Welcome Back Ashley

Our much loved and appreciated Ashley Napier has been MIA (missing in action) for the past six weeks, but not without good reason. She gave birth to a baby boy named Henry in August.

We were certain all our readers would love to see pictures of Henry. So Ashley provided us with pictures of Henry out for coffee with his mom and getting indoctrinated into Kansas State University football by his big brother, James. (Both mom and dad are graduates of Kansas State.)

Congratulations Napier Family on your adorable addition to the family and welcome back Ashley!

UPCOMING GOLF TOURNAMENT: STILL TIME TO PARTICIPATE

Our 10th Annual Mabopane Foundation Golf Tournament to benefit the children of Ya Bana Village will be held on Monday, Oct. 30th. This is one of our largest fundraising events of the year. Here’s how you can help:

Individual, Church or Business Hole Sponsors are needed. For $350, a sign with your name on it is donated by Southport Graphics. It will be displayed by the tee box and also listed in our program. Not only will you receive recognition but 100% of your donation goes directly to the children.

Only 4 teams are still needed to make a full house of golfers. This will insure a fabulous, fun autumn day on the beautiful Lonnie Poole greens and will benefit this event tremendously. A foursome is $550. But also consider combining a foursome along with a hole sponsorship for a total of $850.

Okay, so you don’t play golf? No worries, you can still help. Bless us by providing Gift Cards for Amazon, restaurants, sporting goods, car washes, or massages. Or, consider purchasing brand new packages of golf balls, tees, anything golf-related which will make perfect prizes or raffle items for this event.

EVERYONE DOING SOMETHING WILL MAKE A HUGE IMPACT ON THE SUCCESS OF THIS EVENT!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
November 10-11 and November 17-18, 2023

Our much awaited and very popular Christmas Open House/Pop-Up Sales Event will be held this year on November 10-11, 2023. Not only will there be Christmas treasures to purchase, but there is sheer joy in visiting the always beautifully decorated Mission House during this season. But that is not all. On November 17-18, we will have a year-end close out sale when many of the items available for purchase will be reduced to half price. This will be the last sale of the year. Pop-Up Sales will resume in January.

HEARTS AND HANDS: INTRODUCING AARON TIAN

“Hi, I’m Aaron Tian and I just finished a six-week stint of running the Mabopane Mission House office while Ashley Napier was out on maternity leave. I must say it was a wonderful eye-opening experience. God is doing some Great Work Here!!!

I don’t know where to start to tell you how much time and effort goes into running this organization. With Becky at the helm, and with a HUGE Shout Out to all the volunteers, this place runs like a well-oiled machine!

It all starts at the drop-off area when donations come in. Then the work begins with the items getting sorted, put into bins and moved to their respective pricing rooms. Once there, they are priced and brought up for sale or stored for future sales based on the season. When items do come up to the house, there is another group of designer volunteers that then stage all the different rooms for a sale. Next, the Thursday before a sale, another group of volunteers comes through and makes sure everything has a price tag on it. Lastly the weekend sales begin and God does his magic!

During my time at the Mission House, I tried to make myself available wherever help was needed. Each morning I would make the rounds to see if anyone had a need. I got involved in pricing on one occasion but most often was called on to help with moving furniture or other tasks that involved heavy lifting.

The Mabopane Mission House is very blessed!!! The Lord is doing some wonderful things here with all the proceeds going to the Ya Bana Village in South Africa. There it is used to house, feed, clothe, educate and love the orphaned and vulnerable children. I will never forget my time here, and I encourage each one of you to get involved and experience this for yourself…..All the Glory to God!”

Thank you Aaron for your service and enthusiasm. You are most deserving of Hearts and Hands recognition.

MY BEST FRIEND

Kristin Graham, a long-time Ministry Friend and Author, compelled by God, wrote My Best Friend and wants to share this book with our volunteers and customers at a cost of $10 per copy - $5 of which covers the cost of printing and shipping and the remaining proceeds available to the Mabopane Foundation. Copies of her book are now available for purchase at the Mission House. The following is a letter Kristin includes as an introduction to her book:

Dear Parent,

When our first grandson approached two years of age, I felt burdened to share the truth about Jesus in a way he could understand. The words on the following pages flowed out of my deep heart’s cry that he and any future grandchildren would come to have a deep, abiding relationship with Jesus—My Best Friend. I pray that this book can be a tool to help you communicate to your preschool/young elementary child the truths about who Jesus is and the promises He gives.

Kristin Graham, Author

A big thank you to Triangle Window & Pressure Cleaning for pressure washing our entire cement patio—no small task with patio dimensions of 17.8 x 48 feet.

