City Lights 2007

Last weekend Wayne and I joined City Lights - an outreach to the needy in South Auckland. Wow, the stories that came from the 150+ volunteers from churches mainly around the city centre and those on the receiving end of our actions were amazing...

The photos above are taken at fun days that we put on for three days at a housing complex in Otahuhu. We set up stations for the 50+ kids who live there to do some art, build castles, have their faces and nails painted, do relays etc. I was left to talk with the onlooking parents and guardians. They spoke of their kids/grandchildren getting up and choosing to wait outside for us to come back the next day rather than have breakfast because they were so excited! Other children didn't want to leave home because they knew we were coming back. The parents were so grateful as some of them didn't usually let their children play outside with the other kids as there is too much swearing and violence. Our fun days brought an exception to this rule :) They also thanked us for bringing "a playground" to them as they don't have a permanent playground and the grounds are usually covered in broken glass. Wayne spent ages picking up glass, not reluctantly but joyfully with his servant heart. We took it to the dump along with lots of tree cuttings from a foster home nearby. We're hoping that a group will be able to go back into the same housing complex in Otahuhu regularly during the year to bless the kids and families. They were so touched that we turned up with smiles and a sausage sizzle without a hidden agenda - we went just to love them and give them some fun :)