April to May Highlights with Murchison Community Centre

We are very proud of the progress and achievements from all the programs under Genesis Murchison Community Centre over the first few months of the year 2024. There has been a lot of changes and as we can all agree, change is not always easy, but we thank God who keeps the team going and growing from strength to strength with one mandate in their hearts and that is bringing the community (children, youth, and adults) closer to God while equipping them with the necessary skills to sustain themselves and their loved ones.

Afternoon Programs and feeding

We are seeing so much progress with the programs that we had planned for the children at the beginning of the year. The most challenging aspect for many of the children registered in our programs is reading, so the team decided to incorporate a reading session once a week for all age groups and there has been incredible progress.

We have also seen the kids, especially the teenagers grow strong in their faith and wanting to know more about Jesus, asking questions and keeping the conversation going through bible studies. Our theme this month was, “Let’s build each other up” exploring the responsibility we have of building, encouraging, and holding each other accountable.

The kids are loving power of play sessions every Thursday, exploring, and monitoring their growth through playful activities exercising their fine and gross motor skills. Leadership and life skills have always been a part of our programs and we are very pleased to have Kethin, Jermyn, Shareefa and David leading these sessions over the past few weeks. Socially we see a lot of changes with our teens even with interactions and emotionally, they have developed healthy coping skills and self-confidence.

Noxolo has been taking five boys and five girls for computer lessons twice a week, they have one more week till completion and we will be rewarding them with mini achievement certificates. We also have fun interactive activities planned each afternoon for our tiny friends, there are not an easy group to navigate but the team is doing amazing, keeping them entertained and feeling like part of everything that is going on around them.

We were slightly disappointed that the dance competition has been cancelled for the UGU group, but the coach is still pushing them every Monday. Our thought is to have an in-house competition so that they don’t get discouraged and we can also use this opportunity to fundraise for their t-shirts and dance shoes.

We have huge number of new children this month, we are aware that so many of them join us because of our feeding program, nevertheless it’s a blessing that they end up receiving more than that. We are so grateful for God’s provision to be able to run the go-hungry feeding program each afternoon.

Schools and Home Visits/ Evangelism

Schools have been the other amazing thing that God has allowed us to do. It was a difficult for us in the beginning, but now we can’t see ourselves not interacting and investing in the lives of these youngsters. We have built a stronger relationship with Madakane Primary school, the teachers are also taking part in all our sessions whether its bible study, crafts or life skills.

From the principal being a pastor, to the teachers being Christians, it was very easy for them to welcome us and follow up on how we feel when we are there. The children there are disciplined, and the parents are also communicating with us wanting to find out other things that this Genesis does.

We have been running programs at Murchison Primary school for the past two years now and it is a very spiritually attacked environment, having over 1400 children from different religious background also plays a huge role in this. The word of God in the book of Isaih 41:10 says, “do not fear, do not be dismayed for I am with you, and I will strengthen you”, we go in there every Friday seeing the teachers just so defeated and do what God has assigned us to do and that is to spread His love and hope as much as possible.

Our bible study theme this month for schools is on the book of Exodus “Who or What is your God?”.

This past week 31 girls gave their lives to Jesus and are hungry to know who He is and how they can serve him better. They are very curious and are asking a lot of questions which is great. We are praying that more of them follow their lead and we will not stop praying for them. The home visits are always infused with evangelism, we ensure that we don’t leave without praying with them.

We did this once a week this month because we were a little tied up with other things in our ministry, but it is always good to interact with the parents and get feedback on how the children are at home.

We are going to be part of an event for child protection week at Murchison Primary, together with SAPS, DSD, DOH and other organisation on the 3rd of May 2024. We are so excited to be leading this event with people with the same goal, to protect and nurture these children.

Skills development

The skills development courses continue to thrive, making a positive impact in the community. We are amazed by the engagement and support. Implementing these courses aligns with our mission statement which is not just empowering the community through biblical principles but also empowering them with the necessary skills to sustain themselves.

Computer literacy

Karen O has done a phenomenal job starting this course from scratch. To date we have had just a little over 30 people go through this course and all of them have done well. This has helped them improve their digital literacy enhancing their employability and career prospects. We have teenagers going through the same course facilitated by Noxolo who took over from Karen and we have about eleven students on our waiting list who are ready to start on the next class.

Sewing and Crochet’

The sewing course has also been doing well. We see a lot of people interested and registering for sewing mainly because it is more practical, and it is easier to make a living for them after completing it. We have had 27 students go through the course from when it started in March this year and some of which are doing great for themselves now. We decided to put crochet as part of the course as it such an amazing skill to have. The last group of students were so good that they even made their own graduation gowns. We look forward to reaching more people and to moving into the new sewing room that is more specious.

Success stories

·       Khanyisani is 21 years old, after finishing her matric at Nkonka high school in 2022. She didn’t have funds to register so she came and joined the sewing course late last year. She is now doing her degree in chemical engineering at UKZN, but she has availed herself to facilitate sewing and crochet to our teenagers. In her own words, “Genesis saved me from myself, I am now old enough to make the right choices and I would like to give back and save other young girls from themselves.” She is doing her first year, but she has committed to volunteering her time whenever she is free.

·       Having these courses also help the clients from Social Justice gain a skill, thus far Zinhle has had over 10 of her clients go through the computer course, this means they have increased their chances of getting employment.

STATS May 2024

Number of children Served: 215 (afternoon programs and feeding)

Dance and poetry: 34.

Schools outreach program: Murchison Primary = 247 Madakane Primary = 149

Number of students from skills development: Sewing 10 Children 10

Number of client referrals: 4

Home visits/evangelism: 12 homes

We look forward with excitement as we get into our busy season coming up. Like David said in the book of Psalm 34:8 “taste and see that the Lord is good” this you experience when you depend fully on Him