Greater things are yet to come

Hello from the states! We are all back safe and sound. This post will probably not be very long, but greater things are yet to come! I will be getting on here and putting up more stories, pictures and even some video (if I can figure it out!).

I want to thank all of you who supported me on this trip, whether that was through prayers, finances or simply following my incredible God journey on my blog. I hope to see everyone soon so that I may share with you the fantabulous things my God is doing in person!

Please continue to pray for our team. Adjusting back to life in the states is one of the hardest parts of missionary work I think. We are so blessed and so spoiled and so wasteful. I know that I am personally suffering from "my baby withdrawal". I miss all of my kids and I wish that I could just step out the back door of my house and run to them and hug them and love on them like I have the past 3 weeks. I know Cindy feels the same. We also all have to return to work which is a hard adjustment. I am heading over to PC for a meeting for school stuff and I'm feeling overwhelmed. I don't think I'm quite ready to process school information yet, but I have to do it. Pray my brain will be open to all of the new information.

Two babies in the clinic: Noli and Zanu- I REALLY wanted to bring them home with me!

PTL:

~ We made it home safely and we even got to fly first class on the way from NY to Chicago. This is a story which I will share more about at a later time!! Look for it! God is good!

~ All of our bags made it back in one piece as well, with all of our African goodies. :)

~I have gone on a heart wrenching journey, but I have made an everlasting friend in my liefy Cindy Ellis. I am so blessed to have met this incredible young woman, whom I am sure was my twin separated from me at birth. We are so alike in so many ways that God's humor in it is just fantabulous!

~ Steve, one of the guys on the trip, gave his life to Christ on this trip. This was his third trip with his brother Tim, the leader of our pack, and he finally realized what was missing. It was so awesome to watch, knowing that Tim has been praying for this moment for 10 years. I can't wait to see what God is going to do with Steve. He is an incredible guy!

I hope to be on more this weekend with pics and stories. Continue to comment please! I don't think I can explain to you how very important that was to me. When I was able to get on the blog and read all of the encouraging things you all wrote I felt so much love from the states. I know that God used this blog to help me explain what I was seeing and experiencing to all of you, but He also used it as a tool to encourage me on my journey. What a blessing!! Thanks Daddy!!!

Team America: Me, Chris, Steve, Tim, Aaron and Cindy - On top of Paarl Mountain

Last Post from Africa

So LOTS of things have happened in the last week, but I don't have much time to post everything- we are only @ the internet cafe for a limited time. Sorry that the last posting was cut short. The loading of the pics took a long time and I ended up being the last person in the shop as it closed while I was still typing! I didn't realize it though because I was so engrossed in my blog!!

PTL's:

We finished all of the physical labor projects for us at Village of Hope and ThembaCare. We were most excited to finish pouring the concrete for the bike track at VOH for the kids. I wish we could be there to see their faces when it is finally dry and they can take their bikes out for the first ride! :)

On Tuesday of this week Cindy and I were able to go to the Agape 2 school, a Christian school in the township of Grabouw. They are building their 5th school as we speak. It's an amazing Creshe (like cresh0), sort of like our preschool/ Kindergarten in the states because they don't start school until Grade 1. I was able to spend the day in Asi's class of children with Special Needs. I absolutely loved it. I felt so at home and my mind was racing the entire time of ways that I could help improve it. They do the best with what they have, but most of the teachers have no training from a university. One of the teachers was a mother of one of the students. I fell in love with all of the students, but didn't take too many pictures, just a few at the end because I knew it would be such a distraction. It broke my heart though because most of the students were severely handicapped and were only learning letters, numbers, colors, and shapes, my favorite ability level, but this class was meant for kids 3 -6 years of age, and some of the kids my class were 13 years old. They don't have anywhere else to go. It was hard to accept, but I absolutely loved it!!

On Saturday we were able to meet up with Derek, Teresa, Adrian and Gerrida. We climbed Spaar Mountain and then enjoyed an evening with them. I love Teresa so much and I have missed her these past three years. She was such a blessing and it was so wonderful to catch up with her!! Thank you Lord!

