Red Rocks Church Africa Gala Oct. 3rd Supporting Lincoln & Jenny Smith
About The Lighthouse Children's Shelter
The Lighthouse Children's Shelter, a non-profit organization based in Rustenburg, South Africa, is a registered place of safety for children in crisis situations. Many of the children cared for in the shelter are orphaned due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and in their short lives have only known neglect, abuse and abandonment.
The shelter was birthed out of the tremendous need to combat the effects of the pandemic on the future generation of South Africa and it provides both short and long-term care for children at risk.
The Lighthouse Children's Shelter, with its committed staff members and loving volunteers, works tirelessly to ensure the best possible care for the children and strives to restore love, hope and a future for each one. Many of the children will be placed in adoptive families, both locally and in other countries. Some may never be adopted and others might not survive the devastation of HIV/AIDS, but the shelter is committed to each child as an individual no matter what they have been through or what the future holds.
About The Smiths
Lincoln and Jenny Smith were married in 1996. Lincoln has a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Colorado Christian University and he is a master electrician. Jenny graduated from Rockford Master's Commission in 1994, and she now homeschools their four children, Madison (9), Kyler (7), Kendi (2), and Isabel (born August 6, 2009).
In early 2006 the Smiths moved their family to Rustenburg, South Africa to work at The Lighthouse Children's Shelter. From 2006 to 2007 they helped run the shelter, doing many different tasks some of which include taking children to doctors appointments, administrating adoptions, tutoring the children, construction and maintenance.
They were also involved in compassion ministries to people living in tin shacks in the squatter camp of Freedom Park near Rustenburg. In Freedom Park they visited patients in the final stages of AIDS, bringing them food and water.
When the Smiths return to South Africa in January 2010, they will continue to work at The Lighthouse Children's Shelter and will also be involved in the following areas:
- Visiting AIDS patients in Freedom Park
- Working hand in hand with a local organization that is involved in outreach to child run homes in the town of Phokeng. This work will involve providing food, housing, and life skills to children who have lost their parents to AIDS and are currently raising themselves and their younger siblings.
- Hosting teams and individuals from the U.S. that want to work with the Smiths.
South Africa Statistics
- Local doctors estimate that there are 2 million orphans due to AIDS in South Africa.
- UNICEF reports that 5.5 million people are living with AIDS/HIV in South Africa, the highest number of any country in the world.
- In Sub-Saharan Africa six people are infected with HIV every minute. Another six die every minute because of the devastating disease.
- Sub-Saharan Africa has just over 10 percent of the world's population, yet they have more than two-thirds of the people currently living with AIDS.
- 1 out of 4 High School students in South Africa is infected with HIV.
- Women and girls are six times more likely to be infected with the AIDS virus than men.
For more information about The Lighthouse Children's Shelter, please go to www.lighthouseshelter.co.za.
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