Sunday/Monday

How is it possible that we only have a few days left here? Time has FLOWN! Andrea and I are babysitting Drake and Meredith for the afternoon, so I have just a few minutes before I need to get back to the fun. :) As you'll see in the pictures, we built a fort under the kitchen table, and we made a kitchen out of play dough.

It was fun to skype with our home church Sunday! As you heard, it was quite rainy most of the day. We spent some time organizing all the gifts for hospice and the hospital. A few of us also went to House of Hope. Playing with adorable babies -- it's a rough job, but someone's got to do it! :) We played some games in the evening. The kids' favorite game is to climb on Jungle Gym Jeff (see picture).

Most of Monday was spent loading and unloading the cement blocks for the second children's home. Each brick is approximately 32 lbs, and we hauled about 9 tons of bricks. Our arms will be super buff when we get home . . . we hope. Today, they're pretty much like jelly. :)

This morning, a group went back to hospice, and another group went to Morning Star. Thankfully, the sun came out, so we were able to work on the children's house. Jeff and Bob built some shelves for bedrooms. Brian worked on the bathroom. Laurie and Mal started painting the trim around the windows on Brian and Lois' house. The others were busy, too; but I haven't seen anyone since lunch, so I'm not sure what they're up to!

Our muscles are tired, and our hearts are full. We've had opportunities to fellowship with some believers here, and it's been a huge blessing. Spending time with B&L and L&A has been wonderful. Thinking about leaving is impossible at the moment. :)

Love to our families and friends.
-Abby for the team

Friday/Saturday

Just got home from a GREAT Sunday morning church service! The others are working on fettuccine alfredo for lunch, so I'm taking a quick moment to cram two full awesome days into one blog post.

Friday, we shopped around Welkom in the morning. Andi, Laurie, and Mal all bought African dresses. The salesman was VERY excited to help them! Louis said it was for two reasons; 1- no white people wear those clothes. 2- no one under 40 wears them either. :)
We shopped at a store in the mall and bought gifts for children in the hospital and the hospice. We also wandered around the grocery store and bought some African sweets. After a quick lunch, we drove to Boskoppe Lion Park. It was AWESOME! We had the best, most informed guide to tour with us. We all got the chance to play with baby lions, tigers, and lynxes, but the coolest part was when Louis, Chris, Amanda, and Jeff got to go in the cage with 10-month old leopards! We got some sweet pictures and videos to show you when we get home! All four escaped with just a few teeth and claw marks. :)

Saturday, we all slept in a bit and met in the park at 10AM. On the second Saturday of every month, Welkom has an outdoor market with lots of vendors. None of the items were very African, but it was still fun to walk around check out everything. After lunch, we left to tour Thabong. Okuthle, who attends the church here, let us see her home. We also visited one of the cemeteries for children. Most of the afternoon was spent canvasing for the church. We split into two groups and visited almost every house. People are SO friendly and welcoming! After we met back at the church, some teenagers were there; they were shouting for us to come into one of the classrooms with them. Louis said we could go, so we followed! The teens were practicing a play/musical and performed the whole thing for us! Of course, much of it was in a language we couldn't understand, but the singing was beautiful. It was an awesome experience. In our car on the way home, a few of us took time to pray that the canvasing would be fruitful. God answered in a BIG way!

This morning at church, we had about 70 people! Last week there were 40. God is always good. :)

So many more things left out, but not time to share them all. Thanks for your prayers.
-Abby for the team

Comments! :)

Getting ready to eat lunch and head to the Lion Park, but just wanted to let you all know that we Love LOVE LOOOOOOVE getting comments on the blog! Everyone gets excited to read them, so please, COMMENT! :) It makes us feel like you're a part of what we're doing, and that someone is reading this! :)
THANKS!

Thursday

We're all tired and weary tonight. Lots of work has been accomplished, and we are READY for a day off tomorrow. We will do some shopping in Welkom to buy gifts for children in hospice and the hospital. After lunch, we'll pack up a supper and head to a Lion Park for a tour, a barbecue, and a chance to play with lion cubs. Excited for that!

Andi, Mal, Laurie, and I finished painting Brian & Lois' house today. It's satisfying to see the project finished. Ellen and Tonya stained doors and trim, as well as painted the floors in the children's house. Jeff put up soffit. Chris spent the day at Morning Star, which is a daycare for HIV positive children. Amanda worked all day in Amber's garage sorting clothes for future RHI kids. Louis worked on plumbing in the children's house. Bob worked on trim, doors, and the kitchen.

The inspector came by yesterday and said that everything looked fine, and that we didn't need to have him check anything more. It is a huge blessing not to have that deadline hanging over us! But the girls -- Monica & Lerato -- will probably be able to move into their house next week. Lois also hired the first two house mamas today; they are very sweet. It's cool to be here for this phase of RHI. Seeing all the hard work come to fruition and seeing God's plan be fulfilled is amazing. We've witnessed many instances of His sovereignty: choosing these two couples for this ministry, bringing Monica & Lerato to them, and a team of MANY girls to complete some big projects. We are blessed to be a part of His plan for The Village.