The service is located at 92 Cornerstone Drive in Cary, NC
https://www.trianglewindowcleaning.com (919) 678-9019

Track

Soccer

Golf

Dance

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
AT YA BANA VILLAGE

Recognizing that each child is different, Ya Bana searched for and found teachers and coaches who could offer a variety of recreational activities for close to 60 children. These activities include soccer, dance, golf, track, squash, gymnastics, chess, and swimming. Choir, art, and netball will resume once instructors are found. We are also hopeful that musical instruments can be added and that one day all of these classes can be offered to the neighboring children.

Gymnastics

We have witnessed firsthand that extra-curricular activities create positive life change. These classes give the children a chance to escape from the day-to-day struggles, allowing them time to relax but also feel a sense of accomplishment. It expands their world, showing them a life beyond their own experiences.

Their lives are examples of what can be accomplished if young people work hard and persevere to follow their dreams. Ya Bana is truly blessed with caring, quality coaches and teachers for whom the children’s emotional growth and healing are just as important as gaining skills. They not only share their skills, but they are all excellent role models.

Swimming & Chess

IT TAKES A LOT OF PEOPLE…

It takes a lot of people to not only fulfill the needs like those you have just read about but also the basic everyday needs of food, shelter, clothing, and schooling for the children of Ya Bana Village. In addition to our annual fundraisers and twice monthly pop-up-sales, we rely on and are very thankful for the generosity of monthly contributors. These faithful donations also help us create our yearly budget. If you are able to help our children on a monthly basis, please visit our website at https://mabopanekids.org/give/ All donations are tax deductible. Thank you!

“For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.” (Isaiah 25:4)

MARY “HELEN” LAWRENCE: A LIFE OF SERVICE AND ADVENTURE

Helen Lawrence
3/02/1932—8/26/2023

Helen Lawrence was the consummate volunteer at the Mabopane Mission House for over 20 years—full of energy, kindness, and loyalty. Helen died on August 26, 2023. At the time of her death, she was 91-years-old and had carried the distinction of being the oldest “active” volunteer at the Mission House—a title she seemed to relish.

Helen lived a full and adventurous life. She was married to her husband Allen for 64 years until his death in 2016 and they enjoyed many adventures together—like retiring and moving to the beach for 10 years. When grandchildren came into the picture, they moved back to Apex but they bought an RV and traveled the country eventually including their grandchildren in some of their adventures.

Both Helen and Allen were civic minded and eager to help others in their community in any way they could. It was this desire to help that led them to Mabopane where they faithfully served God through this ministry until his death. But Helen continued to volunteer until she had a bad fall at her home earlier this year.

“Helen, all those years was the first to arrive at the Mission House at 8:00 a.m. and worked until 2:00 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays,” said Becky Young. Below is a fairly recent picture of Helen and her teammates who were involved in the very important role of pricing and sorting the donations.

We are so grateful to Helen for her many years of loyal service and to Helen and her family for designating the Mabopane Foundation as the recipient of any
Memorial contributions made in her honor.

To make a contribution in Helen’s honor, go to the webpage mabopanekids.org. When it asks “how can you help?”scroll down to the word “give” and click on that box. When you see the category “other”, write in Helen’s name. (Link to giving page)

YOU TOO CAN BE A VOLUNTEER!

Not all of us can still be a Mabopane volunteer at age 91 like Helen. But there are certainly ways to enjoy volunteering right now and for many years to come. We would love to grow our volunteer roster for our monthly Pop-Up Sales. There are many ways to serve at each sale, and it is a great opportunity to serve alongside your friends and family and have some fun. Different positions at the Pop-Up Sales are as follows:

Captain, Cashier, Asst. Cashier, Cashier Holding, Jewelry Botique Cashier, Baked Goods Booth Manager, Floaters, Heavy Lifting Help. Training on the specifics of each role is available before the volunteer accepts the assignment. We are not asking you to work at every sale. But once a month or whatever works with your schedule would be so helpful.

Pop-Up Sales are held the second and last Fridays and Saturdays of each month with operating hours on Fridays from 7:00 a.m.—Noon and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. We do ask that our volunteers arrive 30 minutes ahead of this schedule to get set up.

In addition to help with our Pop-Up Sales, we are looking for help with moving and rearranging furniture on a regular basis. This is such a big task that happens each week in preparation for our upcoming sales. Help is specifically needed on Monday or Tuesday mornings.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of these opportunities or need more information, please contact Ashley Napier at admin@mabopanekids.org.

Don’t forget to save and bring us your empty ink cartridges of all types which will provide savings to us when we purchase office supplies!

Newsletter - September Edition 2023