South Africa Trip
Last year at this time, we were just arriving in the US to give all of you an update in person. We can't believe it's already been that long, because it seems like it was just yesterday.
Last week, we returned home from South Africa. Many things to be thankful for; safety, good driving weather, efficiency in purchasing goods, and no hassles at the border. It was a tiring week physically, but at the same time, a good opportunity to reset mentally and emotionally. It was a very fruitful week in getting needed supplies for VBS and jewelry making supplies for the ladies, etc.
There were two specific times we saw God's hand. One was while we were driving back, only a half hour from home. A semi-truck was driving toward us on the 2 lane highway (less than 50 meters from us), and the driver swerved well over the middle line as he was attempting to miss a pothole. So I swerved toward the 12 inch shoulder, where there happened to be 5 people sitting. They dove out of the way. The truck swerved back to his lane in time and all was fine. But it definitely got our hearts beating quickly! The second was when we were coming back through the border to Zim. We were in the line for customs, declaring what we needed to and they were going to search our car and tell us how much tax we needed to pay. The lady working was not in a good mood and searching through each and every car. While she was at a car, another customs official sat down at the desk and asked us to give him our paperwork. We knew we would have to pay something because we were well over the limit of goods that we could bring back. He took 30 seconds to look through our papers, signed them, and told us to drive through. We weren't searched and we weren't asked to pay any tax! We were very thankful!
The only problem we had was a few days after we returned, I realized that someone had used my JM2Z card number to purchase $800 worth of stuff in South Africa. After a phone call to the fraud department and canceling my card, we are thankful to have people coming in just a few weeks who can bring my new card. On the same note, the other week, I used my personal credit card at a store. The lady put it in the card machine and it shocked her. It must have fried my card, because it doesn't work anymore. I have never heard of that happening before! So we are thankful again that new credit cards are able to be brought soon.
Last week, we returned home from South Africa. Many things to be thankful for; safety, good driving weather, efficiency in purchasing goods, and no hassles at the border. It was a tiring week physically, but at the same time, a good opportunity to reset mentally and emotionally. It was a very fruitful week in getting needed supplies for VBS and jewelry making supplies for the ladies, etc.
There were two specific times we saw God's hand. One was while we were driving back, only a half hour from home. A semi-truck was driving toward us on the 2 lane highway (less than 50 meters from us), and the driver swerved well over the middle line as he was attempting to miss a pothole. So I swerved toward the 12 inch shoulder, where there happened to be 5 people sitting. They dove out of the way. The truck swerved back to his lane in time and all was fine. But it definitely got our hearts beating quickly! The second was when we were coming back through the border to Zim. We were in the line for customs, declaring what we needed to and they were going to search our car and tell us how much tax we needed to pay. The lady working was not in a good mood and searching through each and every car. While she was at a car, another customs official sat down at the desk and asked us to give him our paperwork. We knew we would have to pay something because we were well over the limit of goods that we could bring back. He took 30 seconds to look through our papers, signed them, and told us to drive through. We weren't searched and we weren't asked to pay any tax! We were very thankful!
The only problem we had was a few days after we returned, I realized that someone had used my JM2Z card number to purchase $800 worth of stuff in South Africa. After a phone call to the fraud department and canceling my card, we are thankful to have people coming in just a few weeks who can bring my new card. On the same note, the other week, I used my personal credit card at a store. The lady put it in the card machine and it shocked her. It must have fried my card, because it doesn't work anymore. I have never heard of that happening before! So we are thankful again that new credit cards are able to be brought soon.
The main street in Louis Trichardt, South Africa
Potholes filled with sand that washed away in the rain
A road that washed away at a bridge. Thankfully, this is not a road we were using.
Immigration at the Zimbabwe side
Vacation Bible School
We are excited to have 100 children registered for VBS! Most of them come from people the ladies in our groups know, but we also have 22 children from the orphanage in the high density area signed up. VBS is going to take place April 7, 8, 10-12. We will have it at the same church in Chinhoyi where we had it last time. Since it will be close to Easter, our theme is going to be the last week of Christ. We are looking forward to having our first mission team here, three individuals coming from Santa Clara Church in Eugene, OR. They will be working with us in other areas as well, but the VBS will be the focus of their time here.
