MICHELLE SAFFER
The amount of passion people of Ocean View have. How strong they are in their faith.” This was one of the observations by members of the youth group from Saint John United Methodist Church, Anchorage, Alaska, after spending a week in South Africa as part of their youth mission.
Ocean View Methodist Church member Margaret Constant said that every two years a “vibrant” group of people came to work at their church as well as helping at Simon’s Town Methodist Church and the Ubuntu Soccer Club, near Lekkerwater Road.
Asked what most surprised them about their visit, one of the youth group members said on their church website: “The amount of joy and hope the people of Ocean View still hold on to even with all the hardships,” adding: “Everyone is so nice and inviting.”
Ms Constant said that every two years the Alaskan church raised funds to do projects at the Ocean View church.
“When they came the first time, young students from the age of eight helped lay the trenches and foundation of the wall around the church and painted the church,” she said.
“Two years ago they made the kitchen bigger and had an interior designer with them. They put in cupboards and painted the church hall. They also donated a greenhouse.
“Then another church in Alaska heard about this and also donated money for another two greenhouses. They helped create a garden to grow vegetables.
“This year also they helped to dig trenches for the memorial garden that was created inside the church property, painted the outside windowpanes, painted pictures in the ‘crying room’ where moms go with their crying babies during the church service, and redid the gardens after we had a bad overflow of drains inside the church property.”
