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Whooee! When did it become mid-February??? Things have been so crazy busy for us- but we are super blessed and have lots to share!

More pictures at www.mcvafrica.comChristmas is such a special time for our big family in Africa. There are few decorations, rare carols, no hyped up commercialism (except in the big stores). People celebrate with their families- usually around a large meal. Some give gifts. Some do not. Personally, we love giving gifts because it is a tangible reminder of the gift our Heavenly Father gave to us on Christmas! Preaching is so easy….who can resist such an amazing gift of love and eternal life? Our highlight this year was seeing our children in action! For hours, the older kids at MCV helped put together 500 candy bags for the outreaches. They also helped with a Nativity skit that they performed at the Backdoor Christmas Outreach. The outreach got a little crazy at the end when hundreds of kids were pushing to receive their candy bag at the gate, but our kids were right there in the thick of it helping us keep order. They also went on home visits to the children in the community within the Extended Care Program. They assisted our volunteers in praying for the sick and leading many people to Christ! On Christmas Day, our big MCV family celebrated together in some special ways. The MCV families each had a breakfast feast as a family before going to church. At church, Papa Jean shared a different Christmas message- the power of Holy Communion in which we all celebrated together. After church, the MCV family gathered again to give thanks, celebrate with gifts, and pray together. Each family would come forward and receive their gifts from Jesus. Then the rest of us would pray for that family for God’s fullest blessings and destiny for the new year. After the prayer, the families would excitedly open their gifts. Christ’s lavish love and joy abounded as our children enjoyed these precious gifts from Him! We are so grateful for All Nations Fellowship in New Orleans and the many individuals/families who helped us with our Christmas Sponsorship Program! Thank you, thank you, thank you! God multiplied the money that came in! We were unable to do new clothing for all the community children, but we were able to give good used clothing (much was given by our MCV kids going through their closets!). Thank you again for standing with us and making this amazing harvest of love possible! Many of you are also wondering what the latest news regarding our precious Warrior Baby. He has been successfully reintegrated with his grandmother whom he has grown to love. Today during a short home visit, W greeted us with much joy and did not cry when we left…he just happily waved and blew kisses. He really seems to be thriving in his new home and family, so our hearts are full. Thank you again to everyone who interceded with us for W- lets keep praying for his amazing little life!

MCV celebrated another round of birthdays over the weekend! It was an especially fun day because we christened the new soccer field! Thanks to a dear sponsor in America, we have new soccer goals and equipment! Everyone joined in the match…even the “old” people like Papa JeanJ It is always such a blessing to celebrate the lives of each child and volunteer staff at MCV. Amongst the highlights was seeing 4 year old S receive a new bike! His old bike (a gift at Christmas) was ridden daily for hours for months till the wheels completely wore off. Another highlight was during the prayer for the birthday kids. Many of our kids are really pressing into His presence and understanding the power of prayer. We watched many of the kids pray blessings and fire over the other kids/adults….Yeah God!

For more pictures, visit the galley at the MCV website! www.mcvafrica.com

Recently, we celebrated with over 30 amazing men and women the completion of the Biblical Studies program at Harvest Bible College. Many of the students attended a rotation of 2-3 weeks sessions for over 3 years in order to complete all the required courses. After worship and the joyous procession of graduates, Pastor Surprise Sithole gave a powerful word of commission and harvest. The ceremony continued with more awards, special words, etc. The highlight for many was watching each student receive their diploma and Bible (a special gift from the ministry). This was indeed such a joyous milestone in their journey- many celebrated in very fun, animated ways to the pleasure of the crowd! It was an amazing blessing to watch and pray for each graduate as they were commissioned and launched into a new season of ministry. The ceremony ended in much praise and thanksgiving. After pictures, everyone was treated to delicious meal and fellowship.

As you know, this ministry is very dear to our hearts….Jean teaches and Teisa does the administration. Join us in praying for the 30+ graduates and their families! Pray that they would be shinning stars in this dark world- bringing the light and truth of Jesus Christ to ends of the earth.

The following blog was written by Dea Walker- an amazing missionary heading up the after-school program at MCV. We wanted to highlight this incredible ministry to raise more prayer support!

At Michaels Children’s Village, we take great joy in following Holy Spirit and being nestled in the arms of our loving Papa God. We are in love with Jesus, our Bridegroom King of Glory. In our work, we have watched Papa God lovingly bring us children to envelop in His Spirit of Adoption. We seek His guidance in every aspect of this time we have with our sons and daughters including their education.

In 2008, I asked God to show me what Kingdom Education looked like. God’s training was immediate. I focused on the Tree of Life and listened carefully to Holy Spirit as He led me in Kingdom Education within the classroom. There was much to learn with many unusual experiences in the midst of that time. I met more challenges but also enjoyed teaching even more than ever. Kingdom Education is the structural plan for the Chosen Ones afterschool and school break program for our children at Michaels Children’s Village.

So, what exactly does Kingdom Education look like at Michaels Children’s Village? Good Question. We are free flowing for the most part in growing this portion of our children’s development. Our children attend a good community school and attend Chosen Ones at our children’s village after school and on school breaks. Each child’s educational plan is based upon that individual child, their giftings, and their strengths with the guidance of Holy Spirit. We ask Papa God for direction for each child. We focus on Kingdom Education that brings in the love of the Father, the compassion of Christ, and the New Covenant commandments of Jesus.

We have a heart to serve the total child. This not only includes educational milestones like literacy and numeracy development but also spiritual, physical, and personal development. If you walked into a normal day, you could find a small group of children soaking or a large group worshiping in song, dance or art. You may walk in and find us all enjoying books or a small group in a guided reading lesson. You may also see a lesson in fractions with fraction blocks or polynomials with algebra tiles. You might encounter a young writing group or a young Kingdom leadership class. You may find volunteers cooking with the children, teaching a child to play guitar, working one on one with a child on their homework or doing crafts. You may even join some of us for a game of Monopoly or putting together a puzzle. God’s plan seems to have us plan the day around the child rather than the child to fit into the program schedule.

Pray with us for this amazing adventure in learning and loving at MCV!!!!

Ever since MCV opened 2 years ago, transport has been a problem. The ministry had an old combi (9 seat van) which we used to transport the kids, but the combi was always breaking down….the thing truly ran on prayer! Around 3 weeks ago, Papa Dube was doing errands and the combi ran out of gas, so he parked it and walked off in pursuit of fuel….minutes later, a horrible accident in which another vehicle lost control and ran strait into the combi and totaled it. The insurance gave MCV the book value for the combi (way more than what it was worth) and we received a rental truck to help get the kids to school. Just a few days after we had to return the rental, MCV was blessed by Flanders Electric (company in America with awesome Christian owners/leaders) with a new Toyota Quantum (15 seat vehicle)! Some amazing Flanders employees’ delivered it Friday to an excited and elated crowd of kids. Everyone jumped inside in awe of this lavish gift from God (via Flanders!)

Yesterday for the first time, Jean drove the MCV kids to school in major style! With big smiles and lots of pride, we are pretty sure the hot topic at school was the new Quantum.

Thank you again to the extended MCV family at Flanders Electric who made this incredible dream come true! As we grow, we look forward to a whole fleet of miracle vehicles just like this one to carry our precious kids into their awesome destinies!