The Life And Times of Louis And Amber

Lots of Girls!

2012-01-26T14:30:00.003-06:00

It's either the bane of my existence or the greatest blessing of my life. I'm leaning toward the former. But God keeps bringing us more girls.

From Left: Modiehi, Motshidisi, Dieketseng, Ntswaki, Christina, Paulina, Lerato, Monica

On a separate and unrelated note, 3 of those girls are teenagers.

The other day I had all the children in my house helping me sweep up some of the construction mess. One of the kids asked me if our family was going to move into that house when it is finished. Jokingly, I said "No, Motshidisi and Dieketseng will live here after they are done with school." Then I asked Motshidisi and Dieketseng if they would like that. After some thought Motshidisi responded "Then where would you live?"

"We would live in town" I said.

Showing a surprisingly uncharacteristic burst of self-awareness, Motshidisi countered with the following "If you didn't live here who would we complain to?"

And that's the reason nobody likes teenagers:-)

Fun At The Village

2012-01-11T12:20:00.002-06:00

Kamohelo enjoying one of the bikes given by Hope Community Church in New Jersey

Lerato also enjoying a bike while Monica waits her turn

A John Deere is always good for a ride

Dieketseng spent about an hour giving the kids rides around the property

Brian bought this bike before Liam can walk. Now that he's three its time for him to start preparing for The X Games. Brian outfitted the bike with training wheels and rigged up a governor for the throttle. Liam is giving a ride to Drake here.

Two of the bikes came with pegs. That means the O'Tool kids can bum a ride. See what I've taught them?

Siya was pretty excited about his bike. Even when he wasn't riding it he was dragging it behind him.

A GREAT DAY!

2012-01-08T12:35:00.000-06:00

Our Tuesday night Bible study with the children is moving right along. We started with Creation in Genesis and we've made it all the way to Abraham. In fact, we spent the last two weeks learning about Abram and Sarai.

Our memory verse is Genesis 15:6 "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."

We learned that verse two weeks ago and this past Tuesday night we spent some time discussing what it means. Primarily, we discussed the issue of sin, the penalty for sin, and the fact that God can take away that sin and give us Jesus' righteousness if we believe like Abraham believed.

The next day, Kamohelo and Monica came to me with some good news. But instead of me telling you what that news is, I'll let you see for yourself.

Monica - Age 8

Kamohelo - Age 7

From The Niehoff Blog...

2012-01-02T11:44:00.000-06:00

Lois Niehoff posted the following story on their blog. You can find their blog HERE. I thought it would be fitting to repost, since this is a situation that deeply affects us all. Lois is the one who does almost all the work with local social workers, and as such is often placed in very frustrating situations. How she continues to exhibit the special patience God grants her I'll never know. See below:

Reality

We really enjoy being missionaries in South Africa and truly love our job but somedays we do ask ourselves ‘WHY’. Our job description covers a vast variety of duties and that includes working closely with each child’s social worker.

I understand that being a social work isn’t easy-they have a lot of cases to manage, their job is difficult and not fun because they are always seeing devastation and it must get depressing at times. But yesterday was just about all we could handle.

Since August we’ve been caring for a 2 year old boy because his father was in jail for rape and his mother had died. His father is now out of jail on bail. Yesterday his father came to The Village demanding to have his child back and was very forceful. Brian could not control his father and we ended up pushing our panic emergency button for the security system we have at the property. Our loud siren went off and that was enough to scare him. He quickly put his child down and walked away. I notified his social worker that his father came here demanding his child and saying he had a letter stating he could have him back but the father said “he forgot to bring the letter”. The social worker said the father doesn’t listen to her and he is very hostile. We were told to go to court and get a restraining order against this father.

Not even 3 hours after that I received a call from the same social saying the father could have the child back. This is the same person who told me to get a restraining order against this father and even described him as very hostile. Obviously I didn’t understand and questioned her decision skeptically. She explained that the father did bring her a letter showing that the rape charge against him had been dropped so she decided he could have his child back. I said, so just because the charges are dropped that makes him a fit father? The social worker went onto say lets look at it this way, when his father was arrested he took his son to jail with him so he wouldn’t be left alone at home. So I guess that makes him a fit father.

I brought up a few other questionable things to her and she finally said. I am not going to ask the father, I don’t want to know what he does and I just want to close the case. Bottom line, she just wanted to get rid of a case and didn’t really care what was best for the boy. Thirty minutes later we had to let the father have him back. The child left crying and our hearts were breaking.

We thank God for the time we had to show this little guy love and we pray for his future. Only time will tell but maybe he will back. Until then we pray for his safety and salvation of his father.

Please know we have a lot of great, fantastic days here but somedays end up being rather rough.

____________________________________________________

Here is something Lois didn't mention. After we had Siya for a couple months his grandmother passed away. The father was allowed by the social worker to take Siya for the funeral and returned him a few days later. When Siya came back he had several bruises on his face. When questioned about it the father gave several different and conflicting stories about how it happened. Based on his other erratic behavior we have strong reason to believe otherwise. Brian and Lois tried to file a report and spent almost a whole day doing so. Unfortunately they were given the classic run-around, with each department pushing them to someone else. After visits to the social workers, the police, and wherever else they were sent it was finally determined by someone that we couldn't file any report at all. So the whole thing had to be dropped. When Lois mentioned this incident of likely abuse to the social worker she responded that 'you never filed a report so...'

As of now, there is nothing we can do except pray that God will care for this precious little guy. Hopefully we're wrong and the father will turn out to be wonderfully caring and nurturing. We have experienced similar situations in the past with the children often returning after a brief time and a bit worse for wear. Please lift little Siya up before our Lord.

The Life & Times - The Village Garden

2012-01-02T10:35:00.000-06:00

Brian started the garden a few months back, as our resident green thumb. We tried to add our own little section, somewhat unsuccessfully thanks to a few key squirts of herbicide. The last two months Bob Niehoff, Brian's dad, has taken over the garden and really whipped it into shape. And he's been whipping The Village children into shape too, teaching them how to plant, cultivate, thin, replant, weed, water, fertilize and now finally harvest. The Village children have become adept at identifying which are good plants and which are weeds.

Let's see how many plants your children can identify from the photos below:

The Life & Times - Sunday Dinner

2012-01-02T09:17:00.002-06:00

The Life and Times - Church Update

2011-12-31T09:41:00.000-06:00

One year ago this month we held our first church meetings in Thabong. As with any ministry we've been involved with we try to make it a point to evaluate from time to time to ensure we're effectively using the resources God has given us. As our first year drew to a close we sat down to review all we have learned.

And we have leaned a lot of things!

Our choices were reduced to three options:
1. Continue as we had for the past year.
2. Make some changes.
3. Quit altogether.

For those not familiar with the status of our church meetings, here's a brief update. Within our first month of meeting we were averaging about 30-35 in attendance. About 20 of those came with us from The Village, the rest were from Thabong. Each week we usually had 1 or 2 adults, but rarely the same ones consecutively. Sometimes we would have up to 5-6 adults besides ourselves, with the remaining number being children from the local neighborhood. For about 6 months a man named Zachariah had attended faithfully, but due to some family circumstances we encouraged him to move to a town about 6 hours away.

After independently chewing things over for awhile, discussing things with the Niehoffs, and praying about things we came to the following conclusions. I'll give you a window into our thought process (scary, I know).

1. Continue as we had for the past year: We didn't feel we could just maintain the status quo. Twelve months had yielded one faithful attendee...whom we had just counseled to leave! We were afraid the children from The Village were learning by example that church is for children and adults don't go.

3. Quit altogether: Obviously quitting church isn't an option, because it is the body of Christ and the means God has chosen to work during this specific time in history. Our ministry at The Village would be largely ineffective and shortsighted if we were not discipling these children to become vital parts of their own local church. The Village is, in effect, a church plant. It is just that this culture is so debased and depraved that we feel we must reach the children as young as possible.

2. Make some changes: This became the logical answer. We identified that the two main changes absolutely necessary are Location and Leadership. Our location at a local high school is significantly less than ideal. The best room is realistically big enough for about 50 people, not even considering the other logistical difficulties of security access, electricity, seating, cleanliness, etc...

"Church" in this culture is often treated as a club, and although that isn't the correct mindset it is still reality. This mindset is emphasized by the fact that most churches have their own uniform, flags, colors, regional conventions, badges, etc... Almost exclusively people would not attend a church set up like us because of the lack of perceived prestige. Again, right or wrong, this is the reality.

Our second change - Leadership - became evident on many fronts. I say the following carefully and ask for understanding. We have learned in our time here that Race is a significant issue. Not only are we whites attempting to minister within a black community, but we are white Americans. This means that we are "rich". There is a common idiom in Sesotho that translates "Where there are white people there are jobs." Interpreted into real life, this means that people came for what they perceived we could offer them. We have been involved in ministry long enough to understand that this tendency crosses all cultural, racial, and economic divisions. But we found it especially prominent in the 12 months of church ministry - we didn't have one adult attend for any length of time without asking for either a job or money. Typically when it wasn't forthcoming they quit attending.

There are also certain cultural barriers that, while not insurmountable, would be vastly improved by partnering with a Sesotho or Xhosa man as the leader of the church. Issues like music style, first-language communication, visitation and counseling, and an array of other minor but important matters could be relieved by a man native to the culture and background we are trying to reach.

Now, how to proceed? Location could be solved by saving, fundraising, and work. Leadership could only be solved by the call of God on the life of an individual equipped to fit the bill.

It was during this process of evaluation that both the Niehoffs, Amber and I felt led to re-check another church here in town. Welkom Baptist Church has been in town for several decades but like many churches, businesses, and organizations its arc of existence has mirrored the prosperity of the mines. Last year as we began our meetings this church was in a state of flux. It had been without a pastor for some time, had began pursuing a man from another country, but due to VISA issues that family was unable to come. This left the church as a body in an uncertain position with the potential of other issues rearing up in the meantime.

Since we began our church meetings in Thabong those VISA issues cleared up and Joshua Bolaji came to serve as pastor of the church. Originally from Nigeria, Joshua was raised in London. This makes for quite a unique accent! We visited the church a couple times, met with Joshua, and as a team discussed partnership with WBC. Joshua's preaching has been rock solid and it is nice to be able to take The Village children and mothers to a church where they have the ability to fellowship. We also appreciate the fellowship more than ever, having gone 12 months without attending a service where we weren't responsible for every aspect of it.

In addition, we have met a man at Welkom Baptist Church named Vincent. Vincent attended a good seminary here in South Africa and has as his goal to one day plant a Sotho-speaking in Thabong. So we'll see what God has for our future. In the meantime, we are excited about the possibilities of partnering with WBC and seeing all our children at The Village plugged into a church where they can be fed and led.

If you've reached the end of this post then you must be a committed supporter of this ministry. We ask that you continue to pray for us as we all work to spread the good news of God's love in this community.

The Christmas Program (Drake is the purple shepherd in the front row, Meredith the angel right behind him)

Three Shepherds, hopefully one day 3 wise men.

The Life and Times - Christmas At The Village

2011-12-26T10:29:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve Day kicked off our celebration of Christ's birth at The Village. During the afternoon we gathered everyone together for a reading and discussion of the Christmas story. We talked about God's demonstration of love in sending His Son as the gift of eternal life. All the presents piled up from the children's sponsors made a great object lesson. Of course, some of the kids were pretty anxious to see what was in all those pretty boxes!

Our family spent Christmas Eve with Paddy and Lisa Winson, some good friends of ours here in town. We played a rousing game of Chocolate Scrabble, in which Paddy continually introduced new rules to her advantage. We even experienced a new Christmas Tradition - Christmas Crackers.

Sunday started with a bit of a difficult situation regarding a crew of people who had invited themselves over for the afternoon festivities, but we were able to get that straightened out. Church was a tremendous blessing, as we were able to attend services at Welkom Baptist Church (more on that later). Then we headed to The Village for an afternoon with the children and several dozen visitors.

We had a great time and it was definitely a unique celebration. For many of the children at Restoring Hope Village this was their first time to celebrate a real CHRISTMAS, and their first time to receive presents from someone who truly cares. For the Americans, the 90 degree heat left us dreaming of a white Christmas.

