Our 2008 Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!
We woke up on Christmas Sunday and there was SO much snow and it was really really windy with super cold temperatures. Church was canceled :( so we decided to celebrate Christmas early, since we will be traveling and visiting family for Christmas. We exchanged gifts with each other. Andrew surprised Kate with many fun things including a digital picture frame and she surprised him with a photobook of all the blog postings we made while in South Africa. We like pictures...can ya tell by our gifts? It was so fun to spend the whole day together and celebrate Christ's coming to the world. We also had Christmas dinner later that day and made steak for the first time in our apartment. Yumm! We can't believe that we already were celebrating our THIRD Christmas together. Time has been flying on our journey together. We are praying that you have a wonderful Christmas!

Here is our Christmas Card for 2008. We decided that since we had sent out multiple mailings this year, we would do an E-Card for Christmas. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Roxy

We had an unexpected week. We found ourselves on Monday afternoon car shopping. Sandy had died, while slipping on the ice and hitting a cub and the damages to repair where more than she was worth. Kate being off of school was a blessing first because Andrew could than use her car to get to work and secondly because she got to have a lot of time to do the homework of finding and researching a car. After looking at several cars, we test drove a car on Wednesday night and were lied to several times by the salesman and so we got up and left. We regrouped and continued looking for cars. It was important for us to find a fuel efficient car (Andrew drives 40 miles to and from work each day) and looking to the future, something we could grow into someday. Saturday, we test drove a 2004 Pontiac Vibe, and we loved it! We were able to get financing we could afford, and we drove away with Roxy that afternoon. We were so thankful for God's provision even in uncertain times.

Andrew and Kate's Christmas Tree 3.0

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

This past Saturday, December 6, Andrew and I braved a snowstorm to get our Christmas tree. We had been planning to go on this day, so we stuck to our plan and headed out to the Christmas Tree farm. Last year when we went and chopped down the tree it was pouring rain, and our frist christmas we went and got our tree when it was snowing lightly...we always make it an adventure when we go! We found the perfect little tree, a 5 foot Douglas Fur Tree, and Andrew chopped it down. It is always an adventure afterwards to figure out how to fit the tree in our little Ford Escort, but it made it in and we got it safely back to our apartment.

Since it was finals on Monday and Tuesday, I studied all weekend, and we waited til Wednesday to decorate the tree. Finals went well, but I am still waiting for my grades. So glad to finally get a little break to relax. We decorated the tree today (Wednesday). I love decorating the tree and putting all the ornaments on it; each ornament has a memory and means something special. Looking forward to making Christmas cookies and Grandpa's fudge and seeing all of our family for Christmas!

Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Andrew and I have had a very busy few weeks. Andrew's birthday was on November 22. We had a fun day celebrating with double chocolate peanut butter pie and enchiladas (andrew's favorite meal). I got him a new DVD by Louie Giglio (Indescribable), a picture frame, some of his favorite Spicy Garlic Hot Sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings, and a new Nalgene waterbottle. Kate also got me the first episode of 24 in a year in a half. It was called 24:Redemption and I got to share my birthday present with the whole world!!(Andrew's comment!) I think it just might be coincidence that FOX decided to show the 2 hour show the day after his birthday(KATE). Either way it was a fun birthday and we both can't believe that it has already been another year since his birthday.

School is winding down for me. Only two days of classes (Monday and Tuesday this week) and then two finals next week. I cannot wait to be done! One more year til graduation...so mark your calendar for 12/12/09!

Andrew and I spent Thanksgiving at my parents house in Clinton Township. We traveled over to the east side of the state on Tuesday after Andrew got off from work. Dad, with the help of Kyle, made his world-famous Tuesday Special Dinner :). Mom gave both Andrew and I much needed haircuts, she is the best hairdresser!

Andrew, Mom, and I spent Wednesday at Kevin and Angela's home. Kevin had an appointment in the morning so we came over to babysit Elizabeth. We had SO much fun with her. We sang her the Three Bears (Lake Ann style), read her stories, played with her toys, and just had a great time interacting with our little niece that we don't see very often. I wish that we lived closer so we could spend more time with her. She is four months old now and is so cute and always smiling. When Kevin got home, we had Mom's homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch and Kevin helped burn us a few more copies of our DVD about our Africa trip. After lunch, Andrew and I headed to Mount Clemens General (it has a different name now, but it will always be MCGH to me!) and I visited my nurse friends up on pediatrics. I miss those girls so much! It was so great to catch up with them and hear how everyone is doing. Later that day, we all headed to church for the Thanksgiving Eve service. I love going back to Cornerstone and seeing all of my friends/extended family there and fellowshipping with these people that are so important to me.

Thanksgiving was a busy day! It flew by! Andrew and I slept in a little and by the time we were ready for the day family had already started to arrive. Before breakfast began, everyone, except Mom who was going to pick up Grandma M, walked over to the speedway to get hot chocolate and a newspaper. It was super cold, but a fun little adventure! Kevin and Angela made a brunch for everyone; it was so yummy! (I want that recipe from you Kevin for the sausage casserole thing!) We spent the day watching the parade, getting ready for the feast, watching football, playing settlers of catan, and just enjoying time together. Mom and Dad made a delicious Thanksgiving feast that stuffed everyone full. I do love Turkey! At the end of the day, we celebrated Andrew's birthday with everyone. He was suprised and had no idea that there was going to be a birthday cheesecake celebration for him. After Grandma M, Kevin, Angela, and Elizabeth left, the remaining family members gathered around the kitchen table for a game of Monopoly. Kyle was the champion (he also won the game of settlers that we played earlier in the day!) but we all had a great time! I love getting to spend time with all of my family together.

Kyle, Andrew, and I all got up and were out the door at 5:15 on Friday morning to get some Christmas deals. We got some fun suprises (but we can't tell you what they are or SOMEBODY won't be suprised) and we had a great time just hanging out with Kyle. We headed out of town around noon and met Andrew's Mom and Dad, who had been down in Ohio for Thanksgiving, for lunch. We were so glad to spend an hour with them and we are looking forward to seeing them again in a few weeks for Christmas!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to be thankful more than just that one Thursday a year. Andrew and I are so thankful for the many many many blessings that God has provided and graciously given to us. We are also so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends; you are so important to us!

Clinicals and Mom & Dad's visit

October was a very busy month, we can't believe it is already over! School has been very time consuming for Kate (only 5 more weeks in the semester!). The highlight of her month has been clinicals at the hospital. She was working on the mother child floor (postpartum and labor and delivery). She LOVED taking care of the moms and babys, teaching them about how to care for themselves and their baby once they got home, how to breastfeed or bottle feed properly, and doing the assessments of both mom and baby. She also had the opportunity to help with a cesarian and natural labor. It was absolutely amazing!! She was able to first put the foley catheter in the mom and then watched the doctors perform the C-section. Afterwards she was able to help clean the baby, do the newborn shots, do the vitals and help with the weight and height. She stayed with the mom and baby for the first couple hours, helping with first baths and vitals and assessing them. For the natural labor, Kate was there for the couple hours before active labor--so she helped with just assessing mom and doing her vitals and helping her stay comfortable-- and then during active labor she got to get right up close, hold one of the mom's legs, and help her with breathing and pushing. She loved being able to cheer the mom on and encourage her to keep pushing. It was amazing to see and experience this special moment in this young family's life. After the baby was born, Kate again was able to help with the baby shots, vitals, and cleaning of the baby. Kate could definately see herself being an OB nurse if she couldn't get a job as a Pediatric nurse someday. Kate is now starting her primary care rotation this week. So now she will be in a doctor's office for the next four weeks, learning what a nurse does there.

