What touches your heart?

Many of us have our own special charity or organisation that we support as well as those that we hear about in times of crisis, or through our Church. Something will have touched our hearts at the time that makes that particular need very special or personal to us. That's what happened to me when I first met and heard Jill Kinsey speak about her work in Lesotho, and in particular about Pulane Children's Centre. This was the second such centre Jill had opened in Lesotho, the first being in Semonkong. It wasn't just the photos of the gorgeous smiling faces of the children in her care, it was Jill herself, so passionate about the work, so full of love for the children, and so determined to provide a better life, offering hope and a future for each one, that captured my attention. Jill had lived on the Algarve until her husband passed away, and suddenly Jill knew she needed to find a new purpose to her life, and with Jesus in her heart, and a desire to serve Him wherever He led her, that desire took her to work for Dorcas Aid in Mozambique at a time when it was very dangerous and conditions were desperate. It was on retirement from Dorcas Aid that she was approached to set up a children's centre in Lesotho, and the Semonkong Children's Centre was opened in a dis-used Methodist Church compound. This was followed by a further centre in Pulane at a disused agricultural project site. I joined Jill there, three years later in 2011, for a six week visit. My first experience of Africa, a world far away from the comfort and commodities of 21st Century Northern Europe, and I was captivated by the natural beauty of this tiny landlocked mountain kingdom, it's people, and the quite amazing work that was being done in the name of Jesus, in this rural community of rondavels and rivers. Jill and Grant Strugnell, her co-founder, together with their team of local people, turned the rundown and abandoned agri-cultural project site, into a home and safe haven for a growing number of aids orphaned, and HIV positive children. A place where they were loved and cared for, where they were educated locally, and still able to stay in contact with their wider fam-ily if any existed. Supported by Churches across their border in South Africa, as well as Churches in Holland, the UK and here in Portugal. Jill's home Church being the Evangelical Church at Vale Judeu. Sometimes a financial struggle, it was often in the early years, that our Lord miraculously provided for their every need. Watching over the centres and protecting them from evil threats and even Jill's own safety at times. Her faith and de-termination, and a sure knowledge that this was where God wanted her to be, coupled with the prayers of many people around the world, has ensured that this project has not only survived, but blossomed and grown. The Semonkong Centre is now run by the Lesotho Methodist Church, and Jill retired from the overall responsibility of running Pulane Centre last September. After a few years away from Pulane, enough time to meet and marry Emily, and have a baby daughter Jane, Grant returned with his wife and daughter to take over the running of the centre when Jill retired. Jill still lives in her house at the centre, and continues in a role as adviser, and 'mother' to every one of those children.

If you would like to read more about the children's centre you can look them up on http://www.pulanechildren.org/