Vehicle for the Giesbrecht's

Jeff and Lyndsey Giesbrecht are from the Lloydminster area, and have strong ties to the surrounding community. Jeff grew up in Marshall, SK and Lyndsey in Neilburg, SK. They were raising their children on Jeff’s childhood acreage and were well grounded in their home church at First Baptist. By this time they were blessed with six beautiful kids: JR, Lelu, Leni, Bow, Barni and Benji.

Very surprisingly, to them, God placed a call on their lives to serve the vulnerable in Africa. This came after God unexpectedly had Jeff join his sisters on a team to the Congo in 2016. On this trip Jeff was deeply challenged by the orphan crisis in subsaharan Africa. And also stirred by the way that God was using the local church in Africa to care for vulnerable families in a deeply personal way. Shortly after, Jeff brought Lyndsey to experience what God was doing through Hands at Work . And by January 2020 they left everything behind and flew across the world, as a family of 8, to serve with Hands at Work in Africa.

Serving as a family in Africa has been quite a journey. Working shoulder to shoulder with African leaders, supporting them in mobilizing local churches in poor villages to care for orphans and widows. They have been first hand witnesses to the incredible ways God is bringing life to very hard circumstances.

For the first 3 years they lived at the Hands base in South Africa where Jeff was serving with maintenance and community building projects. Lyndsey, on top of caring for the kids, helped on the finance team and hosting visiting teams. In January 2023 the Giesbrecht’s moved up to Zambia and are living at the Hands at Work farm. Here their role has pivoted to being hands on in helping with farming: maize and goats. This farming will generate income for Hands in order for them to be able to continue to expand to more vulnerable communities across Africa. The farm also hosts a youth discipleship program; Jeff and Lyndsey love being able to pour into these young people.

With the move to Zambia it was made clear that their minivan would not handle the extremely rutted and bumpy roads in Zambia and it was decided that they would leave it behind in South Africa. Due to the large size of their family they are needing a vehicle with 8 seat belts and 4x4 capabilities. This would allow them to travel together as a family to the rural communities where Hands works, many of which are on dirt tracks that are very hard to drive, especially in the rainy season. Finding a reliable second hand vehicle in Zambia is difficult and people are forced to import from other countries like Japan or South Africa, which increases the price of even pre-owned vehicles.

As the Giesbrecht family continues to sacrificially serve with Hands at Work in Africa would you consider supporting them with this very practical need of a family vehicle. Any amount is a huge blessing. All funds raised will go directly to Jeff & Lyndsey to help with the purchase of a vehicle for their family. (Because these funds are not able to go through Hands, there is no tax receipt able to be provided for donations.) Jeff and Lyndsey are so grateful for the community of people from back home who have loved and supported their family on this incredible journey that God has called them to in Africa.