I always try to make our Newsletter as positive as possible, as there is enough bad news in this world of ours! 😊 But this time, I have to share a bit of bad news – Jasmine House is home to state pensioners and one of them, Buddy sadly passed away on Fathers Day, quickly and quietly due to a blood clot through his lungs. Buddy was only 69 and had been a resident at Resthaven for more than 20 years and came to us as a broken bird. The Housemother at Jasmine, Dorothy, smothered him with love and care, as she is wont to do with all her residents, and gave him little tasks, like feeding the birds, watering the garden and being security, ensuring that all doors were locked at night, etc. and Buddy felt SO important and absolutely loved being NEEDED! Being needed is a thing everyone of us can identify with, and this is more so for the old souls at our homes!! Buddy is missed greatly by his peers at Jasmine House!
Another goodbye is to Sandra Hutchinson, our resident Social Worker, has chosen to spread her wings! Sandra was loved by all! The children, the seniors and the staff! We wish you eagle’s wings as you soar to new heights, Sands!
We have covered our CEO, Steve Rudd, with the blood of Jesus as he had to undergo an operation on Monday, 17th June and are happy to say the operation was a success and he is at home, recuperating.
Now, let’s get to the good news! 😊 We received a donation of frozen veg from Sue Lubbe, which filled 2 chest freezers! Sue Lubbe also ensured that each of our homes had a magnificent roast and brought some clothing and other household items!
The kids and our seniors were so blessed to receive tickets for Disney on Ice by Leon, a resident at Jasmine House via his connection at Computicket! They left in great spirits and returned awed! Each and every one of them, old and young, said it was AMAZING! Outings like these are such a blessing for our residents, and we SO wish we could arrange more of them!
The founder of Resthaven Ministries IS BACK! Val and Roy Saunders, a pastor, founded Resthaven more than 20 years ago, starting with a soup kitchen and, what we used to call Ops, a place for homeless men which is where we met Buddy! Roy is not with us in this world anymore, but Val graciously agreed to become Chairman of our Board and it is with great joy that we welcome her back!
We are also more than delighted that our kids at David House all brought home excellent report cards, unfortunately our kids did not have a special day on Youth Day, which saddens me!
Another HUGE thank you must go to Rowena Eggberry of Jo’burg Nomads, who had arranged big amounts of dry goods, cleaning materials and toiletries to be delivered for use in our homes!
Last but not least, profound thanks to donors who give more than R1,000 on a MONTHLY basis! Guys, you just have NO IDEA how much this lightens our stresses in caring for our peeps!
Well, that’s it for June and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy compiling it! 😊
God bless you all!!