Pictures, Sunday report

Scott, Jon, and some of the team gave their report to the church today. They were able to share stories from the trip, many of which you have followed along with on this website. Ross gave up most of his preaching time so the team could get across what we experienced in Namibia. Hopefully some of the stories will stick with people.

There was a planned slideshow of pictures from the trip.We had a few technical difficulties in the first service, so we pulled in the reserve team for the 11:15am service so that people were able to see the slideshow.

I've had a lot of requests for pictures. The photo CD is close to being ready to go off to the duplicators. A note about prints: in order to fit all of the pictures on one CD, the files won't be large enough for you to take to London Drugs or another photolab to make prints. As a solution to this problem, I've setup a website with a company in the US that hosts the pictures and allows you to order prints. The prints are a little bit more than we would pay at Costco, but still pretty reasonable. I'll post all of the pictures to this site over the next few days, and you can browse to your heart's content!

The site's address is meiermg.com. I'll put this on the sidebar for easy access.

That's all for now...

Trevor.

Documentary and pictures

For those who are interested, we will be producing a documentary DVD. The DVD will talk about Aids in Namibia & Rehoboth, and tell the story of our involvement there. We will start post-production around October 15th, so expect it sometime late fall. We are hoping to have a fundraiser night (or day?) for Rehoboth to premiere the film, as well as making the DVD available to PPAC Care Groups and for purchase. We are hoping to get the doc on-air with CBC, CTV, and any other interested networks. For more information, or if you're interested in purchasing a copy of the documentary, e-mail me.

I'm also creating a CD of pictures for the team. It will have the pictures posted on this site, as well as many, many more. I'm still working out the contents of the CD and how to provide prints (for those who want to do more than show the pictures on their computer). Watch this space for more information.

We are home...

'nuff said :)

Live from Joberg (again)

Hello to everyone following our progress.

We have arrived safe and sound in Johannesburg, and are awaiting our next flight on to London. A few of our team are travelling on from Windhoek, so around 2pm we said goodbye as our team began to part ways. A few more will stay in London for some extra time in Europe, in all with 23 of us arriving back in Vancouver.

Thanks so much for your prayers regarding those who were sick. I can happily report that everyone is recovering well, and we hope this is the last we see of this illness. Please pray for health for the remainder of our trip.

The team had a great time in Etosha. In all, a 5/5 trip - we saw a representative from every member of the animal kingdom present in the park (except for a Cheetah - Jon said he saw one but we think he was just seeing spots.) Lions, elephants, baboons, ostrich, springbok, gemsbok, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, and in the last minutes of our day, a rhinoceros... a pretty good trip in all.






(just a note... not everybody's in this team picture - lest you think your son or daughter was carried off by a lion or some such thing...)


A few practical details for parents, family and friends. We will be flying from Joberg on SA flight 234, departing at 8:05pm on a nice, comfy 747-400 (with in-seat video) bound for Heathrow. We arrive there at 6:25am, and have two hours to re-check in and catch our next flight, AC 831 - this time a 767-300ER, with no in-flight video :( The flight leaves at 8:40am and arrives into Vancouver at 10:35am on Friday, August 20th.

Overall, the team is tired but well, happy to be finally heading home. We look forward to seeing many of you in 25 hours' time.

Flu update

Quick update about the flu that some team members have. There's a clinic near where we are staying. If anyone starts to get dehydrated or needs some extra meds beyond what we brought for the team, we have help close at hand. Just wanted to help assuage any fears that any parents may have!

We'll try and keep you posted, if we can get on the net up there (in between looking at lions and giraffes). Otherwise, you'll hear from us in Johannesburg!

On the way to Etosha

Hello from way up North in Namibia. We are heading to Etosha and have stopped for lunch in Outjo. There happens to be an internet cafe here, so I can post (but no pictures!)

We would really appreciate your prayers at this time. The flu bug is hitting our team two or three people at at time, which makes travelling difficult and certainly uncomfortable for those who are sick. From what we can tell, (about four of our team have had it and are now recovering) it is a 24 hour flu with quite severe vomiting and diarrhia (however you spell it!). We are monitoring them closely and making sure they stay hydrated etc.. Please pray that those sick will get well quickly, and that no more people will come down with it. We are particularly concerned about people being sick when we need to fly home.

