Dear Partner,
We know… EVERYONE is talking about COVID-19, but several of you have reached out to us with questions about the situation in our local area. If you don’t hear from us in this rapidly changing environment, it’s because we are rapidly RESPONDING to serve our community.
Currently President Ramaphosa has declared a National State of Disaster. This will enable us to have an integrated and coordinated disaster management mechanism that will focus on preventing and reducing the outbreak of this virus.
Living Hope is very practiced in systems thinking, community care and working in complex situations, so we will continue to apply those methods to this situation. We will make prayerful, Biblical, and compassionate decisions that are well-informed from a place of responsibility, whilst we seek to support and care for those who are most susceptible to the virus, to those who may not be getting adequate care or may not be able to cope in the event of an infection. As a leadership team we are having daily virtual meetings in order to stay ahead of the fast changing situation.
You should know that there are no confirmed cases of the COVID-19 currently in our local area so we are focussing very intensively on education of our communities in various ways. We are demonstrating hand-washing, cough hygiene, and social distancing measures all the time. Prevention messaging is really urgent at this stage and we are advancing that messaging in all the ways that we can. We are reaching people who may not be on social media or may not have online access, or who are illiterate.
We are also looking at resizing groups that we serve and seeking God’s wisdom on how to deal with helping children in our communities, as schools will now be closed for about a month. We normally have Kids Clubs running throughout the school holidays, where we also serve a hot meal to the children, however, as of now we have to be very careful about the size of groups, praciticing social distancing and finding suitable venues.
While the world is facing a medical emergency far graver than we have experienced in recent times, we are not helpless or hopeless. We look to the Lord for His guidance and mercy.
I am reminded of Jesus being a servant and washing the feet of his disciples when they needed it. We find ourselves in one of the greatest opportunities of all times, where people really need us, but at the same time we need such wisdom to protect our staff, clients and the people we serve in their homes. We cannot standby doing nothing, but rather have to do everything we can, as we seek to Bring Hope and Break the Despair of poverty and disease. What an unparalleled opportunity in history. What an immensely difficult challenge. We need superlative wisdom.
Thank you to everyone who has proactively reached out to us with enquiring how we are doing. I am so grateful that you are our partner at this time. Our costs are rising due to this pandemic as we seek to buy increasing amounts of N95 masks (which we estimate will cost ZAR12,000 or $750 per month going forward), hand sanitizer and protective gear for our staff. You can donate online towards “Disaster Relief” using the blue button below which will take to you our website www.livinghope.co.za/donate, or you can find our designated disaster relief bank account details below. You can also mail a check to your closest location address as below. If you do live locally, donations of dried/tinned goods, paper towels rolls, toilet paper etc would be gratefully received by security at our Capri campus location for distribution to those who do not have.
Thank you to everyone who have proactively reached out to us with prayers and finanical support. We appreciate you!
For such a time as this,
John V Thomas
Executive Director
Living Hope