Quick Update

My mom reminded me yesterday that my blog has been very quiet lately. I am sorry about that. I won't get to a full update tonight but I did want to share a few things. It has been a long two weeks. We found out that my new worker in Katlehong had stolen from us. It was very sad and very disheartening. We (I) had high hopes for him. Please pray that God would lead us to the right person to take his position.

I also wanted to let you know that I will be in the states for about 5 weeks right after Christmas. I will be in PA visiting family from December 27th until January 2nd and then in Los Angeles from January 2nd until January 31st. I will be spending a week in the middle of this time with some dear friends in Napa. I leave LA January 31st and will spend a few days in Atlanta before heading home. I would love to see as many of you as possible and catch up! I'm also available and willing to share in any groups or Bible Studies about the ministry here.

I'm looking forward to a long weekend in Cape Town this weekend. This will be my first time there and I am looking forward to seeing an other part of this country.

Funny Sign

Ok, I saw a funny sign at the stores the other day. It said: Christmas Sale on Beach Towels.... There's just something about a warm Christmas that still feels weird to me.

Speaking of the beach, I am off to Durban to meet up with Josh and family for a few days. I am looking forward to coming back a few shades darker (I know... its dangerous.) and a little more rested.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I have wonderful memories of times spent with family and friends. And once again I am reminded of all that I have to be thankful for. We serve an amazing God who treats me much better then I ever deserve and with much grace and mercy! I am grateful for all of you who so faithfully support my ministry and make it possible for me to be here and I am thankful for my faithful friends and family who love me and care for me! What a blessing to be part of the family of God.

Todays Thanksgiving was a little different then most. I celebrated with Josh and Marda and the girls. Marda had ordered a turkey that was suppose to be delivered to the store yesterday. When she went, it hadn't come in and she was told it might come in Thursday or Friday late morning.... A little bit a problem. There wasn't another turkey in the store. So, we had chicken. Welcome to Thanksgiving in Africa :) The girls were afraid Thanksgiving would be ruined but it wasn't because when it gets down to it- its really not about the food.

Oh, and due to the fact that there is no such thing as pumpkin in a can, I made my first pumpkin pie completely from scratch and it was pretty good and pretty easy. I still need to figure out how to make my crusts look pretty though. Any suggestions???

Fun Pictures

Summer is here and the kids are really enjoying their pools!

Random thoughts from yesterday

I'm not sure how best to describe yesterday. I started out the day by taking our doctor to work at the government clinic in Katlehong. She works there every other week with the ECHO team which is a team that is suppose to be helping to make changes to how the hospital is run. Problem is she has shown up and they don't. As we got to the hospital you have to drive through security. I've done that before but yesterday they asked if I had a camera with me. I did and they wanted to keep it until I left the hospital. Hmmm... don't think so. Since, I knew I wanted to have my camera at the end of the day I said I would drop the doctor off and leave without coming in. But it does make you wonder. What are they afraid I will take pictures of? The high level of care going on in the hospital????? Another, hmm... don't think so.


From there I went with our two community workers to do some home visits. When someone asks to be fed by us, we visit them and make sure that they are needy and fit our criteria. As I walked into these homes and sat with the flys swirling around my head, I thought of God's sense of humor that He would have such a germaphobic person ( I mean I don't even like to shop in Walmart because I think its too dirty and I certainly won't use the restrooms there.) doing these kinds of things and being in these kinds of places.

One home (and by home I mean a 10ft x 12ft tin shack) we were going to we planned on telling the woman that if she had enough money to buy alchohol, she had enough money to buy food. When we arrived, she was gone but her 12 year old daughter was there and the grandmother. The shack was filthy and there were clothes lying in a pile outside it in the dirt. (This is very unusual. Most keep their shacks cleaner then we keep our houses.) The daughter hadn't been to school because the mother is using the daughter's grant to buy alchohol instead of things like school shoes. Because she didn't have shoes, she couldn't go to school.

We asked where the mother was. It seems that she has gone to stay with her new boyfriend and left her daughter to stay with the old one. It still shocks me that a mother could do that. It is like she is asking for her daughter to be raped. I asked the grandmother if she could have her granddaughter stay with her but the mother is so abusive she is scared to. My heart was very sore as we stood there. I thought about bringing her back to Lambano to stay and figured I'd ask Lyn for forgiveness when we got there :). I knew though that we need to get Social Services involved. So, I gave our community worker money to buy her shoes and took them to the Social Servicies office. They should remove her from the home. I'll find out this afternoon what happened and if they didn't I might be bringing her back here. We then picked up a 14 year old at the hospital who ius very sick and possibly about to die. We brought her back to Lambano and will care for her here. We are praying that we got her soon enough and can nurse her back to health.

Well, that was the heavy part of the day. That night I went to the Christmas program at the school our kids attend. I know it seems early but schools here close in November for the 'summer' break which seems very strange to me but it is summer here. I was absolutely amazed at the program. You'll see a picture below of something I don't think you'll see happen at any public school in the states or that has happened in maybe 30 years. Yes, that boy is reading the Christmas story from the Bible...... Wow! A Christmas concert were they sang about Jesus. I think they only sang one song about Santa.




