afriCANTics day 6

1. michael jackson died today... did you hear?
2. nathan and hunter made today honorary michael jackson day! it may have been the most entertaining day of their life- as we sang (at least the 4 songs we know) and danced (at least the 2 dances we know) all day long.... did i mention we have no dance skills at all!!! but we taught the kids all kinds of michael jackson moves....at least the 2 we knew.
3. at the feeding station, we attempted to teach the kids MJ songs.... (please sing as high as possible the next word) "thriller"... "ABC; 123"...... the words are supposed to be "abc, easy as 123, as simple as do re mi, abc, 123, baby you and me......" the kids sing...."abc.....def.......ghi.........jkl........mnnnnnopp.....qrs......."
4. hunter moonwalked.
5. the cashier at the bank apparently is going to michael jackson's funeral in the states..... she is "leaving today"
6. we went off-roading in a church van today while hunting for baboons..... we nearly got stuck several times....
7. kim smiled today- and no lions were in sight

day 6

Started the day VERY slow!!! Had to change some currency at the hotel and then went baboon hunting while off-roading in a church van. Very interesting!!!
The feeding station was great! We had some time to continue to build relationships with the kids who have attached to us throughout the week.
God taught us today to enjoy His creation. We saw so many beautiful things in the wilderness today. His creation is amazing. We can't wait to continue to be amazed during our safari tomorrow!

afriCANTics Day 5

1. The elephant song: If you should meet an elephant, upon a summer's day, what would you do, what would you say. I'd say, "good morning Mr. Elephant, how do you do? Nice to meet you elephant, may I dance with you?" Tra, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la

2. Nothing else funny has really happened today......IN AFRICA!!!!!

Day 5

we finished sorting all of the donated clothing and supplies this morning. we have already met people that needed this clothing and have already given out some sweaters as it is 65 - 70 degrees during the day and the africans are cold! We went on to the feeding station and gave out toothbrushes and toothpaste after their meal. During the bible story time the students acted out Noah's Ark and then demonstrated how to use the toothbrush and toothpaste. Once the children were through with their meals they received their toothbrush and toothpaste and ran home in excitement. We later saw them smiling and yelling at us "I brushed teeth, I brushed teeth". We then went to the church where some of us played 'net ball' and Nathan amused them with a card trick. The children did not want us to leave when it was time for us to go, however, we needed to prepare for the youth group meeting. The youth group time was funfilled with songs, praises and dancing!!! After introductions and a prayer we each gave our testimony and Paige gave a devotion, all of which were fantabulous! The night ended with a closing prayer by Nathan and hugs from the participants. We learned today that although we are getting more sleep than normal, we are exhausted. Why? Because investing in people is exhausting!

afriCANTics day 4a

6. kim's on the phone, talking to her mom. all is quiet. the silence is broken by kim saying, "no, mom, the lions are fine." good to know that at least one person is reading this blog.

afriCANTics day 4

1. the steak had a great flavor... but we are still chewing it!!!! (we cooked it though!!!! what they cook is MUCH better!!!)
2. hunter doesn't know why in the world he got gum.... after his jaw is broken from chewing the same piece of steak for 17 minutes!!!
3. as anna went to greet a 3-year old child, she mistakenly called the child "uncle"
4. our waitress' name was 'beauty'.... we asked her "where's the beast?" as we flexed our muscles and said "right here!!!!"..... she laughed!!!

day 4

today was a great lesson in flexibility!!! the original plan was to unload the luggage and paint part of the church and we would cook dinner for them and serve them... maruti james' son was sick and maruti was with him for the better part of the morning- meaning we did not have room for the luggage to be transported to the church....
so- while some of the team went to get food for dinner, the rest stayed to paint (which really means smear 'vanilla pudding' on the side of a building) and "garden" (which really means move "dirt" aka 'african concrete' from one spot to another)...
the painting /gardening teamswere finished 2 hours before the shoppers returned back to the church...
then off to the feeding station- we found out 5 mins before we were up... that we were giving a Bible story of Jonah and the whale.... our group did a great job and even acted out the story!!! the kids have requested a story every day that we are here, they loved it so much!!!
for dinner, we had steak, potatoes, mushrooms and onions, corn on the cob, and cake for dessert (and erica's birthday)... all was great!!!! except the steak which was not as tender as we had hoped, but had great flavor!!!!
God is continuing to teach our group something special!!! we continue to see God in the middle of the 'ordinary!'
thanks for your prayers!

afriCANTics day 3

we begun unloading and sorting the nearly 1000 pounds of donatated clothes, shoes, vitamins, and hygene products. we still have about half to go- but we are off the a great start!
then came our first hands-on experience at the feeding station including washing dishes, playing with the kids. i noticed that several kids were sharing their food with others. this is a significant growth step since just 9 months ago- they were STEALING food from one another.
a prayer gathering followed at the church- where you could clearly feel God's prescence in the room, even in the absence of musical instruments, computers, or sound equipment. the volume of the music was expressed from the heart.
then it was dinner time and on for a traditional setswana meal - dumplings, chicken, and stew.... YUMMY!!!!!! so good!!!!!! very filling!!!!

