Our last post...

Our time in South Africa has come to an end, and we are sad to leave our new found friends.  Tate, Austin, Ramsey, and Ally are playing soccer with the farmhand kids as I write...they made some friendships that I pray will last their lifetime.  All of the kids have talked about coming back and possibly continuing to visit and train under John.  I would love to see some of our Iowa kids continue to reach Africa for Jesus and become a part of J-life. 

All of us have been challenged this week and I hope that we have been a blessing to these people as their blessing upon us have been far greater. I think God is working in the hearts of each individual from the South Africa team, and I am excited to see where that will take us when we return home. 

Thank you J-life for your love and commitment to Jesus - we have been spoiled beyond words!!

The money has been distributed...

Tommy was able to get the $265 that all of you kids collected in Missions Club/Sunday School transferred into 2,300 rend.

• 1,500 rend was given to the extension 23 church, Acts Family Church, to do repairs at the church.  The money will help to fix the door on the outhouse.  The remaining money will be to repair the playground equipment also located on the grounds of the church.  
• 8,000 rend were given to Bhuti and Thabo at J-life.  Bhuti and Thabo will use it for some children's christian books and other items for the farmhand kids.  Bhuti will give us an update as soon as he gets stuff.

Both were thrilled with the gift and thanked Tom so much!!

So, you kids back home - 

WAY TO GO, YOUR OFFERINGS WERE PUT TO A GREAT CAUSE HERE IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!

Picking up stones...

Glenda saw a young women (16-18 years old) picking up stones at Extension 23 yesterday.  She questioned someone as to why this young women was picking up stones and putting them in this little bag...the response was; due to her diet or lack of, she has an iron deficiency and craves iron. The stones she was picking up have iron in them so she will eat these stones to feed that craving....

Continue to pray for the people of Africa.  We have seen many people impacted through the work of J-life...God is stirring over here in Africa and it has been a blessing to all of us to witness that firsthand.

The kids at Extension 23

Ramsey was able to go to extension 23 today...she was so excited to see her best friend, Themba (pronounced Tim'ba).  Themba is the "social butterfly" of extension 23.  He loves to talk, laugh, joke and is very interested in everyone he meets.  Ramsey remembered him well from last year and was really looking forward to seeing him again.  His heart is big and he loves the Lord.    We would all love to see Themba (and many more from extension 23) come to the states so that he could hang out with us for awhile.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Why are the children barefoot if they are given shoes?

We learned from a missionary couple that was staying at Camp Eden that when poor children get shoes given to them, they actually sell them for glue.  

Why do you think they would want glue?

When the children eat glue it makes them feel full so instead of having a pair of shoes, they would rather have the feeling of a full tummy....

Waterstone College and Lerato

All of the kids in our group were able to go to school with Jordan and Nathan today.  It was a very new experience for them, and also very exciting.  Jordan and Nathan are coming to the end of their school year, since they follow the calendar.  So, "swim day" was the theme yesterday and it was filled with a lot of swimming.

Ally and Ramsey were with Jordan's class and Tate and Austin were able to go with Nathan.  Tate and Austin both commented that the kids would ask them if they were from America and tell them they spoke so differently.  Everyone was very nice and welcoming, and they kids had a blast.

Dawn, Christine and myself were able to visit a school for children ages 2 - grade 3.  This school was located right down the road from Jordan and Nathan's school.  In this township, where the school was located, it is estimated that 80% of the people are HIV positive.  The township has around 15,000 people and last year when Dawn was there, the school had 200 children and when we were there the attendance had grown to 390, almost doubled in a year.  Sister Mary is the one that oversees everything and Joann is the principal.  The children were so well behaved and their manners were indescribable. All of the children sang songs of praise for us and patiently waited as we handed out treats.  

Also for all of you that wonder if your Operation Christmas Child boxes do actually go somewhere - we have proof that they do!!  (And we took a picture)  These boxes were delivered and will be handed out on Saturday at the children's school graduation.  What a blessing to see this school, these children and all of these amazing teachers.

God is good in so many ways.....and there is proof in the faces of these children.

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.  I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old - what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.  He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.  Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

Psalm 78:1-7

What is Extension 23?

Extension 23 is an area that is densely populated and government funded.  A group of people from our team were able to visit extension 23 today.  We had gone to church there on Sunday so the team knew where we were going, but today the team was able to spend some time with the kiddos.


Written by Ally:
"As soon as I saw some of the houses, I knew I wanted to be a missionary there.  I felt so sorry for them that they had to live there.  I even found out that some had to commit crimes in order to support their families.  When I got to the church, there were 2 little girls and one older girl, I asked them if they wanted to play a game and they said, "Which game?" and I told them, "Hide and seek!" and that is how our friendship started.  After we played the game, it started raining and we went into Pastor Thabiso's house.  The grown up's went inside the church (which is a tent) and we sang a couple of songs and then everyone introduced themselves.  After that, they asked me to tell them a Christian story.  I sat with an interpreter and told them a story about Amy the missionary and the temple children.  After that it stopped raining and one of the kids showed up with a soccer ball.  One of the adults asked me if I could teach them a game to play with a ball, so I taught them how to play soccer - they absolutely loved it!!  After a while I stepped out of the game, and Fred, the wiener dog, trotted over and I played with him for a bit.  He ran off somewhere, so I went over to see what the adults were doing and they were preparing lunch for everyone.  One of the older girls came in and I asked my mom if we brought the beach balls.  She said yes, and they were in the truck, so I went and got them.  I helped the girl blow them up and we started playing with them.  Another girl came in and her name was Caroline and we all played with the balls.  When lunch was ready, I got some and watched Fred play with a towel.

