Monday, November 23, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Back Home and Reflecting
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to express my gratitude for all of your prayer support and financial support. It was an amazing trip of a life time! I look much differently on life now. I really appreciate my bed, my shower, my husband, my kids, more than anything now. I am so grateful to have a roof over my head and family to love.
We left for Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. on November 7th. Our team consisted of Kelly McClelland, Deb Fausch, Cristina Broomfield, Carolyn Ciocan, Carolyn Johnston, Tish Edwards, Rose Stelkic, and Shari Hulcy and myself. And we brought along Tim Fausch & Jim McClelland. We had an incredible team. We arrived in Washington D.C. to get on a flight to Johannesburg, S. Africa, via African Airline (a huge mega bus). We stopped in Dakar to fuel up and on to Jo-Burg. We flew 18 hours through the night from D.C. In Johannesburg we changed to a smaller plane and into Cape Town where we were picked up by Ed from the Extreme Response Team. And now it is Sunday evening (the 8th)and then drove to Wellwood Lodge to go to bed.
Tues, Nov 10 - Devotions in the morning. Breakfast, Support Group Facilatator's Meeting at Living Hope Ministries. Pat Bell told us all about the amazing things that God has done and is doing for Living Hope. She is an amazing woman who came here and never left. She showed us around the facilities and hospital. Living Hope is changing lives of the hopeless. They use health-related and social programs, education and community development to do this. This amazing ministry is a part of Fish Hoek Baptist Church (more recently called King of King's). They seek to bring the hope and compassion of Jesus Christ to the chronically sick and dying in a holistic way and do everything possible to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. They do this through Prevention (support groups, life skills education, social workers and health counselors). The Woodside women's team ministered to the women who are a part of the support groups of Living Hope in the various townships.
After visiting Living Hope on Monday, we did some sight seeings and walking to get rid of jet lag. We went to Cape Point, the most southwestern point of the African continent. There were so many God sightings. The beauty, the weather...We saw baboons and their babies on the roadsides. We saw ostrich families, elands (antelope), the national flower-Protea, and a green bird.
We had lunch at the Salty Dog in Simon's Town and I had hake (fish).
Tues. Nov 10 - We did our support group in the morning with the support group facilitator at Living Hope. It was incredible. Then we walked to God's Little Lighthouse, a Christian daycare center for underprivileged children. Pam, the director, was a missionary in Botswana. She runs it with her daughter and 4 paid employees. Some days she has as many as 85 children. We brought the kids beanie babies and candies. Then had dinner in a restaurant on Fish Hoek Beach.
Wed. Nov 11 -
Today we went to a village of Masiphumelele for their Support Group. Very sad, poverty stricken. Living hope has a church, clinic, school and daycare there. We were in a one room cinderblock church and I had a table of 8 ladies. And they called themselves "the old lady club". It was amazing that God gave me this table because I have a passion for seniors. My table of women were from Zulu and they ate with their fingers. I gave them my lunch too.
Then we visited the daycare center where they go for outreach from volunteers. A very small building with a whole bunch of kids. And they sing with them & teach them about God and feed them.
Thurs, Nov 12 - We went to Woodstock Baptist Church to minister today. It is called New Beginnings Development Center, for underprivileged women by providing life skills, job skills and the opportunity to be employed. Claudia Crowster is the director of this ministry. Her husband Patrick is the Pastor of the Woodstock Baptist Church. I had a table of 5 young women. One of the women was a Muslim.
5 ladies accepted Christ today!:)
Friday, Nov 13- Today we went to Red Hill community. It was much different. Very poor. We ended up doing our ministry outdoors. We had 2 make shift tables and the man who is sort of in charge, didn't want women to run the show, so he read from his Cosa bible and Kelly just interjected things. Then we did the craft with them and served them lunch. Each day was very different. We had to be flexible.
Then we went to Simon's Town shopping in some boutiques and we went to the beach to see the penguins. They used to be called Jack Asses because they brey, but the Afrikans changed their names to the King Penguin.
A couple of the girls became sick with fever and a cough. Went to a craft store where the HIV people make jewelry and sell it for their cause. I bought a lot of stuff there.
Sat. Nov 14- We went to Capricorn Support Group. It was total chaos. Their was a guy playing the keyboard and kids running around everywhere. It just wasn't a very successful day.
Then we had free time in the afternoon and went down to Fish Hoek Beach. We saw surfers and a seal. Then we walked to dinner.
Sun, Nov 15- We went to church at King of King's Baptist Church. It was an excellent message. We stayed for tea and went to go for a drive to Table Mountain. It was too windy for the cable car to go up the mountain but it was an incredible drive.
Did some shopping and had a lovely dinner. Then we had to pack up everything to leave Monday and we had to get supplies ready for the last support group on Monday.
Mon. Nov 16- Woke up early to have breakfast and off to Oceanview Support Group. We knew that there would be a lot of Muslims there so we prepared ourselves with a lot of prayer. The day went fairly well. Hopefully we impacted them.
