Back from the eastern cape...

Finally back on the internet after a month traveling east of Cape Town into the Transkei or "Wild Coast" region.  When I left Cape Town on a big yellow truck a month ago, I had no idea what to expect.  Gradually green mountains and vineyards gave way to arrid rolling grassy hills.  Monkeys became more and more common and english no longer the main spoken language.  Life lived out in the eastern cape is simpler, less complicated and more relational.  The main people group there is the Xhosa people, who speak a unique language know for it's clicks and pops.  Our leader, Rodger Galloway of "Cross Country Missions" gave us a crash course in Xhosa when we stopped in Jeffrey's Bay a few days into our trip.  While in J-Bay we were introduced to the Joshua Project, a program that offers education and mentorship to street kids.  They have already sent a graduate of their project on to higher education in youth ministry.  He has now returned to work with the boys and coach a soccer team for them.

The next major town stop was Port St. Johns, a beautiful beach town in the mountains.   There we were involved in street ministry, running a church service (which we were asked to do when we walked into the church) and several other things.  One of my teammates, Sarah, organized a massive soccer game with the kids in town.  Later we met up with Solomon, who runs a ministry to the youth of Port St. Johns.  Someone recently donated a building to them, which they will use for skills training, tutoring, and just a hang out spot.  If anyone would like to be involved with bringing skills training and christian mentoring to the youth of Port St. Johns, they can e-mail Solomon at portstjohnsyouthministry@live.co.za  Solomon is also praying for a woman to come and work with the young girls.  With the youth, we grabbed a taxi and headed out of town to the rural area where the free government housing is.  There is a large community of people living out of town who are 90% unemployed.  We taught them to play ultimate frisbee and tug-of-war, a change from their usual soccer games.  We were also able to give a message to them and have prayer with whoever wanted it.

I just want to say I'm so thankful to God to be here in BEAUTIFUL Muizenburg, South Africa!  For a while I was starting to doubt that I would actually be here, but what I've been wanting to do for years and years has finally happened as I stepped off the plane onto African soil!  Actually African concrete, but it's just as good for me.  Maybe you can see from the photo, here in the greater Cape Town area, there is absolutely everything you could ask for: amazing mountains, beautiful beaches, all the conveniences of any modern city and beautiful friendly people!  We are staying here in a local hostel, our hosts are some of the best, they cook fabulous meals for us and teach us words in Africaans.  It is surprisingly cold here, coming from a Kona, Hawaii summer we were not quite prepared for this.  But we learned how to take the public transportation, how to get to the mall and cheap clothing stores to get some warmer things.  Cathy who is in our group, is actually from South Africa and her family hosted us in their home in Vishoek which happens to be on the side of the mountain overlooking the bay.  It is just a short train ride and many steps up the mountain away.  So now that most of us have slept off our jet-lag, we are getting ready to travel again for a month through some more rural parts of South Africa.  We will be visiting people in the villages there and bringing some play equipment and things for them.  We were asked to bring work gloves along so it seems like we'll be getting our hands dirty out there!  Unfortunately there will be no internet there soo... look forward to a long update after a month!  Please pray for our team unity in love, protection and opportunity to be the hands and feet of God, and to have the heart of God for the people that we meet.  So, that's it for now, I'll write more soon!  (and more photos!)

The numbers are going down... very exciting!  I have seen some money come in this week and my needed funds are now down to $2,448!  

As for this photo on the left, we recently studied portrait taking, which happens to be my favorite week yet.  This is one of my New Zealand friends here in Kona.  Only two weeks till South Africa!

Well, today is the day... I am supposed to come up with another $3,282 for the trip leaving on June 25.  So... that means, if anyone reading this is praying about partnering with me, now is the time to do it!  I'm learning more and more about what we will be doing in South Africa.  For the first month we will be traveling around the country on a converted bus, meeting and getting to know the people and their needs.  We will be traveling to schools, meeting with AIDS victims, and sharing God's love in whatever ways we can.

After that, we are going back to Cape Town where we will be involved in a variety of ministries to voiceless and marginalized people there.  We will be reaching out to kids who are at an ever increasing risk of being trafficked into prostitution especially as Cape Town prepares to welcome the world to the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament.  We will also be looking for ways to minister to AIDS victims who may have come there to suffer alone with the disease away from the stigma and violence of their villages.  Then there is the chance to minister to women working in the sex trade in Cape Town.  If you would like to learn more about the organization I will be working with there, please check out www.avoiceforthevoiceless.co.za  there are also amazing photos on this website!

