News update from Joan Adams - March 2010

17 – 03 – 2010


Dearest Friends

What a glorious late summer day it is in Welkom today! It’s hard to imagine the world being in turmoil and South Africa in the throes of a multitude of problems whilst I’m only conscious of the birds chirping happily out in the garden and the everyday sounds of life going by. That its mid-March already takes one’s breath away – but that God rules supreme in the midst of the trials of life brings a quiet peace to the soul!

My goodness! If ever Morning Star was hectic, it’s now! In addition to our normal activities and the everyday challenges we face, we’re presently struggling with our transport system, of getting all our children to and from our Welkom Centre – on time – each and every weekday.

My last letter described our dilemma with our then almost new Mercedes Sprinter – how the expensive services and upkeep were draining our coffers and how we’d made the decision to replace it with a Toyota Bus. Well, we’re even now still betwixt and between the two! The Mercedes was sold and gone before the end of January whilst the Toyota is only due to arrive at the beginning of May ’10 now!! And so, we’ve been forced to make do with what we’ve left and still get our children to Morning Star in time for our daily activities. It’s been a nightmare, at times, to say the least. And every day, and sometimes every hour, the transport schedule changes and children get swopped to different vehicles as we endeavour to smooth out recurring hitches. Elizabeth vd Westhuizen, our Operations Manager, has borne the brunt of the chaos we’ve found ourselves in and her favourite saying over the past while has been “It’s all as clear as mud”! Picture this. Two 18-seater combis having the responsibility of transporting 90+ children to our premises, all before 10.30am, at the latest, 5 days a week. To assist we’re using our own vehicles, our new 7-seater Toyota Avanza plus the services of a township taxi driver and his vehicle (Venture) to transport our children back and forth. In spite of all these cars at our disposal, some days there isn’t even one available to take children to the doctor in or to pack the weekly groceries! It’s got to the point where I can’t remember what keys to take for what vehicle, where the keys are, where the vehicle is parked and how long I have it at my disposal!

Roll on the day our new bus arrives! It was promised to us the first week of April – but now the goalposts have been shifted a month. That’s in exactly 43 days time! A blink of an eyelid to some but still an eternity for us! (You might be asking why we got rid of the Mercedes so quickly. Well, we were told that we’d struggle to find a buyer for it, that its value would depreciate significantly if we held onto it and that there was always the risk we’d have an accident in it, further hindering our chances of selling it quickly?? All sales talk? Who knows?)
Although our vehicle dilemma has taken up a lot of energy over the past 6 weeks, it certainly hasn’t clouded our daily joys and delights.

Our first joy was the arrival of John & Wendy Harris from Mirfield, Yorkshire, UK, on 10th February. They visited Morning Star for the first time last September, little knowing then that they’d be back in Welkom so soon. They’re with us for close on 4 months this time and are playing such vital roles in our midst that we’re already loathe to let them go. John has become our ‘on hand’ handyman and is up and down ladders sanding, painting and restoring to former glory. He also leads our staff devotions most mornings and we’re all enjoying and benefitting from his ministry. Wendy assists on the creative side AND with whatever/wherever we need her help. She is very good with arts and crafts and divides her time between our Morning Star children and the Tshedisanang Women’s Project. She and Paddy, our Tshedisanang overseer, have struck up a special friendship and find great delight in each other’s company and in sharing resources. And as a result, I’ve got lots of stunning hand-crafted greeting cards to bring over with me when I visit the UK in May. I’m sure you’re going to just love them!  

Morning Star Children’s Centre turned 10 years old on 24th January 2010. On that very day, 10 years ago, our initial 8 children and 4 staff members, with fear and trepidation in our hearts, set about opening up a day care centre for little children born and living with HIV/AIDS. My desire then was to care for up to 20 little ones at any given time, feed them and love them until their untimely deaths – and then replace them with other needy, suffering children. Never in my wildest dreams did I contemplate having to enlarge our facilities, employ additional staff and care for many more children than originally bargained for! If someone had told me then that in 10 years time I’d have a staff of 40, would be looking after 135 children on a daily basis, would have 4 buses & 4 drivers, have buried over 200 children, taken about 75 ‘teenagers’ to Durban to ‘see the sea’, be spending up to R250 000.00 every month and have plans to even expand further, I would probably have dropped dead on the spot!
God is so amazing!  Slowly but surely He equipped, directed and brought us to this point in our history. Almost unnoticeably He grew us to cope with more and trust Him for our every need. And, looking back, all we can say is ‘What a Mighty God we serve! He is worthy of all praise and honour, glory and power, forever and ever, amen!’

