Jed & Brooke in South Africa

2011-04-25T16:23:00.006+02:00

Hands at Work in Africa, Zambia Celebrations

Last week I had the opportunity to attend Hands at Work in Africa’s Regional Celebration in Zambia. Each year Hands at Work gathers leaders from partner Community Based Organizations throughout Africa for a time of learning, sharing and celebrating about what God is doing throughout communities in Africa. This year Hands had its biggest Celebration ever in Zambia from April 13-16.

The theme of the Celebrations this year was, “Going Deeper.” The vision of Hands at Work is the local church in Africa effectively caring for the orphaned, widowed and the dying and unified in this mission with the church outside Africa. All of the different sessions focused on Going Deeper in relationship to make this vision become a reality. The celebration kicked off with a message from Hands at Work founder George Snyman who focused on Going Deeper in our relationship with Christ. He asked the question, “Why do you do what you do?” The motivation for caring for the orphaned, widowed and dying should come out of a deep love for Christ, a thankful spirit for what He has done for us, and a willingness to share that sacrificial love with others through service.

An excerpt of Ephesians 4 was given to everyone at the start of the Celebrations to read. I think it speaks directly to the purpose of these regional celebrations.

On the last day of the celebration before the official program started a large group of individuals gathered in the morning to sing songs together. It was just an amazing time. Here is a video of one of my favorite songs, “Ananipenda,” which translates to, “He loves me.”

The End

2011-01-11T23:52:00.004+02:00

Well, we are way overdue for our final post. We have been back for a couple of months now and have enjoyed reconnecting with so many friends and family, spending time outside (especially ice fishing and snowshoeing), cooking supper for my mom and dad, and working on crafty projects. The job hunt is starting in earnest now and we're excited to see what's next!

Our hearts ache for Africa, but in a way I hope never goes away. We appreciate so much what we've learned in our 39 months away about love, compassion, and friendship. Thanks for your support, your mail, blog comments, and so much else.

With love,
Brooke and Jed

Me and my nephew Gino

The view from Jed's deer stand

At the shack

Jed in Chicago with George and Pam

Close of Service

2010-10-13T09:25:00.003+02:00

Just wanted to give a quick update. Things are going fine in Pretoria, after a few initial hiccups. The PC office was strangely quiet when we arrived at 8:15 on Monday morning. Although we emailed PC a few times before we arrived to touch base about our Close of Service 10-14 Oct, nobody mentioned that Monday was a public holiday in the U.S. so nobody would be there to start our medical checkups and interviews. So, we spent Monday hanging out watching movies and at the mall. It was a little torturous, after running 24/7 for the last few months, to be forced to slow down so suddenly. But this little "break" is probably a good thing, ultimately. I'm generally happy to be working long hours...I consider it a privilege to spend myself on behalf of the most vulnerable, who are so close to God's heart. But this is really a test of whether I truly believe what we've been learning and saying for these last few years, that we are before we do. I know God loves me not for the work that I'm doing but just for being me. I just need some practice in loving myself even when I'm twiddling my thumbs in the waiting room at the PC medical office or taking a walk or visiting with the Australian tourist at breakfast this morning.

Coming home

2010-09-29T23:29:00.003+02:00

Finally, our itinerary...

09 Oct - Pretoria for Peace Corps Close of Service
14 Oct - Cape Town holiday
22 Oct - Zambia for Hands workshop
02 Nov - Chicago with George
08 Nov - Minnesota, finally!

Baby shower

2010-09-09T22:33:00.002+02:00

Had such a fun shower tonight for Jen and Pragcidence. The highlight was that as each of us arrived, we received a slip of paper with instructions for how we can pamper them, so throughout the baby shower they had foot massages, manicures, etc. It was fun to treat them in that way, and it gave us each an opportunity to sit next to one of them and get to chat. I wish I would have taken a picture of them to share with you!

I also enjoyed trying a new crochet project...hats for the babies. Jen's having a boy and Prag is having a girl. Here they are:
It was a nice afternoon with the ladies!

Gino

2010-09-02T21:22:00.001+02:00

Nephew Gino at 2 months old...care to add a caption?

Movie Night

2010-08-26T08:00:00.000+02:00

We watched E.T. and ate caramel corn last weekend. Jed had never seen it!

Marc, Kristal, Tyler, Alicia, Lynn, Lize-Marie, Jayme, and Jed in our living room.

Boo

2010-08-24T08:00:00.000+02:00

We caught Boo having a nap in this position the other day. So funny!

Me and my dog...

Legogote

2010-08-22T19:46:00.002+02:00

Saturday we hiked Mt. Legogote (meaning "lion"). It's the mountain we see everyday near the office and from Hands Village. What a fun time with friends!

From Legogote: Peebles Valley, where we work and live.
We could see White River, Masoyi, the Farm, and ASM.

Alicia and Tyler

Emmanuel and Floyd

Kristal and Marc

You know who...

Tonight

2010-08-19T21:12:00.002+02:00

Thinking about little Peggy tonight. Not sure why. Wondering if she's safe, or if she's cold. Praying.

Gradually's 9th Birthday

2010-07-30T17:06:00.003+02:00

What a fun day!

Gradually and two of his friends spent the afternoon at our place. They loved the swing...

and the trampoline...

the birthday cake...

But the biggest hit were the balloons...

We went to a concert, a talent-show-style fundraiser for a nearby village project, and had a sleepover. The kids (including Jed) all had a great time. :)

World Cup US/SA 16 reunion

2010-07-11T19:28:00.004+02:00

So, here we are 11 days into July already. We've been back in South Africa for a month already. Two weeks after returning to SA we had a little get together with some of our old Peace Corps friends. 4 of us extended for a year (Me, Brooke, Tom Barker, and Nick Verono) and two more of our friends have come back to South Africa (Rose Zulliger, and Keri Dodge). Keri is working just up the road at YWAM/Ten Thousand Homes and Rose is getting a masters in public health down at University of Cape Town.

From L to R (Brooke, me, Tom, Nick, Rose, Keri)

We got together to reminisce old times and we also got to watch the USA in the world cup, well, not live, but we got to go to a bar together and cheer on the red, white and blue.

Go USA

Unfortunately, the US lost to Ghana 2-1 in that game. Disappointing, but at least we got to go down together. It was great to have each other and it definitely made the game more fun. For the US we were playing the last African team surviving and we were the definite minority at the bar.

New nephew

2010-07-07T15:16:00.001+02:00

I've been so busy posting these pictures to Facebook, I forgot not everybody has access. My new nephew Gino, born July 6th...

Isn't he adorable? I can't wait to hold him and kiss him!

Thank You Grace!

2010-07-01T14:40:00.003+02:00

I would like to thank the Quilters of Grace Lutheran Church who generously donated 12 quilts for Brooke and I to take back with us to South Africa. It is winter here, and although it doesn't get nearly as cold as it does back in the states, temperatures can dip to freezing and below at times. Here is a picture of Emmanuel and his neighbor Derek with one of the quilts that were donated. Emmanuel was part of my Junior Achievement program last year. He lives on his own in a cinder block house with no insulation. You can tell by the smile on his face how blessed he feels!

Emmanuel on the left

Grace Lutheran Church also sent back many new pairs of socks, soap and face cloths to give out to those in need. They also allowed us to host our "Taste of Africa" dinner at their church. Thank you so much for all you have done! The rest of the quilts and donations are on their way to Swaziland today with Robyn and Samantha!

World Cup

2010-06-23T21:32:00.006+02:00

The World Cup is being played in South Africa! For those Americans and Canadians out there, the World Cup is the soccer, sorry football, World Championship played once every four years. And unlike the World Series it actually involves teams from all over the World, even the US has a team. Ok, so many of you Americans do know what the World Cup is, maybe I'm just spending too much time with my English friend Dan Waspe and his brother, Rupert, who just happens to be visiting his brother in South Africa while the World Cup is taking place (coincidence?). I must admit that without Dan and his brother, I probably wouldn't be paying as much attention to the World Cup as I am, but any reason to be able to dress up in the stars and stripes (and maybe get under an Englishman's skin) is good enough for me.

From Soccer

Dan and his brother Rupert at halftime (I think Dan is saying this is the greatest day of his life
Until he found out his brother got him tickets to the Eng v. Slovenia game a week later.)

I had the good fortune of being invited to go to the Chile v. Honduras game by Dan. The game was played on the 16th of June at Mbombela stadium just 40 minutes from where we stay. As many of you know from our other posts about Kruger Park, we are just minutes from one of South Africa's greatest wildlife habitats and that theme plays out in the stadium. From the support structures that are meant to look like giraffes to the zebra stripped seating area.

From Soccer

I've read and heard from many that the vuvuzellas are incredibly annoying and hurt your ears, and yes, the vuvuzellas were humming, but to be honest to me the loudest noises at the game were coming from the speakers (in typical African style) before the game and at halftime.

From Soccer

We got to the stadium just over 3 hours before kickoff because we were told you needed to be at the park and ride at least 3 hours before the game to make sure you get to the game before kickoff. A group of about 50 of us arrived at the park where we were greeted by ticket takers telling us the stadium wouldn't open for another 15 minutes. We were literally on the first bus to arrive at the stadium!

From Soccer

This is how many people were in the park when we arrived (they all came on our bus)

Three hours before game time finally arrived and we were allowed to enter. They asked to look into our bags to make sure we weren't carrying any contraband (aka anything that has a logo on it that isn't Coke, Sony, McDonald's, Budweiser, MTN, or one of the other "official sponsors"). We were then asked to walk through a metal detector. Dan carried his 4 year old son through with him and was told by the attendant, "The red light went off." Dan said, "Ok," then walked away. I was next in line and told to stay put while she called over her supervisor. When her supervisor arrived she asked, "what does it mean when the red light goes off?" The supervisor responded, "that means the person is carrying some kind of metal. You should ask them to make sure their pockets are empty and tell them to walk through again." By this time Dan was long gone. Let's just hope terrorists aren't the first to arrive at sporting events! My walk through the metal detector was uneventful.

From Soccer

With 3 hours to kill before game time we decided to walk around and see the sights, eat our sandwiches which we were allowed to bring in, and take in the World Cup atmosphere. This consisted of joining in cheers with the throngs of Chilean fans there and trying to decipher what the Hondurans were saying. Think back to my 2 years of Spanish in high school, I'm pretty sure I heard, 'tengo' and 'taco.' Which means I have a taco. Now I'm not sure, but I don't think the Hondurans were cheering about having tacos. The Chile cheer was much simpler. One fan would shout, "Chi, Chi, Chi." The rest of the group would answer, "le, le, le." Then in unison we would all shout, "Viva, Chile!" The other cheer was, "Ole, ole, ole, ole, Chile, Chile," and no not the Sven and Ole kind, but the bullfighting, "ole" as in Oil of Olay.

From Soccer

We were asked to engage in some soccer banter; luckily I had two Englishmen with me so I didn't need to say much, and I had read on the press guide that both teams had a player named Suazo, that would key their attacks. So every once in a while I would say, "It all depends on how Suazo plays." And regardless of the fan base I would get nods of agreement.

The final score of the game was 1-0 Chile. One goal in 90 minutes. It was exciting, but not like American sports are exciting. The thing I think Americans will never get about soccer is that it routinely can and will end in a tie. Without even so much as an overtime or a shootout? In America we want a clearly defined winner!

So the reason we had to take the bus to the game is because there is no parking area at the stadium. You can't get dropped off or picked up outside the stadium and there is no walking on the roads that surround the stadium. So after the game 35,000 fans poured out of the stadium and waited for buses to come pick us up. We ended up waiting for 2-1/2 hours. I have since heard that with subsequent games at the stadium they have streamlined the exit process with better marked areas for where each bus will pick up and where they will be going. In the end the biggest reason we didn't get on a bus sooner was the 4 year old we were carrying with us. For some strange reason Dan didn't want to try to push to the front of the line and risk getting hit by a bus?

From Soccer

In the end I'm glad I can say, "I was there" (the official FIFA slogan at all ticket sales outlets). All in all my first professional soccer match and first World Cup game was fun. Although, unless the US gets to host the World Cup again it might be my last match for awhile. We also ended up going to the fan park in Nelspruit that night to watch the South Africa game. It was packed, cold, and South Africa lost, badly, but we still had a good time.

From Soccer

The official Coke theme song for the world cup

From Soccer

Me with Marc Damour and Tyler Ralph, supporting South Africa

I think I might have even impressed my English friend Dan enough for him to root for the US, should England find themselves out before us.

