Road Trips are in Style Here!

“By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea. You and me, you and me....oh how happy we’ll be. I want to be beside the sea, beside the sea, beside the seaside, by the beautiful s-e-e-e-e-e-ea!”

Bethany and I are so excited! We are going to the sea! The Lord is so good to me! He is blessing me with a trip to the sea for my Birthday! Just today Anja and her sister-in-law, Esther stopped in and said, “Hey, book a little bungalow at Swakupmond for the weekend, all the family will be there and it’ll be great!” So, tomorrow morning we are on our way, a 4 hour drive to a lovely soft sandy place! There will be another baby shower for Anja on Saturday as well with just a few close friends so that’ll be nice. And I am sure lots of adventures are underway. I will write you on the other end of it! Peace! I love you all! Thinking of you on my Birthday!

Feeln' Good to Be This Tired!

Well m’dears, I am writing you tonight even though I am sooo tired! We had the street kids from Hakahana today. We played lots of funny games that turned out to be a great workout! In the afternoon Bethany, Gideon (housefather) and I went back and forth from the dry riverbed filling up huge bags of sand and filling little bags full for the greenhouse. Oh my word! It took a lot of power in these legs, and there is little to none left. And we start all over again tomorrow with the same routine. Then on Friday it will be a full day of carrying the heavy sand bags and filling up the whole green house....it’s all so exciting to know that the green house is on it’s way to fruition!
And, the time has finally come when all our little ones will come back to the Haven! We are very excited to get them back! Please pray for the children as they begin to come back over the weekend, that their transition would be smooth. One little guy, Imwe, has already come back. He was brought back earlier than planned because his father had taken him and was too drunk to care for him. He has spent this whole day crying off and on at the smallest problems that I am sure is due to the confusion of being hear and there and everything else.....

I am going to give you a list of histories for a majority of the children. I hope that you will use this to better pray for each one. But first, here are some other things you can be praying for:

~Smooth transitions back into the Haven for all kids who were on holiday.

~That the spiritual atmosphere would continue to be developed into one that is Christ-centered.

~That Bethany and I would be strengthened as a team and as friends, as well as with the house mothers and house father.

~A safe delivery for Anja and baby!

Okay, here’s some info on the kids:

Terrens 8 Boy His mother left the family when he was born. The father is addicted to drugs.
Likius 9 Boy Likius, Immanuel and Lihongeni had the same mother. She died of AIDs. The grandmother neglected the kids.
Immanuel 13 Boy -"-
Lihongeni 5 Girl -"-
Matmila 12 Girl Her father and her mother died of AIDs. The grandmother neglected the children.

Deseri 10 Girl Her mother died of AIDs. Her father beat her. She has stayed at the Haven for 4 months.
Penodjamo 7 Boy His mother is an alcoholic. His mother was neglecting her son and he had no clothing.
Verinao 10 Girl Has the same mother as Penodjamo.
Cherly 14 Girl Cherly and Je-Juaneth's mother died of AIDs in 2004. Their father died with AIDs as well.
Je-Juaneth (Uno)10 Girl -"-
Maria 14 Girl Maria and Alexia had the same mother. Mom died of AIDS.
Alexia 13 Girl -"-
Jefta 11 Boy Both parents were killed. Has no extended family. Was homeless and in desperate need of placement.
Linus 5 Boy Mom was killed. Dad is alive, no one knows where he is.
Grace 7 Girl Same mother as Linus. Father died.
Imwe 7 Boy Mother and father alcoholics, neglectful and possibly abusive.
Regina 12? Girl Mother has AIDS, abusive and neglectful. Father missing.
Alexander 11 Boy Mother has AIDS, abusive. Father missing.

Blessings to you!

Quick Note

Hey there, I have been getting messages from some of you that it's hard to leave messages on the blog, so I changed the settings so that it should be simple now. Just make sure you tell me who you are! Love you!

Just so Happy

Yes, it's true! MaryBeth, Beth, and Sarah and my lovely sisters, Thanks for all the comments! Yeah, I am so happy here! Today was so amazing. We visited a church down the road from us. I had been hungering for fellowship. It was the one thing I missed most, to be with my family in Christ. And oh heavens! Today I was so full of joy to worship with such like minded people. We had gone to two other churches and they were very nice, it was nice to see the different ways people do things, but this morning I cannot explain the connection right away. These people were so full of joy, dancing and singing....

