South Africa Wrapup

I hope that all who have been watching our trip blog have enjoyed all the blogs filed so far. Everyone else on the trip has filed a message so now it is my turn. Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24 is our last day working in South Africa. You can tell by the messages that everyone has posted that they have all been touched in some special way by the experience. Christina and Anjuli are now safely home with their families. Hopefully they are well rested after a very hectic 12 days where we had very little time to relax. I know that Anjuli said that she slept for sixteen hours after getting home. Christina was not feeling to great when we checked them in through security at Johannesburg for their sixteen-hour direct flight to JFK. Thankfully Christina recovered from whatever was ailing her somewhere along the thirty-hour epic journey.

The report from Soshanguve North of Pretoria is a mixed message. When Mark and I first came here three years ago we were so impressed by the twelve or so team members that Zodwa had assembled and trained. The good news is that most of these young twenty somethings have now found jobs and another is going for an interveiw tomorrow. It seems like the Smart Choices program might be a good launching platform for these young folks to find jobs that are almost impossible to come by. The big challenge now is that all new trainers need to be raised up to fill the shoes of those who are moving on. We are teaching two classes of about forty students each this week. We will wrap it up tomorrow, say our goodbyes and head to the airport on Thursday morning for our flight to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

We spoke to Jeff and Tammy in Bulawayo this morning and they are about as excited to see us as we are to see them and to start the final leg of our trip. We met another pastor from Harare, Zimbabwe at Zodwa's church on Sunday. He is Pastor Shudas (Judas) Bhaudhi and he was very excited to learn about our AIDS prevention program and is planning to come to Bulawayo to participate in the training when we train the Bulawayo team on Friday and Saturday. So it seems possible that we might be able to get the program going in two centers in Zimbabwe. After doing the training on Friday and Saturday we will attend a church service at Jeff and Tammy's church on Sunday and then do a community outreach where we will teach the Smart Choices program with the new trainees to give them experience at teaching the program to others. Hopefully that will be enough experience to enable them to be confident about presenting the program on their own.

I am going to wrap this blog up here, add a few pictures and please look out for an update from Zimbabwe in four or five days' time. Blogging from Zim. might be a challenge as it was in Richards Bay because they do not have power every day so we will have to try and synchronize our blogging with power availability.

--

Glynn Smith
Beacon of Hope International
Phone: 949-305-1922
Cell: 949-795-0042
Web: http://www.beaconint.org/
Blog: blog.beaconint.org
Skype: africanson3

Report from Mark

--

Greetings from South Africa to all of our fellow partakers in the grace of God at Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church.  Please accept apologies for not posting sooner, but we have just in the last couple of days gained internet access.  A special shout out to Ruthie Stordahl and our home group that meet at Paul and Nancy Thompson's home.

 

To date our team has taught about 380 kids and two of our group also taught several days the kids who attend the school located at the orphanage where we stayed the two weeks while we were in the Richard's Bay area.  There also was a team from Boston teaching the "Smart Choices" curriculum in Durban simultaneously while we were teaching.

 

We are now in Soshanguve in the northern part of the country and will begin teaching tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Thursday we will travel to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and be involved in teaching until the 2nd of September.

The response from the school kids has been very encouraging.  Many indicated on their response cards to agree to be abstinent and also to learn more about Jesus.  The African people are so welcoming and appreciative that we come so far.  Our prayer is that they will see the connection between our bodies as the temple of God and choosing not to have sex.  It seems that there is a disconnect between what they want to do and the fact that that behaviour is killing their nation via HIV/AIDS.  Please pray for them.  The heart is desperately wicked, who of us can know it?

 

Two of our team members flew home Friday the 19th and are now experiencing jet lag, and the remaining three of us get that experience in two weeks.

Thank you for your prayers, little by little, our message is going forth.

