Every second Wednesday we will be sending out a short update on what is happening at uThando leNkosi. These Waka Wednesday updates will keep you connected to the daily happenings at the House and will give specific prayer points for you to pray into. If you would like to be put on the mailing list for the Waka Wednesday updates please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dear Friends,

2010 was a busy year filled with many challenges and changes and much growth, both in individual lives and for uThando leNkosi as an organization. Fourteen children stayed with us at the House during 2010 and another child and her baby were under our care! All of the children who lived at the House were sibling sets. What an honour to have been part of their lives and to share God's love and compassion with them and also to be able to have kept these families together. We also thank God that all these children have either returned home or found good long-term placements. We are looking forward to a year that exceeds our expectations and all we have seen so far.

Here are some of our top highlights of 2011:

1. Errol and Michelle joining our UL family as House Parents. The Mullers jumped right into the middle of things with enthusiasm, vision and a wealth of experience and wisdom which we have been privileged to benefit from.  Errol and Michelle do not see their position at UL as merely a job – they believe, as we do, that the holistic care of a child extends beyond providing food and shelter. They have poured their lives into the children, giving extra lessons in the mornings and after school to help bring the children up to grade standard, they have got involved in the school communities, they have disciplined with love and patience and wisdom, they have shared Christ’s love, encouraged other staff, and been instruments of healing and restoration.

2. Full and encouraging prayer meetings towards the end of the year. Prayer is still the cornerstone of UL and it really was great seeing more people joining the prayer team and holding our hands up through some tough times. We have seen miraculous answers to these prayers - especially in the areas of finances and House Parents - and are grateful that God has continued to faithfully carry and supply for us.

3. Seeing children’s lives transformed. While we have seen amazing change in the lives of ALL the children who stayed at UL last year, two stand-out. Mid-2010 two sisters joined us at UL. The eldest, C, was 9 years old and had never been to school. We found her a place in a nearby school where she very eagerly began learning. The school was very gracious and accommodating, placing her in three different grades simultaneously to help her catch-up. Michelle also provided substantial tutoring. Every day when C got home from school she immediately went to the little blackboard and did her home-work – writing, drawing and doing sums for hours at a time! Her enthusiasm and excitement for school was incredible to see!

Later in the year another group of siblings joined us. The eldest girl, around 10 years old, had taken on the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers – the youngest of whom was a baby. For years she made sure they ate, slept, were bathed and cared for. Just a child herself, it took many weeks for her to let go of the responsibility and hand it over to adults. She came to us broken and angry and having experienced things children never should. Slowly she began to be a child again – dressing age appropriately, playing, and finally SMILING!

4. Establishing relationships with stakeholders. Tracy and Babalwa have focussed a lot of energy on building relationships with stakeholders, especially social workers, and these relationships have begun to bear fruit. In 2010 we hosted a dozen social workers at a monthly social work forum. In addition we have established good relationships with, amongst others, Heathfield Primary, Hope House, Badisa, Bosasa, State Street South Africa, various churches and volunteers to serve the needs of children in specific and much needed ways.

5. Growth in the vision and staff growing together in the mission. We have seen great  growth in the way UL is run – we have become more efficient in our administration, more mature in our decision making, more graceful in our conflict resolution, more wise in our handling of finances, and stronger in our working together as a team. This is ONLY through God’s grace, because we are definitely human in all these respects.

As we look to the next year we know that there are still many areas in which we can improve and we are eager for the work to expand.

Here is what we are looking forward to in 2011

1. More intense and focused unified prayer as staff and trustees, and a bigger team of people praying regularly with us.

2. Seeing more children come into life-changing relationship with Jesus. We have had several children over the past few years who have seen Jesus in a dream and learnt things that no-one taught them. We long to see more of this!

3. Continuing to build and strengthen symbiotic relationships with people and organisations that will further the cause. Improved communication between UL staff and the organisations we work with.

