THE LAST MONTH...KRISTY AND MY LAST ROAD TRIP, KRISTY'S LAST DAY IN SA, OUR WEEK LONG CAMP IN FREEDOM PARK AND CUTE LIONS AND GIRAFFES!

One exciting thing that happened is that the Department of Home Affairs finally came out and helped learners with their paperwork to get ID's.  Without ID's they cannot write their exams to graduate high school and it is difficult to find a job.  This was an answer to prayer!

Road Trip to Blyde River Canyon

Blyde River Canyon is the third largest canyon in the world...2nd largest is in Namibia and largest is the Grand Canyon.

On our way there we stopped for a pic by the river.  On the right is a place called the pinnacle...I wanted to climb it, but Kristy said no.

Sunset over the mountains and the beautiful hills.

Beautiful view and fun lizard.

This is called Bourke's Luck Potholes. The rushing water has changed the shape of the rocks.

It was recommended that we eat at this restaurant and when we got there we realized it was called..."Wine & Dine at Notty Pine"  Hahahaha!

FUN ON KRISTY'S LAST DAY...

We went for Thai food and then to McDonald's for dessert.

 Fun signs on the way to the airport.

*Please remember to pray for Kristy as she is re-adjusting to life in the US.  She is doing well and going to visit her sister, niece and nephew in California next week.

WEEK-LONG CAMP IN FREEDOM PARK.....We had a blast and I think the kids learned a lot!

In this game they had to feed each other bananas blindfolded and on the right is a pic of them doing group games.

This is some of the youth rapping for the talent show and some others doing a drama about HIV.

We gave out lots and lots of peanut butter sandwiches and juice...the smell of peanut butter makes me a little sick now.

These are some of the youth who came and a boy who brought his three little sisters for lunch.

Above is the band that led worship for the week and one of the learners after a messy game.

Okay, so in this game you have to bob for an apple and then go and dig through flour to get a sweet out and bring it back to your team...it was fun to watch!

CUTE BABY LIONS AND NOT SO BABY GIRAFFES!

 I would play fetch with him...but his mama might not like that.

Aren't they cute???

This is me and then Paul kissing the giraffes.  If you put food in your mouth they would come and take it out...I know what you are wondering...How was it...I can say it was a little to slobbery for my taste...they have really long tongues :)

I love giraffes!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHWWWWWWW AND EEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHWWWWWWW

A week from Sunday I am headed back to the USA.  Please pray for me as I say goodbyes.  It is going to be very sad, but I am also very excited to be seeing you all soon!

PRAYER AND PRAISE

So, I was praying today for several situations and I thought, wow, I should tell other people to be praying.  So, here are a few of the situations.  Please choose at least one to pray for.

*Lentikile-This is the 24 year old I told you had a bad past, but had accepted Christ and was getting tested for HIV.  Well, he is HIV negative.  So, that is a blessing.  He is going Friday for a job interview doing security for the mines.  If he gets this job they might sponsor him to further his education which would be huge for him and could really change his future.  Please pray for this on Friday.

*Itumileng-This is a girl from Lesotho…a country that is inside of South Africa.  She is 15 and today we took a pregnancy test and found that she is pregnant.  She is actually almost 5 months along and was wanting to have an abortion.  After we talked and prayed she said that she will call her 16 year old boyfriend and tell him and that next week, if I go with her, she will tell her mother.  She is very afraid and said she did not realize her boyfriend could get her pregnant because she thought he was too young.  Wow.  Please pray that God gives her the courage to face her boyfriend and parent and that he helps her to take this baby to term.

*Primrose- This is another girl from Lesotho who is pregnant.  She is 19 years old and in grade 10 because she already had a baby.  Her boyfriend and herself were using condoms and she was on her way to get another birth control shot when they tested her and found out she was pregnant.  Her relationship with her parents has been difficult ever since her first baby as they have never attached to the child at all and quit paying her school fees altogether.  Her boyfriend, who went to university and is an engineer is now paying her school fees.  However, by the time she has this baby it will be difficult for her to go back to school and finish and her parents will be very angry.  We spent Friday night together talking and I prayed for her.  Please pray that she will make the right decision for her and for the baby and that her parents’ hearts would be softened.

