Thursday, February 8, 2007
We spent last night at the Africa School of Missions. This morning, we had breakfast and got ready to leave. BYW, here is a picture of Jan and Jenny.
Jan and Jenny found that one of the students at the ASM was a friend of their son Derrick and had married and he and his wife now attends ASM. They wanted to come along and also brought a friend. There was now eight of us.....Jan, Jenny, Barbara, Myself, Christian, Sharl, his wife Marissa and their friend, Joy. We started out to a project about 20 minutes away.....that ended up being about an hour as we went way out of our way. We went the same way as we went last night toward the School.....I forgot to tell you what happened. The school had just let out and there were hundreds of school children along the road. There were a couple of young men in the car in front of us. A couple of students were acting silly in the road, acting as if they were trying to block the road. They made the car completely stop and the young men got very angry and started shouting at the students. Then one of them got out of the car and had a gun in his hand and started pointing it at one of the students that was running away toward us. Nothing came of it but this just shows the potential dangers here..
Back to the day.....We went to a clinic where the workers and caregivers were waiting for us. We all gathered for prayer in the yard of the clinic. And then we broke for individual prayer. After the prayer and some praise and worship, we went to the house where they feed 70 orphan children. Normally, the caregivers cook the meals in a pot outside the house over an open fire. Jan and Jenny brought some propane stoves for them. We put together a couple of propane stoves and hooked them up to a propane bottle so they could cook indoors. They also had brought some large pots for them to cook in. After all the stoves were put together and working properly AND we instructed them in the dangers of the propane stoves, we left to take the young people back to the Africa School of Missions. They left Barbara and I at the shopping area and we tried unsuccessfully to get on the net. We also ate at “Don't Tell Momma” cafe. Very good. They returned and picked us up and we went out again to where they would be feeding the kids. As we waited, the children started to arrive.....a few and then a bunch until all 70 were there. Before they had their meal, Barbara distributed most of our remaining gifts.
We gave them hats, rulers, scissors, dolls and pens. They were so happy to receive them. Even the caregivers wanted some of the hats. In fact, we gave all our hats out (the remaining to the caregivers) and more kids showed up. We gave out some other smaller quantity gifts to those that didn't receive a hat.
We also gave out a couple of the “Jesus” dolls that was donated. We played with the kids for awhile and then left to go back to the Bible School. That night, we had a donut-like bread that was stuffed with cooked ground beef. It was very good. This is like a fund-raiser for the students. After dinner, we went to a “concert” given be the first year students (a tradition, it seems). They played games, did some praise and worship, played tricks on some of the students and ended the evening by electing “Mr. Cool – 2007” from the first year students. It was a lot of fun. We retired for a good nights rest.
Friday......This is the day to return back to the farm. We stopped by another orphan project and gave out our remaining gifts. We gave out almost everything except for a few Jesus dolls and some rulers. We will leave these with Jan and Jenny for them to distribute however they wish. On the drive back (about 5 hours), we stopped at a curio shop, a giant swing overlooking a waterfall and gorge and a quaint mining town (Pilgrim Rest) that has since been converted to a tourist stop. We had a pleasant lunch there and it started to rain buckets. We left in a rainstorm and it continued for about an hour. We almost had to pull over as it was raining so hard. We finally made it back to the farm at dusk. This was a great trip. This is one of the reasons we came.....to see the kids, give them gifts and just LOVE on them. Jan and Jenny were wonderful hosts and Christian was an interesting addition to the trip. These orphans brought out the realizations of what AIDS is doing to this country. A person hardly sees a cemetery as they have them pretty hidden. If you did see them, you would see 20-30 new graves a week from the AIDS pandemic.
It was nice to be back “home” and sleep in a comfortable bed.
Saturday.....A day of catching up with everyone. We also booked our flight and car rental in Cape Town. We will be going there on the 14th and returning on the 17th. On the grounds, there is a four-car garage and Johann wants to convert it into a recreation room with all the games....dart board, pool table, TV etc. A team had been here and worked a couple of days (remember the teams that complained about the tool, etc?). They had started installing ceiling rafters and then hung a little drywall. We (Danny and I) took over where they left off. In fact, we did a lot of repair to what they had done. But, by the end of the day, had a lot of the rafters installed. We had a beef dish with noodles for dinner and just relaxed. Early to bed.
Sunday.........This will be a special day for the NOMADS......Cultural Day! This is where the staff will set up different scenarios for them...such as going through a passport control...getting a visa....teaching locals a drama....washing their clothes in a creek....waiting for officials and when to “bribe” and when not to, and a lot of walking. It was a crazy day for them. Barbara joined the staff and helped them “torment” the group. It was a lot of fun for the staff, however, each “problem” was born out of some real life experiences that the team may encounter over the next three months.
While the teams were off going through trials, Danny and I were back in the garage hanging the rest of the rafters and we started hanging sheetrock. Johann and a couple of his workers joined and when we finished, we had half of the garage done.
The Cultural Day was winding down with a Cricket Match. After the cricket game, everyone got cleaned up and we had our Sunday service. Randy taught on unity and being 'watchmen' for each other....standing in the 'gap' for each other and keeping each other in prayer. We ended by praying for the workers and had joined us for service. The workers had spent most of the day preparing the special dinner for us of Pap, tripe, spinach, potatoes, fried beef, smothered beef and fried Mopane worms! See the website http://www.travel.za.net/mopane-worms.html. Everything was actually good even the fried worms (tasted like chicken). After dinner and a beautiful African sunset,
the team got together and discussed all of the things that had happened to them during the Cultural Day. They were told the importance of each comical thing that happen. The staff just wants them to be prepared. Another evening of relaxing and on to bed for a good night sleep.