We are going to be serving lunch to the children, which we didn't do at the last VBS. We will cook sadza, which is made from cornmeal (their staple diet). We are going to mix into it the powder made from moringa leaves. We have a moringa tree in our yard, which is a common tree in Zim, These leaves are rich in nutrients (see the chart below). Not only are the leaves beneficial, but so are the pods and the bark. We want to be able to pack as many nutrients and vitamins into the kids as possible, who may not be receiving very many on a regular basis.
Western picked the leaves off the tree and hung them to dry in the garage. After 3 days, he took the leaves off the stems and then we will ground them down in the blender to make the powder. The powder form is actually sold in stores, but how cool it is to be able to have access to this ourselves.
We are going to be serving lunch to the children, which we didn't do at the last VBS. We will cook sadza, which is made from cornmeal (their staple diet). We are going to mix into it the powder made from moringa leaves. We have a moringa tree in our yard, which is a common tree in Zim, These leaves are rich in nutrients (see the chart below). Not only are the leaves beneficial, but so are the pods and the bark. We want to be able to pack as many nutrients and vitamins into the kids as possible, who may not be receiving very many on a regular basis.
Western picked the leaves off the tree and hung them to dry in the garage. After 3 days, he took the leaves off the stems and then we will ground them down in the blender to make the powder. The powder form is actually sold in stores, but how cool it is to be able to have access to this ourselves.
 |  Western, picking leaves off the moringa tree |
 A close up of the leaves |  Taking the leaves off the stems |
All of the moringa leaves hanging in the garage to dry
Unexpected News
We got some unexpected news last week. The shortened version is that based on some things Elizabeth told us, we suspected that she was pregnant. So Yolanda asked her and she smiled and laughed, because she thought it was a joke. We got a pregnancy test and there was no doubt that she is pregnant. Elizabeth had absolutely no idea and so this was a complete shock to her, and the tears began to flow. You may remember that she and Western were divorced last year, but apparently have maintained an occasional physical relationship. After we found out with Elizabeth, we brought Western in so that we could be with her when Western found out. When he heard the news, his eyes grew as big as saucers. Neither of them knew about this and after being married for a few years with no pregnancy, how ironic that it has happened now. Please be in prayer as they continue to wrap their minds around this and as they think and plan for the future. There are many more details surrounding this issue, but we feel it necessary to protect some of their privacy.
Shona Bible Update
Our original order of 2,000 Shona Bibles is still pending. The editing of the translation is still being completed and we are expected to receive them in the second half of the year. In the meantime, we are itching to have them here and more importantly, the ladies are craving them. We would love to be able to delve into the Word deeper than what we have been able to do with only one or two women having a Bible. There is a previous Shona translation (but more recent than the original Shona Bible) that has been reprinted, it too has some helps and maps and other useful extras. Whenever Yolanda prints out Shona Scripture, she uses this 2005 edition. Due to the great present need, we have decided to purchase just enough of these Shona Bibles for the 2 ladies groups that we are presently working with. We have looked into our different options for purchasing them, but due to them being in Cape Town, South Africa we think the best option for now is to purchase them through a distribution store in Harare. We met the director of this distribution center the beginning of last year when we first had a meeting to discuss the new Shona Bible printing, etc. Due to a limited print number and taxes and purchasing it through the distribution center it will mean purchasing these Bibles at $22 each, BUT we have been promised a discount due to placing an order higher than 10. Therefore, our hope is that we should be able to purchase these bibles for $16.50 each. Of course this is more than originally planned, but considering it will only be for about 26 Bibles and due to the fact that we are desperate to receive them, we believe this is the best most efficient option available to us. We should have them in the next 6 weeks. As previously stated, we still plan to purchase a much larger shipment direct from SA at the end of the year when the newer edition is printed and made available.
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