*Sandile-His name is hard to pronounce and even harder to spell so sorry.  He is a really sweet young man about a foot taller than me but just tender hearted.  I have grown very fond of him.  He came to me today to ask for money for paraffin…they use it to cook with…and he said he had another problem.  Both his mother and father have died.  He had to sit without going to school because school fees were too much, but his aunt told him that he could come live with her in South Africa.  She does pay for his school uniform and the necessities, but she is dealing Marijuana and makes him do the deliveries.  If he makes excuses she will not give him food.  Plus, with him being from another country he will not be able to write his grade 12 exams without being legally in South Africa.  He tried to get the proper papers, but they say he needs a birth certificate and he doesn’t have one and his parents are dead.  It is just a tough situation.  Please pray.

*Alice and Mavis-Alice is 25 and Mavis is 23 and I have become good friends with both of them.  They attend a bible study I teach on Saturdays.  I went to visit them on Thursday because they have told me they are not born again, but they really seemed ready.  When I talked with them they said that they are ready and on Saturday with all of the others they accepted Christ!  It was an awesome time of celebration as we sang, laughed, cried and celebrated.  Praise God!

*Naledi, Kegomoditswe and Fona-These are three girls who are all about grade 9 and who also attend the same Saturday bible study.  As they saw Mavis and Alice make decisions they seemed like they wanted to also but were hesitant.  As we discussed they basically said they are not willing to give up the chance to have sex before marriage and to get drunk.  Praise God that they do understand that they cannot do both at the same time and that they realize it is a serious commitment.  Please pray that God will show them that he has so much more for them than these short-term satisfactions.

Thank you for your prayers and remember…

“Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among us-to him be glory in the church and in the Messiah Jesus to all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 3:20

PS-I have been getting a lot of questions about when I am coming back to Georgia.  Well, the date is set…October 17^th I will fly out of South Africa.

  Travelling buses, pregnant girls and the stuff of life

Starting a few weeks ago I organized for a group to come out and do voluntary HIV testing at the high school.  Hundreds of children are learning their status, are asking questions about HIV and are learning that HIV is a real thing and that they must live their lives in a way to attempt to avoid it.

On the left is Matthews who learned that he is HIV negative and intends to stay that way.  He is following Jesus and has made a commitment to wait to have sex until marriage.  On the right is Sandile.  He is the young man I told you about who is from Swaziland and has neither a mother or father.  The aunt that he is staying with is forcing him to deliver drugs and when he will not she will not give him food.  He is doing his best to follow God even when things are very difficult.  Please pray for these young men.

These are some of my boys (they are trying to lookd tough but are really sweet actually) and one of my girls.  They all got tested.

This is my friend Lentikile.  I threw a birthday party for him with all four of us and it was really fun.  He is 25 and it was his first birthday party.  I took a girl to him on Wednesday who was struggling with alcohol and boys and he discussed the way that alcohol can ruin your life and the effect that it had in his life.  He did not make good grades in school because of it, could have ended up with HIV because of it and now has a pregnant girlfriend who he will take care of for the rest of his life because of it.  He shared how God had made a difference in his life.  It was awesome to hear him really connecting with her.  Her name is Olebogeng...please pray for her.

This is random fun with children...happy bible storying and playing together.  They are so much fun!

We cooked at a church meeting to make some money for the youth.  We made pap and gravy and chicken.  You can see even the guys were cooking!

We also played around and had fun as we cleaned up after the meeting.  It was a total sucess!

These are four of the girls who attend the bible study at Romachana.  On the right are Alice and Mavis.  They are the two young ladies who accepted Christ last Satuday!

This is a group of journeypeople down in Jo'burg.  We hung out for the weekend and had a good time.  As you can see Paul is always a good sport!

I have been really blessed in that many youth have come to talk with me lately.  They are really opening up.  Please pray as there are two girls who are pregnant and I think have now decided to keep the baby.  I will go with them Monday afternoon for their first doctors appointments and to tell their parents.  Others are in bad home situations, are having boyfriends pushing them to have babies at the age of 16 or are just struggling feeling alone.  Pray that God would give me the opportunity to witness to these young men and women and that God would give them wisdom as they deal with the difficult things in their lives.  Please also pray for Kristy as she finishes her term September 20th and heads back to the USA.

