We are a group of young couples from Valley Church in West Des Moines, Iowa who have felt God's call to help The Pines Christian Care Center for Children in Welkom, South Africa as they care for children who have been orphaned by the AIDS Pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Saturday, March 31, 2007
Kevin Barber Today was another day of mixed emotions. We had a light work day and made some progress on the flat in the morning despite Anne spilling black paint all down the stairway - we did get it cleaned up quicly and there's very little evidence of the incident.
After working in the morning we took a driving tour of the surrounding townships. Our first stop was the Phumlani Cemetary - an entire section was for children who died under the age of 4 - Brian said that probably 99% of the deaths were from complications from HIV/AIDS. The number of graves from 2006 and 2007 alone were overwhelming; the section we saw went back to only 2003 but was probably about the size of 2 football fields of tightly-packed, small graves. We estimated around 2500 graves and around 70 from this year alone. An image that will stay in our minds of this was an entire row of empty graves sitting for when they will soon be filled.
We then drove through Thabong and saw the house where the original 6 orphans at The Pines lived with their grandma. Next we stopped at the dump to drop off trash. The people who live at the dump (actually have homes built out of discarded materials) competed to unload our trash for a tip and rights to take what they find useful from our trash. Some of them sell the recyclable items to collectors who come by. Others are just looking for useful items and food.
Our next stop was visiting the two children from The Pines who are hospitalized. Both of their conditions are improving - God is Good, keep the prayers coming.
When we came back to The Pines we had lunch and then (an hour later) went swimming with the children and had a great time. The afternoon was further filled with more light construction work and outdoor games with the children. They tried to teach us Rugby, but it was lost on us Americans!
We finished off the day with a Movie on "the big screen" and popcorn with the kids. They enjoyed watching Cars, the movie in Brian and Lois' flat and we had fun spending time with them.
Our Scripture reading today was James 1.
Thank you for your continued prayer and we wish you a happy Palm Sunday tomorrow... it will be fun to have Palm Sunday around actual Palms!
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Kevin Barber Today was another day of mixed emotions. We had a light work day and made some progress on the flat in the morning despite Anne spilling black paint all down the stairway - we did get it cleaned up quicly and there's very little evidence of the incident.
After working in the morning we took a driving tour of the surrounding townships. Our first stop was the Phumlani Cemetary - an entire section was for children who died under the age of 4 - Brian said that probably 99% of the deaths were from complications from HIV/AIDS. The number of graves from 2006 and 2007 alone were overwhelming; the section we saw went back to only 2003 but was probably about the size of 2 football fields of tightly-packed, small graves. We estimated around 2500 graves and around 70 from this year alone. An image that will stay in our minds of this was an entire row of empty graves sitting for when they will soon be filled.
We then drove through Thabong and saw the house where the original 6 orphans at The Pines lived with their grandma. Next we stopped at the dump to drop off trash. The people who live at the dump (actually have homes built out of discarded materials) competed to unload our trash for a tip and rights to take what they find useful from our trash. Some of them sell the recyclable items to collectors who come by. Others are just looking for useful items and food.Our next stop was visiting the two children from The Pines who are hospitalized. Both of their conditions are improving - God is Good, keep the prayers coming.
When we came back to The Pines we had lunch and then (an hour later) went swimming with the children and had a great time. The afternoon was further filled with more light construction work and outdoor games with the children. They tried to teach us Rugby, but it was lost on us Americans!We finished off the day with a Movie on "the big screen" and popcorn with the kids. They enjoyed watching Cars, the movie in Brian and Lois' flat and we had fun spending time with them.
Our Scripture reading today was James 1.
Thank you for your continued prayer and we wish you a happy Palm Sunday tomorrow... it will be fun to have Palm Sunday around actual Palms!
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Friday, March 30, 2007
Kevin Barber
Greetings again from The Pines!
We started and nearly finished the framing in the bathroom and kitchen as well as removed the window panes in the bathroom, which will be replaced. The women worked hard on priming the walls in the living area and all 3 bedrooms.
Tonight we enjoyed a Braii, or as we would know it, barbeque. We enjoyed "Grilled Russians" (similar to hot dogs) and boerwors (sausage, similar to brautworst). Kris says boerwors tastes like soap - not all of us agree. The children joined us for the meal - we were going to eat outside, but it turned a bit chilly, so we stayed inside. Entertainment for the meal consisted of Mpho, the youngest boy, falling asleep in his food (literally), and our feable attempts to pronounce the childrens' names correctly (they did pretty good with our names). 