Mark

 

Belated Blog Posts and Busy Days

Hi All! Sorry for the late blogging on my part...it's been quite a juggling act with everything going on, but I know that if I didn't sit down to blog tonight, my mom just might strangle me through the computer (kidding, Mom). Anyways, I wanted to type out a few quick notes about the trip and what we've been witnessing that past 2 weeks.   This trip so far has been truly amazing. Mark and I worked primarily with Derrick while we were in the Richard's Bay area. The first class we met with contained roughly 120 students ranging in age from about 13 to 15. I have to say, I was pretty darn intimidated, having very little teaching experience (really when I say "little", I mean none), but I slowly became more and more comfortable as the time went on. I think the two main things that made me ease into it were the kids' attentiveness and Derrick's overwhelming passion for the kids. Seriously, I wish I was able to adequately described what I saw. Derrick and his team were so singularly focused on reaching this kids that their joy and excitement became infectious. I couldn't help but enjoy myself.   Besides Derrick's excitement, the kids also just capture your heart. Many of these kids put American children to shame with their manners and respect in the classroom. They not only respect you, but they're genuinely excited to see you, to be near you, and in my case, to run their fingers through your hair. "Personal bubbles" hold no meaning here, and I love it. I think that after you've been mobbed by no less than 40 kids who all want to touch any bit of you they can reach, you gotta ease up on the boundaries. Anyways, I have to say that I have absolutely fallen in love with the South African people, and primarily in our case, the Zulu population in the Kwa Zulu Natal province.   I'm not sure if I could really condense all that I've done or seen during the past 2 weeks into a blog post, but several other things that have made me fall in love are: 1) Kind and compassionate Clement and Thuli, who did everything from feeding us to cleaning our clothes and sharing in fellowship; 2) Incredible worship that you never want to end and will almost always bring tears to your eyes; 3) Kids. Kids kids kids on every side that love you unconditionally just for showing up; and 4) Sharing in furthering the Gospel with Christians from all around the world.   While we have since moved on from Richard's Bay and are now in Pretoria (north of Johannesburg) and are now working with different teams, I want to say that what has struck me this trip and what has brought me personally the most joy is to be able to share life for too brief a time with Christian brothers and sisters from entirely different countries. Usually, when one goes on a missions trip, it's to meet a need or to minister to someone else. In this case, however, I think I have been the one most blessed. I have seen firsthand that there are capable, joyful men and women serving the Lord each and everyday. These are the people who are truly laying down their lives for their neighbor. Many of these people have little resources or are spread thin in their commitments, but have answered the call to help one another and share the burden on a country rocked by HIV and AIDS. When I truly took the time to pause and just see what was going on around me, I was overwhelmed. Clement has opened his home and his wallet to be able to feed, clothe, and school almost 30 orphans. Derrick now works full time as a pastor partnering with schools and businesses in the area to teach this HIV curriculum. And Kenny has left his home in Nigeria to reach out to the people of South Africa and teach people from an entirely different culture.   It's been very humbling to see that there is much to be learned from Christians from other cultures and backgrounds if you are only willing to sit and spend time listening to them. I have been so blessed, and I can't wait to see what else the Lord is going to do. Until then...blessings!   -Branyn

Can't believe this much time has passed!

Today we left the orphanage.  It was hard to go.  I cannot believe it has been over a week and our time is done here.  The rest of our team goes on to Shangube, please keep them in your prayers!

We said goodbye to the kids at our home away from home.  The children were sad to see us go.  We were sad to leave.  I am so hopeful we can come back.  The children sent us off with some children's worship songs.  It was very sweet. 

This past week we spent more time helping teach at the school in the orphanage and going out to give the Smart Choices AIDS/HIV curriculum to the schools.  One school we travelled to was deep into the hills.  We went off roading in Clement's car which has serious alignment issues.  When we were driving behind him you could see the front wheels well to the right of the back wheels.  When we were driving with him I noticed that he drove with the steering wheel completely to the right.  Prayed and prayed.  Here they have very little concern for personal space and hitchhiking is a way of life.  We stopped to ask for directions.  The lady just jumped into the back seat to catch a ride and show us herself.  Unfortunately this pushed Christina out the other side.  So Christina had to jump into the front seat with me.  So we continued on the bumpy road with Christina scrunched up on my lap.  All new experiences!  The public school we went to was very interesting.  The buildings are very plain.  Nothing on the walls except a single chalkboard at the front of the class.  All of the students are wearing uniforms giving an illusion of structure.  Some of the kids were not wearing shoes.  It had been raining for a couple days and we found out that when it rains here they cancel school, since the roads are too muddy and flooded to walk on.  We gave the talk in a large room.  We had close to 200 students in the class.  They translated what we taught into Zulu.  We reached children as young as 4th grade, so we are hopeful that the seriousness of the issue really sinks in with them.

