No, this is not a picture from our team in South Africa but it is a picture of some members of our project serving lunch in Phoenix. This is a Habitat for Humanity Home that is in the last stages of completion, built by volunteers of the Lutheran Coalition of Phoenix. Our church, Love of Christ, is a member of this group and this is the 7th home we have been a part of building. Some members of the African Orphans Project have not only built homes in South Africa but also have been a part of the building projects here in the valley. Every week different groups volunteer to serve the lunch for the workers and this week our team chose to do the cooking. The picture shows members Gary and Judy Dana, Laurell Ondrejko and Norma Holen. Also pictured is Roy Sakorsky, a member of Christ Church Lutheran, a team member of the African Orphan Project and an intergral part of the Phoenix building program.

The home you see in the picture is the result of thirteen Saturdays of building with volunteers and the dedication will be held on February 20th. If you have not been involved in a Habitat build, do yourself a favor and find one in your area. Just like our project in Africa, a high skill level is not necessary just a desire to work with your hands--remember " God's work, our hands."

The 2nd Annual Shongweni Golf Tournament is almost here. Here is a picture of the beautiful Torreon Golf Course in Show Low Arizona that is going to provide a 3 day golf vacation for the golfer that raises the most donations. This year the tournament is being held at the Coyote Run Course at Leisure World in Mesa on Sunday, March 7th with a shotgun start beginning at 1:00 PM. We are limiting our field to 18 foursomes and it will be a scramble format. All donations to our tournament will benefit the African Orphans Mission (AOP) and we are still in need of donations, hole sponsors, gifts for prizes and donations. It will be free golf and food for the golfers but they must collect the minimum donation of $250 to participate. All checks are to be made out to Love of Christ Lutheran Church for tax purposes and can be sent to Ken Ondrejko--kondrejko@yahoo.com--call Ken for information--602-692-7492.
Remember that this golf tournament and our auction in March are our only fund raisers for this mission and without your help our efforts would not be possible.

The roof is on the creche in Shongweni and construction should be finished by March. There are plans to hold a soccer match on the new field in March for youth. Some of the mission teams this year will be painting and putting the final touches on the buildings so that it may be operational this year.

Shara has visited all the homes that have been built for the orphans and interviewed all the caregivers and children. There were children that needed uniforms and clothing for school and the AOP board approved funds to purchase the necessary items. This was done by Shara and Pastor Thwala and greatly appreciated by the community.

This year there will be 4 teams traveling to Shongweni with the possibility of a fifth. The first 2 teams will be going in April and May and then Sept and the team from Love of Christ will again be an October journey. Our plans have to be made around the World Cup being played in South Africa in July. The November team is tentative and is being made up of teachers from Christ Church Lutheran to work in the schools around Shongweni. An informational meeting will be held at LOC on February 9th at 7:00 for those that are interested in going this year.

Thank you for your interest in this mission.

The picture I included today is the "before" picture of one of the projects for 2010, a soccer field for the children. The house in the picture is being torn down, Margaret's old house, and the ground is being leveled. Donations have already paid for the grading and contributions next year will pay for the fencing and field. Along with the soccer field our plans for 2010 are to build at least one other home, either do some building or remodeling at a primary school, expand on the home garden project, continue with the sewing and cottage type industries out of the community center and working in the community with the families and of course get our creche up and running.
Here at Love of Christ Church, we are underway with our 2010 fund raiser. We will have our 2nd annual golf tournament on March 7th and this year will be a 18 hole tournament beginning at 1:00 at Leisure World Golf Course in Mesa. We are going to limit the field to 18 foursomes with some great prizes. The grand prize will be going to the golfer that brings in the most donations and that prize is a golf vacation to Torreon Golf Club in Show Low AZ. This is 3 nights at the golf villas, 2 rounds of golf for 4 and dinner and lunch--what a prize! Of course we will have plenty of food and beverage and many other prizes for the golfers. The money raised from this event will allow us to continue our work in Shongweni. Any donations will be greatly appreciated.
Our annual auction is also coming up in March--the 14th and will be held at the same location as last year--Deer Valley Air Park.Congressman John Shadegg will be there and probably auctioning off another trip to Washington and a tour of the capital. Last year's winners really enjoyed their trip. Linda Funk is working hard to make this another success.
I will be having an interest meeting in February for all those who would like to know more about next year's plans.
I have given several presentations about our trip to groups in the Phoenix area and have some scheduled already for next year. It is important that we touch as many people as possible about our mission.
Merry Christmas to all of you and thank you for taking the time to read our blog. Christmas is a time for children, so remember the children of Shongweni.

