Downtown Johannesburg Orphanage

(follow up - added after we returned)

We spent the day at an orphanage in downtown Johannesburg. Dennis and Mike were the ones that ran the home. It was a converted hotel with a central courtyard and a church on the upper floor.

Dennis and Paul Siaki

On Saturdays Dennis invites all the street kids to the church/orphanage for devotion and a meal. There were about 50 who showed up. This is one of the hardest lives I have ever encountered. There were a a lot of drug abuse and alcohol issues, but in general it just seems like a hard life. We sat in the audience with the kids some of whom looked younger than 10 and some who were over 20. I spoke with a number of them, but it was hard conversation. One of them I could communicate with I asked what he would do if you could do anything. He said he would be a doctor. I tried to encourage him, but I'll probably never know if it will make any difference.

We were all directed downstairs to the kitchen where our team served them soup.

There were going to be blankets donated to them, but there was a question if there were enough blankets. It had snowed while we were it Cape Town for the first time in 20 years so blankets were badly needed. We offered to run out and buy some more, but when we got to the store it had just closed. The area we were in did not seem very safe either so it was probably a mistake to even leave the building. When we returned they were all gone. When the promise of something free evaporated, they did the same. A survival system where they only work on the things they are sure will help their survival or mask the situation. Dennis says no one has figured out how to rehabilitate street kids and they are common in every culture.

After that we ran a vbs (singing, crafts and games) with the younger kids and a discussion on AIDS, and God's plan for marriage and family with the older kids. This took most of the rest of the day and was a lot of fun. At the end they sang us a song which is always the best part for us. Amazing singers.

Leaving Cape Town

(follow up - added after we returned).

We spent the morning with some final meetings and discussions with Dennis. We did a quick skit for Dennis and his team for fun.

Bridges of Hope does a lot of job creation for the townships they work in by selling the bead and craft work in their store. We did some last minute shopping, packed the vans and headed to the airport. The drive to the airport leads through Cape Flats the large sprawling townships we had been working in the previous days. A sobering reality of poverty for hundreds of thousands of people.

We arrived back in Johannesburg in the evening and drove to Pretoria for another meeting. We could not get in touch with the people were were to meet with so we drove back to Johannesburg and checked into the GNCC (Good News Conference Center). A dormitory style residence where we would spend the next few nights. It was very central to the many places we would visit in the next few days.

Bridges of Hope - preparation for retreat

(follow up - added after we returned)

Bridges of Hope was sponsoring a OVC (orphan and vulnerable children) retreat the day after we were to leave for Johannesburg. We spent the day helping them get ready. Cleaning. Building Bunk Beds, and doing some handyman jobs. It was nice to have a day of labor after all the travelling and meetings.
This is a picture of Matthew, Lailani and Lynne building bunk beds.

Mike Kenyon especially liked driving the ATV and hauling beds, firewood and other materials around the area.

The land and buildings that Bridges of Hope owns are truely amazing. The kids that come there on retreat from Cape Flats are in for a real treat. For most of them it will probably be the first time they have left the township.

Cape Flats

(follow up - added after we returned)
Our day in Cape Flats was both heart breaking and hopeful.

We first visited Phillipe which is where Dennis has concentrated most of his efforts over the past five years. The changes are extraordinary. We visited a large church which was recently completed. It is one of the few 'real' buildings in the area and the pictures of the previous church were just some tin walls and a tin roof. We sang some songs with the youth choir.



We then went to another township nearby called Vlie (pronounced Flay) and nicknamed "Sweet Home" by the locals.


We spent a long time in discussion and praying with an HIV/AIDS support group.

Lailani holding one of the children during our meeting.

Some of the women we met with.

The local leader Joy (male) took us on a short walk to a pre-school called a creche. A shipping container converted into a place of learning and support. This was the only "real" structure in the area besides a phone booth we passed.


At one point Joy broke out into a song "Fire On The Mountain" and got all the kids to chase him around. We were all having a good time and it was nice to forget about the conditions if even for a moment.

In Cape Town with Bridges Of Hope

We spent the day meeting with Dennis Wadley of Bridge of Hope and we all agree this is an amazing ministry. He is making definite changes in one of the largest townships here. He is raising up community leaders and help people in the township start small businesses. We visited two other nearby townships that have not had much access yet that we are considering for future trips. As usual, heartbreaking conditions with amazing spiritual wealth. That same high contrast we have seen on every trip.

The flights were all very easy with no delays or problems. Driving has been full of delays. When we were driving to Pretoria to meet with Hein Van Wyk we sat in traffic for three hours as a truck had overturned across all lanes. There has been a major accident with traffic on many of our key trips, but it has not held us back any. Prayer for clear traffic would be helpful.

We met briefly with Paul of OC International yesterday. We will be working with him in Soweto when we return to Johannesburg. We are looking forward to that.

Our meeting with Hein Van Wyk of Hope For Africa was not as productive as we had hoped, but he is a true visionary and made us think of things we had never considered. A significant blessing at the beginning of our trip to force us into asking some very difficult questions. That has lead us to think in different terms with all our other meetings.

