On Saturday 11th of August, a Café Event was held at Kingsway Community Church for Hands at Work in Africa. This was an opportunity for people in Sydney to hear first-hand from George Snyman, who was visiting Sydney for the week.
The night of the event was windy and raining, making it hard to leave the comfort of pyjamas and warm homes. However, for those who attended, the warmth of the whole event made the effort more than worth it. The Café set up, warm coffee and delicious dessert created an atmosphere well worth experiencing.
David da Costa and band created vibrant music and African-style dancing. The music offered a time of reflection and worship, reminding us all of why we were there. As well as this, in true African-style, we were all able to put aside any insecurity and to dance and sing in praise to our Lord Jesus.
Connecting
The Café event provided a perfect opportunity for us to share the Hands vision with those passionate about Africa and mission. We, as Hands Australia, are incredibly passionate about the work of Hands and know firsthand the impact this organisation is having. For those who wanted to become connected with Hands at Work it was a time to connect and gather more information about what it does. Lord-willing these people may visit Africa in the future and capture the Hands vision as many others have.
Advocating
Something that Hands strongly supports is the notion that each child has a name and each child has a story. After visiting Africa we were encouraged to advocate for these children, to tell people their names and to share their stories. The Café night focused strongly on this. We were given opportunity to hear the experiences of James McLaughlin (who recently visited Africa for 3 months), Mel Warren (who visited Africa on a short-term basis and a future long-term volunteer) and Jenny, Clinton and Leyton Wood (all who visited Africa short-term).
It was a real blessing to have George Snyman, founder of Hands at Work, with us at the event. The stories that he shared gave a glimpse into the suffering in Africa and into the passion behind his organisation. He illustrated for us the work that God is doing through Hands by comparing an experience he had over 10 years ago to a recent experience.
The event was incredibly successful. One donation was made to Hands at Work for $10,000. This will go towards supporting vulnerable children in the Ago Okota community in Nigeria for a year. How great is God and the generosity of others! We hope that the next event will see the same people continuing to be passionate about Africa and also new ones that are open to being challenged and changed.