Andrew is doing great too. Work has been busy at the mission the last few weeks since it has started to get cold. He has been enjoying doing a Bible study with the guys in our young married class once a week. We are so glad that God has given us such great, fun, encouraging friends at our church. This past weekend Mom and Dad Dodd came to visit. They came down here for a BBC alumni dinner, which we attended with them. We also celebrated Dad's birthday, which was a few days before they came, with a homemade banana cream pie and a suprise Red Robin lunch. It was a wonderfully fun visit.

Apples Picking and Family Time

This is a bit of a lat update but I could not let time go by without posting a blog about our trip to Detroit a few weeks ago. We headed over to the east side after Andrew got off of work at 11:30 pm and arrived at my parents around 2 am. After a short night's sleep, we got up and spent a great day with my family. We spent the morning hanging out with Dad, Kyle, and Mom. Then we headed over to Kevin and Angela's house. Once there, we got to meet our niece Elizabeth for the first time! She is a beautiful little girl, just a month and half old (when we were there). She has already grown so much in such a short amount of time. Andrew and I loved getting to play with her and spend the morning with Angela and Kevin. Kevin helped us make a DVD about our trip to Bethesda; it turned out really nice.

In the afternoon, Mom, Dad, Kyle, Angela, Kevin, Elizabeth, and the Dodds went apple picking. The Schneider kids grew up going apple picking every year when we were little. And it was the fourth year Andrew and I went together. We are hoping to make it a Dodd family tradition as well :). We picked a whole bushel of apples...which is translated into 6 pies...6 quart size cans of apple sauce...apple crisp...chipmunk pie...and many apples in our lunches....it was A LOT of apples for just the two of us! Afterward, we got some cider and doughnuts and carmel apples...yumm!

In the evening, we celebrated Mom and Dad's anniversary, Kyle's birthday, and Mom's birthday with ice cream cake and pizza and presents and G...its not a party without G! It was a great time for our family to get together and we were so glad to be able to visit!

School Days

it's hard to believe we've been home for 25 days already. Life has been so busy for us since we came home, and I hit the ground running the moment we were back! Classes started for me two days after we can home. The classes are much much harder with a lot more readings. It was tough to get organized the first couple of weeks, and figure out the rhythm of the classes. But I am getting the hang of them now, and I am loving learning about OB. The focus for my nursing classes this semester is OB and Family Practice. I am also taking a Pharmacology class as well. In the race this semester, I finished all the hurdles that I needed to jump over before I go on my first rotation for the hospital. Today, I passed my last assessment: Medication Administration! Woohoo! I will be reporting for duty in my Grand Valley School of Nursing scrubs on Thursday September 25 at Spectrum Health (at 6:30 in the morning!!!). I am SO excited to start this leg of the race, and cannot wait to take care of moms and their newborn babies.

Our thoughts often take us back to Bethesda and all the people there. We miss the smiling faces and laughter and singing of our little friends. The kids are actually on semester break these next couple weeks, so we are sure they are having a good time being free from classes. We are going to visit my family this weekend. Can't wait to meet my little niece Elizabeth for the first time! We are also looking forward to fellowshiping with our extended Cornerstone family.

Pictures!

Hello! It has been a whirl wind of activity since we have gotten home and on top of that we have been very jet lagged. Kate started school yesterday and is already running the race of another semester at GVSU. She is very busy and already has lots of homework and readings while trying to get organized and get the apartment back together. Andrew started back to work today with both of his job, and he too was very busy at the mission today, trying to catch up from being gone three weeks and gets things done that have to be completed by the end of the month.

As you may have noticed, there is a slideshow of pictures now posted in the right hand column. If you would like to read the captions we added to the pictures, just click on the slideshow picture. That will open a new window where you will be able to see the pictures in a larger format and read the captions telling about the pictures. Hope you all enjoy seeing the people and places that we saw and things we experienced while at Bethesda. Enjoy!!

Back Home

We arrived back in Grand Rapids on Saturday just before noon. It was 30+ hours of travel and all went well. Except we were minus one suitcase. Not to worry it arrived Sunday morning at 2:30AM. Unfortunately, that signaled the end of sleep for Andrew, as his body was still adjusting. Andrew's internal clock was reading 8:30 so we started a bit earlier than normal.

Just before we left Bethesda we were visiting with all the house Mom's and one of them had made formal African shirts for us. She had taken our measurements when we ate dinner at their house but had totally forgotten all about it. What an unexpected and special gift that will always remind us of our time spent at Bethesda.

To clear up one bit of confusion... Some have wondered how we could write so much every afternoon on our blog. Not to worry we took every possible opportunity to invest in the lives of others while in South Africa. Blogger said we posted each day between 3 and 4 in the afternoon and that was true for all of you here in the states, but for us in South Africa it was at the end of our day between 9 and 10.

Thank you all soooo much for supporting us as we went. In your prayers, reading our updates and in posting your comments you made us feel like you were right there with us. Lending a hand and a smile each step on our journey. Words can not express our gratitude, but we will do the best we can when we see you next and share all THE GREAT things God did in us and through us on our trip.

THANK YOU!!!

Signing off from South Africa

We were able to spend our morning here packing up and saying our good-byes to all our new friends. It was so good to be able to greet everyone one last time. It was also sad to know we won't wake up in South Africa tomorrow and won't be able to share life together with all these wonderful people (children, houseparents and staff). We will miss them all very much.

We will be headed to the airport in just an hour and a half. Please pray for safety as we travel and that we make our connection tomorrow morning in Atlanta as there is not much time between flights. Also be in prayer over the next couple of days as our bodies try and adjust back to EST as Kate starts school on Monday. We will be sure to let you know when we arrive back in Michigan. Look for pictures and maybe even some videos in the next week. We can't wait to share with you in even more detail all the GREAT things God has done in us and through us during our stay at Bethesda.

08-21-08

Our last FULL day at Bethesda :(

Kate helped at school all day today, she even brought home some homework to finish. Actually, she helped the teachers with some grading. Kate sat in on the grade 1 and 2 class today, helping with both math and spelling. Her favorite was story time, where the children acted out the story as it was told. Children everywhere have wonderful imaginations, I wonder where we lose that in all our growing up? After lunch, Kate moved to grade 4 through 7 where they were learning the skeletal system in science class. It was the last day of that system so the teacher had them write three things they learned and three questions they still had. Kate helped answer the questions the students still had about the skeletal system. She did have cadaver lab last summer :) Kate loved to be able to explain how the body works to the students.