From Soccer

Taste of Africa

2010-06-20T20:30:00.003+02:00

Great thanks to everyone who supported our Taste of Africa night at Grace Church on June 1. We had about 60 people attend. Highlights of the night included seeing nearly everyone eating authentic African cuisine (including chicken, pap, soup, ifisashi, and chakalaka) with their hands, so many great questions from the audience about our experiences and Hands at Work's support for orphaned and vulnerable children, and fun prizes. In all, over $2500 was raised to support essential services like home visits, education, and food security for orphaned and vulnerable children in some of the poorest communities in Africa.

Jed's dad, Wally, and my mom, Gina, along with
other family members helped prepare dinner

Ladies from Grace Church volunteered to take tickets and help with clean up

Materials describing Hands at Work in Africa were distributed

Centerpieces like this one, including a variety of South
African goodies, were given away at the end of the night

Me and Jed in our "africa" T-shirts

For more information on how you can help, go to www.handsatwork.org and click on "Get Involved."

Megan's Wedding

2010-06-10T03:11:00.007+02:00

The wedding weekend was fantastic! We went to Elbow Lake Lodge and such a great family time. Megan was gorgeous, and we're so happy to welcome Blake into the family. What a great guy!

Emily Law took beautiful professional pictures, and you can see them on her Flickr account by clicking here. The following are a few that Kim and I took...

Dress Rehearsal

Megan and Blake with Pastor Holly from Grand Forks

Wedding Day - Kim doing Megan's hair

Bridesmaids almost ready to go!

Me and my cousin Billy

Megan and Uncle Bill

The real thing

Bridesmaids

Husband and wife

The reception

Brooke and Jed

My cousin Ryan, Holly, and Lilly

Mike and Sisi Kimmie

Pops and Gram

The best picture I got of Megan's dress

Dancing the night away

Wedding Photos

2010-06-09T20:18:00.003+02:00

Going to Megan's wedding prompted me to look at our wedding photos. (We'll have been married for 7 years this July!) Thought you might enjoy these...

Brooke and Jed

Dad and Brooke

Kim and Brooke and Jon

Pam and Wally Heubner

Gina and Jeff Rittgers

Dolly and Jim Grillo (my grandparents)

Marlene and Orv Rittgers (my grandparents)

Eloda and Leland Krumwiede

MN So Far...

2010-06-02T20:33:00.006+02:00

Here are a few highlights so far.

My birthday, which was planned in detail by me and included (all in one day!)...

A walk with the fam in the woods

It's woodtick season, hence the pants tucked into our socks.

Classic Minnesota fashion...

Mama and me

Foosball with brother-in-law Michael and "little" brother Jon

Me and Kim drinking, ahem, virgin margaritas

Fishing with Jed on Spirit Lake (a.k.a. by mom as the "South Bay of Vermilion")

Blowing out 30 candles

Kimmie's baby shower

Teacher Megan leading games with the aunties and cousins

Megan's bachelorette party at the Twins' game

Me and my sisi

Brand new Target Field

All photos of our time with Jed's family are conspicuously missing. That's because we don't have a camera right now and these are all from my sister's camera. We'll have to get pics from the other side of the family soon.

A Taste of Africa

2010-05-31T00:42:00.003+02:00

Please join us for:

A Taste of Africa

6pm Tuesday, June 1

Grace Lutheran Church in Hibbing

We'll be serving African food for dinner, speaking about our time in Africa, and door prizes will be given. Call our cell phone 218-969-2149 if you're interested. Tickets are$30 per person and all proceeds from the event will go to Hands at Work to support orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa.

Woohoo!

2010-05-06T21:43:00.000+02:00

Leaving for the U.S. in one week!

No food

2010-04-27T21:34:00.005+02:00

For some reason, I think it gets harder to blog as we're approaching a time in the U.S. Not sure why. But we definitely feel our brains making the shift towards home. (It's not the kind of thing that just sneaks up on a person, at least for me.) And I think it's partly because I start to think more about what's different in my life, how I've changed, as I imagine home.

On Saturday morning I got a call from Eunice. She and her twin sister, Eunie, are 19 now; they are the heads of their household, living with and caring for their 8-year-old nephew Gradually. You might remember them from a couple of previous posts. In the last two years we have gotten to know these girls very well. We buy them groceries periodically, have them over to watch movies and jump on the trampoline. Nothing so special. Anyway, on Saturday morning, Eunice said over the phone, her voice strained with anxiety, "We need to tell you something. We have no food." The night before, they had to ask a neighbor for a little bit of corn meal so Gradually had something to eat, which he must have in order to take his medication. And today, there is no food in the house.

Can you imagine? They're 19. They're in 10th grade, since like many orphans, they're a bit behind in school. They're working hard to graduate high school...they have no electricity so they do their homework by candlelight most nights. They have no money and can't get jobs if they want to finish school. (Even if they did want to quit school, they would struggle to find work...the unemployment rate is around 30% in the area.) The thing is, no child should worry about where she will find food that day. We sometimes become desensitized to the idea; we get used to all the melodramatic TV commercials and people asking for money. But these are children I love and care about. Imagine if it were your child, only with no auntie or uncle or grandma or social worker to run to for help. They have a few neighbors who are sometimes kind to them, even though they have very little themselves. And consider that in many places, including here in Africa, there is almost nothing standing between that desperate hunger and prostitution, if you're a 19-year-old girl.

I remember years ago a friend asking me how God could bless me with so much and yet allow others to suffer. I told her I believed God blessed me in order to bless others. Don't get me wrong; there have been times when I've cried out at the injustice of it all. When I close my eyes, I see their faces. I see grannies who have lost four out of five children. I see two-year-old Peggy, her listless eyes and her cold little feet, whose sick mother was driven to prostitution in order to buy food. I see Gift and Lorraine and Nora and Daniel and so many others. I'm not sure you can feel the magnitude of the problem until you walk in the village and hear the stories. HIV has ravaged Africa, devastated Africa.

I absolutely still believe that God expects me to do something about it, whether I'm here or living in Minnesota. After all, the Bible says, "True religion is this, to care for the widows and the orphans in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James isn't saying be nice to each other and that's enough. The command "care for the widows and the orphans" isn't mean to be symbolic in any way. He's saying go do it. Love God and love your neighbor. Not deep down in some pink, sweet, cloudy way, but literally. Take care of the poor. Feed, clothe, visit the orphans and widows. If you're serious about it, re-read the story of the Good Samaritan, which takes it a step further. (Our pastors and priests are too often watering this one down.) Not only should you not ignore the poor. Not only should you not be satisfied giving them a dollar as you step over them in the street. But cross the street. Seek them out. Go out of your way to help...even dirty, smelly, sick strangers. Even the ones who don't deserve it. This is serious stuff.

Another thing I've learned (and when I say learned, I think I mean more like a teeny tiny revelation into God's character) from being in Africa is that Jesus was a man of sorrows, well-acquainted with grief. The only reason my heart breaks for these children is because God's heart is breaking even more. He's asking all of us, pleading with us, to be part of the solution, to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, even though it's difficult. Jesus was pretty radical, and he's calling us to be radical, too.

Whew! If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I certainly don't have all the answers. And I'll be thinking a lot in the coming months about how to translate all of this into life back home. For now, I'm happy to be around to take the girls grocery shopping when they need food. And their story is one of the more hopeful ones, since their older brother is currently attending university on a full scholarship and has good job prospects as an accountant when he finishes in June. It won't be the end of their struggles, but it sure could be a new chapter for them. Just as a footnote, Eunie and Eunice and Gradually were featured in a video that was part of the Living Truth telethon in 2008. If you want to hear more about their story, I think you can link to the video here.

Brooke with Peggy and a group of kids from Mulenga, Zambia

Sukai helping Peggy eat

Our canine garbage disposal

2010-04-02T22:51:00.003+02:00

We've always laughed about how our dog Boo would eat anything, but we recently started pushing the envelope a little, testing different foods. (Johanna the Jack Russell terrier, on the other hand, is very picky. Won't eat the crust of bread or any vegetables.) So, here is a list of things Boo eats:

broccoli
corn cobs
melon rinds
ice cubes
carrots
raw potatoes
raw noodles
apple cores
uncooked rice
used tea bags (?!)
plastic toys

She ate a hot chili once, but hasn't made that mistake again, much to Jed's disappointment. (He's tried repeatedly.) Strangely enough, she won't eat guava or kalamata olives.

Baby blanket

2010-03-28T18:05:00.003+02:00

My aunt Debbie Grillo taught me to crochet about three years ago, right before we left for Africa. Since then, I have crocheted mostly scarves, baskets, and dishcloths, but I was really just looking for an excuse to take on a bigger project when I found out Kimmie was pregnant. The baby blanket I made is about 1m square and it's made of soft machine-washable cotton. The old Afrikaaner lady working in the yarn store was NOT happy I bought cream colored yarn for a baby blanket. She kept looking at me in dismay and suggesting more colorful options, like lavender/turquoise variegated yarn with sparkles. Ugh. I really like the way it turned out. The pattern is available here. I hope little Franklin likes it. (That's the latest name Jed picked out for him, we're trying it out.)

Kachele Farm, Zambia

2010-03-19T15:26:00.003+02:00

Here is a short little video of Kachele Farm in Zambia where we stayed during our time in Luanshya. The man in the video is Samuel Zulu who moved to the farm with his family at the end of last year from Chipata, Zambia. I will try to post more video from the trip in the near future.

Jed's Birthday

2010-03-15T18:37:00.005+02:00

Highlights from Jed's birthday party at a nearby lake...

Jed's favorite thing to do in the world...fish

Birthday cake

Friends

Marley and Sonney

A rainbow over Mt. Legogote

Laughing at Marc and Divine untangling a line from the tree

Me and Jed untangling another line from another tree

A truly South Africa braai...boerwors, sausages, steak, chops and chicken

We had such a relaxing afternoon. We're so thankful for the great friends we have here, especially Dan and Jen (Marley and Sonney's dad and mom) for making it such a special day. We love you guys!

Praying for Conference

2010-03-11T08:00:00.002+02:00

Hands at Work Conference time is here again, only this year instead of one big conference we're having 4 regional conferences. It will be a very busy time for us in the office, making preparations. In order to prepare our hearts and focus on the children we serve, we will have a time of focused prayer leading up to our first conference in South Africa on March 25. We'd love for you to join us. Follow this link to see a description and to download the prayer guide.

Little Peanut

2010-03-08T19:11:00.000+02:00

By now, news of Kimmie's pregnancy is nothing new. But can I just say how fun it is to have your sister be pregnant first? I like asking her all the things I could never ask anyone else, like "doesn't the baby's kicks just feel kind of like gas or something?" Or "do you think you look pregnant or just kind of fat?" (Of course, people have told her she looks pregnant, not fat, but only really nice people, so that's not reliable.)

Also, I think it's going to fun to see her in a bridesmaid's dress when she's 8 months pregnant at Megan's wedding.

I can say all of these things and tease her because she's doing so well. She's strong and fit and SOOO excited to be a mommy. And she's going to be a GREAT mommy!

Rainy and cold...in Zambia?

2010-02-23T17:23:00.000+02:00

Wrapping things up in Zambia. On our way to James and Sukai’s house for supper tonight. Looking forward to it...they’re really great people. Their youngest, Yamikani, is 3 and she thinks Jed is a jungle gym. One last big meeting tomorrow and then we’re off to Lusaka for a night before catching our flight to SA on Thursday. Headaches for both of us the past couple days...praying it’s not malaria.

Missing you all!

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The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

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Power's out

2010-02-18T08:27:00.000+02:00

Yesterday morning I sat in the office with the Kabwe team, and we were so grateful to have power back after an unexplained outage the previous day which seemed to affect only our office. Suddenly we heard a strange noise. I saw the eyes of the others get big, and when I turned around I saw black smoke pouring out of the electrical outlet. Oh no! I jumped up to unplug my computer. It smelled awful! The bad news is, the power is now out in our office. The good news is, my computer is okay.

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The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

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Good to be back

2010-02-16T17:02:00.003+02:00

It's good to be back in Zambia. We arrived in Luanshya on Thursday the 4th, and the highlight of our time so far has just been reconnecting with our Hands at Work family here. We had a huge braai on Saturday night at Kachele Farm with 31 of us, including everybody's children. We enjoyed boerwors (South Africa sausages), chicken, coleslaw, beet salad, pasta salad, green beans, and juice. And we played games like hot potato and "shoot shoot bang." We've really enjoyed staying at the farm with Andrew from Zimbabwe and Jaap from Holland. They are both long-term volunteers for Hands, and we've cooked together, played spoons, watched movies, and mostly just hung out.

