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

We Have Arrived!

Tired and excited, the SBC missions team arrived at Restoring Hope Village around 11:00 PM today (Saturday)!! We had an uneventful flight and got to meet some new friends along the way. Thanks for praying for our team. We have special music in church tomorrow...and still need to practice before church.

Good Night!

Off We Go

On Friday the 10 members of the Slater Baptist Church South African Missions Team will leave for Welkom, South Africa for a 2 week mission. Our purpose is to help and encourage the field staff working on the construction of Restoring Hope Village. Plans are to use our time in construction, ministry and helping out in any way we are able! Join us here for updates and thank you for keeping us in your prayers!
Team Members: Abby, Amanda, Andrea, Bob, Chris, Ellen, Jeff, Laurie, Mallory and Tonya.
Sorry we don't have a photo of our team but we will get one!

Helping Others

The children here are taught Bible principles to live by and they really eat it up! Today Okuhle (a-cuth-lay) came up to me and asked if I had any jobs to do. I asked why and she explained that the younger kids at The Pines "had to stay here all the time and never get away except for church on Sunday." She wanted to throw a "picnic" for the younger kids on Saturday and she needed 10 rand (about $1.50) to buy some food items to share. It didn't take me long to find a job for her helping me clean a window that really needed it. Here she is standing in front of the 6 foot by 6 foot window that she helped clean. You can't see it but she has 10 rand in her pocket.

Louis is currently at the Bible study with the boys. I am amazed every day how God's Word penetrates the lives of these children.

Today a 15 year old girl came up to me and asked if I would come back for her wedding. A little shocked I said "Yes, when are you getting married?" We then had a discussion about marriage and things she had learned from the BIble about marriage. She finished by saying that Uncle Brian told her that she had to bring the boy that wants to marry her to him so he could ask him many questions! She wants to make sure he is a believer and that he is a good person! She was concerned about men she has known who beat their wives. Wow, what a dedicated girl! She has learned much in her short time here.

Where have you been?

That is the question you are asking. Would you believe that I was going to post an update but the internet was down and then we all left on a 4 day "holiday?" Yeah, right... Well, true enough. We lost internet sometime on Thursday and we left on Friday for the Indian Ocean near Durban in the South African state of Kwa Zulu Natal. We had to brush up on our Zulu language and sharpen our brush cutters (like a machete) Ok, some of Louis is rubbing off on me! While the people speak Zulu and the brush is so thick you can't see past 3 or 4 feet they speak English and have paved roads. Our "self-catering" condo did not have towels or soap, we enjoyed our stay and family time together this past weekend.

Some of the tropical sight seeing included a visit to a banana farm and lunch at their cafe--banana "pancakes". Pancakes here are really crepes and this time there were about 3 bananas stuffed inside each one! We thought we were eating the whole farm! That was yesterday and I am ready for 3 more bananas today! We visited a crocodile farm (really) and saw about 50 crocks that were 30 years old--about 10 to 12 feet long each and about 1000 lbs. They fed those beasts while we were there--Wow!

We were a short boat ride from Madagascar but never made it!

Along the way we saw a little boy (about 6) who was begging at the gas station when we took a break. Brian & Lois gave him a banana and some carrots. He went over to the grassy area and immediately ate the food. We wondered what his story was--is he an orphan? neglected? Everywhere you go in this country you are faced with reality if you take time to open your eyes. When Christ said "the fields are white unto harvest" He must have been talking about places like South Africa where sin has had such a devastating effect on people that many open their hearts to God's Word and the truth of the gospel. They are ready to listen and eagerly accept Christ. If only there were more to tell them...

Pictures today are obvious and it is Brian. Lois & Liam on the swinging bridge.

Long blog today...sorry but had some catching up to do.

Two Day Summary...where does the time go?

Is it Tuesday already?

Monday we spent a lot of time with The Pines children since they did not have school. We played across the road on a bike trail mowed in the 3 foot high African jungle (weeds for us Iowans). They rode dirt bikes, a 4 wheeler and just had fun. Oh, I probably shouldn't say that because this is an orphanage--where kids go to live, not to have fun. Oh well, I bet the kids at The Pines receive more love than any other orphanage in the world because they have Louie, Amber, Brian and Lois! Of course I am partial. The missionaries here are dedicated to these kids and it shows! An american baseball game broke out later in the afternoon. Some of these boys are headed for the Cubs! Chicago, that is.

The highlight of the day was a trip to the hospital. If this is government health care (and it is) I don't want to be a patient. We distributed tracts and bubble gum. The Pines kids are excellent witnesses--we pray that God will water the efforts of these kids as they passed out around 100 gospel tract/booklets. Louis headed up this project. Pictures in this post are of kids witnessing to people our entire group and dirt biking in the jungle.

Today the O'Tools and Niehoff's ll took off for a day of business and pleasure. Since the business was 2 hours away and Brian & Louie had to go we all decided to go. What a wonderful time of fellowship for all. Thank you SBC for sending these missionaries here.