Also, thank you for your prayers about the kids. I would say that this past week has been a week of disciplining the kids which has been really good actually. We are little by little gaining the respect of the kids and I think that it is allowing them to feel more and more secure. To know that when we punnish a child for doing wrong to others, that means that we will also punish the others for doing wrong to that child and in the end they all feel much safer in their surroundings.

I had such an experience today. Linus was being punished and so he hit me with a pole and began scratching me. I carried him away from the group and gave him a time out and told him this was wrong to hurt me. After he was punished he climbed up on my lap and said, "Amanda, you are nice." It is so good to see the fruit. I do not always see it so clearly as I did today. God is good to show what he does!

Tomorrow Bethany and I will be saying goodbye to our wonderful friend Katy. She goes back to Germany. The three of us have become what Katy calls "gamineschoft," which is the german word for a strong bond between people that is just so tight and working so well. Soon there will be two more germans coming, two elder ladies. We have no idea how old, but it should be interesting!

I love you all! Many blessings! Amanda

Kapena wasana ny Jesus! (There’s no one like Jesus!)

“Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.” Psalm 104:1

We are back from our little road trip up to Etosha! Etosha is a place in Namibia that is the size of Switzerland. In the center is this HUGE salt pan. It is gorgeous! Surrounding the pan is vast lands dressed with twisty trees covered in dust and thorny bushes spotted with bright yellow fuzz ball flowers. (Tricia, it’s the kind of beauty you’ve inspired me to have an eye for!). The horizon seems endless. It give new intensity to God’s promise of as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sin. I could not help wonder, just how big is this Creator of it all?

It was not just the land, but wildlife! Creatures were frolicking, bathing, eating....all around us! Oh how I wish I could show you pictures! A zebra and his thick mane less than 2 feet outside the window of our combi (van)! And it wasn’t a tour van, we were in our own car! The giraffes were sometimes so close I could see just how thick and long their eyelashes were. The only thing that frightened me just a bit from inside our van was the herd of elephants. So HUGE! We saw them bathe, and the babies lowered themselves down into the dust. But when they started shifting toward our car we decided we’d better scoot fast! There were also wildabeasts, kudu, waterbuck, springbuck, ostrich, other cool birds....

And the kids loved it! Ever animal spotted was a treasure! Of the 3, Grace is the best in English; Linus knows enough to get by, but Jefta hardly any. It was a little crazy at times to make sense of what was going on between them and when we’d stop to eat or rest the people knew right away we couldn’t understand half of what the kids said. I think they sorta laughed at the thought of 3 white girls and 3 little Africans-plus I think the kids have a little bit of potty mouth sometimes and I just can not quite detect it! One woman did ask me if Grace & Linus were my children –you know I loved the thought of it! The kids had such a good time that by afternoon the two younger ones climbed in back on top of our luggage and fell asleep! That was fine with me! I cherished the quiet drive for that little while. And as I looked out my open window at the expanse of it all, I thought I could easily spend the rest of my days on this earth in awe of the majesty of my Great God! Praise Him!

“My mediation of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the LORD.” Psalm 104:34

p.s. Beth, I loved the picture you shared of Simeon’s first day of school, so sweet is our Lord!

Trippy

Hello friends! Just a quick little notey to tell you that we will be doing a lot of traveling in the next two days. We are taking the three kids to a special place called Etosha where we will be seeing lots of wild life! Yikes! And exciting too!
Yesterday Anja's mom arrived from Wisconsin and Anja has been starting to have contractions, so we think anyday she will have her baby. (I hope the little one shares in my Birthday on the 30th!)

Love to you all! Bless you! Amanda

Note to my sista!

Hi Tricia! And kisses to the girls! I just wanted to let you know that we do have an oven and send anything you like. But remember that it's expensive so I don't know how many buttons you want to send. Buttons are fun, but if not, we won't die without them! I love you a bushel and a heap (I guess that's alot I've never actually come across a bushel and a heap).

Green House!