Apart from that challenge, we are doing well. Our team is definitely tired from a long week of ministry. We had a chance to hit the African markets and buy some souvenirs for some of you back home.

Blessings on all of you...we'll keep you posted as we are able.

Goodbyes

It was an emotional night for the team as they said their goodbyes. The kids performed a few of their favorite songs for us, and we had a time of prayer with George and Anne-Marie. Then the tears came, with many of the team knowing this will be the last time they see the young friends they've made in the last week and a half. Knowing the difficult past many have come from, we pray for these kids, hoping that their future is as bright as our week at the Ark here has been.







As I write, the team is packing up their tents and making final preparations for the bus to arrive. We'll load up around 10:00, drive to Windhoek for lunch, and then on to Okahandja to stay the night. In Okyville we'll be staying at another orphanage under the CHI banner, as well as be able to meet Jos and Sylvia, CHI directors.

Our contact with technology is likely to be limited over the next few days. If possible, I'll post tonight from Okahandja; most likely, though, the next time you hear from us will be during our short stopover in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Pray with us for and a strong leading of the Spirit as the team debriefs and begins to process what we've seen and done over the last many days. Pray also that work we have supported here will continue with God's strength. And pray for safe travels as we begin our journey home.

Soccer Sunday

Sorry for the 'late' post (it's well past midnite here), but we've had another amazing day. I know we keep saying that, but there's no other way to describe it. This morning we went back to church to experience a 'real' African service (last week they had no power for their instruments).

This week was loud and long...2 hours and fourty minutes to be exact, and Scott only preached for 25 of them. It was a powerful service that had many of us in tears. Here were some of the highlights:

• One lady had a dream about our group last night. In it, she saw our team taking an exam (school kids are presently doing their term exams here) and she heard God say to the group, "You have passed the test!". That was an encouragement to our team.
• One young girl got up to sing a duet with another girl and she told the story of how she lost her only pair of shoes. At first she was worried about it, but then she said, "God, even if I don't have shoes I'm going to praise you". And you should see her praise and dance before God...amazing! After she said that, a lady in the congregation stood up and said that she had just bought a pair of shoes for her daughter yesterday that were the wrong size and this girl could have them. The church jumped up and praised God...so neat to see the church community in action!
• Singing worship songs with the people while knowing some of their stories is a very humbling experience....these people love God and prove that Jesus is enough even in the midst of extreme difficulties.

Our 'Championship Soccer match' took place right after our group photo.

We were able to go and play on a real field and give the kids real soccer jerseys that someone from our church donated. Brad made a great trophy and despite stellar goaltending by Jon Imbeau, the Namibians won the hour long soccer game 4-2. You should have seen the kids go wild...it was so fun!

Tonight we are doing our last 'group time' with the kids to say goodbye as they will be leaving for school at 6:30am on Monday. Anticipating a tough night for our team....we'll fill you in on the details tomorrow morning before we pack up and leave for Okahandja.

We'll leave you with our group picture from today with everyone from the Ark.

(click for a larger version)

Super Saturday

We had a great day today. As I write this, we are having a Brie (African BBQ party...although my spelling is questionable!) with the kids, the Aunties who take care of the kids, Pastor Hess and some of the Church members from the tent church in block E. It's amazing! Before the Brie started we gave each child a new outfit to wear...it was so great to see their excited faces! Also, because of the Church's generosity and the fundraising efforts of the youth and young adults, we were able to give each auntie $200 namibian during the party. They were so thankful! One auntie said that she has been praying for weeks because she needs $300 to send her son to highschool next year but she had no money (it needs to be paid next week). Her son is a bright young boy who we have gotten to know and love here at the orphanage...your gift will help make that possible! Also we were able to bless the orphanage with the following (in Namibian dollars which are about 4 to 1 with Canadian dollars):

• $19,000 to help pay for building/fixing etc.. and also to pay the cost of our team being here
• $1,000 gift to George and Anne-Marie
• $12,000 to pay for their Care and Compassion ministry (to the sick in block E) to continue for the next year
• $1,200 to pay for the afternoon kids club to continue for a year
• $3,360 shopping spree for Anne-Marie for the things that the kids need right away (all of the boys underwear could be stored in one shoebox and they haven't had toilet paper in a while!)
• about two years worth of clothes, at least for some sizes.

