It's beginning to not really look a lot like Christmas

So it’s been a while since I’ve updated.

Things are going well and are starting to wind down for Christmas break (December 15 – January 3). It’s seems to be very short but I guess does the trick. It’s been a tough last few weeks. There’s been a lot of pressure from big donors and a lot of meetings. One in particular, the biggest meeting I’ll ever be a part of I’m sure is happening on the 15th. Please be thinking and praying for us during that time. We meet with our biggest donor in South Africa (PEPFAR – US government’s Aids Relief) which we have a contract of almost $1,000,000 USD. The 15th will decide whether we work together or not. Pray God’s Will be done in that situation. I’m personally unsure of which way I want it to go. There are many challenges that come with both. Anyway, continue to pray also for all the people here. We are exhausted and many people have been suffering from reoccurring sickness as a result of it. Pray for good, good rest during Christmas.

It’s hard to grasp that it’s Christmas. Walking through a thatch-roofed building with the hot air blowing through and walking past bows and garland while hearing Celine’s Christmas album play, just doesn’t feel normal. It’s trying to celebrate Christmas in these places that seem quite impossible and so my mind automatically cancels or omits Christmas for the year.

But on the other hand, I have received some of the most beautiful reminders of Christmas. One I’d like to share being a sachet of ground wild-harvested Fir needles. It smells like Christmas and is the most beautiful gift I think I could ever receive at this time. Thanks Lydia. I smell it all the time and it instantly fills my insides with the warmth of love.

I’m excited, though, for the break. I’m not planning to travel anywhere, as many people usually do. I just want to stay home and relax and spend some much needed time with many of the people I love and have, these last couple mounths, poorly invested in. This includes the students who just got back from University for the break (Fortunate, Elvis, Gugu!) But this especially includes Lorraine, Clearance, and Remember that I spoke about in an earlier blog. I can’t wait to go see them! I’m even thinking of bringing them here for a couple days or even take them into Kruger Park to see all the animals. I’m positive they’ve never been, even though it’s a 20 min drive from their home. That’s the reality of most people here. They will never in their life have the opportunity to see the area’s biggest attraction.

Not to mention I’m excited for Willis to be here. He just arrived yesterday. I surprised him at the airport, which is quite impressive for me because for some reason I can never keep surprises hidden to him. I usually get way too excited and end up telling him. But I kept this one in. He was expecting me to pick him up from the bus in Nelspruit, but waited for him at the airport in Johannesburg. It didn’t exactly turn out as I had played it over and over in my mind. His plane was to land at 7:00 and I didn’t get to the airport until 7:20, which I felt was still plenty of time because it usually takes longer than 20 minutes to get through security and pick up bags. Nope. He landed at 6:50 and was out at 7:00, so after waiting for 1h15, Paul and I walked around the airport in search of him. I knew he’d be hiding in a little corner somewhere by himself listening to music. After searching for a while, we almost gave up and I decided I would just meet him at the bus station at 10:45 (because I had booked the same bus ride home with him), but we decided to check one more place, the bus station. I didn’t think to look there because I couldn’t imagine why anyone would wait there for 4 hours seeing as there’s nothing there but dirty taxi drivers trying to con and pressure you into spending a million dollars on their taxi ride. But lo and behold, there he was. So now we are together at the Village and are looking forward to the adventures unfolding.

Before I end this, just need to give a shout-out to my family. I miss you all so much, especially during this time. My heart feels heavy when I think about snow activities, Grandma’s Christmas cookies, and mostly just sitting around the table enjoying a meal together. I’ll try to re-create that here as much as I can. I bought a chocolate calendar and am planning to go on a tree hunt, which is nearly impossible since coniferous trees are definitely not indigenous here.

I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my Christmas adventures.

I love you all very much. Have a Merry Christmas. I pray that it’s filled with joy and peace and that you can experience even a sliver of the hope that is birthed during this season.