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 peter 1:8

I have always wondered what kind of laugh Sarah had when she and Abraham were told by God they’d have a child even though they were both so old. I think I bursted out in a similar laugh yesterday when I was told yet again that someone would come the next morning about the green house. I had just written on Sunday asking prayers about this since it’s been “in the works” for well over a year. So to hear it again just after beginning to pray about it, I had this mixture of belief that it would happen b/c we’d asked for it and a simultaneous thought of “we’ll see if this is the day.”
And sure enough! Even as the kids from Hakahana were still here, they came. A really nice old man named Aussie and his team of workers. Just as soon as the kids from Hakahana left, I was able to sit down with Aussie and ask him all that we needed to know to get the green house going. We walked around the green house as he so patiently showed me everything, making sure I understood well. This was so exciting for me! I took lots of notes and kept thinking of more and more questions. And Aussie was so kind to answer with all detail. On the inside I was praising God all the while! (And secretly I could not help but imagine that one day I could be doing this again in an orphanage of my own!)
Please continue to pray about the green house. There is still much work to be done and Aussie plans to come again a week from today (next Tuesday) so the first planting can start. Pray that it again happens as it has been said.

You Faith is more Precious than Gold!

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7

Today is a day for singing Praises to God! Yesterday was not easy. First, the street kids from Hakahana did not come, then misunderstandings started happening between Bethany and I (which was cleared up right away, thankfully- and we saw clearly that Satan was telling us both lies!) By evening I started to get a headache- one of those really bad ones where all sounds is jarring, all light is piercing, and any movement is nauseating. I fell asleep early, but woke at 3 am in worse pain! I took medicine, but it did not help.
In the morning Bethany was so kind. She made me a nice breakfast of muesli with chopped apple and plain yoghurt (our daily routine), and brought me more medicine. Seconds after we had finished praying (at 20minutes to 8am), we hear one of our kids call us outside where we find 20 something kids from Hakahana! So we threw on some clothes and pulled back our hair and ran outside to play with these darlings.
We played lots and then fed them a simple meal of porridge. After they ate we taught them about Jesus who is the Shepherd, telling them that they are the sheep if they believe. It was so great to tell them of the One who knows their name and knows where they go to sleep each night....
Please pray because we expect more kids to come again tomorrow!

Thank You!

Hi my dear ones! I just want to thank all of you who are thinking about me and praying for me, and for those of you who have written me little notes and have commented on my blog! It is all so encouraging! Especially today when I heard from you Tricia and Beth! I was just telling Jesus that I was a little bit lonely for you who know me. So that I could visit with you and share my heart and...well just homesick! So it is very good that I heard from you! I love you all! God bless! And please pray for tomorrow. The kids from Hakahana did not come today, so they should be coming tomorrow! Thanks! G'nite!

Faith Firming Days

Hello Friends! Happy Sunday to you! It may not have been the easiest week we’ve had here so far, but I sure do have many good things to tell you! The week was very hectic with kids leaving at random for holiday, being packed into overstuffed cars and travelling on their way with who knows who to who knows where.....and now as of Thursday night we have 3 kids here along with 31/2 year old Castro, son of one of the housemothers. These kids are just eating up the extra attention! I keep thinking about how much Jesus worked in smaller groups like this. These three will have changed lives in the next few weeks!

Thank you all for your prayers for Grace! She is no longer sick AND she tested negative for the AIDS virus!!!! She is one tough cookie, and the Lord is teaching me soo much from her! One moment she is so cuddly and the next she will not smile or look at me, rather she pushes me away. All the while I remain just the same, if not more loving toward her. It has become a goal for me to awaken the beauty and joy of her little feminine heart! There are so many ups and downs with her....and today I am thinking about how often it is that way between me and my Abba Father. How passionate he is in fighting for my heart, how committed to convincing me of his unfailing love....how he will not rest until he has completed the work he has begun in me. And how do I respond? There are daily letters written to me from Him, but do I always open them? There is a constant arm around me, but how many times have I brushed it off my back? There is a hand always lifting up my chin to catch sight of my smile, but do I just look the other way? If selfish little me is so willing to forget my self in pouring out endless love to this little girl, how much more does our Heavenly Father do so for her and for me and for all of us!

Today he said to me.....I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the lands....God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood. May you have more and more of God’s special favor and wonderful peace.........(and all of 1 Peter, chapter 1.)
I don’t have enough time to tell you all that the Lord is filling my heart with! But I will just say that he is faithful and firming my faith!

As for some of what’s been happening around here....we have started meeting some of the village children now that they are all out of school with nothing to do!