A special thanks to all the family and friends who made a special effort to make Christmas a wonderful day both for us and for the children at Restoring Hope. We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers.

The Life and Times - Bible Study

2011-12-18T22:56:00.000-06:00

Each Tuesday we have Bible study with the children at The Village. Here are a couple clips:

The Life and Times - Congratulations Niehoffs!

2011-12-09T00:38:00.001-06:00

Charlie Levi Niehoff joined The Village family almost two weeks ago (we waited to post it here so no one important would see it on our site before theirs:-). He is a healthy, happy little boy. And as you can see in this photo, there are a few other family members that are happy as well. Big congratulations to Brian and Lois! And we're all thankful to have Brian's parents, Bob and Susan here to help.

The Life and Times - Trees

2011-12-09T00:20:00.001-06:00

Recently we received a nice donation from a local organization, LegalAid. They purchased several trees for us to plant around The Village property. Since it was just an overgrown, trash-strewn field less than 2 years ago these trees will go a long way to making to property beautiful. Some of the trees are also fruit trees, so in a few years we will hopefully be enjoying more than just aesthetic benefits!

The Life and Times - Just Another Day

2011-12-06T00:13:00.001-06:00

Last week I was in the middle of working on the house when two women showed up at our gate. They were carrying an infant. When I greeted them they told me they had been directed to us by the police. Apparently they had discovered two young children that had been abandoned.

The oldest is a four year old girl, and the other is less than a year. One of the women knew the family of the father. The father had been in jail for raping the 4 year old, but had either been released or escaped and has since disappeared. (Escape from jail is actually relatively common. I'm guessing there might be "ways" to arrange it.) The mother has also disappeared, leaving these two children on their own.

The woman in pink took the two children in 3 weeks ago. She wants to keep the baby, presumably for the grant money she can receive. But she claims she doesn't have time to look after the 4 year old. Understand the 4 year old has been molested repeatedly by the father. Of course, how would someone have time to look after an infant but not a 4 year old? Obviously there are some ulterior factors at play.

Lois took these women to the social workers, as we don't take any children without going through the appropriate channels. While there we were asked to take 4 other children. These children actually spent a night here at The Village a couple months ago. Their situation at home has been researched and determined that it is not suitable for them. They are orphans but there are some relatives with whom they had been staying.

Since leaving us they have been in the care of another temporary home in a town about 30 minutes away. The oldest girl is 12, and in the short time here it was evident to us that she is already too streetwise for us to accept. The photo on the right was taken by Bob, as Brian, Lois and I discussed how best to proceed with accepting the children from either situation.

Regardless of whether we are able to accept the children from either situation, it will present challenges. The 12 year old is most likely already sexually active. The 4 year old obviously has been violated in a way that will likely affect her for the rest of her life. Both could potentially bring issues and baggage that will affect the other children we already care for at The Village. So we could use some intense prayer for wisdom and for the sovereign protection of God over our ministry. And these children are especially in need of prayer, as their lives have been screwed up in so many ways beyond their own control.

The Life and Times - Our Children

2011-11-27T09:42:00.001-06:00

The Life and Times - Gliding

2011-11-25T12:06:00.001-06:00

I know this is a few weeks late, but it took me that long to regain my equilibrium. While the Lakeside team was here we took a few free hours on Sunday afternoon to take them gliding. Mind you, this isn't hang gliding, where you are in a little fabric cocoon under a set of wings, rather you are in a little plane without an engine. There is a local gliding club that offers rides for around $15 per 20 minutes. This was my first time...and most likely my last. I'm not terribly afraid of heights, nor am I terribly prone to motion sickness. But the launch combined with the circling inside a thermal teams up on my abdomen. I'm getting a little nauseous just thinking about it.

Often the glider would be towed up by another aircraft. This club uses a tractor's PTO to wind a cable attached to the front of the glider. It moves so quickly that it hauls the glider up several hundred feet into the air, where it hangs like a kite for several seconds before disconnecting from the cable. That's a rush. The glider runs maybe 100 yards along the ground before liftoff, then rises up to the release height-all this within a matter of seconds. Once it's at the peak of the cable's extension the pilot pushes a pedal that drops the cable. All this takes maybe 7 seconds. Then you start to nose dive a bit until he picks up enough speed to steer. At that point he needs to find a thermal as soon as possible or gravity wins. It's actually pretty safe. You'll remember the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson River. He was a glider pilot first, which is probably what saved the flight as he knew how to land without alternate power.

So even if the pilot can't find a thermal he knows how to guide the craft downward without free fall. The problem with the altitude change, whether up or down, is that it needs to be in a circular motion. And that's when my lunch decided to pay me a little visit.

Oddly enough, I was the last one of the group to go, and everyone else made it without using the barf ziplock. Of course, I gave everyone else a hard time, but then it came back to bite me. Grant's ride was probably the most amazing. I don't remember the maneuver the pilot used on him, but it is where he climbs as fast as possible, then leans the glider over to the side and free-falls. Grant is a little bit of a thrill seeker and he said he almost lost control of his bowels when this happened. I got a nice, smooth, reasonable ride and still ralphed, so I can't imagine what would have happened if they had done that to me.

All in all, a fun afternoon, although it really did take me about 2 days to fully recover from the motion sickness. Ick.

The Life and Times - Truffle Shuffle in the making

2011-11-20T12:10:00.001-06:00

The Life & Times - Thabang

2011-11-19T10:41:00.001-06:00

Usually we're pretty upbeat about ministry. Sometimes it's still hard to believe that we get to do this job. But there are hard times. And last week we had one of those experiences.

On November 1st we had a new boy join The Village. Thabang is 11 years old. He is orphaned and had been living with an elderly great-aunt who could no longer care for him. His school was over 3km away and without any encouragement from home he just quit going. Apparently his behavior was becoming difficult for her to handle as well.

We usually don't take children this age, as by this point they are typically too streetwise and independent to be molded. In this case, knowing the background, we hoped there were extenuating circumstances (such as hunger) leading to some of the problems. We told the social workers we would work with Thabang and try to help him.

The first night he was here we found that he had gotten up in the middle of the night and taken food into the bathroom and eaten it. He wasn't very good at covering his tracks. This type of behavior is very normal when new children arrive, as so many of them have been fending for themselves. We are usually able to break that behavior simply by feeding the child and showing them they will be cared for. With Thabang this wasn't the case. He continued to steal food, and then if he was given something he didn't like he would try to secretly throw it away and then take something he liked more.

We learned quickly that he hadn't had much authority in his young life. Having quit school there wasn't really anyone telling him what to do at all. Twice he left The Village just to go wandering around just because he wanted to, even though he had been told by 3 different people not to leave the property without supervision. When given instruction by his housemother he would completely ignore it, or even blatantly challenge it.

While Thabang was clearly very intimidated by Brian and me, he displayed no concept of respect for his housemother. He even told one of the other boys that he didn't care what she said or if she tried to punish him because he was big enough to take it.

In the short time he was with us several of us tried to reason with him. Brian spoke with him a couple times, as did I. We even had Zachariah speak with him in hopes that the communication barrier would be removed. Once I tried to explain to him how good his life could be at The Village, that this could be the best thing that ever happened to him. But his behavior continued as he rejected our counsel.

Eventually, knowing that this kind of behavior could hinder the growth of the other children, we had to tell the social worker that they needed to find a new place for Thabang.

That hurts. When an 11 year old kid has already been set on this path in life, knowing the window has passed where he can be helped, it is hard to accept. You would love to invest everything trying to reach him, but you can't put the other children at risk in the meantime.

I hesitate to share this story, but you need to know the reality of life here. "A child left to himself will bring his mother to shame." We are seeing the fruits of scores of children left to themselves.

The most poignant truth I see in situations like these is God's relationship with mankind. He is there, offering His love, offering adoption into His family, giving us freely the best life we could imagine. But in our stubbornness so many of us turn Him away. We continue to treasure the petty pleasures we find in life, rejecting the awesomeness that He wants to give us. God doesn't reject us, we reject Him. As Thabang refused to soften, refused to listen, so also do we, not willing to see the riches He will provide in Christ. If that is you, please, I beg you, stop living your miserable life and accept the love and forgiveness God offers through His Son.

The Life & Times - Now that He's Committed...

2011-11-14T12:30:00.001-06:00

I've been saving this post for a long time - several months to be exact. Aaron Powell visited us this past summer, sacrificing time where he could have been at home earning money to help with the ministry here. It was a great chance for us to get to know him, and maybe a sneak peak for him into our family. And I'm happy to announce that we didn't scare him away. A couple weeks ago he worked up the nerve to ask Amber's sister Rikki (read more about Rikki here) to be his wife. And she said "Yes"! We couldn't be happier for them both.

While he was here Aaron graciously agreed to preach at our church. Church for us is in a local high school in Thabong. Every week is an adventure. The first week I unwittingly preached with profane graffiti directly behind me the whole time. We've found several disgusting items left in the room from immoral people. You never know what condition the room will be in, or if you'll even be able to get into the room each week. So for Aaron to step up and preach for us without knowing all the details beforehand was a big step.

That being said, Aaron did a great job. Interestingly enough, he used a sermon illustration about faith. It's a relatively common illustration used to help people understand the difference between faith and knowledge. The object of the illustration is commonly a chair. Typically, the speaker will draw the analogy that you walk into a room and see a chair. You don't think about whether the chair will hold you up, you just kind of know "That will hold me if I sit in it." But faith takes place when that person actually sits, changing a head knowledge into something acted upon.

Fantastic illustration, normally. However, in our case, we spend several minutes each Sunday before setting up for church sorting through the chairs. Rarely are we able to find enough chairs that look sufficiently sturdy to hold your average-sized person. So to make up for that we use chairs that are obviously flawed, but might, I emphasize might hold an average-sized child, as long as said child doesn't move around too much. I doubt anybody else thought much of it, but the irony wasn't lost completely.

Aaron, you need to know we are excited that you will be joining the family soon. And you need to know that you aren't off limits anymore. Welcome to the family!

The Life & Times - African Snowstorm

2011-11-14T12:12:00.001-06:00

No, we didn't have a blizzard on Amber's plate. Someone got her with the old "loosen the cap on the saltshaker" trick. There won't be snow in Africa this Christmas.

The Life & Times - Thabong Outreach

2011-11-05T13:25:00.002-05:00

Wow! The last couple weeks have been crazy. With construction, ministries, and keeping the Lakeside team out of trouble we have had our hands full. You've seen some of the construction pictures. I'll be posting some of our successes and failures in trying to keep the team out of trouble. But for now, I'm going to share about the three-day outreach we held in Thabong.

We've done outreaches in the townships before. Frequently in the past we've been able to do door-to-door evangelism, and once in awhile when teams are here we organize something more like a Vacation Bible School. But each time you do something you never know what might happen.

The initial inspiration for this ministry came from Zachariah, who wanted to set up some street preaching. Knowing the Lakeside team was on the way, we thought it would be good to use their skills. So we combined Zachariah's idea for street preaching with a Vacation Bible School-type outreach. Since we now have church meetings each Sunday in Thabong we had the added benefit of being able to provide follow-up opportunities for this type of ministry.

Zachariah chose a busy street corner. The lot on the corner is occupied by a tin shack. Living in this shack are 4 teenagers, all related and living alone. All 4 profess to be believers. They allowed us to set up a speaker and keyboard in their yard. This was supposed to help us draw a crowd before we started preaching. They also allowed us to use their electricity. We had agreed to pay them R100 (about $12.00) which would way more than cover the cost of any electricity we used. The first day we gave them half - R50.

Here is a little synopsis of the outreach:

Day One: We arrived early to get set up and make sure everything was ready. I had asked Zachariah to help arrange things, both to take some of the work off us and to see how he handled something like this. After we got located and set up Zachariah then left as we started a soccer game to begin gathering some children. Zachariah had recruited some help on the keyboard in the form of Thapelo. Ironically enough, Thapelo is the cousin of one of the boys from our old Bible study. Thapelo was a tremendous blessing, as he was our interpreter. When Zachariah wasn't there, Thapelo was. He willingly jumped in to help whenever asked and did a great job translating to the kids. While I don't know Sotho, I know enough to tell he was bringing the Word to them.