Walking by Faith

We’ve been having some major challenges here at Hands lately. Eish, big challenges. In the last couple years we’ve been really pushing for our communities to be receiving support. We started a campaign called Arise & Build that encourages people to contribute $15/mo in order for a child to receive education, health, and food security. As this campaign has caught on and our communities have been receiving incredible amounts of support, we’ve seen our own operational funds become less and less. These operational funds are what allow us to pay our rent, our bills, and care for our family. When I speak of our family, I speak of the people within our organization that have devoted their lives to serving the communities we work with. They are volunteering and have no means of paying for accommodation, food, and other basic needs. And when I speak of these people, I speak of basically everyone who isn’t an international volunteer that either raised their own support or has a church sponsoring them. There are many. When Hands started, the founders committed to living by faith. Now is the time we actually have to do it.

I’m being deeply challenged by this myself and am trying to figure out what role I am to play in this. I keep thinking of my friend Hank and the whole message behind the buffalo chicken sandwich. If I have and my brother has not, it’s my responsibility. When we use the word “family” it means we are committed to each other.

Because of all the challenges we’re facing, we’ve committed to a 24-hour prayer and fasting time from Friday 6pm to Saturday 6pm. Please stand in solidarity with us. We are desperately seeking God during this time for wisdom, for strength, for understanding. This work requires great faith and we’re hoping God will impart some words on us that may increase our faith.

If you do pray with us and you receive any scriptures or words of encouragement, please e-mail me. I’d love to share with the family. Even though you may be thousands of kilometres away, we are together in this.

Where Will Their Hope Come From?

Remember when I talked last about George's visit to Goma, DRC, and how heavy but equally exciting it was? Well here's what he wrote about it: Click here.

Actually read it.

On a different note, I've been having some health issues. It's something that I can remember goes all the way back to when I was 8 or so. Not sure how much to disclose, but basically I choke a lot when I eat and regurgitate a lot. Even today I burped and fluid went up my nose. I know you didn't really hope to read about this following a challenging update on DRC, but this is my life and I'd really appreciate prayer. Tomorrow I'm going for a Barium Swallow (OMMnomnom) to see if there's an issue with the actual functioning of my esophagus. I saw the doctor today and she said it could be an Esophageal Motility Disorder. Anyway, I'm alive and I'm fine, but it's just a little stressful. I'm happy to finally have direction.

And yesterday I got a letter from my Grandmother. It made my day. Letters are the best. Feel free to send.

There's a short update for you.

Dying to Self

It’s been a while since I’ve written. There’s been a lot going on and every time I get an opportunity to sit and write something I find myself overwhelmed by even the look of a computer. Even now I’m struggling as it’s smoking hot and the heat radiating from this computer is causing further discomfort in my body.

Let’s start with Canadian thanksgiving. I think this was the best so far. This is the third year in a row I’ve celebrated thanksgiving in Africa. We always organize a BIG function where the Canadians are responsible for providing the essentials and everyone else just brings a side dish. This year I made 66 mini and 1 big pumpkin (carrot) pies. They were just as superb as last year. We bought 3 turkeys and 3 chickens and I’m not sure how we managed, but we cooked them to perfection! I was so impressed and truly felt like I fulfilled my female existence by mastering 3 turkeys and 67 pies. As much as I hate to admit it, it’s very true. Jayme the Babooshka of course once again led the perogie assembly line. We really outdid ourselves this time. It’s really strange, though, to think of my last thanksgiving in Canada being in 2007. That seems like ages ago. Has it really been that long that I’ve been coming to this place? Unreal.

Our turkey celebration also marked the last night with my dear friends Brooke and Jed. I miss them every day. They’ve been here since September 2007 so have been central to my time here. I’ll save myself from tears and keep it short. But I must just say that they’re my favourite.

Since Brooke has left, though, the pressure has definitely increased. My first month here I could easily hide behind Brooke, but once she left I actually had to start doing some real work. As much as it’s been hectic trying to manage and organize the South Africa/Swaziland Regional Support Team, it’s been really awesome. I’m working closely with Levy (a key member of the Hands family usually sent out to break new ground all across Africa) and just love serving the people around me. I’ve been getting out to the communities often and spending two days a week in the Service Centres (last year I worked in the Bushbuckridge Service Centre). We’ve been quite busy organizing trainings for care workers. The trainings are to communicate the changing face of HIV/Aids and the need to fight it by providing holistic care for orphans through parental home visits. We’re rolling this training out into all the communities in South Africa and so far have completed 7 out of 14. Not bad. But these trainings really mark a new season for us. We’re really seeing the need to walk closely with these care workers, to be constantly encouraging and influencing them. It’s quite exciting to see how our Service Centres will figure out how to mentor them on an ongoing basis.