"If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask it of God who gives abundantly to all without finding fault and it shall be given to him."     James 1:5

I will leave you with something just for fun.  If you look at the bottom of this broken billboard and this cell phone tower you will see that the children have made a swing set out of it!

STACY'S TRAVELS

So, over the past month I have done a lot of travelling.  First, Kristy and I went to the Indian Ocean at Cape Vidal with the Putmans on family vacation. 

This is the beautiful and rather secluded beach that we spent out time on.  It was really peaceful and one morning while Jen and I were jogging we saw a whale really close to the shoreline and was splashing and taking his fins out of the water...It was a really cool way to start a day.

This is where we camped for the week...it was nice, but we got a little wet when it rained on us. :(  On the right is the beautiful sun as we drove into camp after a long 10 hour drive.

This is Mya, Hope and me climbing this cool tree (left) and Kristy with her snorkel-gear on.  We got to see tons of cool fish...angel fish, puffer fish, blue and yellow striped fish, eels, and lots of other cool things.  It was awesome!

 This sign warned us of the elephants, hippos and crocs that could be around our camp and that we shouldn't leave to go walking around. (left) On the right is Mya all snorkel-geared up.  I love this picture.

So, Kristy was really, really sad that when we went to Cape Vidal is was not sea turtle season, so we made one on the beack.  The one on the right is a baby that Jen made...we named him Squirt like from Nemo.

Here is us sitting by our awesome creation...we did this in about 15 minutes...pretty impressive...right?

So, I picked this picture because I think it is hilarious...Kristy looks like she is in a super hero pose....the dynamic duo.  On the right is Mya when we were exploring some caves on the beach.

These little black faced vervet monkeys are really cute until they start stealing your food...they are crafty little critters.  They had is right in Aladdin with Abu!  On the right another pic of the beach...awww.

Another beach photo and John, me and Hope out on a doc where we could listen to the hippos grunting.  It was awesome and beautiful.

Pretty doc again...by the way...we could see hippo footprints all around the doc.  They kill more people in Africa than any other animal.

More pretty beach...sorry...I like pictures.

It was cool because there was actually a coastal forest there where lots of animals lived including Kudu, Zebra, other antelopes, Rhino, Elephants, and so on.

This is a Kudu and then a monkey swinging on a vine....just kidding.  It is my supervisor Jen.

This is me, Kristy and Hope when we got up before dawn to go see the sunrise...we didn't see a sunrise, but it was still fun...then this is me and Kristy lookin for hippos.

They actually had a boat cruise where you could see hippos and crocodiles so we went and it was pretty awesome...unfortunatlely our cameras don't take great pictures at dusk, but you can get the idea.

HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPO???

They actually turn pink like this because their skin secretes something that works like sunscreen...and nobody told me, but I think they open their scary mouths like this because they want to kill you.

These are two Nile Crocodiles...If you look at the back right corner of the first pic you can see their eggs.  The temperature of the eggs determines whether they will be male of female when they hatch....lower temperature...male....higher temperature....female.  They open their mouths like this to get warm and get vitamins from the sun.

John, Jen and Mya enjoying the boat ride and me, Kristy and Mya chillin by the snack bar.

The beautiful sunset.

So, now the next trip.  We went to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls, then into Namibia for a morning and then to Botswana to go to a game park there...so here it is!

The very first thing we did was white water raft the Zambezi River.  It is the river that Victoria Falls comes from and we started just below the falls.  I went with two other short-term missionaries from my area: Lesley (in the pink) and Mary (in the bright blue).  The other two people were from Australia and did the rafting with us. On the right you can see our awesome guide in the back...Gordon.

Below is a series of pictures all from rapid #16 called the Terminator.  They say that three out of every four rafts flip and the one that came down right after us did!  As you can see...we almost did.  Our boat was basically verticle.  It was awesome!