4. A baby unit to be opened.

5. A new house (or two!)

6. A consistently full house of children.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
Lord, grant that we may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Our third newsletter of 2010 is now available! If you would like to receive our newsletters, please send us an email with 'Subscribe' in the subject line.

Here is an excerpt from the newsletter...

Dear Friends,

What an absolutely incredible past quarter this has been! There have been many changes as we have said sad goodbyes to some of the children who were with us for several months, as well as to our House Parents, Albert and Natasha Pote. We are thankful for the time and energy which Albert and Natasha devoted to the House during the ten months they were with us, and for their big hearts for the kids. We have also welcomed new House Parents (check out their story below) and are so grateful to have Errol and Michelle’s wisdom, experience and vision join with ours. We fully believe that this is a strategic partnership and that they will be an integral part of the direction UL takes in the coming months. We had a good transition between House Parents at the beginning of August and would like to thank Babalwa and Tracy for the many hours of hard work that went into making the changeover so smooth. Below is a bit of Errol and Michelle’s story, a short update from Babalwa and Tracy, and details on some exciting prospects for the future. The newsletter is slightly longer than usual, but there is just SO much to tell!

uThando leNkosi 8 September 2010-09-08

The past twelve years have been great time of fun adventure learning and growth. When we left South Africa in 1997 for Morocco we had no idea what to expect as a family living in another culture. However, we knew that this was a long term decision as we will be working with children.

The first two years was spent in learning the language and acquiring the culture. This was an exciting time for us as a family living in the capital city of Rabat. We made many new friends with the expatriate community of Morocco. While Michelle home schooled our two girls I attended language classes and spent time getting to know the culture by visiting Moroccan coffee shops and travelling on the local buses.

We worked with a local committee to obtain official permission from the government to reopen an orphanage that was closed in 1995. In August 1999 the government granted permission for us to start the building process and take in children. Over the next 10 years we were privileged to take in 33 abandoned children and provide a variety of services to the local community. The project was very community orientated. By the end of 2009 the Village of Hope had 22 adult foreign volunteers engaged. Seven of these were couples who were responsible for child care in a family context. The other staff members were support staff. We also had 24 Moroccan employees performing a number of duties such as teaching, maintenance, and cooking etc.

On the 6 March 2010 we had a visit from Local Government authorities. This was not something new, as we have had a number of these visits in the past. The government was always aware of the fact that we were Christian as this was never hidden. Over the next three days we learnt that this visit was certainly different to all the other visits in the past. On Monday 8 March at 3pm I was told that all our foreign staff will be deported the same day. We had 5 hours to say goodbye to our children and pack. There was complete pandemonium. However, by that evening we were in Casablanca getting ready to leave the country that we had come to love so much.

We have been home in SA for the past six months and still feel sad about what had happened but have come to experience God’s Love through His people in a new way. After careful and prayerful consideration, as well as our love for children, or more specifically disenfranchised children we decided to once again get involved with uThando leNkosi. Our first month has been challenging as the situation is vastly different to working with children in your care from the baby stages. However, God is gracious and gives strength and wisdom for each new day.

We are encouraged by so many of our friends who have been in support of our work in Morocco once again coming alongside to visit and pledge their support. We were recently contacted by a friend who was looking for an outlet for some High School girls who needed to do fulfil some social service responsibilities. The children and the four teenagers thoroughly enjoyed their time together at the House in Diep River.

There are so many children who are desperately in need of care within a family context due to so many dysfunctional families in our communities. God intended the family to be the model through which His love is shared with children across the nations. We would love to see many children come to a personal understanding of His love for them and respond to His plan of salvation for their young lives.

Blessings.

Errol and Michelle Muller.

Praise and Prayer Points

1. Kids: We were sad, but relieved, to see the five siblings go to live with extended family. Two new sibling sets joined us and the four new kids have been slowly settling. The children are in a different age group and this has been a major learning curve. The change is challenging at times but it refines and grows us. To date, uThando leNkosi has seen 25 children pass through our doors! What an incredible miracle.

