great kids

Good morning friends. I just wanted to tell you guys how amazing these kids are over in the orphanage. They are unbelievable.  While i was gone this past weekend, someone from the orphanage called and left a message at my house.  It was Khanyisa and Xolelwa.
"Hi Daniel, this is Khanyisa from Oceans of Mercy, i just wanted to call and tell you that we miss you and we love you." Then Xolelwa talked, "Hi Daniel, we miss you and we love you. Bye."
How cool is that?  That they were actually thinking of me and wanted to call just to say "we miss you and we love you."
They are amazing kids!

daniel

good trip

hey folks! how's everyone doing?  happy Memorial Day to you all. i haven't been writing very much since i've been back in the states just because i haven't had too much to write about and quite often have had very little time to do it.  but today i feel motivated to post a couple pictures of me at the Easter Camp that i went to while i was in South Africa.

that's Michael.  i've talked about him a few times in earlier posts.

that's Amy and I. nice girl. she dresses really cool. that's the only reason she's in here : )

that's Tim, me, and Drew.  these guys are in a pretty cool South
African band and are planning on spending the months of June
through August in the States. 

i know i'm not in this one. i just wanted to put it in here to show you
the scenary that we had all around us for the five days we were
camping. GORGEOUS!

just to clear a couple things up…i realize that i'm wearing the same shirt in all the pictures but it's not because i'm a slob or a bum, it's because the pictures were all taken the same day…i think. hope you guys liked them!
well, i have one week left until i head back.  i'm leaving next monday sometime in the evening, i think around 7.  the first two months of being in South Africa were great.  i couldn't have asked for anything better.  i'm really looking forward to seeing everything that God has in store for me over the next period that i'm there. this is the long part of the year.  when i get there on June 7, i will be there until Christmas.  long time. while being home, i've been seeing how God is preparing me for it.  He's just been teaching me so many things, helping grow in knowledge and faith.  i can't wait to go and put those things into practice.  as i've started to do that here, i know that the hardest part will be doing the same there. 
i've been hearing that lots of people have been reading this blog and i'm so happy for that.  i am able to see how many people look at this each day but i was starting to wonder where all these people were coming from cause i wasn't seeing as many comments.  but when people were telling me things like how this has been very helpful for them to keep up-to-date and to see what God is doing in the lives of people thousands and thousands of miles away, it was just great to see that people were benefitting from it. thank you guys for your continued faith, encouragement, and concern.  it means so much to me.
there is now another family, Jennifer and her two boys Joseph and James, that are living in the orphanage for the summer.  Jennifer is a Registered Nurse and will be helping us evaluate what medical needs Oceans of Mercy can look to provide to people that need them.  she also has a blog that she uses and will be updating on frequently like i have while they are in South Africa.  if you would like to see how God is using her you can click on the link to the right of this page that says "Jennifer and the boys – Missionary" or you can click here and it will take you right to her blog. 
love you guys! hope you enjoyed your holliday weekend!

daniel

i’m home!!!

hey guys! i made it back.  i got back around noon on Saturday and have had a great time since. went to church on Sunday morning, saw a bunch of people that i missed, got to sit with my mom and all my brothers at one of the services, went to lunch with my family, celebrated my brothers birthday today, got to see their choir concert.  it's been a great few days.  before i even went home from the airport on Saturday, we stopped by Chipoltle and got some great American food.  this next week has a lot of events that are going on.  i'm really looking forward to it though. 
i was thining about the kids today back at the orphanage, wondering how they were doing so i got some pictures out that i had brought back with me.  Ronnie and Sybil had a disposable camera they said i could use so i took a bunch of pictures before i left and got them developed as soon as i got back and also had them put the pictures on a cd so i could show them to you guys.  so here are a few them.

this is the village. the white building on the left is where Ronnie, Sybil, myself, and all the people that are coming this summer stay. the brick building next to it is where the kids and everyone else stays. you can also see some of the ducks and chicken that run around getting fat.

this is my room (what will be the girls room when i get back). that's Lilitha standing next to me. she loves being in pictures and loves taking them even more.

this picture was taken the day i left.  on the left is Noranti, me holding Pila, Mama, and her sister who i call sister (it's a good thing because i don't know how to spell her real name).

there's Ronnie and Sybil. next to them is Bongeka and Unakho.  it was Bongeka's birthday so we got a couple cakes and had ourselves a little party.  she opened a couple gifts and later that night ended up with cake icing on her face.

here's Lilitha again.  she had just gotten out of the bath and was going crazy. told you she loved being in pictures.

here's Unakho, one of the most amazing girls i have ever met, and she is holding Siphokazi, a six month baby girl.

Lilitha, again, only this time wearing my glasses (they have an obsession with wearing my glasses), and my "silly billy" Lisa.  Lilitha is 6 and Lisa 4 now.

this doesn't appear to be a great quality picture but here's who's in it: on the top is Phumlani, in the middle starting on the left is Aphiwe, Khanyisa, Sino, Xolelwa, and on the bottom is Unakho, me, and Bongeka.  this is the only picture Lilitha isn't going crazy in and that's only cause she's asleep on the right there. 

i hope you guys can all see these and that these will help you come a little bit more familiar with their faces so that when i talk about them you can picture them.

daniel

on the way!

hey all…i am leaving in 30 minute to head to the airport. 
all the kids are quite sad that i am leaving.  i took them to school again this morning, one last time before i leave, and got out and hugged each one.  Xolelwa started crying, so did Bongeka, Lilitha, and a couple of the other girls teared up as well.  they all had bits of advice for me while i'm gone.  mainly, not to cut my hair.  i showed them all a picture of when i had REALLY long hair and they want me to grow it back out.  they tried to get me to not shave and grow out my facial hair but then i showed them that months would probably go by and i still wouldn't have anything but some peach fuzz.
anyways, it's really nice knowing that i am going to be missed.  i knew that when i left KC and now i know that feeling here as well. 
i'm looking forward to coming home, not to today, the next day is going to be the boring part but i look forward to seeing American soil again!
keep us in your prayers and we are serving God!

See you soon!
daniel

THE BIG DAY

Hey everyone…some how i forgot last night to write about the child sponsorship program going on today.  Today was the first day and first attempt at providing food parcels for children and families that can’t afford the food.  The store we are working with that agreed to package the parcels called me today telling me that they were ready.  Right on time.  The contact at the store, really nice guy, gave us a loaf of bread for each parcel for free as well.  I have a feeling that this is going to work out really well with them.  The parcels were all packed up each in a box for us.  But when i saw them, they were pretty large parcels.  A lot bigger than i thought they would be, which is a good thing but makes the process of getting the parcels to the families more difficult.

We used this month kind of as a trial run to see how it would go.  My opinion…it’s a very good thing we did.  We had 6 kids that we were going to give the parcels to.  We found the homes and the people that were to receive them.  At the first home, the people were very excited to see us come.  When the mom saw us get out of the car with all the food, her face lit up.  We asked her if there was anything she wanted to say or comment about and she started writing it all down on a sheet for us and if we hadn’t told her we were in somewhat of a hurry she would have just kept right on writing.  I got so many “Thank You” and “Enkosi Buthi’s” (Thank you my son/boy) today.  I only hope that i am able to transfer that gratitude and appreciation from the families to all the sponsors in the States.  I sure wish i had a camera today to show you all exactly how it went.   

There was one boy that we went to look for at his school.  When we got there the principal said he didn't go to school today so we found someone that knew where he lived to take us there.  When we got there the boy, Jongitemba, walked out of the house.  Mama started talking to him and i could tell he was kind "sweating" the questions she was asking him.  She told me that he didn't go to school today because he was up late watching TV and slept in.  I think he stays with his grandma but she was gone today trying to get her pension and the only person there was a guy he called uncle.  Here in South Africa that doesn't actually make him his uncle though.  Something we are hoping these parcels will accomplish is to motivate them to go to school and work hard.  How can you expect someone to learn when all they're thinking about is when are they going to eat next.  So Mama made sure that the boy and the uncle new that if Jongitemba didn't go to school then the parcels would stop coming each month.  Mama said that the guardians in the house will start making sure that he goes to school because now they know that they have some support coming in his name each month. 

All-in-all…a good day!

Yesterday i started getting a little sick.  My head is very congested and i can't breath because of it.  Today has just worn me out with all the things that went on and then being sick at the same time.  It seems like it's going around in the house.  A few of the other kids have it also.  I've been taking some medicine but i don't know if it's going to help at all.  It hasn't yet.  We'll see.  Hopefully it will be gone by the time i get on the plane Friday.  It will be very difficult to fly if i'm feeling sick.  Please pray for me guys!

love you all!

daniel

SOON SOON SOON!

hey guys…i won’t write much but i did just want to say hey. 

please be praying for me over the next couple days as i’m traveling.  I will be getting on a plane in P.E. at 12:30 Friday to start my trip back to good ol KC.  I should be back in Kansas around 1 o’clock Saturday afternoon.  please be praying for me and that i don’t get on a plane going the wrong way, ending up in china instead of america. 

Thanks guys for praying for me.  God is answering prayers everyday!!! Can’t wait to see you all and i hope you have a great week!

why is there a title bar?

Guys, it’s getting cold.  I know it probably sounds weird being where you’re at right now.  Middle of the afternoon on a spring, soon-to-be summer, day.  But you have to realize that it’s fall, soon-to-be winter here.  So all the summer heat is practically gone.  But that doesn’t slow us down, does it?

Right now i’m sipping on my freshly made roibos tea.  Mmmmmm! Boy is that good!  The day is winding down now and starting to get ready for bed. 

The other day Phumlani and i were walking around the house and fence, checking on the electrical fence and everything, when we saw some new baby chicks following their mom.  There were 11 new ones.  When i saw them today there were only 9.  Most of them, most likely, won’t live past the next couple of weeks.  For instance, the other night it was starting to rain a bit and it was pretty windy.  Sybil and i saw one of the white baby chicks all by itself.  So i put it in a bucket and wandered around in the rain trying to find the others.  I wasn’t able to find them so i tried to put it in a somewhat safe place.  I don’t think it made it through the night.  There are still 4 white chicks and 5 brown chicks.

Later the same day we found 7 more eggs that were waiting to hatch and then i saw that that number is now up to 10 eggs soon to be chickens.  There’s all kinds of new life being changed here!

 

Daniel

Why Worry?

Good evening! Good evening!

How was everyone’s weekend?  Good i hope!

To update you on what happened with the meeting with Shop-Right to discuss the Child Sponsorship stuff, it went PERFECTLY! I don’t know if you could see from what i wrote, but i was nervous about going to talk to this guy.  So nervous, that i went to the extreme of shaving, putting some nicer clothes on, and preparing all the papers in a nice folder. On the way there i had no idea what to expect.  Was this going to take ½ an hour, more? Would this guy be open to helping us or was i going to have to get on my hands and knees and start begging? What’s going to happen? 

We got there, Me, Mama, and Monica (that’s Mama’s daughter, she’s 34 years old), walked to the guy’s office that was the size of coat closet, and got to business.  I started off by explaining a little about what we are trying to accomplish with our Child Sponsorship Program.  After that i went into what we need and what we are looking for from a Grocery Store partner.  He clarified what i told him we needed, looked at all the items we need in our food parcels, and said “sounds good, and we will be able to add some things to that list for free.”  We went over a few more things to get the process completely understood.  After we said our goodbyes and started walking out of the coat closet, i took out my phone and looked at the time… “You’ve got to be kidding
me.” We were only in there for 5-7 minutes.  I barely even said anything.  After typing all that, it sounds like we talked for a while longer but it were as if God had already shown him everything and had gone over it all with him already.  Why do we even worry about the things that we do?

Thank you guys for your prayers!!!

See you soon!!!

 

daniel