Their language has many "throat-clearing" and clicking sounds.
Please be praying for the baby who arrived yesterday - she has been very ill and Brian and Lois took her to the hospital tonight. Anne and Kindra were able to make it to the hospital today to visit Nswaki. She looks like she is feeling better, but still no news on when she will be able to come home. Thank you for continuing to pray for her.
Our scripture reading today was Ephesians 2
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Kevin Barber
Greetings again from The Pines!
We started and nearly finished the framing in the bathroom and kitchen as well as removed the window panes in the bathroom, which will be replaced. The women worked hard on priming the walls in the living area and all 3 bedrooms.
Tonight we enjoyed a Braii, or as we would know it, barbeque. We enjoyed "Grilled Russians" (similar to hot dogs) and boerwors (sausage, similar to brautworst). Kris says boerwors tastes like soap - not all of us agree. The children joined us for the meal - we were going to eat outside, but it turned a bit chilly, so we stayed inside. Entertainment for the meal consisted of Mpho, the youngest boy, falling asleep in his food (literally), and our feable attempts to pronounce the childrens' names correctly (they did pretty good with our names). 
Their language has many "throat-clearing" and clicking sounds.
Please be praying for the baby who arrived yesterday - she has been very ill and Brian and Lois took her to the hospital tonight. Anne and Kindra were able to make it to the hospital today to visit Nswaki. She looks like she is feeling better, but still no news on when she will be able to come home. Thank you for continuing to pray for her.Our scripture reading today was Ephesians 2
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
Kevin Barber
Today has been rather eventful and emotional for the team.
This morning we visited Morning Star, a day care specifically for HIV-infected children. We were able to have time to get down on the floor and play with the kids. They sang and danced for us, and we were all deeply touched - "This Little Light of Mine" will never again sound the same to our group. All other emotions are still too raw to put into words -we all get tears in our eyes just thinking about these precious children and their circumstances. Despite having this terrible disease, they are still able to sing and joyfully praise God.
The Pines accepted 3 children today from Morning Star whose mother is very ill and in the hospital with no one else to care for them. (See previous post) The ladies took them to the hospital to see their mom and also to visit Nswaki. We read books to her and to other sick children.
The guys continue to make progress on on the flat. The walls of the living quarters are completely constructed and will be ready for finish work.
Tonight we celebrated Corey's birthday tonight with a meal of Bobotie, an authenic South African dish. Following our meal, the children joined us for the dessert and sang Corey "Happy Birthday" in both English and... French? The kids liked the ice cream and thought the apple crisp was... interesting. Corey was showered with hand-made birthday cards by the children, which he will treasure always, and he said it was the best birthday that he's ever had!
The new children are adjusting well and making friends. They were overjoyed to receive a few sets of clothes, some of which were the ones we carried from Des Moines for the orphans. The looks on their faces tonight had drastically changed from what we had seen earlier today. Of course, they still need our prayer in many ways as does their mother.
Our Devotion Today: Exodus 3
As always, thank you for your continued prayers and encouraging comments.
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Kevin Barber
Today has been rather eventful and emotional for the team.
This morning we visited Morning Star, a day care specifically for HIV-infected children. We were able to have time to get down on the floor and play with the kids. They sang and danced for us, and we were all deeply touched - "This Little Light of Mine" will never again sound the same to our group. All other emotions are still too raw to put into words -we all get tears in our eyes just thinking about these precious children and their circumstances. Despite having this terrible disease, they are still able to sing and joyfully praise God.
The Pines accepted 3 children today from Morning Star whose mother is very ill and in the hospital with no one else to care for them. (See previous post) The ladies took them to the hospital to see their mom and also to visit Nswaki. We read books to her and to other sick children.
The guys continue to make progress on on the flat. The walls of the living quarters are completely constructed and will be ready for finish work.
Tonight we celebrated Corey's birthday tonight with a meal of Bobotie, an authenic South African dish. Following our meal, the children joined us for the dessert and sang Corey "Happy Birthday" in both English and... French? The kids liked the ice cream and thought the apple crisp was... interesting. Corey was showered with hand-made birthday cards by the children, which he will treasure always, and he said it was the best birthday that he's ever had!