On a REALLY exciting note ... my father is coming to visit in January! Eeeeeep! I can hardly believe it myself and when I tell people, I just giggle. It’s so exciting and so crazy. He’s coming Jan 15-28. I’m hoping to find him some building projects. Simon figures there will be child home renovations in Bushbuckridge that’ll need a hand or two, so I’m sure we can find something for him to do. Not to mention we’ll go on a safari and, really, how can my hunting-lover father come to Africa and not get the opportunity to shoot something exotic? He just came out of elk season (with a nice one I hear) and is moving into moose season. So I guess I’ll have to get him some gun-time here too.

Eish, this one’s long. Sorry, guys. Another exciting thing happening lately is I’ve joined our worship team at church. This has been something I’ve wanted to do my whole life. A couple Sundays ago I actually sang and played guitar. It’s hard to believe people actually trust me with a microphone, but it was so much fun. I’m sure I could do it without ceasing. That and eating cereal. I had three bowls of cornflakes for supper. As it gets hotter here, my craving for a delicious bowl of cereal intensifies. OMMnomnom.

I know this is long, but I can’t finish this entry without talking about Lorraine, Clearance [Clarence], and Remember. I write [Clarence] because that’s his name but this weekend I saw him writing it “Clearance”. These three have been a family close to my heart for a long time, ever since Louise stayed with them and introduced me. I’m sure I’ve talked about them before somewhere but Lorraine is 16, Remember 11 and Clearance 10. Their father passed away in 2007, their mother in 2008 and they’ve been staying alone since. While in Canada, they were the story I seemed to always share and as soon as I got back to Africa I felt desperate to see them. And this urgency to see them wasn’t for nothing. As soon as I saw them a couple weeks ago, it absolutely destroyed me. Their situation is not good and as much as I wish to share the details with you all, I really can’t. But as soon as I saw them I felt the urgency to stay with them and spend time with them. A week later (this past weekend), I stayed in their community (not with them, unfortunately, as they have no windows or doors on their house and Minah deemed it too dangerous for me... but for some reason not for them). I got to hang out with Clearance on Friday night and play a lot of Top 10 (card game very commonly played here in South Africa). On Saturday I spent the entire day sitting in their house. Lorraine made me cook, Clearance and I read storybooks as Lorraine did my hair, we all made friendship bracelets, played more Top 10, and drew pictures of houses. It was such a lovely time, although my derriere became quite sore from sitting for 8 hours on a cement floor. And then on Sunday I sat beside Clearance during the 3-hour church service and tried to pay attention to the screaming preacher while Clearance played with my hand, stroked my skin, and drew pictures of elephants, lions, snakes, and buffalo in my journal. They’re such lovely kids, but were dealt a bad hand in life. It’s quite hard to imagine that this type of situation can actually be real. Where is everyone? How is this allowed? A young girl left to care for younger siblings, even struggling to care for herself as she engages in destructive and degrading activities. A young boy awfully sick, going blind in one eye, and often left alone in the house as the older sister runs around. And then the middle boy who was taken into the home of a teacher in a different community because he had compassion on him, but what’s left is a broken up family that only has each other and desperately needs one another. But God isn’t concerned about what the world is doing for them, He’s asking me what I’m doing about it. A friendship bracelet is a start, but it signifies much more to me than a string on a wrist. I’m committed to them.

Dying to self. We become a little less significant when God shows his little snotty-nosed face.

Bhuti Vusi

The other day I was walking through the community with some volunteers. Now this isn’t a regular activity I get to participate in, but I was hosting another team of missionary students. We had to get through a wire fence so one of the care workers lifted one of the wires so I could bend down and get through. As I bent down and my upper body paralleled the ground, I saw a Cobra quickly pass directly under me. And in this position I froze. The care workers squealed a little bit, but mostly laughed at my frozen response. I survived a Cobra.