Andrew had the opportunity to see Bethesda's purpose and mission statement in action this morning. Bethesda exists to equip CHURCHES to be involved in the orphan crisis. Ebenezer Bible Church is just a few kilometer down the road and they are planning on starting an orphan ministry, they are already well underway with the construction of a few beginning buildings right there on the site of the church. It was so great and encouraging to be able to hear the Bethesda staff training and equipping others to help meet the needs of orphans here in Hammanskraal. Topics ranging from Biblical communication to proper nutrition.

Right after Andrew got back, Lois was able to take both of us to see how bad the orphan crisis really is. She took us to Stinkwater, a township located ten minutes from Bethesda. Where some of the children staying here at Bethesda came from. She introduced us to a woman by the name of Suzanne who is working at a church providing what could be compared to in the US as an after school program. These children have no where else to go to and for some of them the meals that are provided three times a week (that's right a week) are the only ones that they will get. She told us a story that one boy after not eating for a couple of days only had the strength to follow someone peeling an orange and throwing the peels on the ground. This boy followed and ate the orange peels off the ground. The children there are so skinny and in need of help. It was so good to have the opportunity to meet her and see first hand the work that she is doing in her community. Bethesda is ready to build a new home, just as soon as all the hoops are jumped through and she could fill all eight of those beds without a second thought. Suzanne, also showed us the garden that she grows to be able to provide these few meals for the orphans that come to her for help. It was a beautiful garden, she was telling us that some of the beet root would be ready to eat this weekend. We thank God for men and women like Suzanne, please pray for her ministry that lives will be changed not only by the physical food that she gives but that others will taste and see that the Lord is good and become disciples of Jesus Christ.

When we returned the power was out and rather than wait and see if/when it would return the Mixon's took us out to dinner. In a sense it was the capstone of our trip. We summarized many of our lessons learned and what God is even now how God is stretching us and growing us. We were able to share highlights from our trip and look forward together about next steps and future ministry possibilities. We are EXCITED to see God directing and leading!

After dinner we played aggravation with Tonya, Heather, Alyssa, and Meredith. It was good to spend some more time with all of them on our last night here in South Africa. We will miss our new friends.

Kate's cold is doing much better than yesterday. Praying that a good night sleep will refresh her even more.

We started the packing process tonight before bed and we are sure glad we didn't wait until tomorrow to get going on that. We have the morning to wrap everything up here and will be departing for the airport around 1:30 in the afternoon (that's 7:30AM for all of you on the east coast) and will be flying out of JoBerg at 6:30 (right around lunch time for you).

We ask for your continued prayers as we have to say good-bye and as we travel for the day and a half. Looking forward to seeing all of you and sharing with you in word, picture and video when we get home.

08-20-08

It was a good day! Andrew spoke in assembly today for grades 1-7. He taught about thankfulness from Luke 17. The kids seemed to really love it, and Andrew thought it went really well. Oh and they memorized 1 Thessalonians 5:18. At 9 there was an all staff meeting, so we were very busy helping hold down the fort. Kate went to the Manakas and watched Peinkie, Gontse, and Albert while their mom was at the meeting. Today was Peinkie's 4th Birthday, so we had fun singing songs together and dancing and reading books. Andrew had grades 4-7 out on the soccer field. They are REALLY good at soccer! It wasn't hard to make them look even better as they passed the ball through Andrew's legs and around his legs....in general right on by him. He wishes he was only kidding!

After the meeting, Kate headed back to school where she helped all day. One of the highlights was helping the 4th and 5th graders learn their spelling words. They spelled out the word using motions, so a consonant was a jumping jack and a vowel was touching their toes. They really enjoyed it and it helped them learn the words.

Andrew went into Pretoria with John to Bethesda's site planner. Bethesda is ready to build another home, but there is a hang up with all the legal stuff so it might be another couple months before they can break ground. Today was day one in getting the ball rolling in the right direction. It was really good to spend some one on one time with John, both to and from the meeting.

Meredith made us lunch today, spaghetti and garlic bread. However, the highlight of lunch was what one of the cleaning ladies made for us. She made us mealy pop...it is a rice substitute kind of like cream of wheat. Not bad, but very bland. Dora also made mupani worms (caterpillars). She fried them in butter on the stove and served them to us. Kate couldn't make herself eat it. Andrew ate one though! He says it tastes like a burnt, crunchy yet chewy marshmallow with jelly inside. Doesn't that sound yummy? We have pictures and video to share with all of you when we are home (check facebook!).

In the afternoon, we graded maths homework for the teachers. Then the big event of the afternoon occurred. The maintenance men found a 6 foot long Egyptian cobra snake in the compost heap! It was huge! They killed it and showed it to everyone! The kids were either scared or loved it and touched it. It was quite the event, everyone in the village came to see it. We guess the temperatures are getting warm enough and spring is coming, so the snakes are coming out.

Tonight we had our last dinner with a family, this time it was the Shikwambane family. We were supposed to have dinner with them last week, but the power was out so we rescheduled for today. This family has been here five years. Some of their kids are teenagers and some are still elementary school age. But they were SO well behaved. It was a good blend of the ages. We had a great time playing Sorry and cards with the kids after dinner. They were so thankful for the sweeties that we gave them from a man at Andrew's work. We are glad that we were welcomed into each home and got to know them better, and got to know how to pray for them as well.

It makes us sad to think there is only one full day left! The time has flown by! Please pray for continued clarity in God's direction for our next step in our journey. Thank you all for your prayers!

08-19-08

For all of you worried about Kate being chased by lions, don't worry! They weren't. We are safe here, only in their imaginations were lions chasing them.

Today was mostly a repeat of yesterday. Kate was the mama at the Manaka's home today. Salome, the mom, went to the dentist and got an antibiotic. She also found out that part of the tooth they removed two weeks ago was still there, which was the source of the infection and pain. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon! The kids were great for Kate. They stayed so busy playing outside on the playground and inside coloring and playing dolls that nap time was extra long today.

Andrew was outside in the morning filling holes between the top of wall and the roof with concrete. He spent the afternoon inside plastering more holes so unwanted "guests" such as snakes, rodents, birds, and lizards could not come in. While climbing on a 15 foot ladder inside, Andrew noticed that the ladder was starting to move towards the floor. He quickly took two steps down the ladder and LEAPED to the nearest chair just as the ladder went crashing to the floor. He sure does know how to get his heart beating quickly. After making another attempt on the tile floor that was unsuccessful, he chose a smaller free standing ladder to work on for the rest of the afternoon. A close call but thanking the Lord for safety.

After a full day of work, Andrew taught a dozen of the older children how to play Nuke 'em. For those of who haven't played at Lake Ann, it is similar to volleyball but you don't have to hit the ball, you catch the ball. Then you try to eliminate the other team by getting the ball to hit the ground on their side of the net. The kids LOVED it!

