FudgeMom's Blog

Our update

fudgemom — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:48:22 +0000

We have some news to share with you. Due to outside circumstances, we are moving back to the US a little earlier than we had expected. It looks like we are going to be coming home sometime in April. We are heart broken to leave all that we have come to love in the past two years, but what a great 2 years we’ve had. Your support has helped this past month to: Start a preschool at Fort White. We have 12 children from the villages nearby that are coming everyday to our preschool. They are learning about Jesus and God’s love for them. What a blessing to hear them sing and see them being taught, not only educational material, but also about our Savior. We have partnered with a lady from Dimbaza, Angie, who is trying to use her sewing skills to make a living. She and her team have sewn 50 dresses for the girls at the Debe Nek School. The Journey Church helped pay for the material and donations made from you have helped pay Angie and her staff. We will also give Sindiswa, the principal at the school in Debe Nek, a fund for other uniforms that are needed by her students. Our grade 7 students have had a fun few weeks learning about volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis due to the recent news from Japan. We had them build their own volcanoes and we had them “erupt” this week. We also had them mix Mentos with diet cola. They thought that was a lot of fun, and messy! We also enjoyed having a team from FBC McKinney here in early March. They worked very hard on the dormitories, as well as building shelves for the preschool and organizing the workshop. The fellowship was much needed and we appreciate the group that came more than we can say. Your prayers have sustained us. We have felt prayers from all over. We know that our God is good and His plan is perfect! We can’t wait to see what God is up to in regards to Fort White. What a great privilege to be part of His great plan. We want to thank each and every one of you who prayed for the people around Fort White, who gave up their time and money to come to Fort White, who gave sacrificially to the projects and ministries at Fort White. Your sacrifices have changed lives! We feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be on the front row here in South Africa. How great is our God! Love to you all. The Fudges

2011 equals more renovations

fudgemom — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:26:32 +0000

As we look at Fort White, we see all that has to be done, but also have plan of what needs to get done first. With a recent decision to join forces with a program from a church in East London, the GAP program from The Christian Centre, we are focusing on the dorms and the bath house. We had a team of 27 come from McKinney, Texas who helped with these projects as well as lead a Vacation Bible School for the kids in the surrounding areas. We had a great time and a lot of work was completed while they were here. The work continues as we look to March when FBC McKinney will send another team to help finish.

You can see about the GAP program at http://www.inthegap.co.za/. Hopefully within the year we will be ready to host a group at Fort White. You can pray that the people that will run the GAP program will hear God’s call and follow His will.

You can see pictures of the McKinney team on this blog.

Pictures from our McKinney Team

fudgemom — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:17:45 +0000

Another wonderful Thanksgiving in which we are thankful.

fudgemom — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:08:56 +0000

We have had a busy two months with family visits and a team from the Journey Church in New York City coming to Fort White. Bob and Janet Conrad, Becky’s dad and step-mom, came for 2 weeks in October. We were spoiled with a trip to Cape Town and a drive through Addo Elephant Park to see numerous elephants, kudo and lions. Then they spent a week at Fort White to see what we do everyday. I believe the highlight of their trip was getting to go to the high school near our house and praying with the grade 12 students before their big test as they end their school year.

Then we had Philip’s dad and step-mom with his aunt and uncle visit for a few weeks. They were here over the week that the young adults from the Journey Church were here. This week was also the week of Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, we feed over 300 people in Dimbaza. We had such a great time blessing children and adults with a meal on a day that we, as Americans, stop and thank God for everything He has given us. We then had a Thanksgiving meal ourselves with 56 people at Fort White. We had people from America, Switzerland, Mexico, Zimbabwe and South Africa (Afrikans and Xhosa) attending, all brothers and sisters in Christ.

We also were able to help a church in Dimbaza with their revival that was starting while the team was here. From that revival, we have heard that 15 people have made a profession of faith and many more were interested in learning more. To God be the Glory!!!