On Sunday we went to church with them and it was amazing!!! I went up front to pray with Teresa at the end of the service for guidance and a content heart and it was such a blessing to have her pray over me, but then a complete stranger in the church came and prayed over me and spoke things about my life that have happened already. She also told me that God had given me a gift and I was to use it. It was so powerful, you could really feel the hand of God moving.


Prayer Requests:

Being with each other for this long does cause stress. Cindy and I at times feel useless because generally we don't get to help with the physical projects or we are left places and forgotten for hours. It is clearly Satan attacking us and trying to put a wedge in between us.

We are trying to do some tourist-y things and we are going to be doing a lot of driving. Most of the time, Cindy and I are stuck in the backseat and it is small and very uncomfortable. Please pray for a fun and peaceful experience for this weekend as we relax after all our hard work, and then return to VOH to say our final goodbyes.


I will post more when I return home as this is the last time we will have internet access.

I am so sad to leave this place, but I am very happy to see my family and friends. Why don't you all just move here with me so I can have the best of both worlds?

Hot and Cold

Hello all!!!

Thank you so much for the support you have given me! The prayers are appreciatated!

My heart is so HOT here! I am in love with every child I get to spend time with! It is COLD here though. My typical clothing is a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, a hoodie, and a jacket. I'm perpetually cold. Yet I'm sad that so many are without clothes and blankets and other warm things. God is showing us how truly blessed we are.

On Sunday we attended a church service of white South Africans. It was good, but I can't wait for township church. It will be incredible! We also drove down into Cape Town to experience the madness of the final game of the World Cup. We stood for 8 hours and watched the game on big screens in the street. It was loud with all the vuvuzuelas (horns) but it was fun. It did my back in, but God is good and I was able to work on Monday with no problems! PTL!

Cindy and I at the World Cup Final Game Celebration!!

On Monday this week Steve and I took a walk with nurses from ThembaCare doing home visits throughout Grabouw. Thankfully, it didn't rain while we were out and it wasn't so bad when the sun was shining. We met with some incredible families and we were able to pray with them in their homes. It was a little challenging since I speak no Afrikaans or Klosa, but it still was a blessing. I was able to hop into teacher mode for awhile and help a couple of the older children @ Village of Hope (VOH) to practice their letters, colors, numbers and shapes. It was so much fun!! They don't have much for supplies to do school things, but they have asked for my help for one of the children named Asi. He has special needs and is age 9 but accomplishing things for a 3 or 4 year old. He has a hard time communicating so I am brainstorming to see what I can come up with here. I wish I would have none before I came, but God is in control.

On Tuesday we made playdough with the kids @ the Village of Hope (VOH) where we are staying. They had fun, but I'm not for sure if it worked out so well!!

Marcell helping make playdough! :)

On Wednesday, we were had lots of rain and it was hard to do any projects outside, but we did some hospital runs with patients from ThembaCare (the adult HIV/AIDS clinic in Grabouw). We then did some repairs around the TC clinic. We had a church service there and it was amazing- these women know how to worship the God they serve!! :)

Today Cindy and I went to the school for special needs children. WHAT A BLESSING!!!! I loved every minute of being there and hearing the stories of some of the children and meeting the wonderful women who love on them and care for them. I was brainstorming of all sorts of ways that I could help them. Cindy and I didn't want to leave. :(

Here are some pictures of the kiddies at Village of Hope:

This is Asi. He is hilarious! We can't understand him, he communication is little, but he loves to clap along to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"!!!

This is my little Shannon. When I am at the clinic she hardly leaves my side. She wants to be with me always and is a smart girl. She is trying hard to learn English words and loves to read with me, do "work"pages (letters and numbers) and do my hair!!!! :)

My little Abigail! She is Shannon's little sister. She doesn't smile much, but she loves to be held and to cuddle- so we cuddle A LOT!!!!!!!!!! :)

Here are some of the kiddies from the Agape School for Special Needs Children- Asiphe!!