On a sad note, Vusi passed away. Now if you haven’t been keeping up with my blogs, please refer to Drowning in a Sea of Yellow. The care workers said Vusi had passed away the night we prayed for him. It’s interesting how similar this situation is to one that burned me deep: Gloria. The circumstances were very similar. The only difference is how we responded to the need. When I met Gloria, I sensed God wanted to just give her peace and rest and so I sat and held her hand for a very long time and then prayed for peace and rest. She died that night. When I first walked into Vusi’s room, I sensed the end of his life nearing. In that moment, I felt strongly to sit on his bedside and hold his hand and tell him he’s beautiful and God loves him and God sees him even within his pain. But I just sat back as a group of people prayed intensely for healing. It’s hard to not feel like I failed him in that moment. God clearly had a purpose for Vusi then. Perhaps God wanted him to die with dignity while being loved. We, as stupid Christians, completely misinterpreted God’s will in that moment and, in our emotion-filled initiative to manifest God’s power, as his son and wife watched us, we prayed and thanked God for healing.

The Mess of African Politics.

Here is some interesting reading for those who love the mess of politics.

George just got back from Goma, DRC. Eish, that place is
unbelievable. Not sure if you've been following what's been
happening. They officially declared the war there over and to
celebrate their 50th anniversary of independence they closed down all
the refugee camps. It was so heavy on my heart the whole time he was away. I couldn't stop thinking about it and praying for it. It just feels so big to me.
That place is so broken and so dark.. it just weighs so heavy on me.
Read about it on the Hands website and be sure to click on the link at the bottom of the Hands page to read more about it on New York Times:
http://www.handsatwork.org/newsroom/2010/9/2/in-a-war-ravaged-region-drc.html

South Africa is also a disaster. The whole country has been on strike
for... well since I've been here anyway. Hospitals are calling family
members to tell them to fetch the patients (even ones in critical
condition), students have been out of school (and as a teacher you can
understand my frustration because before World Cup, they went on
strike for a week, and then they were let out for 6 weeks during
World Cup, and now they've been on strike for over a month), and
passionate people who don't want to see their own suffer are being
seriously threatened. ANyway, if you're interested you should read
about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/world/africa/07safrica.html?_r=1

On a different note I forgot to mention in the earlier blog, I went to a real soccer game with Todd and Katie. South Africa vs. Niger. It was fun. The Vuvuzelas were absolutely obnoxious. But I randomly found ear plugs in my bag which was a huge lifesaver. Those things will drive someone mad, literally.

Anyway, read up!

Drowning in a Sea of Yellow

Firstly, I just have to say that today I met the president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. I was in Clau Clau hosting a group of missions students who were interested in doing an outreach with Hands. We went into the community expecting to do home visits and found ourselves drowning in a sea of yellow (yellow Zuma shirts that is). Zuma was coming to visit. Since everyone in the community was there, there was no point of doing home visits. We sat and waited for Zuma. Three hours later, Zuma showed up. He stood on the stage and began his speech. Five minutes into his speech, he noticed the 3 of us white people in the crowd and asked us if we understood. We told him we didn't and he arranged for someone to sit with us and interpret. When the lady sat with us, he told her to summarize so as she summarized, everyone waited and stared at us (including Mr. President). After she finished, I gave Zuma a thumbs up and shouted "Siyabonga (thank you)". Everyone in the crowd laughed (including Mr. President). The above picture is me wearing one of the shirts.

After seeing Zuma, we squeezed in two home visits. The first one was the home of a young man and his young wife. This man, Vusi, had been sick for 7 months and is clearly in his last leg of life... couldn't talk, could barely move... We went in and prayed for him.. the missionary students took the lead and there were tongues being spoken and Jesus' name screamed and crying for healing... and my whole body was full of goosebumps and tears were welling in my eyes. I'm not sure if it's because it was powerful, or if there was pain in my spirit. I didn't feel very comfortable with the situation. I just couldn't imagine how praying for healing would be appropriate. I wanted everyone to leave and I just wanted to sit on his bedside and hold his hand and tell him how beautiful he is and how Jesus loves him and sees him and that he need not fear what is to come. And I wanted to do the same for his wife.

Basically my days now have been filled with the new volunteers that came a week ago. I'm helping out quite a bit with orientation, but will get extremely busy soon as most of the volunteers will start being placed short term in South Africa to get their feet wet. My role is basically to oversee their involvement and mentor and teach them as they go along, equipping them with the knowledge and skills they'll need to be effective in the community. It's really quite neat and I'm excited about it. It's very much up my alley. This year is going to be a good year, I can just sense it. God is already challenging me big time and teaching me a lot. He's really calling me to step up and set a higher standard for myself.

