Welcome to Michaels Childrens Village (MCV) website!   We are an extension of Iris Ministries International and Iris South Africa (registered NGO) based in Mbonisweni/Back Door, South Africa!

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”  Matt. 19:14

Everyone has a different journey to the mission field.  However, for each of us, it is because we have answered God’s call on our lives.  We have heard the voice of the Lord. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

When we answer that call, we think of the high profile tasks of missions: preaching, teaching, caring for children, leading Bible study, etc.  Yet, in the mission field, the needs are often more practical and humble.  God calls us to have not only willing hearts, but also willing hands.

This last week, we had a visit from the parents of our intern, Kelsey.  Called Gogo and Mkulu (grandma and grandpa) by the MCV children, they blessed the whole MCV family with their willing hands.  They gardened, washed dishes, assembled desks, and fixed vehicles and washing machines.  Through it all, they encouraged and challenged all of us with their servant hearts and willing hands.

In the last two weeks, we were doubly blessed to host two amazing teams at MCV. A YWAM team from Swaziland came home with us after the Pastor’s Advance and stayed for over a week.  During that time, they blessed us with their hearts to serve however was needed: from clearing out an old garden, to washing windows, to giving the kids some one-on-one computer help, to handling cleanup after our birthday braai.  Three of the members of the team were fluent Siswati speakers and two of the others were learning, so our kids had the rare joy of being able to speak their own language to some of our guests.  When their ride came to pick them up at the end of their time with us, we had difficulty letting them go.  We bless them as they seek out God’s will for the rest of their lives.

The second was a large team from a church in South Carolina, who spent a day at MCV doing prayer ministry with all of our staff, as well as our children.  Everyone was touched by their openness to the Spirit and the encouraging words that they shared with us.  Later in the week, the team spent the day in the local town of Backdoor, visiting and ministering in many different homes.  We were further encouraged by the reports of the signs and miracles that the Lord showed them that afternoon! Through their ministry that week and in church on Sunday, the Lord revealed His heart for our area to be a place where God’s fire dwells.  Father, let your will be done in Backdoor!

**this blog was written by our amazing intern Kelsey!  She triple blesses us daily:)

MCV sends a huge thank you to Peter and Melody Wheeler (directors and founders of Iris South Africa) for the amazing blessing of computers for MCV and Harvest Bible College!  The kids were ecstatic as the computers were being set up…they could not wait to learn more and play educational games.  Several kids instantly started playing simple games provided and were quite upset when their turn was up…what a great problem!

We are also thrilled to announce another MCV intern- Kelsey!  We are awe of the kindness of God in sending us a servant like Kelsey just days before the computers arrived.  Kelsey was able to troubleshoot, solve the bugs, set up protective measures for users….she also set up a one-on-one rotation of all the kids to teach them about the computer, keyboard, etc.  Currently, Kelsey is overseeing our MCV computer lab and blessing the ministry in countless other areas!

Thank you again for everyone who regularly prays for our MCV family!  God is truly overwhelming us with His goodness and love daily!!!

Hey everyone my name is Daniela Luyo and I am currently one of the new interns at MCV and I will be joyfully serving at MCV until May. Before starting on my own at MCV I was accompanied with my YWAM outreach team. We are from YWAM Belize and we came to South Africa as apart of our outreach phase. Our first month of outreach was spent outside of Durban in a small area called Pinetown, then we spent two weeks at MCV. We felt privileged to be invited into the MCV family and be welcomed into the House of Destiny (the visitor center). During our time here we spent many days serving at Village of Hope. While there, we painted many classrooms and helped prepare for the upcoming Bible School students. We also had the opportunity to help paint the exterior of Backdoor Church. The days we did not spend in Backdoor were spent at MCV helping Teisa and Jean with different project around MCV- with everything from cleaning toys to helping with admin stuff. One of our major projects was adding on to the playground. Two men from the team took control from sketching the new addition out to sharing the vision of what needed to be done. No matter how much time was spent working on the playground from day to day there was such determination and loved poured out while working hard. With one day left at MCV, there was plenty of work still to be accomplished on the playground before it was completed. With about half of the team we ended up working with headlamps on and finally finished the new additions in the dark. We were all so honored to be able to bless the MCV family this way.

