more pictures!

We are uploading more pictures as our group is able to get us the images.
So many stories to tell in each individuals face.
From the top down: This was the scene as we were leaving a school. The kids chased after us waving and yelling at us. Even as you see in the center of the picture, a teacher got into the mix.
second picture: The students gathered around us awaiting to see what we were going to do.
third picture: Part of our team, performing the skit, 'The Box' for the students. Very powerful skit. The 'actors' worked a few hours on getting it right and timed with the music which was provided via our laptop.
If your interested in seeing what 'The Box' is about I will provide a link for it shortly.
fourth picture: Jerry and Brad being 'lead' by the children to drop off the water buckets.
fifth picture: One night we had a soccer match inside this warehouse, and then had a time of worship and a message outside. This picture is part of the group gearing up...
sixth picture: Dr. Ozment talking with one of the older students.
seventh picture: These two children were second graders at one of the schools. We were able to hand out crayons and coloring books for them to work on. They all sat around the floor and worked diligently on these pages.
On the wall behind them you can see paper glued to the wall. On this particular wall, was a paper inscribed with some of the common abbreviations they would learn. The first three abbreviations were:

HIV
AIDS
STD

And this was a second grade class! Instead of concentrating on learning cat, dog or a Dr. Seuss book, these children were already learning the harsh realities of their life.
Last picture may well be the most heart-wrenching and most hope filled at the same time.
This little girl being held by Tamara lost her mother to AIDS. The father either unable to cope with the death of the mother or having to deal with this infant on his own- abandoned this baby.
She was found, alone malnourished and brought to this hospital to be cared for. You will see several of our team members holding this particular little girl. At least while we were there we wanted her to know she was really loved. A simple touch to these kids meant more than anything else we brought them to play with. They loved being held and touched.

Home...

The South Africa Mission Team is back in Concord!
God pleased us with good travel, although long (36 hours!)-and with some turbulence along the way, we arrived back in Charlotte Douglas at 7:30pm last evening.

We stayed back at the Durban Y on Saturday night, and enjoyed a service of praise and worship at Glen Ridge Church in Durban. A great time of rejuvenation before our long trek back to the states.

We will post some pics as I get them for you to view, hopefully within the next week.
Thanks to all who have supported us and our families as we have been away.
We also hope to post the final numbers of those had made professions of faith while we were there for the two weeks.

South African Update #3

Wednesday,  June 25

Woke up to a very chilly morning.  The nights here are around high 40s.  Anyway, today we are headed to Bhekabantu Primary School.  We arrived early and greeted the kids.  We did praise and worship with them, they love to do the hand motions.  After praise and worship, we did a few skits, 1 funny and 2 serious.  After the skits, Billy M. did the evangacube with the kids, and you can see,  just by watching their faces that they are really into it.  After this, he asked them if they would like to accept Christ and there were at least 100 kids that day that came to Christ.  Yeah!

We spent a few hours there and the kids were all awesome.

That night we went back to Bhekabantu School and set up our generator to show the Jesus film in Zulu.  We set up and around 6pm started to show the film.  They were about 250-300 people there, alot of the kids.  Most of them stood for the 2 hour film, since we didn't have that many chairs.   After the film, Richard spoke with the crowd and about 150 more people came to Christ.  We also handed out Bibles in Zulu that night too.

The nights are so dark here, since there isn't electricity for probably 40-50 miles.  When we were breaking down the film and generators, I had people asking for my torch, (my flashlight), so that they wouldn't have to walk the long miles to their homes in the dark.

Most people walk in the dark, with no lights and most don't even have shoes!  Some walk 6-7 miles like this.  

Thursday, June 26

Packed up today, ate and headed for a long drive to our next stop, St. Lucia.  Somehow our rooms at the inn we were staying at got lost, so Craig had to scramble to get us a new place to stay.   Drive not bad, we were really quiet and tired.   Big excitement for today, a few people in our group saw a really big Hippo walking thru town.   I was too lazy to get up and see it, but others really did see one walking across the street.

Friday, June 27

Today we are visiting the Little Bird Creche preschool and a medical clinic.  After driving (everywhere we go takes at least 1 1/2 or 2 hours to get there) thru more bush and safari areas, we arrive at the cutest preschool ever.  These little kids are all in a circle singing and playing little games for us.  They all have their uniforms on and are so young and precious.    After they finish their games, we sing a little for them and then the teachers take us on a tour of the school.  It was really nice compared to some of the other schools we had been to.  This preschool had been built with the help of Umbono.    

After the school, we visited Mpembeni Health Facility, the only medical facility in this area.  There were several women and children waiting to be seen by the nurse (a doctor only visits once a week).  It was pretty clean and the nurses were really nice.  They had TB and AIDS posters up every, plus free condoms in the hallway.   

The AIDS epidemic is the topic of conversation here.  At almost every school or event we went to, there was a song about what AIDS has done to their people and country.  They even get AIDS education in 2nd grade!!!!   But yet there is no talk of abstinence?