They had kids acting out the story as they sang. Kamo below was a angel.



Timmy was Jospeh. I don't have a picture of her but one of his twelve girlfriends was Mary. We are working on the girlfriend thing :) but school has been great for Timmy. He really has excelled and is quite the man on campus it seems.

Seiya was in the chorus that sat in the back.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable concert and all the kids did a great job! It was a good way to end the day. I love Christmas!

Charity Mile

I spent yesterday at a charity event for Lambano. Each charity was represented in a competition and we came in second- winning R60,000 (about $10,000). God was good!

It was a little funny because each charity was represented by a celebrity and being American I had no idea who most of them were. And I have to tell you besides the money given to Lambano the best part of the day was that some of the Springboks were there. For those of you in America, the Springboks are the South African rugby team and we just won the World Cup. Its kind of fun to have a team that represents the whole country instead of a state or a city. It really brings people together. Anyway, I did what I never do and in an effort to make some of my South African friends jealous had my picture taken with some of them there. To fully understand these pictures, you have to understand what a big, huge things Springbok rugby is here. I have to say they were very nice guys and were very gracious with the people at the event.

With Jake White the coach

With Juan De Viliers

With Schalk Burger

Update

The little girl who was pictured below died this morning at 9:10am. We are grateful that she passed away peacefully and quickly. Please pray that God would comfort the family at this time. Please pray for the funeral. One of our pastors, Vuyo, will be holding and will share the hope of the gospel. Pray that people will hear and respond. Thanks!

Very Funny....

Ok, this You Tube clip is so funny..... Sadly its what many people think Biblical Counseling is but it isn't... Anyway, enjoy!

Here are some pictures of the little girl I mentioned below. Please continue to pray for her!

Sorry for the lack of updates. Its not that I don't have things to post because I do. My home phone has been down for about 5 weeks and my internet stopped working last Saturday..... I feel very disconnected to the world right now. I'm connected right now but it is costing me a small fortune to do so which means you will only get a few quick highlights.

1. This past Tuesday marked the end of my second year in Africa. Wow, time flies!

2. Please pray a new child we got on Thursday. She is 10 and weighs 22 lbs......Needless to say she is very sick.

3. And in less sobering news South Africa won the World Cup in Rugby for the first time since 1995.

Concert Update

A few weeks back I ask you to pray for a concert a youth group was hosting in Washington to raise money for our hospice. Sam Neylan posted a report on it on her blog today. (If you click on her name, it will take you to it.) You'll be encouraged by what you wrote. It is pretty cool to see how God can use even the internet to bring people together.

Bayley Jordan Mack

Introducing the first African- American Mack! Bayley Jordan was born on Monday at 7:50am. She weighed 7.05 lbs and was 18.9 centimeters and is very cute!

Much to McKenna's delight (as you can see below), she was born with red hair!

Christmas in October

Today was a very fun day. It started off by having an encouraging time with our new worker. How refreshing it is to work with someone who on their own prays with parents about their sick children and who willingly volunteers to help wherever he can even when it isn't in his job description. WOW! What a difference!

Then in the afternoon I got to play Santa. Someone had sent money to help buy school uniforms for some of the children in Katlehong. (Actually two people have.) They specifically wanted to help two children I have mentioned in the past who are living with their grandfather. Now I work with people who have nothing but honestly these kids have less then nothing. I think they have one set of clothes. Its pretty sad.

Anyway, I took them to the shops today to buy school uniforms. I think they were a little overwhelmed with it all. I had some money left over when we were done and took them to a clothing store and let them choose some new clothes. I asked the woman who was with me if this was the first time they had been able to buy new clothing and she thought it was. It was really fun to show love to them in this way. How fun to think that they are going to school tomorrow for the first time with a school uniform on and that when they get home they have some clean, new clothes that aren't torn and needing to be thrown out to put on!

One neat thing was the attitude of the woman with me. Its not like she has much. She has three children and lives in a shack in a squatter camp. I wondered what she would think about the money being spent on these kids and if she would feel bad I wasn't buying for her children. But she wasn't. She was genuinely excited about the good being done for them without a hint of jealousy. What a great example she was!

Its Fixed... I Think....

I think my e-mail is fixed..... Its been a long couple of weeks without it. My e-mail address has changed in the process. It is now beth@gracechurch.co.za. Thanks!

A Couple Of Things To Pray For

Just thought I would pass on a couple of things to pray for. About two months ago, I got an e-mail from a Master's College grad that had heard of the work here through a mutual friend (Thanks Courtney and Sam!). Her church youth group wanted to do a concert fundraiser to raise money for the ministry here. Was there anything specifically that they could raise money for. Well, while I was dying to say money for a new school, I know the larger priority right now is the money needed to finish the hospice we are building. It was so encouraging to see Christians that I don't know desire to be involved in the work here! WOW! Really, I can't tell you what an encouragement it was to me to get that e-mail. The concert is this weekend so please pray God lays it on people's hearts to give! Pray too for any who come to the concert who don't know Christ and that this might be used to soften their hearts to the gospel.

