Five Loaves and two fishes

In one of my previous posts I mentioned that we needed to make a "storm of changes". In the end of December we sold my mom's estate. This was good news but it meant for Charibiz community upliftment projects a big change, the property was big about 500m2 under roof! There was a lot of furniture and memories that needed to move. God showed me favor and grace by providing a safe property that was less than 5km from our working area. The story is amazing, because I only had "five loaves and two fishes" to pay for something that requires a lot more than that! God's hand was upon me and he made me able to buy it with just "five loaves and two fishes". Gods timing was perfect, because on the day I got my legal occupation, in that same month we sold my mom's house in the difficult times in South Africa.

The only problem was, there was a lot and I really mean a lot of work to be done. I won't bother you with the finer details but I will give you a small break down. The floor was rotten, it had woodbora inside and the doors had wood bora. The copper pipes were stripped due to theft while the house was standing empty. The kitchen was rotten due to sewage problems and heavy neglecting. The walls and ceiling where black due to cooking on the fire inside the house and the house was not pained for years. electricity? Well there where very few plugs so we had to create some more, lamps were broken and everything was outdated , dirty and old. Broken windows, summarized; the property was an absolute mess but with great potential.

When we started with our project one thing you know is coming for you and that is; Challenges, Yes they were there. We did not have the budget to get contractors and let them fix it up, we needed to do it ourselves with cheaper labour. I found a couple of good guys that were handy and able to help me. At first everything went great and according to plan, after a while however I did not notice he had some problems and left the renovation project. The renovating project wasn't even half way, everything was a mess, and the workers left me. We only had until the end of March to move everything before the new owners of my Mom's estate would be the legal owners. However...By the grace of God, God held back the storm and gave us more time and more time. In this time I was tested in patience, perseverance and in grace. I had faith he would return as the man was a believer himself. For weeks went by and I was slowly losing hope that he would return. Just when time was really running out my builder came back to me and was sorry and repented, he helped me to finish the project off and more than that! He blessed me and I blessed him, God made it work out for our own good. A good brotherhood was formed.

Let's give a small preview of what we have done, more will follow next week. This is the new classroom and Charibiz office, we are 95% finished it is still a bit messy.

We have now the facilities, to host students for teaching,to host Charibiz partners and volunteers , we have a safe and secure storage space for our equipment. We can do small practical lessons on our premisses, we can clean crops and create good compost. We looking forward to next six months.

I wish you all God's mercy and favor and please like us if you read it.

Regards Simon