Africa Pics-Part 1

Here it is!  The much-awaited blog with pictures.  Sorry it's taken me so long to get these posted.  I decided to take you on a chronological journey back through our trip to Zimbabwe.  These are the pictures from the first few days of our trip.

Packing!  We had 2 suitcases of toys donated from the Dallas Metro Mission.  The kids and I had to unwrap each individual toy for packing so that Customs wouldn't think we were trying to import toys to sell.  We had a lot of fun thinking about who might receive these treasures.

Our little family of four took seven checked bags, each weighing exactly 50 pounds, of medicines and medical supplies.  (We had 23 total bags for our group!)  Most of these were either donated or purchased wholesale from places like Blessings International or Hospitals of Hope.  Each item had to be carefully wrapped in clothing so the bag wouldn't get flagged or taken.  This was quite an ordeal!  But Luke and I commented over and over during this process, that even if this was all we were doing- taking these supplies to a needy community- it would be well-worth the trip.

Good morning sunshine!  We woke up at 4:15 am to be ready to catch the shuttle to the airport on Thursday morning!  Donuts for breakfast helped...

There were a total of 12 traveling with our group from P.A.P.A. (Physicans Aiding Physicians Abroad)  Two were doctors, Luke and Kyle Sheets, and the other ten of us were the "support". :)  They actually really need lots of non-medical people to help with all the odd-jobs, maintenance, and different tasks that the full-time missionaries have listed out for us while we are there.  I did get to do a little physical therapy as well, which was a lot of fun for me!  

Here I am braiding Cori's hair at the airport.  I couldn't promise much at that early hour...

On our way to Washington, D.C.  Notice how they both already have their journals out and are writing!

Luke is ready for me to put the camera away now.  But isn't he handsome?

Faith Anna and Whitney.  Whitney is a good family friend of ours....it made the trip so special for Faith that she was there with us.

Bernita already has her feet up.  Man, it's going to be a long day! Way to be proactive. :)

Kyle, Luke, and Logan waiting for next plane.

We are finally on the "big plane that goes across the ocean." The kids are ready to sleep with their eye masks on!  :) South African Airways had a little bag of goodies in everyone's seat that included one of these masks, a pair of socks, and a travel size toothbrush and toothpaste.  Pretty nice!

Landon and Whitney getting ready for the long flight.

Luke and I actually got several hours of sleep on the plane!  We also watched several good movies....it was kinda like a date-night.  Seriously. :)  Our kids were just such good travelers...so independent.  They took care of themselves...so we got to actually hang out just the two of us.  I think I am so preoccupied at home with the two little ones....helping them, playing with them, chasing after them....that I don't quite take in how grown-up my big ones are.  It was fun to watch them and see how mature they are.  I'm a proud mama.

This was our first night in Harare, Zimbabwe.  We arrived Friday night and stayed at the TEAM Guesthouse (The Evangelical Alliance Mission)....they are the sponsor organization for Karanda Mission Hospital.  This was our room.  Pretty nice, huh?  Definitely not what I thought Africa would be like.

These are the grounds at the Guesthouse.

Beautiful poinsetta tree!  These were quite common in Harare.  Who knew these flowers would grow into a tree??

This was our team orientation for all of the newcomers....Luke, Cori, Bradyn, Carly, Whitney, and Ben....led by Doug Everswick,to the right of Luke, who is a full-time missionary with TEAM.  During this briefing, the rest of our team went shopping for a week's worth of groceries.

Our kids made fast friends wherever they went.  Here Faith is with the Everswicks' daughter, Rachelle.  They had the best time!

And Logan became buddies with the groundskeeper's son, Jephath.  Wonder if the Star Wars T-shirt was a draw?  Kidding.  He and Logan threw the frisbee, explored, and climbed whatever they could find.  Logan was looking forward to coming back to Harare at the end of our trip just to get to hang out with Jephath one more time.

We left early the next day for Karanda.  We were in 15-passenger van following this pick-up full of all of our luggage!  See it all strapped down there in the bed?  Pretty funny.

