Redlands Team

Last Thursday we farewelled a youth team from Redlands (CRC). It was real exciting to have them here at SWIM! The 8 of them spent 9 days here - doing a kids program for the local kids on the first three mornings. In the afternoons they busied themselves painting our Transit House - and they even had time to start on the Deed House - where we live. It was exciting to see the colour transformation. 13+years had worn the original paint of the buildings considerably, so the place is looking great now.

Then, during the second week, on Monday to Wednesday mornings, the team split up into boys and girls. The guys did a sport program with the youth in Lungga, and the girls ran a crochet class for local women. It may seem a bit of a simple thing to do, but it was so appreciated by the local women. Crystal, pictured below, told us how for a long time she's wanted to learn how to crochet but no one would teach her.

"They want to keep the knowledge to themselves," she said. She was so thankful to have the chance to learn.

Rose is another woman who is excited about her new skill. She's pictured here pinning up a hem for the first time in her life! She's working on making this food cover. She'll crochet the edges and then do cross stitch or sew something on it to embellish it.

While all us ladies were sitting around doing crochet and hemming the edges, we talked about how good it would be to meet regularly - to encourage each other to keep busy with our hands, to pass on skills or new ideas.

A lot of the ladies in Lungga community (where SWIM is located) don't have paid employment, so apart from the daily chores of working in the garden, washing dishes and clothes, and cooking food, they don't have much to do - and certainly not much money coming in either. They were excited about the prospect of being able to learn a new skill to be busy with while sitting around at home.

I led devotions at the beginning of each session, focusing on the Proverbs 31 woman and the ways she put her skills and hands to good use for her family. By the end of the third morning, we decided to meet back at the end of the month, bring whatever we're working on and discuss how we can make this a more regular thing.

I'm so pleased about this! A) because I love creating things and I've wanted to find a way that I can serve God here using the talents I already have and B) I've always wanted to find a way to help people to become good stewards of their gifts and resources, using them to provide for themselves and their families. This seems like a road forward! So thanks to the Redlands Team - you've really started something good here.