Please also be in prayer for my dad. He came back from the states with a bad case of bronchitis. (Those of you who are familiar with how long a bad cough stays with me can rest assured that it is a genetic thing :)and his will last even longer.) He teaches class this coming week for about 7 hours a day for 6 days straight. Please pray that he is sufficiently well enough to survive the week. I'd ask you to pray that if he isn't that he would ask someone else to step in but if you know anything about my dad- you know that will never happen :).

Sani Pass

When you live in Johannesburg, sometimes its good to get out and see that all of South Africa is not a major city. Last weekend I went with a couple from church to the Sani Pass which is a road up the Drakensberg mountains into Lesotho.




Above is the view from the top. The front part of the picture (the stones) is what the road looked like we drove up.

Here are Alan, Nicolene and Emma at the bottom of the mountains.

Another view from the top.

Just a quick note to let you know that my e-mail has been down for about two weeks now. I have had it here and there during these last two weeks but nothing consistent. And now I can't get it at all.... So, if you have e-mailed me and I haven't responded, chances are I didn't get it. Wait a couple days to send it again.... Right now its going to somewhere in cyberspace and not anywhere near my e-mail in-box.

Backwards is really forwards.......

When we found out about Meise and what she had been doing, it felt like our project had taken a hundred steps backwards. In fact at one point Lyn even said to me that maybe we should shut it down for awhile to regroup. The more we heard and the more we saw of what she had done the more discouraging it was. But you just keep reminding yourself of the truth. God hasn't made a mistake yet. This isn't and accident. Somehow and someway he is going to work through this. And He has.

What seemed like a hundred steps back has really become a hundred steps forward. For me, it has been good to have to be more hands on in Katlehong. There are a lot of things Meise has done for us that I have done in the last few weeks. Last Friday, I spent a large portion of the day taking one of the 80 year old grandmothers to the doctor and helping her do somethings at the bank. As a result, I had some great conversations with the woman who went with me to translate about spiritual things. I've also had the chance to meet with most of those we are helping up there and begin to build deeper relationships with them. Because Meise tried to keep them away from us for fear that she would be caught out, her not being part of our project has freed them to share with me in new ways.

We also have hired two new workers. Both who claim to be Christians and one I am fairly certain is. The Christian is actually a man who is a widower and has three small children that he is looking after and raising. Not a big deal to many of us but you have to understand in their culture the men typically have children and leave. He's really the first one I have met who is actively involved in his children's lives in the Katlehing area. Men there just don't do that. He also has been involved in going into schools and teaching about purity and abstenice (another unheard of idea here). I'm looking forward to capitalizing on some of his contacts at the school!

We also found out why we have met with such resistance from the clinics in Katlehong. We had had a great meeting with one and they had agreed to give us the names of children they think are HIV positive for us to follow up on. When Meise went to get the names, they refused and all of a sudden started talking about privacy issues. Doreen (the other person we have hired) went and spoke to the clinic this week and they told her that they were afraid to give Meise the information because they were afraid of how shoe would use it against people. They would be more then willing to give us that information now for us to follow up.

It has been an encouraging few days. I've prayed (and I know many of you have) for this project and that God would give us inroads into the community and make us effective there. It has been exciting this week to see how He used what seemed like a hundred steps backwards to accomplish this! Thank you so much for praying. Your prayers are such an important part of the ministry here!

On a different note, I am very excited that my parents return home from three months in the states this Sunday! Yahoo! I really am serious about hiding their passports next year so they can't go. :-)

I'm also looking forward to going away this weekend with some people from church. We are going to Lesotho which is a small country in the middle of South Africa. It should be a lot of fun!

Prayer Letter

I recently sent out an updated prayer letter to people. If you didn't receive it but would like to, please let me know and I would be glad to forward it on to you. Or if you received it and would like to be taken off of the list, let me know that. You can either leave me a comment with your e-mail or send me a quick note at beth@grace.org.za.

Thanks!

Today is the day

Thanks so much for all you who have been praying for the situation in Katlehong. Lyn and I met yesterday with the witnesses and man, it is twisted- really twisted. We found out that she stole the money to pay for her daughter to get Sangoma training (which is witch doctor training.) We actually think that might be why God choose to reveal it now- because what she was using the monies for was so warped and just evil.

The hearing is today where we present our witnesses and she is able to defend herself. Please pray for that and for the outcome. Continue to pray that God would be lifted high even in the midst of this. Once the hearing is over, there are a myriad of details I will need to work through in the township as far was where we go from here. Please pray for wisdom in that!

Its been a long week

Its been a long couple of days. I've been sick for one. I've had a fever, sore throat thing that I haven't been able to kick but more then that sometimes the reality of life and ministry hits you.

