A Warm Welcome Home

It was so wonderful to be greeted by familiar - smiling faces - knowing that we had been prayed for and thought about for for over the past two weeks. Our final leg of the trip started early Friday morning in eSikhawini - we awoke to no water - not a drop - but God's love was overflowing. We had to part with our dear friends and it did cause us to shed a tear or two. We drove to Durban - returned the vans - and speedily checked in as a group. We hopped on the plane at 10:25 am and took off at 10:30! Whew - that was close. We landed in Johannesburg shortly after and had a long layover - we shopped, ate, slept, and reminisced with our teammates. Later that evening we hopped on an 11 hour flight to London Heathrow. We were all antsy by the time we started circling in air around London. We saw all of the "sights" - Big Ben, the Eye, the Palace, etc. from the air. We weren't allowed to land until the airport was officially open after it had been shut down due to the bomb threats. We of course - thought that it was quite silly that the airport was closed - but we had no idea about what had happened they day before - we have been "out of the loop" on world events. Security was TIGHT in London and several of us were searched - but we all made it through. We spent some time doing our final shopping at the duty free stores - gathering up Aerobars (shelly shared hers with me on the plane - thank you) - and taking a showers for a mere 3 pounds! We gathered together for a final prayer - and then took our last flight into Detroit Metro. We arrived at the McNamara Building and spent quite a bit of time working our way through passport control, collecting our luggage, and U.S. customs. When we came through the doors we were greeted by our friends and families. I felt myself begin to tear up as the last two weeks hit me in the chest - yes -GOD had DONE a work through us and in us. He is FAITHFUL to the end.

June 29 Greetings from South Africa

Dear Friends and Family,
One final "Sawubona" from South Africa -- we leave for Durban within the hour.
There are many thoughts running through my head as we prepare to leave -- this is my second home and I always head "home" with very mixed feelings. This has been a great trip. We've seen over 700 patients and we've forged friendships that will be lifelong. This is a great team. I'm grateful to each one.
I always tell each team that the work we do is important, but the people we meet is what we will remember. As we saw patients in the clinics, I wrote down a few names whose stories really touched me -- representative, I think, of the people of eSikhawini and Ingwavuma.
Josta Mpanza -- a 62 year old grandma who cares for 6 orphans -- several of whom are HIV positive.
Bongiwe Dladla -- a 44 year old woman whose husband was shot and killed in 2004 as she watched. She came with headaches -- and in tears -- as she remembered his death.
Hlengiwe (her name means "Redeemed") -- a 14 year old who came with marked weight loss -- her mother is sick with AIDS and her father has died.
Masibonge Hadebe -- a two month old infant who was near death from starvation (her young mother was wrongly mixing her formula) -- we gave her formula and fluids and she returned the next day with her mother -- smiling and happy.
We want to thank you for your partnership with us. These dear folks and many like them were cared for because of your kind and faithful support.
One final friend that I will remember is Elsie Nkosi. Elsie is 70 years old -- she was my translator for many of the clinics. Her husband of 46 years died last December -- she has one 30 year old son who is paraplegic and wheelchair bound (gunshot wound in 1998) and lives with her. Another son and his wife have recently died of AIDS -- and left her to care for their 11 year old son who is on treatment for AIDS. She also cares for 7 other grandchildren. When I asked her how she copes, she said "God has given me courage."
I pray that I, and perhaps you, will remember Mrs.Nkosi, and take courage when we face the challenges that God has placed before us.
God bless you and we'll see you soon.
Sharon for the 2007 Medical Outrech Team.

Prayer Calendar June 29 & 30

Friday June 29

We will depart South Africa

• Safety and rest on the flight home
• The team remains unified and energized
• The luggage makes it safely and on time
• That we will be loving ambassadors for Christ as we return to our families, friends and co-workers
• The entire team (Psalm 34:3)

