Ending the 3rd Trimester

There has been so much progress in our ministry these last few weeks that we are completely energized. For a long time our work seemed to make little to no impact with the people and groups we have been working with. However recently we have seen the benefits of our labor and our relationship building. We are integral parts of the ministries we participate in and, more importantly, they are essential to our lives as well.

We are quickly approaching the day we depart from South Africa to return to the United States for a brief visit. While there we will be visiting family and friends. We hope to have time to meet with as many of our faithful supporters as we can. Our excitement is explosive!

We do have to some needs while we are in the US. We will spend most of our time in Colorado and would like to borrow a vehicle while there. We also hope to visit family in Massachusetts and need help with funds and a vehicle while on the East Coast. We are grateful of any help with these items.

Now a brief account from us individually:

Mike:
I am not exactly sure how it happened, but we somehow now have a guinea pig as a pet. His name is Cerdito, which is little pig in Spanish. I know Spanish in Africa is strange, but Portuguese is close and is the primary language in Mozambique. I built a nice cage for him with scrap-wood and chicken wire. An upside down wooden craft box serves as a cozy house within the cage. He is a talkative fellow, especially when he wants something. His home is in view of the refrigerator. He has figured out that food is kept in there so whenever we open the door he stands on top of his house and screams constantly until we give him a little piece of lettuce to munch on. His favorite thing to do is crawl underneath the newspaper in his cage and toss his food dish over. He likes this best right after Jeanine has finished cleaning the cage.

I am not exactly sure how it happened, but we somehow now have a dog as a pet also. Well, part time at least. She finds her way over to our flat every night and curls up at our feet or on Jeanine’s lap. Her name is Courage and she is completely void of any. If there is a bump in the night, she is the first one to hide. Little Courage has more energy than the energizer bunny. She has two speeds, stopped and full sprint. She runs so fast that her front legs actually come off the ground. Dog wheelies.

We are both excited to visit the US! I cannot wait to see family and friends. I am also very anxious to fill my belly with Qdobas, Chick-fil-a, pumpkin brew, and Kirkland Trail Mix.!


Jeanine:
The time is 5:30am.  (Yes I STILL get up that early) Morning has arrived and the birds start their morning song.  We begin with the group of cranes that take to the sky, their cries similar to the US seagull only lower; the “whiner” bird who sounds just like a 2yr old whining (waaah, waaaah, waaaah); the “couple birds” (this one is great)..the male calls out with a little 2-tone whistle, similar to calling a dog and then waits for a single toned reply of the female.  (It is quite something when they call back and forth.)  There are lots of doves, a male & female kingfisher and leeetle tiny finches with amazingly vibrant colors like red/black; blue/yellow; yellow/green/black.  And there are the peacocks who make the morning totally complete with their exotic cries from the distance.  AND of course, our neighborhood rooster who unfortunately is a tad confused most times.  He crows at 5pm; 10:35pm….the other morning I got up with the dog at 2am… you got it, he was crowing then too.  *sigh* all in all it is an amazing sound to wake up to each day.  So with this beautiful chorus filling the air, the sky gradually lightens and after an hour or so the sun bursts over the horizon sending sunbeams thru all of the branches surrounding our little home…

And you know I realized then, that as excited as I am to come to the US for a visit, I will very much miss my African mornings…

Cerdito dressed up for a party

Courage (commonly mistaken as a goat)

Our agenda/calendar has been added to the blog, or you can click here

and Justice for all...

We say goodbye to July and the cold weather it brought. Hesitantly we welcome August. The climate is warming but the wind has increased. The dry grass and suffocating dust is now being sprayed every which way by the excessive wind. We fight to endure a few more weeks of such weather; we will be rewarded by the warmth of spring.

We are sad to say that the friendly noises of various guests in BEAM house have now come to a halt. The numerous teams that have visited during mission trips have all moved on. We were very used to having visitors and thoroughly enjoyed their presence (and help with our ministry tasks). Our most recent visitors were an amazing couple from Cornerstone, Justin (Justice) and Ginny Irvin. Besides their willingness to serve where ever and however, they also brought a lot of grub. They came stocked with four crates of food parcels packages by Kids Against Hunger. Most of the food has been distributed through BEAM Africa to a township in Maubane. Justin and Ginny were here to participate. Also, thanks to Justin, construction on the Siyathemba fence has continued since the tragic injury from The Pig Incident. We cannot express our gratitude of the amazing Irvins. We ask that you keep them in their prayers as they returned home to some discouraging and expensive house problems.

We are excited about many upcoming events over the next couple months. We have some meetings scheduled in August that will ignite some new processes in South Africa and possibly Lesotho (a neighboring country). We might be visiting Lesotho for a few days as well. Our friends at Siyathemba are working on a new church structure and have begun new relationships with potential volunteers. Our partners at BEAM Africa are aggressively continuing Life Skills courses and have begun new relationships with a ministry in a township north of their current center. Also some close friends of ours are expecting their first child in September and we could not be more excited for them. Last but not least, in mid-September we will be on home-assignment for a month. We are coming back to the US! Most of our time will be in Colorado but are hoping to afford a trip to MA and possibly AZ. As we iron out more details we will post our agenda.

We have much to look forward to and are very excited about all of it. We are beginning to see the effects of our efforts here and are thrilled about it all. We know that none of it would be possible without the faithful support and prayers of our friends and family. We thank you so much for everything you do!

God bless each of you!

Mike & Jeanine

The Amazing Irvins - Justin (Justice) and Ginny

Volunteers at Siyathemba Nokeng

Justin and Ginny with Louis and Erika of BEAM Africa

Ever see a giraffe drink water?