Back at the orphanage we noticed that one of the boys did not have black school shoes.  So we went out to the store and baught him a new pair.  I cannot explain the feeling that came over us when we saw his reaction to receiving his new shoes.  He was so greatful he didn't even know what to say.  He was so happy.  The next day we saw him in school.  Somewhere he had found an old suit jacket to put on over his uniform.  He was going around showing off his new shoes.  He was so happy.  When the teacher told him he had mud on his shoes he bent down and wiped it off with his hand to make sure they kept clean.  It warmed our heart!

Yesterday I taught some of the worship songs we do to Jana Alayra to the children.  They all loved it so much.  All the way to 9th grade they danced and sang.  Thank you to Dawn for donating the CD's.  The children were so happy!  

We have so much to say but so little time with internet access.  We are still filled with joy and are still excited to be here!  :)  I am sure we will all write more when we get home.  We love you all!

 

Anjuli :)

Forgot to note that the last blog was from me :) -- Anjuli

Amazing...

As Christina said we have not been able to blog or communicate because of where we have been staying.  So we will do our best to catch everyone up to date :)

 

This trip has been amazing!  It is more than I imagined it would be.  The Lord gave me unrest and I found peace...He made me uncomfortable in order to bring me comfort.  As always I am amazed by His goodness, love and grace.

 

Our flights here were seamless.  We had one minor hiccup with the luggage.  We had to take Virgin America from LAX to Dulles, then transfer to South African Air for our flight to South Africa.  Virgin is partners with South African Air.  They charged us a fee for two extra bags we were taking with items for the orphanage.  This fee was supposed to carry us through all the way to South Africa.  However, when we arrived at Dulles the lady (who was not kind at all) insisted we had to pay again.  She refused to work with us or the Virgin Air representative who walked all the way over to our terminal to talk to her.  Thankfully we have the Lord on our side and even stubborn ladies can't get past Him :)  We found favor with the man from Virgin America and he refunded our money for the extra bags so that we would not be charged twice.  Go Virgin America!  :)

We arrived at the orphanage after 32 hours of travel...phew!  The orphanage is on a long, bumpy, dirt road.  When we pulled in it was 10:30 at night so everyone was asleep.  We parked in the dirt lot and went to our quarters.  It is a quaint house with a modest kitchen (no running water, no sink, plug in counter top burners), a dining room, living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom without running water...that's right it is washcloth bath time and no flushing toilets :0

The beauty of it all was that it was done up quite well.  The beds were all made with extra blankets for us and the rooms were nice and it was very clean.  Even though they have so little they worked so hard to make us comfortable. 

The next morning we woke up to a rooster...at 3 am.  He is obviously not the smartest rooster since he does not realize he is supposed to wait for the sunrise.  Every morning I have wished Doug Horn was there to put it out of our misery ;)-  We have had a lot of nice quiet time in the mornings thanks to being woken up so early :) 

When we were dressed we walked out of our room to find the most beautiful smiling faces staring back at us.  Christina gave a big smile to them and the kids all lit up, then started giggling and ran away.  No worries though, right away they came back with more friends and we were quickly mobbed by at least 25 children, hugging us and wanting to touch our hair.  I have heard it said "For beautiful hair let a child run their hands through it" well our hair is gorgious now!  :)

The first day Clemet (the man who runs the orphanage and school) asked Christina and I to teach at the school.  It was kind of funny, they just told us to teach...I asked them, "Teach what?" "Anything" was their reply.  We have quickly come to realize that this is much of the South African attitude towards things :) So I asked them for at least some direction and they asked us to teach social science.  We said no problem and got to teaching.  Now the funny thing is, in social science they are learning about maps...of South Africa.  Needless to say Christina and I are well versed in the terrain and provinces of South Africa :)  We had a wonderful time with the children.  After, we cleaned up some glass and rusty nails from the yard (the orphange is built on a space used as a garbage dump in the past).  The children were so ready and willing to help.  Without a word of complaint.  Amazing. 

The next day Christina and I taught at the school while the team went to give the Right Choices course to their various schools.  I will let them tell you more about what happened there :)  Christina and I have been so blessed to spend this time with these kids.  Some of them call us momma and every morning the whole team is greeted with hugs and love.  Life does not get much better than this.  One night we had a girl, Sima, who came to talk with us.  She asked us if we liked it in South Africa.  We told her we loved it.  She found it hard to believe since we were from America.  She looked at me and asked if I felt comfortable here.  Without skipping a beat I said yes.  Then I realized that I trully had felt comfortable since the moment I had arrived.  The Lord has given our entire team comfort and a spirit of peace about the entire trip.  It is trully amazing! 