On Sunday we took the bus two hours south to Kabwe, where we spent most of our time during our 6 week visit in 2008. It's my 5th time in Zambia now, so you can imagine the feelings of being here are much different now that we know our way around and how things work and what to expect. Jed will return to Luanshya probably tomorrow and I will return probably Friday. On Thursday the 25th we will fly from Lusaka back to Johannesburg and arrive home late that night.

Some of the things we've been working on are re-registering Hands at Work in Zambia, training a new bookkeeper, assessing options for Internet, organizing visas and work permits for volunteers, reviewing project plans, and planning for 2010. We make many plans each day, but things always move at a different pace here. Some of the things that have "come up" in the past week-and-a-half are numerous police stops/tickets/bribes asked for, unexpected rains, 3 coworkers coming down with awful cases of malaria, the vehicle breaking down at least every other day...welcome to Zambia. The good news is that all that waiting allows for lots of time for visiting and building relationship. We love our friends here, and we've really enjoyed being with them.

I hope we'll have other chances to blog before we leave, we'll see. We miss you all very much!

Going to Zambia? It's a Long Story!

2010-01-31T11:03:00.004+02:00

Brooke and I are finally headed to Zambia! We leave on Thursday, February 4 and will be there for 3 weeks. (Missing the Superbowl. Luckily, the Vikings are not playing. I imagine that scene in Rainman where Tom Cruise pretends to be with the Nielsen tv ratings company so Dustin Hoffman's character can watch The People's Court as Brooke and I go door to door in Luanshya trying to find the game, when I start shouting 8 minutes 'til kickoff and have a breakdown.)

Many of you might remember that we were going to go to Zambia shortly after we arrived back in South Africa last September. Weel due to visa issues and passport problems that trip was delayed. Then due to Peace Corps issues it was delayed again. We finally got approval to go last week and we are really excited. We almost had one more delay when we called the airline to reschedule our tickets and they told us one of our flights was suspended! Brooke called the airline's main office and after being on hold for 10 minutes was told they don't know why the tickets were suspended, but if we went to the airport they could sort us out there. Brooke quickly asked what airport and the response was, "any airport." Surprised by this answer Brooke asked if the Kruger airport would work and again the agent said yes. So we quickly arranged to get out to Kruger airport (it is about as far from Hibbing to the Hibbing airport as it is from where we stay to the Kruger airport and the airports are similar in size.)

We got to the airport and found an amazing ticketing agent there. After giving our ticket information she said she would have to call the head office to find out why our tickets were suspended. We said we tried that and they told us to come to the airport! She called the head office and after being on hold for 10 minutes hung up! Then she pulled out 'the manual.' It was as thick as Gone With the Wind, with pages the size of a road atlas. She quickly started flicking through pages and typing on her keyboard, and after only about 5 minutes said she managed to get them unsuspended. All that was left was rebooking and we were good. She started typing again after asking us dates and times then asked why we weren't able to travel the first time. We told her why and she said, "Well, I don't want you to have to pay for the rebooking so I will just put funeral." She finished up and gave us our new itinerary and showed us the rebooking fee was supposed to be R650 per ticket (about$200 for both tickets). We were amazed! Let's just say the customer service we have come to expect in South Africa was less than stellar so when something like this happens you are truly amazed! Not sure how often we will get to post while we are there, but I'm sure we will post when we can.

We would like to thank all of you who continue to pray for us during our time here in Africa. When things like the customer service miracle happen it is clear that we have many people praying for us!

Game over

2010-01-25T04:15:00.003+02:00

Getting up in the middle of the night to watch the game isn't as fun as one might think. Especially when the Vikings lose. Now the game's over and it's getting light outside...gonna to be a great day at the office! The upside of it is that right now Jed's getting out the razor to shave his playoffs beard. :)

Goodbye, Shanti

2010-01-19T20:49:00.003+02:00

Today we got a call from Jed's mom. Shanti's been sick, and today she had to be put down.
The vet thinks she probably died of natural causes, as her kidneys were slowing shutting down, an apparently common way to go for 8-9 year old Siamese.

She was a great cat, and we're definitely going to miss her. We've been reminiscing about how she loved to play soccer and fetch little balls of paper, how she was always falling off of things, how we didn't miss her tail at all. (She had a tail, remember, it was just really short.) We remembered how Jed misspelled her name once and then Kim and Mike called her Shati from then on (ugh!), and her adventures flying to North Carolina and back (escaping in the airport, meowing the whole flight, etc.), the awesome cat tree Jed built for her (which he called her skyscraper), how she loved to drink out of the sink, and one of our favorites, her somersaults. I remember when I first adopted her, before Jed and I were married and I was living alone in North Carolina...it was so comforting to come home to someone...she always ran to do the door meowing when I walked in. Pam said today she appreciated the same thing, especially when Wally was working afternoons.

I'm so glad she got to stay with Jodi, Jamie, Jordan, Taylor, Morgan, and Carter for a while. And Pam and Wally, too. Everybody took such good care of her. And thanks to Pam and Jordan for being there with her today at the end. Bye, Shanti!

A good day

2010-01-16T17:47:00.002+02:00

Today we celebrated Eunie and Eunice's 19th birthday. After a shopping spree (courtesy of my generous parents) in Hazyview where we bought new school uniforms including shoes, shirts, and socks, we brought a feast back to E&E's house. Older brother Oscar and nephew Gradually joined us for chicken, rolls, and chippies, plus pink cupcakes (which were a hit) and ice cream. They loved it. (As usual, Gradually ate like a horse...unbelievable.)

I'm don't know when it happened, but I sure do love these three special kids. Like most orphans, Eunie and Eunice are a couple of years behind in school, but they were both thrilled to show us their marks a couple of weeks ago...they passed grade 9! (Just imagine for a second that they have no mom or auntie to take care of them. They are raising Gradually, doing all the cooking and cleaning, maintaining a garden in their yard, and somehow managing to stay in school. Incredible!) Gradually is really healthy these days and at eight years old is starting grade 4. He'll be studying English for the first time this year (which Jed and I are thrilled about, of course). Five new matchbox cars made his day today. And watching him smile when Jed gave him a big hug made my day.

Kruger Park

2010-01-03T20:04:00.006+02:00

From this weekend's safari...

View from my seat

Hyena

Rhinos

Lions lounging (from a distance)

Baboon

Marabou storks

Rock monitor

Kudu

Cheetah (my first!)

From Jed's Facebook status: "Went into Kruger National Park this weekend. We saw cheetah, lions 4 times, several rhino, over 100 elephants, around 500 cape buffalo (buffalo sex, and fighting), Hyena, all kinds of different birds, (including bird sex, Southern Carmine Bee Eater, Southern Ground Hornbill my favorites, and what looked to be a mass migration of Marabou Storks as well as 2 endangered saddle billed storks (there are less than 100 in Southern Africa), around 100 baboons (including baboon sex), 1000s of impala, hippos, wildebeest (gnu), zebra (including a zebra fight), black backed jackal, Kudu!, Waterbuck, nyala, giraffes, monkeys, warthogs (with babies), steenbok, duiker, mongoose(s), tons of vultures and many different eagles. I enjoy every time I go into the park, but this was the best so far!"

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T18:07:00.006+02:00

Merry Christmas, everybody! We've been reflecting on this past year, amazed at where we are and what we are part of. I (Brooke) am, in particular, thankful for the opportunity to be living in community with an amazing, diverse group of people who share our desire to serve God by serving people. I have learned so much about hospitality and caring for your neighbor from so many who have cared for us this year--especially since returning from the U.S. in September. I expected it to get easier to be away from our friends and family during the holidays (this is our 3rd year away from home), but in some ways it's only gotten harder! Still, we are blessed to be part of a family here who loves us. I've also learned so much this year about compassion, trusting God, and about appreciating every day.

Christmas Eve afternoon we spent at Mac Mac pools, swimming, reading, and having a picnic lunch. Then last night we went to a Christmas play and had a late Christmas dinner with George and Carolyn and their kids plus Levy and Pragcidence. We went to church this morning, came home to clean up, now Jed is making candy cane cookies in anticipation of friends arriving this afternoon to eat and play games. The weather's been in the 90s all week, so we're really grateful to have clouds and cooler temps today. (Of course, we're dreaming of snow...it sounds like MN could stand to share some of theirs.)

Thank you all for your support this year. You have no idea how much your phone calls and emails and text messages and packages and blog/Facebook comments mean to us! Here is our Christmas present to you...we had so much fun making it! If you laugh even half as much as we have, we'll be thrilled.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Let it Snow

2009-12-23T11:43:00.002+02:00

A week or so ago when Minnesota had that cold snap go through I started thinking back to when we first arrived in South Africa in July 2007. It was the middle of their winter and people were complaining about how cold it was. As a Minnesotan I would just smile and say if you think this is cold where I come from it can get to -40 and it will barely get above freezing for weeks at a time. They would look at me and shiver never really being able to understand what cold like that is really like. I suddenly realized I have become them. I can imagine what -20 is like, but it has been so long since I have felt it that I really can't comprehend it.

The one difference that there is between myself and my African neighbors is that I want it back. I want to feel the sting of the cold air filling up my lungs. I want my eyelashes to freeze together every time I blink a little too slowly. I want my cheeks to turn rosy red after standing outside for 10 minutes and after an hour in the cold just start to become numb. Then I would go rushing into the warming shack or sit by the fireplace or wood stove. Drop my hat and gloves on the radiator just long enough for them to dry out and run back out into the cold.

I don't understand why people would want to go on a destination Christmas to a warm, sunny place. Yesterday it was 90 today 88 tomorrow 84. The sun is shining the grass is green and it is Christmas? This year will be our third straight Christmas outside Minnesota and there is nothing I would rather have for Christmas than a foot or two of snow on the ground.

Brooke and I will be finishing up our time with Peace Corps in October next year. Let's see if I still feel the same way next Christmas, or an even better test if I still feel the same way in February, March and April.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and gets a chance to feel the sting of cold weather!

There's no place like home

2009-12-02T14:21:00.000+02:00

It's hard to even believe. When we found out our Meggie was getting married, I was pretty crushed we were going to miss it. It's really a miracle that everything fell into place perfectly. Jed found an amazing deal with air miles...and there just happened to be a special where you got 50% extra on transferred miles...and Jed just barely had enough miles to stay under the transfer limit...and our families were incredible generous to "top us off" with miles. We'll be home May 13 - June 11, in time for Jed to fish before it gets too warm (shouldn't the opener be a few weeks later, honestly), in time to celebrate my 30th birthday with all of you, and in time for Megan and Blake's wedding on the 5th. See you then!

If you're disappointed that we're coming and you want to know who to blame, it's this girl! For those of you who don't know her, this is my cousin Megan Garrity. She's like a little sister to me and Kim, and she's marrying Blake Ellefson, a Hibbing guy that many of you know. (We love Blake too!) They're getting married at Elbow Lake Lodge, where Jed and I had our honeymoon. Isn't that cool?

Looking for a good book?

2009-11-26T14:15:00.005+02:00

I have read so many good books lately. (You can see all of them in the left margin.) But I enjoyed The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls so much I just feel like telling everybody I know. It's a memoir, and the author tells the story of growing up with parents who are odd, neglectful and nomadic, and the tone is incredibly honest. She certainly doesn't waste any time feeling sorry for herself. I'd highly recommend it!

Levy and Prag's Wedding

2009-11-22T01:07:00.002+02:00

We celebrated the marriage of two of our Hands at Work family members on November 7th. What a beautiful day! The highlight was listening to their vows. To hear an African man stand in front of 100 people and declare his love and fidelity...it's very counter-cultural and oh so encouraging.

Pragcidence and Levy

George performed the ceremony. Here he is giving communion to Prag.

The Wedding Party

The wedding party changed into more traditional African clothing before the reception and danced in, Zambian style

Me and Jed

Dust for Prints

2009-11-18T11:58:00.006+02:00

What have you left your fingerprints on lately? I was listening to a sermon (if you have time click and listen) George Snyman, founder of Hands at Work, gave at Grace Church in Racine, WI last week. He said God has given you a fingerprint. It wasn't the central message of the sermon, but it got me to thinking.

When I think of fingerprints I see images of crime scene investigators with little brushes searching for a print a criminal may have left behind. I also am reminded that fingerprints are unique like snowflakes no two are the same. Investigators are looking for fingerprints because if they can a print they can try to match it to a database of criminals whose fingerprints are saved in computers all over the world.

The term fingerprints these days extends much farther than just an impression left behind from touching something. There are genetic fingerprints (your DNA code), computing fingerprints (uniquely identifying data) and many more. Did you know they can even tell if you are a smoker by your fingerprint? Apparently certain chemicals are secreted by your skin if you are a smoker. If they process the fingerprint a little differently a smokers fingerprint will glow under fluorescent light while a non smokers will stay dark. Crime scene investigators are learning more and discovering new techniques that can tell increasingly more about a person simply by the fingerprints they leave behind.