June 28 Greetings from South Africa

Greetings friends and family.
I write to you all only hours before the 2007 South Africa Medical Missions Team heads home to Michigan. We have all just finished a spectacular dinner prepared by our leaders Tracy and Sarah. This by far was the best meal as many of our Zulu friends joined us as our guests for our last meal at the Mafu's. We were blessed with acapella Zulu after dinner. As of right now the team is packing and preparing for our early departure.
Today was a day of leisure that started a little later than usual (I am sure that we all slept well through the constant storming during the night). The morning started with a marvelous breakfast then we headed to Richard's Bay to the beach for one last view. Despite the strong winds wiping and sand blowing, we remained on the beach for some time reflecting and praying. I stood in awe on the coast as the surf crashed against the sand. I was reminded of God's strength beauty and nature. The weather—although strong—brought peace to many of us.
After we all shook sand from our hair we preceded to the mall to do some last minute gift shopping and exploration of the South Africa culture. Since we were diligently focused much of the trip on serving, some of the team felt that they missed out on experiencing the culture. Unfortunately, the mall is much like ours at home. I began to really look at the homes and streets as we drove home I realized we did not miss as much as I thought. What we experienced was even more important. We served many of the Mafus' community and worked alongside some of the most faithful and amazing Christians. They are always joyful, smiling and willing to share or teach us their language and music.
The storm last night; although a blessing and relief from the draught in the area; also flooded many yards and the wind actually took one home down nearby. There are also reports of deaths due to drowning, please pray for these families that are feeling a loss. I wonder how some of the Zulu people make it through a storm; many of the homes are made of sticks and rock others of blocks and tin roofs.
We have seen much of the habits of the nationals but I personally have not paid close attention until today. There are many woman and children on the side of the road at make shift stands selling fruit, or carvings. There are people all over the streets waiting for buses, taxis or walking to their destinations. Our vans have been mistaken for taxis many times. There is also roaming live stock and poultry along the roads. Down the dirt path back to the Mafu's home we find people tending to their gardens, yards and laundry. Today some people are digging trenches to drain their yards. In the end we retreat to a warm comfortable home that we are grateful for.
We have just ended the night now that it is nearly 1200 AM with prayer and praise in Zulu and English and saying goodbye to our new but good friends in eSikhawini. Please pray that we have safe travel the next couple days and for the Mafus and ACM as another team arrives shortly after we depart. The team looks forward to seeing our families and friends soon.

The Medical Outreach Team!

Prayer Calendar June 28

Thursday June 28

We will participate in morning devotions at schools and after-school Bible classes. We will also prepare for return.

• Prayer that we will never forget the things that God has done in each of our lives
• Robyn (John 6:29)
• Shelly (Mark 11:22-26)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

June 27 Greetings from South Africa

Hello, from all of us here in SA!
We are ready to be reunited with all of you, but I have to admit that it is bitter sweet. The bitter is, today was our last clinic, the sweet is, today was our last clinic. We are exhausted, but overwhelmed by the thought of coming home. There are so many people left to see and it seems like we¡¦ve just begun, it is going to be very hard to say goodbye.
Today started a little later than usual, which was nice since it was raining. It was a special clinic, in that we took care of all the people that have been tirelessly helping us translate since we have been here. The span of people being seen was from young teenagers to members of the royal family. They are all such beautiful people and I think that I can speak for us all when I say that we have been blessed by them all. They have showered us with affection and told us how grateful they are that we came to help them, but the feeling is more than mutual.
Our docs, Alex, and Sharon, were very relieved to see that there wasn¡¦t a ¡§Cedar Point¡¨ sized line to work through, and the nurses, Kristi, Katie and Megan V. were equally glad . With Cheryl on the Mebendazole station and Shelly, Adam, and Ian manning the prayer circles, with great vigor, we had another clinic that went off without a hitch. The pharmacy, that consisted of Sarah, Robyn, Megan O, and Tracy, had a new member, John DO. He was feeling a little under the weather today, so the other docs decided to cut him a little slack. He picked right up and offered his expertise in a capacity that didn¡¦t require quite as much talking, great job John!
Having the Royal family at our clinic today was a bit daunting, but they were very gracious, and were also grateful that we were there to serve them. The good Rev. Rob talked with them and prayed over them before they left and also took over the vitamin station while Richard was away. Richard went to school with Zomusa, Mercy and Isiaah¡¦s daughter, and spoke to them about nutrition. He is the go-to guy when it comes to matters of nutrition, so I¡¦m sure he did a great job.
We ate well again today, but it was very hard to stay warm. The rain has been much needed here, but with it came some very cold weather. It is still raining very hard and the sound of the rain is being accompanied by thunder and lightening, great weather for sleeping. Today has been full of ¡§lasts,¡¨ and one of those has been the Wed. night prayer meeting. Pastor Robertson spoke again tonight on God and His holiness and the meeting went out with dancing. One person in particular stands out in this song with a dance move that will not to quickly be forgotten, you know who you are and my God be with you hamstring ƒº
We have wrapped up the day with time spent together and life tokens shared. Tonight were Megan V., Robyn, Richard, Melissa and Sharon. It is always so nice to hear where people are going, where they¡¦ve been and the things that God has taught them since we¡¦ve been here is SA. We are looking forward to a good nights sleep and hopefully, weather willing, another trip to Richard¡¦s Bay. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers. We have each felt the closeness of the Holy Spirit and have been blessed through your praying. Until tomorrow, this is Kristi telling you good night.
In Christ!
Sarah

