Pictures of Paris, France & Cape Town, South Africa

Below are a few pictures of my trips to Paris (February) and Cape Town (March/April)...

Paris was SO beautiful. The architecture was a language of its own and I enjoyed wandering the streets and occasionally pausing to look up at the amazing buildings all around me.

Welcome to Cape Town, South Africa!

These boys live in the Barcelona HIVorphanage. They were so cute and loved posing it up for the camera. They live in a Squatter Village in Cape Town - Barcelona. Their village has roughly 5,000 people living in it with an 80% HIV+ rate. The kids are the smallest victims of this awful disease and a sweet Pastor and his wife have started carrying for them.

This girl on the left was found trying to nurse on her mother who had been dead for 2 days from HIV. She is only 3 years old. The girl I am holding is named Gift and when her mother found out that she and her baby were HIV positive, she put her baby girl in a garbage bag and threw her in a dumpster. A neighbor saw this and pulled Gift out of the trash and brought her to the orphanage. She wanted me to hold her the entire time and it broke my heart to leave her behind.

These are a few pictures I took while driving along Chapman's Peak towards the Cape of Good Hope. Cape Town is a beautiful natural landscape with winding mountain roads and ocean dipped cliffs.

The beaches were gorgeous. I saw some monster waves at Muisinberg Beach. The coastline has one of the highest white shark populations in the world. The locals don't seem to mind as there were surfers on every beach. The sailboat picture is right outside the home we stayed in. You can see the faint outline of the other side of the cove behind the sailboat.

Cute kids at a school we visited.

This little girl looks like Buckwheat's sister from the Little Rascals - awesome! Above is a good example of what most Squatter Village homes look like - corrugated metal and aluminum siding pieces nailed onto a basic four wall structure. South Africa is one of the few countries where 1st world and 3rd world conditions are living side by side.

Can You Hear Me?

"Then He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping" Mark 14:37a

Have you ever wondered why the disciples couldn't manage to keep their eyes open while Jesus agonized only steps away? I confess to having judged their actions. I can't help but think, "Come on, guys! You have Jesus, "the" Jesus, and he's done all these super amazing things in front of you and YOU can't even manage to stay awake. He's asked a simple request, ‘watch and pray’, and you can't even do that - pitiful."

On a few occasions growing up I would get the full-name greeting from my mom followed by, "Are you listening to me?" (I learned quickly that the use of my middle name was NOT a good thing). This question was followed up with a slow repeat of whatever it was that I was supposed to be doing or not doing at the time and then a threat of the consequence I would endure if I didn't straighten up. You could judge a lot by the tone of my mom's voice. You still can...

I wonder what Jesus' tone was with His disciples? Was He angry, was He exhausted, was He sad? Whatever the tone, there was one thing their actions displayed, they didn't get it.

I really like that Jesus came back twice to His disciples. He keeps giving them chances to do the right thing. He still does that.

Random, but I once asked God to speak out loud to me. I was in my car, feeling very "in touch" and having a good conversation with the Maker of the Universe about all sorts of things when I was overcome with wanting to hear Him speak. I began to pray, "Please God, I want to hear You! I want to know the pleasure of Your voice! Please, I want to hear you out loud!" A few minutes passed while I listened as hard as I could and nothing happened. Then, out of the blue, I heard God speak, not out loud like I had asked, but in my deepest part of my soul and do you know what He said? "Read your Bible out loud. Then you will hear My voice." I got the point...

Sometimes what we hear and what we hear are two different things. If you are asking God to speak to you, be reminded that He may use an unconventional method to get across His message. Whatever the means though, what a comforting thought that our Savior keeps coming to us with His beautiful words.

Are you listening?

South Africa Trip

I got off the plane at 8:30 this morning and after 20 hours of flying I must be touched in the head, but I am at work. Time to make the donuts or something...

This trip was unlike any other I have been on in that much of the time was spent in preparation work for the bigger trip in July/August. We spent a great deal of time hearing the needs of local Pastors and Youth Pastors and it struck me that, at our very core, all people are the same. We all start as kids with dreams of being a cowboy or rock star or teacher or mommy or whatever and then somewhere in our teenage years those dreams either develop or die. We become people of purpose or people existing. I read a statistic issued by the South African government that 70f their population is under the age of 19. That is staggering and obviously indicative of the HIV pandemic they are facing. In light of this, I am more convinced than ever that investing in the teenagers of South Africa and telling these kids, that in many cases society has deemed as useless, that they are valuable and wanted by God. And by more than just words people with flesh and blood will give their time to show them that love.

The government's response to this issue is condomization (I made that word up, I think, but you get the point) "Wrap it up for Safety" was everywhere and I kept thinking that they were treating symptoms without dealing with the problem. Which actually, makes sense to me though. Jesus called us, you and me, to be lights to a dark world - not our governments or kings or whoever is calling the shots. If our neighbor is in need - WE need to be the solution not just an impersonal check from a stranger. I love that I have so many diverse friends who in their own way roll up their sleeves and aren't afraid to get some of the dirt of lost people on their own selves in order to show love and compassion. This inspires me. This is Jesus. This is being a light and a city set on a hill.

In one particular orphanage, the Barcelona Informal Settlement, we met Pastor Julius and his wife Irene. Julius is a black man (they would call him African in Cape Town) and during Apartheid was a voice calling for unity among blacks, whites and coloreds (that's what they call mixed races or Indians). This call for peace led the blacks in his community to murder his teenage son and leave him on their door step with his throat slit. This was in the 90's. Five years ago, Julius and his wife would drive past Barcelona and pray at the entrance because they were afraid to drive in. One evening God spoke to Julius in a dream and called him to go there to those people, he was afraid and asked God for more confirmation - God did just that by speaking to Irene in the same manner.

Fast forward, three years ago Julius and Irene sold their home and moved into Barcelona. In June 2005 someone left a child on their doorstep who had been orphaned by AIDS. They weren't sure what to do other than take care of this baby girl. Since then they have taken in ten additional children, most of whom are HIV positive. They had know idea that God was bringing them there to open an orphanage, but that is what it seems He is up to.

There was one little girl who was around three years old that I instantly connected with. Her name was Gift (they relate names with circumstance and most of the children in the orphanage have been given new names). She was precocious and adorable. I was reminded of conversations I had with my Uncle Charlie (who died of AIDS related complications) that when you have HIV, people don't touch you anymore and you miss the simple pleasure of human contact. I am teary now just thinking about that sweet little girl and the few minutes of loving affection I was able to give her. Again, it brings me back to the point of how God longs for us to know how deeply we are valued and loved and accepted. I want to be a voice to these children of that message.

Obviously you can tell that I am still "full" from this trip. I will write more when I have digested the experience and SLEPT. I took lots of photos as well and will be posting them soon. Thanks for all the prayers that were sent up on my behalf. It was a wonderful trip and I am excited for the dreams God is giving me for Africa.