Days 5 and 6 -- Airport and Game Drive

At the game park:

Tired of Shopping:

Picking up all of our friends at the airport yesterday was a trip. You should have seen their faces when all of our friends from Charity and Faith took over the JoBurg Airport with horns, whistles, singing and dancing. We got more funny looks and questions than we could answer, and the JOY in the room was tangible. What a way to start the trip! Buses ran our trip participants smoothly to our hotel, and they quickly ate dinner and crashed in their rooms. We grabbed a team of 8 and returned to pick up the second wave of travelers. They arrived at 10PM, and we were all back at the hotel (minus a few pieces of luggage). AP and I had quite the adventure coming back in the church bus with Will, Lindy and another Andrew when we got turned around on the way back to the hotel. For a while fear set in, but Will had made a promise to himself not to get stressed out for the next 10 days, he passed that peace to the rest of us, and we laughed most of the way home.

Breakfast this morning was great, followed by a drive to Chameleon Village, a local outdoor market. My favorite bead lady was in full effect, and I was able to bargain using the prices I paid last year. AP was a bargaining mastermind -- talking people down from R110 to R20 at some points. I actually felt sorry for some of the vendors when they approached AP to make a sale. They were sure in for it. We didn't spend too much, and got a kick out of the newest hot item -- American movies that are out in theaters now -- on DVD. I bet that's legal. Thanks to the African market, I can now divide any number by 7 -- the current rand exchange rate.

After the shopping, we got on the buses to head for Pilanisburg National Park, the game reserve. The beauty of the country is overwhelming as you drive among red rocks that reach the sky, tall grasses that dance in the wind, and trees that stand like lone soldiers in the vast expanses of earth. Man Rachel, good sentence.

We had a great time clicking "Christmas card" pictures of each other in front of giraffes, rhinos, and wildebeests. Today we started the day by reading Psalm 8 -- one of my favorites. Witnessing the beauty and creativity of God (like a giraffe 12 feet away) brings to mind the praises that all people should have for his creation.

Tonight at dinner Titus told us more of his life story with a running theme of "other people". He mentioned several times doing ministry for no salary, and that the payment of ministry is seeing other people's lives change. I was reminded that the last time I was in South Africa I was being called to ministry, and to act on faith. It's true. I've made the least amount of cash of my working life this year, but I have been the richest. Thank you all for supporting me in that.

Some other info:

Krissy, Brett, and Paul arrived tonight -- I was SOOOOO excited to see them! After 60 hours of travel delays, my friends are here.

We bought a new camera at the airport yesterday -- after ours apparently fried even with a converter. It's nice, but I haven't installed the software to download pics yet. It surely will not fry -- it has a South African plug!

Tomorrow -- church at Charity and Faith -- I can't wait!!! Also, we'll be staying with a host family in the township so no blog tomorrow -- I'll be back on Monday. Love to you all.

Day Four -- Logistication

Hi Friends! Thank you for reading (and posting comments -- that is VERY encouraging)

Today was all about logistication, so no new pictures. We went over lots of logistics with the hotel staff, and the church staff that we are working with -- so not many cool pictures were taken.

We did go to South African Sam's club -- called Trade Centere to get the snacks for the kids program next week -- it was fun to see the cashier's face when we spent R4000 (that's 4000 Rand, or $500) on peanuts and raisins -- funny, because we can't give kids peanuts in America, they all suffer from major peanut allergies!

Lots of hanging out with Pator Titus today. He is so excited to have 250 of our closest friends coming in TOMORROW!!!!!


Please keep posting -- we'll have arrival pictures TOMORROW!

Day Three -- Mamelodi, South Africa

Well, we woke up this morning in Dubai at 2AM we headed to the airport. We got to Johannesburg at 10:30AM local time. AP and I watched Blades of Glory on the flight -- greatness! It was approximately 35*F when we got off the plane -- definitely a change from the 110* we were sweating in Dubai yesterday.

At baggage claim we had the worst moment of the trip so far when Andrew realized that his wallet was missing. Sure that it was gone forever, he pleaded with a security worker to go look for it on the plane. When she left we planned out calling all of the card companies, etc. To our surprise -- she came back with the wallet in hand!!! She did say something we couldn't understand about carpet. AP hugged that sweet lady, and we were off. AP was so excited about the wallet reunion that he walked right through customs -- no one stopped him to see the 200 pairs of gardening gloves in his suitcase, so that was great. Shadrack from Charity and Faith picked us up in the church bus -- and we were on our way! We did stop at Nandos -- a local chicken joint famous for their hot Peri Peri sauce. I tried the "extra hot" and got a literal blister on my tongue. YIKES!

We got the call on the way to Charity and Faith that the container with all of our supplies was delivered at noon -- big cause for celebration there! We were pumped! Every thing was there and we spent the rest of the afternoon reuniting with our Charity and Faith friends, and unloading the container. My favorite reunion was with Pastor Gladys -- who screamed and screamed and would not stop hugging me. I love her!