Prayer Calendar June 27

Wednesday June 27

We will have our last Medical Clinic for ACM and Church Staff

• Prayer that the medical clinics would be an effective outreach to the local community and would contribute to church growth
• Sharon (1 Corinthians 15:58)
• Deedee (Hebrews 13:15)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

June 26 Greetings from South Africa

Sabona (hello in Zulu), Delicious coffee cake that Shelly prepared along with a fine cup ofcoffee that Kristi made is just about the best way to cap off a greatday! It is Tuesday night and the team is about to have our nightly meeting but for now we are spending some well deserved down time.Everyone is in high spirits as we have successfully completed our lastlarge clinic.Today was the second clinic that we held at the ACM church in Empembeni. As we drove up to the church this morning there were 225people already waiting in line to be seen by the doctors. Mercy hadthe unfortunate job of telling many of them that we could only seeabout 150 people today. Still the day was a success as we were privileged to be able to meet and treat many people including some ofthe members of the Zulu Royal family. Sharon acted as our U.S.ambassador, and took care of the Royal needs and requests, and might Iadd she is a tremendous diplomat. The clinic ran smoothly today due to the amazing helpers andtranslators that have been working with us every step of the way. Infact as I was drinking my coffee a minute ago; Sharon, Sarah, Tracyand Alex were talking about how amazing our nurses have been. Katie, Kristi and Megan V. have done a great job and have helped to makethese clinics run swimmingly. (I'll be right back…) Well, we just had our team meeting for the night. It was really good,I am telling you that God has brought this team together! –Enough said. A couple of us have colds and some others have some allergyissues, so please pray for them. Prayer has been the last 'station' that people go through at theclinic. It has been a lot of fun to watch Rev. Rob, Shelly, Melissa, Cheryl, Richard, Robyn, Ian and I pray for people's concerns. I haverealized that Death is a major part of life here. A lady came backtoday to tell the people who prayed for her that she had had a fullnight's sleep last night. We prayed for her on Monday because sheasked that she would be able to sleep without being bothered by evilspirits. I don't know what you believe about God and Satan but I cantell you that God is at work with the Mafu's, with this team, in thisclinic, and most of all in these people! Every week ACM teaching over 600 children in after school bibleprograms. Many of the leaders have been our translators. Today Ian and I went with Mercy and Sabalo to pick up 40 kids to bring to theclinic. As I was driving down a dirt path with about 16 kids in theback of the rental van, yelling at everyone in the neighborhood, I hada strong sense of God's peace. The van was piercingly loud as I wastrying to shift gears around a kid trying to climb on the seat to lookout the window. But there was a strange, Redeeming, Joyful, Peaceabout bringing sick kids to see a doctor. Yesterday there was a two month old baby that was noticeablymalnourished and it captured the hearts of our team. This morning thebaby was brought back and had a noticeable improvement. This was ablessing to everyone on our team because we were able to see some of the positive effects of our efforts. Pat and Megan O. did a great job playing with the kids in line andleading people to the right places in the clinic. John and Richardplayed a bit of soccer after the clinic with some of the guys as we waited to clean everything up and head back to eSikhawini. On our wayhome it began to rain and we began to thank God that he had held backthe rain for all of our clinics. Tomorrow we will be holding another clinic and hopefully attend some of the after school bible studies. We are looking forward to theselast couple of days and we all appreciate your prayers. Please prayfor the Mafu's and for the other young leaders of ACM because theyhave had to put up with us for over a week now and I think we have worn them out! Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! Adam

Prayer Calendar June 26

Tuesday June 26

We will have a 2nd Medical Clinic at GEC Empembeni and participate in morning devotions at schools as well as after-school Bible classes

• Pray for endurance and compassion as we serve Jesus at Empembeni and that there is sufficient medication and supplies
• Sarah (Deuteronomy 31:6)
• David (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

June 25 Greetings from South Africa

Greetings to family and friends back home!

