Teamwork

A couple of times many years ago - back when I was a young footballer trying to find his way - I had the pleasure of hearing the late Allan Jeans deliver some coaching addresses. Apart from the fact that he did not pronounce "perform" properly (it was more like preform) I remember him stressing the importance of teamwork and of each member of the team doing their job to ensure that the team 'preformed' to its maximum.

Over the last two months the whole teamwork thing has been very evident here at Village of Hope. We have had the pleasure of a number of 'visitors' (although we don't call them that here) coming to spend time at the village, each one bringing their different talents and putting them to good use.

First off we had John & Judy Fooks and Roger & Sandra Beimers for two weeks in June. They were the first people to stay in the not quite completed at the time Suubi House. They worked very hard to assist in getting a number of things done both at the house and at the village. We have cupboards in the kitchen, a roof on house 5, a much better sorted office just to name a few. As well as that they did their part in refreshing us, both with the beautiful Aussie lamb and real cheese they managed to import for us and the week that we were able to spend with them at 2 amazing game reserves in Kenya. Of course the real highlight of the trip was 'Mama John's' Sunday lunch for all at the village.


A couple of days after returning from Kenya we welcomed John's sister and brother in law Louise and Hank Noorbergen. Louise put her nursing background to good use, not only in treating many people from the community and a couple of village injuries, but she also did a power of work researching the best way for health to be improved in the area. As a result of her searching people out and using some of Anne's contacts, she was able to get important people together to develop village health teams which will lead to local people in a number of the surrounding villages being trained in first aid and as the first point of call for anyone needing medical attention. Meanwhile Hank went quietly about his business working on a water plan for the village. One of our biggest challenges here at the village is having a consistent and adequate water flow. In the process of his work, Hank discovered a large water leak that we had no knowledge of that was consuming about one half of the water use at the village. Having fixed that, he then developed a plan to make a sustainable, consistent water supply for the village. He got so enthused about this that he has delayed his return to Australia by about 10 days to get as much of it in place as he possible can. So by now we have a new tank delivering water to all of the houses and soon this will be being filled from a large tank that collects rainwater from the roof of the houses. Not to be outdone by her brother, Louise and Hank also prepared a meal for the village before their departure.

Then of course we have had the last couple of weeks with the wonderful team 9 led capably by Andrew Boonstra. These guys really did demonstrate what a team can do when it functions well. In their just on 2 weeks here they managed to complete the brickwork of an entire house. Other teams have gotten as far as the ring beam, but these guys timed their day off to go white water rafting to perfection so that the ring beam could be done and then they used the next 2 days to complete the top courses of bricks. And it wasn't all building. Andrew barely got his hands dirty as he was very tied up doing all of the things the other board members had set him to do whilst he was here. Fortunately he had a trusty lieutenant in Jordan who cracked the whip on the building site and kept the others working. Stan made himself incredibly useful, doing many other tasks around the place as well of being busy with the mudbricks, and Hetty discovered the sewing machines that we have here, dusted them off and began again the process of teaching the mothers to use them for repairing clothes and making new ones for the children. She also helped our budding cook, Lucy, in preparing some of the meals. All of the team made a great impact with the village community and also with some of our neighbours, and all were amazingly generous in many different ways.

And now, the mzungus have all gone, but still the team grows. Today, Robert and Millie moved their belongings from YWAM which has been their home for the last few years to the Admin block at the village. They are becoming the new Village Managers and a very important part of the team. We are looking forward very much to working with them in the coming months as they step into this role and we step out of it. I will 'introduce' them more in a coming post.

So, teamwork is a good thing, and Allan Jeans was right.

In fact I think someone talked about this stuff a few years before.
In 1 Corinthians 12: 12 and following, Paul wrote: The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. . . .
Thank God for the many parts of the body and their contributions to this village, not only those mentioned above but everyone who has and will play a part.

Some more of the teamwork that goes on here - and afar.

The local team, in uniform of course, who worked tirelessly to build Suubi House.

A eam of ladies in Melbourne have made quilts so that each of the children and mothers could have their own handmade quilt.

Even giving birth here is a team thing. Anne got to be very involved in the birth of Racheal and Robert Kafeero's new son, George William.

The mothers being a team during the farewell dinner for Luke.