The next day we went to actually see Victoria Falls or Mosi oa Tunya which means "the smoke that thunders".  It gets its name because of the mist that comes up because of the power of the 2 km wide, 100 meter tall waterfall that gives it its ranking as the biggest waterfall in the world.  I took a helicopter flight to view the falls from above and many of the pics are from that.  The arial view was amazing!  I am just going to let the pictures speak for themselves......

This is called long island...half of it belongs to Zimbabwe and half belongs to Zambia.  I just thought that was funny.  I don't think they have any border posts on the island??

Here are some pics from the ground........

They had this cool bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe and they have signs saying where you are entering each country.

After viewing the falls we went had a sunset cruise on the Zambezi.  It was really nice and we got VERY up close to an elephant.

He looks like he is laughing!

I know they say that dogs have cleaner mouths than humans, but after seeing this I have to say that elephants could not!

On the left is "The Big Tree."  It is 1500 years old and REALLY big.  On the right is the sunset as we rode along the river.

This is another really big tree although it is not deemed "The Big Tree".  That is me at the base of it to give you an idea of its size.  It is a baobab tree and there is a folk tale that says that this tree was uprooted by God, turned upside down and stuck back in the ground upside down so that the roots are in the air.  They call it the upside down tree.

 After we left Zimbabwe we went to Botswana for some Game Drives.  Here we are in our safar vehicle!

We saw Zebra....

Giraffe...he looks like he is really enjoying this tree.

Elephants...the one on the right trumpeted in Lesley's ear.

More giraffes......

Impala and Cape Buffalo...if you look REALLY close at the impala you can see that it look like she is saying OH!

A dead impala in a tree where a leopard had just left and a cool Crane....

More elephants....

More elephants....

Crocodiles.....AND

You guessed it!  More elephants!  The two on the right are sparring.  If the young males do not do this periodically they will end up killing each other.  We got a laugh as we decided that middle school boys are very similar!

So, those were our trips.  Thank you guys for praying for me as I was gone.  I start back to teaching tomorrow morning as we have been on break.  This is my last term before I come back to the US.  Please pray that I will stay focused and finish strong.

I love you guys!!

Hello All!

Thanks for all of your emails and prayers.  They have really been felt lately.  I wanted to update you on the last email I sent, some others things happening in South Africa and also about our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe.  I know this is long, but it is probably the most important prayer update I have sent out.  Please, if you don’t have time to read it all please read the bottom part about Zimbabwe.  They really need your prayers.

So first, about Nono, the young girl I told you about in my last update.  If you remember, she had AIDS and was very ill.  She passed away last week leaving behind two small children for the grandmother in her 90’s to take care of.  Honestly, it seems like everywhere I turn lately things are getting more intense.  A few days after Nono passed away a three year old that I knew through the social workers also died of AIDS.  The destruction of this disease is becoming more and more apparent.  Even though people hear that they are supposed to get tested it doesn’t seem to click in their heads that THEY should get tested.  People just honestly don’t believe that it can happen to them.  Every day I am here continues to convince me that people don’t just need information…they need the work of God in their lives.

One of our guards (Mogorose) was robbed and another (Joyce) was chased down by three men and came to work in tears.  She managed to get away, but was afraid they were coming after her to rape her.  They have to leave their house before light and walking in the dark alone through these townships can be very dangerous.

I don’t want you to feel like nothing good is happening because even out of these difficulties good things are coming.  In these situations God gives me a chance to minister and to share His love and His plan for people’s lives.  When I shared about Nono in my classes, for one of the first times, I really saw the kids thinking about their actions and the possible consequences.  I have seen several people come to Christ over the past few weeks in a community Bible study I have been teaching.  I have a friend, Lentikile, who previously lived a life full of alcohol and prostitutes, turn his life around and follow Christ seriously when I see few young men here following Christ. 