Tomorrow we have another full day with Bridges of Hope.

Have to go. Bridges has Internet access, but it has been hard to get the time.

Wood

Paul Siaki and Apartheid Museum

(follow up - added after we returned) In the morning Wood, Matthew, Lailani and Alan drove the bags to the airport. We didn't have enough room for everyone and the bags so we stored them at the airport for the day. Finding the airport was a struggle, but we got the bags stored. A wrong turn on the way back delayed us for at least an hour, but it was a fun tour of Johannesburg.

We spent the day with Paul Siaki of OC International. We went to the Apartheid Museum and spent a few hours. It was another good point for the team to learn about the history of the area and many of the governmental policies that lead to many of the current problems in the area.

We went to lunch in Downtown Johannesburg at the top of the tallest building.

After lunch we drove to the airport and boarded the plan to Cape Town.

We arrived in Cape Town after dark and Dennis picked us up at the airport and guided us to the Bridges of Hopes future academy where we stayed. Very nice facilities about an hour out of Cape Town.

Johannesburg with Hope for Africa

(follow up - added after we returned) Arrived last night. Easy flights with no delays and short layovers. The travel agent's sister helped us find our accommodations.

We had a noon meeting in Pretoria with Hein who runs Hope for Africa. An hour or so drive from Johnannesburg to Pretoria turned into a 3 and a half hour sit in traffic when a tanker truck turned over and blocked all lanes except the emergency lane. You can see it in the distance. As we inched along to this point we sat here for about 40 mintues as the crane came in a blocked the emergency lane as well.


Our meeting with Hein was very productive. He is a big thinker and asked us tough questions which lead to much better discussions with other potential partners for the rest of the trip. We had a late lunch with Hein near his office and returned back to our hotel in the evening.

Weather lookout

Thursday was the start of Summer and a perfect warm day and we have all packed a lot of warm clothes because it is Winter in South Africa. It will be very cold where we are going. One good way to follow us when the blog is not updated might be to take a look at the weather. Brrrrr!

Johannesburg (June 24-26): Weather
Cape Town (June 26-29): Weather
Johannesburg (June 30-July 3): Weather
Namibia (July 3-7): Weather

Timezone Calculator

Want to know what time it is while were are in Africa?

June 24 - July 3: South Africa
July 3 - July 8: Namibia

Bar-b-que and last team meeting

The next time we all meet will be at 4:30am at LAX on Saturday morning.

Here is a picture of the team.


From left to right (Matthew, Lynne, Wood, Monica, (Kylie - Mike's daughter), Mike, Lailani, Heather, Kristy, Alan)

This was at Mike's house where we went over the last of the business, plane tickets, itinerary, separating the last of the donations and craft supplies, and practicing a couple of songs. In Africa everyone sings and they expect you to sing as well so we are at least ready when called.

George Dien

We called George Dien and family last night to verify the dates and see if there are any last minute changes. He sounded good as usual and we can't wait to visit with him again. He said it is cold now, but not too cold. We have heard he started a tent church in Blok-E and he has not said much beyond that. We are looking forward to working with him and his family in the coming weeks.

There was a last minute change to our accommodations in Rehoboth. Reho Spa mixed up the reservation and we have to stay about 3 miles away now, but this is just a small change.

Blogging while in Africa

There will be limited access to the Internet and limited time to update this blog while we are in Africa. I will try and updated it at least twice while we are travelling, most likely from airports if we have time between flights which there will probably be a lot of. Otherwise, we will want to stay focused on our work and blogging will be secondary to that work. I know you really want to keep up to date with us, but please be patient and check back here every few days.

Wood

Final week of preparation

We have a lot going on at the last minute.

Heather is making books with information on each of our partners so we can all have and review it on the flight.

Monica is coordinating a million little things.

Alan is working on the budgets and donations.

Kristy has a severe toothache and has to have a root canal this week before we leave. Pray for her.

Also, pray for Heather's back it has been causing her severe pain since a car accident in January and of course has been acting up even more as the trip approaches.

Lynn is finalizing our travel and accomidations.

I've been working on phones (we will have a local phone number while we are in South Africa), walkie talkies and the blog.

We are having a final meeting and bar-b-que at Mike's on Thursday.

Everyone c0ntinues to work on the Choose To Wait and VBS programs.

This is a great team and I'm thankful to be a part of it.

Wood

All Things Are Possible

Only a few days before we leave. We saw the most amazing movie last night. God is awesome for giving us that movie through Netflix the week before we leave.

Facing The Giants
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809738431/info

God works a miracle through every one of these young high school football players and their coach. They lose the first three games of the season and have had a losing season for six years. The coach is already prayerful but changes the focus of the team to be thankful for His glory no matter if they win or lose. It makes a huge difference in their attitude and they begin to win while obstacles and miracles are working all around them.

At the end, the coach asks each of the boys in the locker room, "Is there anything that God can't do?" They each say "No coach. Nothing".

I'm inspired. If we have to sit for 14 days on the LAX tarmac waiting for the plane to take off I'm going to praise God's glory. If we touch the lives of thousands I'm going to praise Him just the same. He is awesome!

