Help Needed...and Help Wanted...

I apologize to all of our blog readers for the lack of posting lately.  Yes, I have been home from South Africa for three weeks but am just now blogging (probably nearly six weeks now).  I could list the reasons why I'm just now getting to it, like house hunting, moving to a new state/city, school work, trying to transfer our residency from Alabama to Tennessee, my honey starting a new job and me having to be his chauffeur because of a broken vehicle, etc., but I won't bore you with that!  Anyway, we love Memphis and hope to be able to soon call ourselves homeowners and true Memphians!

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On the 19th of April I embarked on a very long journey to White River, South Africa, somewhere I had never been.  I was travelling by myself and flew into Johannesburg on the 20th.  I then went to a hotel to stay the night and caught a shuttle the next morning to Nelspruit (about 20 minutes from White River).  The shuttle ride was about 4-5 hours.  I was dropped, about 30 minutes early, at a gas station in Nelspruit and prayed that someone would come pick me up soon since I was by myself and the shuttle people were gone!  

Here's the gigantic plane that I boarded for South Africa.  I was praying for a smooth ride and good health and God was so good to me and answered those prayers.

These two pictures are of the "hotel room" that I stayed in my first night in South Africa...not the greatest amenities, but the sheets were clean (I think) and the toilet flushed, shower had hot water, and there was free wifi as long as you were right by the hotel lobby (which my room was not)!  

The countryside is so beautiful with rolling hills and beautiful foliage and views for miles.

This is one of the villages where we fed and played with children.  Its also where we went to church.

My first night there, I was invited to eat dinner with another missionary and their family.  They lived off the base because the available base housing was too small for their family of six!  The mom was an expert sushi maker and taught us how to make sushi!  My honey loves sushi and I was so wishing he had been there to enjoy it! 

This little guy stole my heart away...his name is Lifa and he lives part-time with his mom, who is Kacy and Lifa's adoptive mother, the missionary that I had been in contact with the whole time before I arrived in South Africa (SA).  Kacy is an amazing woman of God and has a love so big for the children of SA.  Kacy and I are about the same age and it was great getting to know her and see the impact that she is having on the families around her.  She has a blog that I will post a link to at the end of my post...it is so encouraging and humbling to see her love and burden for these precious children.  One thing I discovered there is that in order to love hard you have to be willing to hurt and carry those sweet little black faces in your heart.  I have been working hard to remember to hand the burden of wanting to make things all better for them over to our Heavenly Father.

Lifa loved to make these crazy faces that would make you crack up especially if he was in trouble and you were trying to be all serious!  This little guy was so full of laughter and smiles.

Above is a picture from one of the families that we visited.  I loved this woman's smile...she was very sweet and happy.

Chickens outside the family's home.

The wise, old grandmothers were called "Go-Go's" and were a central part of the communities.

This little girl's name is "Happiness"...it was ironic because she was not happy at all during this visit because she was missing her mother who was away working.  Later during the week I did see her looking more like her name would indicate!

This is Kacy rubbing some lotion and oil on these kiddos' legs and arms because their skin gets so dried out as winter comes that it cracks and bleeds.  The mothers there don't know how to do simple things like this and often don't have the supplies to do it even if they knew.   Kacy carries a first-aid bag with her when she goes into the villages and is always putting ointment, oil, lotion and kisses on all the precious, often neglected children.  She's like Mother Theresa but instead she is "Mama Kacy".

There are two little ones sitting outside a home that was built by Ten Thousand Homes...it currently houses the original family and this mother pictured below with her 4 children.  She had to leave the home where she was living because the other lady there was beating her and her children.

This is inside the church where one of the village feedings took place.  Those are buckets of potatoes, greens, onions and carrots to make stew.

These are the huge pots and the gas burners used to cook all of the food.

Above is one of the missionaries and his nephew (I know, they look the same age) making "pop", which is similar to hominy but is cooked until it sticks together and can be used to scoop up the stew.

Lots of hungry children waiting to eat...before they get to eat the learn about God and get loved on by the missionaries and church members.

Clean-up crew!

These kiddos were at the second village feeding that I went to and they wanted to get their pose just right for the camera!  I'm not sure what the pose that they were going for was, but they had fun!

This is Mama Charity carrying her baby "South-African style"; no need for those fancy baby carriers!

These little guys were 2 year old twins but because of malnourishment they remain very small.

The view from the base where most of the missionaries live and where I stayed.

Pictures in a couple of villages...so much poverty, unemployment and hopelessness. 

My friend, Lifa, being his crazy self again!!

This is Mel, from Brazil, and we sewed crocheted and knitted squares together to make a warm blanket for one of the families!  It was very relaxing work and we past the time listening to music including Michael Buble's Christmas album (it felt like December there, so it seemed appropriate)!

This was my room on base; there were 6 beds in this huge room and I was the only one staying in there!  This room is used a lot when the base hosts teams who come to work and when they can afford to host Discipleship Training Schools (DTS).  

Another picture of the beautiful base.  It is a happy spot in the middle of hate and darkness.

This precious girl enjoyed a makeshift manicure and pedicure for her 11th birthday!  Birthdays aren't really acknowledged there because the people don't really understand the concept of marking milestones since their focus is purely on the today.  Children have no concept of "what are you going to be when you grow up?" because they don't understand looking to the future.  Everything is about surviving today and if that means spending the small stipend from the government for the whole month in one day, then that's what they do.  One thing that Kacy was endeavoring to do after I left was to teach Mama Charity about budgeting so that she doesn't continue to run out of food at the end of each month.  Hopefully, Mama Charity will understand and be able to teach the other ladies around her.

It was such an honor to be able to pamper this little girl and make her feel special and celebrated.  We bought a cake with candles and sprinkles and a card as well as some small gifts.  She was smiling so big!

