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!

Cookin-Out

This past Saturday night the Cousineau's hosted a mission team cookout.  We wanted to get together and meet everyones better half, plus their kids.  So, we all converged onto their lovely home at 5pm.   We ate a ton...chips & dip, salads, beans, and most importantly the dogs and hamburgers.   Last but not least were the many delicious desserts!!!!   (major sweet tooth here)

As you can see from my pictures, the first is Dawn Fisher telling some outrageous story to everyone standing around her.  Second picture is Craig Luper trying to give some directions to Dawn, Kimberly and Eddie (but as you can see from his posture, he's almost given up).  The last picture is the TEAM (excluding Lowell & Cassie-I guess being a preacher for a large growing church, your not in town alot).  

My plans are to get a real group picture the morning we leave (since that will probably be the only day Lowell can show up).

It was really nice to hang out with the team in a relaxed atmosphere (no meeting or fundraiser).  You got to see who eats alot (Eddie, of course) and who is really particular with what they eat (Tamara who is eating really healthy).

Only 9 more days to go and we are on our WAY!!!!

Chick-Fil-A Fundraiser

We had another fundraiser last night at Chick-fil-A.  The nice owners of the Afton Ridge Chick-fil-a said we could have 10% of their total sales for Tuesday night!   Yeah.  So, we made a cow video and showed it to the church family on Sunday.  We asked them to please come eat at the cow's place, enjoy good food, great company, meet the famous cow and still do something good for a worthy cause.

So, on Tuesday night, we had a South Africa table set up and our mission team in full force, outside the restaurant trying to lure customers into the establishment.   I think overall it went really well.   There were a ton of church members there, plus the drive-thru was busy all night!

Now, the big cow...and he is BIG....did scare quite a few kiddies (including mine, who was screaming "I don't want to go near the big cow!).

It was an awesome night!

Get your Hot Dogs...

We had our first team fundraiser this past Sunday.  We sold boxed lunches with hot dogs, chips, dessert, & drink.  We grilled them fresh outside of church, so they were hot and ready to be picked up after the services.   We also got to work together as a team for the first time and it was a lot of fun.    We all worked really hard and did our part.   

I do have to say, that by the time the last customer left most of us were starving, so we started  to clean up while cramming hot dogs and chips into our mouths.  We were a sight to behold.

Anyway, the first hot dog fundraiser went well, we made about $1200 as a team, so we were really excited about that.   We did have al ot of leftovers, so we plan to sell the boxed lunches again on Sunday, June 8th.

We have also started our next fundraiser...which is selling CiCi's Pizza coupon cards for $10.00.  It's a really good deal, because the cards can be used for 12 months for a free buffet & drink each month.   So, if anyone is interested........let us know.

As for Eddie and I, we have brought in about half of our total of $3000, so please continue to keep us in your prayers.   I know God will provide in His time and way, I just wish I knew His way.

Thanksgiving

I just had to say that Eddie and I are so lucky and blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.  This trip will be long (15 days) and costly ($3000) but with God all things are possible and easy.  We have found caretakers for our 2 boys (thanks mom, dad, Lisa, & David) and the money continues to come in.  Each day brings new envelopes in the mail, little letters of encouragement, and great surprises from old friends. 

I opened 2 envelopes today and just started weeping because God is so wonderful.  It never ceases to amaze me how faithful He is to something He is willing you to do.  All we have to do is obey His call and He will make it possible, pave the way, and open all the doors.

I honestly can't stop the tears.  All I want to do is jump up and down and sing and shout (but the boys are napping, so that's not possible)....but as soon as they are awake we are going to dance and sing and praise Him for all his blessings!

Here is a scripture a loved one supplied today:

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:19

Things a changing...

Well, God has made a way for us to sell our boxed lunches this Sunday after all.  We will be selling boxed lunches, which include a hotdog, chips, dessert, drink, & pickle.   We will be grilling them outside the church and they should be ready for pickup around 11:00am to 12:30.  It's going to be so much fun and the food will be delicious!    I think we will even try to set up some seating outside so families can eat right after church together.   

God is so great.......He make all things possible!

So, everyone, have your donation dollars ready and come to church on Sunday hungry!

Yard Sale

Well, we had our big yard sale this past Saturday and it was a success.  We were able to raise $300....yeah!  We were so pleased.  We just want to give a special thanks to the Stamey, Koury, and White family for donating their goods and for helping us with packing, unpacking, and selling.......You guys made it happen ....we love you guys!