The new children are adjusting well and making friends. They were overjoyed to receive a few sets of clothes, some of which were the ones we carried from Des Moines for the orphans. The looks on their faces tonight had drastically changed from what we had seen earlier today. Of course, they still need our prayer in many ways as does their mother.Our Devotion Today: Exodus 3
As always, thank you for your continued prayers and encouraging comments.
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Kevin Barber
New Arrivals
Our blog posts to this point have been pretty light-hearted, but we would like to share with you what has broken our hearts today.
Please pray for these three children. The Pines took them in today from Morning Star on a "temporary" basis as their mother is very ill.
Our hearts have been breaking for these children who are likely scared and lonely and in a new place. They seemed glad to be getting a meal upon arrival around lunchtime and they seemed excited to be able to play here.
In about an hour from now, the women are going to visit Nswaki in the hospital.
We'll update later on with how the children are doing - thank you for your prayers.
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New ArrivalsOur blog posts to this point have been pretty light-hearted, but we would like to share with you what has broken our hearts today.
Please pray for these three children. The Pines took them in today from Morning Star on a "temporary" basis as their mother is very ill.
Our hearts have been breaking for these children who are likely scared and lonely and in a new place. They seemed glad to be getting a meal upon arrival around lunchtime and they seemed excited to be able to play here.
In about an hour from now, the women are going to visit Nswaki in the hospital.
We'll update later on with how the children are doing - thank you for your prayers.
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Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Kevin Barber
1 Day Without a Workplace Accident!
Thanks to everyone who has been faithfully praying for us. We managed to make it through the workday without incident. We greatly transformed the flat today by completing the framing in the main portion of the flat and mostly completing the sheeting.
In
the meantime, the women completed the playground project and finished painting in the library. They still managed to find the time to help the guys with sanding the walls.
After work, we had play time with the children. Brian gave motorcycle rides, Kindra and Tiffany played with the girls on the trampline, and Jenny helped the girls ride on the zip-line.
We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset view at the mine tailings (large dunes created from the mining operation) just as a rain storm was closing in.
Please continue to pray for our safety and for Kindra to feel better. Also, Nswaki, one of the orphans, was admitted to the hospital today with a respiratory illness. She is expected to be in the hospital for 7 days. Please pray for rapid healing and courage as the 10-year-old has to spend nights alone in the hospital.
Our Daily Devotion, 3/28: 2 Corinthians 4
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Kevin Barber
1 Day Without a Workplace Accident!
Thanks to everyone who has been faithfully praying for us. We managed to make it through the workday without incident. We greatly transformed the flat today by completing the framing in the main portion of the flat and mostly completing the sheeting.
In
the meantime, the women completed the playground project and finished painting in the library. They still managed to find the time to help the guys with sanding the walls.After work, we had play time with the children. Brian gave motorcycle rides, Kindra and Tiffany played with the girls on the trampline, and Jenny helped the girls ride on the zip-line.
We also enjoyed a beautiful sunset view at the mine tailings (large dunes created from the mining operation) just as a rain storm was closing in.
Please continue to pray for our safety and for Kindra to feel better. Also, Nswaki, one of the orphans, was admitted to the hospital today with a respiratory illness. She is expected to be in the hospital for 7 days. Please pray for rapid healing and courage as the 10-year-old has to spend nights alone in the hospital.
Our Daily Devotion, 3/28: 2 Corinthians 4
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Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Kevin Barber
Today we made quite a bit of progress in spite of a few setbacks. The flat is all framed except for the kitchen and the women are very close to completing the coat of kerosote on the playground. Still little progress on the safe, but we are hoping to break through soon :-)
It was a rough day for the Barbers. Kindra was not feeling well, especially in the morning. Kevin learned that falling timber hurts - he received a cut on the head but found that the the hospital is not as bad as you might imagine. Both Kindra and Kevin are doing fine, but could use your prayers for continued healing.
On a positive note, Anne has recovered from her incident and sees no side effects.
The highlight of our day was when children serenaded us with Bible-School songs as we worked and made the time enjoyable. After our work was done for the day, the boys visited us to show us their new hairdos.