Notice the "Police Ahead" sign on the left of the road?  These were the roadblocks that so many people had told us about.  You can see the line of cars in front of the pick-up waiting to pass.  This was another thing that I had expected to be different than it actually was....I was worried that these stops were going to be very dangerous and frightening.  But they weren't at all.  The officer just asked our driver what business we were on, and when we said Karanda Mission Hospital they waved us on through.  Thank you Lord for making these go so smoothly!  

Part of our crew, Ben and Carly, Bradyn, Faith Anna, Logan, and Bernita.

Our caravan out into the bush

This is where the Africa trip really started for me.  The 3-hour drive out to Karanda was beautiful.  We saw gorgeous countryside....and began to see a people stricken by poverty, unemployment, poor health, and disease.  It was quite a contrast.

A little market we passed right as we headed out of town.  This was the last available stop for food...so we decided to grab a few more fresh pieces of produce.

See the pretty Baobab tree in the distance?  I've only seen one before made out of concrete at the Dallas Zoo in the Wilds of Africa exhibit.  It was amazing to see it in real life growing out in the wild.

We made it!  We arrived late Saturday afternoon at Karanda Mission Hospital....a beautiful place with a 150-bed hospital, nursing school, student dorms, hospital staff housing, guesthouse, chapel, and primary school....a place that serves hundreds and hundreds of people in the surrounding villages that would otherwise go without much needed food, clothing, and medical attention.

This was our guestroom for the week.  We pushed two single beds together for Luke and I, and borrowed some single mattresses from the dorms for the kids.  We stretched the mosquito nets to fit over both!  We had our own bathroom, complete with toilet, hot shower, and sink.  Very different than what I had dreamed up in my head.

The kids thought the nets were quite the adventure...

On Sunday morning, we went to the church service at the hospital chapel and were just blown away!  I've never heard such beauiful singing!  The native language here is Shona....although most of the educated people speak English.  I loved hearing them sing all those beautiful harmonies in Shona!  I have some video, but have to figure out how to shorten it before I attempt to post all 2 minutes...

Church identified another of my altered expectations- the people's love for Jesus here!  I thought we were supposed to be bringing that and sharing it with them.  But on the contrary, they had a joy and zeal for the Lord like none I've ever seen before.  I think they actually gave some of it to us.  Backwards, huh?  Not really.  As the week rolled on, I realized that our role as American Christians was one of more strengthening, encouraging, and supporting an already strong group of believers.  And of course bringing them all these much-needed supplies.

We met Parker and Tinashe that Sunday after church.  Didn't know at that time what good friends they would become to Logan throughout the week.

Faith Anna immediately making friends after church.

The little girls just seemed to flock to Faith.  And she pretty much led them around all week singing and skipping to made-up songs.  It was fun to watch.

And not to anyone's surprise, Logan found the first available tree to climb....and enticed a new friend to climb up with him!  I swear my son is part-monkey...

Faith Anna and I standing out in the yard in front of the guesthouse with some new friends.  The older girl on the far right in the purple is Peace.  She and I became good buddies over the week.

This is Lael.  He was my very favorite 3-year old.

Isn't he cute?

If anyone was ever looking for Logan, he could be found anywhere a ball was being thrown, kicked, or hit.  (Unless he was in a tree.)  He and the boys had a great time.

This is "little" Praise (several girls were named "Praise" or Rumbidzai in Shona, but she was the youngest) and another of my favorites, Rotendo, which means "Faith" in Shona.  I just fell in love with Rotendo.

On Sunday afternoons, the community all goes out to the soccer fields to watch the games.  We were part of the proud fans cheering for the Karanda team!

The little boy in my lap in the red shirt is Inno (pronounced eeno) which is short for Innocent.  He captured my heart.  We learned later on in the week that he had been dropped off at the Hospital gate as an infant...and one of the staff took him in and has raised him.  One of God's many angels, for sure.

The kids loved having their pictures taken.  On the left was the little girl that I bonded with the most during our trip, Praise, or Rumbidzai.  This "big Praise" was Rotendo's older sister.  I could tell she was a leader among the little girls, spoke English very well, and latched onto me like another daughter.  I loved getting to know her.