We celebrated our 10th birthday on 26th February 2010. Under Elizabeth vd W’s capable direction we hired a marquee, cooked up a storm and filled take-away boxes with scrumptious eats for the 100+ guests on our list. Our children and staff provided the entertainment and for many days prior to the event they could be heard practising their items over and over again. The climax of their repertoire was our new Morning Star song, composed and set to music by Danny & Janey Obadia in the USA. They’d especially written this song for Bill & Linda Muddyman’s fund-raising barbeque (in aid of Morning Star) last year in the United Kingdom, little knowing then that we’d be adopting it as our theme song and be singing it at our 10th birthday party. Oh, how I wish you could ALL have  been present at our function and joined with us as we gave thanks to our Lord for His gracious hand upon Morning Star all these years and for His faithful provision in so many ways. It was good to be in the midst of old friends again, to listen to their reminiscing of our early days and initial trials and to be reminded of God’s trustworthiness. We say “Ebenezer” once again! “Thus far has our Lord been our helper!”  

Our 2010 trip to Durban, despite some unforeseen hitches, once again proved a huge success. We set off fairly early on Wednesday 3rd March in 2 mini buses with 16 little girls, (between the ages of 11 – 16 years) 9 adults and a huge trailer full of food and luggage in tow. We would’ve preferred to have left Welkom at the crack of dawn but 1 child didn’t turn up and we had to eventually fetch her from her home and another (who visited Durban last year) slipped in unnoticed and nearly got away with it!
En route we had several comfort stops and also visited Howick Falls (said to be the 2nd highest waterfall in South Africa). By the time we reached our destination, The Lily of the Valley, it was almost dark, very misty and drizzling. Much prayer went up that night for clear weather the following day.
And God granted our request. For our remaining time in Kwa Zulu Natal we had perfect sunshine and a couple of simply gorgeous days on the beach. For the first time in many a year the sea was ‘blue’ when our children spotted it – and not ‘grey’. (At the start of every sea trip we always ask our children what colour they think the sea will be? Inevitably they say ‘blue’. But, if the weather is dull and overcast, the sea is a shade of grey – quite a shock to the untrained eye!)
It’s a joy too deep to describe to watch children (and staff members) frolicking in the waves for the very first time in their lives! Every year it’s as meaningful as the year before and every year I thank our Lord for John & Wendy Harris, who gave us the idea in the first place, and for the couple in the UK who finance these annual trips so faithfully. This year John & Wendy got to experience our sea trip firsthand. Hopefully our monetary sponsors will, one day, get the opportunity to accompany us too.
In the midst of all the excitement and fun, one of our little girls, 12-year-old Manana Tau, had to be rushed to hospital. She was actually already ill before we left Welkom, and shouldn’t have accompanied us in the first place, but her grandma failed to advise any of us of her ill-health and we only picked up on her condition once we’d already arrived at our destination. What panned out, as a result, was that we spent most of our second day in Kwa Zulu Natal at the doctor and hospital having her examined and, subsequently, admitted. Our other 15 children were forced to wait patiently in the minibuses through all of this and, once I realized there’d be little time for the beach that day, I took the decision to postpone our return home by a further 24 hours so that 15 other little hearts wouldn’t feel cheated and disappointed. To cut a longggg story short, our driver, Sam (back in Welkom) and without much notice, collected Manana’s grandmother from her Kutlwanong Township home and drove her through to St Mary’s Hospital into the night, so that she could sit at her granddaughter’s bedside and we could continue with our sea trip. All at huge expense and inconvenience, I might add! But, there was no alternative as we’d been advised not to transport Manana back to the Free State ourselves as she was so seriously ill and would more than likely have died on the way! (Only yesterday, 16th March, did Manana (and grandma) finally return home. She is still very weak and frail but we trust will yet make a good recovery).