Soccer didn't draw as big a crowd as we had hoped because kids kept coming and going. We learned that next time we find a quite neighborhood street instead of a busy intersection. Our upside might be lower, but we would have better control and access to an entire neighborhood, instead of so many curiosity seekers that would come to look and then leave.

After a Bible lesson on Jesus work we had scheduled crafts. Unfortunately, many things didn't go as planned. Each morning would be beautiful, but as soon as we arrived in Thabong the wind and dust would start to blow. It seemed as if there weren't enough obstacles anyway so the adversary wanted to bring more. This weather definitely kept some of the crowds away.

The first day we had about 35 people, probably 30 kids and 5 adults. After the lesson Zachariah and Thapelo spent about 15 minutes singing Sotho songs and hoping to gather a larger crowd of adults. None came. Zachariah preached for about 20 minutes to the children who had stayed, and then we passed out flyers for them to take to their parents/caregivers about our church.

Day Two: We started with a quick soccer game to get a few kids, then transitioned into dodgeball. I can't say we were successful teaching them dodgeball, as they just tried to play catch back and forth. But it kept them busy, happy, and most importantly drew some more.

After games we were going to start the lesson. However, there was a little miscommunication within our little group and we handed out the balloons that were supposed to come after the lesson. This was a terrible idea. Mass chaos quickly ensued. Children popped their balloons, lost them to the wind and tried chasing them, fought over them, etc, etc, etc... We pretty much lost at least half of them for the rest of the day. On a bright note, we had about 65 kids this day. Grant preached using an illustration of kool-aid sprayed on a white shirt to show how sin affects our lives. A second white shirt illustrated how Jesus cleanses us from sin. Again Thapelo interpreted the Gospel message to the small crowd.

Day Three: After again starting with games we realized the crowd was growing bigger on this day. By time Bible lesson rolled around we were at 85+. After the lesson I was able to preach using Wordless Book bracelets the team had brought. Walking the children through each step was enjoyable. There were two illustrations: One, of a half jar of water which you pour food coloring into to illustrate sin, then pour bleach into the water which makes it clear again, showing what Christ does in our hearts. The second was using a trick deck of cards in which it appears as a normal deck, then appears as if every card is the 2 of Hearts. The point of this is that Jesus is all about our hearts as well.

After the preaching we handed out bracelets to everyone that could tell us what the colors represented. By this time we probably had at least 130 people come, and those who hadn't been there for the lesson were being coached on the colors by those who had, just so they could get a bracelet too. But if that's what it takes for the Gospel to be spread, then let's do what it takes, right?

As we were nearing the end an older gentleman came and explained that he trains some young men in boxing at an abandoned building nearby. He asked if we could come speak to his boys. Now, I'm not the most gifted evangelist, but when someone comes and asks if we would share the Gospel with his group, it's not too hard to know the answer is "YES". We went and spent about 20 minutes sharing the same message with his guys, then giving each a bracelet as well. By that time word had spread to the kids on the street and about 30 tracked us down. It gives a much better understanding of what Jesus went through with the crowds following him just to see the miracles or eat the loaves and fishes.

With all the obstacles of weather, health, language, etc... the Lord was still able to bless. The Sunday after our outreach our average attendance doubled to 66. Only 2 new adults were there, but one of them was the boxing coach. We praise God for His blessings on us, and pray that fruit would continue to be produced for His name.

P.S. - After the last day I went to pay the 4 teenagers the remaining R50 we had agreed on. They weren't home because they were attending midweek services at their church. I tracked them down to their church and offered them the R50. They refused to take it, saying that we were there to do the Lord's work and that the first R50 would cover any of their expenses. I actually put the R50 bill into one of the boy's hands, hoping they would acquiesce and take it. He put it right back into my pocket. Now this may not seem like a big thing, but let me make this clear. In this culture, everyone has their hand out. When we were giving out Wordless Book bracelets our crowd increased by about 40%. People are out to get their own. And here were 4 orphaned teenagers refusing the $6 I was trying to give them, money we had already agreed to pay. I about wet my pants I was so shocked. As I was leaving they said we could come back anytime and they would be happy to help us spread God's Word.
Small blessings can be such an encouragement.

The Life & Times - A little bit of growth

2011-10-28T12:50:00.001-05:00

The first day the Lakeside Team was here we planted a couple gardens for needy families in the township. We were excited to see that a few of the plants have already started to sprout and grow. This is sweet corn planted at Zachariah's house.

The Life & Times - Construction Progress

2011-10-22T01:40:00.001-05:00

The Life & Times - Innocent?!

2011-10-22T00:52:00.000-05:00

"While being about his alleged involvement, Drake pleads ignorance."
(Hint: see t-shirt)

2011-10-18T14:46:00.000-05:00

The Lakeside Team has arrived. And with their arrival we've been able to complete an outreach ministry that has been on our hearts for a couple weeks now.

Through our church plant we've become acquainted with a man named Zachariah. I have been doing a discipleship Bible study with him and several others for quite a few months. His testimony is often challenging to us. His family of six is struggling financially due to his unemployment. Several times we have been able to provide food, both through our ministry funds and through the provisions sent over by some generous donors.

He was led by the Spirit one day to another family. This family is headed by a 72 year old granny who cares for 8 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. This family group has numerous needs including health, financial, and security. The overwhelming need however is spiritual, namely that they come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and experience His forgiveness of their sins.

Through Zachariah's deacon-like ministry we've become involved with this family as well. He has faithfully been bringing them to church, although a couple of them have resisted. One challenge last week was that two of the children didn't want to come because they have no shoes. Zachariah called me 15 minutes before we had to leave for church to tell me this. Obviously Amber didn't have time to go out and find shoes, not even considering the fact that we didn't know the sizes. I told him to encourage them to come anyway and surprisingly they did.

I've been in their house, which is probably 20x15 (remember that there are 12 people living there). There is nothing at all in the house. Nothing. As in, not even food. Several times we have been able to provide food for them, but that isn't a long-term solution.

With the team here, we had a great chance to take a couple hours, a roto-tiller, shovels, rakes and seeds and prepare gardens for these two families. This helps us fulfill James 2:15, as well as evaluate how willing these families are to help themselves. Zachariah has committed to oversight of the new family's garden, ensuring that the grandchildren water and weed it. And while we have shared the gospel with them both at their home and in church, it is a chance to show that we care about them - that we truly care about them enough to do something for them. And in this culture, for white people to go out to the township and actually work for a black family is unheard of. Several times we actually had an audience, and with my rudimentary understanding of Sesotho, I could hear the people asking what these crazy white people where doing.

You can see in these photos that it was very moving, especially to the grandmother. Now it's your turn. Pray that the seeds in these gardens will grow to produce bountiful fruit for these families in need. And pray that the spiritual seeds we have been planting will grow into spiritual fruit in the souls of those who hear.

Next week we have scheduled for a children's outreach and some street preaching in Thabong. Zachariah will take Day 1, then the Lakeside team members and I will split the other days. We trust the Lord will provide fantastic fruit through these ministries.

The finished product. Well, hopefully not finished. We'd like to see a harvest at some point.

Pictured here: Butternut Squash. Also planted: Tomatos, Onions, Sweetcorn, Cucumbers, Cabbage, Swisschard, Green Beans and probably a few other things as well.

Grant's philosophy is "The more, the merrier". He likes to drop a couple dozen seeds in each hole, just to make sure.

Two of the grandchildren.

The granny was moved to tears by this relatively minor display of love.

The Lakeside Team with Granny and several of her grandchildren. Zachariah is the man in green/white stripes on the left.

The Life & Times - Green Thumb

2011-10-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

The other day the O'Tool family planted a little garden. We have a big garden at The Village, but we wanted a few more things to help Meredith and Drake learn how to grow things. So we took an evening after work and tilled up a little patch that had been left weeds when we prepared the rest of the garden. Then we planted some sweet corn, onions, cucumber, watermelon, beans, and assorted peppers and tomatoes.

Then a couple days later Brian told me he had just sprayed that weed patch with weed killer several times before we had planted. So...I don't think this is going turn out to be a very good lesson.

The Life & Times - Kung Fu Drake

2011-10-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

We just recently started Meredith in Karate lessons. We hope she learns discipline, coordination, respect, and some form of self defense. She loves it, so much that she has been giving lessons to Drake and some of the kids from The Village.

Drake has picked up a lot of the nuances. One of Meredith's and Drake's favorite movies is Mulan, the story of a young chinese girl who goes to war disguised as a boy to save her aged and crippled father from conscription. There is a song where the captain tells the men that he'll make a man out of them. Drake really likes that song...alot. He memorized the first verse and sings it to anyone who cares to listen. We convinced him to do it on video. Hope you enjoy as much as we do:-)

Translation:

Let's get down to business,

To defeat...the Huns.

Did they send me daughters

When I asked...for sons?

You're the saddest bunch I've ever met

And you haven't got a clue

Mister, I'll

Make a man

Out of You!

The Life & Times - That's a lot of dung

2011-10-02T15:45:00.004-05:00

Several months ago I wrote about some of the strange wildlife we had found at The Village. See it here: the cricket

A couple weeks back I found this fantastic specimen. It is a dung beetle, but not just any dung beetle. You can see from the pictures that this isn't your normal, everyday, conveniently packaged fun-size dung beetle. This is the king of dung beetles.

Courtesy of Wikipedia, I've posted a bit of information about the Scarabaeoidea superfamily. The most interesting note of which is that dung beetles are native to every continent, except, of course, Antarctica. I'd always thought of them as African, probably because they're so commonly related to Egyptian culture. Also, they're pretty cool to watch as they shape their collection of manure particles into a ball and roll it backwards.

Dung beetles are beetles that feed partly or exclusively on feces. Many dung beetles, known as rollers, are noted for rolling dung into spherical balls, which are used as a food source or brooding chambers. Other dung beetles, known as tunnelers, bury the dung wherever they find it. A third group, the dwellers, neither roll nor burrow: they simply live in manure. They are often attracted by the dung burrowing owls collect.

Short Term Care

2011-09-30T09:22:00.000-05:00

For the night RHV has grown by 4 children. Their situation is uncertain, so the plan is only overnight and we only have place for the boys long-term and the social worker doesn't want to split them up. Thankfully we were able to help them for the night, so they don't have to sleep at the police station. It appears the older 2 (the girl holding the baby and the girl in the black shirt) are siblings and their sister was suppose to be caring for them and her 2 children (the younger 2). So essentially we have 2 aunts with their nephews. The entire family situation and relationships are a bit blurred. We don't have the details of why exactly they need a place in the short term.

“Though my mother and father forsake me the Lord will rescue me.” Ps 27:10

The LIfe and Times - Homework :-(

2011-09-28T09:38:00.000-05:00

For a long time our focus has been "build, build, build". Now that we have children, that has changed quite a bit. In addition to construction, our duties now include all the things that we need to do to adequately care for these children and allow them the opportunity to thrive. The dual focus is now "build, nurture, build, nuture".

One major addition to my duties is schoolwork and homework. Everyday we have children who come home with assignments to complete. Motshidisi and Dieketseng are our two oldest children. While the others come home needing to work on their ABC's or 2+2, these two are a bit more complicated. Dieketseng just started algebra this past term.

Since Amber is homeschooling Meredith, most of the homework duty falls on me. My main exposure to algebra was "helping" my cousins Laura and Molly with their homework back in the day. That was almost 15 years ago. So while it's not complicated, there are some challenges trying to refresh myself, especially since the curriculum they use has a little bit different vocabulary than I learned.

So I'd say you all can make this an issue of prayer for us. And maybe pray for Abigail Hall too! She is our newest missionary appointee with Restoring Hope Village, and hopefully will be joining us within the next 12 months. We think that she'll be able to help out quite a bit with homework. I hope she's all brushed up on her algebra!

Abby Hall, the newest member of the RHI Staff!

The Life & Times - We've had better days

2011-09-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Drake has been sick since last Sunday. He has consistently been running a fever between 102 and 104. To make matters worse, Amber came down with a migraine on Monday afternoon. So on Tuesday we all took a trip to Bloemfontein to visit the nearest chiropractor.