We found out this week that our community worker has been extorting money from some of the people we (being Lambano) are helping in the township. God graciously allowed us to find out by having a grandmother we have given money to go to a social worker we know to ask her to call Mamma Lyn to see if she could just have a little more time to come up with the R950 (about $150) that we were asking her to pay us back. In God's providence, the social worker knew that we would never ask for money back and called us. So, yesterday we set up a sting operation and gave her the money to give to our worker, told her what to say and sent a witness with her. And she was caught. (She doesn't know it yet but I am safe writing it here because she can't read or write.)

Please pray. It has the potential to get ugly- really ugly. Please pray that God's name wouldn't be dishonored. The people we work with know we are Christians. My prayer is that our testimony in the area wouldn't be hindered. Please pray for wisdom. Its a tricky situation. We have to somehow distance ourselves from her in the community so she can't continue to extort money from people which means that things will become public. We will, Lord willing, be having a meeting on Monday with the women we are feeding to let them know what is happening and try to discern if it has occurred with anyone else. Yet at the same time it makes my heart sad to have to make it so public. Pray as well that we would respond to sin in a loving and compassionate way and not in anger. Frankly, yesterday I struggled with wanting to strangle her. Its one thing to steal from Lambano. (Its not right to do so but I can see how with a harden conscience you could justify it by how much we have in comparison to what they have. Its still not right to do.) But to steal from a poor grandmother who has absolutely nothing infuriates me! And pray that this worker would be saved and turn to Christ in repentance.

Really though, my biggest prayer right now is the first one I mentioned: that God's name wouldn't be drug through the mud by this. That's the crucial issue!!!

I was so touched by the grandma involved. Now, you need to realize that she is caring for 3 children on what amounts to a little over a $100 a month. She must have been so overwhelmed to think of paying us back but when she came to talk to the social worker she wasn't made or upset. She merely wanted more time to come up with the money. She also told me yesterday that she no longer wanted our food packages because now that she got some government grants, she wanted more needy people to get the food. More needy people? What an amazing attitude she showed.

Today was a day of lows and highs. We buried the little girl pictured above. She was the 16 month old who died about a week and a half ago. What was particularly sad to me was that the people who came to the funeral (5 of us on staff at Lambano) were people who had only known her for 3 days. How sad to have a little life die needlessly and have no one to mourn her. Sadder is how common that is here and in all of Africa.

Pictured below is the cemetery we buried her in. The children's section is now so large that you can't even fit it in a picture without a wide angle lens. They are still burying over a hundred children a month in this one small cemetery. I would be curious to know how many children are buried a month in a cemetery in the states. Anyone want to do some research?






On a happier note, later that day I was able to return three small children to their mother. The mother was very sick and the children were brought to us to care for. We had them for about two months. After she was released from the hospital, we built her a tin house and got her a coal stove and she was able to once again care for her children. It was a very happy day to be able to do that! We will continue to help to feed them and provide for some of their basic needs. It was nice to have a happy ending to the day!

Please Pray for Mr. Masina's Salvation!

This is Pat Masina who is the Deputy Principal of the school we are trying to help. Please pray with me that God saves him! Because of his position of leadership and education, he has the potential to be a great influence for Christ in many people's lives in Katlehong!

When I saw him last week, he said one of the nicest things that anyone has said to me lately. He told me that even though I was white on the outside I must be black on the inside because I fought for them like a black person- with passion and follow through. He also said that while many have expressed an interest in helping the school no one else has followed through like Lambano and our church. It was very encouraging and I pray that God will help us to continue to be a light for Christ in a very dark place.

The Answer You've Been Waiting For

Before I tell you the answer, let me give you a little perspective. My friend just had a baby about 6 weeks early who weighed 2.08 kilos (about 4.5 pounds.) A newborn has to weigh about 2.27 kilos (5 pounds) to be released from the hospital. This little girl weighed 2.72 kilos when she came to us and had AIDs and TB. She also had been given no medication for either of these diseases. She had no teeth and her soft spot had not fully closed. Her mother had died two months ago and her father disappeared. Her age????? She was 16 months old....... Amazing isn't it? Amazingly sad that is.

She's a great example of why Lambano is working very hard to finish building our hospice. This little girl didn't need to die now. If she had been put on medication when she should have, she probably could have gotten better and lived a while longer. Why does this happen? Well, I think that the bottom line is that few people care. The hospital certainly doesn't care. The attitude is they are going to die anyway so why try to save their lives. To illustrate how poorly they look after the kids let me tell you about the paperwork we received with her. The doctor who released her was suppose to do an examination of her. The paperwork we received stated that he had examined and found that she had normal boy body parts and that they were functioning properly. Let me tell you, I checked... She had no boy body parts. I wonder if he even looked at her........

Sadly we got her to late. She died several days after she came to us. Sadder still is that the cemetery where she will be buried (which is one of many in the area) has buried 1576 children since March of 2006. On average, that comes to about a 100 children a month. I think its time someone starts to care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guessing Game

Before I tell you this little girl's story, lets play the guessing game. How old do you think she is?

