Happy Birthday To Our May Birthday Kids!!

Happy Birthday To You!!!!

Happy Birthday God Bless You!!!!!

Happy Birthday To You!!

May Birthday Party!!!

Happy Birthday to you!! Happy Birthday to you!!

A Trip To The Store!!

Uncle David and Auntie Merle wanted the kids to experience going to the store and buying something so they placed a 10 Rand note in each of their hands and in they went to find their special something! They had a great time choosing!! Such fun for them!! The boys chose cars and our little girl chose a necklace!! We say a big Thank you to David and Merle!! Also pictured here is Lorinda who takes care of all our finances at the Lighthouse! She has such a servant's heart and goes beyond and above the call of duty!! We appreciate her so very much!!

Out On the Town!!

David and Merle took some of our older children out to eat at the Mall today!! We had an awesome time!! They loved their Kid's meal! Their tummies were full for sure!

We Love Volunteers!!!

Meet David, Merle and Faith!! David and Merle were at our very first Volunteer Meeting in 2001!! Now 6 years later they are still blessing our children!! We are so very grateful to them for their involvement over the years!!

We Say Goodbye

Yesterday was a happy and sad day all in one!! We had to say goodbye to one of our precious little boys. He has lived with us for 2 and half years and now he will be placed back with extended family. We are so happy for him as he goes to his new home. We ask you to pray with us for his adjustment. Pictured is Janis Betzer, Nomhle Mputle, Managing Director, Jacqueline Saekanelo, Caregiver Coordinator and Sophie Zondo, Children's Coordinator.

Lighthouse Pre-School

This is some of our older children in the Pre-School room. They are taught by Jacqueline Saekanelo. They love to be in their classroom learning everything from letters to numbers to days of the week! You should hear them as they recite their letters and numbers!

Grenville High School Visits L.C.S.

The Grenville High School Grade 10 A Life Orientation Class visited us last week. They are taught by Mrs. Duplessis. The Life Orientation Class did a project on community service. The children were so blessed as the young people brought snacks to hand out and spent the afternoon playing games.

Happy Mother's Day Mama Janis

Mother's Day was a beautiful sunny day in Rustenburg, South Africa as you can see the kids are struggling to keep their eyes open! Uncle David took a quick picture of a few of our older children before church started!! The older kids had a great time singing praise songs and making Mother's Day cards with the great help of Ivy Hollland, our Children's Church Director!! We took the cards back to the Shelter and presented them to all the Mama's taking care of all the babies! We now have 29 babies and toddlers in our Lighthouse! Please keep all our wonderful Caregivers in your prayers as they are Mom's to all our precious kids!! We will be taking a picture of all our Caregivers at our next monthly meeting in June and will share it on the Blog.. So be looking for it! Thank you all for your prayers and looking us up on the Blog! God Bless You!!

Mandiva Visits His Friends!

The Kids love Mandiva!! Mandiva used to live here in Rustenburg as he came from Zambia and worked at the Southern Africa Media Center for the past few years. Recently he took a job at SABC in Johannesburg so we don't get to see him very often!! Mandiva took the kids on an outing to the Pretoria Zoo and treated them royally!! They love Mandiva!! We all want to say Thank you to him for all his love and support for our children here at the Lighthouse!!

Thank You to Donna and Miriam!

Our older kids presented gifts to Donna and Miriam to say a big Thank you to them for all they did for us here at the Lighthouse! Donna and Miriam helped us with all our clothing kits as we changed out our Summer Kits to Winter Kits for all 28 children!! Now the kids are ready for their Winter weather!! Thank you Donna and Miriam! We love you!!

Our Big Family!!