We took all of these funny pictures for the 275 people who are about to leave to come meet us (they are having a meeting tonight). Generally, they were funny reminders for them.

After finishing up at Charity and Faith we took a big step forward in our relationship with Pastor Titus. He let us drive the church bus to our hotel. And who do you think volunteered to drive a backwards stick shift in South Africa on the wrong side of the road? Oh yes -- AP the man who loves to drive strange vehicles -- and can with surprising confidence and ease. He got us to the hotel no problem.

Speaking of, it's 10:30 here, and I haven't gotten a full night's sleep in several days -- I'm off to bed. Lots of pre-planning to do tomorrow!

Day One/Two --- June 25/26th --- Dubai

6AM Monday we left Columbus for JFK, from JFK to Dubai. Both plane rides were fairly uneventful. Other than the 4 year old on the flight to Dubai who had the stamina to scream every 15 minutes for the entire 13 hour flight. I kept thinking that she would wear out and go to sleep – she never did. She screamed until the very end, I’m sure that she was screaming for some very important reason – like, she wanted to watch Cinderella instead of Sleeping Beauty. AP managed to watch 6 movies while restraining himself from causing an international incident with the girl’s parents, and I kept myself entertained with episodes of The Office and Arrested Development with a few video games for good measure. We landed in Dubai at 7AM local time, grabbed our bags (none were lost!!!) and hopped in a cab for our hotel.

The hotel set us up with a driver (Musinkhan) for a tour around town in a Toyota Landcruiser that turned out to be a three hour tour of his buddy’s tourist trap shops including a Muslim art museum that was not a museum at all, but rather a fancy tourist trap that sold the things that were on display. Riiiight.

Exhausted from the 110 degree heat and all of the “no thank you-ing” the high pressure vendors, we finally made it to the part of the tour that we were looking forward to the most – amazing buildings. Man, those people in Dubai love to build things. At any given moment we could see 5 to 10 skyscrapers under construction. There were cranes and construction fences everywhere. I’m not sure who they are building all of those skyscrapers for, our cabdriver, Mosinkhan just said that they like to build a lot. By the end of the three hour tour we were all thoroughly exhausted. Everyone but AP fell asleep on the way back to our hotel. We checked into our room, then scrarfed some pizza at the place across the street before taking a long nap.

At 4:30 we boarded the Landcruiser again with a different adventure ahead. We booked a tour called “DUNE BASHING” that I was particularly excited about. Tim agreed that anything with the word “BASHING” is going to be great. As Mosinkhan pulled off the road into the dessert we realized what dune bashing is: pushing the Toyota Landcruiser to its limits – driving up sand dunes and flying off of them. Of course, trying to take pictures of this event is like trying to capture the experience of riding a roller coaster with still pictures. Later we found out the Maoinkhan is an expert Landcruiser driver, complete with a special license to drive in the dessert. We all agreed that the good folks at Toyota should make their way out to Dubai to film a commercial. The glory of sliding sideways down a sand dune with a car full of people screaming a laughing with excitement would definitely sell a few more Landcruisers.

It would look something like this:

A self portrait while dune bashing:

After about an hour of crazy dune bashing fun, we stopped at a camel farm to take some pictures with the indigenous dessert animals. After camels we drove to a different part of the dessert (more dune bashing in between) to ride a few camels and have dinner. We jumped on some camels and took a ride.

"Can I have a ride on you -- camel?"

Although they were a little uncomfortable, we had a small caravan of camel fun. The sheik leading our caravan even took my camera to snap a few shots of us as we traveled. At the end of the trip the camel gently bent his long front legs down and folded them one joint at a time until he lowered us to the ground. We made our way to the dinner set up – sat at tables that were low to the ground on pillows. Before dinner we got tattooed up by the henna lady and drank enough Orange Fanta for a group twice our size. Dinner was a Mediterranean buffet that had the best hummus that I’ve ever tasted. We also had lots of kinds of shish (that’s kabobs). All in all, it was a fantastic dinner in a super cool setting (the middle of the dessert). How did we get here? What an amazing day in Dubai – we made our way back to the hotel and crashed around 10PM Dubai time.

SO FREAKING EXCITED ...

All day I haven't been able to control my heart rate. When I start to think about leaving on Monday morning I just go a little nutty inside. At first, I thought that it was because I am nervous about getting everything done, etc. But, that's not it at all -- tonight I realized that it is pure excitement. I am excited about what will happen to me, and even more excited to watch people who have never been on a mission trip of any kind get their lives flipped upside down. This is going to be fun -- oh yes people, this is going to be REALLY fun.

I was at dinner with my GO Group (the group that I'll be traveling with) tonight. I really understand what the scriptures say about rejoicing when others rejoice -- I just couldn't help but feel crazy excited for all of them, even more than myself.

I can't believe that I get to watch people's lives change as part of my job!