I realized after I posted this that it would be good to give you some perspective. She weighs 2.7 kilos which is about 6lbs.

Video of Katlehong

Here is a video clip of the school project in Katlehong.

Residency

Thank you for praying for my residency interview. We have a joke here that everything takes three visits. It seems that even if you get the required paperwork for things there is always one more thing you need to get. This was no exception. There are a few more hoops I need to jump through including joining a counseling organization (Little did I know that I should have listened to my dad when he encouraged me to join NANC years ago :), putting together a picture portfolio of me helping people and getting FBI clearance from the states. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get the FBI clearance quicker then the 16 weeks turnabout they post on their website, I would appreciate them.

Catching up....

The last of my visitors left on Thursday night and I came home to a very quiet house. Its been a lot of fun to have so many people around the last couple of months. It started with a wonderful visit from the Enters and the Blackburns in May and ended with Melissa and Tiffany from Grace Community staying with me for a couple of weeks while they volunteered at Lambano. In between there was Jack Hughes and Scott Ardavannis being here for Shepherd's Conference, Matt Davis was here for 10 weeks as an intern, the GCC team was here, my brother and family moved here and last week included a surprise visit from Steve Wheeler and his son and friend. In between the visits was my trip to England to meet up with some friends.

All of the visits have been a lot of fun and have been very encouraging. It is always a treat to be able to show people first hand what is happening here and some of the conversations and discussions about mercy ministry and the church have been stimulating and helpful to me. And now life returns to its normal craziness. Hopefully, that means more frequent updates to my blog. Today my plan is to answer some of the e-mails that have been sitting in my inbox for about a month :).

Quick Prayer Request

One quick thing you could be praying for with me. I have my interview for residency tomorrow morning at 11am (about 3 hours after I get in). Pray that I will make it on time (and will have had time to shower) and that God would grant me favor in the eyes of the woman who will be interviewing me. Thanks so much! More and more I see the vital importance of your prayers for the work here!

M.I.A.

I know I have been missing in action the last few weeks. Sorry about that. I had wanted to post before I left on vacation and it just never happened. I am currently on my way home from a trip to England where I was able to meet up with some friends. Right now I am on the Internet in an airport in the Middle East. Its a long story how I ended up here on a layover. I found out the hard way that going standby from England in July (no matter what the person booking the ticket says) is not a good idea. As I frantically looked for a ticket home on Monday, I reminded myself of the sermons I recently heard on God's sovereignty in out lives.

I did have a great time away and look forward to posting some pictures when I am home and sharing a little bit about it. I had some great opportunities to share the gospel with people- which was exciting.

Simply Amazing

50 years ago this Friday my parents were married! Simply amazing! 50 years is a really long time! Even more amazing is that they love each other more now and are better friends now then they were then. And I don't say that because either of them are hard to love. 50 years ago they decided to love God and love each other even when it was hard. They decided that their commiment to God meant that they would be commited to being faithful to their marriage vows and God has blessed that.

I am thankful for parents who have shown me what a godly marriage looks like. I am thankful to have grown up in a home where conflict was not the norm. I remember being in highschool and realizing that not everyone had that privalege. I have never wondered if my parents were going to split up or if they stilled loved (and liked) each other. And I am very grateful to them for the example they have been!

I love you both!

Not being overwhelmed by fear

I meet my neighbors tonight- not quite the way I would have wanted to though. I had said goodbye to some girls who were here for a Bible Study and come in to answer some e-mails. I was sitting here and I suddenly hear some shouting and what sounds like a shot. I quickly ran and turned my alarm on and then looked outside to see what was happening. After a little while, I went outside to see what had happened. Apparently, when my neighbor across the street had come home, some guys had come up behind him with a gun and had tried to take his car. They ended up shooting at him and leaving. What I also learned was that it is the second time this has happened to one of my neighbors in about three days. Crime is definitely up right now in my neighborhood.

Its a hard balance to be careful and wise but not be paranoid. I have decided though that as soon as I have saved the money I'm going to get electric fencing. Just one more deterrent to coming into my yard.

So, what in the midst of all this has kept me from being overwhelmed by fear? Well, one thing has been abundantly clear to me recently. God does protect us. We weren't at the restaurant Sunday night be accident. God planned for us to be there and was very gracious to us. We were probably one of a few that nothing was taken from. What makes that more amazing is that for most of the time, my purse was out in the middle of the aisle and my phone was in plain sight in the table. How could they not have seen and come for such an easy item to steal? I really believe God blinded their eyes and kept them from us. Amazing and comforting to think about!

Yet I also believe that if what I could have imagined as the worse thing to happen that night- say one of my nieces getting shot or killed-, God would have been just as faithful to us and just as sovereign over the events of the evening. Now, don't get me wrong. I am soooo thankful that he choose to show his faithfulness the way He did but I do rest in the fact that nothing happens by accident. God has never had an 'oops' moment. He never thinks, "How did that slip by me. Hmm.... didn't mean for that to happen." No, whatever happens is by his plan and design and it is for my best and for his glory.

