-64 W, Apex, NC 27523

You may also give securely online: Donations are processed by our payment processor, Vanco. From our website you will be redirected to the Vanco site. You can give one-time or setup recurring giving on the Vanco site. Select “other” and enter 2022 Matching Gift

Thank you to all who have already given and to those who will give. What a beautiful gift this will be for Mabopane and Ya Bana Village.

Merry Christmas from the Ya Bana Village Kids

A BLESSED AND BEAUTIFUL TRIP TO YA BANA VILLAGE

By God's grace, I was able to return to Ya Bana Village from October 9th through November 8th. It was such a blessing to see everyone again! But oh my, how the children had grown! It was hard to recognize some of them.

I was greeted with the warmest welcome ever by all the children and staff. Their love and compassion immediately made me feel right at home. They so beautifully make the scripture from John 13:34 come to life. “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

The land in this area was extremely parched. There had been no rain for over two months. Our garden, fruit trees, flowers and grass were in dire need of water. Everything was drying up. The village had been without drinking water and it was feared that the well for drinking water was also affected. Urgent prayer requests were sent to all. Unfortunately spirits were also running dry. Covid had taken its toll on our village and the community. Our management team agreed to pray without ceasing for God’s intervention—not only about physical water but Living Water as well. God was certainly at work because we were blessed during my stay with really nice rain showers. And it was eventually discovered our lack of water had nothing to do with our strong well going dry, but instead, mechanical issues. (These issues have now been repaired.)

Thanks to several Ministry Friends, a pool had just been completed at Ya Bana, using an old well— one not strong enough for village water consumption. A solar filtration system was also installed. Safety precautions began. Lifeguard and CPR training were offered to quite a few of our older students and a couple of staff members. Pool rules and regulations were put into place along with a strict pool schedule, making sure the pool was never over-crowded.

I had the opportunity to swim the first day of the pool opening with three different groups of children— each for a two-hour session. Two pool attendants and one manager were on duty at all times. Two houses at a time joyfully swam and played. I don't think I have ever heard so such laughter at any one time. I was exhausted at the end of the day, but it was well worth it! This pool will provide years of exercise and pure enjoyment for all!

Time flies when you are having fun. It blesses my heart beyond belief to spend time with our staff and children. Special staff gatherings were arranged for our Management Team, our security, gardeners, maintenance, and male support staff as well as our beautiful teachers and ELC staff.

A high tea was held in honor of our mothers, relief moms and female support staff. We discussed the definition of the ideal woman as seen in Proverbs 31. She is virtuous, strong, and selfless. This scripture truly describes our mothers and support ladies. They truly do not wait to be served, they rise early - even before sunrise - and their tasks are many. It was such a blessing to be able to serve them!

Tea time in the houses with house moms and children is precious! On one occasion, at Orange House (the Baby House), with Mama Ester and her beautiful seven little ones, I experienced a miracle. When I arrived at 7:15 that evening, all the children were bathed and in pjs. They were sitting at their tiny table, excitingly awaiting the delicious fruit and custard Mama Ester had prepared. They immediately bowed their heads and said grace together before enjoying their special treat. The children and I played together while Mama Ester prepared our tea. Afterwards, she lovingly told them to say goodnight and to go to their rooms for bedtime. The girls went immediately to their room and the boys went to their room, all in perfect obedience and with smiles on their faces. Within 5 minutes all children were tucked in and asleep.

Amazing, right? I told her she ought to patent what she just did and sell it to mothers with one or more children.

Our Youth at the Youth Living Center certainly put my mind at ease about their future. They invited Bongo, (Ya Bana’s Youth and Activities Coordinator) and me to dinner several times. They bought the groceries themselves, cooked delicious meals, served us and even cleaned up afterwards. It brought tears to my eyes for sure! God is certainly preparing them to be on their own one day.

The entire village also enjoyed a very special day together, picnicking on KFC (a special treat enjoyed by all our kids), other delicious fixings and peanut butter delights. Delegates from the US Embassy joined us and had an opportunity to tour the village. They all agreed that they had never seen a place quite like this and hope to become involved.