Anyway, love you all! Please e-mail or text or call me.

KD

Surprise, child! There's a White Lady in your bed!

Ughhh facebook really does not function well here and so I feel I am slowly being weaned off of a drug that I allowed 8 months of fast internet to enslave me. Sometimes all I want to do is put a little status like this:

“Went to church at 6pm Friday night not expecting the service to go until 6am and be put to bed at 1:30am on the floor of the Pastor's home with all the other small children while the adults continued to praise Jesus”

True story. What a crazy night. These Africans know how to party Jesus-style. I must admit, most of it made me feel uncomfortable. Yes there were beautiful moments and powerful moments, but for the most part I felt uncomfortable. This could be a result of Christian culture in North America where we are scared to pray aloud but some of it is also sometimes the type of gospel that is preached and focused on. But I sang and dance and slept well beside a little 4 year-old guy.

The reason I went was to watch one of my previous students, Nokuzola, preach. She has recently received a calling on her life to be a pastor. She was fantastic! Most preachers scream and yell and the congregation cheers and shouts "Amen" even though no logical points are made, but Zola stood up there and taught. She was gentle but strong and connected points well and really knew her stuff. Before she started to preach, she sang a worship song and it was beautiful. I teared up and felt so proud of the woman of God that stood before me.

This week I'm excited. I'm going to Oshoek with a group of fellow Hands people for three days to put on a Church Leaders Workshop. Oshoek is right on the Swaziland border and I hear it's stunning! It's really quite a privilege to be a part of challenging and encouraging pastors to care for orphans and widows. It's also a challenge, because these people know much more about the Bible than I do, so it's more of facilitating discussion on what's happening around the community and the church's role in it than actually training or teaching. These pastors have the solutions, it's just a matter of encouraging them to come up with them and supporting them along the way.

Ever have the feeling like you're being watched? As I write this, there is a monkey hanging on the bars outside the window 2 metres away from me, staring at me.

Red Soil and Black Faces

Well, I guess the first post is to communicate or display that indeed I have arrived alive. Other than that, I’m not sure what to say. I haven’t really been up to much since I’ve been here and one would think that despite not doing anything, there must be tons to say about being in South Africa, but it’s all so familiar to me that it hardly seems like anything significant to write about. But I’ll try.

My flights were good. They seemed short. As soon as I got on the plane I ordered the usual red wine (a missionary’s traveling secret), drank it up, and fell asleep instantly. Helen and Paul gave me sleeping pills that I thought I would try out, so did on the second leg of the journey, but besides the fact that they tasted absolutely awful, I’m pretty sure they did nothing. After quickly arriving in Johannesburg, I waited patiently for 10 hours for Shelly to join me. And join me did she ever! As soon as she came through the doors and saw me, she hopped around, literally, with excitement. Our adventure begins. We drove mostly in the dark to get to the Hands Village in time for George’s birthday party. As soon as we pulled up, my legs were shaking violently. I was excited to see everyone, but for some reason I was terribly nervous.

But it’s been great to reunite with my African family. It honestly doesn’t even feel like I left. The wonderful 8 months I spent at home feels like a breath. There have been changes, as Hands is always changing, but I feel as if I’m slipping right back into where I left off. Sort of. My role here is up for discussion. I’m actually supposed to be meeting with Lynn and Levy today to discuss where I can put my hands. I’ll be staying in South Africa, probably getting involved in similar stuff I was doing before (supporting communities as they strive to care effectively for orphans, widows, and people dying of HIV/Aids) but there is talk of dipping my hands into some new things. Maybe some international team (marketing and advocating), maybe some volunteer stuff (helping to place new volunteers that come in and equipping them for service). It’s all quite exciting.

I had the opportunity already to visit Sesinyana, Nokuzola, and Patricia. All of them are doing very well. Sesinyana and baby Prosperity are looking great! Prosperity even said “Gogo” while I was there, which means Granny. Sesinyana has been working as a server at the country club in White River, which is great. She gets bored easy and loves to be around people. Patricia finished her Social Auxiliary Work program and has been working with Masoyi Home Based Care helping to run the program Winrock, which educates young orphan girls on HIV/Aids and supports them through school, often helping them with school supplies and uniforms. Nokuzola also finished her Social Auxiliary Work program and has recently received a calling on her life to be a pastor. She’s so excited but terrified. It’s so fun to see her talk about it. When she first heard this calling, she responded the same way many of us do when we don’t necessarily want to do what God tells us, “God, WHY are you doing this!?!?” She preaches this weekend at her church so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing her in action.

