In 2017 Torrens Valley Christian School started a journey to raise money to buy Bali Life a bus and I am proud to report that it has happened!
Our relationship with Bali life began in 2016 when our first mission trip was approved to Bali. The goal of the trip was to provide service to Bali Life and disciple the students and staff on the trip. This trip was a huge success and the relationship with Bali Life and TVCS got off to an incredible start.
Out of this, a desire to run a staff and board trip was birthed, and in July 2017 this became a reality. This trip was again a huge success and many dreams and visions were birthed. A trust in Bali Life, and the way they operate was strengthened and the team was very impressed with the programs being run. A desire to support Bali Life more was strong, and the bus fundraiser was born.
Since this trip we have had further students travel to Bali in 2018 and 2019 with our 2020 trip unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Why buy Bali Life a bus? Great question. As an old, wise saying goes – ‘give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ We wanted to help resource Bali Life to fish for a lifetime and not just give a one-off donation. To help Bali Life ‘fish’ for a lifetime we wanted to raise enough funds so they can buy a bus and use it as a business to generate the income needed to heavily support the Street Centre project.
At the start of 2020 we still had a long way to go with less then half of the funds raised. The 2020 Bali team was excited and ready to go make a difference in Bali when COVID-19 put an abrupt end to this. The team was strong in dealing with their disappointment and turned their attention to fundraising for the bus, hoping when they finally get to go, they will be able to ride in the bus themselves. Unfortunately, every fundraising attempt was halted, again because of COVID-19, and we were left with no other option except to continue to pray.
As we prayed God moved and a large donation ($20,000) was offered to the fundraiser. Further to this another $7,000+ was added to the total. With this answer to prayer we are now able to send the funds over to Bali Life and they can get their business started. Praise Jesus!!