On our third night here we were able to give out some of the wonderful clothes, shoes and toys we had collected to give them.  I can't tell you the light it brings to your heart when you see a child turning in their only pair of worn-out shoes that are too small for a new pair of shoes that fit them just right.  No whining over color or style, just happy to have shoes.  Oh the joy!  I saw kids take the stuffed animals we gave them and just hold it to their faces...again, oh the joy!  Putting on used clothes, that are new to them, and modeling it for us with huge smiles on their faces...OH THE JOY! 

The next day Christina and I had the priveledge to watch the kids perform.  These children are some of the most talented people I have ever met.  Their voices lift the spirit! Christina said that she imagined Zulu's would be singing in heaven and I must say that I agree with her! These children have joy.  Even in their humble and strained lives they find joy. 

Today we were able to go to a wild game reserve to see some of Africa's wildlife.  We had room in our van so we were able to take 5 of the older kids from the orphanage with us.  Oh, what an incedible day we had.  Seeing the wildlife we saw not only through our eyes for the first time, but also through the eyes of a child...I can't even explain the elation.  We saw giraffes, wart hogs, elephants, wildabeasts and more!  We also had a close encounter with a Rhino! (Imagine my Australian accent)  We look out the back of our van, and there, walking up behind us is a white rhino.  He gets so close we could have reached out and touched him.  He decided he did not like us.  He backed up a bit and stomped his foot on the ground and shook his head, as if to charge.  The children were freaked out, our hearts stopped, we all froze...then thanks be to God the rhino changed his mind and went trotting off into the bush.  Whew!

On our way through the reserve one of the girls asked me why I smiled and laughed so much.  I was caught a little off guard, not realizing that I did. Then when I thought about it I realized that I have been genuinely filled with joy from the moment I arrived here. These children make my heart sing.  This land shows God's majesty in a way I could never have imagined.  I have joy overflowing, so much so that my cheeks hurt!  The girls decided to give me a Zulu name that means "ever smiling" :) I have no idea how to pronounce that name in Zulu much less write it but that is what it means :)  The Lord has done this for me...given me a chance to be ever smiling in His glory with joy overflowing, oh, I pray that I may keep this feeling with me for always!  :)  :)  :)   

 

 

hello

We apologize for the lack of communication to you all! The orphanage we're staying at does not have internet, so no texting, emailing, or blogging. Until tonight...we just arrived in Richard's Bay at a beautiful bed and breakfast run by friends of Glynn. This home is filled with eucalyptus stairways, ceilings, a gorgeous backyard that has a large deck overlooking a coi pond, pool, and bright green grass. The three of us, Anjuli, Branyn, and myself, were overjoyed at the flushing toilets, shower, and yummy smelling soap. We may each take three showers before leaving in the morning for church. tee hee

I can't possibly condense the last five days into one blog...but I'll do my best to express just a smidgen of it tonight. The over arching theme that characterizes my time here is joy and obedience. We've been, for the most part until tonight, with folks that have nothing in the world's standards. Yet they bubble over with joy and generosity that doesn't seem to have an end to it. The couple running the orphanage and school, Clement and Thuli, get up at sunrise and cook, clean, wash clothes, repair the buildings the children live in, raise their own children and do more than I know. There's not much rest for them. The work has to get done, so they do it with joyful hearts.

Thursday, after teaching in their 7-9th graders, Anjuli suggested we pick up trash scattered every where. (At the time we didn't know the orphanage was built on an old trash dump.) So we took some bags and began to pick up glass, rusty nails, and random objects stuck in the dirt. Without a word to the kids, they came over, took the bags from us, and helped clean up their home. We stayed at it for at least 35 minutes with no complaining, whining, or arguing from any of the children! With smiles and laughter, we served each other...yes, four, five, and six year olds served me as I to them.

