Travels & Such

Hello!  It has been a while.... I've been traveling and getting ready to travel again- I spent Christmas in South Africa, the week after in Zimbabwe, the past several days in Zanzibar and am getting ready to go to Ethiopia for a week on Monday! Whew.  Exciting and lots of great work being done, but a whirlwind! (def. not complaining though :)).  I spent Christmas in South Africa with my brother Eric and his fiancee Lisa and her family.... we were mainly in and around the Cape Town area, and it was wonderful.  I of course missed being home and with my parents on Christmas but it was great still being with family and experiencing Christmas on this continent.  I went to a small town church on Christmas morning that was partly in Afrikaans and spent the rest of the day with Lisa's family enjoying time together.  Eric & Lisa are getting married in Franschoek (outside of Cape Town) on April 21st, and I'm looking forward to being down there again (and getting my parents & sister onto this continent)!

After Christmas, I went to Zimbabwe for about 6 days- to the Matopos Hills area- to work with a group of women who have a sewing project there, working with them to develop new products for us to sell through Karama.  The group is assisted by Norma Ferguson, a beloved friend who lives in the Matopos Hills and serves the community in many, many ways (with her wonderful husband Chris.... love these two!!).  The group is made up of about a dozen women who are HIV+, who started the group as a source of much-needed income in a very, very hungry rural area.  I fell in love with these women when I was there and am so, so excited for our opportunity to help them.  They desperately need the work, as they have such little means for income.  As I was speaking to one of the women (who also happens to be named Norma), she asked me, "Are the people starving in Tanzania like they are in Zimbabwe?"  The question just took me aback... but it made me know all the more fully the importance of our role in getting them sustainable work.

We came up with some great new jewelry designs, so be on the lookout for them on our site soon!

Me with the adorable ladies :)

[sporting the new necklaces we made]

I just spent several days in Zanzibar meeting with some of the projects we support there .... though that trip didn't end so well.  I ended up horribly sick in my hotel room for 2 days.... ughhhh, African food finally got to me... :-/  (I spent a year here being a veg. and never got sick from anything I ate, then a few months ago I decided to start eating some chicken .... and hmmm.... looks like I'll be going back to my veg roots :))


In closing, here are some good words that I've come across recently in my devotionals.... thought I would share:


"I want to see God's supernatural activity.  I don't just want to hear about it and watch it from afar.  I want to experience it.  As Abraham's difficult obedience yielded supernatural results, so will ours.  Over and over Scripture makes clear that the determining factor for experiencing God is obedience. 

I believe a correlation exists between the COST of Abraham's obedience and the magnificent blessing that resulted.  The higher the price you pay to obey God, the greater the reward you can expect from Him."  (Priscilla Shirer)


Happy 2012 to All :)  May you see and experience God's supernatural activity this year, as you obey Him in ALL areas.... and especially those that are *costly*.