how bout some funny stuff?
1. upon completion of dinner, Mathatha suddenly gets up and says "im fed up".... in america- this means "im mad"... apparently in botswana it means "im full and have had enough food"... this debate went on for the next 5 minutes and caused extreme laughter!
2. hunter apparently will forget how to speak english- as he stated on the ride home "with all this setswan, i think im gonna forget english when i get home"........ if this occurs, however, his extensive vocabulary will only include 7 words. (hunter, yes, no, hello, hello sir, hello ma'am, hello all)
3. as im typing the above #2.... kim attempts to detract attention and says "that gets 'stupider' every time i hear it"........... everyone on the team says "whatever 'LION GIRL'"
4. all the kids are convinced that sara's name is "polo-holo".... which means "beast"
5. dirt was peeling off hunter's smelly feet after playing soccer all day.... he was forced to take a shower prior to debriefing....... make that 2 showers..... the first one did not work.......... on the way to the room, the same woman as in day 1 afriCANTics- says "what's dying in this hotel?"
6. kim's obsession for lions is getting out of hand!!!!! she now claims to have seen a lion track............ tregea watched the dog make the alleged lion track!!!!!

thanks for praying for us! we will update you tomorrow!!!

afriCANTics day 2

we hiked up mount kgale today... there was some great views that could only be experienced by completing the hike. it makes me wonder how often we sacrifice getting a chance to see the big picture because we are content with the little pictures. what happens if God's intentions is for us to see the whole picture all along? the hike was a great opening to the day.. challenging and difficult but rewarding.

alright well along with this great experience came just a few more funny moments...

1. on the trek up to kgale today we meet some mormans on their mission... they passed us (we were very slow)... on the way up one of our team members said "when we get to the top can we push the mormans off????... yeah then we can say then you lose.........TWICE!!

2. the above mentioned mormans attempted to convert erica using a morman tract.... erica politley responded "um....i cant read!"

3. those same mormans mentioned in 1 and 2 put the same tract at the top of mount kgale. as our eyes caught the tract our instincts said "get that out of here!" so nathan gladly balled up the tract and threw it off the mountain!

4. kim's love for lions is become evident on this trip.... she expects to see them everywhere we go but her appreciation for safety is much greater. on her hike up kgale she stated "ive noticed botswana is really really safe.... i still havent noticed any lions..

5. tregea died part of her hair pink before the trip... has anyone noticed it yet...... no.....except THE MORMANS!

afriCANTics 1b

8. tregea asleep!!!!................... "tregea!!!!!!!!!!! hurry up, our plane is boarding!!!!!!!!!!" with some 10 hours before departure........ tregea jumps up, grabs her stuff, and begins running to gate to catch plane not even at the airport yet.... nice joke on a "sleep deprived-benedryled" tregea
9. remember the "explosive chemistry experiment"?....... kim says "it would have worked if you would have put the cap on first, then poured the koolaid".................................... hmmmmmmmmmm- think about that one!!!!!!!!!!!
10. currently, nathan is wrestling hunter to the ground in attempts to throw him in the shower to get rid of his stank feet. nathan says "oh dude my arm stinks now!" hunter says "no dude that's your armpit." nathan proceeds to take a whiff and says "...maybe it is..." remember, it has been over 50 hours since our last shower. yay

afriCANTics 1a

hunter's disclaimer to the HOT pink journal AND the bathroom incident is "im confident in my sexuality!!!"

we are here!!!!

we made it!!! we arrived in gaborone on time and all is well... the church is very glad to have us here and we are pumped to have an amazing 10 days while we are here...
here are some humerous notes of the day: this feature will be called "afriCANTics (that' a contraction for africa antics)...
1. nathan accidently purchased "sparkling water" instead of "spring water"... no biggie right? well, it was disgusting- so in an effort to "help it out a bit" he decides to make sparkling "koolaid" with a pack of koolaid powder.... well..... sparkling water + koolaid powder = explosive chemistry experiment...
2. "hunter.... make sure you check out the boys room at the hotel".... hunter enters..... finds women...... hunter exits quickly (after a brief conversation consisting of "oops, wrong one, my bad...." the woman's response was "what is that smell???...... i smell some feet"... hunter's reply.... "my bad")
3. debrief time..... question was "what have you noticed about gaborone?" .... kim's sleep deprived response...."iv'e noticed everything seems safe........ they've taken safety measures to keep out the lions"
4. achmed abinijad.... LOTS of laughs!!!!!
5. hunter's journal for the trip is PINK.... hot pink!!!
6. anna's attempt to pull a "jacob vining" by reaching for sunglasses behind an "invisible" glass case!!!....... on the floor in laughter.......................................LITERALLY
7. hunter's repeated attempts to perform a "magic trick" in the joburg airport for 17 hours........................failure....................failure................failure................failure.............failure ......... SUCCESS (well almost)!!!!

thanks for praying for us!!!! we are here and cant wait to get started.....

one hour and counting

we FINALLY will be boarding our last flight from joburg to gaborone in about an hour! we are exhausted after spending the last 17 hours in the joburg airport- including sleeping on airport benches!!! it was the BEST night sleep we have had!!! thank you for your prayers- we are ready to get to gaborone!!!