Today starts a new venture…

fudgemom — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:47:19 +0000

Today, about 25 people showed up at Fort White to start agriculture and building classes. We have been partnering with a lady from Ngcamngeni who wants to help the people in the near by villages to have a skill and be able to create a business for themselves.

Mugamet and Siyanda will be training people in building, plumbing, flooring, painting and other building skills. Festas will be training people in agriculture. He will also be using the Farming God’s Way curriculum that not only teaches how to farm but it teaches what God says about how to take care of the earth that He has given us.

Soon to come will be sewing, wood working and baking classes. As we give a hand to the people in the neighboring villages, may they see the love of God being poured out upon them and come to know the saving grace of our heavenly Father.

It’s been a while…

fudgemom — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:09:52 +0000

since I’ve written here. I guess that I feel that my monthly email to everyone tells everything that is happening here maybe no one reads the blog. I’m sorry if some of you don’t get my email and would like to know what’s going on here at Fort White. Here is a quick list of things that are happening here right now:

Agriculture – Philip and Festas are working hard to prepare the ground for our spring planting. With two bore holes dug and one with a pump and piping, we are hoping that the crops will live this year. We are taking to the produce to sell in the villages and in King Williams Town, as well as helping groups by giving them some of our produce. Just the other day, they took a truck full of spinach and beets to a home for mentally handicapped children. This a home where people have dropped off their kids because they didn’t know what to do with them. The workers there are all volunteers and work on money given to them through grants and gifts. They were thrilled to have fresh vegetables for their kids.

School: We do not have a school here yet, but we are helping some of the school children that live close by. We have a group of grade 11 kids who come for math tutoring with Philip 4 days a week. We also pick up 16 grade 7 kids to teach them computer and science lessons. There has been talk of starting a pre-primary school here at some point but it is still in the works.

Pastoral training: Collin Tomlinson has started a pastoral training class on Saturdays for the local pastors in the area.

We are still praying for guidance as to what God wants happening here at Fort White. We will have different teams come out in the next few months who will help at Fort White and in the villages near by. We continue to renovate the buildings at Fort White with the expectancy that God has big plans for this place and the people’s lives that live near here. Stay tuned to see what will happen.

Youth Day at Fort White

fudgemom — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:02:47 +0000

We had a great time with almost 40 kids here last Saturday for a youth day. We had the kids act out a skit about forgiveness and talked about how we are to forgive people because God first forgave us with Jesus. We then learned the song “Our God is a Great Big God”. They had lunch and then they went home. It was a fast and furious day, but we loved having the kids here. We had fun taking pictures of them as well, which are posted at our picture site, http://thefudgefive.shutterfly.com using the password HereAmI.

Movie Night Begins

fudgemom — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:58:18 +0000

With a projector given to us from Mark Presley and the Communications Ministry at FBC McKinney, Philip has started the Fort White movie night. This week they voted for a scary movie so it was a selected few but they had a great time and want to do every week. Next week, we will do a family-friendly movie first and then they can watch their scary stuff.

It was fun to see the movie projected on the big wall of the hall with the sound coming through big speakers. We plan to show the World Cup in this same fashion. There will be tons of people here to watch!

March update

fudgemom — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 08:44:16 +0000

We have been busy here at Fort White. March has gone by quickly, but April means that we are in the states for our annual missions month at First Baptist Church in McKinney, Texas. We are looking forward to our visit there (and to the Mexican food that we will eat :0).

Our chickens are here! Our chickens are here! After a long wait, we finally have our 100 chickens at Fort White. Due to an illness in the chicken farmer’s family, we needed to wait until now for him to deliver the chickens to Fort White. We already have 100 eggs in just a few days to sell to the people in the near by villages. We thank you for your donations to our adopt a chicken program. This will benefit the people who live too far to run into the town to buy eggs. I know they would thank you too.

Our agriculture projects are moving along. We will harvest a few thousand beet root this coming week to take to market. Philip and Festas will need extra hands to harvest and replant the 20,000 seedlings that we were given. We hope to hire some of the people from the nearby village to help us and to give them a small income. Water is still an issue, but we have hopes that a group from East London will help us put in a boar hole to access underground water.

