Extension 23

The Lord must of been speaking to all of us (or maybe just me) about the work that has been done and being done in Ext 23 and in SA.  Our church here, Acts Community, spends one of every 6-8 weeks on a Sunday serving in some capacity or another.  Yesterday we spent working at the church in Ext 23.  This is our plant church from Acts Community.  We also have a J-Life team working there this year.  Dudu and Thabiso are still working there as pastors under the leadership of Acts Community, Vereeniging.  

The work there was amazing!  We continued to work on some plumbing/pipe issues and got that completed.  The men mostly worked on that.  The rest of the youth and women worked on clearing trash from the land beside the church property that has become a dumping ground.  There is a fence around the church property so it is protected from that.  Anyway, the kids and church members helped in the cleaning up and moving dirt to fill in the trench.  The area looked much better and we are hoping that soon we will be able to acquire the property next to the church.  

Lorna (John's wife), Dudu, Grace, Jordan (John's daughter), Chevonne and myself went to an orphanage along with a team of "guys" to work on the outside of the house.  The orphanage is a regular house in Ext 23 that is lead by a lady named Grace.  She is mother to 20 children.  The church in Ext 23 is working with this orphanage to build on 2 rooms and have a long-term relationship. J-Life is also hoping to build a long-term relationship.  Lorna, Chevonne and I went to meet and speak with Grace to establish this relationship.  We are praying it works out. I spent some time playinjg and holding a little girl who is 5.  She has AIDS.  All she wanted was to be fed breakfast and to be held.  The other kids just played and laughed. Grace and Jordan ran and played with the other little girls.  It was great to see them all together.  The kids from the orphanage go to school if they are of age.  They get made fun of quite a bit, as you can imagine.  It breaks my heart for them. 

Later we were able to attend the service which again was wonderful and was great to hear Thabiso preach and worship together.  AND, I at the end one of the older youth/young adults (hard to tell sometimes) came up to me and said, "I know you from somewhere." I said to him that I had been around Ext 23 a lot and I didn't know where he would know me from... We talked for a bit and come to find out...He finally asked me if I went to soccer with Thabiso! It was with the soccer team in 2006 when we went and played soccer in 07! Can you believe! I left praising God that there was at least one boy whose life had been changed and I had gotten to see it! So many times you go on short term missions and you don't know, but yesterday I again met this boy face to face. I, of course, wanted to start crying.  He was beautiful young man who loved God and whose life was changed because somebody decided to play soccer and show him the love of Jesus! 

Crying now, I am praising God for all of you and the lives you lead everyday.  Thanks for praying and giving all that you do! You are the reason we can stay and live life here. I am glad to be able to share with you.

Newest Addition

Well, we did not know how to quite tell everyone this, but...

We got a dog! Did I get ya? I bet at least some of ya thought we got a little African baby. You know ya did.  Because those of you that did, know me and know that I love babies! But, at this point, we are just adjusting with the ones we've got and loving that "Andrew" got a new puppy.  He is a three month old Rotweiller cross and his name is Ranger.  After the Texas Rangers, of course... He is going to be our SECURITY.  I want him to have one of those sweaters with the word security on the back of it, but no one is going along with me. Wonder why?  

He is a boy and is a guard dog... 

Anyway, so far so good.  He is super smart and knows to stay out of the house when the door is open and is potty trained.  We are working on the gate.  He is still a curious little thing. Anyway, I hope you think he is as cute as we do. He has a very good temperment and hopefully will grow to be a good guard dog.  

Trip Home

Well, It's been a long time coming in updating from the trip home. We have been back in South Africa more than a month now.  Horrible, I know.  I have put it off so long now that I had to look back at the pictures to see where I had left off in the whole story...

Ok, we tried to see everyone, but we failed.  We just lost our time.  We wanted to see everyone and I thought I had scheduled everything so well, but being this was our first time home in this experience it was I am guessing a test run.  We LOVED being home and spending time with our families! We loved sharing our experiences in a up close personal way.  It is so hard to share the joy and excitement about our work here through email, the blog and facebook.  

The kids also loved seeing their cousins and friends at church.  We missed going to school because of the Swine Flu and TAKS test.  We tried to visit, but they would not allow visitors and personally I did not want the flu or to take the TAKS test.  Sorry... We had a BIG birthday party with all the cousins.  We counted it one big birthday party for all the birthdays that were missed or that are going to be missed in the next year.  FUN! Pics to follow.  

Fun times had  by all and craziness with the schedule had by all.  We will miss our family and friends and so much appreciate the love, support and prayers that sustain us until we meet again.