Dinner tonight was at the Phago home tonight. We had not spent a lot of time with this family until today, so it was great to get to know them better. They are one of the more well behaved families, and also one of the oldest families (in terms of age of the children). The papa is the pastor of the church we went to on our first Sunday here. He also goes to seminary and works maintenance at Bethesda. After dinner, we spent the night playing games (they like Phase 10 here!) and singing and dancing to songs.

Please pray for Kate. Her stuffy nose turned into a full blown cold. We busted out the airborne and that hasn't seemed to work. Pray that she will feel much better tomorrow or at least have a little more energy. Thanks for keeping up with our journey and thank you for praying for us!

08-18-08

Andrew was able to spend some time early this morning studying for assembly on Wednesday morning. Please remember to pray for him as you go to bed on Tuesday night in the states. Meanwhile, Kate was already off to the Manaka home (where she did child care on Thursday). Salome who has a broken leg and is very sick, so Kate was able to help her take care of the three youngest children and do housework. She spent all day there. Kate took them for a walk around half of the perimeter, the walk usually takes Andrew and I about 15 minutes, it took Kate and the three kids 45 minutes. On their adventure, they were "chased by lions and cheetahs", this sped up the walk until the 3 year old realized he had dropped his older brother's matchbox car. Big crocodile tears ran down his cheeks, the four of us turned around and searched for the car but to no avail.

Andrew was able to sit in on the administrative meeting this morning. The Bible study on servanthood ("On Being a Servant of God", by Warren Wiersbe) was very practical and helpful. The two chapters covered this week were on character and perseverance. It was good to hear of the progress made, as well as the challenges, of this past week of this ministry. In the afternoon, Phil Bolthouse and Jeff Wasink would have been very proud of Andrew. He mixed his first bag of concrete. Although he believes it is a little bit different in the states, first they got a wheelbarrow and scooped some dirt in it. Then, they put a couple handfuls of concrete mix into the wheelbarrow as well. Stirred up the contents until the mix and dirt were evenly distributed. They added a bit of water, stirred thoroughly with their shovel and presto chango had concrete!! Spent the rest of the afternoon filling holes and gaps between the top of the house walls and the roof so critters could not get in and make their homes. Andrew will continue this project tomorrow. Although great progress was made, he will start first thing in the morning with it again.

Kate had two more children come home around noon to take noon. She fed them paloney (NOT bologna...it was interesting!), lettuce, and mayonnaise sandwiches. Then, the five children took naps. Meanwhile, Kate cleaned the house and swept and mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors. The three oldest children came home from school soon after and Kate helped them make their lunches (kids here eat lunch when their school day is done, whether that is 12 or 2, this makes for a late dinner for the families) and then helped them with their homework. Later after doo doo (that is what South Africans call nap time!), Kate took the six younger kids to the playground. Andrew joined her and they all had a great time swinging and spinning on the swings. After dropping the kids off, Kate picked up and purchased the bag/purse that their mom had handmade for her. It is such a beautiful bag and she can't wait to use it back home (Mom S will be SO jealous!)!

Tonight, we had dinner with the two American teachers. They also invited two teenagers from the township across the street (their sister, who raises them, helps with child care when houseparents get time off). We had a very nice dinner, great time of fellowship, and played two games of Aggravation. Kate and Sarah the teenage girl won both games, although the second game was VERY close.

08-17-08

We went to a township church with the Shikwambane family this morning. We had our first experience riding a taxi. The families usually take a taxi (which seats about 15 people) to church because their cars can't fit all 10 people in their home that are headed to church. This township church, just like last week, got off to a rolling start...meaning that when the service starts very few people are there. We sing the rest of the congregation in during the next 3 or 4 songs. We love how they praise God as they sing and dance. This week we experienced congregational prayer, which is common in this culture. Congregational prayer means that everyone prays out loud at the same time. It was amazing to listen to all the voices and languages being spoken around us and knowing that God heard and understood each prayer.

The pastor of the church is one of the houseparents and will be completing seminary in November. He preached from Acts 5 when Peter miraculously was let out of jail in the night by an angel. The next day, the Sanhedrin tried to figure out what to do with him. Peter statement that he would rather obey God than man made the Sanhedrin so furious that they wanted to kill him. In the end they decided to beat him severely but Peter continued to share the Good News of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection with all he came in contact with. He was even thankful that he suffered abuse for the name of Christ. The message encouraged us to share the Gospel no matter the cost.

After church, we spent some time with two students preparing for Matrick (the test that grade 12 students must pass to graduate). It was neat to hear their hopes and dreams for the future. We also got to play with the Shikwambane children while waiting for the taxi to arrive.

We had lunch with the Cryans and Mixons, chicken and stuffing just like Mom used to make (both of our moms). It was great to hear more about their testimonies and life experiences. We headed back to our room to grade papers (for one of the teachers) for the hour or so we had left before evening church. Andrew likes grading maths.

Tonight we went to church with the Mixons, Cryans, and Meredith at Central Baptist Church in Pretoria. Their evening service is geared towards to students, since there is large universities in Pretoria. Of the churches we have visited, Central Baptist had the best blend of cultures and races. The pastor began a series in the book of Philippians tonight which made us miss Chapel Pointe (Pastor Koole started a series in Philippians in April). We went to the most unique restaurant for dinner. Most of the menu was served from inside a pancake. The pancakes were more like thick rolled up crepes. You could have a dessert or dinner pancake. Andrew had chille con carne in his pancake. Kate had cinnamon sugar, ice cream, and chocolate topping in/on hers. It was SO good!! Andrew is thinking of opening a shop and franchising it when we get back in the US! lol! On the way home, we got to see the American Embassy which is in downtown Pretoria. It was good to see a piece of home when we saw the American flag flying high. It was a great day today worshipping one God with many different believers.

08-16-08

Its hard to believe that August is at the midway point, and sad that our trip is a little over half done as well. We are so thankful that God blessed us with the opportunity to come to Bethesda and serve Him here. It is a dream come true for us!

This morning was a crafts day. The older children make necklaces, bracelets, greeting cards, and magnetic frames. They pay for the materials up front with their own money. Then, when teams or visitors come they are able to purchase these souvenirs that were made by the Bethesda children. The kids who made the item earns the profit and is taught at an early age how to manage their money. The children can choose whether to reinvest that money in making more souvenirs or spending it on "sweeties" (candy). Kate helped Alyssa all morning with 15-20 children older than 10 years make the trinkets. Kate always enjoys making crafts so it was a fun time for her. It was also really good to get to know the older girls better (she helps more with the younger kids more by doing child care). One of the girls, had a tough morning with the crafts. She had to redo her necklaces twice because the charms were not on straight, and Bethesda wants these children to learn to do things with excellence. She also had to redo a card because she had done it quickly and it looked messy and would not have sold. By the end of the day she was so frustrated and once again made another mistake with another necklace. This time she was just wanting to quit and give up. Kate sat down with the girl and encouraged her to not give up and to finish the necklace. Then Kate and a different girl helped the frustrated girl finish making the necklace. It was so good to help her smile again and encourage her to persevere.