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Kevin Barber
Today we made quite a bit of progress in spite of a few setbacks. The flat is all framed except for the kitchen and the women are very close to completing the coat of kerosote on the playground. Still little progress on the safe, but we are hoping to break through soon :-)
It was a rough day for the Barbers. Kindra was not feeling well, especially in the morning. Kevin learned that falling timber hurts - he received a cut on the head but found that the the hospital is not as bad as you might imagine. Both Kindra and Kevin are doing fine, but could use your prayers for continued healing.
On a positive note, Anne has recovered from her incident and sees no side effects.
The highlight of our day was when children serenaded us with Bible-School songs as we worked and made the time enjoyable. After our work was done for the day, the boys visited us to show us their new hairdos.Show / Hide Comments 5 Comment(s) Post a Comment
Monday, March 26, 2007
Kevin Barber
Our first Construction Day
We learned more lessons today:
On a more serious note, today was considered the "easy day" by Brian and Lois. We started and completed demolition on the flat, hauled OSB upstairs, nearly completed sealing the playground, and delivered firewood to the "#7 Squatter camp". The boys even had time left before supper to try our hand at breaking into a safe, while the women prepared supper.
Thank you to all who kept us in your prayers. Anne had a close-call when she had some Kreosote splash into her eye. Her guardian angel was watching over her and after flushing her eye for 15 minutes (we know, Jenny, RN timed it :-) ) she is feeling much better - Praise the Lord!
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Kevin Barber
Our first Construction Day
We learned more lessons today:
- OSB (particle board) is bigger and heavier in South Africa
- Kreosote (wood sealant) does not make good eye wash
- Cracking a safe is not as easy as it looks in the movies
- Hit the "emergency" button, security will actually come, even after being called off. (Ask Tiffany about Chub)
- In South Africa, order Peanut Butter and Jelly, you'll get Jello on your sandwich
On a more serious note, today was considered the "easy day" by Brian and Lois. We started and completed demolition on the flat, hauled OSB upstairs, nearly completed sealing the playground, and delivered firewood to the "#7 Squatter camp". The boys even had time left before supper to try our hand at breaking into a safe, while the women prepared supper.
Thank you to all who kept us in your prayers. Anne had a close-call when she had some Kreosote splash into her eye. Her guardian angel was watching over her and after flushing her eye for 15 minutes (we know, Jenny, RN timed it :-) ) she is feeling much better - Praise the Lord!
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Kindra
Our First Day at the Pines
We had our first whole day here. It was fun but we all worked very hard too. We cleared out the rooms that will be the flat that we are building, brought up the pieces of wood we are using for the walls, and varnished the kids' play equipment. None of us are feeling jet lag so that's nice. Speaking of flying, I'd like to thank everyone who prayed for Anne's and mine ears (we tend to get a lot of ear pain with flying). We both took decongestants before our flight and didn't have much of trouble at all. The kids that live here are so cute. They are friendly and like to play games with us.
One of the best parts of the day for me was our team devotional in the morning. We all met together as a team before we worked and read through a chapter in the Bible and talked about it. It was really cool to hear everyone's different perspectives on things. God pulls on people's hearts in different verses. We all cooperate well as a team and I feel so happy to be on this trip with these people. It's so evident that God brought all our talents to this place to work together for Him. Some of us are sore from the hard work, but it is so gratifying to see our progress and know that we're doing this to show God's love to these children.
Kindra
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We had our first whole day here. It was fun but we all worked very hard too. We cleared out the rooms that will be the flat that we are building, brought up the pieces of wood we are using for the walls, and varnished the kids' play equipment. None of us are feeling jet lag so that's nice. Speaking of flying, I'd like to thank everyone who prayed for Anne's and mine ears (we tend to get a lot of ear pain with flying). We both took decongestants before our flight and didn't have much of trouble at all. The kids that live here are so cute. They are friendly and like to play games with us.
One of the best parts of the day for me was our team devotional in the morning. We all met together as a team before we worked and read through a chapter in the Bible and talked about it. It was really cool to hear everyone's different perspectives on things. God pulls on people's hearts in different verses. We all cooperate well as a team and I feel so happy to be on this trip with these people. It's so evident that God brought all our talents to this place to work together for Him. Some of us are sore from the hard work, but it is so gratifying to see our progress and know that we're doing this to show God's love to these children.
Kindra
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Sunday, March 25, 2007
Kevin Barber
We made it!
25 hours, 45 minutes later! We didn't have any major issues, but we did learn some things along the way.