The kids loved to touch our hair.

This was another of my favorite little girls, Tatenda, which means "Thank you".  Her dad, James Kambutzi, was in charge of Community Distribution to orphans, underprivileged, and HIV/Aids families in the surrounding communities.  The Kambutzi family was a wonderful one to get to know.

Getting our hair braided...

After the soccer game,  big Praise wanted me to come back to her house and meet her mom and little brother, Ashley.  They lived in one of the many brick houses on the compound built by the hospital.  We didn't realize it at the time, but these were the families that had much: a brick home, a porcelin toilet, more than one room, clothes and shoes.  They still seemed so poor by my first impression, until later in the week when we went into the surrounding villages and met the people there.  Wow.  I was blown away.

Praise and Rotendo are good big sisters, I'm sure!  Isn't he a punkin?

I'll leave you with this short video clip of the one English song the choir sang at church that morning.  Hope you enjoy it!

More from our 2 weeks in Africa next blog...

1st week back

Well, we have been home a week now! It is amazing how some things change, and some things just stay the same. I had hoped for everything to change....but after a week I realize that the sameness is good in a way. It's comforting to have the same routine, hear the same little pitter-patter of feet down the hallway, and be able to be home with the ones you love. But it's amazing how God has changed the lens that I see that sameness through. I am very thankful for that.  I pray that I can continue to see life through this lens of gratitude, of plenty, of blessing, of needing for nothing, of compassion for others, of desire to reach out and give of what I've been given.

We arrived home late Saturday night, greeted Beth and Tag on Sunday morning (Man, it was good to see those two cuties!), hung out, did laundry, and grocery shopped on Monday and Tuesday. Then Wednesday we had Beth's Field Day at her preschool, and Wednesday night started the week's wedding festivities for Luke's cousin, Sydney. Thursday was rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and Friday the wedding at the beautiful Dallas Arboretum. So! You can see we've had a fun busy week. I promise to get Africa pics posted soon! But until then...enjoy a few from Beth's Field Day!  

Did I say how much I missed this sweet girl?

Logan and Faith Anna led the kids in Simon Says.

Tag loved the Dino Dig.

Tatoos are always a must at Field Day.

Here's another precious face that we missed terribly!  He has changed so much in 2weeks!  And his vocabulary has increased tremendously. :)  Among his new favorites are "No way!", pausing and saying, "Ummmmm...." while he's thinking, asking me to "Hold you" when he wants me to hold him, and referring to himself as "Tag!"  He is just too cute for words.  Another not-so-cute new behavior is the way he throws  himself down on the floor in a fit when he's mad.  :)  Oh well, isn't that a 19 month-old's job?  I think he's letting us know his preferences....he'd prefer us not be gone for that long again any time soon.  :) But let's not think about the tantrums right now....just focus on the cuteness of the picture.

Tag loved the Bubble station.  He got quite involved, and very wet and sticky, blowing the bubbles!

Beth and her friend Emma getting their gold medals.

And just to make sure you leave this blog with a smile on your face....Faith Anna the Rocker and her sister.

The boots are a nice touch, don't you think?

Africa

We are home from our Africa Adventure! I hope most of you got the email I sent Saturday night letting you know of our safe arrival. We had such a wonderful time....God blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. And we felt all of your prayers each day in a profound way...we felt safe and protected the whole time. Thank you so much for lifting us up and partnering with us on this mission. I can't wait to share our pictures and tell you all the details!

But....

Since Luke has my laptop....and he's not here.....and I just imported all of our pics from the camera to the laptop last night....I can't really begin to share the photo journey with you just yet. So for the next few minutes, I'll just give you a little glimpse into our time there.