I don't think that ruined the movie, you should still rent it if you get a chance.

On team 2 I witnessed a number of miracles and I can only sit in awe and hope that I get to see his awesome hand in action again. I am truly blessed to be selected for this trip with this team.

Wood

RAP - Rhenish AIDS program - Rehoboth, Namibia

I've been trying to write up something on each of the potential partners we will be visiting. In Rehoboth, Namibia, we will be meeting with Johnathan Van Wyk who heads up The Rhenish AIDS Program (RAP). This is from an e-mail response early in our conversations.

Dear Mr. Harter

We here at RAP are very excited about your visit to Rehoboth. We would like to propose the following for your visit:

1. Visits to rural areas where we are involved in community upliftment programs, eg. kindergardens(Chreche), hostels, gardens.

2. Roundtable meeting with you to plan future cooperation between RAP and RockHarbor.

We would appreciate it if you could consider us as well in your efforts to gather some educational stuff and clothing. We are now in the preparation phase of starting an after school care centre where children can come study, do home work, and read. Educational stuff especially for kindergardens ( 5 - 7 years old) will be highly appreciated.

Looking forward to see you in July.

Regards,
Jonathan Van Wyk

These are answers to our general questions I thought were relevant.

What are the biggest needs?
Answer: i) Transport; ii) Human resources; iii) financial support.

What other churches or groups are they working with?
Answer: We work Catholic Aids Action, CAFO, Evangelical Lutheran Church Aids Program (ELCAP).

What is the youngest age we could bring?
Answer: To be involved in programs we would prefer 16 years and older.

What is the church like in their community?
Answer: The Rhenish Church is more like the Lutheran church

What is your vision?
Answer: The vision of RAP is: "To help develop a healthy generation free of HIV/AIDS and other Sexual Transmitted Diseases through helping people to make positive decisions."

Would it be a good fit for Rock Harbor? Why or Why not?
Answer: It depends on what the mission of Rock Harbor is. We are open to any organisation/group/church who wants to combine forces with us in the fight against HIV/AIDS and to do community work in order to uplift our communities.

We will be working with Johnathan and RAP on July 5th and 6th.

Our hearts are with this location and we would like most of all be able to continue working in this community. Over the past three or four years of trips to Rehoboth we have all found a connection here and hope that we can maintain our ties to this place and build upon work that we have already done. Those hopes are dependent on finding a long term partner where ever we go and it has been very hard for us to find an organization working in this location. All the more reason for us to want to work here since there is so much need and so few resources.

Updated letter to previous teams

Alan sent another letter to the previous teams. This is much better than a blog entry I could create, so here it is verbatim.

Hello Everyone-

First, we would like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. Visiting with everyone was really good for the soul. Those of you that were not able to attend were definitely missed. It is amazing how God weaves our lives and relationships together. To hear about all of the blessings that have been realized and relationships that have developed is quite encouraging.

This letter is simply to give you an update of the status of our trip (itinerary and financial) to South Africa and Namibia. We will be leaving for South Africa on June 23^rd. Our first week will be spent between Cape Town and Johannesburg. In Johannesburg we will be meeting with Hope for Africa and OC International. Hope for Africa’s mission is to encourage, prepare and equip local churches with a Christian worldview to carry out wholistic ministry in their communities. OC international is involved in evangelism, discipleship, leadership training, church growth, missions, and support services. With OC international we are also planning to visit children’s home and provide lunch to street kids in the area. In Cape Town, we will be meeting with Bridges of hope. Bridges of Hope is a social-action organization dedicated to helping in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Bridges of Hope connects people from around the world with people of those nations most affected by the AIDS epidemic, to create long-term, self-sustaining solutions to the challenges they face. Our second Week will be spent in Rehoboth were we will be meeting and potentially working with Rhenish AIDS Program. Our work with them would include visits to rural areas where RAP is involved in community programs. Certainly we will also be meeting and spending time with George and Ann Marie.

Financially, we are only half way to our goal of $25,000. With such a short time left before our departure, we are asking for you to include us in your prayers regarding the remainder of the funds required to go. Please, also pray for our safety during travel and our health. Please pray against opposition and finally that we are able to bring glory to God and that our efforts will be fruitful by establishing a ministry partner for Rock Harbor.

God Bless,

Monica, Wood, Lynne, Heather, Matthew, Lailanie, Kristy, and Alan.

Team Meeting

We had one of our last meetings last night. The trip is fast approaching and we are working out last minute details and long planned events. Things seem to be moving smoothly, but there are also side currents that tend to distract and cause anxiety.

We have no plans to use them at this point, but just in case we have prepared a "Choose To Wait" program and a VBS by splitting the team into two teams of 4. This has worked in the past when we have taught Choose To Wait. When you invite a large number of 8th-12th grade kids to a "Choose To Wait" program they invariably bring all their younger siblings. On our first trips we were not prepared for this, but now we have a VBS program ready for the younger kids so no one feels left out.

We split up the donations and everyone filled large duffle which we will carry with us.

The meeting went later than many of the other meetings, but I think we were all enjoying the time together. This is a great team with a lot of synergy.