Saturday, June 28

Last day here in South Africa.  We pack up again and drive back to Durban.  Our mission trip is officially over.  We are a little sad to be leaving this beautiful country & people but know we must get back to our families here.

We are now prepared for the Durban YMCA and everyone has towels now, so maybe we can take showers tomorrow.  (first night here, we didn't have towels, you have to buy them, so needless to say, we went about 3 days without showers, we looked good!)

Some lasting thoughts

-about 700-800 people came to Christ during the trip!!!! Wow, God is so great.

-saw a little boy around 3 years eating wood chips, metal pieces and anything else of the floor  because he was hungry

-saw an older pastor weep when our team prayed over him and his church

-the grandmother who carried her grandson on her back while she worked in a field (her daughter had died of AIDS)

-the people pushing and shoving their way to the back of our Jeep when we were handing out Bible

-having the women at Pastor Joel's church embrace us immediately upon getting out of our cars, like we had known them our entire lives, some weeping and sobbing 

-see the joy in the children's faces while we sat with them to color, sing, or read a book

-being out in the middle of nowhere and looking up at the sky and seeing so many stars, planets and the milkway and knowing that our Great God designed all that

South Africa Update Number 2

From the pictures:
Top picture is of part of the team working on one of the many wells in Africa that are broken, thus not allowing the villages to draw water. Many times they have to walk a great distance to get water, and carry the heavy container back to their dwelling. We pulled one out to see how it worked and determined what needed to be repaired.
Second photo of the gentleman with the Uzi...let's just say you probably want to be sure you PAY for that bag of Doritos before you leave the store!
Young lady holding the baby-Mbali, 20 year old girl, accepted Christ last year, who lost both parents now she is taking care of her baby sister and other siblings. We prayed with her; she is staying strong even through hardships.
Grant swinging with one of the children from the hospital. He really enjoyed swinging with us.
Tuesday, June 24

Today we went to a preschool ages 2-5. We met the Queen of Tembe there (Queen Precious). She showed us aroun the school and shared with us their needs. We were overwhelmelmed with how much we take for granted. Their blankets to nap were ragged, their toys amounted to broken toys in a box. They have 1 teacher for all the kids - 30 of them. They have the equivalent of around $90 a month to pay a cook for lunch, all the food for meals and supplies. The kids loved singing and coloring with us - it was much fun and what blessing to watch them - they even sang "Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes" in English. When we were here the kids at the elementary school next door all ran to the fence, there were clearly over a 100 kids glued to fence looking over at us. Lowell and Billy went over and shared the evangacube and story of salvation and many kids came to Christ.

Then on to do some work and try to fix a water pump.

We had planned to show the Jesus Film in Zulu out in a village that night, but the projector would not work. Jesus had another plan. We worshipped together and Lowell shared a message of salvation. People were coming by truck loads and out of the bushes. Some walked 4-5 miles for this. There were about 400 people in the middle of this field to hear about Jesus. Around 75 people came forward to received Christ.

Oh, and from the other church service - at one point in the service, Craig felt God wanted to heal somone's right foot and we prayed over that for the women who raised their hands. We went and layed hands on them. We found out tonight a women said that after the prayer she had no pain. She has been healed! She was a Zulu women that has been telling all in her village what Jesus did for her that night. Praise God!

South Africa Mission Trip Update

Okay we all had some adjusting to do with the environment at the Durban Y. Many of us had never slept in accommodations of this nature, after 2 days with no shower and there were no towels there either. But God quickly humbled us when we realized out our windows there were people in the streets.

Thursday 6/19
We woke up to a delicious breakfast - fish sticks, tomato and a slice of cheese - no complaining though, we all had our rubber bands on to remind us why we were really there. We picked up our rental cars, exchanged monies, picked up a few souvenirs from the mall and headed to Tembe. It was 5 hour drive. Even the ride in with the people along the streets, grass huts and so forth continued to soften our hearts for the journey ahead. We had dinner and settled in or the evening

Friday, 6/20
We began our day at the elementary school across the road. We worshipped with them. They showed us how they sing and dance Zulu style! Brad shared a testimony of how he brought his son to Christ which lead into Billy sharing the story of salvation with the children through a evangacube. All the children came forth when asked if they wanted to receive Christ - Kindergarten through 8th grade. There were over a 100 kids. They loved the song "Waves of Mercy". We then broke in groups and went to the classrooms to share with them some resources and work with them. The kitchen at the school can not be used if it rains, so on those days the kids get no lunch. This was one of those days because it had rained a day ago. The kitchen was merely a timber shed with a fire pit. For many children this is the only meal they get each day. On the weekends they often go without eating. The director asked us to pray for the kitchen, specifically a roof so that weather doesn't affect their ability to feed the children. Last year they prayed for a fence and this year they have one, praise God!