There still wasn't any improvement in Drake, so on Friday afternoon Amber took him in to the doctor. On the way to the doctor's office another lady ran a stop sign, pulled out in front of Amber, and was promptly t-boned. Fortunately it was the intersection where Amber had to turn so she had already slowed down. There were no injuries, except to the two automobiles. We are thanking the Lord for making sure it wasn't any worse than this.

The Other Car

And I'm very proud of Amber's reaction. She first checked for personal injuries, moved out of traffic, then phoned the police. She then phoned me and since we only have one car I took the quad to check on things. Of course, our dogs took the opportunity to attempt a jailbreak and so I had to chase them down and herd them back inside the fence before I could go. Just as I arrived a volunteer paramedic stopped by to check on things, but everyone was fine.

Our Car

We spent the rest of the evening gathering everyone's information, filing a police report, contacting appropriate parties, etc... The other driver claims to be insured but I guess we'll see what happens. She had only taken out the policy this past Monday.

The Intersection: Amber was traveling from left to right in the far lane (since it's opposite here). The other driver went through this sign, across the first lane and median, then into Amber's lane.

All things considered, it could have been much worse. It is just another reminder that our God is in control and while we never know what might happen, He does. Not only does He know everything that will happen in the future, but He's already been there. Spend some time trying to figure that out. But what a blessing to know we don't serve a God constricted by time and space.

Oh, and we did eventually get Drake to see a medical professional. Nothing specific was diagnosed, but we did get some medication that seems to be helping. After a rough night last night he appears to be back to his normal cheerful self.

P.S.S: Congratulations to my brother Sam and new sister-in-law Michelle, who tie the knot later today!

"It went something like that, anyway"

2011-09-12T00:17:00.000-05:00

Last night we celebrated Drake's 3rd birthday. For his party we invited the Niehoffs over, plus a few other friends. While the adults were visiting the children were playing in their "hideout". The Hideout is an open space under the stairs.

Suddenly, Meredith bursts into tears and comes running to me. Since Meredith is like my sister Rosina, only on steroids, crying isn't that uncommon. I said "What's wrong?" Meredith replies "Drake hit me!"

As an experienced parent, I knew I needed to ascertain the facts of the alleged crime before doling out the sentence. I know violence is never the answer, but sometimes, especially if you are the younger child - and more especially if your older sibling is Meredith - violence is the only way to get your point across. The circumstances dictate how severe any correction must be.

I asked Drake "Did you hit Meredith?"
"Yes" Drake said.
"Why?"
"Because asdhiovi wehive innkeeper, and lwheoih ahaviiksl hies." replied Drake.
I turned to Meredith for the translation.
Meredith responded "We are playing Mary and Joseph. (with Meredith being Mary, Liam Niehoff being Joseph, and her Baby Josh doll tucked under her shirt as Jesus) Drake is the innkeeper. I asked him if he had any rooms in his inn and Wham!, he said 'NO!' and then hit me."

I suppose it could have happened that way and the Bible just didn't record the "Wham!" part, but I doubt it.

Sobering News

2011-09-10T03:53:00.002-05:00

The following article contains some material that could be disturbing, especially to children. Please use discretion.

Welkom has a weekly newspaper, The Vista. In a town the size of Ankeny but roughly the population of Des Moines (400k), The Vista is our most reliable source of news. The Des Moines area has 4 TV news stations, WHO Radio and several smaller stations, a daily newspaper and various weekly regionals. Anyone who has lived in DSM knows that when some scandalous crime occurs it dominates the airwaves and print for weeks.

Now, compare that to Welkom. There is no local radio or TV, and The Vista is really the only true local publication. And here is a sample of a couple stories that appeared in this week's edition.

Body of Baby Found

by Marti Will

She forced the birth of her twin babies at seven months and then she threw their little bodies down a pit toilet (outhouse). It is suspected that at least one of the twins, a boy, was born alive.

The police have now arrested a Thabong woman and her boyfriend for the gruesome murders.

It is alleged that the woman gave birth to the twins after she had taken two tablets given to her by a Nigerian doctor in Welkom. She had first approached the staff at Bongani Hospital to abort the babies, but they turned her away because of the advanced stage of her pregnancy. It is alleged that the first baby was born and the body dumped into a pit toilet. Later that evening the second baby, a boy, was born while the woman was taking a bath. It is suspected that he drowned. His tiny body too was thrown into the pit toilet. His birth was witnessed by a friend of the mother.

The crime was committed on 16 August in Thandanani village in Thabong. The police were informed of the murders on Sunday, 4 September.

The suspect's live-in boyfriend allegedly helped his girlfriend by throwing the second baby into the pit toilet. The police started looking for the bodies on Sunday. The body of one baby was recovered on Monday morning. The body of the other baby was not found.

The gender of the baby could not be determined because the body had already started to decompose. The Welkom Fire Department helped with the recovery of the body. A case docket of murder was opened at the Thabong SAPS for further investigation and both the suspects were arrested.

Teacher Murders Wife After Fight

A 39-year-old primary school teacher from Riebeeckstad (a suburb of Welkom) appeared in court after the police had charged him with the murder of his 36-year-old wife.

Mrs Mamokete Ramaisa was found dead in a pool of blood in her bathroom by the police on Wednesday evening.

The couple's 14-year-old son had telephoned the police and reported that his parents were fighting.

The 39-year-old man is a primary school teacher in Kutlwanong (a nearby township). When police arrived at the scene, they found the man at the gate holding a knife full of blood. He handed himself over to the police.

The paramedics declared the woman dead at the scene and the man was arrested for murder. The murder weapon was confiscated by the police.

The acting station comander of Welkom, Col. Ansie Foley expressed her condolences to the bereaved family. "We are saddened by this criminal act, especially now that we celebrated Women's Month and it is indeed a sad ending for all women who knew the deceased," said Foley.

Understand that neither of these stories made the front page headlines. The first article appeared on page 2, and the second was tucked away on page 9. Each week there are reports of various murders, rapes, robberies and attempted crimes.

Here on this blog I've written several times about the Zama Zama's. These are the illegal miners that operate in South Africa's Goldfields region. They have become so bold that they no longer operate strictly underground. Every Sunday on our way to church we pass G Hostel where we can see dozens of these zama zama's processing their diggings. Just within the past two weeks there was allegedly an episode that occured wherein one gang of the miners attacked another to steal their ore, reportedly killed up to 15 rival miners and threw their bodies down an old shaft. They have been unable to recover the bodies due to the depth of the shaft, which is up to 2 miles deep, straight down.

One day a couple months back a young woman came to our gate at The Village asking for help. She is 21 years old, an orphan herself, living at Number 7. Number 7 is a squatter camp of about 50 shacks about a quarter mile away from us. We've worked with people from this settlement on several occasions in the past. Team members will remember various outreaches we've done with those who live there.

This young woman came asking for us to give her money for her baby. The baby was two months old and was born as a result of this woman sleeping with at least one of the zama zama's. Of course, he up and leaves her to care for the baby alone. It was obvious she had been partaking of some kind of alcohol. I asked what she would do with money if I gave it to her. She said she would buy food for the baby. I asked what she would do when that food ran out.

"I will come ask you for more" was her reply.

I asked "Will you just give me the baby?" (This was a hypothetical question, since I couldn't just take a baby like that).

She replied "No! I love my baby."

"Do you love your baby enough to do what is best for your baby, not what you think is best for you?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Then you need to come with me to a social worker so they can take the baby and give it a home where it will be taken care of." I said.

At that, she just stood for a long time. Then she looks at me and says "Are you going to give me money?"

I had to be brutally honest. I told her I could see she was selfish and would only use it to buy beer. She didn't even argue with that. When I explained that I couldn't just give her money whenever she came to ask she turned and left. While that might be the end of our interaction, the baby still has to live a life like this...a life that it never chose.

You may be asking yourself "Why doesn't The Village do something more for the child?" I can tell you that's the hardest part of this ministry - seeing so many children in so many similar situations, and knowing that you are unable to help them all. It is at times like this that you have to trust the sovereignty of God, knowing that He will bring you the children He has chosen for you to serve. We've reported cases to social workers. Some come through, some don't. Our hearts want to meet every need that we see, but we trust that God gives us those we can handle.

Dumisang

2011-09-03T05:07:00.000-05:00

The following is plagiarized from Taylor Hircock's blog. Taylor spent close to 2 months here in Welkom this past summer. You can find his updates here.

Dumisang is about 9 months- More commonly known as “Tumi”, “Sumi Tumi”, or “Chunker”. He is a little (or should I say big) roly poly plumpster, which has led to him taking the brunt of many a fat joke. Don’t feel too bad for him though, for one thing he is only a baby so he doesn’t understand anyway, and he also gets his fair share of attention. When he came to the Village at the end of May he began staying at Brian and Lois’s house so I saw plenty of him (and believe me there is plenty of him to see) and for some reason I was just drawn to him. I began taking care of, playing with, and feeding him whenever I could so we established somewhat of a connection. This did not make him any less hesitant to spit up on me as often as possible though. He was brought to the Village because his mother is on her way through the court system and most likely to jail. We don’t believe she was a great caretaker anyhow (despite his “well fed” appearance) and he has spent most of his young life laying in his crib on a steady diet of sugar water. As such he is a bit behind in development although I claim personal credit for teaching him how to sit up, click with his tongue, and shake his head violently back and forth. He is coming along well but it would be nice if we could get him to crawl rather than just lay on his stomach like the beached whale that he is (there is no end to the joke material that he provides).

The Life & Times - The Many Faces of Rosina

2011-08-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

If you thought those last pictures were good, check these out. This is from the night we took Rosina out for her birthday. She loves me.

The Life & Times - DMV

2011-08-30T13:33:00.000-05:00

It's high time we obtained our South African driver's licenses. And there's nothing like the DMV, no matter which continent you reside on. And there is nothing flattering about DMV photos, either. All we need is a little sign with a number and a profile shot and we'd be all set for prison.

Meet Siyabulela Makhamba

2011-08-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

Siyabulela (a Xhosa expression loosely translated as Thank You) joined Restoring Hope Village on August 24, 2011. The day he arrived can be described as "one of those days". Just the day before we had received our first older boy, which officially opened the second house at Restoring Hope Village. Whenever a new child arrives things are a bit busier, as they typically come with only the clothes on their backs, and often that isn't suitable for anything other than a dumpster. So typically Amber and Lois will fit them for play clothes, church clothes, school uniforms, shoes, and all the necessary school and living supplies. Lois arranges all the necessary paperwork and court dates with the social worker. I arrange with the school to get the child pre-tested and enrolled. And Brian pretty much does everything that needs doing.

In addition to the normal things that need to be done with every new child there were extra things that needed to be done, since now the new house was opening. There was extra shopping, a few odds and ends that needed to be bought for the house, and the job of settling a new housemother with the new children. Oh, and the Niehoffs had left for their long-scheduled vacation early that morning. That's why it was "one of those days".

Unaware that Siyabulela would be coming, Amber and I decided to use the day to revamp our weekly shopping procedure. Up to this point we'd been asking Mama Lizzar to make a list of anything she needed, then we would purchase whatever was reasonable and within the budget. In order to keep things relatively equal, as well as teach the housemothers and children to manage a budget, we decided that we'll give them a certain weekly amount to spend and a list of prices for common items. They then must make their grocery list making sure to stay under the budgeted amount. This will also help them manage "luxury" items better so the children learn to save in one area and be able to have money for others.

We were in the middle of this when Lois calls to tell us the head of Social Development will be contacting us about another child. This prompted a trip to The Village so Mama Melita could help speak with the social worker and make sure there were fewer lapses in communication. And here is where we learned that we would be springing Siyabulela from jail...no kidding.

Siyabulela's mother passed away in February this year. Since that time he's been living in Klerksdorp (2 hours away) with his grandmother. About a week ago she was admitted to the hospital with some kind of serious illness. We're not sure what exactly, but the social worker made it seem unlikely that she would be taking care of Siyabulela again. Three days before he came to live at The Village he was transferred from his grandmother's care back to living with his father, or at least the man most recently living with his mother. The same day he arrived back in Welkom with his father, the man was arrested for an alleged rape. So Siyabulela spent 2 days in jail, one of those days being his second birthday.