I was asked to write one of our daily e-mail messages to get the "medical doctor" perspective of our medical mission here in South Africa.

We all woke up to another gorgeous morning of blue and sunny skies. Today was our 3rd clinic that was held in the church at Empembeni which Melissa mentioned in yesterday's e-mail letter. Shelly and Melissa left early in the morning to go grocery shopping since we were definitely low on the food supplies. The rest of the team made their way to Empembeni. As we approached with our caravan, having passed through several sugar cane fields, we came upon the church (which Ian and Adam had built in 2001 and is still standing strong) with at least 70 people already waiting, listening as Isaiah Mafu was giving his opening sermon before beginning each of our clinics. More patients we had passed along the way, making their way to the church/ clinic. What I noted initially as we made our way into the church was that those standing in the crowd were mostly women and young children. I remember a remark that Sharon made yesterday that the young population we were noticing was due to the deaths of the adults from HIV/AIDS.

Our Zulu brothers and sisters in Christ helped us set up the clinic inside the church building. After our pre-clinic group prayer and song, we got our clinic up and running. Us doctors Sharon, John, and myself along with our most helpful and efficient nursing team of Kristi, Katie and Megan V. saw some patients who really needed our help. Sharon saw a malnourished child from poor protein intake in the diet which we term kwashiorkor. Another 2 month old baby who was moderately dehydrated bordering on severe dehydration. Fortunately, we had some oral rehydration salts that we were able to formulate for the baby. I had a misfortunate boy who had a really severe case of impetigo, a bacterial rash around his mouth extending down his neck. Later in the day, I had a family with a severe case of scabies with some of the rash becoming infected already. Kristi and Katie had their adventures in washing out ear wax and even finding an ant come out with one of their ear lavages!

All of us doctors continue to experience the "laundry list" of physical complaints that our patients present with which I think is due to the fact that we may be the only doctors these people will see for the year. Furthermore, the whole country of South Africa proceeds into its 3 rd week of a labor strike of government service workers – including the teachers and nurses. So some of our patients inform us that they cannot go to the local clinics because they are closed. (We continue to pray for this nation-wide situation) We also continue to go through the often-times humorous and sometimes tiresome process of determining what "chest pain", "kidney pain", and "eye pain" actually means. I think even our Zulu translators who have been most helpful for us physicians are becoming aware of the common ailments we are diagnosing: upper respiratory infections, ringworm, allergies (which I think may be due to the local methods of waste disposal by burning trash), conjunctivitis, diarrhea, arthritis and headaches.

Sarah, Tracy, Robyn, and Megan O. continued to run our little pharmacy with efficiency and they continue to keep up in interpreting medical abbreviations from us docs with their crash course in medical shorthand, even as the doctors (John and I) were reverting to our shorthand unknowingly. Pat continued to do an excellent job as the traffic controller, especially today when we were all a little more space-limited. Cheryl manned our mebendazole station, as we have been providing this medication used to de-worm patients; since this condition/ infestation is quite prevalent in the community. David continued to dispense our limited number of glasses but as we noted later, God was still faithful in providing just the right amount for the right number of people who were in need (despite the fact that one of our missing boxes from London remains to be the glasses). Richard continued to be our nutrition counselor dispensing our vitamins to our patients. Adam and Melissa was our prayer warriors for our patients who continue to seek our prayers for their health and hopefully will have understanding of God's power and grace. Ian was our camerman turned reality-TV videographer getting his photos and footage of our clinic in action.

We were blessed to have this clinic day finish at a good reasonable time. And though we did have to turn away some patients so as not to be overwhelmed, we at least were able to tell patients that we would be returning tomorrow to hopefully see those who were not seen.

But this day had more blessings in store for us. Most of us attended the prayer meeting at Grace Evangelical Church where David reminded us of the Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God. After a dinner prepared by Shelly, Richard, Ian and Adam, we were graced to hear the testimony of our wonderful hosts The Mafus- Isaiah and Mercy. The floor was theirs for this time when we were able to hear of God's faithfulness in their lives and the struggles they faced as they established the African Christian Ministry from South Africa to the United States and back again. We continued to hear heart-warming stories of the life tokens from Shelly, Kristi, Adam and David and how God has been faithful and present in their lives.