Lessons learned:
For those of you back home, the local time in Welkom is 7 hours ahead of Central time. If you would like to reach us while we're here, try e-mail, commenting on the blog (remember, its public), or we will have access to Skype - it is free to use computer-to-computer and Skype-to-Phone is pretty cheap, too.
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Kevin Barber
We made it!25 hours, 45 minutes later! We didn't have any major issues, but we did learn some things along the way.
Lessons learned:- 1st class would totally be worth it!
- Delta feeds you well
- One can spill an entire cup of Sprite in their seat in Atlanta and it'll be dry by Dakar.
- Most seats can be used as a flotation device... are you feeling lucky?
- This was our pilot's FIRST landing (in Johannesburg)
- Those lines on the road... just a suggestion.
For those of you back home, the local time in Welkom is 7 hours ahead of Central time. If you would like to reach us while we're here, try e-mail, commenting on the blog (remember, its public), or we will have access to Skype - it is free to use computer-to-computer and Skype-to-Phone is pretty cheap, too.Labels: south africa, travel, welkom
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Friday, March 23, 2007
Crannell's Hello everyone and thank you for visiting our blog. As you probably know we are going to use this blog to keep everyone informed as to how our trip is going. Please check back often as we plan to update daily. For those who don't know much about our trip let me introduce the team. There are four couples going. They are Kevin and Kindra Barber, Kris and Jenny Kunze, Corey and Tiffany Carey, and Scott and Anne Crannell. It has been very exciting to watch God work as we all prepared for this trip, and we are all looking forward to see how he will use us while we are in South Africa. Well it is now 12:00 A.M. on Saturday the 23rd. in only 9 1/2 hours we leave for the airport and our trip will officially begin. I can not thank you all enough for the support you have us. With out your thoughts, prays, and financial support, this trip could not have been possible. So, on behalf of the team, thank you all. Well, that is all for now. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and please pray for the hearts of those we will be visiting with while we are there. Look for my next post on Sunday to let you all know that we all made it safely. Until then.....
let IT shine,
Scott
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Crannell's Hello everyone and thank you for visiting our blog. As you probably know we are going to use this blog to keep everyone informed as to how our trip is going. Please check back often as we plan to update daily. For those who don't know much about our trip let me introduce the team. There are four couples going. They are Kevin and Kindra Barber, Kris and Jenny Kunze, Corey and Tiffany Carey, and Scott and Anne Crannell. It has been very exciting to watch God work as we all prepared for this trip, and we are all looking forward to see how he will use us while we are in South Africa. Well it is now 12:00 A.M. on Saturday the 23rd. in only 9 1/2 hours we leave for the airport and our trip will officially begin. I can not thank you all enough for the support you have us. With out your thoughts, prays, and financial support, this trip could not have been possible. So, on behalf of the team, thank you all. Well, that is all for now. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, and please pray for the hearts of those we will be visiting with while we are there. Look for my next post on Sunday to let you all know that we all made it safely. Until then.....
let IT shine,
Scott
Labels: The Trip Beggins
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Jenny and Kris Kunze
Jenny here. Kris and I packed most of our things last night in preparation for leaving TOMORROW for South Africa. I'm in awe that the time has come for us to start the loooooong voyage to the other side of the world. We are really excited and can't wait! More later....
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Labels: getting ready....
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Kindra
I can't believe it's the day before our trip! It's been such a whirl wind with getting ready for our trip--with our team being assembled in December, raising support, and now our trip is finally here. It's been so much fun getting to know all the people on our team and I'm looking forward to seeing how God will use all of us to serve the Pine's Mission in Africa. I'm feeling very frazzled today because there feels like there is so much I have to remember to pack and do before our trip. But hopefully it'll all get done, and tomorrow will be a breeze. I'd like to thank everyone who has supported our team through prayer and finances for this trip. We all really appreciate you and it's so great that your support will help show God's love to the children in another country.
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Thursday, March 22, 2007
Kevin Barber Our neighbor church, Point of Grace, has been active in sending teams to help with The Pines. They have a team over there right now and you can check out their blog at http://www.pinesmission2007.blogspot.com. Also, you can see some photos from Point of Grace's previous trip and blog.
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Kevin Barber Our neighbor church, Point of Grace, has been active in sending teams to help with The Pines. They have a team over there right now and you can check out their blog at http://www.pinesmission2007.blogspot.com. Also, you can see some photos from Point of Grace's previous trip and blog.
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