Perhaps out of all of the Living Hope ministries, you are most familiar with our Life Skills programme? This programme is one of our oldest and most consistent programmes that faithfully runs for 4 days per week, year round including holiday clubs! We are grateful for our Life Skill Educators who are seeking to set the example of God’s care for all children and teens.
The Life Skills programme is essential to our Prevention Strategy at Living Hope. We seek to influence and enable children early in their life with resources to make them more resilient in the face of trauma, to make positive choices in the areas of sex, substance abuse and other social issues. This influence Is HUGE! More than 3500 children voluntarily attend our after school programme where they learn about God and the Bible as an infinite resource for them to lean upon!
While we often feature the “fun” and lighthearted sides of teaching children on Living Hope’s Social Media, this can be a very difficult field of work. In the face of poverty, trauma, abuse, inadequate housing, poor nutrition, poor health and poor education, our teams are seeking to build practical, authentic, resilient relationships with children and teens in a way that communicates compassion and care for them. Our Life Skills educators seek to live out an example for their community that all children are a gift from God and that they are to be welcomed, loved, provided for, nurtured, taught, and treated with respect.
Our Life Skills Programme centres around a holistic curriculum, including decision making, problem solving, creative thinking, empathy, self-control, emotional intelligence and many other skills that help children become more successful in their homes, schools and communities. We have encountered two beautiful stories amongst all the needs and bad situations our clients find themselves in. Read the captions below the photos to hear more
One of our girls came and did a whole demonstration on what she learned at club. She said; “Some people believe that you have to be flying a rocket ship or a plane to be closer to God, but I learned that the only way is through to Jesus.” She is so willing to share what she has learned at club, and often shows us journal entries of what was important to her at club. She made us a cross with the things that she learnt from club that has stuck with her.
A parent from one of our 3 year old boys, decided to write a letter to our Life Skill Educators, thanking them for the positive role they are playing in her son’s life and for the good work Living Hope is doing. She writes and explains how he often comes home and repeats the Bible story to her and how she will hear him singing a song he learned at our afternoon club. You can hear the appreciation and hope in her writing, as she shares her gratitude for people who love her son and care for his future.
We love to see the children actively participating in our after school clubs! Such a joy that we can once again gather together, while we abide by the COVID regulations necessary to keep everyone safe.
We believe that God has called us to seek justice and provide for the needs of the children and teens in our care. We trust that you will choose to partner with us as we seek to strengthen the heart of children by “Bringing Hope and Breaking the Despair” they face and in seeking their good. We hope that you would be willing to provide the means by which we are able to keep this vital programme going!
You can help build resilient children and teens by choosing to specifically fund this programme by clicking the blue button below and choosing Life Skills or visiting our website at www.livinghope.co.za/donate. We ideally need people who can give monthly, no matter the amount. Now is the time to do it. Please do click the blue button below to donate securely via our website or see our EFT details below.
Thank you so much for your continued support,
John V. Thomas
Executive Director Living Hope