Want to Give?

To support the Jeskes:

All our living expenses are paid by generous people like you.  Including plane tickets, vehicle, food, housing, and other daily living expenses, this comes to about $30,000 per year.  Gifts are tax deductible. 

To support our ministry, please mail checks to:

Jubilee Partners
c/o Jeskes
P.O. Box 68
Comer, GA 30629

Write checks out to JUBILEE PARTNERS
with JESKE in the memo line!

And there’s much more…

People ask us all the time if they can give us anything special to help.  Too often our response is a pretty flat and discouraging, “We can get just about anything here, and we don’t want to encourage a culture of dependency.”  It’s true we try hard not to walk around playing Santa Clause.  In many areas of the world people already have a hard enough time seeing white faces as anything but candy-givers.  Passing money from one rich person to one poor person often adds bricks to the walls between us.  Those walls make it that much harder to give people what we’ve really come to give: Dignity, and a Truth that only makes sense in the context of Jesus the poor Rabbi, who pointed to ways God has already blessed the poor with blessings beyond the material. 

And yet the fact still remains, there are poor people all around us.  We don’t believe in giving willy-nilly to any project or poor person we set eyes on, but we do our best to keep our eyes open for opportunities to give in ways that give both dignity and positive life change. 

So if you’re one of those who wants to give, here are some ideas.  If any catches your heart, please send us an email to find out more.

• Orphan support: Chrissy’s dear friend who cares for 10 orphaned relatives is building a house so she can move out of an orphanage.  She is very appreciative of any monetary gifts.
• Get a CD!  Our Zulu church is raising money for a parsonage, then a church building (they currently meet in a school.)  The church’s choir has recorded a CD (a second is coming soon).  Profit goes toward building the church, and the music is awesome.  Suggested donation: about $10 each.
• Expand our budget: Adam is starting seminary classes part time soon.  We’ll pay for this out of our savings, but if you want to give a gift specifically toward it, you’re welcome.
• Come!  You might get to do something hands on like teach an English class in the primary school (see below).  But mostly we recommend coming to hang out, see, think, and pray.  There are tons of organizations to visit in our area, including orphan feeding programs, ambulance drivers, health care trainers, garden educators, and more.  But mostly come meet the South African people, hug them, and hear their stories.
• A Primary School: We’re excited about partnering with a primary school just up the road from our house.  Read more about why and how…

A Partnering Project: Glen Isla Primary School

“If anyone sees a brother or sister in need…”

View photos of the school in our photo gallery.

            You might happen across Glen Isla school as I did, on a stroll up the long gravel road to one of many large dairy farms in the scenic valleys of the South African Drakensburg Mountains.  It’s a land of contrasts.  You find five star hotels just around the corner from mud huts.  Top-breed Holstein cows graze on the opposite side of fences from mongrel cows with their ribs sticking through the skin.  Schools are just as diverse.
            When we moved to South Africa, we began investigating school options for our nearly kindergarten-aged daughter Phoebe.  Having a car, we could easily drive fifteen minutes into town to the school where nearly every white child in the area goes, a primary school not much different from a U.S. school.  But I also noticed just up the road from my house, a sign for a primary school called Glen Isla.  So one morning I walked past to check it out.
            I have seen a lot of poor schools in my life.  But when I stood outside Glen Isla School, my jaw literally dropped. 
            I stood listening for the sound of voices, still disbelieving that children could actually learn in this environment.  Weeds grew two feet up the walls, most doors had fallen off, broken glass littered the ground, and gaping holes yawned from the walls.  I learned later that parts of the school were built less than seven years ago, but termites gnaw apart its cheap fiber-board walls. 
            Eventually I worked up the courage to introduce myself to the principal, and what I found was a kind and humble man genuinely interested in improving this school.  The hundred or so children who attend the school have no other options, being too far from any other school to have a choice.  There are no school buses in the area, so even to reach this country school many students walk up to an hour.  I’m amazed to see children not much taller than my four year-old daughter hiking past our house, then a half-mile up the road to school. 
            The teachers have few resources to work with.  Because there’s a shortage of teachers in South Africa, country schools like this one often hire whoever is willing to work in the area, even if they have little or no post-secondary training.  The first grade teacher showed me some of the workbooks and texts she uses to teach reading.  Some are missing covers, and many are over a decade old. 
            Many factors contribute to the disparity in South Africa’s schools.  For this school, one issue is that they are located on the property of a private farm.  This means they qualify for less support money from the government.
            Thanks to some donations from churches and friends in the U.S., we have been able to give this school some school supplies, a carpet, and some educational toys for the kindergarteners.  But in meeting with the principal, teachers, and school board, we have begun looking toward larger goals. 
Our hope is to rebuild one or more of the five classrooms in this school.  As I mentioned, South Africa is a diverse country with many wealthy people living right beside the poor.  Our hope is to tie in donations and support from some of those neighbors, but also collect support from contacts back in the United States. 
Most importantly, we want to build relationships with school staff and children.  To drop them a new building, but continue the tradition of silence across races, would miss the point.  As time allows I hope to devote one or more days per week volunteering alongside teachers in the school.  Older students were interested in an entrepreneurship project of starting their own small businesses, and for younger children we may start a school garden.  And any volunteers visiting our area are welcome to stop in with games, songs, or other English learning activities.

Total cost per classroom:  US $7,500.  They could use as many as three new rooms.
Other needs:  Highest priority is money for building, but they could also use the following:  Teaching materials such as posters and flash cards, and other school supplies.  Computers.  Volunteers to teach or visit on vision learning trips are welcome.
To donate: Contact us at acjeske@gmail.com and we’ll tell you where to send checks.  Please do not send packages unless you contact us first to discuss specific needs and how to ship.