Those are the things I think on to keep me from being paranoid and being overwhelmed from fear. Please continue to pray my mind would dwell on what is true and right and that God would continue to protect and keep me safe!

God is Good....

I wanted to share with you God’s goodness to my family tonight. Josh and Marda and the girls were down this weekend because Josh was speaking at my church’s family camp. We had gone to a local restaurant for dinner after church tonight and were sitting enjoying each other’s company. Then bang. Literally. We were at a restaurant and suddenly we were all under the tables. I don’t know if it was a shot or things falling. It happened too fast. There were a number of men with guns robbing the place. It was amazing. The girls were absolutely quiet. Josh was praying, Marda was praying, I was praying and the girls were praying. I saw them taking things from other people from under the table and was frightened they were coming towards us. But then they were gone. We’re all ok. No one was hurt and nothing of ours was taken. Not that losing material possessions would have mattered at the time. It just would have made it a little more scary for the girls. God is so good to us!!!!

We got up. Hugged each other tightly. Then Caitlyn looked at my brother and said that was so close, but God saved us. God saved us.

We are all doing well. It is good to know that God is in control even when there are men with guns. Pray for the girls. McKenna and Caitlyn were calm immediately afterwards, Cambria was pretty scared. She seems to be fine now but we hope this provides us another opportunity to learn to trust God even when life is frightening.

Updated Prayer Request

I am very thankful for the many times I heard Jack's sermon on the providence of God two weeks ago. When I went to park for my interview this morning, I thought to myself that this was the least crowded I had ever seen the parking at Home Affairs and that the line was really short. Maybe Mondays aren't as busy. I also noticed that the photo id van where you can get passport pictures done was missing. Hmm.... Then I went to the door where you go in to the office I needed to go to and it was locked. Another hmm.... I went around to the front of the building and saw the sign notifying people that due to the public servant strike (which I had forgotten about) there only limited services available. Surely, I thought, the woman who scheduled my interview two months ago will be here. Nope, she was on strike too. Please continue to pray that I won't need to wait another two months for the next available interview but will be able to get one done shortly after the end of the strike.

Prayer Request

I have an interview for permanent residency this morning at the Office of Home Affairs. Please pray that God will grant me favor in the eyes of the South African government and that I would be able to obtain my South African residency. Also, pray too that I would have an opportunity to share the gospel with the person interviewing me. I have found explaining to people why an American would want to move and live in South Africa provides terrific opportunities to share Christ.

They're Almost Here

In an half an hour we leave for the airport to pick up my brother and his family. All I have to say is YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

The last couple of weeks in review...

Its been a busy but good couple of weeks. Jack Hughes (the pastor at my sending church) and Scott Ardavanis arrived two weeks ago to preach(along with my dad) at our South African Shepherd's Conferences. The conferences seemed to go well and the preaching was awesome! All three of the main speakers were practical and convicting! I had also forgotten how much fun it is to not just hear Jack preach but to see him. He's got great mannerisms when he preaches. Spiritually, it was a refreshing time. I heard Jack preach on God's providence three times in three days. It was so great to be reminded how God can and does use evil in our lives to accomplish His plans (the doctrine of concurrence. And later that week when my electricity went out and someone backed into my gate, I realized in part why God wanted me to hear it so often.

On a personal level, it was really fun to have someone from home to show what is happening here. Someone compared having a visitor from home to having a cool glass of water on a hot day. Its a great description. I had the chance one day to take Jack to see some of the things we are doing in Katlehong and introduce him to some of the people. We also took him to a fun restaurant called the Carnivore. They serve all the wild game meat- even Rhino and Crocodile. Its quite an experience when they come serve you the meet on this huge spear. It really was fun.

(Pictured 'stolen' from the Archers blog)

I also had the opportunity last week to host two couples from Georgia (the Enters and Blackburns) who had come to visit and see the ministry here. It was encouraging to have people come to South Africa not as a tourist but really with a desire to see what is happening here. It was a great week! They even survived a night without electricity :). More importantly, Paul says of Philemon that he refreshed the hearts of the saints. I truly felt that way after spending a week with these couples. My heart was refreshed. They were encouraging, gracious people to be around and I really don't know when I have laughed that much in a long time.

Then Saturday we had a work day in Katlehong at the school. We had about 20 people show up from the two churches involved. We were able to get the broken doors replaced, the broken windows replaced, the roof patched were it needed it, some ceilings fixed and various other odds and ends done. One of the coolest things was to see people form the community there working right alongside of us. The other encouraging thing is to really see progress in building relationships within the community. People are so overwhelming thankful that someone is finally taking an interest in their school and fixing it because no one else has. That has given us some opportunities to share why we are wanting to help. Please continue to pray that God will give us wisdom as we seek to bring the gospel to these people. We don't want to simply be a bunch of 'do-gooders'.