The above saga has taught us to be far more vigilant in the future and to screen our children before setting off on a journey like this. It’s not that we’ve never taken seriously ill children to Durban before. We have. But we’ve always known what we were working with and what precautions needed to be taken and treatment meted out. Looking back on this, our most recent trip, one factor supersedes all others. Manana’s grandmother was irresponsible and, what has since surfaced, not been a good carer for this little girl for a long while. Not only did she know she was sending a very sick child away for 3 days without informing any of us, but she’d also stopped giving Manana her anti-retroviral drugs several weeks previously (after being reprimanded by the ARV Clinic staff  for not administering  the drugs properly she’d just stopped collecting them). We’re now very anxious for this little girl’s well-being and will be keeping a careful eye on her home situation. For, if she’s not properly cared for, she will surely die.

For those of you who are wondering whether your sponsored child was selected to visit Durban this year, here are the names of the little girls who accompanied us: Dimakatso Lesesa, Maki Madokwe, Nombulela Mbunyaza, Mpho Phatela, Nthabiseng Sotsaka, Mmaso Raseboka, Lubabalo Dlamini, Lerato Gorati, Ntswaki Tomose, Nolwazi, Palesa Seekoei, Thandeka, Manuku, Nyakello, and Manana Tau.

We’ve had our share of sorrows over this past while as well. The most devastating was learning of Val Bekker’s imminent retirement. Not only that she’s leaving Morning Star but that she’s leaving Welkom and the Free State as well and relocating to George, down in the Cape, to be closer to her son and family. I suppose in my mind I never thought I’d have to say ‘goodbye’ to Val. She’s always been part of my Welkom history and has ever played a big role in my and Morning Star’s activities. And, though her health has deteriorated over the past while, she’s still so full of life herself and always able to keep up with the pressures of her job and continue producing the wonderful letters you’ve all come to appreciate.
Val & her husband, Danie, have their house on the market at the moment and we’re trusting that they won’t struggle to sell it. Once that’s happened, they’ll be packing up their belongings and moving far, far away – but to a very beautiful part of our country indeed.
Val’s replacement starts at Morning Star on 6th April. Her name is Jenny Staake, she has a heart for little children and appears to have all the qualities we’re looking for. Val will spend the month of April teaching Jenny her job and will then come and go as she has need, time and energy. I can’t even begin to think of then. Now is all I can cope with at present.
Interviewing applicants for Val’s job was an emotionally taxing task indeed. Each one believed God had led them to the job at Morning Star, several also had tragic life stories to tell and one was literally starving to death! I only got to interview the short-list but poor Val did about 30 on her own beforehand and was cut to the heart each time a new set of bright, hopeful eyes gazed into hers, silently pleading for the job. Heart-breaking stuff indeed! I wish I could’ve employed them all.

We’ve also had a death in February – that of 5-year-old Mpho Mofokeng – on 19th. She only began at our Welkom Centre this past January and, though unwell from the start, we truly believed she’d benefit from our good care and that her health would improve and she’d go on to enjoy a happy, carefree child-hood. But it was not to be. She was put onto anti-retroviral drugs shortly before her death and I think her little body was just not strong enough to cope with their toxicity and adjust to them.  I was devastated when I was told she’d died in hospital. Why, we didn’t improve her lifestyle one little bit in the short time she was with us. I just trust she knew she was deeply loved and that she had a very special place in our hearts.

Well, I think that’s enough rambling for now. I know I still haven’t told you of our school children’s visit to the circus, of our recent 3-day staff training course (Quality Health Care), that I nearly drowned in the sea trying to save one of our Morning Star drivers, that our Board has given the go-ahead to extend our Kutlwanong premises and that we’re in the process of making a new DVD entitled “Now (2010) and then (2000)” for my forthcoming UK trip.

Oh yes, my UK trip! As you will note our programme begins on Saturday 8th May this year and that our last appointment is set for the 30th. There are still a few gaps in-between and a couple of loose ends to tie up but, on the whole, it reflects our whereabouts and the towns we’ll be visiting. I’ll be flying out alone this year but will have Glenys Barham from Woodgreen Evangelical Church, Worcester, accompanying me and driving me around your beautiful country. I hope it stops snowing before I arrive.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”. (Psalm 51:10&12)

Yours in Christ
Joan

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