We have been continuing to do Bible study with the kids and some of the village kids have come too. Please pray for us, tomorrow we have invited street kids from Hakahana to come for games and Bible study and will feed them porridge as well.

On Saturday we took the four kids to a special place called Kashana where they had their choice of juice or milkshake. They were in a small sort of Heaven!

Friday was Anja’s Birthday so we went to the Schonfeld Farm to celebrate. I am telling you, I had the very best chocolate cake I have ever had in my life. I mean in my whole life, the best! The cook at the farm baked it. I am also excited because Anja’s father-in-law asked me to come celebrate my Birthday there as well! (maybe I’ll get a cake from Aletta too!)

Now for some requests: please be in prayer for the kids who are away, that they’d be kept safe. Please pray for safe delivery for Anja’s baby, she is due any time now! Please also pray that this man named Evan would actually come to the Haven to help us plant in the green house. This green house has been funded and in the works for a year and a half now, but the man with the knowhow never shows up to help! It has finally been built and is in the planting stage, but for two weeks now he has been putting us off! I love you all so much! Thanks and Blessings! Have a great week!

p.s. I really want to show you so many more photos, but the internet is so slow that it has taken an hour just to upload these! So please forgive the few and far betweens!

The Adress dilemma

Good morning everybody! Thank you all for all your comments that you leave! I love hearing from you. Hope everyone is doing well! Feel free to use the comment section to let me know what's up in your life too!

And in response to you my Jenni, you can just go ahead and send it right away. I do not think it'll get stolen, but unfortunately all addresses here uses the p.o.box system. No mail man goes into the villages I guess. So, at least we'll have the dvd's and stickers for the last couple weeks and then they can use the dvd's even while we're not there. Thanks m'dear!

This one's for the nurses!

First, thank you all for your prayers for our Deseiree. She is really feeling soo much better. Today I saw a Deseiree that I had not seen before! She was so full of joy, just laughing and laughing all the time; Laughing so hard that every time she tried to stop she just started laughing again. And she is excited to learn the parts of the Bible study that she had missed out on while she was sick in bed.

Second, today I had the experience of taking our precious Grace to the hospital. It is a little bit backwards here because when a person is sick you first go to the hospital and then if they do not get well they will go to the Doctor’s office! So strange, but I guess the doctor at the office is much more thorough and accurate in their diagnosis, but the hospital is much cheaper. Grace woke up today feeling awful and looking so pitiful. At the hospital they needed to draw blood from her. Oh my! I can now begin to imagine what it is like for a mom who has to watch her child be poked and prodded at. It took a lot for me to not tell the nurse to step aside and let me draw the labs from Grace. The needle was so big and fat, and Grace is just so small with tiny veins! They tried twice in the worse spot and with such a strange technique. And then.....they went for her neck!!!! I haven’t even been trained to do that so I do give them props, but they didn’t even look in her ac(elbow)! The poor dear! I did suggest to the nurse that we wrap her like we do at CMH, and I am so glad because then I actually got to be the one to hold her on the table while they drew the labs.

6 Henson nurses: You are all so amazing! These nurses, I am sure they are good at their job, I do not intend to belittle their worth, but they have not been trained and you have. They do not explain a word to the child. There is no comforting being done. And when the child cries afterwards, they yell so harshly at the child! So as I held Grace, I spoke soft and sweetly to her. And afterwards like a hurt little lamb she came to me to hold my hand. Here again I found myself in tears!

Tomorrow the hospital will do a test on Grace that will tell us if she has AIDS or not. Please pray! I do not want this for her! And please pray that she be healed of whatever this sickness is!

Hangin' at the Haven

This is miss Grace. She is from the bushmen people and is so tiny and light that she felt like a doll sitting on my shoulders. Grace is super spunky, but also very sweet. She may have been the most "unwelcoming" at the start, and still gives me quite a bit of trouble, but she is also my biggest protector and full of hugs and kisses. Quite a smart little gem too!
All the kids listening to the Bible Study. This was the 4th lesson and the first time I had a translator! It was a sweet lesson too! This was Monday and the last lesson until they return from "holiday." The lesson was about Heaven, such a hopeful place to dream of no matter your present surroundings!
Here is Mandy loving on the children. She loves each child as if it were her very own. Quinn is on her lap, that is her own daughter by birth, but Lihongeni is under her arm and then Terrens is the boy on her lap. He is one who cried today when he had to say goodbye and head on his way to some distant family friends. He really did not want to go. Broke our hearts!
This is Alexia. A very special girl! She wants to be a doctor when she grows up. She loves horses and all animals. Her favorite class in school is science. She is very artistic, and has a beautiful smile (though she's hiding it here quite well!). One afternoon she and I sat to tea and coffee. She was so cute! She just sat there waiting for her tea to cool and began chatting with me about all sorts of important things, like when is Anja's baby due, and how is she doing, and how great it will be when Alexia is a doctor.....a really cherished moment for both of us that I will always remember!
We gave the kids ice cream today to celebrate that is is now the end of school for them and the start of holiday. This is Imoi enjoying every spoonful!