There are so many beautiful places in South Africa, but I can't look at the beauty and not think of the ugliness that the devil has brought to the native people.  There are plenty of people who go to South Africa for holiday and never really see the "real" South Africa because there is a facade in place to impress the visitors and tourists, but as soon as you leave the big cities and malls you come face to face with a very dark hopelessness.

This little pictorial journey can't come close to telling the depth of emotion I felt and have felt since returning home.  These missionaries are sacrificing so much to bring The Light to these people.  Progress is slow, though, and they are surrounded by danger every day.  Ten Thousand Homes is in desperate need of a security fence, a well for water, and gas to use the stove/oven/washing machine.  They need gas in their work truck (gas is $7 per gallon there) and funds to expand their own living spaces.  As I saw this organization in action and followed Kacy around, I saw the hands and feet of Jesus touching children and adults.  The organization's goal is to speak a message of Hope and Home, meaning that they want to teach the people what it feels like to have a home, spiritually and physically.  When I say home I'm speaking of so much more than 4 walls and a roof (which can only be built for a select few because of funds), I'm speaking of a feeling of belonging, safety and love.  As Kacy teaches these mothers to care for their babies, and fathers are seeing what missionary men are like, and children are receiving the love pouring over them from each missionary and visiting team, "home" is being shown to them.

Please pray about becoming a supporter of this ministry that is making a huge impact with the little that they have...their impact could be even greater with proper funding.  I have included the link to the mission's website and also to Kacy's personal blog.  Thank you all for reading and supporting me through prayer and love.  I definitely want to return to White River, South Africa, hopefully soon to see those precious black faces again.

Amanda

www.tenthousandhomes.org

www.kacychaffin.blogspot.com

Seattle Adventure...one last Traveling Salmon vacation!!!

Hey Everyone, Mandi is off to her mission trip in South Africa, so I'm stepping in to give you the low-down on our recent jaunt to Seattle.  Last time we were in Oregon we didn't make it up and we knew we had to this time around.  I went to Seattle in High School and loved it, and Mandi hadn't ever been before...so off we went!

We stayed at this amazing hotel called the Inn at the Market.  It is right  next to the famous Pike Place Public Market and is right in the middle of all the action.  It was ranked as one of the top 100 hotels in the world a few years ago!  It seemed pretty amazing when we booked, but it really jumped a big notch when we got a free upgrade to a two-floor suite that was 1100 sq feet...amazing!

The view out of the second story windows in our "room."

 

Beautiful room, huh?!?

The famous market and a fantastic restaurant we found on our first night.  It was highly recommended and right across the street.  As another blessing, we were there during restaurant week and a 3 course meal was only $25...tasty steak and my appetizer was a piece of pork belly that was both crunchy and soft and so so good.

We went on a cool tour of the city with a fun narrator.  They have a crazy looking modern museum of all glass and steel triangles that juts out over the road as well as sculptures throughout the area including this "forest" of blue trees and another thing Mandi hopped into for a fun shot.

A salmon ladder for fish moving from the ocean back to fresh water to mate...and a Salmon posing in the rain!  We toured the locks that separate the Puget Sound and the inland rivers/lakes that run throughout Seattle.  Even saw some baby fish trying to fight the current.  And a boat took the water elevator down in less than 1 minute (there's a 30ft difference from salt to fresh water!).

This character is the Fremont Troll, a statue that was built by the fun people of Fremont (a neighborhood in Seattle that believes it is an independent entity of free thinkers - aka hippies).  The legend is that he grabs cars going over him on a major bridge if he is angry.  The car under his hand is a real VW Beetle!

Our second day was beautiful, sunny and no rain for at least 4 hours (big in the Northwest where it statistically rains over 200 days a year), and we headed to the Space Needle.  It was impressively well kept up for being 50 years old and has amazing panoramic views of the city and nearby islands.  Definitely one of my favorite spots on our travels.

Some of Seattle's famous floating homes and a marina.  The only city with more floating homes is Amsterdam.  The one at the end (which you can't really see very well) is the house from the movie Sleepless in Seattle if anyone remembers that one.

One of Mandi's goals in our travels has always been to go to Tiffany & Co.  She loves the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's (and pretty much anything Audrey Hepburn) and if it's her goal then it's mine.  Well, this time we pulled it off and here she is glamming it up for the camera.  The guy inside the store was either barking up the way wrong tree following us around and showing us jewelry or he was barking up the wrong tree following us around to make sure we didn't steal!  Either way it was worth it.

We ended our trip walking around the Market.  It was filled with people and fish as far as the eye could see.  One part did have veggies as far as the eye could see and another had flowers...you get the picture.  The "famous" thing to see is that when someone picks a fish the guys at the shops throw it to other guys behind a counter who fillet and wrap it right then.  No one was buying but they did make a few throws to show off for us tourists.

Us with the landmark, lucky pig at he Market.  Money that is put in him goes to support many charities and he raised over 10,000 bucks in change just last year...oink oink!

The final piece of our trip puzzle was another one near to Mandi's heart.  She is crazy about room service breakfast in bed and so we splurged.  Here are the remnants...I promise it was amazing but no picture time when tasty food hits the bed!

Well guys, that's our trip.  Mandi loved Seattle and I remembered why I did 15 or so years ago.  It is just behind San Diego as two best places we've been during this journey (yes, ahead of Hawaii!).  We'll have to get back in the future if kids and work and such don't get in the way!  Mandi will give you guys a run down of her Mission trip after she returns on the 29th...in the meantime she'd appreciate your prayers for her time and health there and I'd appreciate your prayers for her safe travel by herself in what is apparently the fairly dangerous country of South Africa.

Jason