Story Telling Time

Last night the congregation of Love of Christ was invited to a presentation of our mission trip. We had a good response and most of our team was in attendance. There were plenty of snacks for everyone and of course coffee and juice. All the team members were asked to bring some articles that were purchased in South Africa and these were displayed on a table in the front of the sanctuary. The attached picture shows Glenda and Norma at the table with the array of different items. Many of those in attendance mentioned that we should bring back items with us to sell and benefit the people of the community. Perhaps in the future, we will be able to begin a cottage industry in the Center of Compassion to accomplish this and provide an income for the communnity. Many items were displayed reflecting their ability to create bead work, both jewelry and decorative pieces along with carving and local art, even a married ladies hat was brought to display.
Our program consisted of a slide presentation and that took everyone thru the journey from our luncheon before we began to our last days in South Africa on this trip. The first picture had not been seen by many of the team members and that was a picture of the waddle house that a family was living in before the mission began. I have included this picture at the end of the blogs, keep in mind there were 3 or 4 children living in this "house" and everytime it would rain, more mud would be lost from the walls. This home inspired the first visitors to Shongweni to form the mission in order to provide adequate housing for the orphan children. Bob and Linda Funk returned to the states after experiencing the conditions that these orphans were living in and dedicated their lives to improving their future. Thus the first home was built, the church was repaired and a parsonage built. Now there are over 175 children that share the results of this dream.
After the slide presentation, there was time for questions and then time to socialize, look at the albums of pictures and enjoy the deserts. Everytime a presentation of our mission is given, someone new is touched by the work being done in Shongweni. I will be giving presentations at my Optimist Club meeting on the 19th and then to 2 other Optimist Clubs in the valley. There are many other churches and organizations available and I hope to have an opportunity to share the message with them.
Thank you for your comments about this blog. Our work in Shongweni continues and our plans are underway for next year.

Home Again

Difficult as it was to bid Shara and our guides from African Exposure farewell, all of us looked forward to returning home. Ahead of us was the 35+hour trip beginning with a 4 hour ride to Durban to catch our first flight of four. Shara joined us on the bus ride and into the airport as did Bob and Alf. By this time next year Durban will have its new airport open to accommodate the crowds for the World Cup. Behind us were the many friends we made and the smiling faces of the hundreds of children that we saw. The flight to Jo-Berg is a short one and then on to the 18 hour flight to Washington via Senegal. In Washington we arrived before customs opened and had to wait a short time to pass and be accepted back home. That is no place to joke around--does anyone remember the Soup Nazi from the old Seinfeld show? That is what I feel like every time I go thru customs. Shannon Smith went her way in Washington and back to Minnesota. She will be able to spread the word about our mission before Norma returns to Onamia next May. Make sure you thank the people of Onamia for their support Shannon. It was then off to Denver and then to Phoenix. All our luggage was accounted for and Caleb was waiting outside in the bus to drive us home. Pastor Liles surprised us by joining Caleb and the team for the ride.

Your mind might realize that you have returned home but your body does not catch up for a while. At 3 or 4 in the morning your body is saying that you are late getting up and at 2 in the afternoon it is telling you that it is time for bed. This will clear up in a few days.

Now we begin to gather our pictures and analyze the work that has been done and start to plan the tasks for next year. I will be giving presentations to several clubs in the area and we will be reporting back to our local churches. There are still many unknowns about the success of our mission and we can only plant the seeds of hope for the children that we have touched. Will it be this generation or the next that will break the cycle of HIV/AIDS deaths in the Shongweni community? They have come so far already from the atrocities of apartheid only 15 years ago and the waddle houses that they lived in and the empty church that is now the center of progress and love and soon to be training and economic growth. An expression that I heard on this trip sums up our efforts--"Many drops fill a glass." Hopefully our 22 team members are considered one drop. I will continue this blog as we plan our mission for next year.