Count it all Joy..... (James 1:2)

There are times in life that I have faced disappointments. Some bigger than others, but always the Lord has shown me that this only means He has something better in store than what I had at first thought. I have even learned to be excited for such disappointments, knowing that something really great was surely coming up ahead. At the start of this week I am facing a disappointment in which I am having trouble coming around to that place of excitement. I had learned that the kids would be on break from school for one week this coming Friday. “ Great!” I thought, “more fun times ahead!” Then I learned that all but 3 would be going. “That’s sad.” I thought, but it’s just a week. Then, on Sunday I learned that that the date was changed and it would be this Tuesday and that it was not just one week, but nearly 20 days!

I do not think I have to tell you for you to know that all of Monday I was either in tears or near there all morning to think about it. Not only would I be missing these little ones that I have already begun to fall in love with, but many of them do not even want to go, their faces are down trodden and some even cry (one girl even broke the key to the lock that opens the front gate out of the Haven). Where do they go, you wonder? I wonder too! Some go to a distant relative, some to a “family friend”, while some even go back to the parent in which they had been removed due to abusive and neglectful situations! It all makes for a chaotic set of kids and a frustrated me! Even the housemother, Mandy, had an awful day yesterday as her stomach turned while she tried to get them where they were going safely. Especially she worries for those with AIDS that they will be given their medicine.

Again I tell myself that God loves them more than I. He is the one who saw them in their mother’s womb. He is the one who has their days written out before their lives began. He is the one who made their angels to be before his throne day and night in petition on their behalf. He is the one who rescued them and brought them to this Haven to begin with! So of course he goes with them now. As I tell myself this, I am able to then remember that if their days are written out, then so is mine. It is no doubt God brought me here and he has each day of this trip planned out. This is not the end, but just the beginning. I get the sense all the time that there is a part who the Lord is that I haven’t met yet. Maybe it’s that part of him that is here in Africa. Outside these Haven walls is a village in Omaruru filled with street kids who are just the same as the ones inside the Haven before they had a place to call their own. So, I think we will be stepping out.....

And of course, we still have these 3, special 3, who have no family at all or family friend. No where to go. And we hope to take them on a few adventures with us beyond this small town!

I was just thinking

This little note is to Jenni again. I couldn't think last night of something I might need you to send, but now I have thought of it! The kids here do not watch a lot of tv since we've been here, but when they do it is this ridiculous and dirty Spanish soap opera (I don't know how the Spanish have the spotlight of having their soap opera be world wide! even in Ukraine!). So I was thinking if you could send a few dvd's. In particular I thought of 2: Hermie and Putchanelli (both were books written by Max Lucado) and then if their are any movies the little bit older ones would like but that are clean and with a good message so that the little ones could watch too. Can be Christian or not as long as it has a really good message. Maybe take the dvd's out of the package to save space. I don't think it'll get stolen that way. They mostly look for more expensive electronic type things. (so I've been told). Anyone can send the same as well! Thanks friends!

Saturdays are Saturdays no matter where you go!