That's the funny thing about going a trip like this, or any missions focused trip. John Piper says this, Jesus asks us to give up a good thing for a great thing. This is the great thing. God wants hearts willing to obey and then He showers that obedience with abundant joy in the serving. Why do we as Children of God find this so difficult and inconvenient? Have we forgotten Christ's body broken for the trespasses we committed, not His? If we can only have the clarity that a trip like this gives to remain once we're home and back into routine....serving should be like breathing, what else are we to do for whom we call our King, our Abba, our Savior? He doesn't require "pay back", but certainly from the body He's redeemed and soul saved, the heart wells up with gratitude for the new life and the desire for all to share in the everlasting hope of knowing Jesus.

--Christina

 

Two teams are leaving on August 8 for the USA to go to South Africa. A team of seven people are from Canada and Boston and they will be working with the Campus Crusade staff in Durban to Present the Smart Choices program to schools in Durban and the surrounding areas.



A team is leaving from California to go to Richards Bay, Soshanguve, and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. The allards are probably ringing right now to get the team members up so we can be at LAX airport by 4:40 for 7:50 flight.

Here is our California team:

Please watch our Blog for the next four weeks.

Uganda Team Trip Report

God is opening up new opportunities fo Beacon of Hope this year. We are finaly being drawn to destinations other than South Africa. New doors have opern to Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Curtis and Rhonda who have been on the South African mission trip twice in 2006 and 2007 went to Ugande this an just returned on Wednesday August 3.

Curtis wrote the following On July 23 after being in Uganda a few days:
"Everything here is going great. I am so impressed with what Moses has done. One reason we are doing so much is because he got the program approved by the inspector of education.
The inspector helped plan the program with Moses. Basically we are piloting the program for Uganda. We are going into a variety of schools,primary, secondary, same sex, private and public. The youth conference is 5 youth from 12 parishes from 16 to 26 years old and they will go back home to share the material there."

As Curtis stated Smart Choices is being evaluated as a pilot program with the intention making it part of the school curriculum throughout Uganda. They first had to do a presentation for the Mayor of Entebe and then were taken to Kampala to meet the Secretary of Education and I believe were also introduced to the Speaker of the Parlement. The program started out by Curtis and Rhonda taking a day to training four people to be Smart Choices instructors. Then they took one more day to have the new instructors present the program back to them and they provided feed back and critique. Next is they started teaching the program to the assortment of schools mentionad in Curis' coments above.

Results:
A total of 667 students were trained.
111 Made new commetments to follow Jesus.
512 Are already Christians and wanted help to grow spiritually stronger.
612 Made to aabstain from sex until married.
540 Pledged to be faithful to one partner in marriage.

The schools that were taught the Smart Choices curriculum in this pilot program were:

1. Entebbe Junior, private school: Students – 72 Ages – 11-14


2. Mary Reparatrix S.S., All girls private school: Students – 115 Ages – 13-21


3. Saint John’s School, private school : Students – 39 Ages – 13-19


4. Entebbe Comprehensive, public school: Students – 58 Ages – 9-17


5. Jinja Youth Conference: Students – 59 Ages – 11-43


6. Chadwick, public school, teachers were on strike Students – 237 Ages – 10-6


7. Sacred Heart Bugonga, public school: Student – 87 Ages – 9-18

Here are some comment provided by students and teachers.
Nugabe Ben Kalisa
“I have loved this workshop because it taught us about abstaining from sex up to when you are married. And we have also learnt to ask our heavenly father whatever we need.”
Ilhan Au (Iuy)
“You guys have taught me a lot. I wish we could teach the future generation about HIV/AIDS.”
Ariyo Roselyn
“I have really loved this workshop very much and I would request God to bless this people who took us through this workshop abundantly because I have learnt so many things from this workshop of smart choices and I believe it will help me in future.”
Tobach Linda Chantal Violet
“I appreciate the advice and I promise to keep my word. So God help me.”
Education Inspector Ndagga Daniel
“This curriculum is recommended for use in our schools, a good program.”
Nakato Juliet
“Jesus film was so nice I have ever watched it. It has taught me a lot like forgiveness, courage, sacrification, loving others, helping the poor. I would like the Smart Choice group to come back because they are really nice and teach well.”
Kabashinga Jane
“I have really learnt to abstain from sex, trust in one God and to have self-control.”

Tim Andrew, teacher
"The workshop is very interesting and educative to the pupils and teachers. It would save many people if done all around the country. "
Anenu Charlotte
"I really thank you for the wonderful empowerment you’ve changed my life and I’ll always remember you. You are always welcome. God bless you all."

Great job Curtis, Rhonda and Pastor Moses. You have made a great start in Uganda.