Please pray for me as I try to raise the rest of the money within a week and plan to leave.  I already have my plane ticket, and will be staying in South Africa until at least December.  I am very excited about this opportunity and thanks for everyone who decides to partner with me to bring much needed change to the world!

Hawaii

Aloha from beautiful Kona Hawaii...  I know it's about time that I write a new post since I have been here a month now.  Maybe the fastest months of my life.  First of all I have to say I love the weather here in paradise, some people are saying it's hot here but honestly after 4 months of winter at 6,500 feet in Montana I think it's great not to wake up freezing cold every night.  I got to catch up with my sister and nephew who live in Hilo, and was treated to a snorkeling trip there.  I had no idea all those amazing coral and fish are right by the shore!  I really felt like I was spying on a secret world that no one else gets the privilege to experience.  Last night I was treated to an amazing Hawaiian luau by my friend Matt who was visit from Montana for the purpose of climbing the volcano!  I'm not sure I've ever seen better dancing in the world, and the Hawaiian method of cooking pork definitely rivals southern pit-cooked pulled pork.  Along with all these amazing experiences, I am working hard in classes also.  We have had some amazing teachers here and are starting to get more technical in our photography skills.

My first week or so here I was introduced to more of what we will be doing in the world and what the organization I will be working with has been doing all over the world.  I have to say my heart was breaking everyday for what is going on in our world and how much God cares for these people and wants to use us to bring hope to them.  In Brazil the leaders of our organization have started a movement in the government to recognize basic human rights of the tribes in the amazon who are on the verge of extinction due partly to infanticide.  Voice for the Voiceless began the Hakani project (www.hakani.org) telling the story of a little girl who survived being buried alive and then left to die outside her village.  There is now a movement in the Brazilian government to protect these children.  I would encourage everyone who reads this to please get involved by visiting the website.  

I also found out where I will be traveling for my outreach!  I originally thought I would be going to central america, but last week we were giving the option to travel to South Africa where "Voice for the Voiceless"  began.  The major movement there is to fight child prostitution, which 40,000 kids a year are forced into.  We are using photography to raise awareness of this, hoping to change those statistics.  There are also other counseling, aid and support programs there in Cape Town that we will be be helping.  We will also be traveling out to different villages, reaching out to orphans and those dying of AIDS and looking for anything else that we can do.  I would encourage everyone to find out about this organization by going to www.avoiceforthevoiceless.co.za

Fundraising is turning out to be a challenge for me, I am still needing about $3,500.  I am also hoping to stay in South Africa past the three months originally planned, so I am looking for monthly support to do that.  Well enough talk, I will put some photos up now as promised!

Welcome to my blog...

Singer Jason Upton has said "Everything we see is a gift from God."  The more I think about this quote, the more it means to me.  I realize first how much I have to be thankful for, then how much I need to appreciate the people around me.  I mean, He created every single person on earth as a work of art, with a God-given purpose and destiny for life.  So I have a responsibility now to not only ask God what that means for my life, but also how I can help others find that in their lives.  It makes me think about how impatient I am with that "annoying" friend, the slow person in front of me in the checkout line, or noisy roomates.  If we can learn to value ourselves and others the way God does, I believe we'll be blessed in ways we never thought possible.

I'm hoping to begin to learn this on my next journey in life, which is the reason I started this blog in the first place.  I will be on a six-month journey starting April 2, 2009 through Youth With A Mission called the PhotogenX DTS that strives to speak out for those who have no voice and fight poverty and injustice in our world.  We'll do this through photography, writing, and other types of media, striving to give hope to those who need it.  It is through the media that we have today that one person's story can reach thousands, through words or a simple pictures.  When I was a child I remember looking through the newspapers and reading about other children far away who were living in refugee camps and fighting for their lives.  I would look at their photos and remember thinking that while their faces were young, the eyes of these children were very old.  And these children, these people that I saw, they were a gift from God.  

There is no person on this earth that is less valuable than another.  There is no person on this earth that God does not love, that He did not create in a unique and beautiful way.  There is no person that does not matter.  I am telling you that today and I am hoping to spread that to many other people on this journey that I'm taking.

The first three months of my journey will be in Kona, Hawaii at the University of the Nations.  There I will meet my other team members, learn about where we will be traveling, learn about this great God that we serve, and hopefully learn some photography skills also!  Then we will take off for other places, our actual assignment, most likely down around Central America.  I am hoping to be able to keep up with this blog while I am down there, to keep everyone "back home" posted on what is going on.  So please, keep checking up, and keep in touch!

Love you all and God bless!