Welp, it has been a nice relaxing day. Bethany, Katy and I went into town this morning. We met some of the towns people and had a good time with it! An elderly German couple who make souvenirs invited us into their home and gave us fresh picked oranges! SO JUICY AND TASTY-we each had a whole orange to ourselves! Then we went over to a place called Kashana that is a bed&breakfast type place. There is a woman there with a small shop. I talked to her about selling jewelry there if I teach some of the older girls at the Haven to do some. She thought it a great idea, very encouraging! Then we met another older couple who have lived here since 1992, but come from Georgia of all places! Very funny pair, but nice. We sat to coffee with them outside on what I would call a veranda(?).
When we came home there were kids scattered here and there doing their own thing. The older boys were down the road working on a car with neighbors, the girls were adding extensions to each others hair. The little ones and the girls and Mandy the house mom sat around singing great songs while I helped teach a young boy how to cross-stitch....
After dinner we taught the house dad how to play the card game called Dutch Blitz. He was hilarious! A couple girls also started braiding Bethany and I's hair. Bethany is the lovely new owner of her own extension. After all that pulling and twisting....I am wondering if I will have any hair left on my head in the morning!
All in all it was a great Saturday! Very refreshing and encouraging to me to see all the love being shown in this place today. So much togetherness and peace, even among the more difficult kids! I am glad!
Tomorrow will be our first African church service. Katy and I are very excited about this!

Oh and hello my Jenni! Thank you for the love! Yes, stickers would be grand! A letter for me would be so great too;)! There is not much else I need really. The store here has a lot. Oh how I love you!
I love you all and will try to post more pics soon! My camera battery charger broke so I had to wait until I could get some replacement batteries! Yikes! I'd have you send a new charger, but it'd likely get stollen. Oh well!

By the way....

Updates to prayer:

Bethany is feeling much better! Thanks for checking up on her. She was bed bound for just a day....and took it easy the next couple. Now she just has a bit of a stuffy nose, but almost altogether better! Yipee!

Deseree is still very sick and their is concerns of TB. I have been giving her some immune boosters. Poor girl, I know it tastes awful, but she's such a trooper taking it every time without complaint!

Mandy, who's uncle died (they call uncles "small father"), is in town today preparing the body for burial.

The kids are starting to really warm up to us. Some are, of course testing us and that can be a little discouraging, but I know it is never more than we can handle. We are a bit worn out after the week, but may spend a day at the farm this weekend to get some rest!

The Lord has really been speaking to us all throughout out the day. He is up to some bigger things than we see!

Love you all!

Little by little we're taking ground.......

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. “ Colossians 1:16

Our first full week at the Haven is coming to an end. Wow! What a full week! I have definitely crossed over into that place where a day can seem like 10 days, but an hour can seem like only a second!

Our first few Bible lessons have been spent introducing the Bible, and showing them that inside has the story of God. We read the first chapter of Genesis today, hoping to convey to the children what an amazing and powerful and creative God this must be to create such wonders! The kids were amazed to learn that God made man from dirt! So cool to see their reactions! (These concepts can be difficult with language, but we know that we speak with more than words and that through your prayers and ours there are unseen handiworkings of our King unfolding! Ah! Dear friends, keep on praying!)

I have not quite figured out the daily schedule, but here is a rough and flexing rundown:

6am-Rise and Shine (and give God the glory glory!)

6:30- Send off older kids to school in a van or two.

7am- breakfast in our small quarters-Bethany, Katy, and I gear up for the day!

8am- walk across village with little ones to kindergarten and preschool.

8:30 to 11am- It is mostly quiet around the Haven. I am teaching two boys here the alphabet and it’s sounds-though I haven’t figured out why they aren’t in school in the mornings. This is also our time for going into town for groceries, any doctor appointments, washing laundry and other morning chores....as well as fitting in some play time with these two boys and 3 yr.old Castro!

12pm- walk across the village to pick up the small ones.

12:30-welcoming home all children.

1ish: lunch

2ish to 3pm-REST TIME!

3pm to 4:30- Bible study and craft/activities

5 to 6- children doing chores and showering....then playing like crazy!

6ish- dinner and then playing until 7ish.

7to8pm- older kids study and younger kids are read to.

8pm- Good Night!

Well I am off the page now and sending you also my love! Always, amanda

Prayer Points for this Week

My dear friends, I am writing to you now to ask your specific prayers for this day as well as the week to come:

Please pray first that the Lord's kingdom will come to the Haven as it is in Heaven. That the spiritual atmosphere here would be consumed by the Holy Spirit. That he would rieign and show that his power is the greatest.

Today we will have our first Bible study.
PLEASE pray that the house mothers will be able to translate correctly and with understanding.
That the children will understand and be attentive.
That the two older boys will come (Absolom and Patrick). They have not shown their faces often yet, but I think they are curious.

Please pray for our housemother, Mandy, who's family member has just died in the night. She is grieving.