Before our team was headed home for The States we spent a few days in Johannesburg debriefing about our time spent in South Africa. When the day came for the team to leave, I traveled back to White River by myself to complete a four-month internship as a third part of my DTS (Discipleship Training School). I have been overwhelmingly accepted with love and joy into the MCV family and I feel so blessed to be staying and helping out here where ever the need. It has been amazing to also experience the joy and laughter the kids get from playing on the playground.

I know this season is going to be one of pursuing many different things. I also believe its going to be a time of stretching, growing and learning and I cant wait to see what God has in store for me here. While experiencing new things I also expect to experience God and His love in new crazy, radical, unbelievable, mind-blowing ways. Lets. Do. This.

Christmas is such a special time for the MCV/Iris family in Africa.  There are few decorations, rare carols, no hyped up commercialism (except in the big stores).   People celebrate with their families- usually around a large meal.  Some give gifts.  Some do not.  Within our big Iris family, we love giving gifts because it is a tangible reminder of the gift our Heavenly Father gave to us on Christmas!  Preaching is so easy….who can resist such an amazing gift of love and eternal life?

Our highlight this year was seeing our children in action!  For hours, the older kids at MCV helped put together 500 candy bags for the outreaches.  They also helped with a Nativity skit that they performed at the Backdoor Christmas Outreach.  The outreach got a little crazy at the end when hundreds of kids were pushing to receive their candy bag at the gate, but our kids were right there in the thick of it helping us keep order.  They also went on home visits to the children in the community within the Extended Care Program.  They assisted our volunteers in praying for the sick and leading many people to Christ!

On Christmas Day, our big MCV family celebrated together in some special ways.  The MCV families each had a breakfast feast as a family before going to church.  At church, Papa Jean shared a different Christmas message- the power of Holy Communion in which we all celebrated together.  After church, the MCV family gathered again to give thanks, celebrate with gifts, and pray together.  Each family would come forward and receive their gifts from Jesus.  Then the rest of us would pray for that family for God’s fullest blessings and destiny for the new year.  After the prayer, the families would excitedly open their gifts. Christ’s lavish love and joy abounded as our children enjoyed these precious gifts from Him!

We are so grateful for All Nations Fellowship in New Orleans and the many individuals/families who helped us with our Christmas Sponsorship Program!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!   God multiplied the money that came in!  We were unable to do new clothing for all the community children, but we were able to give good used clothing (much was given by our MCV kids going through their closets!).   Thank you again for standing with us and making this amazing harvest of love possible!

Blessings from your MCV family in South Africa!

Excitement is in the air as we gear up for the biggest and best birthday of the year. The White River Iris team and the older kids at MCV are busy preparing gifts to bless over 100 orphans/children-at risk within our Backdoor community…This week, we will be hand delivering gifts; praying for each child and home.  What a joy sharing the greatest gift ever-JESUS!!!  And last Thursday, we hosted over 350 local kids with a Christmas program, chicken feast, and candy bags.  Things got a little crazy during the feeding and giving out the gifts, but not even small riots can stop His love from being poured out! And we cannot forget to praise God for the celebration to come at MCV- what a joy to see our children overwhelmed by our Heavenly Father’s lavish love!  Wow, wow, wow!  We rejoice in His wonderful provision!

“Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol him who rides on the clouds, by His name and rejoice before Him.  A FATHER of the fatherless, a DEFENDER of widows, is God in his holy habitation.  God sets the solitary in FAMILIES; He brings out those who are bound, in to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.” Psalm 68:4-6

We thank God for you and wish you the very best this holiday season.  May the Lord pour out an abundance of His Holy Spirit and provision on you in this CHRISTmas and this upcoming New Year!!!

MCV celebrated another round of birthdays over the weekend!  It was an especially fun day because we christened the new soccer field!  Thanks to a dear sponsor in America, we have new soccer goals and equipment!  Everyone joined in the match…even the “old” people like Papa Jean!

It is always such a blessing to celebrate the lives of each child and volunteer staff at MCV.  Amongst the highlights was seeing 4 year old S receive a new bike!  His old bike (a gift at Christmas) was ridden daily for hours for months till the wheels completely wore off.   Another highlight was during the prayer for the birthday kids.  Many of our kids are really pressing into His presence and understanding the power of prayer.  We watched many of the kids pray blessings and fire over the other kids/adults….Yeah God!