Andrew helped with the set up and tear down of craft day. He also helped the boys at the beginning get started. (The boys actually make the best necklaces and make a lot more than the girls.) He then headed off to the administrative building because there was a community continuing education day that both houseparents and the community attended. It was so good to see another aspect of Bethesda as they reached out to surrounding communities and churches equipping them to minister better in the culture that they live. Andrew walked away with a greater insight and awareness of how and why the AIDS epidemic continues to be such a huge problem in this country. It was good to look at scripture and be reminded of God's view and plan for sex and how we (as the body of Christ, and parents) "must train up a child in the way he should go, so when he is old he does not depart from it."

This afternoon, we had some time to see some more South African culture by first visiting a mall and also a grocery store in Pretoria. All in all, it was really not that different than being in Grandville, MI except that every sign first had English and then had Afrikaans (Pretoria is very modern and in places wealthy).

Tonight we had the opportunity to have dinner in a third home. This family is the newest to Bethesda and has the youngest children (six of the nine children are under the age of five). Upon arriving Kate jumped in and made homemade brownies and washed the preparation dishes. Andrew jumped in a different way and had up to seven children climbing on him at one time. Tonight was the most South African meal we have had in the homes, but it was very nice (you don't say the meal was good, you say it was nice). Once again Kate was at her finest eating both vegetables and salad, while not even flinching at the unknown meat she was served. Andrew says it was all VERY good and would happily eat it at any Sunday lunch. Afterward, we chatted for a bit and played with the kids, before the kids needed to go to bed before a long day at church tomorrow. We really enjoy our meals in the home getting to know both parents and children so much better. Thank you for all your prayers! Have a great day worshiping at church tomorrow!

America........................South Africa
napkin..................................serviette
restroom..............................loo or toilet
What is your name?.............Leina la gago ke mang
Thank You...........................Ke a leboga
Food......................................digo

08-15-08

Hello Everyone!
and experiences from our first week here at Bethesda. We also learned a little about him and how God brought him here. A group of 5 John and Lois Mixon, the Director of Bethesda and his wife, are back here in S'africa. So we spent most of the day with them. Before our meeting with John though, Andrew prepared for his lesson for chapel next Wednesday, and Kate helped at the school by reading a test to a boy who does not read English well. We then met John in his office and chatted about our surprisesAfrikaan men came from a seminary about 45 minutes away. They came wanting to learn about how Bethesda does orphan care ministry and in particular the school. They came with many good questions as they are trying to determine whether they should start a grade school of their own for orphans. For us, it was good to hear again, and this time from John's perspective, how and why Bethesda puts such an emphasis on the family. Bethesda exists to reach orphans with a holistic approach that meets both physical needs and spiritual needs. It seeks life and heart change, that will last for the rest of the children's lives rather than just feeding and housing orphans.

We spent most of the afternoon playing with the kids. Kate was doing what her mom would love to do if she was here. She was cutting hair! and making Andrew very nervous. No, no, no don't worry... a few of the older girls had hair extensions that had been in since June so they wanted to take them out. So they told me and a few of the girls to cut them and then we began unbraiding the braids. Andrew just so happened to run by with some of the other kids and saw us hacking off her hair and could not understand why we would be taking scissors to the girl's hair. His quote was, "Does your mother know you are doing this?" It was too funny! In all fairness, he has no idea what hair extensions are, much less that you could just chop them off. We hope you all got a laugh out of this story! No hair was harmed in the making of this story. :) While Kate was having a hair day with the girls, Andrew was running around the playground playing with the children. They like spinning on the swings and digging in the dirt.

Tonight, we had dinner with Ruth (the school principal), the Cryans, and the Mixons. We had homemade pizzas. We shared both of our stories and how God brought us to this point on our journey. It was amazing the number of contacts and friends we all share. Chad Hibbard, the Billmans, the Geshays, Ken Rudolph, and even my parents from national youth ministers conference. Looking forward to craft day for Kate and attending continuing education for the community, houseparents, and Andrew. We love you all!

08-14-08

Andrew and I worked seperately all day today. Andrew helped Frans with maintenance. They sealed up holes in the team center's ceiling to insure critters (including but not limited to snakes, mice, rats, and birds) from not coming in or making a home in the ceiling. Andrew also believes this will keep the building just a little warmer. It gets down into the thirties at night. We certainly made a mess, but at the end of the day the team center looks a whole lot better. It was good to spend the day one on one with one of house father, to get to hear his story, share mine, and to hear his heart both for ministry and orphans.
Kate spent the day with Frans' wife, Salome. Salome broke her ankle last week and it is now in a cast. So she is having a hard time getting around her house, caring for her 8 kids,
maintaining the house. Five of the children are in school during the day, so Kate spent the morning playing with the three younger children. One of the many highlights of the day was when the four of us were playing with the dolls. Gontse and Pienkie wanted to take their baby dolls to church. So we pretended to go to church; they dressed up the dolls, sang songs, Gontse "preached" a sermon in an upside down story book about John the Baptist, and they all said memory verses. This all came from a five, four, and three year old. It was so sweet. Kate helped them with snack, played at the playground, and when more of kids came home they all played outside before having lunch. After lunch, Kate helped put the younger kids down for a nap and the older kids with homework. Later she and the oldest child, Gladness, helped Salome with making dinner.

After Andrew's workday was done, we played outside with the kids in that family more, and took our almost daily walk to recap the day. We were invited to dinner at Frans and Salome's home. At the end of the meal, we sang Rudolph Happy Birthday "Lake Ann Style", he turned eight today. We had a crazy birthday celebration with balloons, wrestling around, and many pictures. We ended the night with a time of singing praises to God in both English and Tswana and then prayer. It was so good to see the kids interact with their parents just like we did when we were growing up. Having orphans in a family setting is really the best way to raise the children.

One little note of prayer, Kate was sick before leaving for the trip and her nose is now extreamly stuffy and then very dry. We are not sure if it is left over from the cold or due to the dry dusty climate. Today her nose was bloody every time she blew it. Other than that, we doing very well and loving our time here. (Kate is even eating her vegetables!) Can't wait to see what God has for us tomorrow.