The Big Five

Saturday arrived quickly with a trip to the Indian Market in Durban to allow us to shop for local items. A side trip to the Muhti Market for a few of us was an adventure as always being full of herbs, bark, spices, animal parts and items not rcognizable. Of course our small group stood out in this mass of people. Pictures are not recommended because of some of the illegal items being sold but we did visit one of the stands that our tour leader was familiar with and were able to discuss some of the remedies cured by ingesting certain plant materials. Much trading was done at the Indian Market but of course none at the Muhti.

It was then off to the North, past the new soccer stadium built for the World Cup next year--4 billion Rand--did Nancy P. have something to do with this?

After a 4 hour trip we arrived at St. Lucia preserve and what a trip up the estuary viewing hippo families(pods), crocodiles and beautiful birds. Hard to believe the size of the animals in the water-5000lbs-right next to us yawning while we went by.

Sunday was rise and shine at 4:30 to jump on a safari jeep and off to the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Preserve. Our guide Patrick zipped up the canvas sides for it was a little chilly but we dressed for the ride. Immediately upon entering the park, Impala were spotted and as we found out were very plentiful in the 95,000HAC-235,000 acres-- park. This park is Africa's oldest established protected area. During our 8 hour tour, we did experience elephants, giraffes, white rhinos, kudu, cape buffalo and many other animals. The picture I included today show the big five, all in this park, but we did not spot any lions or leopards. At one time, not too long ago, there were only 15 white rhinos in the world but this park has led the way to build up the numbers and now this park holds over 3000. After a lunch in which the local monkeys joined us and pilferred some food, we headed back to our hotel in St. Lucia.

Final day with our friends

Goals have been accomplished and lives were touched and we have made a difference. Today was our final day of work in the Shongweni community. We have been blessed by the wonderful weather this week with temps in the 70s and 80s and usually a breeze in the afternoon and today the rain held off until our dedication ceremony at 3:00. Although we did not complete Margaret's house, most of the work was finished with just a slight bit more to work on and that will be done next week. She will be able to move in before the end of the month and then work will be started on tearing her old home down and grading of the soccer field. The children have so much energy they need a soccer field to burn off some of the excess. A Zulu bible was given to Margaret as a house warming present and we all met for pictures and ceremony outside and inside of her new home. She was at the job site all day working on the outside yard with a hoe, leveling the ground.

The picture I included today was taken inside the community center during the dedication. It took place after school so there were many children in attendance. The entire team was impressed by the gratification & joy for what we have done. Our work crossed multi-generational lines. Please hold Pastor Thwala and Shara up in your prayers.

The participation of the children for the day school we held increased every day to where it was around 20 in the afternoon today. Songs were sung with the older children, there were lots of hugs all around. Books were being read, children playing with toys and hula hoops and some making items with beads. All of us encouraged the children to work hard in school and know that Jesus loves them.

I had a chance to visit the home of Dorothy--the chicken lady. She is starting an egg business and now has 10 chickens. One of the last teams purchased a pen and feed and also the first chickens. She eventually wants to have 30 chickens and sell that number of eggs per day. This is a project of the ladies of the church and Dorothy and Pastor T. want to move the operation closer to the church. We will have to see how that will work out. This is a project that we can also encourage our children to help raise funds to keep this going. Several of us followed Dorothy to her home, down the road from the church, off the road from the church and followed many paths to her home. Going down the hill to her home was one thing but coming back up was tough. No wonder she is usually late for Sunday service.
Tomorrow will be a day to visit the Indian and Muthi market in Durban. This is always an experience for the first timers. This is where they get to see and smell the real sights and smells of where we are. Then in the afternoon we are off the St. Lucia, up the coast to a game preserve and some R&R. Probably no internet there so until we return home.....
Submitted by Glenda Haug