The MCV family just enjoyed another week of school holiday.  This is always a special time of extra activities, but God really impressed upon our hearts to very specifically to ENJOY our precious children.  The mamas and missionaries took small groups shopping for new summer cloths/shoes.   What a joy to watch certain kids radiate such delight and pride when showing off their new clothing choices!  We also piled into the new Quantum, Papa Jean’s bakkie and Lisa’s rental (a friend from Flanders Electric) for a day safari at Kruger National Park.  The kids saw God’s beauty up close with most of the animal coming within 10 feet of the vehicles.

And when a child wanted to see something specific, the kids prayed and asked God to bring the animal to them…and He did! 

This happened over and over till everything was seen except a leopard or cheetah!  The final highlight of the break was the big soccer game at Mbombela Stadium.  The houseparents and Pastor Surprise and Tryphina treated the kids to a fun day cheering on Bafanna Bafanna (South Africa’s national soccer team)!

We are so grateful to our Heavenly Father and His hands (many of you!) who make this abounding joy possible.

Recently, we celebrated with our newest houseparents, Petrus and Doris Khoza, and over 30 amazing men and women the completion of the Biblical Studies program at Harvest Bible College.  Many of the students attended a rotation of 2-3 weeks sessions for over 3 years in order to complete all the required courses.  After worship and the joyous procession of graduates, Pastor Surprise Sithole gave a powerful word of commission and harvest.  The ceremony continued with more awards, special words, etc.  The highlight for many was watching each student receive their diploma and Bible (a special gift from the ministry).  This was indeed such a joyous milestone in their journey- many celebrated in very fun, animated ways to the pleasure of the crowd!   It was an amazing blessing to watch and pray for each graduate as they were commissioned and launched into a new season of ministry.  The ceremony ended in much praise and thanksgiving.  After pictures, everyone was treated to delicious meal and fellowship.

Join us in praying for the 30+ graduates and their families!  Pray that they would be shinning stars in this dark world- bringing the light and truth of Jesus Christ to ends of the earth.

At Michaels Children’s Village, we take great joy in following Holy Spirit and being nestled in the arms of our loving Papa God.  We are in love with Jesus, our Bridegroom King of Glory.  In our work, we have watched Papa God lovingly bring us children to envelop in His Spirit of Adoption.  We seek His guidance in every aspect of this time we have with our sons and daughters including their education.

In 2008, I asked God to show me what Kingdom Education looked like. God’s training was immediate.  I focused on the Tree of Life and listened carefully to Holy Spirit as He led me in Kingdom Education within the classroom. There was much to learn with many unusual experiences in the midst of that time. I met more challenges but also enjoyed teaching even more than ever.  Kingdom Education is the structural plan for the Chosen Ones afterschool and school break program for our children at Michaels Children’s Village.

So, what exactly does Kingdom Education look like at Michaels Children’s Village? Good Question. We are free flowing for the most part in growing this portion of our children’s development. Our children attend a good community school and attend Chosen Ones at our children’s village after school and on school breaks. Each child’s educational plan is based upon that individual child, their giftings, and their strengths with the guidance of Holy Spirit. We ask Papa God for direction for each child. We focus on Kingdom Education that brings in the love of the Father, the compassion of Christ, and the New Covenant commandments of Jesus.

We have a heart to serve the total child. This not only includes educational milestones like literacy and numeracy development but also spiritual, physical, and personal development.  If you walked into a normal day, you could find a small group of children soaking or a large group worshiping in song, dance or art. You may walk in and find us all enjoying books or a small group in a guided reading lesson. You may also see a lesson in fractions with fraction blocks or polynomials with algebra tiles.  You might encounter a young writing group or a young Kingdom leadership class. You may find volunteers cooking with the children, teaching a child to play guitar, working one on one with a child on their homework or doing crafts. You may even join some of us for a game of Monopoly or putting together a puzzle.  God’s plan seems to have us plan the day around the child rather than the child to fit into the program schedule.

Pray with us for this amazing adventure in learning and loving at MCV!!!!  By Dea Walker- Director of Education