I became friends with Lentikile when he was a guard in our neighborhood.  We were always friendly, but one day he told me that he needed to talk with me.  As we talked, he began to share that he had moved far away from his mother and sisters, had never known his father and was lonely in Rustenburg, leading him to go out a night drinking and sleeping with prostitutes.  He did not want to do this, but he just kept falling back into the pattern.  I prayed with him and talked about a relationship with Jesus.  He said that his childhood best friend’s father was a pastor and that he had heard about the bible his whole life, but was having a hard time following it.  I gave him a disclipleship book and we went through some of it together.  At this time, I had to leave for Zambia for a month-long training.  This was last October.  About a month before I left he told me that he had found his father.  He was busy getting to know him and then suddenly a couple of weeks later his father was hit by a car and went into a coma.  He died just a few days before I left for Zambia.  This was really difficult for me to leave when I felt like I should be there for him. 

When I came back, I saw him at work for a couple of weeks and then he quit his job and kind of dropped off the face of the planet.  I didn’t have his phone number and really had no way to get in touch with him.  I didn’t even know exactly where he lived.  I really just felt like I had failed him. 

However, about a month ago, he came knocking on my door and told me that after going through that book he met a pastor and they talked and he became a Christian.  He has since then quit alcohol and women all together, has gotten a new job, and is continuing to be mentored by this pastor.  He thanked me for the impact that I had on his life and God encouraged my heart reminding me of 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 that says:

“Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe.  Each one of us did the work God gave us to do.  I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it.  But God is the One who made it grow.  So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important.  Only God, who makes things grow is important. The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose, and each will be rewarded for his own work.”

God reminded me that I must do what He has called me and plant and water, and that He will make it grow.  Lentikile is now helping me with a Bible study in the community and is growing in Christ.  I spoke with him yesterday about getting tested for HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections because of his previous lifestyle and we are going on Monday.  Please pray that he does not have HIV and that he does have the courage to go.  When I spoke with him about going he acted like the thought that he may have the diseases had never crossed his mind.  He is really scared so please pray.

PLEASE PRAY

-For the many, many AIDS orphans in South Africa

-The the youth here will begin to make better decisions and will desire better things for their lives

-For Lentikile as he goes to get tested

-For the new brothers and sisters

Now, about Zimbabwe…I know this is a long letter, but hang with me.  Many of you may have heard something about what is happening in Zimbabwe, but I wanted to share a little bit and ask you to pray.  This is the situation.  There is a president there, Robert Mugabe.  He was the first president of Zimbabwe and helped to get the country out from under British rule as before this is was a British-ruled colony called Rhodesia.  This was back around 1980.  Since then, he has ruled.  In the 1990’s he decided to kick all of the white people out of the country, most of whom were farmers.  Since then, the economy has been getting increasingly worse.

As you may have heard, the inflation rate is currently the highest in the world is increasing about 100% every three days currently and is estimated to have increased about 4 million percent in all making things like bread, clean water, maize meal and tea nearly impossible to afford.  Right now it is about 5 million Zimbabwean dollars for a loaf of bread.  Beyond this, they are increasingly difficult if not impossible to find.  Many people were hoping from some relief as it has been said that there is great mismanagement in the country.  They were supposed to have an election at the end of March and the opposition party the MDC was running with a man named Morgan Tsvangirai who showed promise for helping in the future of Zimbabwe.  However, after the first election, the people who were supposed to regulate the counting of the votes were kicked out of the country and three weeks later, (long past the deadline when the announcement was supposed to be made), it was announced that they needed a run-off election.  Since this time, Mugabe has been threatening, beating, throwing in jail and killing people who are MDC/Morgan supporters in an effort to get votes on June 27^th, the time when the run-off was scheduled.  However, just days before the run-off Morgan, (who has been thrown in jail and run out of the country numerous times), dropped out of the election saying there was no way it was going to be fair and the too many people were dying.  So, Mugabe insisted that they have the election anyway sending his military personnel to villages to escourt people to the polls to vote for him and on June 28^th announced himself the official elected president of Zimbabwe.  He has since then sent people to beat anyone who voted for Morgan or who did not vote at all.  The world is unsure as to what will happen next as during this time Mugabe has done such things as refusing foreign aid causing many to die of starvation and appears to be increasingly violent insisting that he will not yield and give up power.  Please pray for this situation.

PRAY:

-That the violence will stop

-That people will be able to get basic necessities such as food, clothes and water

-That our missionaries there will continue to be safe as they are still in-country

-That God’s will is done is Zimbabwe