Love You,
DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
We spent last night at the Africa School of Missions. This morning, we had breakfast and got ready to leave. BYW, here is a picture of Jan and Jenny.
Jan and Jenny found that one of the students at the ASM was a friend of their son Derrick and had married and he and his wife now attends ASM. They wanted to come along and also brought a friend. There was now eight of us.....Jan, Jenny, Barbara, Myself, Christian, Sharl, his wife Marissa and their friend, Joy. We started out to a project about 20 minutes away.....that ended up being about an hour as we went way out of our way. We went the same way as we went last night toward the School.....I forgot to tell you what happened. The school had just let out and there were hundreds of school children along the road. There were a couple of young men in the car in front of us. A couple of students were acting silly in the road, acting as if they were trying to block the road. They made the car completely stop and the young men got very angry and started shouting at the students. Then one of them got out of the car and had a gun in his hand and started pointing it at one of the students that was running away toward us. Nothing came of it but this just shows the potential dangers here..
Back to the day.....We went to a clinic where the workers and caregivers were waiting for us. We all gathered for prayer in the yard of the clinic. And then we broke for individual prayer. After the prayer and some praise and worship, we went to the house where they feed 70 orphan children. Normally, the caregivers cook the meals in a pot outside the house over an open fire. Jan and Jenny brought some propane stoves for them. We put together a couple of propane stoves and hooked them up to a propane bottle so they could cook indoors. They also had brought some large pots for them to cook in. After all the stoves were put together and working properly AND we instructed them in the dangers of the propane stoves, we left to take the young people back to the Africa School of Missions. They left Barbara and I at the shopping area and we tried unsuccessfully to get on the net. We also ate at “Don't Tell Momma” cafe. Very good. They returned and picked us up and we went out again to where they would be feeding the kids. As we waited, the children started to arrive.....a few and then a bunch until all 70 were there. Before they had their meal, Barbara distributed most of our remaining gifts.
We gave them hats, rulers, scissors, dolls and pens. They were so happy to receive them. Even the caregivers wanted some of the hats. In fact, we gave all our hats out (the remaining to the caregivers) and more kids showed up. We gave out some other smaller quantity gifts to those that didn't receive a hat.
We also gave out a couple of the “Jesus” dolls that was donated. We played with the kids for awhile and then left to go back to the Bible School. That night, we had a donut-like bread that was stuffed with cooked ground beef. It was very good. This is like a fund-raiser for the students. After dinner, we went to a “concert” given be the first year students (a tradition, it seems). They played games, did some praise and worship, played tricks on some of the students and ended the evening by electing “Mr. Cool – 2007” from the first year students. It was a lot of fun. We retired for a good nights rest.
Friday......This is the day to return back to the farm. We stopped by another orphan project and gave out our remaining gifts. We gave out almost everything except for a few Jesus dolls and some rulers. We will leave these with Jan and Jenny for them to distribute however they wish. On the drive back (about 5 hours), we stopped at a curio shop, a giant swing overlooking a waterfall and gorge and a quaint mining town (Pilgrim Rest) that has since been converted to a tourist stop. We had a pleasant lunch there and it started to rain buckets. We left in a rainstorm and it continued for about an hour. We almost had to pull over as it was raining so hard. We finally made it back to the farm at dusk. This was a great trip. This is one of the reasons we came.....to see the kids, give them gifts and just LOVE on them. Jan and Jenny were wonderful hosts and Christian was an interesting addition to the trip. These orphans brought out the realizations of what AIDS is doing to this country. A person hardly sees a cemetery as they have them pretty hidden. If you did see them, you would see 20-30 new graves a week from the AIDS pandemic.
It was nice to be back “home” and sleep in a comfortable bed.
Saturday.....A day of catching up with everyone. We also booked our flight and car rental in Cape Town. We will be going there on the 14th and returning on the 17th. On the grounds, there is a four-car garage and Johann wants to convert it into a recreation room with all the games....dart board, pool table, TV etc. A team had been here and worked a couple of days (remember the teams that complained about the tool, etc?). They had started installing ceiling rafters and then hung a little drywall. We (Danny and I) took over where they left off. In fact, we did a lot of repair to what they had done. But, by the end of the day, had a lot of the rafters installed. We had a beef dish with noodles for dinner and just relaxed. Early to bed.
Sunday.........This will be a special day for the NOMADS......Cultural Day! This is where the staff will set up different scenarios for them...such as going through a passport control...getting a visa....teaching locals a drama....washing their clothes in a creek....waiting for officials and when to “bribe” and when not to, and a lot of walking. It was a crazy day for them. Barbara joined the staff and helped them “torment” the group. It was a lot of fun for the staff, however, each “problem” was born out of some real life experiences that the team may encounter over the next three months.
While the teams were off going through trials, Danny and I were back in the garage hanging the rest of the rafters and we started hanging sheetrock. Johann and a couple of his workers joined and when we finished, we had half of the garage done.
The Cultural Day was winding down with a Cricket Match. After the cricket game, everyone got cleaned up and we had our Sunday service. Randy taught on unity and being 'watchmen' for each other....standing in the 'gap' for each other and keeping each other in prayer. We ended by praying for the workers and had joined us for service. The workers had spent most of the day preparing the special dinner for us of Pap, tripe, spinach, potatoes, fried beef, smothered beef and fried Mopane worms! See the website http://www.travel.za.net/mopane-worms.html. Everything was actually good even the fried worms (tasted like chicken). After dinner and a beautiful African sunset,
the team got together and discussed all of the things that had happened to them during the Cultural Day. They were told the importance of each comical thing that happen. The staff just wants them to be prepared. Another evening of relaxing and on to bed for a good night sleep.
Love You,
DAD and MOM
Jerry & Barbara
posted by Jerry Northcutt @ 10:54 PM
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