October Update

Coming soon to a city near you!

The days have been flying by as we come to the end of the year! I have many pictures to share with you of what we have been up to, including a visit from my sister, Aubrey.

Also, I am so excited to announce that I am coming to Texas! I will be there the whole month of November to meet with all my supporters and see how yall are doing after a rough few years. This is an opportunity for me to connect and also raise the funds needed for 2023. Courageous Care is growing and we have been able to meet costs every year through a loyal support base. Because of this, even through the struggles of covid and inflation, we have been able to grow the ministry and expand our work.

So now we are dreaming big. We want to expand and see how trauma care can continue to bring safety and healing to South Africa. So I want to come and see you! I want to hear all about your life and heart and share with you how your support has helped us make this ministry a reality.

Because of continued bureaucracy struggles, Venesch will not be able to come with me to Texas on this trip. We are getting closer to getting his paperwork sorted, but it is a long process. In the meantime, I am excited to see you and eat some queso!

It was so fun to introduce Aubrey to all my people in South Africa! Here she taught me and my teen girls how to play a hilarious game that she brought us that included slapping hands. I was sore for days!

She was here during our spring break, so after meeting all my kids we went to do many tourist outings! Penguins, boats, and so much food!

I have had an amazing time working with HerVoice leadership team. This organization uplifts moms. In one of our sessions, we discussed what the organization means to them- they said sisterhood, learning to be better parents, and life skills. I got to watch their group leaders grow through sessions on emotional intelligence, listening skills, trauma care, and leadership.

One project that gets me very excited is my “Let’s Talk About Sex” series. There is a lot of sexual trauma and I felt we were always addressing the issue after the hurt had happened. So I developed a course for teens and now have expanded it for parents. It includes lessons on body parts, consent, protection, communication, value-based decisions, and developmental conversations for kids. You can see the passion in my hands for this topic!

Working with families is such a joy! This family was having a hard time, but at the end of our sessions, they were laughing, connecting, and communicating.

This last term I worked with the grade 4s at Trinity Children’s Centre on emotional intelligence. Our class worked on skills like refusing to gossip about friends and learning to listen to the teacher. We also spent several sessions praying and journaling to give the children time to grow spiritually. Their favorite part was the (fake) candles on the desk to help remind them of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.

After working with a few adopted parents, I was able to start a learning community around adoption. This is a group of parents who all have adopted kiddos and are working to learn skills and values to have trauma-safe homes.

See you soon!

Autumn