So the question is what have you left your fingerprints on lately? What story do your fingerprints tell? If someone comes after you and dusts for prints will you be ashamed or proud of what they find? We all have an opportunity daily to leave our fingerprints on something that matters, on something that makes a difference. Ask yourself, where are your fingerprints?

Life at the Farm

2009-11-15T19:47:00.002+02:00

So we are living up at the farm again. I know this is not new news to many of you, but here are some recent photos mixed in with some old photos!

From Farm

So the last time we lived up here our neighbors had a Jack Russel named Jack. Here is a picture of him playing (terrorizing) Buhle.

From 2009-11

Now we are living up at the farm and again our neighbors have a Jack Russel. This time it is a girl and her name is Joanna. Buhle likes having a companion and only gets really annoyed when we pay ANY attention to Joanna and not Bu.

From 2009-11

Of course some things never change they just get bigger!

The last time we lived up here they had started renovations on the main farm house as well. You can see they came a long way. And no more fence for Bu to get stuck in!

From Puppy

The farm is a great place to live. We love our new neighbors, but we also miss our old! For all of you who have lived up here over the past couple of years just know if there isn't room in the farm house there is always room on our floor!

George in MSP

2009-11-09T09:38:00.002+02:00

George, the founder and CEO of Hands at Work, and a great friend of ours here in South Africa, will be in Minneapolis this Thursday (November 12). He'll be meeting with pastors at Hope Church in Apple Valley. That evening, you are all invited to Vision of Glory Lutheran Church in Plymouth at 7pm where George will share about the vision of Hands at Work. He's a captivating story-teller, so we want to encourage you all to go!

If you have questions, you can contact us or another friend of ours who is helping to organize the event, a former Hands at Work volunteer named Dara Hillstrom. You can reach her at 480-272-2742 or darajean15@hotmail.com).

Two boys drown in ASM dam

2009-10-15T07:18:00.012+02:00

I wasn't sure how to write or title this post. It starts with a tragic accident, but I found the discussion after the accident interesting. I am in no way trying to make light of the tragic accident. Please leave comments.

Two days ago two teenage boys drowned in the dam just outside the fence of ASM. A brother of one of the boys watched helplessly from the shoreline as the boat the boys were fishing in tipped over. The two boys most likely were not good swimmers and didn't make it the 50 feet or so from where their boat capsized to the shoreline. A few staff and students went out to try to help, but they couldn't find the two boys.

You can see how close the boat was to shore

Paramedics were called, but were also helpless as the bodies could not be found. A police diver was called in, but couldn't find the boys. They called off the search off late in the afternoon. The diver had only been in for about an hour and a half but didn't have the proper equipment to continue searching, and it would be getting dark soon. Many family and community members spent the night camped out around the dam (large pond).

Individuals in rural African communities are superstitious. Shortly after the boys died and partially because the bodies weren't found the rumors started about why/how they died. Some thought hippos had gotten them. This is not so far fetched. About 6 weeks ago there were two hippos living in the dam. Little known fact that hippos are responsible for more deaths than any other animal in Africa. But as I said it has been at least 6 weeks since the hippos left. Some thought mermaids lived in the dam and were upset that the boys were fishing with nets. Maybe a mermaid got caught in the net and pulled causing the boat to tip over? The most common idea was that a massive anaconda lived in the dam and pulled the two boys under and killed them. Another said the Ancestors were angry about recent break-ins in the area and were trying to tell the community to put a stop to it.

Divers in the boat getting ready to start Day 2 (you can see people climbing into trees in the background to get a better view)

Yesterday more divers were called in. They started searching around 11:30 and by 2:00 they had found both bodies. To me it looked as though the boys had drowned. Fairly simple answer. No animals, mystic creatures, or mystic beings. Although one could say the Ancestor theory would still stand. There is no proof that the Ancestors weren't responsible.

Cars stopped along the road to see what was going on

I doubt we will ever hear the end of the story. No cause of death will be shared with the hundreds of people there yesterday. Which, as in any culture, will lead to imaginative stories of, "how they really died." I guess we aren't much different in that way. Think of an old urban legend or a story from your childhood you were told about that, "scary place," or the, "abandoned house." Most legends start with some form of truth, maybe a tragic accident like this was. But it is that same tragic truth that makes the legend just believable enough.

People were lined up around the dam

I didn't compress this photo before uploading it. If you click on the photo you can see the enlarged original. (Caution: If you look closely behind the raft just poking out of the water you can see the head and hand of one of the boys being towed to shore)

MN in pictures

2009-10-08T21:04:00.003+02:00

Now that I'm back in the swing of things (with work, life in Africa, etc.), I think I'm ready to share a little more of our trip home. (Yes, it's been a long time coming, but it didn't feel right to go back until I had really left...sure, makes a lot of sense.)

Papa with Lilly Garrity, one of two new cousins, at Perch Lake

Close as my dad's gotten to being a grandpa so far...Kael Burkes is too funny. (Yes, he's asleep.)

How cool is it when family and friends come together? This is my auntie Debbie and brand new Lianna with Amber and Luci Bretto.

Newly engaged! Isn't Megan Kelly beautiful? Blake is a lucky guy! (Megs is pretty lucky herself.)

Papa's cabin is the greatest place on Earth

Jed with our new niece Amanda. Well, she's not that new (almost 18 months!), but we're certainly new to her. But we love her already!

Uncle Jed reading stories

My mom and dad's new house on Spirit Lake. Honestly, it was such a treat to be able to help them move. And what a beautiful place to live!

Fishing on Spirit Lake

Brothers and sisters--Jed with Jacob, Jodi, Josh, and Bobbie

Mom and Kim at the shack

We did so many fun things that we didn't get pictures of...golfing with Josh and Kathy at Giant's Ridge, supper with Aaron, meeting Bobbie's new husband Mark for the first time, eating Chipotle, burgers at the Grzybowski's, walking through Grandpa Rittgers garden and hearing about Roberta's latest projects, campfires and S'mores, playing 500 with Grandma Krumwiede, supper at Shelly's with Alison and the crew, the Twins game with Mike and Kim, supper at Auntie Debbie and Uncle Greg's, Jordan's birthday party, pizza at Ciao, seeing the Schleppe-girls at Perch, kicking back with a Labatt, playing with Shanti, hanging with Beth, Andrea and Brianna, four saunas, releasing Dad's Chinese lanterns, and so much more. Wow! We have been incredibly blessed.

Thank you all for loving us and supporting us so generously. We love you!

Catching our breath

2009-09-29T16:09:00.003+02:00

Hi guys! Just a quick note to let you know that we weren't able to leave for Zambia on Sunday as planned. We're waiting to get our passports back, because they're in Pretoria so that our South African visas can be renewed.

Life is good here. We've moved back to our old apartment at the Farm (our 7th move in 26 months). It's a good thing and a bad thing, but we're just happy it's a long term thing. No more moving, please!

Jed's getting into his new role working with the International Team. (Sounds kind of funny when I say that, like it's a large operation. It's a team of 4 now.) They're responsible for the Hands at Work website, marketing material, the Facebooke cause and fan page, and relating to our offices in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and South Africa. He's really enjoying it, and it's much less stressful than coordinating the new volunteers.

I'm struggling to keep up with my work supporting Zambia. There's so much going on! Planning to do and funding coming in, project proposals and reports to review, and seemingly endless numbers of emails to get through. I love it though.

Our time away reminded me how much I appreciate living in community with such a great group of people. What a privilege to live and work with volunteers from SA, Canada, the US, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Holland, and the UK. You can't live and work together and remain just friends. These people have seen the best of us and the worst of us, and they've still chosen to love us. We are family.

Back in SA and I don't mean Super America

2009-09-15T17:58:00.002+02:00

Well, after spending 5 weeks with family and friends in the "states" we are now back with Hands at Work in South Africa. We had a blast back home! Thanks to everyone who made our time at home so special. It went by too quickly though. There are many of you who we didn't get to see, and for that I apologize. Before we left South Africa to head home it felt like 5 weeks would be enough time to see everyone we know, but the time just kept slipping away. Just like sands in an hour glass...

For those of you that came to our Hands at Work presentation the night before we left, I would like to say thank you. It was great to be able to share what Hands at Work and Brooke and I have been doing for the past two years. It was also a great shift into getting ready to head back to South Africa for one more year. Our new close of service (COS for you RPCVs) is now October 14, 2010. As Brooke and I were sharing about many of our challenges and successes at the presentation we gave it got both of us excited about coming back. Then we remembered the 36 hours of flights and 5 hours of riding in cramped vehicles.

Our flights were long, but uneventful (just a 1 hour delay before our flight to Amsterdam.) We got to the Hibbing airport around 5:30am on Tuesday morning and arrived in Johannesburg at 9:30pm on Thursday night. Peace Corps had sent a driving service to pick us up and take us to a backpackers in Pretoria. We spent Thursday and Friday saying goodbye to many Peace Corps friends in Pretoria. Our original end date was September 14, 2009 and so many volunteers were preparing to head back to the US for good. Because we had just been there many people were asking questions like: How have things changed; how's the economy affecting things; what food did you eat first when you got off the plane (answer: Chipotle!). We also got to ask them questions about how they were feeling about going home for good, and how did things go wrapping up their time at their sites; what do they have planned for when they get home. All important stuff we will have to go through in the next year. It was great to see everyone, but bittersweet knowing that we were losing much of our Peace Corps support staff. Luckily, we have so many great people that we get to work with daily at Hands at Work, phone calls from family and friends, visits from family and friends (hopefully!), and of course the internet!

We will try and continue to post often (hopefully more often than lately). We miss everyone back home already, but two years went by quickly and we just have one more to go!

Presentation in Hibbing

2009-09-04T22:46:00.002+02:00

Hi Hibbing-ites! Anybody who's in town on Tuesday is welcome to come here a short presentation we're giving about our experiences in Africa.

6:30-7:30pm
Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Community Room
Lower Level
Duluth Clinic in Hibbing

All are welcome!

North Shore

2009-09-02T18:54:00.000+02:00

We've had so much fun back home in the last month! Here's a few pictures from a weekend we spent on the North Shore of Lake Superior with Jed's family, celebrating Jed's parent's 40th wedding anniversary.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Wally and Pam celebrating 40 years of marriage

Nephews around the campfire

Picnicking

Uncle Jed, the best jungle gym around

Family photos

A few days back in SA

2009-07-31T14:19:00.005+02:00

It was a looong trip back from Zambia Wednesday and Thursday that went something like this: wait for the bus, ride the bus to Lusaka, take a taxi to "lodge", sleep, wake up early for taxi ride to airport, fly, ride another bus, try to smile at the new volunteers also being picked up, ride in the car home. All together, that took about 31 hours. Let's just say I'm not looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday's travel to the U.S., which will cover many more miles.
It was a GREAT trip to Zambia...the best time I've spent yet in Kabwe. Here are a few highlights:

Spending time with Doris. Her husband Charles works for Hands at Work and their family is amazing. She has three boys, so she was thrilled to have some girl time. We drank tea and talked a lot and laughed at the boys. I've never been so comfortable in a Zambian's home. Thanks, Doris!

My visit to Baraka, which I already told you about. Here are a few of the children I met there.

The Hands at Work team in Kabwe (clockwise from left): Melody, Charles, Luckson, me, Lawrence, and Violet. What a great, dedicated bunch they are!

Coming home, and more about Zambia

2009-07-25T11:32:00.002+02:00

It's true, we're coming home. We found out less than a week ago that Peace Corps has booked our flights for 5 weeks at home. Presumably, that means our extension has been approved! We'll land in Hibbing on August 5 and return September 9. Can't wait to see you all. It's been TOO long!

I'm in a lodge near Kabwe this morning, awaiting the arrival of a team of 8 nurses from the U.S. We'll have lunch together and have a little orientation. They'll be telling the story of their mission trip online, following a similar group of nurses who visited earlier in the month. It's a great website if you can check it out.

I traveled all day Tuesday to get here. Wednesday I spent time in the office fixing computer issues and training a new administrator. Thursday, I mentioned, I visited Baraka. Friday was spent planning for the rest of the year. We have so many plan around Kabwe, but the highlights are training for all 7-9 of our community-based organizations on how to care for orphaned and vulnerable children--how to do parental home visits to care especially for child-headed households. Many of the communities we're working in now have access to free ARVs for HIV+ people, so our focus is shifting from visiting sick patients to visiting the children whose parents have died.