That evening the kids in the area were allowed into the park where we are staying, the boys played soccer against the the men on the team. The women played games with the girls. We also had worship and Lowell shared a message about how to receive your ticket into heaven. It was incredible to see us all come together as one body and fellowship and laugh and just enjoy each other. Pray for these children, they walked miles to get here and will walk miles home alone. Some girls will be raped along the way.

Saturday, 6/21

Today we went to the hospital and ministered in the pediatric ward. We loved on the children and prayed with them and their mothers and also the nurses. The kids loved the bubbles we blew. There was one 1 year old little girl whose mom died of AIDS and her dad abandoned her. She was found malnutrition. Others had AIDS. AIDS kills almost half of the people here. A six year old boy had very little time left. It is also common to have burns. They cook outside with pots over fire and little ones often fall. One boy was a year old and covered in burns. Pray for healing for these children, and a change in the AIDS epidemic.

We then went to see a man who Umbono is helping. He is 85 years old. He had fled the Mozambique border to avoid being killed and lived in a shack of straw, cardboard and plastic bag for 15 years. Umbono built him a home for $2500 in a week. We didn't see him as he was at a funeral. With the AIDS epidemic they are at funerals every weekend.

We also visited a girl who was 20 years and Umbono was also helping support. They built her a home too as her hut was falling to pieces. Both her parents died of AIDS. She is taking care of her 3 siblings. They found a Koren in the hut and burned it and gave her a Bible. She is now a Christian and shared with us some of this journey. The women on the team prayed with her.

We drove through and prayed with some other locals along at the way back to camp.

Sunday, 6/22

Today we went and had church under a tree with a local church and prayed for them.

Tonight we went to a church out in the bush, on the Mozambique border. They ran to greet us with excitement. Some in tears before we even began, the prayers began in the grass where we parked. We played with the children. The service started at 4:00 and went til 8:30. We worshiped both our way and the Zulu way - some how I think that's how it will be in heaven and I know it blessed the heart of God. We danced and sang until we were all sweating! Children clung to us! Eddie and Grant shared testimonies and Craig preached. The pastors prayed for their pastors and the team layed hands on them. Craig called the kids forward - there were tons of them. We all layed hands on them and spoke blessings on each child. The children to little to come, we went to and the mom's lifted them to us just to touch them. They were so hungry for God. There was one woman so touched - she asked where we came from and how long it took us and that was more than she could take, she began to weep. She said why? Dawn told her it was because God told the 16 of us to come all the way to Africa to tell them that God loves them and that he has not forgotten them and that he wants to bless them. She was overwhelmed and could not contain it. Dawn told her that we serve a pretty cool God! This is just a glimpse of the way the spirit moved this night - it was incredible

Monday, 6/23

Today we went and brought books back to the school and fixed some desks - the women did. The men fixed the roofing on a shed a Nicks. We also went out to the King of Tembe's house and prayed with he and his wife and for their people . The had lunch for us and we ate together. It is quit an honor for the king to request us to come pray for him and his people. HE has recently become a Christian.

We have also enjoyed some cool game drives and gotten to experience the majesty of God's creation and that has been way cool!

Finally! an update...

hello all,
blogging to you from TEMBE elephant park here in South Africa. It's been 5 days since we left. Our trip from Charlotte to Durban. Took a total of 36 hours! we had quite a trip; starting with our team getting split up in the Charlotte hub due to some travel issues. Billy, Brad and Dawn had to take a different slight, and we all met back up in New York a few hours later. Then, we had our 18 hour flight to Durban, which didn't seem as long as it sounds like it would. Some slept, so watched movies, and we had room to spread out if we wanted; the plane wasn't quite full.
Once in Johannesburg on Wednesday, we found out a plane in Durban had slid off the runway due to the heavy rain, and the airport was packed up for some time.
So, we had a six hour layover in Durban.
We made the best of it by grabbing a bite to eat, playing some speed Uno, which if you have never done, is quite a challenge.
We were able to board our flight, alot with about 260 other delayed passengers and arrived in Durban at 1200 midnight local time.
More to come later!
We're off to a service!

Return to the dogs-Round 2 of hot dog fundraiser

Well, here we are folks; our final fund-raiser before we head East. One more hot dog lunch following the second and third services Sunday. We set up our stations, taking on a more aggressive position by flanking the front entrance of the church as well as our usual side entrance.
And we did this in 98 degree heat. We only had one casualty, which occurred when the wind caught our metal frame poster stand and toppled it over onto Pastor Lowell's daughter, Cassie.
She escaped with only a scare thanks to Dawn Fisher exemplifying her idea of a heroine by pulling her out of the way of the blown sign at the last second.
Seems to have paid off, we raised alittle over $800.00 and had a good time of fellowship as well.
I'm sure our people are tired of hot dogs for lunch by now, but God bless em', they came and gave anyway.
Stay tuned for our next great adventure blog on...Packing a 45 lb. suitcase!