08-13-08

Short night and early butterflies as Andrew was starting off the day teaching in chapel. It was the best interaction with all of the children in a short amount of time that I have spent since arriving a week ago! I spoke about generosity. First we had some group interaction and learned our definition (sharing what I have with a happy spirit). Then I shared three stories: the boy who was generous with his lunch of 5 loaves and two fish, then Andrew read a short story about a girl who was generous with her lunch at school, third we looked at nature and saw how Pelican's are generous with the fish they catch. It was a great time of interaction with the children. I hope they were able to take away from that time as much as I did. We then went to the grade R (Kindergarten) classroom where Kate taught an impromptu math lesson. She did an excellent job and we've got the pictures to prove it :)
Part of our vision trip is to see all aspects of the ministry here at Bethesda so after chapel and math class we were off to the administrative building to sit in a meeting with the houseparents in continuing education. We really had to shift gears and take on a whole new mindset in part because we were now the learners (students) taking in all aspects of orphan care ministry. It was eye opening and interesting to learn much of what the South African government requires from Bethesda and Children Homes in general. We got to go back to the school and help some of the students who have a hard time reading in English take an economics exam and grade some math homework, Andrew really liked that part while Kate had a hard time giving the students a poor grade on their work. For the last hour of the day we got to sit in on a Tswana class. At Bethesda they teach the children how to read and write Tswana because many of the children only know how to speak it. Andrew really had no clue what went on that hour but he did his best to follow along with what the teacher was saying. We got to spend the remainder of the afternoon playing outside with many of the children. They are so full of life and energy with an infectious smile on their faces.
Kate went with one of the teachers and intern to the vet. Of course a couple of dogs went too. Bethesda has two puppies who needed to get their shot. Andrew opted to stay back and help Meredith prepare dinner. Tonight we spent the night with the interns for dinner sharing stories and many laughs. The Mixon's (Bethesda's director) arrived safely from the states this evening around 6:30. It will be good to see how life operates when John and Lois are here.
Thank you for your prayers and comments a continual source of encouragement to us.

08-12-08

Normally when a team comes to Bethesda, they have a free day the Saturday before they leave. Well the Saturday before we leave will be a busy day for us because there is a confrence open to pastors in community to raise awareness about the ministry going on here at Bethesda. So we needed to be here for that. So we had our free day early. We drove about an hour to get to Hartebeesport. This is an open market where you barter for the souveniours you'd like to buy. We both had experience with bartering from our previous missions trips, but that is not even comparable to the bartering here. If you looked at a particular item for more than a moment, and certainly is your were to touch something or pick it up, the shopkeeper would be bagering, begging and following you to buy that item. They start off by giving you their best offer (which was 2 o3 times the actual price) and it was typical to offer half or less than half of the storekeeper's best offer. You then had to barter and eet somewhere in the middle (they would literally beg you for more money for the item saying it was to feed their children). If you didn't take the offer, they would follow you or they would tell the next shop over what you were looking for. It was mind boggling. We were able to purchase some suveniors and gifts for people (shhh don't tell them!).

After a morning of bartering, we drove another hour to Pilanesburg. This is a nation game reserve. It was so beautiful, and the nicest/wealthiest area we have been to in S'africa (it is a tourist area). We went on a game drive in a big canvas covered jeep. It was much better than the zoo back home. The animals roam free in their protected natural habitat. We saw monkeys, giraffe, ostrich, hippo, rhino (with a baby!), elephant, zebra, impala, wildebeest, an eagle, an owl, a couple lions, hartebeest,waterbuck, tsessbe, springbok, bushbuck, sable antelope, and eland...to name just a few. It was absolutely amazing and breathtaking to see God's magnificent creation. It was pretty crazy getting to go on a lion hunt just as the sun was setting, but we did find them which we were so excited about.

Before we left the game park, we got to try some authentic African cuisine. We sampled crocadile, ostrich, and "african big game". It was all excellent, this is coming from both Andrew AND Kate (she really did like it!). It was already late before we started our two plus hours back to Bethesda....the trip ended up being much longer. We got lost and turned around on the way back, it doesn't help to be on the correct road, see a sign for the city we are going to and then take three lefts to get to the correct road. In Andrew's way of thinking, the third left would head you in the exact opposite direction of where you wanted to be headed. Either way, we finally made it back to our road 45 minutes later and was on our way. We just had a little extra time to fellowship with the Cryan's (who took us to all these places) and it made for a little shorter night of sleep. The day was a great adventure, and we hope that the pictures will turn out.

Good Morning!

Good morning all. Yes it is 1:30AM in Michigan, but already 7:30AM for us here at Bethesda. Just wanted to write a quick line or two before our day got started. We weren't able to post last night, it was a super busy day we hope to be able to write about both days tonight if time allows. Thank you so much for all your prayers and the encouragement you have been to us. It is like you are right here side by side with us. Today will be an action filled day as we get to go to school. I will be teaching at assembly (chapel) grades 1-7 and the rest of the day observing and helping out any way possible in the classroom.
Taking plenty of pictures, but because of limited use of downloading we will share all of those with you when we get home.

08-11-08

Hello Everyone! We miss you all so much and thank you for praying for us each day and for reading our blog (sorry we are a bit long winded...but you know us, we like to talk alot). Today we worked on a couple projects that the full time staff needed to be done. They were nothing up front or noticable to anyone really but we came to serve and by doing this we freed others up to invest in the lives of the children here. We also got to sit in on a meeting of all the administrative staff. We spent the remainder of our morning and afternoon with Klaas and Ruth. Klaas, a South African, is the child care director, he is the one responsible for working with the government (state- they actually call them providences- and federal level) and social workers to bring in and keep orphans at Bethesda. It was obvious the moment he opened his mouth that he had a wealth of knowledge, not only about South Africa but also the children he serves here and a passion for them coming to know Christ. Ruth, an American who has been in S'Africa for ten years, is the school principal and also is in charge of some aspects of the onsite finances of Bethesda. Everyone seems to wear multiple hats that they never anticipated wearing when they arrived here. It has been good to spend time and appreciate what each staff member brings to the team.
Late this afternoon, we had the chance to play with some of the children out on the playground. It was definately the highlight of our day. They are such happy children smiles are constant and contagious. We love to spend time with them. Just before dinner, we experienced another S'african first, the providence shut down the electrical grid to save energy. So we were without power for about three hours, this would not have been a problem except it was dinner time. So the South African family we were intended to have dinner with was not able to cook the meal they hoped to share with us. We hope we can reschedule and spend an evening with them. Instead we went with plan B and got pizza in town with the teachers and interns. We learned that what you order is not always what you get. The interns ordered one thing and got something completely different...they didn't like it but andrew loved it and ended up eating some of their pizza (pepperoni, feta cheese, and some kind of spicy pepper). It was good day. We are doing really well, and sleep like rocks every night. We seem to go to bed very early (between 8 and 10), we think it is a combination of working hard during the day and the sun going down early around 6. Either way, we are up with sun at 7.

English...................South Africa
Stay Well......................Tsala Pila
Flash light.....................Torch
Pop/Soda......................Cool Drink
God.............................Modimo
Band-aid.......................Plaster

08-10-08

This morning for church we went to a new church plant in the township right across from Bethesda. The pastor is also one of the houseparents, he also goes to seminary ten days a month and works on maintenance. He is a BUSY man! The church was in a small concrete room that was smaller than half of a basketball court (it is a daycare center during the week). We were the first ones there and helped set up (we were there only 5 minutes early...but that is very early in African time). They certainly love to praise the Lord in song and dance...Baptists in America are going to have to learn to dance once they get to heaven. They said the clap and sing with their voices and dance with their feet because that's what God has given them to praise the Lord. When we get home we will have to show you all the video of the singing. The pastor taught from Matthew 16:13-20. It was really cool to hear him speak in English and then hear his wife translate it into Tswana using the same hand motions and voice inflection. Even when we couldn't understand what they were saying you could tell they loved God with all their heart. We had lunch with the Cryan's, they heard that Andrew was part Mexican (lol!) and loved tacos so they made him tacos for dinner.