So today was a very blessed day not only for the patients whom we were able to serve but also for the team. We are over half-way done with our stay here in South Africa and I believe God is working in each of us to move His Will forward, not only here in South Africa but when we return to the United States.

God Bless,
Alex, MD

Prayer Calendar June 25

Monday June 25

We will have a Medical Clinic at GEC Empembeni and participate in morning devotions at schools as well as after-school Bible classes

• That we will be salt and light and boldly share the gospel message and that through the power of touch, we will be compassionate disciples of our Lord
• Tracy (Daniel 2:20-23) & (Jeremiah 29:11)
• Megan (1 Corinthians 2:0)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

Prayer Calendar June 24

Sunday June 24

We will attend Grace Evangelical Church, hear the message, and help with the children’s programs, and music ministry for two worship services

• Pray for the team members that prepare the services - that God would touch our hearts and use us for His purposes
• Katie (Isaiah 40:26)
• Sally (2 Corinithians 1:3-7)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

Prayer Calendar June 23

Saturday June 23

We will have a Medical Clinic – GEC Kwamashesha

• Pray that we would extend the love of Christ with special tenderness to our Zulu brothers and sisters
• That many souls and bodies would be healed
• John (Philippians 2:3-4)
• Richard (Psalm 117:1-2)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

June 22 Greetings from South Africa

Sawubona!
We are back at the Mafus' house after an incredible journey. The past two days have been jam packed with work, adventure, fun and service to our Lord Jesus Christ.
We woke early Wednesday morning and were on our way to Ingwavuma by 7:30. After a 3+ hour drive, we arrived at Mercy's mother's house to set up for our 1st clinic. The people were already waiting patiently for us, so the team quickly set up for the clinic with the help of Isaiah and our translators and began seeing patients in record time. Our team is truly amazing. We worked together like a finely tuned machine, each of us setting aside our own desires for the good of the people we were serving. John, Sharon and Alex worked tirelessly, serving 152 patients in about 6 hours with the assistance of our Zulu translators. Their tenacity and dedication were apparent as they continued to work after dark, in a building with no electricity so that they could see all of the people who had waited so patiently for the entire day. Thankfully, we had enough lamps and flashlights to go around. Katie, Kristi, Megan V. and Pat worked triage, doing everythin g from taking blood pressure to bandaging up a little girl's finger (a terrifying experience for the child to be sure). One of their most daunting challenges being trying to pronounce the patients' names. Richard made himself a table out of cinder blocks and set up a vitamin dispensing station, making good use of his nutrition degree by offering much needed healthy living tips to the people that he served. Robyn, Megan O., Sarah and Tracy ran the pharmacy with precision and grace, explaining directions and offering sympathy. Rev. Rob and Ian did the vision testing and fitted people with new reading glasses. They found it especialy fullfilling to see the look on the people's faces when they could finally read something after having found the proper prescription. Adam and Cheryl headed up the prayer station, tirelessly praying specifically with each and every person who came through the clinic. Shelly and Melissa organized the many children who were waiting for parents or to be seen by the docs. They also entertained adults and children alike (as well as some of the team) with their shameless participation in the games. Duck, Duck, Goose was a particular favorite, as was the Hokey Pokey. The team work was truly impressive. Proof positive that God is at work in our team and that He has called each one of us to do this work here.
We left Ingwavuma and drove down to Hluhluwe for a delicious dinner and a much needed shower. It was a stark contrast to the poverty that we left on the mountain and surely many of us felt some guilt and all of us had much gratitude for God's blessings in our own lives. We all went to bed with full stomachs and grateful hearts for some much needed rest.
The team (with the exception of Pat who decided to savor some time alone) left for the game park at 9:30 Thursday morning to take a drive around the game park. Sharon, Rev. Rob., and Tracy have been our main drivers for the trip, braving the left side of the road as well as baboons, South African drivers and a police woman who's elbow was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks go out to all of them for keeping us moving and keeping us safe. We were blessed to see a lot of animals that morning, particularly exciting was the very large family of baboons who decided to hang out with us for quite some time. We did a bit of shopping at the gift shop and then headed out for our guided safari. The team split up into three jeeps and we all had fantastic animal experiences. The elephants were particularly exciting, a large bull decided he'd had enough of us watching him and scared the bejeezus out of Shelly and Ian as he came within a foot of us with his gleaming, three foot long tusks and a look in his eyes that said, "Don't mess with me!" This event was captured on tape by Alex who was on the opposite side of the jeep and therefore able to maintain his composure. Another group including Kristi, Megan O., Tracy, Megan V., Richard, Cheryl, Sarah, Craig and Kristin (guests of Adam) found themselves surrounded by a herd of mother elephants and their babies. Quite a scare for them as the guide told them to prepare for a charge. We all made it back safely however and gave much deserved praise to God for all of his amazing creatures that we were so fortunate to be able to encounter that day.
We left this morning to head back to the Mafus' house. We stopped at a couple of markets for some shopping. Everyone had a great time looking at all of the wonderful local art and buying gifts for family and friends. We arrived back at the Mafus' this afternoon and most of the team heading over to the church to continue sorting meds while Alex got in the driver's seat to take the ACM staff over to teach after school bible studies and Pat, Sharon, Shelly and Ian went with Mercy to do a little grocery shopping and to say goodbye to Katie Gurzie, a missionary here in South Africa and friend of Sharon and Mercy. She is retiring after 50 years of serving God by witnessing to the Zulu people and visiting many people in need. A truly amazing person who will be sorely missed here.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. We have another clinic tomorrow so your continued prayers are crucial to our success. Please pray for grace, guidance, patience, and especially for all of us to be examples of Christ to the people we serve tomorrow. Know that you are all in our prayers as well as we all miss and love you very much. You can rest well knowing that God is taking good care of us. That has been apparent in every moment we have been here.
Love in Christ,
Shelly