Due to the circumstances, Mama Melita went directly to the courthouse where they retrieved Siyabulela and took him directly to the magistrate. Normally it will take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks to have that initial court hearing. But since this was a unique case and since all interested parties were already at the courthouse they processed the paperwork immediately to place Siyabulela with The Village in Place of Safety care. Place of Safety is temporary, by law lasting no more than 6 months. Within that time a decision must be made whether the original circumstances have improved to the point that the child can be returned, or whether the child must be permanently removed and placed into Foster Care.

So it seems that we will have Siyabulela for the near future, and according to the social worker, due to the health of the grandmother and charges against the father, highly possible that he will need to be placed with us in Foster Care.

He took to life at The Village immediately. Within the first hour he was pulling Drake into his little games and sharing toys with him. He's quite a talker and is already picking up some English words. We have learned that if you don't keep a good enough eye on him he will go outside and pull the drain pipes out of the wall. Whether he stays with us or goes back to live with some other extended family, we're happy to have him and pray that whatever time he has with us will have an eternal impact.

Meet Kamohelo Mokhabela

2011-08-26T05:12:00.000-05:00

Kamohelo (meaning to receive) joined Restoring Hope Village on August 23, 2011. The day he arrived was one of the worst weather days we've had in the 3.5 years we've been living in South Africa. The dust was blowing so badly it looked like a typical Iowa blizzard. In places near the mine waste dumps visibility was down to a couple car lengths. And on days like this Thabong is a miserable place to be. It's hard to believe a car in the township would have any paint left on it at all. So it was in these conditions that Brian went out with a social worker to retrieve Kamohelo.

Kamohelo's mother had passed away in 2009 when he was just 5 years old. From that point until his arrival at The Village he had lived with his older brother, who was 11 at the time they were orphaned. Of course, their father(s) is unknown. Their primary caregiver was an uncle who was only 18 when Kamohelo came to The Village, making him a mere 16 years old when the boys' mother died. Obviously he was not equipped to raise two young boys.

Making matters worse, this uncle is not a model citizen by any means. Here in South Africa he is considered a Tsotsi, or gang member. These gangs are responsible for most of the crime in the townships that place South Africa at or near the top of world rankings for various serious crimes like rape, murder, violent theft, etc... These gangs operate very much like street gangs in the US, enticing young boys to join with promises of protection, money, drugs, and a sense of belonging. Because of the poverty, broken families and lack of economic opportunity these gangs thrive.

Kamohelo's brother, at the age of 13, is well on his way to becoming a Tsotsi as well. The headmaster at their school reported that he has been involved in acts of theft and violence already at school, that he often smokes pot, and has been caught many times in local gambling halls. In fact, he had just recently stolen money from one of the teachers and taken it to use in a dice game. This brother has also been removed from the home and the social worker reported that he is going to a home for troubled young boys.

Kamohelo seems to be a very bright youngster. His first day here he asked his housemother to make sure he was put back into first grade at school rather than being dropped back to Grade R (Kindergarten). He was very concerned that she knew he was smart enough to be in Grade 1. Unfortunately for him, his lack of English forces him to finish this year in Grade R.

After only having girls and infants at The Village for several months, it's exciting to have an older boy. His energy is immense, and he is already practicing his kung fu moves on the trampoline. Mama Melita reports that he is very helpful around the house and with the two smaller boys now living there as well.

We thank God for bringing us this youngster and beg for your prayers that a godly influence at The Village will overcome his early exposure to the darker side of life. Most of all, pray that Kamohelo and all the children who come to Restoring Hope will meet Christ as their personal Savior and choose to live godly and productive lives for Him.

The Life & Times - A New Twist on Fast Food

2011-08-25T02:16:00.000-05:00

As seen at the Johannesburg Airport - a pizza vending machine. And call me crazy, but it seems like it could be intriguingly delicious. One day when I'm feeling especially brave or stupid, I'm going to give it a shot.

Despicable Tim II: Society's Revenge & Collateral Damage

2011-08-20T06:34:00.000-05:00

Reading the last several posts might lead one to wonder two things: First, do these people ever do any work? Second, does everyone hate Tim?
Let me take a moment to answer: In reference to the first question, yes we do. It's just that not that many interesting things happen when you're digging holes, hanging trim, building shelves, etc... You can see other updates of the work at RHI's Facebook page. In reference to the second, I'll just say that "everyone" is probably an exaggeration...probably.

This particular post may or may not shed light on any of those two questions. Let me clarify: Tim and Rosina departed South Africa on August 8th. Before they left we wanted to take a break from work and take them on a trip to the ocean. "Which ocean?" you ask. The One World Ocean, as so aptly defined by my best friend Jono and also by Wikipedia. Specifically, we took them to the section of ocean commonly referred to as the Indian Ocean. During the two weeks prior to our vacation we spent the time moving roughly 48 tons of bricks and 72 tons of dirt in preparation for our next building project. So the answer is yes, we got a little bit of work out of Tim and Rosina recently. The rest of this post will deal with the second question.

Our vacation officially started on Sunday right after church. So you can't exactly say every day was rotten. Sunday afternoon our whole family went with Brian and Liam on a four-wheeler ride on some trails around the area. That was fun. That was also probably the highlight of our vacation.

Monday morning we got up bright and early and left town. The drive to our destination, Uvongo, was estimated to be about 8 hours. Two hours out of Welkom we had reached the Drakensberg Mountains and it started to rain. It continued to rain off and on - mostly on - for the next six hours. We reached the coast just before sunset and saw the breakers rolling in, breakers that were cresting as high as twenty feet!

We checked into our lodging and went to get something to eat. Being a Midwestern family we're more meat and potatoes than all the fancy seafoods, but since we were at the coast we opted for fish'n'chips. Also, they were very, very cheap. We all voted that this was the best fish we had ever tasted (outside of a Kim Heiderscheit fish fry). But even at that Amber could only choke down about two bites. Which is all the better for Uncle Lou, as I was able to eat two full portions. However, the sudden dietary change brought about sudden intestinal change for yours truly for several hours. So, all in all, it was a wonderful start to our vacation.

As a side note the people at the fish'n'chips place could talk about nothing but the abnormally miserable weather that had just arrived. Apparently they hadn't had a winter storm like that in decades. So we've got that going for us...which is nice.

Tuesday dawned, barely. The breakers were still crashing in on the rocks about 50 yards from our little cabana, the rain was still off and on, and the wind was blowing in that refreshing saltwater mist. Gone were our plans to spend the day exploring the tidal pools and playing in the surf. Instead, we decided to go for a little drive around the area to look at what we could see. However, before doing that we wanted to get a close-up look at the waves so Tim and Rosina could see exactly how high they were. And this is when society began to exact its revenge upon the notorious villain, Despicable Tim. And this is when the Louis and Rosina divisions of the O'Tool family began to suffer from society's collateral damage.

Episode 1: We - and by we I mean Louis, Rosina and Tim - braved the elements whilst the remainder of the family waited in the car on the bluff above. The three of us scurried down onto the rocks. Actually, Tim scurried, I bounded, and Rosina kind of did this slide/shuffle thing because she was wearing only flip-flops. Tim and I wisely chose to wear tennis shoes. Tim reached the rocks well ahead of me and that's when one of those small decisions was made that determines the fate of mice and men. The rocks he had chosen weren't terribly close to the breakers, so I decided to take a different path to some rocks out nearer where the waves were coming in. Tim followed me and Rosina, as per usual, brought up the rear. I chose this particular jumble of rocks because it seemed to be well above the crashing waves, but yet as near as you could get without actually getting wet. And I was terribly wrong. If you've ever been to any portion of the One World Ocean you'll know that waves tend to be cyclical. Unfortunately, the brief time I took to examine our perch was at the low end of the cycle. So as we stood and admired the crabs, sea urchins and other creatures of the tidal pools we were caught unawares by a mini-tsunami that crashed onto our previously high'n'dry turf...nearly washing away Rosina's footwear while immediately soaking Tim's and mine.

Since we were already drenched it seemed a minor matter to get a few pictures of us and the waves. While it may appear a little dangerous, I can assure you that we were well within the boundaries of the rocky shore so the waves washing in had already spent their power. But you will notice that Despicable Tim was still frightened by them. Check out the play-by-play, as Tim attempts to save his own life at the expense of his sister's.

Spotting the danger

Fleeing from the danger (using Rosina to boost himself)

Despicable Tim - 6, Society - 1, Collateral Damage against Rosina and Uncle Lou.

Episode 2: On Wednesday we took a trip up the coast to Durban, the busiest port city in Africa. Durban is also home to uShaka Marine World, a first class aquarium and water park. Due to the inclement weather we chose only to enjoy the aquarium portion. This is our third time and it's great every time. They have sea lions that perform a drama for the audience, and they have a world renowned dolphin show. This time just before the dolphin show they asked for volunteers to go down and feed, touch, and kiss a dolphin. Tim was one of six contestants selected. The hostess told all the contestants to do a dance and then the crowd would cheer for whomever they thought was the best. The first round saw Despicable Tim show off his Sharks rugby jersey. The Sharks being the local rugby team he received lots of cheers. His opponent in the finals was an older gentleman who was there as a chaperone for an entire school...so he had a whole section cheering for him. Despicable Tim, knowing he was the underdog, could see that he needed to pull off a special dance to succeed against The Principal. So when the hostess said "Dance" it was on. While the older man pulled out some moves clearly from his younger days in the disco era, Tim made his move. While feigning a dance move he took a planned tumble down the stairs of the arena. Unfortunately it was too convincing. The audience was more concerned than impressed. When the time came for the cheers, The Principal was the overwhelming majority. Despicable Tim was actually the recipient of more than a few boos. And I think even if he had received the most cheers the hostess wouldn't have allowed him near the dolphin pool for fear he might injure himself or one of the animals. And in addition, during the fall Tim received a significant bruise on his left bum.

Despicable Tim - 6, Society - 2, Collateral Damage against the whole family, as everyone saw him sitting with us. How embarrassing!

Episode 3: Wednesday afternoon Amber took the kids to the uShaka playground while Tim, Rosina and I went body surfing in the sea. This was about the same time that Tim was struck with severe diarrhea. Several trips to the facilities later, we were on the road back to Uvongo, one of the longest hours of Tim's life.

Despicable Tim - 6, Society - 3, Collateral Damage against the whole family as we had to spend time waiting for Tim during his visits to the loo.

Episode 4: Wednesday evening and night didn't see our villain fare any better. After the diarrhea abated he was afflicted with nausea and vomiting. This lasted throughout the night, until about 4:00am when he was struck with severe pain in his lower abdomen. We'll call Wednesday night in Society's favor.

Despicable Tim - 6, Society - 4, No Collateral Damage.

Episode 5: Thursday morning was an extension of Wednesday night for Despicable Tim. While the diarrhea and vomiting abated, the pain in the side grew worse. He was able to catch a bit of sleep here and there, but mostly he just lounged on the couch. We considered a visit to the hospital and put it off for the following reasons: First, Frank and Maggie never-ever-ever took anyone to the hospital (including the time one of my uncles hit me in the head with a shovel...twice). Second, yours truly had a little episode of vomiting and intestinal ailment on Monday night, so we thought Tim's illness might just be a more intense manifestation of the same. Third, Despicable Tim had already been admitted to the hospital once earlier this year for potential heart trouble that turned out to be merely dehydration and nerves. So while Thursday was the one nice day of the week, we spent the bulk of it indoors.

Around mid-afternoon the pain hadn't lessened, so Tim and I made the decision to take him to a local hospital. The next two hours found Tim being poked, prodded, stuck, giving various samples of various liquids and internally photographed. Meanwhile, I ran from one office at the hospital to the next, handing over our "emergency use only" credit card. The private hospitals in this country demand payment before services are rendered. In addition, each doctor, x-ray facility, blood testing, etc... is independent of the hospital itself, so every service that was administered had to be paid for at a different location. So Uncle Lou had lots of fun Thursday afternoon.