Expectations. These are something that can totally surprise and thrill you....or something that can deflate and have you down in the dumps. Sometimes I wish we didn't have expectations of people, of things. Just seems like it would make things much simpler sometimes. But nevertheless, God created us with them, so we might as well embrace them and make the best of it....turn them into something that surprises us with joy when they turn out, and something we can blow off as no big deal when they don't. Well, I had one expectation of what Africa would be like....and I was totally off. :)

The poverty was worse than I thought, the people kinder and more generous, the country much more modern in the cities, and the outlying villages much poorer than I imagined. I had anticipated being frightened, feeling unsafe or threatened....even in the foreign airports I had visions of guards with machine guns and people looking at us with hostile eyes. But there was none of that. The airport in Harare felt much like one of our airports with people coming and going, and staff helping you through customs. We never once felt in any danger. Now of course we were being smart and doing our part in all of that. But it was mostly, thankfully, uneventful. I had also expected that we would stick out like sore thumbs....white skin among a sea of dark skin. But again, this wasn't the case at all. There were people of every race all around us. It was nice to be among such a mix of God's children.

We stayed the first night in Harare at the TEAM guesthouse (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) and had a trip orientation...as well as grocery shopped for our time at Karanda. We left the next morning for our 3 hour trip by van out to "the bush". This is where my Africa trip really began. Driving out of the city into the beautiful foothills....seeing the acacia trees and thatched-roof huts, the local people walking on the side of the roads carrying wood or baskets of food on their heads, and realizing how very different this is from our world back home. We passed through several government roadblocks, but again they were much different than what I had expected. The officers just waved us right through when they saw Karanda Mission Hospital on the side of the van. God protected us and paved our way.

When we arrived at the "compound" I was amazed at how secure it was. Completely fenced in and with a guard at the gate. 150 bed hospital, guesthouse that had 8 bedrooms and one bunk area, a Nursing School, student dorms, a cafeteria, a chapel, a primary school for the staff children, and staff housing. It was a big place! The people we met here were poor and needy- the children tended to wear the same clothes day after day....but they all had shoes on their feet, a brick house with a kitchen, furniture, and a porcelein toilet. Once we met families from the outlying villages, we quickly realized that the folks who lived at Karanda were the "wealthy" ones.

We started each morning bright and early at 7am with a devotional at the chapel. Man, African people can sing! They would sing 2-3 songs each morning in their native language of Shona...and you should have heard all the beautiful harmonies! I have a few video clips that I will have to share. Then Luke and Dr. Sheets would round on the patients and decide what they were going to do for the day. The kids and I, along with the other team members, would tackle various tasks such as building a fence for the goats, painting chairs for the school, sewing curtains for the nursing dorms, hanging ceiling fans, sorting and recording inventory of all the medicines we brought, and sorting and distributing clothing, toys, and food to the needy and the orphans in the outlying villages. Each day was full and felt very rewarding as we got these jobs accomplished.

Another surprise to me was how quickly Logan and Faith Anna made friends in the community. From the day we arrived, they both just ran out and met the children....quickly becoming one of the gang. School let out at 1p each day for lunch. So after the kids had eaten, from 2p until 6p, they were running and playing with their new friends all over the grounds! It was wonderful to see that childlike acceptance....they never once told us they felt awkward or uncomfortable being the only light-skinned kids among about 35 dark ones. It was as if they really didn't even notice. Ah, I wish we as adults would lean toward those accepting tendencies, instead of oftentimes being so quick to judge! I guess that's why the Lord tells us to come to Him as little children. Logan made 3 good friends that he played with every day- Tinashe, Parker, and Nicky. Faith Anna led the little girls around skipping and singing made-up songs....she really bonded with three girls in particular as well- Patricia, Tinotenda, and Praise. They also got to see a baby delivered for the first time! It was one of those little miracles that I know they will never forget. What a privilige for a 6 and 8 year old to actually get to stand in a delivery room and watch a new life come into this world. The baby's name was Watidashi, which means God has loved us.

Well, I guess this blog has gotten long enough for tonight. As you can tell, I could go on and on! But I will hopefully get some pictures posted soon to go along with my stories.