Thank-you so much for blessing this place and for allowing us the blessing to be the bearers of good news!

Apart from just money, the kids were given glow in the dark sticks, balloon animals...it was a real party! I can see already that team members are starting to anticipate and dread the Monday departure. Please pray for us!

Apart from the party, we spent most of Saturday hanging out at the Ark with the kids, doing team interviews so that people could express their feelings and experiences on film, and in the morning we hiked to the highest mountain (well...second highest once we got up there to see the other mountain!) just outside of Rehoboth where we could see the whole town. All in all it was super day that our team will not soon forget!

Tomorrow's a church day...please remember to pray for Pastor Scott as he speaks. We'll tell you what other fun festivities are planned for Sunday on our next posting!

Blessings

Sunrise for your sunset

We just returned from filming a beautiful African sunrise. I've noticed in the logs that we get a lot of traffic around midnite... so for those of you still up over on the other side of the world, good morning (on Saturday) from Namibia!

(it's a large image... click the link below to see full size)


Sunrise

Friday bonus pictures

We have a lot of pictures from today... I'll share a few until tomorrow's post.

Peter, a man from Block-E. We've visited throughout the week to wash his feet and offer soup.

Our artists finished the mural today...

We prayed tonight for Ingrid, four months and only 10 pounds. She has trouble breathing and keeping down food.

Darian causing 'trouble' with the boys at the Ark... (they're supposed to be sleeping...)

EXTRA EXTRA
We had some down-time tonight, after most of the kids had gone to bed and before our team meeting. A few of us spent the time having some fun with nighttime flash photography. Enjoy...

Updated prayer list

For those following along with us, we've been keeping the prayer list up-to-date as our time progresses. There's a few updates for you to keep in your prayers as we head into the weekend. (The list is on the right-hand side of the page)

Friday

Well...our work week has almost come to an end. It's Friday morning as I write, and our team is busy doing much of the same things that they have been doing for the last four days. The Noah's Ark mural is nearing completion and looks great. Last night four of the teams presented their choose to wait message to a group of 60 Africans in a town hall. The presentation went well.



A handful of our team have had sore throats/mild colds...probably from the first couple of cold nights--no one is too under the weather though. Please pray that we remain healthy throughout the rest of the trip.

Some point form highlights:

• Our recycling/garbage pickup is making an impact! The last two days we have been joined by up to 30 African youth to help clean up the town! Changing the attitudes of the next generation will make a difference in this place.


• Five people have become Christians this week through our Care and Compassion ministry! This has been really encouraging to Anne-Marie (She runs the Ark with her husband George) who has been working with some of these people for years. Not
  only that, several people who have been prayer for have made significant improvements in their health...some miraculous ones! It's awesome for our team to see the power of God at work in visible ways!


• Filming for the documentary is going well. We've been able to capture some life-shaping moments.

While there has been lots of adjusting on the fly...there has been no major obstacles with the trip so far...thank you for your continued prayers. We are looking forward to a great weekend with the kids, and then we are on the road for Monday-Wednesday, please pray for safety for our team as we travel.

Still tickin'

A few pictures of the team in ministry for you.


And just because Jimmi is so cute...


Cheers.

The week goes on

Not a lot to report to you today. Our "work week" as it has now been termed is in full swing and each group has now had the opportunity to participate in all the different tasks/adventures that have been planned.

People continue to be impacted by what they are seeing and experiencing and you can continue to pray along with us that God will teach us what it means to be people who love our African 'neighbour' as incredibly blessed Canadians.

Tonight we had the opportunity hear from several people from Rehoboth who are at the forefront of the AIDS fight.