I’m not exactly sure what the next couple weeks will look like, but I’m sure I’ll get busy very soon. I’m planning next weekend to drive up to Venda to visit the other students in University. I’m also very, very much looking forward to welcoming Todd and Katie here and re-welcoming Morgan!! I can’t even bear it I’m so excited!!!

As much as there are exciting things happening around me, I do miss home terribly
already. I had such a great time at home and this next stint here in Africa will be more difficult than the first. I’m really looking forward to this next while to really develop my gifts and grow in new ways. I’m surrounded by such a beautiful and authentic community of believers and led by such passionate men and women of God. It’s good to be back and contribute to the big things God is doing here.

Please pray that I can get settled in, find the role that I will find most joy in and can be most effective, and also that I can continue to communicate well and journey with my friends and family back home.

Much love to you all!

Kristal

PS – Shelly, you’ll be happy to know the monkeys stole ALL my bananas and made a horrid mess of the kitchen!

ALSO!
Here is my contact information. Feel free to send me letters, e-mails, text messages, or even phone. It is free to receive calls internationally and text messages. Also feel free to give out my blog: www.kristalgadsby.com to anyone you think would be interested in following.

Kristal Gadsby
c/o Hands at Work in Africa
PO Box 3534
White River, South Africa
1240

kristalgadsby@gmail.com OR kristal@handsatwork.org [goes to the same place]

My number is +27 72 183 8626. To call from Canada, dial 011 27 72 183 8626

Final Canada Tour Dates!

Hey everyone,
My time in Canada is quickly coming to an end. I'm going to be making a final tour to cover the main areas. I want to see you so please contact me and we'll try to get together before I head back to Afreeka. This is a tentative schedule for my last weeks:

July 18 - 20 -- Lloydmonster
July 20 - 24 -- Saskatoon
July 24 - 28 -- Calgary
July 29 - 30 -- Lloydmonster
July 30 - 02 -- Goodsoil (Family Reunion)
Aug 2 - 5 -- Calgary
Aug 5 - 7 -- Sky Abyss
Aug 7 - South Africa

Much Love.

Bernice

Today I met Bernice.
It's funny the way these things happen. I saw this woman stumbling down the street. I was going to continue walking down the alley as I was but found myself pulling a U-turn (on my feet of course). As she heard my footsteps, she turned around and said "Can you help me?" I said, "Yes I can". We walked for a while and talked. She told me a bit about her story but continued to say in between tears and long periods of eyes-closed silence, "It's a hard life".
And now I'm burdened by the question, "What can be done for these people?" They are literally lost, with no place to call home and no place to go. Sometimes I wish I had my own house. I doubt my family would appreciate me bringing over strays for lunch and allowing them to take a nap on the couch after. Bernice seemed very tired and said she can't remember the last time she slept longer than 15 minutes.
Sure I can buy her Combo "A" and a Ginger Ale, tell her she's beautiful, and pray for her as she sobs in my arms, but .... what can be done?

We have to Believe it

It's much easier to spread the Love when we believe it ourselves.

I still think of and pray often for my friend Hank. I've been thinking a lot about how this evangelism thing is easier than we think.

Today I walked home through City Hall (like every day) and stopped to chat with three people I saw drinking along the side of a building. We talked about many things. I told them about Africa, they told me about street life, and for some reason, the conversation always steers towards God. Two are believers, one isn't. I talked to them about cleaning up and about how much God loves us. I think I even used the example that God loved that woman just as much as he loved Obama, the way they are right now. They desperately wanted me to pray for them and so I did. We talked about church after and two of them plan to show up Sunday morning. I hope they do! I told them I'd treat them to lunch after. We'll see what happens, but I'll pray earnestly for their arrival.

We must believe what we say. If there is no truth in our words, there is no light in our words. And it's the light that casts away darkness. The Spirit can't use idle words. Our words are only transformational if we speak them boldly and we honestly believe them!