Finally, they determined that the most probably source of the pain was coming from an infected appendix. The doctor ordered immediate surgery to remove the offending organ. Probably the appendix was just as anxious to get away from the villain as we were:-)

Meanwhile, Amber, Rosina and the kids spent the afternoon exploring more tidal pools and walking along the beach.
Despicable Tim - 6, Society - 5, Collateral Damage against Uncle Lou

More Collateral Damage: Although Thursday was relatively nice and partially sunny, Friday regressed back to the mean. But since it was our last scheduled full day on vacation we insisted on making the most of it. That morning we decided to visit Tim during the visiting hours we were given by hospital reception. Unfortunately when we arrived we learned that hospital reception was apparently listing visiting hours for a different time zone and we were politely escorted out of the hospital by security. Since the hospital was about 10 minutes down the road from our lodging we decided to visit a beach nearer to the hospital. It was actually a very nice location and although the temperature was chilly the Indian section of the One World Ocean is quite nice. We thought we would take the opportunity to finally spend some time in the water. Alas, this was not to be. The east coast of South Africa is home to one of the greatest wonders of the natural world - The Annual Sardine Migration. There have been Imax videos made of this great spectacle. This year's reports listed Margate, South Africa as one of the prime locations...and Tim's hospital was located in...yep, Margate. Let me clarify: During this great Sardine Run, the shark nets are removed and waters are monitored for shark activity. This year in early July an American biologist was attacked by a shark while researching the migration. And the monitors declared the beaches of our area off limits due to increased shark activity. Which is totally awesome.

Instead of swimming at that beach, we went down the shore a couple km's and found an isolated stretch of sand that was protected by a rocky reef. While we couldn't get into the water we were able to hike around on the rocks. Of course, while doing so I slipped off one rock and mashed up my knee pretty good. I don't want to say that this is the worst vacation ever. In fact, its not even my worst vacation ever (read: a spring break trip to Texas gone sour). But I would definitely rank this right up there as awfully disappointing.

We were able to extend our vacation an extra day because Tim wasn't discharged from the hospital until Saturday afternoon. And Saturday was actually pretty nice, although kind of a bummer because Tim wasn't able to be with us. But that meant that Brian and Lois had to take charge of the church service back here in Welkom, and this on very short notice. Yet another bit of collateral damage inflicted by supervillain Despicable Tim.

If you'd like to see more photos from this vacation, you can find them on facebook.

The Life & Times - Mousers

2011-08-02T00:46:00.000-05:00

We've had something of a mouse problem recently. Not completely surprising, but annoying nonetheless. The traps here are useless, giving me a better understanding of the whole "Build a better mousetrap" adage. And since our walls are brick, mortar and concrete, the little buggers don't get to run around inside the walls. Instead they dart from hiding place to hiding place often giving the ladies of our house quite a scare.

This picture is a bit old, but it is from one of our mouse hunting expeditions. Taylor and Matthew were here one night when a mouse was cornered in between the dining room and kitchen. Armed with brooms and shoes Tim, Taylor and Matthew stalked the mouse, finally delivering a fatal lunging blow with Tim's shoe. It was quite a celebration as you can see from our proud poses. It's like they caught a marlin or something. Oh, and that is my sister Rosina, whom the mouse had cornered on top of the freezer.

The Life & Times - Police Parade

2011-07-21T05:47:00.000-05:00

The other day we were filling a trailer with fill dirt from a old abandoned railroad bed. As we worked we saw a few Zama Zama's running our direction. These are the illegal miners that have made headlines all over the world (Click here for a previous post on the topic). These miners have become a very serious problem. In fact, we learned that a police officer from Lesotho was killed by them.

We had thought to bring along our pepper spray and stun gun, which was nice. As we saw them running toward us my hand automatically moved to my waistband where said stun gun was conveniently holstered. The four Zama's reached a clump of trees and brush and immediately dropped to the ground, looking back toward the road they had just crossed. This drew our attention to that road as well.

As soon as we looked we saw several police cars speeding along that road in the direction of two different mine shafts. Then the several police cars turned into several dozen. Then the cars turned into police trucks, riot vehicles, disaster relief vans, emergency response units, motor bikes...really any and all law enforcement vehicles that you can imagine. We saw well over 100 vehicles go by, and when we left they were still coming, as far as the eye could see.

We still haven't heard the specifics on what was taking place, but that was our excitement for the week. Actually, the most exciting part was the sight we witnessed on our way out to the train tracks. Just around the corner from The Village, and before this whole parade started, there was one lone police truck parked in the shade of a small tree. While one officer ate his lunch on the hood of the truck, the other officer was practicing his kung fu moves...Walker - Texas Ranger-style. That was exciting!

The Life & Times - Despicable Tim

2011-07-16T03:10:00.001-05:00

A couple years after I left home our family adopted two new dogs, Pippen and Lucy. Lucy in particular was one of the ugliest dogs you'll ever find. What she lacked in beauty she made up for in cunning. Let me clarify: My family lives on an acreage near Carroll. The road in front of the house is a shortcut for many different businesses and the schools. So it gets quite busy sometimes. Lucy herself never chased cars. But she taught all the other dogs to chase cars, thereby eventually eliminating her perceived rivals.

Flash forward to 2011: A movie is released called "Despicable Me" in which a super villain sees a young child drop his ice cream cone. As the child bursts into tears, the villain stops and makes him a balloon wiener dog, at which point the child stops crying. Then said super villain pulls out a pin and pops the child's balloon.

"What is the point of these stories?" you may be asking yourself. Let me clarify: My brother Tim has been staying with us for the last two months. Throughout his life he has been the proud owner of many nicknames - The Weasel, Rat-a-Tim, The Parts Child, etc... He is now the proud owner of his newest nickname: Despicable Tim. Let me clarify:

It all began when my cousin Tom was still here. After one day of hard labor we were wrapping things up and heading home. At this point a minor wrestling match broke out between Tom and Despicable Tim. Knowing such a clash of titans could last for days - weeks even - and since I was tired and ready to go home, I declared that whichever person's knee, hand or arm touched the ground first would be the loser. Tom, being exceptionally strong and fleet of foot instantly began to lay the smack down on Despicable Tim. Tim's cunning, however, won the day. Tom's foot slipped out from under him, sending his knee crashing to the ground and cutting a deep gash right over his kneecap. Despicable Tim - 1, Society - 0.

The next instance occurred near Memorial Day (which isn't celebrated in South Africa, oddly enough). Our whole group went to a nearby park to play bocce ball. After everyone else left, Despicable Tim, Taylor, Dwayne Jakuja and I stayed at the park to toss the football around. Eventually it evolved into a little game of "500" in which Taylor threw the ball and Despicable Tim and I tried to keep the other from catching it. Normally Taylor threw high-arching lobs, with an occasional line drive tossed in to keep us on our toes. On the specific instance in question Taylor threw the mini football as fast, straight and hard as he could. Despicable Tim was slightly in front of me and about to catch the ball. I reached forward and stuck my arm straight out, hoping to deflect the ball away from him with my outstretched hand. At the precise moment the ball was to arrive, Despicable Tim grabbed my arm with both hands and pulled down, leaving my defenseless face to catch the ball. Lacking opposable thumbs on my nose for catching a ball, I was left to drop to the ground and burst into the pain-induced tears that come only from a direct blow to the nose as the blood began to flow. Despicable Tim - 2, Society - 0.

A third instance occurred on a Sunday afternoon. Taylor and Despicable Tim began a wrestling match of their own. This time no blood was involved, but Taylor nearly passed out. Apparently he hadn't been there to witness Tom's knee injury. Despicable Tim - 3, Society - 0.

On another and completely separate occasion we were in Thabong picking up people from our church in order to make a group visit to the children's ward at the hospital. As we waited for the adults to arrive a crowd of children began to gather. WWE (professional "wrestling") is extremely popular here. These children began to torment Despicable Tim and soon an amateur professional wrestling match broke out. Despicable Tim played Andre the Giant, fighting off a half-dozen children at once. Had these children but known the despicableness that Tim is capable of they would gladly have escaped with just their lives. Alas, in the midst of a body slam Despicable Tim faceplanted one of the young boys directly into the turf. Fortunately, after a brief timeout accompanied by tears and crying, this boy returned to the fracas, sans his street cred and dignity. Despicable Tim - 4, Society - 0.

The fifth and most severe injury sustained by the victims of Despicable Tim occurred during our Fifth of July celebration (the Fourth was rainy and cold). A tarp covering some important construction materials was blowing away. As Taylor agreed to chase down the tarp Despicable Tim challenged him to a race. Midway through the race Despicable Tim heard Taylor say "My legs are stiff from sitting so long." As Tim turns to respond he sees Taylor stumble headlong. On his descent Taylor had the presence of mind to attempt a tuck-and-roll. Regrettably, it was a fraction of a second late and Taylor crashed to the ground, landing squarely on his shoulder. He instantly knew something was wrong, as there was a large bump protruding from his collarbone region, a bump that hadn't been there a moment before. To get the full explanation, I insist you read Taylor's own account on his blog: thircock.blogspot.com Despicable Tim - 5, Society - 0.

Not content with inflicting physical injury, Despicable Tim proceeds to hit for the cycle, inflicting emotional damage as well. Let me clarify: One day last week my sister Rosina and Despicable Tim spent the day at the local children's ward, playing with the children, reading to them, and in general attempting to make their day brighter. Some of these children have been living there for over a year now, so I'm certain that visitors who come only to play with them are a welcome experience. Well, Rosina initiated a game of Keep the Balloon Off the Floor wherein you attempt to keep a balloon off the floor. In Despicable Tim's defense (which would be the same as playing devil's advocate, I guess), the duration of this game had apparently gone on for quite some time and several of the children seemed to tire of it. Despicable Tim, with his misplaced sense of chivalry, decides he will save the children from Rosina's despotic demands that they enjoy themselves. At which point he takes out his pocketknife and punctures the balloon. I'm not sure if you've ever played Keep the Balloon Off the Floor, but I can assure you the game is much more difficult and significantly less enjoyable if the balloon is deflated...or in this specific case, deflated and in many pieces. Despicable Tim - 6, Society - 0.

I close this account by relating an anecdote from Michelle, my brother Sam's finance. Let me clarify: She said "When I first met your family I wondered why everyone was so mean to Tim. Then I hung out with him once and I understand." Thus concludes the sad saga of how Timothy came to be known as Despicable Tim ("concludes" if we're lucky and assuming he doesn't injure anyone else throughout the remaining duration of his stay).

The Life & Times - Strikes

2011-07-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

Every week Lois, Amber, and whatever visitors happen to be with us go to Thabong to do an outreach ministry with children whose parent/guardian is under hospice care.

This past week they went out the day after electric price increases went into effect. Normally South Africans don't need an excuse to strike, but this time they have a good one. Our electric prices are spiking by 27% this month. Imagine if your utility bill increased that much in just one month! You'd be a bit upset as well.

This strike was loud and large, but relatively peaceful...at least here in Welkom. That stands in contrast to the teacher's strike last year in which some teachers physically assaulted students who continued to attend school and wear their school uniforms. There is also a steelworkers strike currently, which has cause some delays in our ability to proceed with construction. So far we've had enough to keep busy, but our next project is pouring another foundation which we hope to do before Tim and Rosina leave in early August. So we would ask for prayer that the strike end quickly. You never can tell how long these will last.

The Life & Times - Family Photos

2011-07-14T10:57:00.000-05:00

When taking engagement or wedding photos, things are pretty simple. Then, as you add children to your family, family pictures become exponentially more difficult. See below. Our children get their personality from Amber's side. The O'Tool side is always very serious and sober-minded.

The curse of O'Tool men: Nothing back there to keep our pants up.

Secondary curse of O'Tool men: O'Tool women who try to help them

The Life & Times - Carnivore Restaurant

2011-07-14T10:47:00.000-05:00

Recently I've fielded some complaints that we haven't updated this blog frequently enough. And those are valid complaints. So here is some catch-up.

The same day we took Michelle and Allison to the airport for their return to the US we had a group excursion to Carnivore Restaurant in Johannesburg. This experience was quite a treat. The restaurant is located at Misty Hills Country Resort and Spa, rated one of the 100 Most Romantic destinations in the world. The menu varies, but it operates on the Brazilian Steakhouse principle, wherein the wait staff carries meat on skewers and you ask for it whenever you'd like.