The funniest part of the day was when they did traditional dancing for us as a thank you for coming. The girls come up to dance and next thing you know they are taking off their shirts. Apparently, in their culture this is done to show that they are pure and innocent still. It was one of those times when to make an issue out of it could have possibly undone a lot of the good that had been accomplished that day.

And this Friday the fun continues when my brother and his family arrive! How exciting!

Quick Update

Thank you for praying for Thandzle. Before surgery, they took an other cat scan which should that the large part of both lungs is dead. So, they decided that it wouldn't be worth it to perform the surgery. There was too much damage to correct. I think from reading between the lines that in part they are saying that she probably won't live much longer and the surgery wouldn't have added enough quality to her life to make it worth all the pain and suffering in recovering. Its actually kind of sad news. We have a couple of other children who aren't doing very well right either. So, it has been a kind of sad week at Lambano.

Please pray

Please be praying for Thandzle (Tan- dazzle). She is having a pretty serious operation today. Part of her lung has died and they are going in to remove the dead portion. From what I understand, the dead cells are killing off the live cells in her lung. She will be in ICU for at least 3 days on a ventilator and then in the hospital for awhile. Because of the seriousness of the operation, we have decided to pay the monies for a private hospital and surgeon to insure that it is done correctly. It pretty scary stuff for an adult but even scarier for a 7 year old.

Super Conrad to the rescue!!!!

Tuesday morning was not the morning I had planned. To being it overnight it had gone from summer to winter. My brother laughed when I told him it was freezing but it really was. It was in the 20's when I got and it was bitter cold. I'm not complaining, just stating a fact, but I still can't figure out why in the world people would build houses without central heat. And when they tell you it doesn't get cold here- its a lie :) I saw my breathe in my house the other morning. :-)

Anyway after I woke up, took my shower and began to get ready for the day, I walked into my spare bedroom. I listened for a moment and thought, "That's a weird sound. It sounds like rushing water above my head. Hmm....." I then looked on the bed and saw that the bedding was soaking wet. Another hmm...... I thought, "This is why I never wanted to own a house. When things go wrong, there's no one to call and it all comes out of my pocket to fix it."

Thats were Super Conrad comes in. He's pictured above with his wife Jennifer. They're here for a year volunteering. He's been building the AIDs hospice and she is teaching Lambano preschool. I quickly canceled Bible Study and called Conrad to check and see what was happening. He willingly and cheerfully climbed up in my ceiling and found the problem. It wasn't a burst pipe just a leaky connection. Someone working on the pipes before decided to seal them with electrical tape. He spent several hours in my ceiling and was able to fix the problem.

I am often challenged by Conrad's willing, cheerful servant spirit. He is quick to lend a hand and do whatever. Nothing ever seems to much or inconvenient. He really is an example to emulate! (And he'll be very embrassed that I wrote this blog about him.) What a blessing to our church and to me! Not sure what I'll do when he's gone back to Canada. Not sure if we'll let him go back to Canada. I often wonder what people do who aren't saved. Life would be a lot more expensive without a handy man to call :) What a blessing to have brothers and sisters to be able to help when needed.

Exciting News!

I don't want to give the impression of being excited or anything but my brother and his family arrive here to live in...................... 18 days!!!!!!!!! Yahoo!! Ok so maybe I am somewhat excited :) We're still working on getting my older brother to move here but as I always say- someone in the family needs to earn the money to support us and help keep us here :)

Where do liars go?

We had a staff worker who was fired for lying. The kids knew that she had gotten fired for lying. It was a great object lesson in how sin has consequences for them. The other day I was talking with them and they told me that liars go to Malawi because thats where Mamma Sara went when she lied. Sieya looked at me with all sincerity and seriousness and said, "So, if you lie God will make you go to Malawi." Wonder what they're going to think when they find out that Pastor Brian and Auntie Anita are going to Malawi.......

God as Protector

I have often told people that one of the benefits of living in South Africa is that you come to know what it means that God is our protector in new ways. Last night I was reminded of this (or should I say I reminded myself of this often as I tried to fall asleep.) I awoke at about 1am to the sound of the alarm going off next door at the Lambano house. I assumed that a cat or something had set off the outside perimeter beams. I laid their for awhile waiting for them to turn it off so I could fall back to sleep.

I waited... and waited... and waited getting a little annoyed. What were they thinking??? So I called and asked if it was their alarm. Our worker told me that they were waiting for the security company to come because she had seen two men trying to open the gate. They were trying to steal my car that had been left in the driveway earlier that day.

I heard the guys from the security company come and waited a couple of minutes. I stood there in my bedroom thinking how I should go over and check and make sure everyone was calmed down and see how the staff were doing. I was ready to go over but for some reason I didn't. What I didn't know was that the men were trying to open the gate from inside the yard and not outside. The had stayed in the yard when the alarm went off. The loud noise I heard after I had decided not to go over was the crooks jumping on the roof and running across it to jump into the yard on the other side (Another Lambano house) If I walked over when I wanted, I could have walked into a bad situation.