And evangelism isn't about "saving souls", like it's some kind of rat race. It's about allowing people to experience the life Christ intended for us! Life in communion with Him. It's full of love, joy, peace, and hope. One thing our world is missing right now is HOPE. We talk about oil spills, drug lords in Jamaica, Aids in Africa, outrageous numbers of suicides on reserves, and there seems to be no point. Our world is a disaster. We need to hope.

It's funny. One of the men I met really wants to help support me in Africa. He wants to find me on Monday to give me $50 when he gets his cheque and even in the summer, he wants to raise money at a Pow Wow for me. He wanted to know how to get a hold of me by that time and I really didn't have an answer for him so the best we could come up with is sending a smoke signal.

Half of what is mine is yours

Today I went for lunch at BPs. I had the most delicious buffalo chicken sandwich. I never steer away from it and try anything else, it's just too good. It's a very large sandwich and I usually eat the whole thing. I just can't stop eating it. But afterwards I hurt and immediately regret my impulsive decision. Today I ate only half of it and boxed the other half.

Today I also met Hank. Well Hank is his street name he says. His real name is Henry. I met him walking home from school. He stopped me and asked for a quarter. I did my usual, "Sorry I have no money" but we continued to talk. He told me he's a lone ranger, originally from Battleford. Between his slurred speech and drooling he also told me he's 57 and I also heard the word "hungry" somewhere in there. Perfect, I thought! I have half a sandwich. I gave it to him and he seemed excited. But he told me not to worry about him because he's a survivor. He went to a Residential School, been through two divorces and travelled all over alone. When I asked if he had kids he immediately broke down and cried, telling me he had a son but the police found him frozen just outside of Saskatoon ten years ago. My heart sank. I asked him if I could pray for him and he tried to brush me off, saying he was fine. But he never left. He then let me pray for him and in the middle of the School Division parking lot, as people walked past, I prayed for him. We kissed and hugged and talked some more and said good-bye a hundred times but never seemed to be able to leave.

Half of what is mine is yours.

John was speaking to a crowd, and after he called them all vipers, they asked, "What should we do then?" John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." (Luke 3:11)

People interpret this many ways. But I say, if you have a whole buffalo chicken sandwich, half of it doesn't belong to you.

Letter from George

We will never understand God or His love if we do not love our neighbour actively, and we will never love our neighbour actively and regardless unless we understand the love of God. We do not have the capacity to love our neighbour with our own love. We can have sympathy and even try to care but we cannot love without God. God is love. The first sign of dead religion is running from this love (to practise it) and replace it with rules and commands. This also will never work and is done out of guilt. The only love that will last is love from God. With that love we can love our enemies and we can love when it is not appreciated.

Henri Nouwen wrote in Open Hands, “It is hard to bear with people who stand still along the way, lose heart, and seek their happiness in little pleasures which they cling to... You feel sad about all that self-indulgence and self satisfaction, for you know with an indestructible certainty that something greater is coming...” Luke 9:25 says, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” C S Lewis said (my own words) “men and women who really changed the world are people who thought about the next world the most. People who think about this world and its pleasures spend their time to be as happy as they can in this world.”

John Piper asked this question, ”If you could have heaven with no sickness, and with all your friends, and all the food you like, and all the leisure activities, and all the physical pleasures, and no human conflict, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?” What a tough question for many!! Paul writes, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”

Love only starts when you discover and acknowledge who you are and where Christ met you – in your condition. I studied theology and listened to many wise people on grace and yet I had no clue because I never saw myself. When I met Niki I saw myself and asked God why me? Why her? That is grace!! Out of that understanding we are compelled to love. Not commanded, not out of guilt but out of a deep sense of gratitude. What kind of God will do that – Phil 2? David Livingstone once said, “People said I made sacrifices in Africa... they must not talk like that I never made a sacrifice. We ought not to talk of sacrifice when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself for us.”