Sometimes when I talk about home visits, I'm struck by how basic it the idea is, to get into children's homes and really care for them like parents. But it's really not. Just consider that there are lots of hurting kids in Hibbing; it's not always easy to tell who needs help unless you get into their home (through relationship) and really get to know what's happening there. It's the same in Africa, except the problem is magnified. There are children who have stood by the graves of both of their parents, who are left alone all day to care for younger siblings, who have no one. It's so easy for their neighbors to continue living life, not noticing the hurt that his there and the desperation. People are everywhere, and yet these children are incredible alone. A neighbor coming into their home, spending time with them, really listening, teaching them basic life skills like cooking and cleaning, washing clothes, asking them how school is...showing compassion--it can transform the world for that child.

The Bible couldn't be more clear in it's mandate that the Church cares for the vulnerable in their communities, and Zambians are responding to overwhelmingly to that call. People are sharing what little they have with those who need it most. Those words don't capture how incredible it is to see someone who isn't sure where tomorrow's meal will come from, share the little they have with their neighbor. It blows me away.

I'm learning so much! I'll be up in Luanshya for a few days, then back to SA on the 30th. That only leaves me a few days to pack and get ready for a month home. Wow! It sure is coming fast!

Brooke in Baraka

2009-07-24T09:57:00.000+02:00

Just a quick update from Zambia to say all is well. It’s a quick 9 day trip, but it’s my first time going alone. (I miss you, Jed!) Yesterday I went out to a little village called Baraka. When I asked how many people lived there, I was told “991 after deaths. We used to have 999 but a few people have died so I counted again last week.” I met a man who has organized a community school there, where he and 3 other volunteers teach 125 children Grade 5 and under. The nearest government school is 7km away.

I’ll try to post a photo if I can get to an Internet cafe.

Much love,
Brooke

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The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

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Pam and Jed

2009-07-07T17:01:00.003+02:00

Aren't they cute? This photo is way overdue, since Pam's been home for weeks, but I just like it so much I wanted to share it with you. We had such a good time with Pam here. She really shares our heart for Africa, and it was such a blessing to be able to show her why we love it here. We love you, Pam!

Happy Birthday, Kristal!

2009-07-04T09:20:00.002+02:00

Our friend Kristal turned 23 yesterday, and what a celebration we had! [Happy birthday, Kristal! We love you so much. Thanks for your encouragement and for laughing with us!] You can tell we love Kristal, because who else could convince Jed to dress up like a pirate and actually show himself in public?! Enjoy...

The birthday girl

Brooke and Jed

Argh! (Yes, Jed is wearing an earring)

The full ensemble--impressive, no?

Swaziland

2009-06-18T16:51:00.000+02:00

Two days after I got back from Zambia we headed to Swaziland for a few days. This time, I was not alone! Jed and Pam came, and so did Dave from Canada. Here are a few highlights...

We met a whole bunch of volunteers who do home-based care for sick people and vulnerable children. Everything in Swaziland is really spread out, so some of them walk for hours just to visit a household of orphaned children...regularly! These are the volunteers posing in front of a maize crib, used for drying corn, that was built by a Hands team about a month ago.

Pam brought about a dozen beautiful homemade quilts from a group of ladies at Grace Church in Hibbing. Not only will they bless families who are cold this winter season, but the ladies were also inspired to try to make their own quilts with a recent donation of sewing machines!

You've heard about chickens in Swaziland before...these are a new project. Not layers this time, but broilers! The project will generate income for careworkers and feed hungry children.

This old lady takes care of the chickens full-time. Taking care of 700 chickens is a lot of work! Fortunately, she has help from these twin boys, who Nomsa (coordinator for the community organization) has taken in since their father died. The boys help feed and water the chickens every day.

I love Swaziland. It's a beautiful country, and the people are incredibly generous. It was a blessing to be able to share a few days there with Jed's mom. Thanks, Pam! We have some great memories of your time here, and we'll miss you a lot!

Other highlights from Zambia

2009-06-09T16:57:00.000+02:00

Gift with her family

Chicken feet

Eeew

Seeing the land for a new vegetable garden in Mulenga

James picked casava for me to try...tasted like sweet potato

Everybody sang "happy birhtday" to me at a managers' meeting in Kabwe. Then we found out Floyd and Loveness also have birthdays on May 19th and we got to sing all over again!

Kids who have no toys make up strange games. They tied up this baby bird, who strangely didn't seem to mind.

Children in Mulenga

Hands' role and my involvement

2009-06-05T15:45:00.000+02:00

We've just arrived from a few days in Swaziland--me, Jed, Pam, and another volunteer named Dave. It was a great trip. We'll post some pictures soon.

But I don't want to lost the focus on Zambia before I answer a couple questions about that...

So what is Hands at Work’s role in all of this? A lovely guy named James Tembo heard George speak years ago about the Biblical mandate to care for the orphans and the widows. James and his wife Sukai started personally caring for twenty children in Mulenga (in addition to their own five children), eventually encouraging others in the area to do the same and creating Breakthrough Care Group. BCG is fully community-owned. In fact, James has recently joined Hands at Work staff. His role is to serve BCG.

What is my role in all of this? To put it simply, my role is primarily to support James and the other local Hands at Work staff. I helped with the plan and proposal that secured funding and grew the program from 20 to 63 children (and will hopefully grow the program to serve 1,000 in Mulenga.) I helped create and train on some of the tools their using to manage and report on the project. I’ve helped plan for two teams to come from Canada to visit Mulenga in the next few months. These things I can do. Where I feel inadequate is when I’m walking next to the volunteers in the community. They’re doing the tough stuff. But for some reason it seems to be a great encouragement to see me and others from outside their little village doing something to support them. And so I do my best to speak some encouraging words and remind them that they’re not alone. We are together. You know, it easy to say those words, we are together, but now that I’m back in South Africa, the desire to make it true will drive me, keep me focused.

My visit to Mulenga was only one day in the last three weeks. I spent lots of time in the office, supporting the Hands at Work staff, planning, budgeting, and training. I spent a few days meeting with different donors that we work with. This is all much less interesting to write about and read about, but I will post a few pictures next time of my other time in Zambia.

Gift

2009-06-01T22:11:00.003+02:00

This little one is Gift. Gift has seven brothers and sisters, ranging in age from 17 to 1 ½. Volunteers from Breakthrough Care Group recently recognized Gift and two of her siblings begging with their blind father in the streets of Kitwe. You see, a few years ago Gift’s father somewhat mysteriously lost his eyesight. Now their only source of income is the few Kwacha they receive begging on the streets, on average less than a dollar a day. Although BCG volunteers were able to convince their father to only take once child with him during the day, enabling the other two to go to school, there isn’t much they can do for this family. In fact, in some ways, Gift and her siblings are actually less vulnerable than many of their neighbors, because they have two parents who are doing their best to look after them.

With help from a church called Lakeview in Canada, BCG volunteers recently built this new schoolhouse, made from the scrap wood from a local sawmill.

When I was there last week, the structure had just been finished. (It took a little longer than expected, because the volunteers realized late that they forgot one important factor in building the school—there was no road leading to the building site, so they couldn’t get the materials there. So they built a road! They started with a footpath and then built the new road, about two city blocks long, by taking out and reconstructing fence after fence, uprooting mango trees, and covering two wells. Intense labor!) The children were practically shivering with excitement for school to start. These are a few of the 63 children currently being fed a meal per day and cared for by BCG volunteers. The school will be run completely by volunteers as well. Wow.

Cynthia

2009-06-01T22:06:00.002+02:00

I'm back from Zambia. I can't handle writing about the whole three weeks all at once, and I know you'll never read it all either, so I'll post some of the highlights in installments...

Mulenga is a compound near Kitwe, Zambia, with a population of about 17,000—about the size of Hibbing. The first thing that struck me when we pulled into the village was that there were small children everywhere! My companion reminded me that 55% of the population of Mulenga is under 15 years old. Shocking! The reason is undoubtedly related to the high rates of HIV/AIDS in the community. Let me tell about a couple of the people I met there.

These beautiful ladies are Cynthia and Annie. Cynthia is divorced. Her own children are mostly grown, but she cares for two children left orphaned when Cynthia’s brother and sister died. Cynthia was encouraged to start visiting her neighbors and caring for other orphaned children in her area last year, so she joined a local church initiative called Breakthrough Care Group. At the end of last year, Cynthia realized her elderly neighbor Annie was sick with a terrible rash. With Cynthia’s support, Annie was able to get to a nearby clinic and get access to free ARVs. Annie’s feeling much better these days. She’s lost two of her four grown children, and the two who are around don’t care for her much, but she says Cynthia is her daughter now.

My tummy is full

2009-05-17T14:51:00.004+02:00

Hi everyone! Things are going great in Zambia. I love the team here so much, and they are doing such great work. I'll write more about the work next time. Tomorrow I'm leaving for Luanshya, so in tribute to my dear Canadian baker-friend Alisha, I wanted to share some of the delicious treats she's been feeding us this week. (Try not to drool.)

Carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting for my birthday

Nanaimo Bars...my new favorite

Apple pie - to die for

The cheesecake was gone before I could get a picture. Life here is pretty rough for me, hey?

Junior Achievement

2009-05-02T20:45:00.001+02:00

Pam is blogging! Check out Jed's Junior Achievement class on the Krumwiede Family blog.

Blyde River Canyon

2009-05-01T18:21:00.005+02:00

Today we went out to see blyde river canyon with my mom. We started at the Three Rondavels, then to the Potholes, stopped for lunch at the Silver Spoon in Graskop (we went to Harrie's Pancakes on Sunday) and ended up at the used book store in Sabie before heading back home. We had a great day and the weather was beautiful.

I was a little more adventurous than mom at the Potholes.

Some dancers we saw in Graskop

Anyone who thinks Obama doesn't have all the hopes and dreams of Africa riding on his shoulders as well as millions of americans should take a look at this! My favorite part is the fist right below the picture of his face with HOPE written across the knuckles.

Another picture on the Obama fabric

Feeling loved

2009-04-30T21:21:00.002+02:00

Pam brought some very special gifts with her. Look at how much our family loves us! This is a really cool potholder that Jordan made for us...

Jordan also sent a cool drawing of the boys riding down the hill at their house.

Taylor drew a picture of their new Wii. Jed is jealous!

This one is Morgan almost falling in some water. Woah!

Haley and Christian made us this really cool photo album.

Inside we found pictures of them and really cool drawings. Christian drew this one (my favorite part is Batman), and there a picture of Bobbie Jo and Haley next to it.
Aren't we so blessed? We have such great nieces and nephews who love us! To Jordan, Taylor, Morgan, Carter, Christian, Haley, Amanda, and Xavier, we love you so much!

Pam's arrival

2009-04-30T07:47:00.003+02:00

She made it! What a relief. There were no problems and everything went very smoothly. We picked Jed's mom up in Nelspruit around 9:30 last night and arrived home just after 10. Talked late, of course. She hadn't slept at all on the flight, and when we first saw her she was hyped up on pop! ;)

I just arrived in the office, it's almost 8am, and Pam is still sleeping soundly, so that's great.

This morning I have an appointment with the eye doctor (because my prescription expired and I need new contacts). So we'll all go into White River and have coffee and see what there is to see. Jed took the day off, and I took most of the day off. Tomorrow is a public holiday, so we'll see what we can find to do around here. The weekend will probably be low-key, lots of catching up and looking at pictures, maybe a day in Kruger Park or a drive to Blyde River canyon, probably taking Eunice and Eunie grocery shopping. Normal things, mostly. We're planning to update the blog very regularly, since I know the Heubners at least are eager to hear how Pam's doing.

Thanks for all your prayers and for your incredible generosity in helping Pam get here. You know who you are. We love you!

Bouncing

2009-04-28T20:36:00.004+02:00

We have a new family volunteering at Hands, Dan and Jen Waspe and their boys, Marley and Sonny. We had a nice supper together. The boys entertained me and Jed entertained the boys.

Just so you know, Jed didn't want me to post this because he didn't want anyone to be jealous. Just know that if he could bounce any children in the whole world, he would definitely choose his nieces and nephews. We loved hanging out with Marley and Sonny, but they made us miss Jordan, Taylor, Morgan, Carter, Christian, Hayley, Amanda, and Xavier more than ever!

