Stewart 5

Thank you all for praying with us for our friends. Since I last wrote, both Motlope and Valrey have begun ARV treatment! Join us in thanking God for providing these much needed medicines. Many AIDS victims here in South Africa remain on waiting lists for ARVs or are still unaware these medicines are available and offer dramatic health benefits. Valrey says she feels like she was never sick! Motlope has increasing energy and, since also been seen at the lung clinic, has increasing lung capacity which means she is now running and playing like other children her age. Motlope has spent the last few weeks with her grandmother in Johannesburg. Jonas and Valrey will join her there to celebrate Christmas. Please continue to pray that at the right time God will give Valrey the courage, strength, and peace of heart and mind to share her HIV status with her mother. Pray for her mother, Lucy, that she will receive Valrey with open arms and support her unconditionally. Pray also for one of Valrey’s clients who has been treating her differently since she shared her HIV status. Valrey is sure that she has brought in another domestic worker once a week, but hasn’t spoken with Valrey about it yet. Valrey is concerned that she will loose this client.

Saturday we will be delivering a metal gate and swing set out to their home in Hammanskraal. Jonas has been diligently preparing this home for his family. Now that the gate will be complete, he won’t have to worry as much about robbers breaking in when they aren’t home. So, far God has been faithful to provide in this area, neighbors have been watching over their home. At this point hey have a two bedroom house with a door and lots of furniture. They still need glass so that they can put in the windows. Jonas hopes to get enough money to dig a well on their property. This way they will always have access to water. Without the well, Valrey walks about 4 minutes to the spigot to get water. She says that several times a week there is no water coming from the spigot. Thankfully her neighbors have given her the water she needs from their water storage containers. Once they have the well, they will sell water for a small fee. Valrey also hopes to set up a stand to start a small business on her property. The area where they live is growing and many people set up stands to sell food, clothing and other necessities. Once Valrey has her business going she and Motlope will stay at the house in Hammanskraal during the week (rather than travelling from Pretoria North just for the weekends) and she will quit her job as a domestic worker.

Please continue to pray for Jonas, Valrey and Motlope. Pray for continued health, and even healing, for Valrey and Motlope. Pray for Jonas as he supports his wife and daughter with tremendous love and generosity. Pray that they would have hope and endurance to build their dreams for their future.

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This year I’ve been serving dinner every Tuesday night to a bunch of young men. I call them “MaGents” (pronounced mah-gents) a slang South African term similar to the American term “homeboys” or “my hommies.” Many of these guys (aged 17-25) have families and homes in nearby townships, but they have left for varying reasons. Some of their families have sent them out to provide for themselves. Some of the guys have chosen to leave because of the abuse they’ve experienced at home. Many of them have not finished high school and several can’t read or write.



Most of the guys hang around on the street near the mall 3 blocks from our house. They direct people to parking spaces on the street and ask if they can “watch your car” for you while you shop. They’ll even wash your windows or the whole car if you let them! This is a very common occurrence here in SA. Some stores, restaurants and malls employ their own uniformed car park attendants. It is customary to tip them if you agree to allow them to watch your car, usually about R2 (about 30 cents at the current exchange rate). The guys say that on average, if they work all week from 7 am till 6 pm, they make about R200 ($30). They sleep in vacant lots around the shops and some of them say they have “a room” somewhere.



A group of people from different churches got together a couple of years ago to serve food to these guys five days out of the week. Several NieuCommunities apprentices have been involved in serving these guys over the last 3 years. Since we had no apprentices this year, I took over Tuesday nights. I asked one of our Pangani staff, my friend Jostina, if she would accompany me. So, after she works a full day cleaning my house and doing my laundry, Jostina and I head to the place where we serve MaGents. The kitchen staff at a nearby retirement home provide the food. Jostina and I bring plastic plates, forks and serving spoons.



Most of the time the food from the retirement home is decent. Sometimes, honestly, I wouldn’t eat it. The guys eat most of it because they are hungry. But, often they choose not to eat one item or another. One week, when they seemed unhappy with the meal, I asked them what would they like, what was their favorite meal…they said they liked motwana (pronounced mow-TWah-nah), pap (pronounced pop) and coca-cola (Coke:).

shirts v. skins serving the foodMotwana and Pap

One Sunday afternoon I invited MaGents to the park to play soccer and eat lunch. Arthur, Tim Ramage, Doug, and our kids played a shirts v. skins match. Jostina made the motwana (boiled chicken feet with a tomato and onion sauce), pap (the main starch eaten throughout Africa, but prepared a bit differently from country to country) and mashed pumpkin. We served the food after the soccer game and then just talked and hung out at the park until the sun began to set. It was a beautiful day.

Last week Abie asked me to bring “cool drink” (similar to punch). I told him I would, but that since I would be paying for the drink each week I needed his, and the other guys, help to keep each other honest and not take the forks and plates that we bring each week. Many times MaGents show up to eat and they have been sniffing glue or drinking cheap beer. One of the younger guys, Tsepo, is regularly high on glue. On occasion he is sober and he’s really an articulate, intelligent, likeable guy. I’ve told him a few times now that he is a smart guy and that I really enjoy him much more when he is sober.

A few weeks ago MaGents told me they would like Christmas presents. I asked them what they kinds of gifts they wanted. One guy said, “just something that will make us happy.” So, I don’t know what kind of picture you have of these guys at this point, but picture any average 17-25 year old in America. These guys want similar things. They like to look good. They save up their money and buy Fila “takkies” (athletic shoes). They are into soccer and talk about what kind of car they’d like.

I told MaGents that I would see what I could do to get them some Christmas presents. But, I also asked them, if I got them something good would they get tested for HIV in order to get the present. I had asked one of the guys prior to this conversation if he had been tested. He said “no.” I asked if he would get tested and he said, “probably not.” So, these guys, in general, have no natural inclination to get tested. After I presented the idea the guys said they would get tested if they got a gift out of the deal.



Here’s where you come in…I’d like to give these guys the option of a new pair of athletic shoes or a soccer jersey. I am hoping to get 20 guys to come out one afternoon to get counseling and HIV testing through the local clinic. I need $45 each, a total of $900 to pay for the gifts. Please email me ASAP if you are interested in partnering with us in this endeavor!



Thank you for listening to my story:) Melissa

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