Prayer Calendar June 22

Friday June 22

We will set up and prepare for the medical clinics at GEC, participate in morning devotions at local schools, and help with after-school Bible classes

• Pray for the 1,500 plus children reached in ACM morning devotions and after-school Bible classes
• Kristi (Psalm 29)
• Alex (Romans 12:1-2)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

Prayer Calendar June 21

Thursday June 21

We will ride through the game park and visit the open air market

• Healing and salvation for the millions in South Africa who have HIV/AIDS
• Time of fun and relaxation to build team unity and fellowship
• Pat (Philippians 2:1-2)
• Melissa (2 Corinthians 6:1-10)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

Prayer Calendar June 20

Wednesday June 20

We will travel to Ingwavuma and hold a Medical Clinic

• Pray that there is an openness of hearts to Jesus
• Success of the first clinic at Ingwavuma - that we will effectively organize and administer medical care
• Ian (1Thessalonians 2:3-6)
• Adam (Matt 10:8b)

Feel free to post a comment/prayer!

June 19 Greetings from South Africa

Sawubona!
We greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tracy did a fantastic job filling you all in on our journey to Esikhawini. It was a long one. But today, we began to experience first hand why we are here, and that has refocused our attention from ourselves to those we have come to serve.
We started the day with an amazing breakfast prepared by our chefs extraordinaire Shelly, Richard, and Robyn. It was almost too good. Sharon, Ian, and Shelly then headed into town with Mercy to purchase all the groceries and supplies that 22 people need to survive for a few days at least. The rest of the crew headed over to the church across the street to begin the tedious but necessary task of counting and sorting and dosing out the thousands of meds that were so generously donated to our trip. To give you an example of the number of meds we're working with, we had a total of 116,000 Ibuprofen. We had far more Benedryl, vitamins, Acetaminophen, and others.
The team got right to it and worked hard until well after 7 p.m. By God's grace, and with a little humor from Kristi, Ian and Adam, we not only counted out enough meds to get us through our first clinic, but we even had a little fun in the process. Megan O. and Adam handled our children's vitamins, RevRob and Sarah focused on vitamins, Megan V, Robyn and Pat counted thousands of Ibuprofen, Kristi, Katie and Melissa handled our Benedryl, John and Alex not only counted but perfectly organized our Tums, Ian, Cheryl and Richard worked on adult vitamins and Tracy organized our cough and cold meds. It was a full team effort and a great time to get to know each other a little better.
A little side note – we lost nine bags during our travels over here. Mostly they were meds and a few other medical essentials. So far, one has been found and returned. According to British Airways, the others remain trapped in an underground tunnel on a conveyor belt that broke down. Several thousand bags are trapped there and they are working to find ours. But a little extra prayer for those bags would be greatly appreciated. Again, in God's great plan, we are confident that we have all we need for tomorrow, even without those bags.
During our time packing, we were able to reconnect with some old friends. One of our dear friends, Sabelo, just lost his father this past week and the funeral was this past weekend. We were able to pray with him and for him and share in the grief of his loss and the joy of his now eternal life with our brother in Christ. We heard about the strike that is affecting everyone in South Africa as the nurses and teachers have not been working for the past three weeks. And we know that God has us here at this time, in this place, for a specific purpose. We are excited and eager to serve – to be His hands and feet in these few days.