Highlights of Volunteering with Hands at Work

2009-04-25T08:42:00.004+02:00

Hands Conference 2009 Apr 2009
A few simple stories Feb 2009
Visiting child-headed households Feb 2009
School shoes Feb 2009
Our girls Dec 2008
Service Center workshop Nov 2008
Zambia IV Nov 2008
Zambia III Oct 2008
Zambia II Oct 2008
Zambia I Oct 2008
Jed in Swaziland Sep 2008
Brooke in Swaziland Mar 2008

Goodbyes

2009-04-22T09:43:00.005+02:00

One of the hardest things about being at Hands at Work long term is that we're constantly saying goodbye to great people who come here to volunteer for two weeks or two months or a year. (Shout out to Carly and Jon and Lacey and Laura and Dara and Daryl and Stephanie and Callan and Marc and Dan and Heather and Pieter and Liesl and Morgan and Dana and Nathalie and Jordan and Laura and Tracy and Kevin and...you know who you are.)

It amazes me to see the impact that people can make in just a short time. The latest goodbyes were said to these beautiful ladies from Edmonton...

Beth, Tara, Katherine, and Dayla.

They were only here for three months, but they served with their whole hearts. They lightened the load for many of us, including the people working in our offices in DRC and Swaziland. What a privilege to get to know them and laugh together and serve together! We will miss them very much, but we're excited to send them off on the next leg of their journey to India.

This is everybody yelling at Jed. We had worked so hard to get the automatic timers going on two camera, and Jed stepped in front of them (on purpose) to capture this image at the last second. Ha!

The good news is that we are also welcoming five new volunteers in the next week or so. Wow! The great news is that one of those volunteers is Jed's mom, Pam. Yay!

Snake on a plane, er, in the workshop

2009-04-21T17:25:00.000+02:00

I know you guys love to hear about snakes. Check this one out! It's a Mozambiquan spitting cobra. (Don't worry, it was dead when we took the picture.) As they say in SA, "Eish!"

Auld Lang Syne by Jed

2009-04-19T15:36:00.002+02:00

Don't tell Jed I posted this. My parents send him a harmonica for his birthday last month. It even came with a book. He practices pretty regularly. (Do you know how hard it is to play one note at a time on a harmonica?) He's getting good!

Hands' Conference 2009

2009-04-16T20:42:00.004+02:00

We are together. The theme of our conference this year was appropriate and inspiring and meaningful. I spent the first week of our conference here in White River with all the Hands staff from Zambia, DRC, South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, in workshops in the morning; we covered topics like Hands' family tree, our culture (vision, mission, core values, code of conduct, etc.), communication. I spent the afternoons in meetings, usually with the Hands' staff working in Zambia, since it's my job to support our two offices there. It was incredibly exciting to make plans for major expansion in west Zambia, east Zambia, and the Copperbelt. Remember, we're aiming to support 100,000 orphaned and vulnerable children (the poorest of the poor) with food security, home visits, and education by the end of 2010. About a quarter of those children will come from Zambia! (We supported around 6,000 children last year.) In the evenings, we often had our African visitors over for dinner. (I posted a few pictures of that a while ago.)

After the Africa Conference, we were joined by staff from Hands at Work offices in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, South Africa, and Canada. We spent a couple of nights at a beautiful lodge and ate amazing food--like kudu and wildebeast! We spent the days talking about what's happening in Africa...how Hands at Work is empowering the local Church in Africa to respond to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by reaching out to some of the 12 million children who have been orphaned by the virus. As George says, the house is on fire! Today (literally, just today) over 5,000 children were orphaned by HIV/AIDS. It's easy to gloss over that fact, until you meet somebody like Lorraine.

This is Lorraine. She is 14 years old. She is caring for her to younger brothers, Clarence and Remember. Their parents died a couple of years ago, and they have no one. No granny, no auntie, no older sister to look after them.

They live in a small block building with broken windows. They sleep on an ratty old straw mat on the dirt floor. When Jed and I met them, they had no hope. Lorraine wrecked us. Jed and I couldn't sleep the night we met her. We struggled to put our feelings into words for days. We could only cry out to God on her behalf.

In the last few months, however, things are starting to look a little better for these children. A few ladies in the village were encouraged to help look after orphaned children in their community. Many of these ladies don't have much to give. They struggle, just like their neighbors, to put food on the table each day and to purchase the school uniforms their children need to attend school. But one of these ladies, a special lady named Mina, understood that she did have something to give. Time. Compassion. Love.

Mina now visits Lorraine and her brothers twice a day. She listens to them and tries to help whoever she can. She brings hope. Mina is my inspiration. She is what keeps me going.

The best part of the conference this year was that we kept our focus on children like Lorraine. You see, many of us have seen and cared for children like Lorraine. But even in Africa it's easy to get caught up in day-to-day office stuff--reporting and emailing and fund-raising. But at the end of the day, it's all about Lorraine.

One Shining Moment

2009-04-07T22:00:00.002+02:00

Brooke asked me if I had posted yet about "our team's victory?" So here is my post. One Shining Moment is always a highlight of the NCAA tournament for me, so I thought I would share this years. Many of you might turn off your tv after the game is over, but every year CBS plays the 'One Shining Moment' montage. Here is the 2009 clip! Hope you enjoy as much as I did. For those of you who don't know Brooke went to grad school at UNC and we were there in 2005 for their last national championship.

Brooke ended up coming in second in our Heubner family pool. I came in third to last. I managed to beat the two youngest entrants into the tournament in my nephews Christian and Taylor. Let's just say my selection skills are a bit rusty after not watching a game in nearly 2 years! At least that is the story I am going with. Thanks again Kathy for getting it set up! It was a lot of fun to follow, even though I did terrible.

March Madness!!

2009-04-01T15:57:00.002+02:00

I would like to say thank you to my sister-in-law Kathy for putting together our Heubner family NCAA tournament pool. It looks like being unable to watch games for 2 years has thrown off my supreme ability to pick winners of games, but it was fun none the less. At this point I am still beating Brooke, but if UNC can pull off the national championship I may end up losing to my wife in a sports pool. It wouldn't be the first time though. She won my office NCAA hockey tournament pool in 2007. The only chance I have left to save face is Connecticut winning it all!

The internet service was upgraded last weekend in the area where we live. We now have 3G coverage. That might not mean much to many of you, but basically we went from old dial up speeds (around 30 Kbps) to speeds around 600 kbps. So our speed increased 20X! This means that I can now stream live low-quality video (thanks http://mmod.ncaa.com/) However, since you pay per megabyte of information downloaded my internet bill will probably increase by 20X (sorry, Brooke.) I think it will cost about $20 to watch the game. And since CBS makes games available on demand I won't have to watch the national championship game at 2:30 in the morning. I just have to avoid looking at scores and can pretend the game is happening as I watch it! (Who am I kidding, I'll probably watch the game live as well as pre-game and post-game. It isn't March Madness without seeing, "One Shining Moment!") Isn't the internet amazing.

I have often wondered during my last 20 months here how did people do this even 5 years ago. I think it would be so much harder to stay connected to my family and the world! No facebook, no email, no blog, I struggle to think if I could have made it this long without these tools? I'm glad I don't have to think too much about that. I'm glad I can still see blogs of friends having kids, of NCAA tournament brackets, of Facebook status updates, of the Hibbing Daily Tribune being online (how's the detour through Chisholm for Hwy 169?). I'm thankful that even though I am halfway across the world, I can still stay connected!

A secret

2009-03-24T22:52:00.003+02:00

Not to be cheesy, but did you know that once in a blue moon, when Jed and I are just hanging out, like relaxing and watching TV, he'll quietly send me a text message from across the room to tell me he loves me? I have a great husband.

24

2009-03-22T15:18:00.002+02:00

I LOVE 24. Seriously. My parents sent seasons 3 and 4 for Jed's birthday, and we'd never seen a single episode before. Now we're totally addicted. (I can't keep up with Jed usually, but he fills me in on the episodes I've missed...now that I get the gist of it, I don't have to see every episode.) It's on right now, the part where Michelle pretended like she got the virus and fooled the guard so she could escape the bad guy. Awesome.

Africa Conference

2009-03-19T20:57:00.002+02:00

Day 1 of the Africa conference was a huge success, if you ask me! We had workshops on what a Hands at Work office in Africa should look like, what the role of a Service Center Coordinator should be. Most of our offices (in Mozambique, Zambia, Nigeria, DRC, etc.) only have one or two staff members. They're usually people (like Lawrence and Luckson, who you've heard a lot about) who have a heart to serve orphans and widows in their communities. They make very little money, but they have big hearts. Ideally, each office will someday have four people--a Service Center Coordinator, a bookkeeper, a field coordinator, and an administrator. In the afternoon we had lots of meetings. I met with the Kabwe office to talk about their plans for this year. Then I met with a larger group of Zambians to discuss Hands at Work moving into a new area in West Zambia later this year. We're going to try to move into the area west of Mongu, near the Angola border. UNICEF estimates there are 100,000 orphans and vulnerable children just in that area. The tribal group there still operates under their king, and for that reason and others they have very few resources. It's very exciting to be part of the planning. We're praying we can mobilize the churches in that area to care for the sick and the orphans in their communities, and of course to connect churches from outside Africa to help them.

Many nights we host visitors in our homes for supper. Last night we had a big braai with Lynn and Jayme, and we invited the whole crew from Zambia. It was a great way to kick off the reunion!

Samuel from East Zambia, Lawrence from the Kabwe office, and Levy (our housemate)

Rhoda and Annie

Jacob, Samuel, James, and Lynn's mom, Marlene

Erick

2009-03-16T14:18:00.004+02:00

This is my friend Erick, who works for Hands at Work in DRC. They're having major struggles with funding right now; in fact, everything that's available is being funneled to the orphans' feeding program right now just to keep it going. In the midst of this crisis, Erick is level-headed, as always. (A couple of months ago, Erick got robbed, and he described the ordeal in an incredibly upbeat, positive email. Let's just say he's a glass-half-full kind of guy. Here's a story, written by Erick, that tells a lot about who he is and why he does what he does:

A STORY
WHY I JOINED HANDS AT WORK

My name is Erick Rukang. I am a coordinator of the DRC Service Center in Likasi Congo. I am 36 years old and was born in Lubumbashi, a town situated at 120 Km from Likasi.

I graduated in 2005 in a Bible College, Kaniki, in Ndola Zambia. After graduating I went to Likasi far from my family for ministry. It was not easy because I was homeless in the town but I had to do church planting. God spoke to one lady who came to Congo to Start Hands at Work in Likasi while I was in Zambia, Margaret Chang, the wife to a Zambian friend, Dominic Phiri, so that they can offer me a shelter at their servant quarter house. By that time I did not know anything about their work and we were only friends and I was busy with my ministry. One year later George Snyman came to visit Hands in Congo, when he saw me he gave me a word of prophecy though I was not involved in the work and he told me also that ‘God appointed you for a purpose in this place like Elijah in the house of the widow of Sarepta and God will use you mightily but don’t despise the small beginning just be strong and later on you will understand it’. For sure I didn’t understand it but I wrote it in my my diary, this was end 2006.

Later on I felt very much pressurized by the challenges I could face while I was doing church planting at a point to quit my ministry but I could recall in mind God’s prophecies to stand my ground. Until one day when I was praying God spoke to me clearly to offer my time to the orphans and the dying what I never dreamed for though some friends in Zambia during a prophetic ministry when I was graduating prophesied about the very thing “Erick, we see you with a heart for the dying and the vulnerable and God will use you mightily in your country to bring impact and you will be a voice to the oppressed and from there God will start opening doors for you to start launching out even far away from your boarders.” Though I had all these words from God, my mind was somewhere else. The pressure was so strong and because of what I was facing, I started feeling for those people dying and those children who are rejected and forsaken.

The next step, I felt strongly to write a letter to Margaret, who was the Hands at Work Coordinator though we were staying together because I couldn’t express it in word. She got also surprised because all along she thought that I was too busy with my ministry. A week later she gave me the answer after consulting the HBC leadership. This is how I started this humble work. Because of obeying what God asked me though it was a volunteer work on behalf of the poor, God blessed my ministry on a amazing level and opened for me other opportunities I never imagined on a humble stage. God is faithful when we obey this mandate to minister to the sick patients, the widows and the orphans, people from whom we cannot expect any reward apart from the Lord. (James 1: 27)

Today, I am a Hands Service Center Coordinator in Likasi DRC and I start understanding the prophecy George gave me some years ago before I joined Hands. God has broken my heart in peace and I start enjoying the ministry to the needy and the dying, it is now becoming a part of my life. I enjoy smiling to those who are broken hearted and shake my hand to those who are hopeless and homeless because I have been there.

Sometimes God is taking us through difficulties and impossible situations to break our heart in order to create a heart of compassion in us to serve those who are broken and rejected and to feel what they feel even to understand them deeply so that we can whisper to their hearts :’Be strong God loves you still’.