The Lighthouse Children say Goodbye to Miriam and Donna, our two Grandmas that come to visit us every year! Miriam and Donna have been such an incredible blessing to all the children at the Lighthouse. They brought lots of other Granny's who also brought everything from bibs, blankets, medicine, uniforms for our Caregivers, gifts for the kids and money to help us with our expenses!! We are truly grateful to God for providing friends for us like Miriam and Donna! We pray the Lord will bless them greatly as they return to their homes in the USA!! Be encouraged all you Grandma's out there as Miriam is 81 years old this year!! This is her 5th trip to South Africa and she is planning on bringing others with her next year the Lord willing! Pictured with all the children are Nomhle, Administrator, Donna, Miriam, Janis, Director and Elizabeth, Caregiver. Three of our children are not pictured.

Meet Another Volunteer at LCS!!

Meet Jemma! She is from England visiting us here in South Africa while she is taking time off after finishing University. We are so thankful for the time she spends playing with the children and praying over the babies! God is so faithful to bring His people along the way to lend an extra hand of help for His children!

Meet Some LCS Volunteers!

This is Katie from Texas, USA. She is one of our Volunteers here at the Lighthouse. Katie is hosted by Y-WAM Missionaries, Derek and Rebecca van der Merwe, who are establishing a Y-WAM base here in Rustenburg. Katie comes and helps care for the children on Tuesdays and Fridays! On those days you will find her playing, reading to the children and helping with the feeding times of the babies. We are so thankful for you, Katie!! God bless you!!

It's Field Hockey Time for our LIttle LCS Queen!

There was a Field Hockey Tournament for some of the Primary Schools in Rustenburg, South Africa. One of our LCS's girls plays for the AOG Primary School. It was a great Saturday morning, enjoyed by all! Mama Janis was there along the sidelines cheering her favorite team member along!!

Rustenburg Educational College

Rustenburg Educational College Comes to LCS

It was which much delight that the Rustenburg Educational College visited the Lighthouse Children's Shelter on Friday, 4 May. They presented baby clothes, food and various items for the children at the Lighthouse. The Learners collected these items from their homes and businesses in their region. Some of the Learners even spent their pocket money on the baby items. The Life Orientation Educator, Mrs. Jeanette Rampopo accompanied the class along with Mr. Stan Vagionakis who is a teacher of Economics. The Learners also held a car wash where they were able to make 400 Rands to present to the Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse would like to express their appreciation to Mrs. E. Verkerk the Principal, Mrs. Jeanette Rampopo, Mr. Stan Vagionakis and all the Learners for all the sacrifices of time, energy and finances that went into presenting these gifts to the children of the Lighthouse.

The Lighthouse Princesses!!

These are the girls who started it all!! They are the Lighthouse Princesses!! We are so grateful to God who opened the door for these special little girls to be a part of our families!! This is Hope Betzer, Rejoyce Peercy and Toluh Peercy!! They enjoyed playing together for the afternoon! They even had time to sneek into the baby room and make sure they held some babies!! They loved being the big sister to all the babies today!!

The Peercy Family Visit the Lighthouse!!

We were so excited to see the Peercy Family today!! What a blessing to have them come and check in on all of us here at the Lighthouse!! The Peercy Family helped us to begin the Lighthouse over 6 years ago!! What an incredible blessing they were as our families stepped out in faith and trusted God to begin a Place of Safety for children in crisis here in Rustenburg!! Each of our families started with one little baby!! Today over 200 children have come through our doors and found a safe haven here at the Lighthouse Children's Shelter! We are so grateful for them and wish them God's very best as they serve Him in the Polokwane area now!!

Boys Special Time with Miriam and Donna!!

Some of our boys are having special time with Donna from Independance, Missouri and Miriam from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Miriam and Donna brought the Granny Brigade over from the USA to visit us last week. Now the two of them are staying on to help out for a couple of weeks!! We always like it when they come because they bring lots of hugs and love and goodies for our kids!! The boys just got royal treatment with their new hats and Book of Hope bracelets that tell the story of salvation! You can see they are enjoying their raisins too!!

It's Popcorn and Movie Time for the Big Kids at LCS!!