We left the church this evening under a blanket of the most amazing stars and walked back to the Mafus for a delicious dinner prepared by Alex, Katie, Shelly, Richard. We even had chocolate cake – a Shelly specialty. :) After a little team meeting about tomorrow – our first clinic – we were off to pack, hang out and hopefully get a little sleep for what will be a very long day.
On behalf of the team, thank you all, so much for your prayers and support that have brought us this far. We ask that you continue to lift us all up as we head to the mountain for our first clinic. We are anxious and excited and ready to do what we believe God has called us here to do. Please pray for us energy, peace, graciousness, joy and love. We hope to be Jesus to the people we meet tomorrow and know that it will take strength and power beyond our own. We also hope to have a relaxing and team building time at Hluhluwe (the game park) on Thursday so we can come back ready and refreshed for our clinics on Saturday and next week.
May God bless you all! We will be in touch as often as we can but, we'll be at the game park until Friday afternoon (our time) so, it will probably be after that.
In Him,
Sarah

Prayer Calendar June 19

Tuesday June 19

We will prepare for medical clinics
Sort meds and pack clinic tubs
Morning devotions at schools
After-school Bible classes

• Pray that we will lovingly serve the people of Grace Evangelical Church and the community
• Team unity
• Megan(James 1 2-4)
• Cheryl(John 13:34-35)

Please feel free to post a comment/prayer!

June 18 Greetings from South Africa

Greetings to our Family and Friends from South Africa,
We have arrived safely in eSkikahwini after a long and twisty 50-hour travel adventure.
Many of you saw us off and could see how excited we were! We arrived just on time to check in a total of 54 bags including 33 bags of medicine and supplies, 3 wheelchairs, and 2 walkers. The British Air staff seemed to take it in stride.

Our first flight to London started the initiation of our "long flights". We flew through the night and arrived in London midmorning. Adam, Sarah, Robyn, Kristy, Cheryl, Shelly, Tracy, Alex, Melissa, Megan O, Richard, Megan V, and Rev. Rob rode the express tube from the airport into London and took in some sites during the layover. They saw Big Ben, Piccadelly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and the Falkand War Victory Day Parade. They also enjoyed a typical pub lunch of fish'n'chips. Sharon, Katie, John, Pat, and Ian took the opportunity to take a rest in the airport day rooms.

Later in the day, our adventure continued as we crunched into a Boeing-747 airplane to get us to Capetown. This flight was approximately 12 hours long and proved to be a challenge because of the limited amount of space - especially for those sitting in the middle seats. Somehow - we all seemed to make it just fine. During the flight, many of us were awestruck when we saw an AMAZING display of stars in the dark skies over Africa - they were breathtaking to say the least. We landed early in the moring in Capetown, South Africa. We breezed through passport inspection but were surprised to find out that nine of our bags never made it.

We had a really short amount of time to connect to our last flight and the baggage claim folks rushed us on without our missing luggage. We sailed through customs and we recognized that this was in direct result of all of the prayer support - thank you. We walked about a 1/2 mile outside from the international terminal into the domestic flights building and managed to check in all 18 of us in less than a half hour - so that we could make our connection to Durban. It was a whirlwind of activity but the team worked together as if we had done it a million times before. Arriving in Durban, many folks took their first steps onto African soil. We all felt a sense of relief that we had made it through our last flight. Isaiah Mafu and some of the folks from the church gave us a warm greeting and helped us get all of our luggage loaded into their truck & trailer.