On the last Sunday I was there; a special service was planned by Thabiso Mashiloane, (the Village Manager) and his wife Loreto. A wonderful, heartwarming message of hope was shared leading eighteen young people to come forward and accept Christ. At the end of the service, Loreto offered to hold weekly discipleship training classes for these young people and any others who have expressed an interest in learning more about Christ.. As a result, 31 children and youth have made a decision to follow Christ. Classes have already begun and baptism will happen (in the pool) once Loreto is assured of their understanding of Christ.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, your service, your sacrifice in giving—all of which make it possible for our Ya Bana children to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and have the opportunity to discover the plans He has for them.

With Love & Appreciation,
Mama Becky

HEARTS AND HANDS

This month we give special recognition to some folks who volunteer with their hearts and their hands to sort metal. If you are asking yourself, “what in the world is metal sorting, you are not alone.

(left to right) Jim Strobush and Mike Owens

As you know, Mabopane is blessed to receive a wide variety of donations. Some of those items either aren’t suitable to be included in an upcoming sale or don’t sell for one reason or another. These items get moved to “the back.”

Don and Sherry Knepper

As anyone who has volunteered at the Mission House for any length of time knows well, very little goes to waste. Items that find their way to “the back” become the responsibility of a group of four dedicated volunteers. This team works together to sort these items into a variety of bins, including iron and steel, aluminum (both cans and other household items), stainless, copper, brass and silver-plate. One item you might not even think about is electrical cords removed from small appliances, non-working strings of Christmas lights, computer cords, etc.

When bins are filled, the items are sold to recycling companies. Over a 12-month period, hundreds of dollars are raised for the kids in Ya Bana Village through these items alone. Turns out, getting moved to “the back” isn’t such a bad thing!

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Are you interested in serving? We have many areas but are not limited to those areas where we are actively seeking additional help. If you have any questions or are interested in seeing if there are other ways to serve please contact Ashley at admin@mabopanekids.org. Below are some immediate needs with a description of the responsibilities:

Jewelry Room Assistant: Organize, sort and price donations. Prep jewelry room for sales. 2-4 hours per week and on any day.

Donation Processors: Sorting and pricing donations. Anytime on Tuesday, Wednesday, Fridays, or Saturdays.

Photo Gallery - Hallway and Small Bath Decorators: About 2 hrs per week; anytime, any day displaying pictures and collectables

Floral Designers: Utilize donated artificial/dried flowers and greenery to create attractive arrangements in vases or make wreaths or other door decorations for sale. Can be done from home.

Small Appliance Cleaning & Repair: Can work from home cleaning and repairing lamps, vacuums, other small appliances.

Men with Trucks: Occasional pickup and transport of furniture or other large/heavy items.

Marketing Assistance - graphic design, videography, web design, photography
We are looking for volunteers to assist the marketing committee in creating digital assets for brochures, designs for social media posts, and videos for the foundation. We are looking for people who have experience with Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Photoshop, or video editing software to help create specific assets to support the efforts of the marketing committee. This can all be done remotely and would be on an as-needed basis as you have time.

PopUp Sale Assistance: On the second and last Fridays(6:30 a.m.—12:30 p.m.) and Saturdays (9:30 a.m.—1:30 p.m.) of each month, assistance is needed in the following areas: Captain, Cashier, Cashier Counter, Holding Assistant, Floaters, Jewelry Room, Baked Goods Area, Bakers to make baked goods, and Heavy Lifting Help. Commitments to serve at specific sales are typically made electronically through SignUpGenius.

MISSION HOUSE CLOSING AND REOPENING DATES

We will be closed for donations beginning December 16th at 5pm and reopening for donations on January 2nd at 8am. This allows us to focus on cleaning and refreshing the Mission House. Additionally, we would like the opportunity to bless all our volunteers with a couple of weeks of rest and celebration with their family and friends! We are so grateful for all the hard work that has been put into the Mission House to continue growing this Foundation and giving back to the children.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As the year comes to an end, we look back on God’s mighty work and provisions over the last 12 months. We are continually amazed by the generosity and commitment of all of our ministry friends, donors, volunteers and shoppers. We pray God’s blessing over each of you as we ring in the new year! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Please remember to save your empty ink cartridges of any brand and donate these to Mabopane because we are given credit for these which helps us financially when we purchase office supplies.

Newsletter - December Edition 2022

A BLESSED AND BEAUTIFUL TRIP TO YA BANA VILLAGE

HEARTS AND HANDS

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

MISSION HOUSE CLOSING AND REOPENING DATES

HAPPY NEW YEAR!