NEWS
Welcome to our NEWS PAGE. View some short news stories from the village – Be in on all the action.
EASTER WEEKEND 2023
Another beautiful Easter Weekend took place at the village. The children took part in lots of fun activities over the holidays. On Good Friday we had a lovely service in the hall in the afternoon, remebering what Jesus did for us… a good time of reflection. The children madethank you cards to Jesus, and laid them at the foot of a wooden cross on the stage.
On Sunday we had our annual sunrise service. We were all up and at the Ampitheatre at 6am in the morning to watch the sun rise over the valley. What a beautiful moment together. Graeme and Tami led us in a service at the Ampitheatre, which ended in us all having communion together.
Left: Photo taken on Easter Sunday as the sun begins to rise over the valley.
OUR THEME (VISION) for 2023
APRIL 2023
BE KIND! This is our theme for 2023. The children have been doing a number of activities over the year on the theme of Being Kind. Graeme and Tami are putting their artistic talent together and painting a Be Kind mural on the side of Cottage 5 in the trampoline area.
The children are so excited about the new mural and also about being kind. Watch this space for pictures of the completed mural.
EASTER WEEKEND
April 2022
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
At iKhethelo we celebrated Jesus over the weekend. On Friday we had a service in Cottage 5 and learnt all about the meaning of Easter and the stages of what happened over Easter from Thursday through to Sunday. We had a great worship time together. Tami shared a practical message and then we took communion together and enjoyed some tasy Hot-Cross buns.
The week before the Easter weekend, KZN ecperience some terrible floods across the Province. Fortunately we were not badly affected apart from some minor flooding and damage to our roads. The major problem that did affect us was the electricity went out on the Tuesday morning of that week and has not been fixed as yet, so 6 days later we are still without power due to the floods and the delay in the Municipality coming to assist us. We hope and pray that they will be able to fix the fault soon.
On Easter Sunday we normally have a Easter Sunrise Service at the village but due to the bad weather, we decided to take the children out to church and then returned for our annual Easter Egg Hunt around the village. So much fun was had by all. Thank you to Wendy and Marcus for donating Easter Eggs.
CITY HILL CHURCH HILLCREST
November 2021
In November we invited the prayer team from City Hill Church Hillcrest to spend a few hours on a Saturday morning with our management team here at iKhethelo.
We had a time of worship together, followed by words of encouragement, prayer for the village, prophetic words of encouragement and personal prayer.
What an amazing time together we had. Thank you to Candice and the team for spending the morning with us. Next time we are hoping to have some of our children join in.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
5 October 2021
Our October school holidays were shortened to only 1 week this year due to the amount of school that has been missed due to Covid-19.
However, this did not stop the Hays in putting together an amazing, fun-filled Holiday Club week with the children. The children took part in fun activities, adventure trails, creative sessions, sports and loved every minute of it.
Thank you to Dave, Jeneene and Rachel for your amazing holiday club programe once again.
HERITAGE DAY
24 September 2021
A major highlight of the year – HERITAGE DAY! South Africa celebrates its Heritage and diverse culture on this day which is something we are very proud about. The children love dressing up in traditional Zulu dress and take part in dancing, singing and fun activities topped off by delicious Zulu cooked food.
2021 was no different and the children had so much fun. It was exciting to see our little ones all dressed up in their skirts and outfits. The atmosphere was filled with ecxitement and pide. Two of our children, Hawukile and Lindo led the proceedings from the stage calling on different groups of children who had been practicing all week to come up on stage and perform their dance. Its always encouraging to see the passion and talent that we have here at iKhethelo.
EXCITING NEW DEVELOPMENTS
1 September 2021
Some exciting developments at the village, Tami and Graeme who took over the running of iKhethelo in 2016, almost 5 years ago to the day, have now stepped into a new role, where they will also be the CEO’s of our sister village called Lily of the Valley Children’s Village which is based in Mophela , Hammasdale, (about a 45 minute drive from iKhethelo).
Lily of the Valley is a much bigger village with 91 children and falls under the Pietermaritzburg District, where iKhethelo falls under the Durban District. Both villages have been working together in certain departments for many years and now for the first time we will have a designated CEO over both villages.
This also makes space for Joe Mthembu to step into a Village Manager role at iKhethelo. Joe and his wife Nothile who head up our logistics department will still remain under the leadership and guidance of Tami and Graeme.
iKhethelo and Lily will remain seperate organisations but have one heart – and that is to Build Brighter Futures for orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa.
You can fins out more about Lily of the Valley here www.childrensvillage.org.za
Tami and I are both excited to be stepping into this new role. We know that it will be a huge challenge to run both villages, but we feel that God has opened this door of opportunity for us and it’s time to step up and make a difference in the lives of more vulnerable children in our country.
FIREFIGHTER IN THE HOUSE
10 August 2021
Lungelo finishes 3 months of an intensive Fire Training Course to qualify as a fireman who is able to work in the private or Government Sector. Well done Lungelo! We are so proud of this achievement.
Thank you to Piet from 1000 Hills in Germany and Pauline from The Rise Foundation who made this all possible for Lungelo.
Lungelo is currently looking for a job as a fireman so watch this space.
GOD PROTECTS THE VILLAGE
13 July 2021
At the beginning of July 2021, KZN experienced some heavy political unrest with protesters looting shops, burning down buildings & causing the Province to come to a stand-still for a few days.
Shops all around the village were looted & some burnt to the ground. We were very concerned that we too could be a target & even practiced a few evacuation drills with the children.
The sounds of gunshots and crowds shouting was heard for a few nights during the unrest.
On one of the nights, the village was under threat from large bush fires that someone had started which totally surrounded the village. All we could do was just pray and ask God to keep the fire from buring the electric fence which surrounds the village. If the fence burnt down, we would be exposed to protesters. Through-out the night the strong winds pushed the fires all round the fence line.
The next morning I took a walk aroud the fence. Not one plastic insulater had melted and no damage was done to the fence. The fire had totally moved around the entire village and did not breach the fence line.
We really sensed that God had sent fires that night to protect the village. Nobody would be able to access the village through those fires. God had kept us safe & the evidence the next morning shows how GOD PROTECTS THE VILLAGE.
Above: Showing how close the fire came to the fence.
Prayer walking the fence for protection & provision from God.
CALL US
Office:
+27 (0)31 020-0221
Office Hours:
Mon-Thu 8-4pm
Fri 8-2pm
Postal Address:
PO Box 1948
Hillcrest, 3650
Kwazulu-Natal,
South Africa
EMAIL US
General Enquiries:
Village Manager:
CEO:
FIND US
Physical Address:
D826 Manqoba Drive
Bothas Hill, 3610
Kwazulu-Natal
South Africa
Section 18A Charity
Reg: 2001/004117/08
PBO No: 18/11/13/358
NPO No: 215-074
We are registered to issue Section 18A Tax Certificates for donations made to iKhethelo | We are also a Level 1 B-BEE Organisation –