A few things to pray for:
The two 14 year olds in our group going with their moms. Moms say both of them need to feel what it is like to care about something outside of themselves. Don't we all?

As of today 17 people going on the trip do not have passports -- yikes -- hope those come soon.

That we remember all we need to pack and do before leaving.

The End of Poverty ...

I confess that I am foolish. In my drive and ambition I have forged ahead thinking that I personally can make a difference, even change the world. I cannot. I have schemed ways to be generous for the sake of generosity and self-medication. I confess that I strive to write my own story, instead of being obedient.

Nothing short of the power of God can end poverty and save the nation of South Africa. Not me, not Bono, not you. I confess that sometimes I have set my hope in this organization or that one thinking, "this could be the answer, it is SUCH a good idea."

Those actions born our of ambition and not love do not reflect the person of Jesus.

God -- help me Galatians 2:20.

More than you ever dreamed of giving ...

Yesterday morning the thought of packing all of the supplies for Mamalodi really started to weigh on me. One of the things that I think can bless South African children the most is a soccer ball.

Over a soccer ball everyone becomes equal.
Over a soccer ball relationships start.
Over a soccer ball you are part of a team.
Over a soccer ball a child in South Africa grows up more privileged than a child in the US.
Over a soccer ball languages are translated instantly.
Over a soccer ball you understand each other even though you live in different hemispheres.
Over a soccer ball a kid in South Africa has a chance at a college scholarship.
Over a soccer ball an entire country can be united.

As of yesterday I had ZERO soccer balls to take to Mamalodi with us. I was starting to get into "make it happen" mode. Who did I need to call? What shipping would I have to pay -- how could we make this work?

At about 11:30 my phone rang at work. It was Steve H. He's one of the very best project managers I've ever worked with, and he's putting in about 60 hours a week working on Mamalodi stuff as a volunteer.

Steve is on the phone and he says, "I just got off the phone with Soccer Village in Blue Ash. One of the co-owners said they could get us 100 soccer balls to take, 50 ball pumps, and 40 cones by Sunday -- we can pick them up here, in town." HOLY CRAP! Really? "That's not all -- this year they have been collecting used soccer shoes to give to charity and they are all sitting in his back room -- he offered to GIVE us 600 pairs of soccer shoes to take."

Tears started to roll down my face. For the most part, those kids who are such excellent soccer players in Mamalodi play in bare feet. The 14 year old phenom that we met last year played in 1970 Chuck Taylor Converse with the heal and toe cut off because they were too small. This has become common for kids to do -- they all play in a half or a third of a pair of shoes on rocks and pieces of broken glass. Most of their toes and heals stick out. If they have shoes most of them are sandals -- not ideal for soccer. I wanted so badly to be able to bring them shoes, but I knew that at $40 a pair we would not be able to afford soccer cleats.

God Bless Soccer Village -- if you live in Cincinnati go support them. We pick up the stuff in the morning.

(Pre-Africa Thoughts) Getting Rid of STUFF ...

Yesterday we got rid of two perfectly good vehicles. The Volvo and the boat. You know what I feel today? FREAKING GREAT! I don't like stuff. The closer I draw Jesus the more repulsed I am by stuff. It was so much fun to get rid of that stuff that I started to look around the house for more stuff that we could get away from us.

Four years ago we were wishing for nicer cars and a boat. Yesterday I couldn't contain the JOY of NOT HAVING THEM.

I've also stopped ingesting caffeine -- also feels FREAKING GREAT!
Also, I can't remember the last show I watched on tv. -- also feels FREAKING GREAT!

We do still have the scooter and the Explorer for transportation. Just today I was thinking -- why do we need the explorer? We don't have to tow the boat! Maybe a stuff reduction is coming there.

There is great freedom in less stuff ... try it -- get rid of something and see how you feel!

19 Days until we board the plane ...

The Return to Africa ...

It's exactly three weeks away from today. On June 25th we board a plane and head for South Africa (with a short pit stop in Dubai, no it's not on the way). I find myself having a familiar feeling. Is not anxiousness before the big trip, or nerves, or a mile long list of "to dos". Nope, it is the familiar feeling of going "home". It is that feeling that I get when I pull up to the farm house I grew up in after being gone for months, or the sound of my dog's collar jingling. It is that kind of feeling. Returning home. You can't tell me that isn't spiritual. It is. Mankind came to be in Africa, so all of us could call it home.

My thoughts settle over and over again on the children. Over a year later I'm sure they have grown, I pray God has protected them. What will Tuti look like with front teeth? I hope I get to find out.
I read The Power of One on vacation last week. It beautifully tells the heart of South Africa in a personal way in the midst of a brilliant story.

My plan is to blog daily from South Africa. Last year my hand got severe writer's cramps, and I can type much faster than I write. So, for those 21 days, you'll be able to keep up with us (and hopefully see some pictures, too)!!!!