Afterwards we went to have lunch and then picked up our suitcases and headed to the Cape Town Airport. We flew out to Johannesburg and stayed at a hotel near the airport. Went to bed to be ready for the Safari trip the next morning.
Tues, Nov 17- We had to be up at 5 am. Safari guides picked us up after breakfast. The guides were Clive and Hoppy. It took approx 5 hours to drive to Krueger National Park. When we got in the park outside of Krueger (Molebetsi) we drove through the park until we got to the camp. An absolute awesome place. Every 2 people had a hut. I roomed with Dawn Carnill. It was a round hut with a thatched roof. We went for an evening drive (2 jeeps-tiered). Our guides name was Lucky. We went on trails in our jeep with no roof. It became very cool but they brought blankets and hot chocolate. We saw an elephant right by us. We saw him push a tree over and we could smell his musk because he was so close. We saw many animals, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, water buffalo, jackal, wild cats, lots of impala, kudu, eland, bushback, waterbuck diuker, steerbok, warthogs, hippos, white rhinos, baboon. We had vervet monkeys at our camp in the trees. That evening we had an amazing dinner. It was outside around a campfire with a wall of reeds around us and candlelight. We had lamb Stew.
Wed. Nov 18- We woke at 5 am to see zebras and giraffe outside our window! Then we went to have a quick coffee and rusks (scones)and off to our safari. We just started our journey and we came across 3 lioness and 3 cubs at a kill of a zebra. We sat and watched for a couple of hours. It was incredible. We felt bad for the zebra but realized that it was just the circle of life. The 2 cubs were adorable and covered with blood. They were having a great time.
After seeing that we saw many more animals but that was the highlight. Then we went back to camp and had breakfast and showered and packed to leave.
We were off to Krueger National Park and then stayed that evening in another camp. We saw many, many animals!
Thurs, Nov 19 - Breakfast and off to the road for Johannesburg Airport. We boarded in the evening and flew through the night and arrived home safely Friday afternoon.
Wow! What an amazing trip! The Lord's splendor is amazing!
Just wanted to express my gratitude for all of your prayer support and financial support. It was an amazing trip of a life time! I look much differently on life now. I really appreciate my bed, my shower, my husband, my kids, more than anything now. I am so grateful to have a roof over my head and family to love.
We left for Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C. on November 7th. Our team consisted of Kelly McClelland, Deb Fausch, Cristina Broomfield, Carolyn Ciocan, Carolyn Johnston, Tish Edwards, Rose Stelkic, and Shari Hulcy and myself. And we brought along Tim Fausch & Jim McClelland. We had an incredible team. We arrived in Washington D.C. to get on a flight to Johannesburg, S. Africa, via African Airline (a huge mega bus). We stopped in Dakar to fuel up and on to Jo-Burg. We flew 18 hours through the night from D.C. In Johannesburg we changed to a smaller plane and into Cape Town where we were picked up by Ed from the Extreme Response Team. And now it is Sunday evening (the 8th)and then drove to Wellwood Lodge to go to bed.
Tues, Nov 10 - Devotions in the morning. Breakfast, Support Group Facilatator's Meeting at Living Hope Ministries. Pat Bell told us all about the amazing things that God has done and is doing for Living Hope. She is an amazing woman who came here and never left. She showed us around the facilities and hospital. Living Hope is changing lives of the hopeless. They use health-related and social programs, education and community development to do this. This amazing ministry is a part of Fish Hoek Baptist Church (more recently called King of King's). They seek to bring the hope and compassion of Jesus Christ to the chronically sick and dying in a holistic way and do everything possible to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. They do this through Prevention (support groups, life skills education, social workers and health counselors). The Woodside women's team ministered to the women who are a part of the support groups of Living Hope in the various townships.
After visiting Living Hope on Monday, we did some sight seeings and walking to get rid of jet lag. We went to Cape Point, the most southwestern point of the African continent. There were so many God sightings. The beauty, the weather...We saw baboons and their babies on the roadsides. We saw ostrich families, elands (antelope), the national flower-Protea, and a green bird.
We had lunch at the Salty Dog in Simon's Town and I had hake (fish).
Tues. Nov 10 - We did our support group in the morning with the support group facilitator at Living Hope. It was incredible. Then we walked to God's Little Lighthouse, a Christian daycare center for underprivileged children. Pam, the director, was a missionary in Botswana. She runs it with her daughter and 4 paid employees. Some days she has as many as 85 children. We brought the kids beanie babies and candies. Then had dinner in a restaurant on Fish Hoek Beach.
Wed. Nov 11 -
Today we went to a village of Masiphumelele for their Support Group. Very sad, poverty stricken. Living hope has a church, clinic, school and daycare there. We were in a one room cinderblock church and I had a table of 8 ladies. And they called themselves "the old lady club". It was amazing that God gave me this table because I have a passion for seniors. My table of women were from Zulu and they ate with their fingers. I gave them my lunch too.
Then we visited the daycare center where they go for outreach from volunteers. A very small building with a whole bunch of kids. And they sing with them & teach them about God and feed them.
