Rainy day in africa. No mt climb but we will hike to a nearby village this afternoon. Packing up to go on safari sat and sun!!

Last work day 2morrow. Ate swazi meal tonight with orphans tonight complete with singing and dance. Very sore and tired. Going 2 bed @ 9:30!

5 e with AIDS.

5 Trip is going great! Working hard in the mornings, playing with kids in afternoon. Getting along great with other team members! Pray for sick baby her

We are in bulembu! Settling in, very excited, and kinda spoiled :) can't wait to tell all about it already... and it's only our first hr here!

We are in africa! Tired, in our hotel room, and ready for relaxing and sleep... Swaziland bound tomorrow!

burg 2:15 iowa time

we are in london!! some were able to see big ben and the london eye during our decent. our final flight leaves in 2ish hours...we land will in johannes

We're off to chicago! We will post updates when we land in Johannesburg and as we are able when we get to Swaziland. Keep praying!

A word from Wendy...

I've been helping with the high school youth group for a couple years now. When we started talking about a mission trip to Africa, I really felt called by God to go. I've never really had any desire to do international missions but at that moment, I really wanted nothing more than to go to Africa and care for the orphans.
In the meantime, God was leading my life in another way. My husband and I felt God was leading us to adopt a child. We knew the process could take several months and even years, so we didn't really think it would ever conflict with the trip to Africa.
God's perfect timing doesn't always make sense and I have found that to be extremely true now. Just a few short weeks after being approved to adopt a child, we found ourselves being selected by a mother to adopt her little guy. We were thrilled and then stopped long enough to realize that he would be born while I would be in Africa. After many, many prayers and thoughtful deliberaton, we decided that God brought the Africa trip into my life first for a reason and that I shouldn't ignore His call. It won't be easy to be so far away when he's born, but I know that he will be in good care. And a few short days without me won't begin to compare to the life of the orphans in Bulembu who have no parents at all.
So, while the team is counting down the days until we leave for Africa, I'm also counting down the days until I become a mom!

Donations!

We have a list of items we can bring to donate to the ministry in Bulembu. If you'd like to donate to this cause once again, let us know! There will be a suitcase in the lobby of First Reformed Church until we leave. Since we can all bring and extra suitcase, we thought we should load up :)

Girl's underwear age 4 to 18
Boy's underwear age 4 to 18
Ponchos for age 4 to 18
Warm winter jackets age 4 to 18
Black and white socks (long and short) for boys and girls
Towels
Face Cloths
Single bed sheets
Single duvet covers
pillowcases
Sweaters/sweatpants all sizes
Music CD's (appropriate)
DVD's (family, Christian)
Dressing up clothes
Games for 4yr olds to 12 yr olds
Games for teens
Christian reading material
Children's toothpaste
Children's toothbrushes
Deodorant

Most items need to be new - others can be used like CDs, DVDs, games. I assume clothing that is still in good condition can be used, also.

15 days!!

We had our final team meeting on Sunday - loaded with more & more information and more & more questions...

Since our last post, I have had email communication with our team members from Chicago and the Boston area. They had relatives go to Bulembu last summer and were able to give us lots of packing advice and many things to be excited about! Last year, it got so cold at night that one guy dressed in sweatpants, socks, multiple tshirts, sweatshirts, and a stocking hat to sleep at night! So we get to pack for 70 degree days and chilly evenings! BUT we get to enjoy unbelievable sunsets and even more unbelievable starry skies at night.

Our fundraising is basically done - with checks still coming in! We have been extremely grateful for the ease of our endeavors and not having to worry about where the money will come from. A friend of our had to come up with about $800 in 10 days in order to go on her mission trip to India last month! In our case and hers, God always proves himself faithful and provides :)

We will soon be posting a prayer calendar so that you can be praying for us while we're gone! We found out at our last meeting that we have a birthday, anniversary, and a baby being born while we're gone (more explanation on this later)! We appreciate and covet your prayers now and while we're gone.

Thanks for reading!