We sold a ton of stuff and still had alot left over, which we are donating to the Salvation Army. 

A couple people asked why we weren't selling hot dogs and biscuits too....maybe next time.

Our next fundraiser for this Sunday was canceled due to over scheduling of our kitchen at church....so we have decided to try another approach this Sunday.   We are going to sell Krispy Kreme doughnuts after the services on Sunday (if everything works out right).  Everyone loves a good fresh doughnut....so come and eat them up!

Immunizations........

Well, according to the CDC, Eddie and I need lots of shots to step foot in South Africa.  There is a whole list of immunizations that they recommend, from injections to shots to liquids......it's crazy.  So, after speaking with the international travel specialist at our local health department, we have decided upon 5 immunizations we will be getting.  

The fun will start this week, with Eddie and I getting our first doses of Hepatitis A & B and a Tetanus shot.  We are soooo looking forward to it.  

We still haven't decided upon the malaria pills or not.  The CDC does recommend taking malaria precautions, but there are a few on our team that aren't taking them.

Should we just spray ourselves with DEET 20x a day or take the safe route?   We'll see.

On to better news.......we have started to get some support letters back with money inside.  You do not know how exciting it is to see God working thru all our wonderful friends and family and to see them give in such generous ways.   We just want to say thank you so much!

Our motto these last few weeks......2 Corinthians 5:7 "We live by faith, not by sight."

The Children

Here are a few photos of the school kids we'll be meeting.

Fun-Raisers!!

As many of you know, we (Eddie & I) need to raise $3,000 by June 1st. We have sent out our support letters and have several fun-raisers planned for the next couple weeks.

1st fundraiser-Church Yard Sale on May 10th-Eddie and I are participating in another yard sale that is taking place at Crossroads Church. Alot of our friends & family have donated items for us to sell. We had even thought about trying to sell biscuits and baked items again, but not sure if that will work out. Anyway, at least we'll have tons of items & clothes for people to purchase.

2nd fundraiser-The missions team will be selling boxed lunches after church services on May 18th and again on June 1st. I think it will be hot dogs, but not sure. Craig is still working on our food choices for this event.

3rd fundraiser-Kimberley is working on a deal with a local car wash to sell car wash tickets and we can get 50% return, but again, not sure if this will work out.

So, as you can see, the missions team is trying hard to raise our total amt of about $22,000. Please be in prayer for us as we continue to raise our money for the mission trip.

The Sweet Sixteen

Just wanted to let everyone know who is on the missions team. Our team of 16 consist of Lowell (senior pastor) McNaney and his daughter Cassie, Craig (executive pastor) Luper, Dr. Richard Ozment and his 2 children Ashlyn & Grant, J.R. & Kimberly Cousineau and their daughter Carlee, Billy McClendon, Brad Cox, Dawn Fisher, Tamara Johnson, Jerry Satterfield, and us (Tina & Eddie).

As you can see, the sweet sixteen members are diverse in age and gifts, but God has called each one of us to the task of sharing His word. We are all excited about the journey and are looking forward to coming back and sharing all of our stories with you.

Our journey begins...

At the beginning of this year, God began to show Tina and I the need to 'expand our borders' and reach out to areas in need in the world.
After much prayer, and a leap of faith, we are continuing to follow God's direction and go with a missions team to South Africa for a little over two weeks.
We are leaving our two boys, Greyson and Parker in the capable hands of our parents and siblings.
Leaving the boys for over two weeks will be very difficult, so this situation alone we will need much prayer about it.
We are going to South Africa to minister to and work with the people and tribes there under the direction of Umbono and a local missionary there Nick Vaughan-Jones.
We will be visiting a hospital there ministering and prayering with the many children who are affected with HIV/AIDS. We will be showing the Jesus film in villages and sharing our testimony with tribes there.
We will be doing some light construction work, painting, and repair work on some of the homes and churches there.
We will be following up with our schedule, fund-raisers and various other interest to share with you. We look forward sharing this adventure with you!

---

Our first 'fund-raiser' was in the form of a yard-sale that we had set up our house sometime back and decided this was a good opportunity to raise money.
Tina's parents donated items to sale, as did my brother and mom. My mom was also gracious enough to donate her cooking talents to allow us to sale biscuits, cookies and muffins.