Thurs, Nov 12 - We went to Woodstock Baptist Church to minister today. It is called New Beginnings Development Center, for underprivileged women by providing life skills, job skills and the opportunity to be employed. Claudia Crowster is the director of this ministry. Her husband Patrick is the Pastor of the Woodstock Baptist Church. I had a table of 5 young women. One of the women was a Muslim.
5 ladies accepted Christ today!:)
Friday, Nov 13- Today we went to Red Hill community. It was much different. Very poor. We ended up doing our ministry outdoors. We had 2 make shift tables and the man who is sort of in charge, didn't want women to run the show, so he read from his Cosa bible and Kelly just interjected things. Then we did the craft with them and served them lunch. Each day was very different. We had to be flexible.
Then we went to Simon's Town shopping in some boutiques and we went to the beach to see the penguins. They used to be called Jack Asses because they brey, but the Afrikans changed their names to the King Penguin.
A couple of the girls became sick with fever and a cough. Went to a craft store where the HIV people make jewelry and sell it for their cause. I bought a lot of stuff there.
Sat. Nov 14- We went to Capricorn Support Group. It was total chaos. Their was a guy playing the keyboard and kids running around everywhere. It just wasn't a very successful day.
Then we had free time in the afternoon and went down to Fish Hoek Beach. We saw surfers and a seal. Then we walked to dinner.
Sun, Nov 15- We went to church at King of King's Baptist Church. It was an excellent message. We stayed for tea and went to go for a drive to Table Mountain. It was too windy for the cable car to go up the mountain but it was an incredible drive.
Did some shopping and had a lovely dinner. Then we had to pack up everything to leave Monday and we had to get supplies ready for the last support group on Monday.
Mon. Nov 16- Woke up early to have breakfast and off to Oceanview Support Group. We knew that there would be a lot of Muslims there so we prepared ourselves with a lot of prayer. The day went fairly well. Hopefully we impacted them.
Afterwards we went to have lunch and then picked up our suitcases and headed to the Cape Town Airport. We flew out to Johannesburg and stayed at a hotel near the airport. Went to bed to be ready for the Safari trip the next morning.
Tues, Nov 17- We had to be up at 5 am. Safari guides picked us up after breakfast. The guides were Clive and Hoppy. It took approx 5 hours to drive to Krueger National Park. When we got in the park outside of Krueger (Molebetsi) we drove through the park until we got to the camp. An absolute awesome place. Every 2 people had a hut. I roomed with Dawn Carnill. It was a round hut with a thatched roof. We went for an evening drive (2 jeeps-tiered). Our guides name was Lucky. We went on trails in our jeep with no roof. It became very cool but they brought blankets and hot chocolate. We saw an elephant right by us. We saw him push a tree over and we could smell his musk because he was so close. We saw many animals, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, water buffalo, jackal, wild cats, lots of impala, kudu, eland, bushback, waterbuck diuker, steerbok, warthogs, hippos, white rhinos, baboon. We had vervet monkeys at our camp in the trees. That evening we had an amazing dinner. It was outside around a campfire with a wall of reeds around us and candlelight. We had lamb Stew.
Wed. Nov 18- We woke at 5 am to see zebras and giraffe outside our window! Then we went to have a quick coffee and rusks (scones)and off to our safari. We just started our journey and we came across 3 lioness and 3 cubs at a kill of a zebra. We sat and watched for a couple of hours. It was incredible. We felt bad for the zebra but realized that it was just the circle of life. The 2 cubs were adorable and covered with blood. They were having a great time.
After seeing that we saw many more animals but that was the highlight. Then we went back to camp and had breakfast and showered and packed to leave.
We were off to Krueger National Park and then stayed that evening in another camp. We saw many, many animals!
Thurs, Nov 19 - Breakfast and off to the road for Johannesburg Airport. We boarded in the evening and flew through the night and arrived home safely Friday afternoon.
Wow! What an amazing trip! The Lord's splendor is amazing!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday
This will be my last post until Friday when I get home. We are heading off this morning to Oceanview Community for our last presentation. It is kind of bittersweet. The last couple of days my stomach has been upset. I ate something bad at dinner I suppose. Had to use Imodium and it did a number on me. Anyway, after this morning's message, we are heading up to see Table Mountain. I'm excited! And then later we fly to Johannesburg and get a motel room there. Our tour guides will pick us up in the morning and we will drive (about 5 hours) to Krueger National Park where we'll stay for 2 nights. And will be going on some safari rides!
Yesterday we went to church at King of Kings where the Pastor is from the Living Hope Foundation (Pastor John Thomas). And then we did some sight seeing. The scenery is absolutely incredible. The most beautiful place I have even seen. I feel so blessed to be here!
Hi to everyone at 920 On the Park! (co-workers and residents!)
Love to all family and friends.
Yesterday we went to church at King of Kings where the Pastor is from the Living Hope Foundation (Pastor John Thomas). And then we did some sight seeing. The scenery is absolutely incredible. The most beautiful place I have even seen. I feel so blessed to be here!
Hi to everyone at 920 On the Park! (co-workers and residents!)
Love to all family and friends.
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