Three and One-half Months to Go!!!

Hello everyone! Wow… the last few weeks have been quite hard for me – I know that God is working in me, so it’s good, it’s just been hard. I have felt quite alone and have been stressed by trying to be in control of my life and my future. God is continuing to draw me closer to Him and I now have a peace about following where I believe He is taking me for the next season of my life – home! Each day I am getting more excited about coming home to my family and friends and Fellowship, but I am also treasuring each day that I have left here in beautiful Cape Town. I am continually broken for this city and the people here.

I only have three and one-half months left here – it’s so hard to believe and I’m sure it will go by SO fast. Here is a breakdown of my schedule for the next three and one-half months:

Aug 20 – Sept 4: Restorative Justice (explained more below) along with regular church work (bookshop, youth, Beauty for Ashes)
Sept 5: Maggie’s 30th birthday!!! Wish I could be there to celebrate!!! (Had to put this in here.)
Sept 5 – Sept 16: Normal life at Jubilee Community Church.
Sept 17 – Sept 28: Training block.
Sept 29: Young adult formal – shall be fun but I don’t have a dress!!!
Sept 29 – Oct 3: Normal life at Jubilee.
Oct 4 – Oct 11: Dad and Robin visiting Cape Town! YEAH!!!
Oct 12 – Oct 20: Travel to Johannesburg, Victoria Falls (Zambia side) and Kruegar Park with Dad and Robin. So excited!
Oct 21 – Oct 28: Normal life at Jubilee
Oct 29 – Nov 17: Restorative Justice at Pollsmoor.
Nov 18: Done with program. Hoping and praying for mom to come and visit for a bit and maybe travel some with her before heading home!

For life now, as many of you know, I have been house-sitting and I return to the flat tomorrow. I will miss the house and the nice car, but am ready to get settled again at the flat and have my housemate around.

I am starting something new this week at the prison, which I am quite excited about. They offer a course to the inmates for them to take before they are released from prison. It is called Restorative Justice and I will be helping with some of the facilitating and will also have two women inmates that I will be working closely with. The course is a six-week course. We meet three to four days a week from August 20th to September 4th and again from October 29th to November 17th. It helps the inmates to deal with the crime they committed and helps them to take responsibility for it and to forgive themselves and others involved, and encourages them to ask forgiveness to those affected by their crime. It is quite intense. We even bring the families in on September 1st for the inmates to talk with them regarding the crime. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of this and pray that God uses me and directs me with the women I will be working with.

It is actually quite funny because I have known about this course the whole year and was really hoping I could be a part of it. I was speaking with Jenny, the lady who runs the course, last Wednesday and she said that she thinks they have enough workers, and that I probably wouldn’t be needed. I told her that I really would love the opportunity to be involved and help out in any way that I can. She said she would let me know on Thursday and I found out that I could be a part of it! I met with her on Friday and she told me that she wasn’t going to have me help out, but since I said that I really wanted to, she made it work – she said that she wants people who are passionate about this and have a heart for it. I am so thankful that God gave me the boldness to even step out and tell her that I really wanted to be a part of it! I normally would have just sat back and let whatever happen happen and trust that it was God’s will.

There is a specific prayer letter which was written by the ministry in the prison for prayer support for this course, and I am going to copy and paste it at the end of this post. I would appreciate any and all prayer for this.

Thank you all for your support – prayer, financial, emotional, Spiritual. I don’t know what I would do without all of you back home! Love you all!

Dear Prayers,
We would be so grateful if you would please pray for the Restorative Justice Course that is being held in the prison at Pollsmoor.
Prayer cover for this program is crucial and we would really appreciate your support in prayer – thank you.
1. The theme of this course is Healing the Wounds of Crime.
2. The primary goal of Restorative Justice is the address and confront the harm caused by crime.
3. We will be confronting, discussing and addressing the damaged and broken relationships caused by the crime.
4. Further points of discussion are: taking responsibility for past and future action, confession, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, reconciliation and accountability.
Please pray for:
1. The inmates who will be involved (24 inmates – all women).
2. For Jenny Clayton (Director of Hope Prison Ministry) who will be leading this course. Please pray for strength for her, as well as wisdom, discernment and protection. (There is a vast amount of work involved before, during and after this course.)
3. Please pray for the Spiritual Workers who will be facilitating each group (this is me along will 11 others).
4. Please pray that the Spiritual Workers can get to the prison each day – for transport (many take public transport).
5. Please pray for the logistics of the venue, catering, and every practical aspect.
6. Please pray for safety and protection and for our families too.
7. Please pray for restoration and reconciliation of relationships that have been damaged by crime.
8. Please pray for the family day on the 1st of September. Family members are invited to attend. The inmates speak about what they have learnt during the course. The inmate may seek forgiveness from family present and in many cases this is expressed. This is hugely powerful.
Thank you so much for your much valued prayers.
Tania Holcroft
Sprititual Worker, Hope Prison Ministry, Pollsmoor Prison.