Our computer classes are still going strong. The students have shown great improvement from the first day they arrived. Next week will be their exams and then we will take a break while we are in the US. The students have already asked about the next classes that will be offered. While we are away, Siyanda will open the lab for students to practice what they have learned.

We have also begun a character training class at one of the local primary schools. The learned about diligence and we had them act out a story about an ant and a grasshopper. The ant diligently stored his food in summer and at harvest so he would have food for winter. The grasshopper just sat around and ate, but when winter came, he had no food. When we return, we will start a new character trait. The kids seemed to enjoy the class.

We hope to see everyone we can when we are in Texas and Oklahoma. Just pray that our 40 hour trip will go smoothly from East London to Dallas. Love to you all.

February 2010

fudgemom — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:25:19 +0000

I know it’s a short month, but where did February go? As we look back over this fast and furious month, we have seen some new things happening at Fort White. First of all, we have started a computer class for adults. We have 60 students in 6 different classes and a waiting list of over 20 more people. Their ages range from early 20s to late 40s. This is the first time that some of the students have ever sat at a computer. We are learning the basics and how to use a mouse. We have started them on a typing program so they can learn how to type correctly. Hopefully with these skills they will have a better chance at getting a job. As you know, computer skills are a must when applying for a job.

We also began a class for young girls called Dv8 (deviate). We had a good first week teaching the girls that Jesus is the only way to get to the Father. Unfortunately, due to a language barrier, I think they didn’t understand that this class would be every Monday. So, they have not come back on Mondays. We will have to figure out a way to have a local Xhosa speaker there with us so that they can translate for us. Becky has been asked to go to the Debe Nek school to lead a class on character traits starting next week. In that, she will add scripture for them to memorize on what the bible says for each character trait.

We also have the problem with transportation. If the kids from the villages want to come do something at Fort White, they have to walk here. It is a mile or more for them to walk. If it is really hot or raining, then the kids will not walk here. All the adults walk here for their computer classes. We are praying about how we can purchase a bus for Fort White so that we can provide transportation to and from the classes at Fort White.

Philip is still very involved with the agriculture at Fort White. We feel that if Fort White will be successful, it needs to have a way to make money. Agriculture is a big industry here and the ground is fertile. Philip and Festas have been planting different crops to see what is profitable here in this area. It looks like beets, cabbage, onions, spinach and potatoes are cash crops here and have the potential to make money for the ministries that we want to have happen at Fort White.

There are many projects that need funding at Fort White. Some of these projects being renovations of the cabins and buildings so that teams or individuals can come stay at Fort White and school buildings and classrooms need to be renovated and furnished so that classes can be held for both children and adults. There is a long list of projects that could be done, but funding holds up a lot of these projects. As of now, we have been working purely on donations and we want to thank many of you who have felt led to donate to these projects. We wouldn’t be able to have anything going with your support.

We want to also thank you for your prayers. We feel a peace about being here and know that God has big plans for this area. We are still listening to what God wants us to do at Fort White. There are many ideas but we know that ultimately we will succeed when we do what God wants done here.

Please continue to pray for wisdom and discernment in the activities that should happen at Fort White. Also, pray for our children who are feeling a little lonely without other kids to play with. Thomas is better about playing with whoever comes to Fort White, no matter what age they are. We have a group of boys from Ngcamngeni who play rugby in our large field and Thomas plays with them, even though they are 18 years old and up. The girls are a different story. They miss their friends a great deal and don’t have as many opportunities to play with other kids. We are hoping to find some activities in King Williams Town in which they can participate to help them find some other kids their age. The kids are also busy with their home schooling. Emily and Allison are finding it more difficult than Thomas but you start learning more in 4th and 6th grades.

We will be coming back to Texas on April 9 and leaving on May 3. We hope to get to see everyone, but our time will be short. We will be traveling to Oklahoma to see family and friends there, but once again it will be a short visit. We will be looking for a place to stay and a car to use when we are back for the month.

Thanks again for everything you do to support us. We are overwhelmed by the love and support that has been given to us.