Not surprisingly, the AIDS issue is intermixed with the incredible poverty, alcoholism, and unemployement that this town is bound by--What mother wouldn't sleep with a stranger for money if her kids were starving? That is just one of the terrible dilemmas that some are faced with here. Any fight against the AIDS pandemic must take into account the complexity of the issue... (that closes the education section of our daily post). It was a good opportunity to hear what the people in Rehoboth are doing themselves in the fight...and they are doing a lot.


Our afternoon kids club drew about 200 kids today. After a time of planned activities, the grades 6-7 get separated from the rest of the kids to get a peanut butter and jam sandwich and to hear a talk by Pastor Leslie. Today, the kids on the 'other side' of the gate did a mini-coup by prying open the gates and flooding in...not sure which they wanted more--the sandwich or to be included in the activities... but order was soon restored!

Blessings on all back home who are reading and praying along with us.

more pictures...

How to show what we're seeing... not easy, but here's a few pictures to help.








..Peter's house in Block E..


..We thought this was a pile of garbage. It's someone's house..

The workweek begins

The last two days have been pretty amazing for our team. Almost all of our teams have had the chance to interact with the poorest of the poor in Block E...either with 200 youth doing a day camp or serving food and praying for people dying of aids. Some of the experiences are definitely "hitting home" with some of our team--lots to process for them but it seems we can almost see God shaping people through the experience!

..day camp..


..block E..


Besides doing care and compassion and day camps, the team has been busy painting a huge mural on the wall of the Ark, helping the 'aunties' at the Ark with sweeping, mopping, laundry, and whatever else is needing to be done, picking up garbage around Rehoboth, teaching preschool, hanging out with the kids after school, and teaching choose to wait in the schools. That has been a big stretch for the team, but also one of the most significant experiences for them.

Imagine your little Jonny/Jenny arriving at an African school to teach an assembly of 700 African children! That's what they are doing. Then, for the rest of the morning, they are teaching in the classrooms while the teachers enjoy a break! Very cool!






Our ground-breaking initiative of recycling has been rewarding for the team as they are able to immediately see the fruits of their labor. It's been encouraging to see some of the Rehoboth youth join the team in picking the trash up...hopefully we're creating good habits for the next generation.

The team has been amazing. The two Righteous Reverands [Ed. Disclaimer: I would never come up with a tag line that bad... Trevor] have been so impressed with how engaged the team has been in each task they have served. A specific highlight today was the moment that young gert (a 4 year old boy) walked up to Jon as he sat on the sand, dropped his drawers and proceeded to relieve himself on Jon's leg! New experiences all over the place.

Thanks for your continued prayers. Communication with the outside world continues to be a challenge, so you will probably have to wait for a email from your loved one once they get to the International Airport in Vancouver.

We'll continue to keep you posted.

Everyone sends their love.

Back online

We're back online here at the Ark. I'm working to fix a minor bug in the site that has been putting the sidebar (with the prayer list) at the bottom of the page. There should be a new update from Scott & Jon coming shortly.

Quick update

We're having a hard time getting an internet connection... The teams went out this morning for the first time to engage with the people here in Rehoboth. Already a lot of people have stories to tell. We will hopefully be able to post again tomorrow morning and give more details and pictures.

Sunday update

-- post from Scott --

Hello from Namibia!

Last night we had an aboslute blast! George had a keyboard player come in and play some funky worship songs that the kids sang and danced to...we joined them, but I must confess that we Canadians look pretty pathetic when on the same dance floor as our African friends! What struck many of us is the joy that the kids show as they dance and sing...it's very humbling. It was so cool to join them in a big orphanage party!



It continues to be cold at night. Some of the team will be moving inside a couple of rooms so they can sleep better at night. the majority of the team are finding it ok in the tents though. The team has been great! It's so encouraging to see how they have engaged with the kids.

Today was Sunday and we walked to a tent church to join a small African congregation for worship. Pastor Jon preached up a storm, pulling a great sermon off with very little sleep. They sang a lot of their worships songs in English so we could sing along. While they sang some of the same songs that we do, it was different doing them while dancing around the church..."African style" worship is definitely worth experiencing first hand! The majority of the rest of our day was spent preparing for our busy week ahead. Teams will be presenting the "Choose to Wait" material in front of entire schools who have arranged assemblies just for us! Please pray for effective communication and a sense of peace for our teams as they prep for this.



