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 :)
6 comments:
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Glad to hear all is going for you guys. Of course we will be praying for you and your weekend. I am also praying as I know this whole trip is important to your future. Hope your luggage shows up soon, and can't wait to see you when you get back. <3, Jessica
p.s. Just because you're on a missions trip doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you in FB House Katie!
So great to hear you have made it to Africa. Wow! I remember when Kate graduated hs and they announced all the graduates in church. She said "I'm going to go fight AIDS in Africa." And there you are!
Hope your luggage arrives very soon. Things always are nicer when you have some clean clothes and a good toothbrush!
Love, Sara (Patrick, Casey, Ryan, and Sophie too!)
So glad to hear you got there safe & I hope to hear that you have your luggage in the next blog!!
What a delight it is to see your dream of going to Africa finally happen. I'll be praying for you both as you serve there. Can't wait to see you when you get back.
We met and became friends during Andrew's internship at Cornerstone, Kate's home church. After Andrew finished his time in at Kate's home church, we dated for a year. Got engaged 12/30/05 up at Andrew's parents home in Lake Ann. We were married and started our journey together on July 2, 2006.
Andrew has been working at the Holland Rescue Mission since January '06. Kate graduated with her nursing degree in December '09.
On March 25, 2010, our first child, Addison Joy was born. We are loving every moment with her, she is a sweet little baby.
We are going to Hammanskrall (the yellow star on the picture) which is just a little north of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Winter '08
In our journey to run hard after Christ, we believe God has given us gifts and passion to reach young people not only here in the United States but also those suffering from the AIDS pandemic around the world and specifically in Africa.
This past Christmas, we began to talk about the possibility of going on a short term missions trip on Kate's 3 week summer break in August. In January, we contacted a number of missions agencies and organizations that are also passionate about reaching AIDS orphans. We didn't have to wait long before we got numerous responses from all over the world. Bethesda Outreach Ministries quickly went to the top of our list.
By the first week of February, we were already talking to the Mixon's (the missionaries at Bethesda) on the phone. After much prayer and a whole lot of email conversations, we set the date August 6-23, 2008.
This winter was the first steps on a new journey for the Dodds!
What is Bethesda?
Bethesda Outreach is a ministry of Evangelical Baptist Missions. Bethesda's mission is to encourage and assist local churches in meeting the needs of orphan children, that they may become disciples of Christ. What we think is also really unique about Bethesda is they don't just line up beds in a dorm for the orphans. They have Christian South African couples raise 5 or 6 of the orphans as their own children there on Bethesda's grounds. So the kids grow up in a loving Christian home with "siblings" and get the example of what a mom and dad should be like. They also have a school there and they teach the kids life skills so that when they leave as adults, they have a trade or a skill and can get a job in the workforce to provide for themselves.
6 comments:
Glad to hear all is going for you guys. Of course we will be praying for you and your weekend. I am also praying as I know this whole trip is important to your future. Hope your luggage shows up soon, and can't wait to see you when you get back.
<3, Jessica
p.s. Just because you're on a missions trip doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you in FB House Katie!
Hi guys--
So great to hear you have made it to Africa. Wow! I remember when Kate graduated hs and they announced all the graduates in church. She said "I'm going to go fight AIDS in Africa." And there you are!
Hope your luggage arrives very soon. Things always are nicer when you have some clean clothes and a good toothbrush!
Love, Sara (Patrick, Casey, Ryan, and Sophie too!)
ugh I couldn't imagine not having clothes. Hopefully your luggage comes soon.
aww goats...I want to pet them but I'm not sure I'd want to go near them since they are witch doctors goats.
Have you all had the chance to experience the terror that is riding in a Khumbe?
It sounds like you guys are really enjoying S'africa! Stay safe,
love n' kisses,
Alanna
Katie & Andrew~
So glad to hear you got there safe & I hope to hear that you have your luggage in the next blog!!
What a delight it is to see your dream of going to Africa finally happen. I'll be praying for you both as you serve there. Can't wait to see you when you get back.
Love, Julie Luzod
Kt & Andrew its so awesome your livin what you said you do.. praying for strength and wisdom as God teaches and uses you to do HIS work.
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