2. Staff: At the end of July, our House Parents, Albert and Natasha, will be leaving us. They will have been serving alongside us for 10 months. Please pray for them as they step into whatever new things God has in store for them. Also, please keep praying as we go into a new phase of advertising and interviewing for the position of House Parents.

3. Volunteers: We are so grateful for the enthusiastic and energetic volunteers who have stepped up to the vision – they are a big part of expressing love at uThando leNkosi. A special mention to the Grade 12’s from various High Schools who did some community service with us as part of their curriculum. Thank you for your time and energy!

4. Prayer Team:  As we said above, the House began from a place of intense prayer and absolute obedience and taking God at His word – and it will ONLY be sustained by the same! We really need to rebuild a solid team of people who get the vision and the mission and will devote themselves to praying for, lifting up, encouraging, bringing words, and breathing life into the House.  If you want to be involved and commit yourself in this way, please let us know!

Our second newsletter of 2010 is now available! If you would like to receive our newsletters, please send us an email with 'Subscribe' in the subject line.

Here is an excerpt from the newsletter...

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Babalwa says it best when she writes, “The past quarter has been one where we have been so encouraged and full of praise and glory for God and also where our faith has been challenged in many situations. We have seen prayers answered and we want to be a people of hope in all circumstances.” At the outset we want to give praise where it is fully due! We have seen several places of safety and other NGOs shut down over the last few months due to lack of finances. UL started off as a faith organization – our very first instruction from God was to never ask for finances or fundraise but in everything to bring our needs to Him who is more than able to provide. Time and again we have seen Him be faithful to His promises. This last month was especially difficult as the bank balance was dismal and we looked to be unable to pay staff salaries. One evening last week, Sheralyn (Trustee) was watching a DVD which told the story of an orphanage that was run by faith and NEVER lacked anything. Her faith was boosted and she began to pray. The next day we received the government grant money for our first lot of kids – the grant which we have been struggling to obtain for months! It was enough to pay bills and staff salaries! Our God is a God who supplies all our needs – even though He sometimes leaves it to the last minute. We have been reminded that this House began from a place of intense prayer and absolute obedience and taking God at His word – and it will ONLY be sustained by the same!

Our first newsletter of 2010 is now available. If you would like to receive our newsletters please send a message to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with 'Subscribe' in the subject line.

Here is an excerpt from the newsletter... for the full copy, please drop us a line.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It has been a couple of months now since our last newsletter and much has happened. Our house parents, Albert and Natasha, have been slowly settling in – and deserve a giant reward, along with the other volunteers, for keeping the children occupied, entertained, and alive through the [long] Christmas holidays. The kids had great opportunity to visit the Barnyard, the Science Centre, to go to the beach and even to see helicopters with Albert and Natasha. We would like to thank all of you who have helped out over the last few months with your time and energy, for those who have so generously supported uThando

PRAYER: Please join us for Saturday prayer at the House. This is a great opportunity to keep more regularly up-to-date with what is going on in the House and to be able to pray into specific needs or to witness God’s miraculous answers to prayer. The prayer time is open to anybody. Also, we are looking for people who can specifically commit to praying one day a week either for our House Parents, Babalwa, or Tracy – please contact the office to let us know if you would like to support in this way.

TIME: Volunteer to spend a couple of hours a week at the House, helping out with making meals, playing with kids, doing structured activities, doing the school-run (pick-ups after school), assisting Babalwa with admin, or taking kids on outings.

SKILLS: If you have any special skills that could contribute to the smooth running of the House or the holistic care of the kids, give us a shout. This could include your mad skills with a vacuum cleaner, lawnmower, hedgecutters, arts and crafts, baking, enrichment work, painting or car washing!

SAFETY AND FOSTER CARE: If you would like more information on how you can get involved in safety (48hr emergency care) or longer term care of children, please give our office a ring.