For evening church we went to a completely different type of church. Ruth (the school principle), Heather (one of the teachers), and Alyssa (one of the interns) attend that church. It is a mostly white church (Afrikaans people) in Pretoria. It was what we would think of as a typical Sunday evening service. American missionaries started this church about a dozen years ago, and it has really grown.

We are looking forward to working hard this week at Bethesda on maintenance projects, at the school, and helping with child care. It is going to be a VERY busy week, and we can't wait to start the adventure.

08-09-08

Couple of quick notes from our day today...

Our luggage completely arrived at Bethesda around noon. It is very dry and dusty so our socks were turning orange from the clay/dirt/sand. Thank you for your prayers for our luggage to arrive.

Would someone please tell Patrick that we found a person (one of the interns) that loves "Skyline Chilli" here in S'africa. Not only loves it but actually was a waitress there in Ohio...some world huh?

Today was a long and eye opening day. We went on the "Temba Tour" with the Cryans and Meredith. We drove through three poverty stricken townships. There are no words to describe the things we saw, and we will remember them forever. The people live in poverty like we have never seen before, and we are having a hard time putting it all into words. The homes are mostly tin shacks, no bigger than the living room in your home. None of them have running water in the home, electricity, or indoor plumbing. They have to search for wood to make fires to keep warm in the 30 degree weather that is here at night. Some of these homes are led by children. The mom and dad have passed away (often from AIDS, yet no one will claim that is how they died) and the oldest child drops out of school to provide for and take care of the younger siblings...some of which are infants. A handful of the orphans here at Bethesda are behind in school and have had a difficult time adjusting to life as a child again because before they came to Bethesda, they were raising their younger siblings. As we drove, it completely shocked us to see modern convience side by side with poverty, whether that be KFC next to a tin shack or the wireless internet that we are able to use just a football field away from people scavenging through other poor people's trash to find food.

Another humbling and sad experience we had today was going to the Temba Cemetary. Roger and Carol couldn't believe how many more grave sites were there since they had last visited in February. We saw once again the havoic and disaster the AIDS epidemic has caused in this country. We some countless graves of children, many who never lived to see their first birthday. Many were small mounds of rocks without a headstone. They decorated the graves with the baby's bottle or toys. There were hundreds of people that arrived on buses for the many funerals that were going on simultaneously throughout the cemetary. It was a very sobering and eye opening morning.

After lunch, we got to help one of the families here. The houseparents had to go into town; so we watched their nine children (6 of which were under the age of 4). Meredith, the intern here, helped as well. It was high energy for 5 hours. It was so good to finally spend some time with some of the children. The boys loved Andrew's red goatee and sideburns, they couldn't stop touching them. Kate wasn't left out though, her hair was styled too...the one and a half year old kept touching it and saying "Payloah" which means beautiful. They were so sweet and so full of life. Andrew also played an interesting game of uno with 3 of the 3 and 4 year olds...not sure of the rules but in the end, everyone was a winner! We had a great time with them.

We then walked next door to another family's home where we were to have dinner. This family has 6 children, ranging 5-13 years old. The dad is a pastor, an administrator of a school, and a houseparent...he is very busy. But was so interested in Andrew's work at the Holland Rescue Mission. Here in S'africa they don't have anything like that for the poor, but he compared what Andrew does with some of the ministries of his church (reaching out to orphans and abused women). It was a wonderful time of fellowship over dinner and the time of singing that was led by the little five year old girl. The dad also read some verses to encourage us and his family, followed by Andrew closing in a time of prayer. It was very special and great to interact and get to know this family. It was so amazing to see these many orphans apart of a great big family that loves God and is raising these children to love Him and serve Him.

Exhausted at 9 pm! Good night!

Prayer Request and Tomorrow's Plans

Pray for us tomorrow as Roger takes us to Temba, which they call a township. Its kind of like a tin shack village. They are all over the place, some of them border Bethesda and we could see the living conditions (and the witch doctor's goats) as we walked the gated border. We are sure that it will be a very eye opening and humbling day for us. Also, we have learned that South Africans always have their funerals on the weekend. We are going to a cemetery in the morning, and they have told us there will be dozens of funerals taking place. They compared the parking lot to what it would look like outside of an NFL game. We look forward to having dinner with our first set of houseparents and children tomorrow evening. We also look forward to the possibility of getting our luggage tomorrow. We got confirmation today that it has landed in South Africa, but when it arrive is uncertain.

We want to leave you with a picture of the view from outside our window and some words we have learned today...
American .............South African
Truck ...................... Bakkie
Hello ....................... Dumela
Van ........................ Combie
Diaper...................... Nappie
Awesome.................. Lekker
More new words to come later :)

08-08-08 Our First Day

Today could be entitled "Welcome to Bethesda: 101". The day started at 7:00 and we got to experience milk from a box on our O-tee's (similar to Cherios). It was different, but not bad. The orange juice is really good (you'd like it Dad Dodd!). If we had our suitcase, multiple layers would be warm since it starts in the low 40's (some of the other girls here lent Kate some clothes so all was well). By mid morning it was already feeling like a summer day in Michigan (even though it is winter here the temp topped out in the low 70's). We took a walking tour to start the morning with Roger Cryan, and we met all of the full time staff. We feel so overwhemed with names and faces. It was also neat to meet all the houseparents and we can't wait to get to know them. We got to see the current buildings including the school, homes, and the new administrative building. They also explained future plans of growth and development and our possible future role in the ministry here. It was exciting to see all the great things that God has done in the 8 years here at Bethesda, and looking towards the next 8 years and beyond. To God be the Glory Great Things He Has Done, is a phrase that was repeated and seen multiple times today.

We were taught the core values, visions, mission statement, and why they do ministry like they do for most of rest of the day. It is a comprehensive Biblical response to the impact of HIV/AIDS in South Africa and the orphans that are left behind by the epidemic. They believe that a relationship with Jesus Christ modeled in a Christian family is the best and only way to fix the problem. One of the major ways this is fleshed out is by modeling what a Christian family looks like. This is why Bethesda links 5 sets of houseparents with up to 8 orphaned children in each home. Bethesda is intentional about equipping and empowering these houseparents with tools and knowledge to raise these children in Christ centered homes. We spent our morning and afternoon in orientation about how Bethesda is run. We also got to meet lots of children throughout the day, they are so cute and have so much energy. "Mister Dodd" as they called him, is going to have a hard time with all these new names.

Bethesda's ministry relies on houseparents, those in the office and maintence, as well as their interns. The interns are people who typically come to Bethesda for six to twelve months and fill various roles throughout their time from teaching and tutoring to painting and childcare (babysitting the kids when a houseparent is away). Right now Bethesda has 2 interns that are Kate's age and we spent the remainder of our afternoon and evening with them. It was neat to see how Kate shares a lot in common with Meredith.

Here's a special shout out to Katie and Daniel Horton, we played a rousing game of aggrevation tonite with the Cryan's, the two interns Alyssa and Meredith, and the two American teachers Tonya and Heather. Tonya was SO excited to get to use her own brand new marbles that a friend of her's made who blows glass, they were cool! It was fun to play games and get to know the people here.

We made it :)

We got in last night, 7-Aug-08 that's how they would write the date here, 5 in the afternoon that would be 11AM EST. It's easy to say it takes 36 hours to get here with all the time change, but we found out that 36 hours of flying is a REALLY long time! Mom Dodd put it this way on her way in to work while we talked to her from the Atlanta airport. "You guys will be flying while I'm at work, when I come home from work, when I go to bed, when I wake up, and you'll still be flying when I go back to work ON THAT SAME PLANE!" God is good. We met two dozen southern baptist preachers and wives on our flight down they will be in JoBerg and surrounding villages for two weeks in hopes that local churches here will be able to plant new churches in time for World Cup 2010. PTL! Once we landed we made it through customs no problem and then waited for our luggage. We waited and waited, did a little more waiting and then the carasel stopped moving and no more luggage was coming :( We got our small suitcase (full of goodies for the missionaries a couple of jackets and church shoes) arrived safely. Our two large suitcases with all our clothes should be arriving some time today, or so we are told. God won't give us anything we can't handle so for now we will wear the same clothes a little bit longer. The Cryan's picked us up at the airport and what is normally an hour long trip took two hours last night, traffic was really bad. It was so crazy, there were wildfires along the side of the road. The Cryan's said this was common and would only be put out if they got close to the buildings, otherwise they would eventually burn out on their own (everything is so dry here, since it is winter). It was dark when we got to Bethesda so we can't wait to see it today. Dinner with the Cryan's was wonderful, and then by ten we were ready for bed and turned in for the night. Slept great, thanking God for safety in travels and can't wait to get going today. Thank you for all your prayers and comments, please keep them coming.

we've been on the plane FOREVER!

Atlanta!

Last night ended LATE 1:15AM and the morning started early 3:15AM. What kept us up was not packing but finding out that Kate had passed her nutrition class!!! Praise the LORD! We were so amped up from the great news and our soon departing trip that we laughed ourselves to sleep sometime after one. After a full nights sleep we loaded up the car and Dad, Mom, and Kyle took us to the Gerald R Ford Airport in Grand Rapids. Our flight left shortly after 6AM and landed in Atlanta just before 8AM. We have a bit of a layover here in Atlanta until 3:30 and our travels should be over in just about one more day from right now. It's a LONG flight. We will arrive, Lord willing, in JoBerg at 4:30PM South Africa time and 10:30AM EST.

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!

Thanks for being a part of our trip and keeping up with us on our blog. We covet your prayers and look forward to your comments on here.

Leavin' on a jet plane

Just under 48 hours until we take off!

Elizabeth Schneider

This week, Andrew and I became an uncle and aunt a second time! This little one took her time coming into this world (she was two weeks overdue). My brother and sister-in-law, Kevin and Angela, went into the hospital Sunday evening and after a very long labor had their first child, Elizabeth Lynn Schneider very early Tuesday morning (July 29 at 12:56 pm to be exact). Elizabeth was 8 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long. Both Angela and Elizabeth are doing great and will hopefully go home today. We are very excited to have this new little girl in our family, and we am so happy for Kevin and Angela. Congratulations you two!! We can't wait to meet you Elizabeth...we'll see you when we get home from Africa next month!

August 6-23

August 6th is coming quickly and our time of departure for Bethesda Outreach Ministries in South Africa is getting closer as each minute and hour that passes. As of 9PM tonight (26-Jul-08) we are just 10 days and 9 hours away from flying out of our Grand Rapids Airport headed to Atlanta where we will have an eight hour lay over (a similar lay over to the high school students from Cornerstone that waited in Atlanta for their final destination of Jamacia just a few weeks ago) after Atlanta we will cross the pond (Atlantic Ocean), refuel in Senegal, Africa but stay on board before we land in at our final destination of Johannesburg, South Africa. All in all leaving 6AM 6-Aug-08 and arriving 4:35PM 7-Aug-08 local time. All in all journey time of 34.5 hours and 4987 miles. The good news is that is just the first step and Kate and I can not wait to take that first step.

249 hours and counting to departure!!!

Dentist

Today Kate and I got to visit our friendly neighborhood dentist, OUCH! I got four cavities filled to Kate's one :( They said something about the sealants I got as a child breaking down and that is why things were not in tip top shape. Kids, no no, EVERYONE reading this should now pause and brush their teeth, don't forget to floss...
Now that you're back with clean, fresh, minty white teeth. Please keep Kate and I in your prayers that our teeth will not be so sensitive to extreme hot and cold, but more importantly that Kate's bite splint will fit and feel comfortable to her tonight. She has been in quite a bit of jaw pain.

News Alert, News Alert!!! Kate cuts hair, Kate cuts hair!!!

After 48 days (that is almost 7 weeks, a whole year in dog years) since my last hair cut I had finally had enough and encouraged and coaxed Kate into giving me her first ever hair cut. I must say after all was said and done I’m very impressed! We started out with some of the larger guards on the hair trimmers. As she got more and more comfortable the guards got smaller and smaller. I’m guessing the hair cutting genes run in her family, but the quotes of the night were, “I’m glad I’m going to be a nurse” and “My hand can’t stop shaking”. Both came from Kate and both while my hairs were getting trimmed. She knew how to instill confidence and give assurances. I LOVE THAT WOMAN, she is God’s special encourager, support, and gift to me!!!

Marshmallow Taffy

Sometime last week...

So Andrew likes to play with his marshmallows. He turns them into 'marshmallow taffy' by stretching and pulling it apart between his fingers. It is an art perfected through many years of camp! SO Kate was making it with him and made a huge mess...

Phil, Jenn and Natalie Visit

On Sunday the 13th of July, Kate and I had some very special guests. Phil, Jenn and our seven-month-old niece, Natalie, came and spent the afternoon and evening with us. It was so good to spend some time with them, and for Aunt Kate it was the first time she got to meet Natalie. Phil and I got to play some speedmitten (a lot like badminton but without a net and a bit more sturdy) while Kate and Jenn played on Adobe Photoshop. Jenn was able to show Kate some fun new things on her photoshop, like how to make a completely digital scrapbooking page. We made one of our new favorites for dinner, sweet and salsa chicken, with strawberry shortcake for dessert (see an earlier post to hear about ALL the strawberries). Phil, Jenn, and Natalie headed north to spend a couple of days with Mom and Dad to finish their Midwest family vacation tour.