God was so gracious to us! The kids were super-great travelers on our long journey....never once complained about any of the long plane flights, about having to sleep under mosquito nets, about having to filter all of their water, or wash their hands 20 times a day. The country of Zimbabwe turns the electricity off each night around 6pm to conserve power, and most nights the water was also turned off around the same time. Again, the kids never complained. I think they saw it as an adventure...which we all began to see it as eventually. :) After all, if you don't have your dinner cooked by 6pm, you just make peanut butter or tuna sandwiches and eat by candlelight. And with no water after dinner, you can't wash dishes....so you just sit around and play games by flashlight, or go out and look at the stars. Oh, the stars! I've never seen a night sky look more beautiful. It's so dark in that part of the world that you can see the Milky Way shining brightly. It's fun to see different stars in the southern hemisphere...we saw the Southern Cross....and lots of shooting stars.

Wait, didn't I say I was stopping for the night? :) Just too many wonderful stories to tell. More tomorrow. Sweet dreams...

Soccer girl

Faith Anna finished her second season of soccer this past week. She loved every minute of it!

Getting her trophy from Coach Chris

Faith with 3 of her soccer buddies at her party

Tag enjoying the cupcakes at the party

Luke trying to monitor the stickiness :)

Please note Beth's wink.  That girl cracks me up!

Funny Tag

Tag is such a funny little man.  He loves to read books.  And chew them.

He really really loves his Daddy.

I love the diaper butt.  

Beth is Tag's biggest fan.  She thinks he's hilarious.  Well, we all do.

Here Tag is with a newfound use for Logan's "protection".

Wow, we could market it as a baby teether!  Think of the untapped market out there. :)

This is Logan's buddy Alex who lives down the street.   He is 15 months old and loves to kiss people...especially Tag.  Check out the funny video below.  Mind you, this is after Alex had already kissed him about 5 or 6 times!  Help Mom!

Songbirds

This past Sunday the big kids performed in their choir musicals at church.  Beth's was called "I'm a Little Piece of Tin" and was so cute!  The parents had the joy of making each child a car out of a cardboard box. :)  Luke had fun making Beth's Daisymobile look like a Honda Element.  She even had movable windshield wipers.  It was a lot of fun!

I got to be one of Beth's choir teachers this year.  It was fun to spend special time with just her each Wednesday night.  She loves to sing!  At the end of the show they asked all the choir teachers to stand up so we could be acknowledged and gave us a round of applause.  Luke said he was waiting for them to say next, "Now all the parents who slaved for hours over these cars....please stand up so we can applaud you too!"  Ha.

Logan and Faith Anna performed a few hours later in their concert called "Parablelooza!"  It was very creative and the kids both did such a good job.  We are very proud of them both.  Faith Anna never missed a hand-motion....and was just singing at the top of her lungs!  Then Logan was a row or two behind her....still doing a fabulous job....but with that far-away "boy look" in his eyes that was a few seconds behind the music.  :)  You follow?  I love that about him.  All boy.

Tag got a hold of the kids' light sticks afterward...

Whoah!  These are like real light sabers!

Still processing...

Well, I think God knew that I needed to go on that retreat before we leave for Africa.  My eyes were opened so wide to so much.  I am really still processing it all!  And if one night with these women affected me that much, imagine 16 days!  Man, I may need to go to counseling when we return to the states. :)

I've been asking the Lord lots of why questions.  Why are these women in this situation....a situation most of them were born into and had no say in.  Why is it that my family was born into a totally different situation?  My kids will most likely never struggle with the things these ladies and their children deal with. Don't get me wrong, a lot of it has to do with choices.  But a lot of it has to do with just unfortunate circumstances.....coupled with a cycle of life that is very hard to break.  Why have we been given the privileges that we've been given?

God took me to Philippians 3 where Paul talks about all the privileges he'd been given....but yet that still was no reason to boast.  God immediately impressed on me that privilege or no privilege, it is counted as nothing compared to knowing Him.  These verses helped me assimilate these emotions....and kind of "leveled the playing field" in a way.  We are basically all on the same page.  We've got to cut through all the fluff and get to the heart of the matter- it's all about knowing Jesus Christ- regardless of the circumstance you're in.  And that's what the retreat was all about.  Loving on these sisters of mine and sharing the love of Christ with them.  Sharing hope with them.

Phil 3:7-10 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ....