Pictures… finally

Hello All. This is Crystal and I am here to post pictures for Daniel. He is unable to do so himself in Africa… and his dad is what we like to call computer challenged so he asked me!

Here are the pics!

Take care
-Crystal

the adorable Lisa the way she usually is, attached to my shoulders

spent a while at the park. they don’t like to let me push cause they think it’s too fast when i do it.

there’s Joe Caponetto

Phila stairing straight into the camera

 more later guys!

daniel

hi

Hello everyone…how’s the day???  I am sitting here trying to figure out what to write.  I can’t even remember exactly all that’s gone in the past few days since i last wrote. 

Yesterday was quite a nice day so we took all the kids to the beach. But by the time we got to the beach it was cold but that didn’t stop us.  Jennifer and i went for a walk and found a really cool wooden stair case up through the sandy hills and enjoyed the view for a bit.  Then all the kids did some goofy things for the camera.  The water was soooo cold though.  I didn’t even attempt to get in.  I was freezing just standing on the beach in a long sleeve shirt and jeans.  Sooooo cold!

The day before that, we took Phumlani to the doctor and went to visit the really sick girl in Motherwell.  I didn’t notice it but Jennifer said that she could tell that she was getting a lot better.  When we went to see her we also dropped off the food parcel that God had provided the money for.  I wrote about that in one of my last couple posts.  It was really cool though because she loves sweets so when we got there i took the parcel in and gave it to her and saw her sitting there so i decided to go get some little cookie things that i had gotten earlier and gave them to her.  I hadn’t heard her talk until after i gave the cookies to her and she turned and said “thank you” to me.  It was so sweet.  Jimmy and Amy got to come too and see this girl and see what AIDS is doing to these people.  It’s just horrible. 

Over the next couple weeks we are having a lady come to give counseling to all the girls for AIDS.  There going to go over different things that are important to know when dealing with AIDS whether you have it or not.  She came by today for an hour or two to just get acquainted and so they would feel comfortable with each other.  She is going to come next week a few times and will continue where she left off today. 

Jennifer has been working really hard since she got here and only has 4 weeks or so left.  One of her goals while she is here is to get all the kids in the house tested.  None of them have ever been tested before.  It’s a very stressful thing for her because she kind of feels responsible for the result even though it has nothing to do with her except for the fact that she cares about them soooo much.  So far we’ve had some really good results.  We’ve only tested a few of the kids and they’ve all been positive so far.  I wish i could tell you which one’s are which but for privacy and because it’s a very touchy feely thing for them, i can’t.  Just keep praying for all of them that God will bless them and that they will know that whether positive or negative they will live the life that God had planned for them before they were even born.

Thanks guys!

daniel

sweet day

Hello friends! Boy we sure had a good day.  This morning we went to church and it was actually quite boring.  I’m not liking the messages that have been coming out of that place the past couple weeks.  It seems as if they just throw someone up there and tell them to talk.  I was holding Siphokazi, the youngest baby that’s 7 months old, and she fell asleep in my lap.  It was really cute!  She eventually got restless and started being a little too loud so i took her outside and we played just the two of us for a bit. 

After we got back Jennifer and her boys, Courtney, and myself went to the Spur (pretty much Applebee’s) for lunch and had a good time. 

Oh yeah, last night Jimmy got really sick.  His bed is right next to mine and around 3 in the morning i heard him throwing up and ran to get a trash can for him to use.  He spent the rest of the night with his face in it.  Him and Amy didn’t go to church this morning cause he was still feeling quite bad.  They both slept the majority of the day. 

We have a really cool outdoor brick fire place here at the house.  Yesterday i took a few minutes to clean out all the old wood and dirt and stuff from it.  Got it nice and tidy.  Today we decided to make a fire in it.  It was just before 4 pm and perfect timing to use the light to get it started and then it got dark.  As it was getting dark, a couple of the kids decided they wanted to go down the street to the store and buy some chocolate, marshmallows, and some crackers to make some smores.  It was soooo much fun.  All the kids came out and we huddled around the really warm fire cause it was quite cold.  Even Jimmy made it out with Amy.  Good good good night!!!

 

daniel

Howdy ho neighbors!!! To start off with a cool story…yesterday, we were all kind of restless and feeling maybe somewhat violent, so we decided that we were going to kill one of the extremely loud roosters. None of us wanted to do it though so we had one of the next door neighbors come and do it. We thought it would be appropriate to pay him for it. So we gave him R10 ($1.50) and a cup of tea to do it. I think he really enjoyed it cause all of us were standing behind him as he did it, cringing and screaming as the chicken squirmed around as he pinned it to the ground and cut of its throat with a kitchen knife. Definitely the most disgusting thing i've probably ever seen. After it was dead, the children and Jennifer proceeded to pluck the feathers off the headless bird. When they had gotten that all done and it looked like a toy rubber chicken, Norandi, one of the helpers and mom to one of the girls, stuck the bird in the sink and lit a piece of paper on fire and burnt the rest of the feathers or stubs hanging out of the bird. We had the rooster for dinner and even though it was a gross process, the bird actually was pretty good. We even got some of it on video!

Did some of you read my last post about the girl who was really sick and probably going to die of aids within the next month maybe? Well, i sent a picture and the information about that girl to Traci Johnson (the lady who is in charge of the Child Sponsorship Program) telling her that i thought it would be great if we could find this girl a sponsor. She told another Schaun's wife about it and she said that she had just gotten a letter in the mail from someone saying that they wanted the money enclosed to help a child if at all possible. So when the ladies heard about the child and the money already available…they emailed me within a day saying that they already had someone to sponsor her! How amazing is that? How good is our God! So good that he had already worked in the individuals heart to send money before we even knew that we needed some fast for this girl. It's just sooooo cool!!! Next week, we are going to go to the store and buy a bunch of food for her and take it to her. I can't wait to stop by and see how she is doing and to be able to give this to her grandma. God's doing good things here and in the people that are apart of this! It's soooo much cooler when you can actually see the benefits of your work.

I wanted to share with you all something that i read in my devotional this morning: "When the Lord calls you to come across the water, step out with confidence and joy. And never glance away from Him, even for a moment. Attempting to survey the danger may actually cause you to fall before it." So my friends, don't worry, keep your eyes focused, glued on the prize, not letting anything distract you. Have faith that God is doing his perfect plan in your life this very moment and have faith without questioning that he will continue to do so!

I hope you all have a wonderful night and keep the comments coming! They make a huge difference and keep me going!!!

Daniel

long time no see!

hello my friends. i'm sooo sorry! i haven't been faithful on writing on here.  i have been checking it though and love each comment that i got.  Thank you all sooo much for doing that for me! You're the best!!!

i've been getting frustrated with the pictures on here.  i can't figure it out and it's driving me crazy.  It's been quite hectic with extra people here too.  Everyone wanting to use the internet and the phone makes it difficult to find time to slip in and write.

We had a very interesting day today. There is a school in Motherwell called Fumisukoma that had a fire last year and we have been trying to find ways in which we can help them out.  They have a lot of orphans at their school so they have a soup kitchen that they started to help provide food for the MANY that can't get it.  In April we gave them around $100 that was from the group that came over in March.  When i handed it to the principal, her and her staff all started tearing up.  They were overwhelmed that we could give that much.  And that was only $100.  Anyways, we went back there today because Jennifer was going to give checkups to around 10 kids.  Ever since i went there they have been asking me to come and speak to the kids there, specifically the boys.  I'm not quite sure why.  I think she feels like i have something important to say.  I would rather hear from them than anything i would have to say.  They were finishing school today so we're  going to go back later. 
We delivered a food parcel to a small girl today.  Adorable little girl.  She has two sisters and lives with their grandma.  I'm not quite sure how or what all happened but their mom is in prison/jail because she killed her kids' dad and her current boyfriend and his family.  Quite a few people i understand. 
Mama told us that she wanted to have Jennifer go check on a girl that she heard was really sick and had been for quite some time.  We stopped by and the girls grandma brought her out.  She is so sick that she can't even walk.  This girl is 10 years old and is HIV+.  The aids has been making her completely weak.  The grandma said that she eats well but looks like she hasn't touched anything in months.  I was sitting next to her and asked her what her name is, she couldn't even answer me.  I don't know if it was because she was scared to see white people looking at her and lifting her shirt up to check her out.  When she didn't answer me i reached over to pat her on the back and just show her that we weren't there for any other reason but to show her that we love her.  I could feel how boney her back was.  I started to rub her arm and feel it to see what it's condition was like.  Her arms probably weren't 3 inches in diameter.  The skin on her stomach was extremely pasty and was just in very bad condition.  She was sitting in this chair with her knees up to her chest trying to be comfortable.  She was just the tiniest little girl.  Very sad to see her so weak! The worst part was that we couldn't really do anything.  We got her some nutritional stuff to drink with water but she was already on her aids medicine and a few other things to put some iron in her cause the medicine was also for being anemic.  We're going to go check on her again next week sometime to see how she's doing.  Jennifer said that there's a possibility she doesn't live for another month.  Pretty sad!
Well, we got some more guests coming this week. They are arriving on Friday.  Schaun's daughter Courtney, Jimmy Bush (18/19 years old), and Amy Thomas (18/19 years old).  They will be helping out with lots of different things that are happening here.  I know that Jimmy is seeking to become a Registered Nurse (RN) so i'm sure he'll be interested in helping Jennifer out!  I'm really excited to see them here.  We should have a great time!
Last night Jennifer and i went to a restaurant right now the beach to relax and have some tea.  It was gorgeous.  The weather couldn't have been any better yesterday. We got there just after sunset and just sat and talked for a couple hours.  It's inside a hotel so not too many people go to it.  I think there was a total of 5 people that were there while we were. 

anyways, i will try and write more later.  i'm still working on the pictures so don't give up on me!  keep praying for me guys! don't stop! Pray that i have some peace, rest, and patience throughout this crazy hectic summer/winter.

Thank you my friends!!!

daniel

sorry

hey guys…i just wanted to let you know that i tried to get some pictures on here again tonight but i'm still having trouble with it.  i just wanted to say hi though!

keep writing comments to me.  i haven't been seeing them as much anymore.  i miss seeing who's been reading this.  please be praying for me!  i really need it right now!

hope you guys have a great day!

daniel

A day at the park.

Good evening everyone.  Wow i’m exhausted! It’s been a long day.  This morning we got up around 6:30 and all took showers, ate some breakfast and then got on the road heading towards Addo Elephant National Park.  We started the journey not quite sure of how to get there.  We ended up going straight to it but almost ran out of gas on the way there.  Once we got there, we went straight in and had a 2 hour drive through the park.  We got done with that first drive around 11:30 or so and went to grab some lunch at the restaurant in the park.  It was quite good.  Jennifer and i both got a toasted tomato and cheese sandwich with chips, Joe and James both had egg and bacon sandwiches with chips.  We grab a bunch of snacks at the gift shop and went to sit and relax at a viewing area.  We were so comfortable that we ended up sitting there for two hours just talking, eating, and having conversations with little boys who would come up with their toy light sabers wanting to pick a fight.  The little boy that wanted to start the fight was a nice lady.  We talked for a bit, told her that we were there for a while and had just gotten away for the day to come to the park.  After we had been sitting there for a bit just relaxing, Jennifer mentioned that she was tired so i offered my arm as a resting pillow on the back of the bench.  After we had all been sitting there for a bit the lady asked if we it was a long-distance relationship.  I kind of looked around realizing that there were two boys, a nice day at the park with snacks and lunch, and then Jennifer resting her head on my arm and understood what she was talking about.  Both of us laughed and reassured her that we weren’t having a long-distance relationship.  We went on one more drive for an hour and a half or so, saw some more dear things, elephants, warthogs, ostriches, and a bunch of other interesting animals.  On the way back we passed a Croc and Lion viewing place.  We paid a few more bucks to have a short tour and see some of those animals.  Jennifer was able to get some amazing pictures of a tiger.  She was probably less than 6 inches away from its face.  On the way back, it was already dark.  It was probably an hour long drive.  Jennifer closed her eyes for a bit and the boys and i talked the whole way back. Overall = Good Day!

When i got back i called about my bags…still don’t have them…probably won’t until Monday.  We had also gotten a letter / package from Christen Bowman (she came to South Africa with the group in March, the one’s i came here with).   She wrote a letter to each child individually.  She also included a bunch of pictures of them and even sent a few for me.  Christen if you are reading this…you have no idea how excited they got when they saw that they had received some mail.  They were almost fighting over the pictures and spent a while reading the letters you wrote them.  It took them a while with the English and i helped the one’s that couldn’t read it.  Thank you so much for writing them.  And i loved the pictures you sent of me…especially of the one with both of us in it.  Oh and they couldn’t believe that you had painted that.  It took me a while to prove it to them. 

Well friends, i’m exhausted and we’re getting up early for the 8 o’clock service tomorrow morning so i’m going to get to bed!  Below are some pictures of Mama, Jennifer and i distributing the food parcels on last Friday.  Love you all!

daniel

That's me loading the vehicle with all the food.  Each family a box of food, bag of rice, bag of potatoes and one of those bags of flower.

This is Mama, me, and Portia.  Poria is a lady that we are looking to help.  She is like Mama and helps a lot of people within the community.  She helps us by giving the food parcels out to as many people as she knows on our list.  She's also the one that always starts breast feeding as soon as i get there…EVERYTIME!!!

There's Portia keeping guard while Jennifer is in that small latrene.  She was really scared to go in there…pretty funny!

More coming soon!

Good Times!!!

Hey guys! STILL NO LUGGAGE!!! I actually spoke to the baggage people this afternoon and kind of got some things understood.  They said that the last place they got checked into was D.C., the place that i flew to
South Africa from.  They told me that the next flight to
South Africa would be tomorrow and then they’d put them on a plane for me to
Port Elizabeth.  So i’m hoping to get them by the end of they weekend.  Everyone’s starting to get grossed out about me wearing the same pants for the past 5 days or so.  Oh well, they’ll just have to get used to it.  Schaun pointed out a good fact, that a lot of people within
Africa still wear loin clothes and that i should just do that until i get my bags.  I seriously thought about it for a couple minutes and then decided that these kids have already been through a lot and we don’t want them to have to see that too!

Yesterday we distributed food parcels to the families in Motherwell.  In May we did 6 parcels and we added four more to that this month. 

The kids are doing great here.  We’ve been having a great time hanging out again.  It’s cool because I’ve been here long enough to where we have stories of silly things we’ve done.  Every once in a while one of the kids will say, “hey do you remember …” i love that. 

They are doing well in school.  Oh i almost forgot.  Something really cool that’s going to be happening in the next week or so…PHUMLANI GOT A JOB!  There is a garage (gas station) probably 5 miles from the house or so that was looking specifically for some help from students.  So Ronnie and him went by there today, checked it out and now he’s supposed to be going back on Monday to take care of his schedule.  He will be working 5-9pm an average of 3 times a week.  He will be getting paid R6.60 an hour (around $1.25 or so).  They also get tips because here in
South Africa the garage guys come and pump your gas for you, they also wash your windows while you’re waiting.  This is going to be a great thing for him.  I’m going to have to drive him there and pick him up every time he has to work which will be a hassle.  We suggested getting him a bike but they said since he doesn’t get off work till 9 that it wouldn’t be safe for him to ride home by himself.  We’ll just have to make it work out. 

Tomorrow i am taking Jennifer and her boys to

Addo
Elephant
Park.  I went there when i first got here back in March.  That’s the place where the Elephants were walking towards us, passed us, then decided to give us a show / started “mating.” 

Time to get to bed!  Been a crazy day!

Please pray for safety here.  The neighbors have been acting up a little bit and people have been getting a sick.  Just pray for everyone’s health and safety please!

I love you all soooooo much!

 

Daniel

 

p.s. i will be getting pictures on here hopefully as soon as i get my luggage!

I made it here everyone.  I just wanted to let everyone that i had a safe trip here.  The only problem that i had was that the airlines lost both of my check-on bags.  ooops! oh well…i mean it's not like i had anything important on there, just my clothes, all the things i was supposed to bring back to Ronnie and Sybil, and all my travelers checks.  nothing too important (sarcasm). i need a lot of the things that were in those bags so please pray that they will find them for me!
love you guys! time for bed…

daniel

The Next Step

well my family…it's time for the next step.  the next leg of this unbelievable experience.  today, monday around 7:30 pm, i'll be heading back to South Africa completely refreshed, excited to get back to where God wants me to be.  the past few weeks have been amazing.  i had such a great time seeing everyone and everything that i did.  but when you're having fun, time flies, just like these past few weeks. 
last week, on Sunday, i got a call from the orphanage in South Africa.  i was out of town so they left a message at my house.  when i got back i listened to it.  it was two of the older girls telling me that they missed me and that they loved me and that they couldn't wait and were excited for my return.  it was great to hear that and hear their voices.  although i did find out that they didn't ask for permition before calling and ended up getting somewhat in trouble for it.  but even though, it was still pretty cool. 
as soon as i get back i'm going to be jumping right in, getting things rolling from where i left off.  right before i left, Ronnie and Sybil visited the future place where we will be starting a church.  we have some great plans in the future and i know that Ronnie has a vision to see God do some great things at this place.  it's going to be held at a school less than a mile or two away.  this school has roughly 60 children that go there.  these kids are the ones you picture when you think about African orphans.  they have left their homes because they are being abused physically and quite often sexually and just to get away from that they sleep mainly under bushes to stay away from the rain.  it's winter time there now so i can't imagine what that's like.  this school is the only safe place they know to go.  at school, they have a slice of bread and jelly every day…that's it.  to get anything else, they are expected to get it somehow.  they don't even talk while they're at school, so traumatized by the things they've had to already experience they just sit in their chairs, quietly. children less than 10 years old are sniffing gas and smoking weed.  doing those things at that age will severly damage your body and your mental state.  there's a huge need for these kids.  they have a huge desire to be wanted and to even know what that feels like.  we are going to be doing whatever we can to see them taken care of.  i know that ultimately we wish we could just pick them up and take them to stay with us but you wouldn't believe how many things can come up that make it difficult for us to do that.  our goal is to in the near future, look to expand the orphanage so we can bring more orphans to stay with us.
Ronnie said that they were going to have the first Sunday service at the school a week or two ago.  we will go there on Sunday mornings and play music, pray and hope that lots of people seeking a father who loves them will come, and Ronnie will speak.  after the service we are going to have a braai (that's what they call a barbecue).  we'll grill some brats and some burgers and have a great time fellowishipping and playing with the kids.  just pray we do every possible thing we can knowing that God is in control and has a plan for the future of these kids and that if we can be a part of their lives and them in ours, that God will make that possible.
i want to thank you all for everything you've done for me.  i am so blessed to have the support that i do.  i still thank God for trusting me with these responsibilities and with the lives of these wonderful children.  i wouldn't be here if it weren't for every single one of you that reads this.  thank you for being a part of my life and for your desire to see God's love spread to everyone that may not have had as good of a chance to experience it as we have. 
i love you all so much! especially my family. you guys mean the world to me and i will miss your smiling faces oh so much! i love you guys!

daniel