Later that afternoon we hopped into our 3 rental vans and headed North to eSikhawini. Three minutes into our final leg of the journey the clutch blew out in Rev Rob's van. He handled it like a champ and they were able to contact us via the walkie-talkies. As they sat on the side of the road waiting for assistance they were overwhelmed with how many concerned drivers stopped to help. We eventualy made it back to the airport again and received a new van which was in full operational mode. We were so grateful. We traveled in a caravan to eSikhawini and arrived around 7pm. We were greeted by the wonderful sounds of African Song and warm hugs and handshakes. Yes - We finally arrived!!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We have felt the presence of God throughout this trip. Tomorrow we will be counting and packaging medication. It will take a lot of stamina and concentration - so please continue to pray for us and the Zulu people. (and that the luggage would arrive tomorrow!)

Kindly,
The 2007 South Africa Medical Outreach Team
[John, Ian, Katie, Pat, Sharon, Tracy, Alex, Melissa, Megan O., Shelly, Kristy, Megan V., Rev Rob, Sarah, Robyn, Richard, Adam, and Cheryl]

Prayer Calendar June 18

Monday June 18

We will arrive in eSikhawini and begin unpacking supplies for clinics

• Rapid recovery from 36 hours of travel.
• That the all of the luggage makes it safely
• Pray that many will come to know the saving power of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
• Mercy & Isaiah (Matthew 28:1-7)

Please feel free to add a comment/prayer!

Prayer Calendar June 16&17

Saturday & Sunday June 16-17

We will be departing

• Safety for the team and for family and friends left at home
• Africa Christian Ministries (ACM) staff as they prepare for our arrival
• Pray that the team remains unified and energized
• Successful passage through customs with medical
  supplies and that all of the luggage makes it safely and on time
• ACM Staff (Psalm 118:23)
• The entire team (Ephesians 1:17-23)

Feel free to write a comment/prayer!

By the Grace of God . . .Finally Here!

Yes - It is by the Grace of God that we are FINALLY HERE! Early this morning - as I was packing - I checked the blog site and I read the "Days until we leave" and it said

It's Finally Here!

We pray that God's Grace, Protection, and Favor fully envelope us on this trip.

PLEASE - PLEASE - continue to pray for us. Each day of the prayer calendar is posted on the right hand side of the blog. Click on the day and find out what we are "planning" (plans change!) on doing that day. Please feel free to post a prayer or comment to those pages. We would love to receive your encouragement that way.

I have also added a photo flickr on the right side of the page - if we are able (no guarantee's) we will try posting some pictures there!

Thanks Again - the 2007 Medical Outreach Team

Team Send Off

Our team will be meeting at KCC at 3:00 pm.
If you would like to join us around 4:15 for prayer - we would love to have you!

We're getting Close!

We are getting SOOOOO close to leaving. We have spent a lot of time preparing our materials, medical supplies, and trying to spend time with God. Thank you for all of your support. It has been so wonderful to experience the support that you have given us and that God has provided. Please - PLEASE - continue to lift the team up in prayer over the next few weeks. We really need it!

Don't forget to take a look at the prayer calendar each day (found on the side of this blog)

Tracy

June Prayers

Thank you to everyone who intercedes on our behalf, on behalf of the Zulu People, and for the work of our mighty God.

• Prayers for continued focus on God, the maker and creator and sustainer of all things.
  Continued prayers for the health of all our team members (and their families) as we prepare to go and probably fail to get enough sleep in the next few weeks.
• Praises for better water service at the Mafus!!! And prayer that it continues :)
• Prayer for the teachers who are finishing up their classes for the year - for continued strength, energy and patience to the very end. And, of course, prayers for the students who are finishing up as well!
• Prayers for continued financial support to reach, and exceed, our goal. We are praying specifically for $6,500 to be provided.
• Prayers for continued team unity and bonding
• Prayers for favor with the travel folks so we can each take three bags - or at least ensure that all the supplies we need will be able to go with us and arrive there safely.
• Prayer for the Zulu People - that God prepares their hearts to know Jesus and that God uses us demonstrate his hope and everlasting life.

Luggage Requirements

We were a bit surprised when we found out that our checked baggage was a bit smaller than we thought!

Checked bag:
Maximum dimensions per bag (H+W+L): 158cm (62in).
Maximum weight per bag: 70#

Carry On luggage:
No bigger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm (approximately 22 inches x 17.5 inches x 9.85 inches).


I usually use the Space Saver Bags which reduce the volume of what I am packing. The do not, however, reduce the weight!