Carnivore is unique in that it serves a variety of game meats, based on availability. I've heard they occasionally serve meats as exotic as Crocodile, Python, Giraffe and Hippo. On our trip the meats they were serving were a bit more tame - in addition to chicken, ribs, lamb, beef, and pork they served kudu sausage, kudu meatballs, regular kudu meat, impala, zebra, and eland.

There was a variety of opinions within our group, but my personal favorite was the Zebra. The consensus of the game dishes seemed to be as follows, from most delicious to least:
1. Regular Kudu
2. Zebra
3. Kudu Meatballs
4. Kudu Sausage
5. Impala
6. Eland
It might come as a surprise, but I would actually order a Kudu or Zebra steak over beef, it was that good. Not something I would probably do frequently, because it would get kind of pricy. But for a once in a lifetime experience, definitely worth it.

Delicious Kudu

Scrumptious Zebra

Delectable Eland

Appetizing Impala

The Life & Times - New Bible Study

2011-07-03T10:46:00.000-05:00

Two years ago we had a Bible Study with students from Lebogang Secondary School. That is where we met the 3 Jakuja boys, Makhasi, Alex, Brilliant, David and the others. Now that most of them are in college our studies are on hold. After our return to South Africa a year ago we started a second Bible Study here at our home with our friends Lawrence, Trish and Paddy.

About 2 months ago we were joined at our church in Thabong by a man named Zachariah, his sister and his sister's friend. Zachariah has been a believer for a few years now and after church one day came and asked for some discipleship materials. I gave him a Bible Study booklet and he gathered a group to meet each Wednesday for study time. We currently run with 4 adults, 2-3 youth typically, and then lots of children who sit and listen as well.

Yesterday we all went to the children's ward at the local hospital to give gifts and candy, talk to the children and pray with them. God gave us a wonderful time of fellowship before and after. There were also a few opportunities to share the gospel with a few family members of the patients.

Zachariah had joined us even though he hadn't slept in 36 hours. Last Sunday his grandmother passed away and much of the responsibility for the funeral fell on him. In addition, he is seen by his family as the "family pastor" so everyone was coming to him for words of encouragement and prayer. He has had an exhausting week but was still willing to arrange and join us for our visit to the hospital.

Please pray for Zachariah and his extended family that have joined us at church and for our Bible Study. Also, we would like to thank First Reformed Church in Evansdale, IA, Point of Grace Church, and Johnston E-Free for sending Bibles over. Almost every week we get a new request for Bibles, and you can see in these photos that they are put to good use. We appreciate your partnership in this ministry.

The Life & Times - Let There Be Light

2011-06-27T14:17:00.000-05:00

A couple weeks ago at The Village we put up our light post. Have you ever seen one of those email forwards (yes, I read them but never forward them) wherein some guy is standing on a ladder held up by a forklift sitting on another forklift? Sometimes I felt that's what we were doing. The post is about 25 feet high, but seems significantly higher when you're lifting it straight up and dropping it over another pole.

A couple notes of interest:
-When Brian was digging the trench for the light's electric line, he kept unearthing bones with about every other shovel full. Since this was a former cow pasture, we're quite certain they were leftover beef.
-Once we set the big post over the anchor post it was pretty tough to twist into position. Fortunately we have a friend who has a brain. Lawrence Dargie was visiting and came up with an ingenious plan using a plank and some rope.
-Now that we have the light set, we've only used it once. This is because the bulb shines so brightly that even with Roman shades and curtains it creates too much light. So we've got to do something about that.
-At the very same time I was writing this post the electricity in our home went out. Ironic, huh?

The Life & Times - Safari

2011-06-25T15:23:00.001-05:00

Two years ago, in the midst of a visit by brother Sam O'Tool and my sister Rosina, we made a trip to Pilanesberg Nature Reserve. During that safari (which you can read about by clicking here and scrolling down - with apologies for the formatting change) we began a point system for being the first to spot a particular animal. That created some debate, as Samuel and Louis vied for the victory.

As a result, we took a poll, to which we received many responses. People ranked their own personal quintessential African animal list, and except for Doug Diers chihuahua nomination, we received much valuable feedback.

This time there arose no debate as one contestant indisputably rolled to crushing victory. In fact, the win was so dominating that we didn't even have to assign specific points to each animal. As you read below you can tally who the champion is. I will give you a hint - this person is now the two-time reigning champion.

Hippo: Seen by Tim. Hippos kill more humans than any other African mammal. Worth mega points.

Wildebeest: Seen by Louis many, many times. These are like the rabbits of Africa. They are the bottom of the food chain and their main self defense is procreating more quickly than they can be eaten. Watch Nature sometime. Therefore, worth very few points.

Warthog: Seen by Rosina, and then again many more times. We only saw two tails on our last Safari so it was kind of surprising that we got so many good glimpses this time. Worth a few points.

Impala Herd: Seen by Louis. Not normally worth many points but since it was a whole herd, including a male, it was worth a few points.

Female Kudu: Seen by Amber. We saw lots of different types of buck, but not many males. Most of the females tend to look alike. Not worth many points, although amazingly delicious.

Baby Baboon: Seen by Rosina. We have other photos, but this is a family site and given the nature of baboons they aren't exactly G rated. Worth several points due to the opposable thumbs.

Crocodile: Seen by Louis. Worth lots and lots of points, as both a predator, reptile, and it's awesomeness.

Monitor Lizard: Seen by Tim. Interestingly, Komodo Dragons are in the monitor family. This not worth many points because it isn't the Komodo.

Turtle: Seen by Louis. Worth only a couple points.

Turtles and Birds sunning themselves

Skink: Seen by Amber. Not worth any points because we have them at our own house.

Starling: Seen by Rosina, but worth no points because it was lame. Not physically lame, just not cool.

Giraffe: Seen by Rosina. Worth mega points as one of the quintessential African animals.

Some kind of marmot or rodent: Seen by Rosina. Worth only minor points.

Guinea Fowl: Seen by Tim. Not worth many points because the O'Tool family has owned these in Iowa. So not as cool as you might think.

Rhino: Seen by Amber. If a Rhino charges you, get behind a tree and freeze. They have terrible eyesight. Worth also mega points since it is another quintessential African animal.

Zebra: Seen by Tim. Lots of times. We got close enough to these to almost touch them. Tim was 2 inches from slapping this guy in the rump. And by "this guy", I mean the Zebra, not yours truly. Worth medium points, since it is cool, but very common. Also, very delicious.

Elephant: Seen by Louis. This particular one was the first we saw and had two baby elephants with it. Worth jumbo-mega points as one of the top two quintessential African animals.

Look closely in the upper left corner. You'll see how close we were to this elephant.

Impala: Seen by Tim. Not worth points because Louis already saw a whole herd, but with this male so close it was pretty awesome. Tim thought maybe he could catch it, but he isn't very fleet of foot.

Elephant: Again, seen by Louis, but not worth points as the second sighting. This one and another were hanging out together and were both huge.

Meredith and Drake spent most of the day hanging out in the back seat. They looked at animals when we spotted them but otherwise typically behaved very nicely throughout the whole trip. We were thankful, considering they spent 12 hours straight in the car.

Female Kudu: Seen by Tim. Not worth points.

Mama and Baby Kudu: Seen by Tim. Not worth points but a fun view nonetheless.

Female Lion: Seen by Louis. Worth mondo points, as THE QUINTESSENTIAL African animal. Two years ago the Lion came in Numero Uno in our formal poll.

Male Lion: Seen by Louis. Worth Gargantuan mega points as both the King of the Jungle and the QUINTESSENTIAL African animal.

Power lines. No, just kidding. Sunset: Worth 0 points but very cool regardless.

I would like to thank the following people for making this win possible. First, my lovely wife Amber who planned this trip for us. Second, to myself, for driving everyone else through the park. Third, to my children who behaved very well throughout the drive. Fourth, to siblings Rosina and Tim, for not being very good at seeing animals so that I was able to both keep my eyes on the road and spot the most highly ranked animals. Fifth and finally, to my brother Sam, who's second-place finish last time helped sharpen and hone my animal spotting skills. Thank you all for making this defense of my championship possible.

The Life & Times - Quotes

2011-06-18T08:46:00.000-05:00

1. Quote Numero Uno - Thomas Heiderscheit, my cousin and son of Kim and Julie Heiderscheit, was here visiting. Normally Tom is a pretty intelligent young man, proved by the fact that he graduated from DMACC in only 3 years with the ability to work on diesel engines. So we all were taken aback on their first day in this country to hear him say "It's a good thing for gravity or we would all fall off the world." You know, since South Africa is on the bottom of the world. And if you're wondering why this quote is funny, then we're laughing at you too.

2. Are you ready for Quote #2? Ok, here it comes. Drake, our two year old son, was in the bathroom whilst Amber and I were brushing our teeth. He climbed up on the scale and said "Oh, I'm getting fat." Only it came out as "Oh, I gttg bat."

3. Our third quote comes from Meredith, in one of her interactions with my sister Rosina and soon-to-be-sister-in-law-Michelle-Fincham. The boys are working hard to build this house we've been building, and the girls spend most of their time taking coffee breaks. Occasionally they squeeze in enough time to bake some cookies for them to eat while on their coffee breaks. And on this specific occasion they were baking cookies when Meredith became afflicted with some painful malady that clumsy and uncoordinated 5 year olds are prone to incur. In order to comfort her, Rosina offered to allow her to taste-test the icing. When Rosina asked "How is it?" Meredith responded "It's good but only because I don't want to make you feel bad."

4. The fourth and final quote comes from our friend Allison. This is her third visit to us in South Africa and we always enjoy having her. This time her visit happens to coincide with a couple other young people who are working in one of the local hospitals. These two guys are living in Evergreen Lodge at The Village (Evergreen Lodge is a shipping container converted into a small efficiency apartment). They are cooking for themselves using a microwave and hotplate. One day they were talking about making No Bake Cookies, the kind you see pictured on the left. Allison says to them "I didn't you could make cookies."
"Why not?" they replied.
"I didn't think you had an oven out in the container." said Allison
...(pause) "We don't. You don't need to bake No Bake Cookies. That's why they're called No Bake Cookies." say the boys.
"Well, I didn't stop to analyze the name." said Allison

The Life & Times - The Opposite of Construction Progress

2011-06-10T15:03:00.002-05:00

They've been doing road construction in Johannesburg since we first came in November 2006. Maybe this is why it is taking so long.

We're just hoping the second guy never had the urge to stretch out and lean back. Because the other side of that wall is a drop of about 20 feet.

The Life & Times - Construction Progress

2011-06-02T02:52:00.000-05:00

May 13: Just a foundation

May 16: Laying out the initial block to start the walls

May 17: Making sure the corners are all set and level so the walls can be built straight and level

May 18: We call this the "Building an Ophanage Diet". It will be the next rage along the lines of the Atkins and South Beach Diets. Great way to lose weight and get toned.

May 18: Moving enough bricks to build all the walls

May 23rd: Walls have been built, just waiting on the lintels that we made the week before.

May 25: Filling cracks between the blocks

May 25: "Plastering" a finishing coat of cement

May 25: Smoothing out the finish coat

May 25: A finished wall

May 25: Cutting angle block for the gable ends

May 25: Setting the gable ends

May 30: Setting the trusses

May 30: Finishing interior walls

May 30: Trusses are set

May 31: Putting on the sheet metal roof. The metal was coated in oil to keep it nice, which made for several mad scrambles by Tim and me trying to stay on the roof.

May 31: The finished roof from inside the house

May 31: What the house looks like. You can see the smooth walls here.

June 1: Putting up ceiling board

June 1: The finished ceiling. Next step is interior walls.

June 1: In three weeks the project went from a foundation to something resembling a house.

June 1: Our first picture of the two children's houses together.

The Life & Times - Another Perspective

2011-05-31T00:52:00.000-05:00

The following is an update from my sister Rosina. She has been here since May 13th, along with my brother Tim and a few other family members and potential family members.

