There are approximately 3.8 million children in South Africa who have lost one or both parents in South Africa. Today I want you to meet about 200 of those children who are attending Holiday Camp at Kwa-Ngcolosi.

Watch the video to see the kids of Kwa-Ngcolosi, and the leaders of this special place, Milton and Teresa.

If your church or business would like to sponsor the community of Kwa-Ngcolosi, please visit the HopeChest South Africa Ministry Page and contact us today.

During the 4-week national school break that coincides with the World Cup, officials in South Africa were concerned that orphans and vulnerable children would be targeted by trafficking rings and kidnappers. As I mentioned yesterday, these stories are pretty common.

But this week, over 120 children came to Kwa-Ngcolosi for a Holiday Camp run by our partners at Focus on the Family Africa. The camp, apparently, was better than having food!

Here is an on the ground report from Fikile, the camp director:

We started our day with worship, and Radha taught the children how to do the worship dance to Hillsong. The presence of the Holy Spirit was so tangible that I felt we needed to create an opportunity for the children to know the Lord. When Radha gave her devotion, the desire to tell the kids about Jesus was burning within me and God interrupted the program a little.

We started talking about Jesus. Why He came and how He saves and how He can come and live in the hearts of anyone that will open the door for Him. When the time to do the alter call came, over fifty hands went up and I was blown away, my voice was cracking as I led them in the sinners’ prayer.

My face was burning  with tears and I was in awe of God once again. I am very grateful to God for saving these little ones and pray that God will once again send more people to disciple them and to help them grow in the knowledge of Jesus.

The rest of the day was filled with fun and excitement. There were lots of games to play and Siya, a No Apologies facilitator from Focus, did a talk with both teenage boys and girls and told them about their importance in the Kingdom and how Jesus can help them develop a solid character. Jamie gave young girls a talk about expressing their own feelings (positive and negative) with a trusted person to be healed emotionally. That was followed by outward adornment of learning how to apply face make up and face paint which was much appreciated by both preteens and teenagers alike.

We also took an opportunity to warn the kids about human trafficking, what it is and how it affects them, also how to look out for signs and to help the little ones when they see them following a stranger.

After lunch it was sports, nations competing against nations, and the final winners got prizes, vuvuzelas, boxing gloves, water toys, sweets, giant bubbles etc. 

When we ended our day yesterday I asked one child per country (group) to tell us what they liked the most about the day. Almost all of them said it was the advice they were getting and to know that God loves them, many said it was playing and having fun, and for others, it was learning new things about other countries which they did not know before.

I found it amazing that none of them, even the little ones, said it was food. “Man cannot live on bread alone but by every word…”.

Bless you all for the amazing hearts you have for the forgotten children of our nation, South Africa. 

Kwa-Ngcolosi still needs a church or business sponsor. Over 160 kids benefit from the ministry of Milton & Teresa in partnership with Focus on the Family and Children’s HopeChest.  Find out more information about South Africa and join our Pastors Trip to visit Kwa-Ngcolosi in South Africa in October.