Clayton! :)

all my love!! :)

Home in Africa

'Ello All!! :)
PTL'S:
~We are here safe! The plane ride was a little hard- although I think regardless of my back-- sitting for 20 hours was a long ride, but Cindy and I were able to sit next to each other and were able to bond quickly. I was worried about not meeting her until the day we left, but God had His hand in it. She is FANTABULOUS!! We are almost like twins and have blended and clicked insanely well!! :) PTL!
~ The people/ organization we are working with is amazing! :) They are all so wonderful!
~ The children at the clinic, which so happens to be right outside our backdoor :), are so wonderful!

PRAYERS:
~One of our team members has been feeling a little sick. His name is Chris.
~Cindy and I went with Lees (one of the workers for Village of Hope, a part of Thembalitsha) into the community yesterday. It was incredible but heartbreaking at the same time. We experienced and learned so much.
She took us to an Agape Christian School for children with Special Needs. It was heartbreaking. Although they have good Christian people to watch over them and some very nice equipment (much better than what I was expecting!), it was heartbreaking to learn that here in SA they typically put babies born with any disabilities or if they are premature, into a room in the hospital and let them die. Because they were born different, they are sentenced to death. It broke my heart being there thinking about all of the babies that are dying everyday and of how many little lives that I love who are "special" in the states that would not be around if they were born here.
On the bright side, we have been invited to come work at the school-- aka LOVE ON BABIES-- whenever we want. Next week we are going to go work there. :) My heart went crazy while I was there. I came back to the house and cried for awhile, but I'm excited to go back.

~~ Pray for a little boy named Michael. We were able to bless him with school clothes so that he could return to school on Monday with his peers. He has a very rough home life with a mother who is an alcoholic and siblings who are addicted to "Tick", a drug like meth.

** I asked God to speak to me about the things happening around me and in my head. At 3am last night I woke up suddenly compltetely awake and the children at the special needs home on my mind. I asked God what was happening and He put a verse in my head. I didn't want to look it up for fear of waking Cindy so I laid there for an hour thinking about it and fell back asleep.

The verse was Romans 12:1. Read it. It spoke directly to me and brought me to tears this morning when I read it.

God is doing some amazing things here! The ministry is awesome. The people are awesome.

I'M IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

I will try to get on sometime next week and put of pics of the babies! :)

All my love!

Last Day Here!!!

So today is my last day here in the states!! Yeah!!

Thanks for all the prayers that have been sent up for me, especially this past weekend with my back! As of this morning, my back is not hurting near as bad as what is was this morning. In fact, it is quite tolerable!

Please pray for complete healing so that by tomorrow when we load the plane this will be a distant memory that won't reoccur!!

I don't mean to complain to you all, but I know that God's hands are the only ones that can heal me completely!

So as for details, our flights are again different than I orginally thought:

Tomorrow: (7/6/10) We will fly from Chicago to Amsterdam, then from there down to Cape Town, arriving in Cape Town on the 7th.

Then on 7/26/10 we leave Cape Town, fly to Amsterdam, to New York (JFK International) and them to Chicago.

I will be back home very late on the 27th of July.

Please pray for our entire team today as we make finals preparations and plans to be gone.

Please also pray for our luggage that we will be able to get it all to fit in our bags so we can bless those babies socks off!!


~~~** When you leave comments on my blog, please be sure that when you use the Anonymous that you sign your name in the comment. It is so encouraging to see comments- especially while I'm over there!!


PTL!!!! This will probably be the last post for awhile. I don't know when I will be able to get to a computer again. Hopefully the next time I post I will have pics to add with it!! :)

My love is sent out to all of you!!!

Prayer Warriors

Hey Everyone!!

We leave in 3 days!! YEAH!!! :)


I'm in my friends Heather and Skott's wedding this weekend and before I left to come down here my back "went out" REALLY bad. I'm in a lot of pain and can hardly stand straight. I went to Dr. Luban and he said this is worst my back has been and that there is a lot of swelling in my lower back. Medicine does nothing, so I'm using ice and trying to just suck it up.

Needless to say, I need some serious prayer. Not only that I can heal quickly for the wedding this afternoon, but because we leave in 3 days and I need for my back to be completely healed.

Sitting on a plane for 20 hours will not be fun and neither will building and loving babies. :(

Satan is a jerk, but my God is bigger.