Sunday the power was out from 6am to 6pm in Rehoboth. Then the phone was cut off so we were not able to send this update as early as we had hoped...this is part of the reality of Africa that we are learning about/growing from.

Monday morning our first two teams head out at 6:30am for the schools to teach CTW. Other teams will start picking up garbage, others painting, others teaching preschool at the Ark, and others Kids club...we'll be very busy!

Thanks for your continued interest and prayers

-- end post from Scott --

Folks, just so you know, we're having some trouble getting online... we intended to post this yesterday but our phone line isn't working. We'll keep you updated as we're able.

We have arrived

We arrived in Rehoboth around 11pm last night, two hours behind schedule because of a plane delay. We met up with Jesse Rosten at the airport and headed off on a bus. Along with the plane delay, we were missing eight of our bags, including some of our tents... all but one have since arrived - please pray the final bag makes it here safely.

We spent the day getting to know the children and our surroundings, touring Rehoboth and seeing an AIDS clinic. We've had a powerful time so far, meeting the children and hearing some of their very difficult stories.

George and the staff have been very welcoming. Their work here is making a difference, and we're excited to be a part of it.


I've taken over 600 pictures so far... choosing which to post is difficult, but I've got a few below to try and give the feel of the place.

Tomorrow we'll hear Jon preach for the church here, and spend more quality time with the orphans.



..the orphans schooling us at soccer..

Live from Johannesburg

An update from Africa...

We're all safe and sound in Johannesburg. The airport here has wireless internet, so I'm able to send you an update.

We had a quick walking tour of London courtesy of PPAC member Dave Lee. After successfully navigating the tube to Piccadilly Circus, we snapped this team shot at Trafalgar square.



We did a 2km walking loop to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Parliament buildings, then hopped on the tube back to Heathrow.



A long flight to Johannesburg - made longer by one grumpy stewardess (trying to show her the love of Jesus)... but made shorter by our own personal TVs with computer games! We're presently waiting out a 7 hour layover for our 2 hour flight into Windhoek, followed by a 2 hour busride to the Ark.



Our next posting will likely show you the aftermath of setting up our tent city in the dark at the Ark.

Ang tells me to say 'We love you, but we don't miss you yet... maybe tomorrow :)'

And we're off!

Hello to everyone tracking our progress!

I'm posting from the international terminal, gate D51. We'll be boarding in about 10 minutes, and everyone is present and accounted for. Thanks to Ross, friends & family and everyone who came out to wish us off.

I'll report if I can from London.

Trevor.

P.S. Here's a couple pictures from a few minutes ago...

Prayer List

-- message from Scott --

Thanks for being willing to pray for our team as we are in Africa! Below are some specific things that we would appreciate you remembering in your prayers:

• Safety/lack of complications for the team as we travel


• That all of our bags would arrive in the same place we do!


• That we would be well received by the community surrounding the orphanage


• For our groups of five people who will be teaching the “Choose to Wait” abstinence program to teens (some are nervous about this)


• For health as we are there…we’re cooking our own food which will be new for some people!


• For team unity and bonding


• Wisdom for Pastor Jon and Scott as they give leadership to the trip


• That we will be able to communicate the love of God to the orphans, the poor, and the sick as we encounter them


• Most importantly: That God would use this experience to shape our souls and change the way we live our lives

Thank you!

Scott Dickie

-- we'll keep this prayer list up-to-date on the side of this page --

Pictures of our send-off services

Sunday Send-off

This morning begins the journey for us as a team, as Peace Portal prays for us as part of a larger missions send-off. Over the next few days final preparations are being made as we pack our bags, check our equipment, and prepare for 22+ hours in the air.

Most of our flights leave at 8pm on Wednesday evening. Pray with us for favour as we go through the process of getting 36 people on the plane. Pray too that we will meet God on this trip and see his vision for Africa.

... pictures of the service coming soon...