God is good and continues to watch over us and protect us. I woke this morning praising Him for that! We have had several thefts lately at Lambano in the middle of the night but no one has been hurt and the items taken have been insignificant in some ways.

A funny note... I was talking to the kids this morning at one of the other houses. Apparently, their alarm went off in the middle of two of them having a fight. Noma said "It was a cat." Junior said, "No it wasn't. It was God telling you to shush and not fight." Noma insisted it was the cat and Junior said, "Nope God was saying be quiet...." It was really cute.

Some Prayer Requests

1. Please be praying for a foster mother training course I am teaching in the township. We have about 45 people attending each week. This is a tremendous opportunity to help these people learn how to better care for the children in their care and also to present the gospel. One of the issues we will be discussing next Friday is how Christ and the gospel are the answer to the AIDs epidemic.

2. I speak tomorrow at a Mother's Day tea on Biblical Relationships. Please pray that God helps me accurately handle the Word of God and uses it in the lives of the women there. Pray that they are doers of the Word and not hearers only.

3. In the coming weeks, there will be many people traveling here for various ministry trips. Matt Davis, a TMC student will be coming on Tuesday for 10 weeks for a mission's internship. The following week my pastor from the states, Jack Hughes, and Scott Ardavanis will be coming to speak at our South African Shepherd's Conference. In addition two other couples will be coming from the states to visit and see some of the work here. The beginning of June a team will be coming from GCC for a short term trip. And more excitingly, my brother and his family arrive June 8th to live here. Yeah! In July, two women from the states will becoming to volunteer for a few weeks at Lambano. Please pray that God would keep them safe as they travel and more importantly, that God would use their time here both in the lives of those they will minister to and their one lives.

Thanks so much for your prayers! You are a vital part of the ministry here.

God is Good....

All the time! We were talking today in the Lambano office about God's goodness to us this year and I wanted to share. Last year at this time of the year, we had buried our 4th baby. This year we are about to send our 4th baby out for adoption! What a difference!

As we were discussing this, Martha got an e-mail and called us over asking if we thought it was for real. We received a note from a company telling us that they had deposited R195,000 into our bank account. That's about $30,000. After checking it out we discovered that it was part of this company's tithe. Another evidence of God's goodness to us. Last year we struggled many months to cover salaries. In fact, one of the workers in the office went for several months without getting paid. This year, God has abundantly provided for us. I am reminded though that God was just as good to us last year when we struggled. Our faith was strengthened and we were taught to trust Him in new ways. Good lessons to learn.

Another Find...

Every now and then I find something at the grocery store that excites me. Tonight was one of those nights. I found....... (drum roll please)......... Haagan Daas ice cream! Ice cream here doesn't excite me at all so it was exciting to find some worth eating. It was outrageously expensive but well worth it!!!

Get this....

Ok, I found out today why the school I have been mentioning does not have permanent buildings. Apparently, it was placed on land that could become sink holes. Can you imagine that? Putting 1300 students on land that has the potential to swallow them up!

Here's the craziest request I have gotten in awhile.... Yesterday someone buzzed my gate. My instinctual response is to open the gate when someone buzzes. I have learned to resist and look to see who it is. I looked and didn't know him. The guy (who was obviously high or something) told me his car had broken down and was wondering if I could give him and his friends (who were nowhere to be seen) a ride home. Hmm...... let me think about this one......... My reaction was to want to say, "Do I look that dumb? I wouldn't even do that in America." In case you're wondering, I said no.

Its a pretty common thing to have someone stop by asking for money, food or trying to sell me something. There was one guy who stopped asking for money to pay the mechanic to get his car back from the garage. He had left his wallet about 45 minutes away but once he got his car he would pay me back. The funny thing was that he was back a couple of weeks later. Only thing this time it was his TV that was broken and he needed the money to get it because he had left his in his brothers car who lived about 45 minutes away. He would bring me the money later. I told him he had really bad luck to keep forgetting his money like that. :)

Lunch at Subway

Normally, lunch at Subway doesn't excite me. But (and that's a big but) when the only other American restaurant is MacDonalds, its pretty exciting to have something taste normal. We found this last weekend by accident. We were looking for an other restaurant. It was a pretty good accidential find. The only thing better would be finding a Starbucks or a real Mexican restaurant- even Taco Bell would do :).

The School Continued.....

This is their playground.

The principal in one of the classrooms. He said today, "I don't go to church but I do pray twice a day." Pray that as we partner with this school that we have opportunities to present the true gospel to him. That's our hope and prayer. We don't just want to be do gooders. It would be easy to be overwhelmed by the needs. Meeting the needs not only helps us obey the commands of Scripture to act mercifcully but it also helps build trust in a community lacking it. As that trust is built, we then have tremendous opportunities to not only tell them about Christ but to show them Christ. My generation in the townships are either dead or dying. That in part makes it even more important to reach this young generation. The gospel is what will bring hope and change South Africa. That's the goal.