Our work in the Restoration House is always changing because we work with people and people change! We need to be constantly on the lookout for what is the best way to reach these boys God has placed into our hands. And since it is God who allows to work with these precious lives and He knows each of them individually, we know that He knows best how to reach out to them. We are constantly spending time with God to seek to hear His direction, and He speaks!
Before we started our new semester here at the Restoration House in September, we took time out again to do this; to listen. God directed us to a new strategy; an "Arts Workshop"... I say that loosely as our team aren't the most creative and we plan to do much more than just art!!
Our idea is to invite the boys we work with to come to our house every Thursday afternoon to participate in this workshop. We plan to teach the boys how to make pieces of art from recycable or low cost material. If the boys want they can continue making them at home. At the end of each month we hope to present the items they have made in a kind of bazaar to sell! Whatever the boys sell, of their own items, they keep the money!
This initiative is to help the boys do something with their time, to make money in an honest and inexpensive way, to gain some self-confidence in managing to complete tasks, and have some fun. It also means that we will have contact with these boys weekly and we can see how they are doing, encourage them and we can use this time to give a short word and pray for them. This weekly contact will prove very valuable and will save us a lot of time.... we do a lot of house visits but the families are spread out all over the city so we only manage about four/five visits a week. But unfortunately not all of the boys can come as some are in school in the afternoon, others have courses and of
course some are in prison. We expect to have about six boys each week!
We are very excited to see how it will go. We already had three workshops and we had three boys in two and one in the other, for the start of a new strategy this was super positive for us! We hope to have more this week. So far the boys made candle holders and words from wire which we intend to put on a card. Watch this space for exciting new pieces of art... maybe even you would want to order something!!
And please don't forget to pray that this strategy will be completed, that we will impact the boys in a positive manner and be used for God's glory.