And then we were off to the orphanage.  When we were there I went into the children's area and just sat there because I had on idea what to do.  My mom told me to read a story, and handed me a book.  I sat down in a chair and started reading.  The kids payed attention for about 5 seconds - and then they went back to hugging and getting candy from the adults.  After failing to keep their attention on the book, I started playing on the swing set.

When we left, I asked Tom if I could come back and he said he didn't know.  I had a great time at extension 23 and made many, many friends.  I hope to see them again."

...to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Ephesians 4:12-13

helping with name tags for camp...

This afternoon the kids were able to help with an upcoming j-life project.  J-life will be having a VAC camp, which disciples youth, and brings in around 300 children each year.  The kids were able to assemble the name tags for all of the campers.  It was great to see them work together and get a task accomplished

Continuation from yesterday's post

As I posted on the blog last night, all of the children EXCEPT Austin were in bed (I wasn't telling the whole truth)...but as he was waiting patiently for me to put him to bed he feel asleep in the chair right by my side.

The kids are having a great time, and also being exposed to many new environments.  They will be excited to share more details when they get back.

I am going to post this now, and add the picture of Austin tonight when I can get it off of Christine's camera. Ally will be doing the blog post tonight for her perspective of Extension 23.

More later,  God bless.

Today was a good day...

The kids were able to go along with the entire group today to extension 23.  We worshiped with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and it was amazing!!  I will have to get the kids perspective in the morning because all of the kids are in bed.

After eating a quick lunch we were able to join Thabo and Bhuti as they were holding the church service for the farm hand children at Camp Eden.  At the end of the service we were able to give the farm hand children their backpacks that we brought for them.  Their eyes were filled with excitement as they approached us, and to much surprise, the boys picked all of the bright colored backpacks. 

When all of the kids went back to their seats they laid the backpacks across their legs like a blanket.  I was beginning to wonder if they really knew what it was that we had given them?  So - I did a quick demonstration on how to wear one and instantly they pulled the strings tight and put them on their backs.  It was very emotional for me as so many people back home had gotten these bags for these children and I was the one given the opportunity to deliver.  I wish everyone could have seen their faces, too precious for words!!

In the afternoon we were able to sort all of the clothes that everyone brought...and boy did we bring a lot of clothes!!  Shortly after everything was sorted we found some of the farm hand children playing soccer outside so we gathered them and let them go "shopping".  I took a little boy named John and we found a ton of clothes that fit him perfectly.  Shoes, shorts, t-shirts, pants, sweatshirts and some PJ's.

John is the little boy in the middle with the stripped shirt...look at all of those clothes we found for him. He was so excited, and he just kept saying "YES" in a very quiet voice as I showed him things.  When his bag was full, he turned around with a half grin and said "thank you"....

We are having a wonderful time together as a group.  I am exicted to see what the rest of the week holds.  I hope to post more tomorrow.

Now the Lord says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant..

Isaiah 49:5

Prayer support and offering...

The children of Grace were able to collect $265.00 for the South Africa team.  Wahoo!!  Way to go kids!!  Cindy presented the money to Tate and Austin and the kids also prayed for the entire South Africa team.  

Thank you for your prayer and financial support from missions club and the Sunday school kids!!

Preparation....

These kids have been preparing for this trip for many months now.  We are fortunate enough to be able to have 4 kids that will be representing many children back in Iowa.


Let me introduce them to you and they can tell you why they are going to South Africa...


Ally - said she wants to see the birds, animals and be able to spend time in Extension 23. 


Ramsey said, "I am going back because I liked SA.  I like everyone at the farm and at Extension 23, especially Themba, who I can't wait to see again.  I am also excited to see Jordan and Nathan.  I think that Jordan and Nathan's school was very nice and had kind kids and teachers.  Every day Jordan, Nathan, and I swam and we will this year too.  I am also excited to bring Themba back to the farm like we did last year so he could spend some time with the team.  I really enjoyed going to the orphanage and meeting all of the little kids, hopefully, we will adopt a little girl who I spent time with and, hopefully, she will be there this year too!  (Mom and Dad don't know about this.)  The woman who manages the orphanage is very kind to take care of the kids at the orphanage.  I cannot wait to see Jordan, Nathan, Themba, Dudu, J-Life team and especially John and Lorna who are my auntie and uncle now.  I am so excited to see everyone in SA again!"

Tate - said he wants to tell the South African children about God and help his dad put flooring in the silos.  He is also looking forward to watching movies on the airplane.


Austin - said he wants to take care of the South African children and he also looks forward to climbing the mountains that he saw in the pictures from last year.


Our team looks forward to walking alongside these kids to see how they respond to their surroundings.  So often kids respond more faithfully then adults, I know God has BIG plans for us!!

Introducing the South Africa Team 2011

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...'  Matthew 28:18-19