SOUTH AFRICA—In late 2013, the long school holidays were just beginning for five children in the Johannesburg Philadelphia Church of God congregation. As part of their homeschool program “Home’s Cool,” the students were assigned to suggest creative ways to spend the eight weeks they would be on holiday. Together with Local Elder George Githembe and his wife, the students came up with activities including swimming, cycling, camping and most notably “a senior-a-week.”

The four Githembe children and Nathan Mofokeng kicked off the “senior-a-week” activity on Nov. 5, 2013, with a visit to Freda Knox, the oldest pcg member in Johannesburg. She is usually alone during the weekdays when her daughter is at work, so the visit by five boisterous children was a break from her quiet routine.

The children played in the backyard and enjoyed a lunch of olive jam sandwiches and fruit juice.

“I really appreciated that the children came to visit an old lady,” Knox said. “Children these days don’t want to visit old people; they want to get as far away from them as they can!”

A week later, the children visited Mag Kotze, perusing her books on nature, wildlife and cookery. She had prepared a snack of banana bread and fruit juice, which they shared  as they picnicked outside and talked with her near her well-maintained flower garden.

On November 19, the children visited Hilda Reynders, the second-oldest member of the congregation. The five Home’s Cool children were joined by three other Johannesburg youths, Eden, John-Daniel and Zeo Smith, who had also just completed their school term. Reynders said she was elated about the visit because she had never had any children from the Church visit her in the 11 years she has lived at her current residence. The group enjoyed lunch and a swim in the pool. The children also each sung their favorite song from the Jeremiah musical. Reynders called the visit “marvelous” and commented that her older sister, who is not a pcg member, enjoyed the children’s company as well.

For their fourth visit, the children visited Elaine Hoeksma. She had prepared drinks and snacks including a pineapple tart for the children, which they shared during what was originally intended to be an hour visit. The visit ended up lasting almost four hours.

The following week, the group visited Maureen More. The visit included lots of books to read, toys to play with and sharing lunch.

December 18 was a rainy evening when the children visited Orka Fleetwood. At her home, the group ate a roast beef dinner, then Fleetwood took the children to her spare room where she showed them her new harp, and let them play on her keyboard.

Four days later, the children visited Truia De Wet for lunch. After the visit, De Wet said, “It was necessary because we all need each other, and we have to learn and to love each other.”

The children finished up their visits for the holiday by visiting their eighth and ninth seniors together on January 9: senior sisters Sarie Van Niekerk and Martie De Wet. The ladies prepared a tableful of veggie and fruit dishes, with chocolate ice cream for dessert. Following the last bite of ice cream, the children went to a nearby park to run off all the food. When it was time to depart, De Wet offered each child two marshmallows and showed them a trick of putting them in their cheeks, letting them melt slowly to savor the flavor.