Erick Rukang
Hands Work, DRC Likasi Service Center

Kruger Park, Sixth time's the charm

2009-03-14T13:31:00.003+02:00

We went the Park to celebrate Jed's birthday last week. And we saw ALL of the Big 5 in about an hour and a half! That's an elephant, 3 rhinos, 6 lions, a leopard, and a bunch of Cape buffalo, plus giraffes and hippos and other great stuff. It was absolutely unbelievable. I didn't get any good pictures of the leopard, although we enjoyed watching her stalk an impala for a while. (She didn't manage to kill any...they saw her and made lots of funny snorting noises and ran away before she got close enough, although she must have been only 20 feet away from them, and about 10 feet away from us at the time!) I can't post the video, but here's the best picture we got. This lioness was on the road...only a few feet from us. The sun was setting, and she was enjoying the heat from the tar road. You can imagine, she was stopping traffic, and seemed to be getting a kick out of it all, and she was very relaxed.

We couldn't believe our eyes...

My near-death experience

2009-03-14T12:52:00.003+02:00

Well, I delayed posting about my near-death experience for two months...I thought maybe I'd never post about it, but these pictures were just too funny. This is me explaining to Lynn and Jayme, Laura, and Dara, how I recently had stopped on the highway at 6am in the morning (with a bunch of other Hands at Work people) to help some people who had recently had an accident on the highway. Fifteen minutes later I found myself diving into the ditch, full of 8ft high grass, to avoid a small semi-truck careening toward me at 100km an hour. Everybody involved in the accident ended up being okay (although that seemed doubtful for a while, with two vehicles overturned in the ditch and the passenger of the semi pinned in his vehicle for an hour). All this on our way to a funeral. Ugh.

This is me with my drawing of how it all happened.

Believe it or not, this is completely candid. It really is quite a story.

Okay, this one is unrelated. Dara bought this Africa puzzle for her nephew, and we spent hours racing to put it together. Laura and Dara got ridiculously good at it...I think the record was 1:48 or something like that. They got even better than Jed at it, which I know you will all appreciate is unusual. (Honey, I'm sure if you would have had more time, you could have smashed their record!)

Conference time and eating worms

2009-03-02T17:53:00.004+02:00

Conference time is right around the corner, and already time seems to be...accelerating somehow. Remember conference time from last year? It's the time of year when all our partners come from our offices in Africa (SA, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Nigeria, DRC, and Mozambique) for a week of workshops and learning and all kinds of good stuff. The week after that, we go to a nice lodge where we're joined by our church partners and country offices (in US, Canada, UK, and Australia), where we talk about how we can get the churches outside Africa to help support the church in Africa to care for the sick, dying and orphans.

It's the busiest time of year around here, which is why we haven't been blogging much. We've been getting to the office early and leaving late. But we've been enjoying the days so much in between craziness! We're eagerly anticipating Pam's arrival in a couple of months.

I really want to tell you about last night. We went to Shangana Village with Jayme and Lynn, Jayme's parents, Maureen, Mbecki, and little Uchenna. It was a cultural experience, similar to what we did in Lesotho. There was dancing and music and delicious food. And...drum roll please...I ate a mopane worm! It was fried, with all kinds of delicious spices and sauce...didn't taste at all like a worm. I didn't get a picture, unfortunately. (That was the last thing on my mind, actually. All I could think was, Kim would be so proud of me right now!) But here is a photo from Wikipedia of harvested mopane worms, just to give you a taste...(Pun! Oh, Michael Scott)...

Once when we were walking around Kabwe in Zambia, a lady offered me one. It was dried. I didn't think I could handle the crunch. (They were everywhere in Zambia though. We don't see them as often around here.) Anyway, I think I've been feeling a little guilty for not trying them ever since. I feel much better now!

Go to the people

2009-02-17T16:51:00.003+02:00

I'm not usually one to post lyrics or poems, but this poem struck me. It's simple, almost 3,000 years old, and the message is beautiful.

Go to the people,
Live with them,
Learn from them,
Love them.
Start with what they know,
Build with what they have,
But with the best leaders, when the word is done, the task
Accomplished,
The people will say,
We have done it ourselves.
~Lao Tsu

Three of our favorite people

2009-02-15T17:39:00.002+02:00

Have I ever introduced you to these three very special people? These are our friends Eunie and Eunice, who are identical twins, and Gradually, their nephew.

We've gotten to know these kids very well over the last few months, taking them shopping periodically, having sleepovers occasionally, and generally eating ice cream as often as possible. We love to make them smile! Eunie and Eunice just turned 18 years old. They live in a government-built block house with two bedrooms. Their parents died years ago, and they had an older sister (my age) who was taking care of them until she passed away too a couple of years ago, leaving her son Gradually (now 7 years old) in their care. They have an older brother who is going to University, but he lives very far away. The girls love to sing gospel and R&B, they're very active in their church, and their leaders in the Masoyi Home-based Care Bible Club. Gradually is very shy, but he loves soccer, pizza, and hugs (especially from Jed).

We've had some adventures with these kids as well. When their house was broken into in the middle of the night by a 17-year-old neighbor in December, the girls reported the incident to the police. That turned into riding with about 8 policemen and women to arrest the guy, hours waiting in the police station (where the police told us originally that they couldn't file charges since the guy didn't rape anyone, just threatened to), and later on a full, pointless day in court and lots of confusion!

Other adventures have been more fun, like playing games, making pizzas together (an activity that completely flopped in their eyes I think, but I enjoyed), avoiding Buhle at all costs, and jumping on the trampoline (which never gets old).

We have been so blessed to know Eunie, Eunice, and Gradually. I pray that they feel loved, that they don't despair, that they stay out of trouble and in school, and that they take good care of each other. Please keep them in your prayers as well!

A Few Simple Stories...

2009-02-11T07:35:00.003+02:00

A few simple stories from someone else's life.

This is a blog entry from one of our newest volunteers, Louise. She wrote it after her community stay where she stayed with a 14yr old girl Lorraine and her two younger brothers Clarence and Remember who are 9 and 8. We follow all of our volunteers blogs because we love to hear how they tell their stories to people who might never get to see what they have seen. Louise is an excellent writer and can communicate things through her words like few bloggers I have ever read. Most people use pictures to tell their stories, and I think it is very telling that Louise has yet to post a photo on her blog since coming to Africa. If you get a chance, read her post. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

We are together

2009-02-05T20:01:00.004+02:00

On Tuesday we drove a couple hours away to visit 6 child-headed households. We were trying to set up community stays for 5 volunteers...just a chance for one American, three Canadians, and one Brit to spend a weekend living in the village with some kids, most of whom have lost their parents to HIV.

It was a rough day. Three of the families live in tiny houses, maybe 7' by 9'. Two of those have dirt floors. One family we visited is headed by a granny, and old OLD granny caring for 6 grandchildren who lost their parents, presumably to HIV. The oldest is a 20 year old boy, and the youngest is about 1 year. (His mother died when she was still breastfeeding him.) The granny was in a lot of pain, and she was worried that the youngest wasn't walking yet. Something didn't seem quite right about his legs. The last family we visited lived in a nice house, but the girl we met was 11 years old and taking care of her 9 and 6 year old brothers. She had no auntie or granny to even stop in and make sure they're okay. Man. That is rough stuff.

Anyway, it's not the kind of thing we see every day. It's a good thing, because we couldn't handle it. (I feel a little weird admitting that. It seems wimpy in a way...she's 11 and it's her LIFE, you know? Every day, no breaks.) It's not what God wants for her, I'm sure of that. He wants us to do more.

Anyway, didn't mean to be such a downer. It's definitely easier not to blog about the tough stuff. But when I don't, I can hear a tiny little Abby voice in my head telling me I should just do it anyway, even if nobody like's to comment on the tough blogs.

I am very excited for the 5 young people staying out there this weekend--they're all in their 20s. This is experience is going to blow them away...change their lives without a doubt. I can't wait to hear about it. And they will be such a source of encouragement for those families, who need somebody to tell them (as Carlos would say), we are together.

School shoes

2009-02-02T15:04:00.003+02:00

When Kim and Mike were here in May, they visited a village in the middle of nowhere with some of my coworkers. They made a donation to the home-based care there (through Hands at Work), which we used to buy school shoes for 22 children. Isn't that cool?! Here are a few photos:

Vusi is calling out the names of the children who are on the list to get shoes--so many are poor, but only the neediest will get shoes

Making sure they fit

One happy kid

The shoe store had a promotion--if you bought a pair of school shoes and shoe polish, you got a free little radio that looked like an ipod. We didn't buy any polish, but they gave us 22 radios anyway. It was very cool...I think the kids were at least as excited about the radios as the shoes!

Uff'da tall

2009-01-27T17:49:00.002+02:00

Many of you read Kristal's comment on my previous blog, expressing interest in this "uff'da" expression. (People from Saskatchewan have plenty of their own quirks and idioms, but apparently "uff'da" is not a common phrase there.) I thought those of you who are from MN would like to know that she first pronounced it with a short "u." (Hear it in your head? It's funny.)

We had some difficulty explaining the proper usage of the expression. That lead to Kristal saying things throughout the day like:

That guy is uff'da tall.
Uff'da! That car is red.
Uff'da! That guy is tall. (Close, but I think it might have been luck.)
Uff'da, I'm full! (Finally, she hit the nail on the head!)

Uff'da and Obama

2009-01-24T11:51:00.004+02:00

Lynn and Jayme are back, and they brought us some souvenirs from their stop in the Minneapolis airport. Isn't that so nice?

Our new kitchen magnet...it's funny, we were just talking last week about how South Africans say "Eish!" The closest thing we could think of to compare it to was "uff'da."

I had coffee this morning in our new Obama mug. Lynn and Jayme said that the airport was FULL of Obama paraphernalia. Africans are in love with Obama, but we don't see much for Obama gear around here. Jed got to watch the inauguration though, at our friend Craig's house in Nelspruit, because he has a satellite dish. Jed may not have voted for Obama, but he admitted it was a great speech.
Brooke

Westmont

2009-01-22T23:32:00.004+02:00

Finally, here are some pictures of the house we moved into a month ago. It’s called Westmont. Not sure why, except that “Westmont Cottage” is painted above the front door. The outside is nothing to write home about. The lawn is a bit neglected; we call it the jungle. The good news is that our bedroom is the coolest room on the entire Africa School of Missions campus where we live. The bad news is that it’s also the dampest. Some might call it “moldy,” but I prefer “musty.” We’ve improved the situation a little with fans and a little low tech de-humidifier. (It’s basically a cup with a little salty thing on top that catches water from the air.

Kitchen

Dining area

Living room (the door is to our bedroom,
but I didn't take a picture of it because it was too messy)

Living room from the other side

We’ve been insanely busy welcoming new volunteers and planning for orientation, which starts 2 Feb. Also, I’ve been helping out with the Forward Education students, because none of the Forward teachers are back from Canada. That means I’ve been helping the students (who are all orphaned kids from Masoyi) figure out how to “sit” or interview at colleges and navigate orientation and pay their registration through the Forward program. It’s been unexpected and hectic, but very cool to get to know the students better. They’re some pretty determined and very cool kids. You can learn more about Forward Education on Lynn and Jayme’s website.

It’s been SO great to have Laura and Dara back from 9 months in Mozambique, working with Carlos and the Hands at Work service center there. They have had some incredible experiences. I’m scared to even attempt to summarize their experience, but I can tell you that Mozambique is a beautiful, desperate place. For many Mozambiquans, when they look back on 2008 they will remember draught, fire, death and hunger. When I pray for Mozambique I focus on God, on hope, because I must. I focus on Carlos, who serves sacrificially by feeding children and visiting sick patients in their homes. As Carlos says, “we are together.” Laura and Dara inspire me with their laughter and their tears. Their hearts have broken, and they are changed. And in two weeks they’ll return to the U.S. and Canada and God will use them to change other people’s hearts, too. Isn’t that incredible?!

Kim

2009-01-15T21:06:00.004+02:00

I was scrolling through my cell phone contact list today, and I just wanted to share a bit of it with you. It goes...

Kim Egypt
Kim Malawi
Kim Mozambique
Kim Poland
Kim Romania
Kim Rwanda
Kim South Africa
Kim Turkey
Kim Zanzibar

(Sorry, Mike, two names was just too many to fit.) But isn't that incredible? Of course, it still doesn't represent every country...like Rwanda was the same number in Tanzania and Uganda. Still! Incredible.

Also, I just want to let you know we're watching the Office Season 4...finally! We've been waiting 17 months for this. Yay!