Now Hands is saying our testimony is that we defy the rules of culture and perception. We believe Africa need outsiders and outsiders need Africa. We believe submitting to each other and servanthood and giving up rights and the “us and them” attitude. Although many bad things were written about Christians (and rightly so) we believe there were amazing communities living out the Mount Sermon principles. Radical love! Are we there? Are we sinless? No but we believe! We aspire and dream if not us then the next generation. We refuse to let the stinking world and materialism and peer pressures tell us what is important! We believe in the parable of the man who found the great treasure and sold EVERYTHING to buy that field. We challenge and defy the world telling us to gather and out of security to give a little! We rather face uncertainty and criticism with those that we serve. We chose Christ unashamedly and in a world where it is so unpopular to trust Him we will should it out... mostly by what we do... but we will shout it out!
-George Snyman

The Spirit of a Champion

Osborne Mwape is 11 years old and lives with his grandmother, Bana Kulu, in a community in Kabwe Zambia. His parents were HIV positive until they passed away in 2003. His mother died from Tuberculosis. She was not a believer but did give her life to the Lord on her death bed. The suffering and hardships Osborne endures are great. The hut that he and his granny share, burned down recently, and they had to use plastic and grass as a means of shelter during the cold and rainy winter season. Food is also scarce and Osborne sometimes misses school to look after the house while his grandmother goes out to look for a job or food.

Hands at Work representative Floyd Mwila, a home based care manager in Kabwe oversees, New Life Christian community school which Osborne attends. The establishment of the school was partly due to a request by Osborne whose wish was to get some education to prepare him for the future. The school not only provides education but also helps to support and encourage Osborne, giving hope for his young dreams to be realized.

Osborne has the spirit of a champion; even at school, he is known as an encourager of the other young boys. His energy and willingness to participate, far surpasses his small size, be it in sport, school clean-up chores or any other school activities. Osborne is in grade 4 and is achieving good marks; he is positive and his little spirit is on fire!

40 Days of Prayer for Orphan Care

My friend recently read Richard Rohr (a Franciscan monk) describe prayer like this: "Prayer is indeed the way to make contact with God/Ultimate Reality, but it is not an attempt to change God’s mind about us or about events. Such attempts are what the secularists make fun of—and rightly so. It is primarily about changing our mind so that things like infinity, mystery, and forgiveness can resound within us. The small mind cannot see Great Things because the two are on two different frequencies, or channels, as it were. The Big Mind can know big things, but we must change channels. "



Today, as Hands at Work, we are starting 40 days of prayer for orphan care. I would like to invite all of you to join us. Please spend some time over the next 40 days and join us in prayer and meditation for orphans and that people will join the cause of caring for them. If you would like to join us, please click this link and look for the prayer guide link at the bottom of the page.

Home is where the Heart is.

They say home is where the heart is.

I've been home for exactly a month now. I must admit, at first it was incredibly difficult. I came home to rest and be with family and to just wait. No thinking allowed. But as soon as I got on the plane, my mind raced and continued to race for two weeks.

I struggled to just be.

I couldn't stop thinking about going back to Africa and began planning for when I would go back, which was against what I had told myself. I wanted to come home and be at home and not think or make decisions.

There was one moment when it all changed. I was driving up north to Goodsoil, where my mom's side of the family is. I was driving my brother, who was ... under the weather. This was New Years Day. He was KO'd in the passengers seat and I looked over at him and just felt so happy to be home and be with him and be with the rest of my family. I'm so blessed to come home everyday to an incredible sister (who is the best mom in the world, by the way), a considerate brother-in-law, and two CRAZY cute and funny nieces that crack me up ALL the time.

I've started teaching, too. Well, I'm subbing. Teachers call me when they're sick. It's been a huge challenge. The students are usually big disasters for a sub. But even in this moment I definitely don't want to even think of being a full-time teacher.

And for some reason teaching has caused me to be unsettled again. Today I found myself thinking about getting another part-time job. I loved the idea of working at the library, serving coffee.. something mindless and different. Perhaps it's just a way for me to cope.

It's been strange because I recognize SO many things I can be involved in here. Young adults Bible Study (which I love), Outreach with my church (which is new and just opened up with my friend's father leading it. I'm meeting with him next week to dream and brainstorm), working with churches on reserves and getting my feet back into the Aboriginal community.

And today I found my mind wandering again to Africa. I was reading the stories and posts on the Hands website (www.handsatwork.org) and was getting hot feet (opposite of cold feet?). I was reading one of George's postings titled "Prisoners of Hope" and felt greatly encouraged by a prayer of St. Francis he included:

“May God bless you with discomfort
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.”