Holiday Club, Arandis, May 2009

LIFE is more than just staying alive. LIFE - as I believe Jesus sees it - is full, abundant, and beautiful (see John 10:10). We are about more than just keeping these kids breathing...

Most of them have come from backgrounds that would make you sob if you knew. Trust me, I have shed many a tear over the misery that they so readily remember (click here for a surface-level peak into a few of their pasts). In some cases, I've witnessed the misery first hand.

NOW, I want to take a second and show you one fine example of how these children are being given futures FAR beyond their origins.
It's been a good long school break thus far (almost 4 weeks in full) and tomorrow we have our last activity for the break - a trip out to Spitzkoppe. We have year-round school here, which basically means that the school-break times are divided into 3 breaks a year. This one was particularly long - almost a month. So, we decided to make the best of it. With the Fauntroys coming during this time, we had a little extra help for the 1st 2 weeks. Thanks Pat & Tori!

Here are some of the things that we did with the children:

1- Bible/Worship/Prayer times 2x a week
2- Sports/Activities times 2x a week
3- Library and reading times, with a reading competition. 11,298 pages were read by the 40 children we have here in Arandis!
4- Clubs/Classes including:
......a. Explorer's Club (science stuff, volcanoes to be precise)
......b. Mini-theatre Club (they constructed a story/play, with a scrolling painting to go with it - very very cool and fun)
......c. First Aid Class (learning basic first aid methods)
......d. Garden Club (learning how to grow vegetables in the desert)
......e. Baking Club (baked brownies, cookies, apple pie, etc.)
5- 3 Movie nights at the town's amphi-theatre
6- Dance Camp (taught by Kailey, Tori, and Pearl) + a Dance Concert for the community
7- Field Trips to:
......a. Spitzkoppe
......b. The beach at Swakopmund
......c. The sand dunes between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay
8- Girls Only Club - which also meets regularly with Karrie during the school terms to talk about spiritual, emotional, social, and physical issues relevant to 11-13 year old girls here in Namibia.


WHEW! I'm tired. But it has all been worth it. There was a time when these kids would have been roaming the streets during school break, making up their own "fun". Several of the children have a history of stealing, violence, abuse by opportunistic predators, etc. - before coming into our foster families. This life they are living now is so VERY different than what they knew before! I praise God daily for that!!!

Now, to reach more of them...

Check out our photo album for the Holiday Club at the following link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=111558&id=690603766

Dance Concert Pics

One of the things that Kailey and her friend Tori Fauntroy planned to do while the Fauntroys were here visiting was to teach dance classes to 3 groups -> 5-9 year olds; 10-12 year olds, and 13-16 year olds. They worked HARD HARD HARD for 2 weeks, and it all came to finale with the dance concert they had on Friday evening.

To see the pictures, just check out my Facebook photo album at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109158&id=690603766&ref=nf

Making me homesick

I had come to terms with our transition to Namibia some time ago. I knew I would miss folks back home when I came, but I was also prepared for more relationships here. Honestly, I've been doing ok, but it sure hit me this morning as I was in church listening to Pastor Pat sing and Tori play piano, and then hearing a message from Pastor Pat that reminded me WAY TOO MUCH of being at The Father's House church in Chantilly, VA.

You see, in case you don't already know, Pastor Pat and Tori (his daughter) are visiting us here in Namibia from our home church. And though they've been with us all week thus far, helping & serving in our children's ministry activities, living out of our house, and going everywhere with us... it didn't really hit me until this morning just how much I miss being with everyone in VA.


From each chord and line in "Still" and "I Bless Your Name", to the power in Pastor Pat's deep, booming voice during his message, I felt myself falling apart and being lifted up at the same time. For just one moment I was there again, in concert with my church family.

Though I'm happy to be here, and though our church family here in Arandis is great in many many ways... I miss all of you at The Father's House. I am truly looking forward to our sabbatical next year, so I can see you and all of our other wonderful family and friends again. It's been too long.

-Steve