Please pray for little Desiree who is still very sick. Her lung sounds are very course and with wheezes. Mandy says it is very easy to get tuberculosis here.

Please pray that Alexander's abscess on his head will be healed. And for Linus who recently has also developed abscesses on his head.

Please pray for Bethany who has been ill and spent all of yesterday in bed.

Thank you my dear friends! I am so greatful for your praying hearts. I will keep you updated!
I love you all!

My First Day on the Job!

"For nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37

(In pic: Alexander and Deseri, both 10 yrs old, waiting patiently at the doctor's office. Alex has small abscess all over his scalp causing him to loose his hair, and his lymph nodes are swollen-also AIDS(+). Deseree has had a deep moist cough for quite a while. The doctor decided how to treat her simply by having her give one cough followed by a one second examination of the resulting sputum.)

Today was my first day as "manager" of the Haven. It is one of those days that feels like midnight by 5pm!!! I am seeing how much relentless love must be involved when it comes to caring for such children. Not only are you trying to take care of the sick little ones by sitting in waiting rooms for long hours, or spending time with ones who need that extra bit of loving attention or discipline, but then you have to think about getting food at good prices and bargaining and finding milk.....and the last thing you want to think about is the political side of it (dishonest workers or those who won't work but want money....oy!). But at the end of the day it was all worth it when your heart is in the place where God's heart is. I cannot imagine how just now, but I am amazed to find this God who sees all and deals with all more up close than I and has this said of him, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." Psalm 103:8

Good night friends, I am more than exhausted and ready to welcome sweet sleep under the many stars of beautiful Namibia!

Meet Some of the Kids!

Lihongeni is 5. Her mom died and her father is not around. She comes from a different tribe than the other children and so does not speak a common language with any of them. Liho does have AIDS. She is so beautiful! I have nicknamed her "angel eyes." If only I knew how to say that in her own language!

Linus is 7, I think. I have been told he is very tiny because he is of the "bushmen," and that they are always small people. He is also very fast. His nickname is "Makalani," after the small cartoon ant drawn on the sugar packages here. Look at the crazy toys they rig up, a broken toy truck hung from the monkey bars by wire and somewhat supported by two poles beneath! I am telling you! It is always something new and crazy....and usually dangerous! Anja has said it right when she told me, "think of the worst case scenario with a toy/game and then multiply that by 100!" But they are smart little inventors for sure!

Katy, Bethany and I at a baby shower for Anja at
a neighboring safari guest farm. Katy is a sweet 23
yr-old girl who is a volunteer from Germany. She will
be with us for the first month we are here. We like
her a lot and she is trying to teach us German!

Starting Point

"and, "Be strong and courageous...the Lord your God is with you..." Joshua 1:9

Here we are at the start of a new week! This will be our first official week here getting to know the children and joining them in everyday life. (We will be starting the Bible study on Wednesday and continuing to do so every weekday-please pray!)

On Saturday we met most of the kids and played some, but mostly spent time getting geared up. Anja (Haven's Manager/Mama) instructed me in the role of managing the Haven that I will take over for her starting today! It seems like a big job! I was feeling overwhelmed and intimidated (b/c this culture may require that I be firm & loud...2 things I am not!)

Anja and I prayed together and we were very encouraged in hearing the Lord. We are confident that He loves these kids more than we do. He reminded me of the verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 when the Lord tells Paul his gracious favor is all he needed and his power works best in his weakness. Oh dear! If this is God's power works best in my weakness, he is very well going to be working his best in these weeks to come!

Here I am!

I am just writing a really quick note to let you all know we arrived in beautiful Namibia safely yesterday morning and that all is well. We did encounter a few problems along the way, but all is well. I never lost sight of the fact that God was and is right with us. With each problem He worked it out with such perfect detail that I was nearly in tears with such joy. I walked around airports and up and down airplane isles thinking about how wonderful it is to be a child of my Heavenly Father! He is GOOD! Thank you for all of your prayers! Bethany and I have been talking frequently about how we think of you and that you are praying. We are blessed girls indeed!

The children are amazing! I haven't even met each of them yet. It took all day to get here yesterday and today we spent time meeting with Anja to learn about the Haven, and unpacking our things which arrived a day later (yes, Yvonne, this is one of those times when I picture your laugh!).

Anyway, more to come and pictures too! Internet sure is sloooow as a snail in the shade here! But will make do! Take care!