New Roles

2009-01-11T21:04:00.002+02:00

Did we tell you that we have a new role at Hands this year? Since Carly left, we're the brand new volunteer coordinators. (Yikes! And by the way, we're going to miss our friend Carly so much!) This isn't so incredibly new to us, because we helped Carly a lot last year. So, Jed's answering email inquiries every day from potential visitors and volunteers, and we're running the 8-10 week orientation that starts 2 Feb. We received our first volunteers today, a retired couple from Canada named Dave and Marilyn. They are so great! They have a heart for hospitality and they'll be providing pastoral care to many of the volunteers here, so we'll be working closely with us. In the next three weeks we will receive another 4 or 5 new volunteers, plus another 5 or so will be returning from Christmas holidays. In between, we'll be receiving and organizing programs for short term people coming for less than three months.

The volunteer program for Hands is growing like crazy...we're receiving more volunteers (individuals and church teams) every year, and we're sending more and more volunteers out to our service centers outside SA. Our friends Laura and Dara (from Canada and the U.S.) are returning from 9 months in Mozambique this week. I can't wait to see them!

Theoretically, I'll be doing less Monitoring & Evaluation...we'll see. I'm a little terrified of this new role personally, because I'm so task oriented, and this will be all about relationships. But it'll be good for me I think. Say a prayer for me!

Kruger Park, Take 5

2009-01-02T21:24:00.007+02:00

We spent the day in Kruger Park today. It's wet season, so everything is green, but the grass is so long it's harder to see animals. So we saw fewer animals today, but the animals we did see put on quite a show. The highlight was a beautiful leopard, which crossed the road just in front of our car. It was awesome! It's our 5th trip to the Park, and the first leopard we've seen, so you can imagine our excitement. I somehow caught it with the video camera, but I didn't manage to get a photo. Sorry!

We saw Cape buffalo ("a water buffalo is a strange animal..."), elephants, giraffes, and a lion. We also saw two huge hippos square off. It involved a lot of tail wagging and grunting (imagine half cow and half T-Rex)...it was very intense. That I will try to upload. For now, here are a few photos...

Jed watching the hippos from the hide

These two young ones were playing...the ones who fought were like four times this size

On our way home to Mt. Legogote

New Neighbor, Part 2

2008-12-29T19:35:00.000+02:00

Oh my, I didn't realize this snail is Melvin! I've heard so much about him; I mean, he's practically legendary. Melvin is well known around these parts. (Thanks, Lacey, for the heads up!)

New Neighbor

2008-12-28T12:44:00.004+02:00

For those of you that don't know we have officially moved. We are no longer staying up the road at the "Farm," but instead we are staying down the road on the ASM campus where our offices are located. We completed the move after staying at Bernard and Julia's house for a week. We had a wonderful time swimming and relaxing, and now we are getting settled into our new home, "Westmont." No one is really sure where the name Westmont came from, but it is painted just above the door when you walk in. It is considerably bigger than our last place with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We won't be alone however, our friend Levy from Zambia will be sharing the house with us. Levy as it turns out will be gone for the first three months of the year though. He is going to Zambia to help out with the projects there and help start a new community based organization (CBO) in Eastern Zambia.

Since we have moved in on Friday it has pretty much not stopped raining. I know it is the "rainy season" here and I shouldn't be surprised, but 36 straight hours of rain is quite a lot. Okay 36 straight hours might be an exaggeration, it might have stopped for an hour or two somewhere in there. Rain here is so loud on our tin roof. The drops sound like hailstones sound when hitting cars back in Minnesota. Since it is raining we haven't gone out much and with the constant pounding it is like we are in some sort of torture cell where the noise just won't go away!! It really isn't as bad as I am making it sound and because of all the rain it is getting incredibly green outside.

The rain also brought something else I thought was fairly interesting. The biggest snail I have ever seen in my life!!! Okay, so I know I am from Minnesota and we probably don't have very big snails there, but I have been in Africa for 17 months now and I have seen some, what I thought were, big snails. They would be about the size of a half dollar, or for you Canadians a "loony." But the snail I saw today was about 2/3 the size of my foot! I found him climbing up the exterior wall of the house. I'm sure that with all the rain wherever this guy usually stays is getting extremely wet, so I think he might have been looking for a new home. Let's just hope the rain stops soon. I'm not sure what other huge creatures are looking for a new home.

Our new neighbor

Our friend next to Brooke's shoe
(he shrunk up a little bit when I put the shoe next to him)

Here he is full size
(if you look at the picture above he can even retract his antennae)

Sports Santa, the bane of my existence

2008-12-25T22:29:00.004+02:00

By request, I'm posting a photo of the infamous stocking. I will fill you in on the background of this stocking fiasco...Three years ago today, Kim presented Mike with a beautiful felt stocking she had embroidered and appliqued. It was beautiful, with birds, which is perfect, because Mike is a bird nut. Kim and I also have really nice handmade felt stockings that our mom appliqued for us years ago. Of course, when I purchased the kit to make Jed a stocking (called "Sports Santa"...so perfect for Jed) two years ago, I wasn't feeling any pressure at all. Ha! Well, the stocking didn't get made two years ago, because it didn't come in the mail until just before Christmas. I packed it to come to South Africa (seriously) and worked on it last year for months, off and on. (I can only work on it for an estimated 64 hours before I get so sick of it I have to put it away for a few months.) Anyway, it's finally finished!

Maybe you really have to see it to appreciate it. There are 172 pieces of felt involved, many of which were stuffed, embroidered, sequined and/or appliqued. The bowling pins hang, the soccer ball and the tennis racket come out of Santa's bag, and the three golf clubs (one driver and two irons) can be taken out of the golf bag. (What was I thinking? I'm not sure it was worth it.) Anyway, I'm so happy it's done. Now poor Jed has to guard this thing with his life for the rest of my life. Merry Christmas, honey!

Christmas in South Africa

2008-12-25T12:13:00.005+02:00

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We wish we were back in Minnesota with our families today. This Christmas was tougher to be away than last year probably because it has been another whole year since we have seen most of you. We are dreaming of a white Christmas but have a 'wet' Christmas instead. We got in a little bit of swimming before it started raining yesterday. We had Emily, a co-worker from Zimbabwe, and her niece (Faith) and nephew (Divine) over for Christmas eve. Watched a movie, played Yahtzee and Twister and had a great barbecue for dinner.

Divine and Faith playing Twister

Divine and Emily enjoying the pool

Last night we went to Christmas eve service last night at the Catholic church in White River. It was really nice, but nothing like church back home. There were only like 30 people there. Probably will be much busier on Christmas Day.

Today we are going to George and Carolyn's house for a Christmas barbecue, we are bringing bacon wrapped weenies! We will probably get a call from our parents today as well, looking forward to hearing how their Christmas is going. Tonight we will probably go to bed early; Brooke was complaining about not getting enough sleep last night. Something about midnight mass and somebody waking her up early to open presents? Not really sure what she means, I let her sleep until 6:45!

Anyway we wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year! We miss you all.

Love,

Jed and Brooke

A Gift for U

2008-12-18T09:53:00.002+02:00

The heart of Hands at Work is to mobilize the African church to reach the continent's most vulnerable children, to reach 100,000 orphaned and vulnerable children that would otherwise not be reached. And we are striving to reach them by the end of 2010 by caring for the basic health, education and food security of each child at just $15 per month.

Click here to learn more about our Christmas campaign.

Where is Jessie?

2008-12-10T09:14:00.012+02:00

The other night, around 10pm, I got a strange text message from Busie, a Hands volunteer who lives on campus. This is Busie -->

I was at home at the farm, trying to get through some emails; Jed was sleeping (and probably had been for like 2 hours by the way). Busie's message said "Is jessie up there?" I thought that was really weird. Jessie lives near campus, just up the hill a bit, with a bunch of other international volunteers. This is Jessie -->

Jessie is a very sweet girl who happens to be a UNC alum. (Go Tarheels!) She's been volunteering here since August. Anyway, I couldn't imagine why Busie would think she would be up at the farm so late on a weeknight. I called Busie and told her I was worried about Jessie. I asked her to call Lacey, Jessie's roommate, and then call me back.

Busie sent another text message 20 minutes later. It said, "She not up there [with Lacey]...Trust she'll come home wheneva. She does this sumtyms...I'll keep checking the balcony b4 I sleep cause thats where she sleeps when she comes late."

???

What!? She must be kidding. And is Jessie staying with Busie? I'm confused! So I called Busie again and asked her if Jessie was staying with her. Yes, she said. Busie then said that the Brooke-Smith kid had been over later, and she thought maybe Jessie followed him home. I thought that was really weird, but I asked her if this was something Jessie had done before, staying out late like this. Busie didn't seem to think it was that big a deal. "And she just sleeps on the veranda? Huh?" I asked. Then there was a long pause...

Oh, wait a second...

Jessie the DOG! Oh my goodness it all makes sense now. Busie is staying at Myburgh's, and they have a dog named Jessie! Whew! This is Jessie the dog -->

Snakes on a plane...I mean at the farm

2008-12-07T15:52:00.008+02:00

So we had some excitement around the farm yesterday...a scary snake. It was awesome! We've heard stories about snakes at the farm this past year, but this is the first we've seen with our own eyes. I should tell you a story about how it came at us and Jed smashed it's head, but it went more like this:

1. Jed heard something in the bushes and thought it was a lizard (because it usually is).
2. He saw it slither (not a lizard!) and ran in the house to get me.
3. We went outside and found it hiding, all coiled-up.
4. According to Jed, the snake spit at him. That report is, however, unconfirmed.
5. I ran across the yard to get our friend Westen, a large Zimbabwean man who luckily happened to be visiting.
6. Westen crushed the snake with a scary weapon (the one Marc's uncle bought), and threw it over the electric fence.

I hate to even venture a guess at what kind of snake it was. Westen thought it looked like a Mozambiquan spitting cobra. We tried to find a picture online, and it pretty much looked exactly like this black mamba. ..

Yes, it's poisonous either way. But just to reassure our mothers, (despite the report about spitting) the thing was generally petrified of us. Also, if it makes you feel any better, we're moving to campus in about a week.

Whew! That was enough excitement for our Saturday.

What have we always said is the most important thing?

2008-12-05T13:24:00.004+02:00

Today was a hard day…a sad day. Today we said goodbye to two of our favorite people in the whole world…

Joey...

and Marc...

Joey is a Peace Corps Volunteer from New York. Joey is funny. In fact, he’ll do almost anything for a laugh. He’s an incredibly loyal friend. He’s hairy and a little smelly, but he’s also a magician, and that makes up for it. He’s also an awesome photographer and a musician. Joey loves us, and we love him.

Marc is a Hands at Work volunteer from Canada. He is a big Flames fan, but he plays hockey with Jed, so that makes up for it. Marc loves God, deeply and quietly. We like to watch Arrested Development with Marc, because he laughs SO hard. (Ta da!) He also likes politics and economics, and his ping pong game is much improved. Marc loves us, and we love him.

We’re going to miss these guys SO much! But we’re excited to see what’s in store for both of them in 2009.

Joey on Kristy on Jed at In-service Training (IST)

Buhle and her favorite pillow

Three hockey-teers: Dan, Marc, and Jed

Back in Zambia

2008-11-29T15:12:00.013+02:00

I was back in Zambia this week for a workshop with all the Hands at Work service centers. These are the guys who support the community-based organizations (CBOs), which are made up of volunteers who care for patients and orphaned children in their communities. The service centers help support the CBOs with things like finance, reporting, proposals, and encouragement. They also go into new communities where HIV rates are high and resources are minimal and challenge the churches to care for needy people in their communities.

Bernard, a Hands volunteer from Germany, spent time with Stuart and Innocent from Zimbabwe and Carlos and Ricardo from Mozambique

Me helping Pascal and Erick from DRC with their computer

It was a hard week. I went with Marc, Lisa, and Bernard from Hands at Work "hub" in South Africa. We presented and work-shopped and discussed...the days were long. But, it was awesome--a huge priviledge--to spend time with this group of people. They make practically no money in this work, but they believe in it and they believe God has called them to it. And they rely on God (they have to) to get them through heartbreaking work on a daily basis.

We also had lots of laughs. We especially enjoyed a reenactment of the trip the Moz and Zim guys made to get to Zambia for the workshop. Let's just say it involved a missed bus, a ride from a drunk truck driver, elephants on the side of the road, and knocking on the door of a very surprised friend at 1am asking for a floor to sleep on for the night. (A few minutes after the drunk truck driver barely missed hitting some elephants on the road, he yelled, "Shut the windows! There are elephants!" Actually, a few times when I was giving presentations, my screensaver of my safari photos came up, and every time someone would yell, "Shut the windows!" We laughed a lot.)