Continued Decision-making aid - Day center?!

According to Augustinus and Yvonne's wishes, the day center itself should fulfill two conditions. Firstly, approximately 30 needy and neglected children should be registered there by their guardians. Attendance would then be mandatory from midday until evening, during which time the children would receive meals and educational and personal support. Secondly, the center should also be open to young day visitors who, for a small fee, could use the facilities (Wi-Fi, computers, homework help, learning opportunities, and sports activities, etc.). The management of this larger day center can only be undertaken by a well-trained individual (in management and pedagogy) who should also live on the premises.

I am confident that we can build this day center together with other organizations, but we will only be able to raise the subsequent running costs for employees, water, electricity, investments and repairs with our current resources if we scale back or abandon other projects (approx. 78 young people receiving school support, the two existing soup kitchens, etc.).
What do you think?

Can you encourage us to take on this additional project? back

Continued Confirmands supporting other confirmands

Joachim Knoche, The chairman of the Namibia Support Association was able to spend five weeks in Namibia in November. At that time, Namibia was not considered a high-risk area for COVID-19, and after presenting a negative COVID-19 test, he was free to travel anywhere in the country. He thus arranged to spend a few days at the confirmation service in Okombahe.

On a Saturday in mid-November, all the confirmands and their families gathered at 10:00 a.m. in the 100-year-old Protestant church in the heart of Okombahe. The weather was hot, over 35°C, but a pleasant breeze wafted through the church with all the windows open, making it quite bearable. Pastor Andreas Nowaseb led the 35 confirmands—the girls dressed all in white and the boys in black—to their seats, and the congregation sang rousing hymns. Unfortunately, the power went out that day, so the pianist who had been specially hired couldn't accompany the hymns with his own electric piano. But the African voices, especially those of the young people, were captivating. After the liturgy and a detailed sermon in the Nama Damara language, the young people were confirmed in small groups. Each received their confirmation verse as a framed picture to hang on their wall. At the end of the official ceremony, Joachim Knoche conveyed greetings from the parish of Untersteinbach. He also emphasized that the confirmands from Untersteinbach, along with their parents, had raised enough money for those confirmands in Okombahe who are in need and have regularly attended the Sunday children's service in recent years to cover the confirmation fees for 14 of them. Children's service leader Yvonne and soup kitchen director Albertina had selected these 14 young people beforehand. He was able to show the congregation two large group photos of the Untersteinbach confirmands, one with masks and one with social distancing and without masks, and then hand them over to the pastor. The gratitude and joy were immense, and all the confirmed children who had been supported came forward to be photographed as a greeting to Untersteinbach. After the two-and-a-half-hour service, the families continued their celebrations at home.

The following Sunday, the confirmands celebrated their first communion together with their parents and relatives. After communion, a member of the congregation stood up and mentioned that he had seen many of the confirmands dancing at the disco the previous evening. He then encouraged them to dance for Jesus in church as well. During the next hymn, all the confirmands came forward and danced joyfully and with great emotion, this time accompanied by an electric piano. back