Prayer Requests:
-to complete the work projects quickly
-to be an encouragement and blessing to the missionaries. The couples have put in some LONG hours this past month. We want to give them some rest and refreshment.
-to rejoice in every circumstance

Thanks for your prayers. We can tell they're working. :)
Love from the Team,
Abby

Pictures:
1. South African Sunset
2. Bob & Monica
3. Monica in "her room" -- where her bed will be.
4. Drake joining the girls for a makeover
5 Jeff & Alex working hard
6. You can take the girl out of Iowa, but you can't take Iowa out of the girl! :)
7. Children's house

Wednesday

Another day! It's nice and cool this morning; not too hot! I heard that our Iowa friends have been getting some snow . . . We've been getting some nice sunburns. :)

Devos this morning were about rejoicing ALWAYS. Yesterday was a great day to learn that lesson -- several things came up that were unplanned, and the day was a little hectic. Thankfully, we have an extremely flexible team that goes-with-the-flow.

Tonya and Ellen spent the day painting/staining door in the children's house, and cementing cracks in these holes in the ground (I don't know what they're called or what they're for :) ). Andi, Mal, Laurie, and I took most of the day and primed Brian and Lois' house. Bob and Jeff helped put a sealant on the floors in the children's house, and continued work on the doors. Amanda and Louis finished cementing and smoothing the side of the Niehoff house. Chris watered the plants on the property and also helped in the children's house. I babysat Lindie in the afternoon while Lois interviewed and met with the prospective house mothers. Ellen and I have volunteered to do all the cooking for the team; so far, no one has died. :)

There are a lot of jobs to be done! Several men from Welkom arrived yesterday to dig the foundation for a workshop. They are here working again today. Yesterday, our challenge from morning devotions was to be willing to help with any task. But I have to say, I'm thankful I don't have to dig in the South African dirt with a shovel in the hot sun . . . maybe next week. :)

We're making some fun plans for the weekend; we'll visit a lion park and have a barbecue there on Friday night. We'll visit the townships, tour Thabong, canvas for the church, and eat lunch at a local restaurant on Saturday.

Prayer requests: Bob's back has been really bothering him. Pray for less pain as he works. Pray for encouragement and energy for Amber as she cares for her two kids and the two girls living with them; it's a lot of work! Pray for the two house mothers that will be hired today. And pray that we can get everything completed for the inspector's visit on Friday.

We miss you all. Love,
Abby for the Team

PS - you can see from a couple of the photos the area that's been dug up by the illegal miners, which is near The Pines.

Monday/Tuesday

Good Morning!
Off and running again today. We all have breakfast at our respective houses and meet for team devos at 7:30. Today we looked at our goals from Phil 4:2-3: being a team player and being willing to do any task that's asked of us. It's a good reminder to do every job with a joyful heart!

We visited The Pines on Sunday afternoon. It was neat to see how many more children are there now -- approx 30 -- and to see some familiar faces. We took a quick tour of the facility, but spent most of our time playing with the kids. We also got to see all the illegal aliens digging for gold around the area (Bob shared this prayer request last Wednesday night). The family who runs the Pines now said they don't feel threatened, despite the miners close proximity. However, they are still in danger of the water and electricity being cut off. There are 2 wells already dug on the property that they're looking into using.

Sunday night was spent eating snacks outside and playing games at Louis and Amber's. Oh, and trying to stay up late to fight the jet lag.

Monday was a work day. A friend of Brian and Lois - Lawrence- stopped by yesterday. He looked at our team of mostly girls and said, "You have the perfect team to finish all these details!" God knew just who needed to be a part of this team to get the jobs done. :) Mallory, Laurie, and Andrea were sent to paint designs in the children's house. Amanda and I helped Louis cement and smooth the exterior of Brian and Lois' house. Tonya painted and sanded the trim for the children's house. Ellen helped to scrape letters off of the container. Jeff and Bob trimmed the doors. Chris helped fix the lawn mower.

Please pray for this week to be exceptionally productive. The inspector will be going on vacation for a month, so the children's house must be finished by then! The bathroom, kitchen, and flooring must all get done.

Andi, Laurie, Mal and I just got back from hospice. About 10 children ages 4-5 come twice a week to a daycare in Welkom. Lois and Amber go every Tuesday to help. Today, Mal taught the story of Jesus calming the sea through a translator, which was fun. Mal would say a few words, and the translator would speak for a couple minutes; she definitely made the story her own! We did a couple of games and a craft. The kids really enjoyed playing with the magnetic fishing pole and the magnetic fishes. The children also sang several songs for us! We love the energy and excitement in their faces and voices.

Almost time for lunch, then more work! :)
-Abby for the Team

Photos will come later! :)

Sunday

Hello to all our friends & family! Today is our first full day in Welkom, South Africa. Chris & Jeff are staying at Val & Donnie's; Andrea, Mallory, and Laurie are staying at Louis & Amber's; Bob is staying at Brian and Lois'; and Amanda, Ellen, Tonya, and I are staying in the container. We got up this morning, had some breakfast, and met at church. Our team sang special music, and taught the song to the church. Thankfully, we picked a great and EASY song called, "Praise God."
The children got up and sang, "Only a Boy Name David," and the teenagers sang a medley of songs African style;it was awesome! Then all kids 10 & under went outside for children's church, taught by Andi, Mal, & Laurie. Louis preached from John 5, and after the service, 3 boys came up to him and said they wanted to be saved! We pray that their confessions of faith were genuine. Bob was extremely encouraged to see that church attendance has risen since he left a month ago.
Most of the team is walking around downtown Welkom this afternoon, and later, we'll go tour The Pines. Pray that we will all sleep soundly tonight; many of us are feeling VERY drowsy this afternoon.

Love to you all!
-Abby for The Team