This month I am greeting you with very sad news! Our matriarch, Val Saunders, who had founded Resthaven Ministries together with her husband, Pastor Roy Saunders in the 70’s, had gone to Jesus in the early hours on the morning of the 12th. Their journey started with handing out soup from the boot of their car! In her last days, Aunty Val was living at Camelia House and was a devoted prayer warrior. It feels like an end to an era with her passing. The staff here is totally heartbroken. Some of them had been working with Aunty Val for 30 years and she was a mother figure to many, and a dear friend to all at Camelia House. Aunty Val was busy writing a book about her phenomenal life and we pray that her grandchildren finish that last chapter and publish the book as it would make for very interesting reading. Although her family does not receive our newsletter, we offer our very sincere condolences. Her memorial was held at the AFM in Rosettenville on the 18th May with many attendees.
Better news – two of our children, one a staff member’s daughter, Britni and one of the boys at David House, Johnson, had a modelling competition on Saturday, 21st May and had to design and make their own outfit from recyclables. We are delighted to say that they both won 2nd place in their respective categories. See pics below:
They were both ecstatic, and this was Johnson’s first competition. The smile on his face when he heard he was second was something to behold. I don’t know if I had mentioned this in the previous Newsletter, but Figures Glenvista is sponsoring him to become a fully-fledged model.
Other news is that Giffie, who had gone to the Kruger National Park through the goodness of a donor, came back and couldn’t stop talking about the wonderful experience he had.
Our kids are doing workshops on the ins and outs and ups and downs of adolescence, self-identification and grooming. The Cool2BeKind organization taught our children and the staff about anti- and cyber-bullying and the kids all got certificates for that. The staff also did workshops on how to keep the kids safe in these stressful times.
By the Grace of God, and our last Newsletter, we were blessed with sponsorship for extra maths lessons and a lady that is helping our children with their Afrikaans 😊
We still need serious assistance with a vehicle, as our bus was in an accident and the whole chassis is bent! This leaves us with a HUGE problem getting our kids to school and back and transporting our elderly when the need be! We have posted pleas for assistance on all our social media pages and are still waiting in faith.
We also have a huge need as far as our soup kitchens are concerned, although we regularly get donations from By Word of Mouth, together with Mary Oppenheimer Daughters, the numbers of the hungry have grown to such an extent that we never seem to have enough to feed them all.
Huge thanks to the donor who helped with soccer boots for one of our boys!! He was SO chuffed, he came to the office especially to write a Thank You note! May you be blessed for that gift.
Also, profound thanks to Michelle who had couriered a gift for the May birthday boy! His birthday is only tomorrow, but I anticipate another Thank You note 😊
Well, that’s our news for the month of May and we look forward to sharing with you again next month.
With love,
Resthaven Fundraisers
PS: Resthaven’s annual AGM will be held at The Tower Church premises (address can be supplied) on the 7th June 2022 at 10am should anyone wish to attend.