After months of anticipation, planning, and yes, even a little apprehension it's hard to believe that we are finally in South Africa. Our first two weeks here have just flown by as Louis and Amber have kept us all very busy with a plethora of projects and activities.

My goal in coming to South Africa was first and foremost to see my family but also to assist in the building of Restoring Hope Village-an orphanage for children affected by the aids epidemic. Construction for Restoring Hope Village began just a little over a year ago. In that short amount of time The Village has gone from being an empty piece of land to having a fence all around the property, and having the first children's and staff homes built. When we arrived preparations had been made to begin construction on the second children's home. The concrete for the foundation had been poured but that was about it! In the two weeks that we have been here we have put up all the exterior walls and on Friday the guys got all the trusses for the roof up. It has been exciting to see it go from a slab of concrete to something that resembles a house. Now I know this may come as a shock to some of you but I have never been involved in the construction of a house before so helping out with this project has been a learning experience each step of the way. And Michelle and I may or may not have been fired from a job or two :P

When we arrived there were only two girls living at The Village; Lerato (9) and Monica (7). In the last week we received two new babies. Our first baby came last Monday and it was love at first sight. Amohela is only 25 days old and weighs less than four pounds! The first time I gave her a bath I couldn't believe how tiny she really is. Michelle and I had a blast going through the container in search of some little girl clothes. She is swimming in all of them, even the newborn ones, but we are hoping that in a short time she will grow into them. Our second baby arrived Thursday morning. He is quite the opposite of our little princess. Tumi is only six months old and already weighs nearly 20 pounds! He's a little butter-ball. He has only been here four days but he has already received several new nicknames, the two favorites being Sumo and Jabba. Both babies are absolutely precious and there is never a shortage of people to love on them.

Baby Amohela

Baby Dumisang with Meredith and Drake

Rosina cementing the brick walls

Rosina tired of cementing brick walls

While we have been quite busy working on the new children's house our time here has not been all work and no play. Yesterday we went to Thabong for a game of soccer and a traditional South African meal, complete with Walkie-Talkies (chicken heads and feet). After lunch we went to the Boskoppi Lion Park in Kroonstad, which is about an hour away from Welkom. We were able to get into a cage with some tiger cubs and play with them. Even though they are only a couple months old they have already perfect the art of sneaking up and pouncing on their prey (their prey being us!). We were also able to see some leopards, jaguars, lynx and lots and lots of lions. Seeing the full-grown lions up close gave a whole new meaning to the story of Daniel and the Lions den.

No, Tim and Rosina are not engaged. Tim is just awkwardly placing his hand over Rosina's for an unknown reason.

Well, I'd better get going. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be another busy day. Thank-you to those of you who have been praying for our trip and for the ministry Louie & Amber and Brian & Lois have here in South Africa. It has been so exciting to see God work but there is still so much left to do. Please pray for continued safety as construction for the Village moves ahead. Please also be praying for God to be preparing a new housemother for the next children's home and also for the children that will soon be living here. Thanks again for your prayers.

Meet Mama Lizzar

2011-05-21T11:54:00.000-05:00

With the opening of the first house it was important to find caregivers for the children that would love them and provide a godly example. While our goal was initially to find houseparents, God chose instead to provide us two housemothers. Mama Lizzar is our full-time mother and Mama Melita is our part-time mother. Because this culture is so filled with debauchery and decay it is nearly impossible to find godly couples committed to one another.

Mama Lizzar is in her upper 40’s. She has 4 children of her own, the youngest being 19 now. Her oldest 3 children have already passed away. The first died from HIV related illness, the second was taken by cancer, and the third was killed in a car accident. Just 2 weeks ago she nearly lost her fourth child. He was walking home from church on Sunday afternoon with a friend. Some gangsters confronted them, took the friend’s cell phone and slashed his throat. Her son ran and was caught by a couple of the thugs. He was severely beaten, but for some reason they didn’t kill him. She has seen more grief than any mother should have to bear.

In our last discipleship meeting with the mothers we covered Ephesians 6:1-2, in which children are commanded to honor their parents so that things “may go well” and “long life” will accompany them. During our discussion I noticed that Mama Lizzar was holding back tears, not entirely successfully. I can only imagine what thoughts were going through her mind as she considered the Lord’s promises in relation to her own life experiences.

She has not only lost her children, but has experienced abandonment from her husband as well. I mentioned that it is nearly impossible to find godly couples, and at least 75% of the blame for that falls on the men in this culture. They are completely absent as husbands, fathers, role-models. In fact, if a mother passes away and the maternal grandmother and father both want to care for the children that are left, 9 times out of 10 the grandmother will win custody. Children are considered orphaned if the mother dies, because it is so rare that the father is in the picture providing care for the child. Often the father is unknown, is nowhere to be found, or in a case that we are dealing with the father actually raped the mother.

Mama Lizzar’s husband left her in the mid-90’s for a younger woman. 3-4 years later he came back, asking for forgiveness which she knew was the right thing to do. She has a fairly good understanding of God’s opinions of true marriage and His views of divorce. After he returned they lived together for about 2 years before he again left her for another young woman. Since that time she says she has been celebate. He, in the meantime, has not. Currently he is serving time in prison for an alleged rape of a former girlfriend.

Both our housemothers express a desire to raise the children of Restoring Hope Village to know and honor the Lord. We have seen them reading scripture to the girls and they both seem to enjoy church. In fact, two weeks ago Mama Lizzar told me as we were driving home that she was disappointed that church was over, saying that she could have sat there the whole day. Of course, that is another thing typical of the African culture - Church services last for hours.

Now that our second house is under construction it will be important for us to find at least one more godly caregiver. Since we have been impressed with both housemothers so far we can hopefully get some good recommendations from them. It is vital that our first hires become good examples both to the children and to future caregivers. It seems in these early stages that God has answered that prayer. Please continue to pray for our housemothers, their spiritual growth and leadership of the children, and that the children would come to know and love Christ as well.

The Life & Times - One Little Two Little Three Little...

2011-05-07T04:18:00.001-05:00

Meredith is turning six this summer. It's time she started learning some survival skills. My career choices were narrowed to Chiropractor, Missionary, or Navy Seal. You never know when you might be marooned on a deserted island. Look at Gilligan, for crying out loud. That was just supposed to be a three hour tour.

So Meredith and I cut ourselves some bamboo poles, then made a little Teepee. This was after our family nature walk around Welkom where we collected acorns and bombed each other. Even Amber and Drake were involved in the acorn war. By time she turns 7 Meredith will practically be a lethal weapon.

Drake is already getting in on the fun. Look at that expression. You don't want to mess with him. He is thirty pounds of pure cuddling fury.

The Life & Times - The Second House is Underway

2011-05-07T04:05:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of our summer visitors, we are getting ready to build the second children's house. The foundation was prepped this past week by some people we hired. We learned the hard way, as Team ISU and Ben can confirm, that digging these foundations by yourself is quite a chore. This time we decided it was more cost and time effective to hire a crew. They dug it, laid the plastic, Brian and I put the reinforcing steel together and got it set. We got some help with that from Brian's sister Stephanie, Jennifer - another visitor from the US, and Siyabonga, an 11 year old kid that has been showing up around the property pretty consistently lately to hang out with us while we're working. The crew is supposed to pour the foundation today, so hopefully by next week when 6 new victims arrive we'll have plenty of work for them to do. We already have enough bricks to finish this house so we're praying things really flow smoothly and move along. Exciting Times!

The Life & Times - Drake in Church

2011-04-24T13:18:00.000-05:00

Drake was struggling at our Easter Sunday church services. He finally just gave in.

The Life & Times - Sage Advice

2011-04-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week Amber and I get to go away - away from our home, away from our children, away from work, emails, computer, everything. It's our first chance to get away as a couple since Valentine's Day 2010 (I know, I know...boohoohoo). But we are really looking forward to it.

A family friend, Paddy, is watching Meredith and Drake while we're gone. Paddy has two puppies, loves to sew and do crafts, and always gives the kids sweets - in other words, a perfect grandmotherly figure. Meredith and Drake have been looking forward to staying with her for almost two weeks now, maybe more than Amber and I are anticipating our mini vacation.

I think Meredith may have a family counseling occupation in her future. Why, just today she informed us "sometimes children just really need time away from their parents." So apparently burnout can go both ways:-)

The Life & Times - Training Day

2011-04-18T12:28:00.002-05:00

Today, after Bible Study and training meetings with our two housemothers, we did some additional training. Last week Brian worked some of his special magic and was able to get fire extinguishers and fire hoses donated. So today he set up a little emergency drill. You'll see it in the video. The angle I chose put me directly in the line of fire, a thought that didn't occur to me until the second before Mama Lizar pulled the trigger. I bravely hung in there and took one for the team. You'll thank me later.

One thing that we've found is unique with this new ministry is that our housemothers are much more willing to ask questions and give input. Since today we talked through our emergency procedures, they had lots of "what-if" questions. Such as "what if there is a fire in the hallway that blocks both exterior doors?" to which the answer would be "go out the window." Or "if a child is choking but still coughing, do you slap them on the back?"

After they successfully extinguished their respective fires they had more questions for Brian. This line of questioning gives us our quote of the day. Here is the transcript:
Mama Melita: What if I am holding the fire extinguisher and one of the children is on fire?
Brian: You use it to put the fire out.
Mama Melita: But won't that hurt the child?
Brian: (dramatic and thoughtful pause) ...not as much as the fire on their body.

Brian shows our housemothers how to pull the pin on a fire extinguisher

Mama Melita practices aiming

It's go time!

Don't stand too close.

The Life & Times of Louis & Amber - The Apocalyptic Cricket

2011-04-09T05:58:00.000-05:00

Since Brian & Lois moved to their house at The Village in January, we have all had the chance to become up close and personal with some of the creatures of South Africa - the Niehoffs more so than the rest of us. You've seen the pictures of our tortoise, and also of our Mole Snake and the alleged Puff Adder. You may remember our unknown creature guests.

Now, meet the newest member of our family. I'm certain that this is something from the Book of Revelation. Almost everyone here who saw it didn't even know what it was, thinking it was maybe a mutant grasshopper/cricket/spider/thingy. Eventually someone told us it is known as a Corn Cricket. It is about the size of a small tarantula, which is huge for a cricket. The spikes and armor make it look like a creature from your childhood nightmares. We're told it's main defense mechanism is excreting a foul odor which is nearly impossible to remove. I've been telling Amber for nearly 9 years now that I have the same defense mechanism, but she won't buy that it is for defense. Oh, well.

Challenge: Satanism

2011-04-07T14:02:00.000-05:00

This culture is very spiritual. We see that frequently as people are very god-fearing. But that's with a small "g". It stems more from superstition than a genuine respect for God. Even many people who are or profess to be believers still struggle with belief in superstitious things.

One example of that is the Tokoloshe. This is a leprechaun-like creature that generally causes all sorts of evil and mischief. Descriptions range from harmless hairy little men to zombies or corpse-like beings. They allegedly engage in activities ranging from hiding things from their owners to rape and biting off toes while a person is sleeping. Often Tokoloshe is attributed to a curse someone will put on you. They will send their Tokoloshe to cause problems for someone they wish to harm. One young man we work with told us his mother claimed to have had a Tokoloshe beating her during the night, even waking up in the morning with bruises to prove it. Once she started attending a certain church, who required her to pay a certain amount of money to remove the Tokoloshe, the beatings stopped. Now she refuses to leave that church for fear the Tokoloshe will return. You do the math on that one...

While the Tokoloshe seems like a figment of the imagination there is no doubt that demonic activity is strong here. The school that we use for church facilities is very well known within the community as a hotbed for spirit-related activity. We've heard this from several individuals, most recently from a waiter at a local restaurant. He heard our accent, learned we were from the US and wanted to talk. We shared our work with him and invited him to church. When he found out we were meeting at Nanabolela he said "You need to really help with the fight against Satan in our community" - going on to explain the hold that satanism has within many of the local schools. Of course, we know that we're already in the fight against the powers of wickedness. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph 6:12

Just yesterday we heard of a horrifying event in our town. This event didn't happen in the township but right here in the "safety" of town. Details continue to come forward, but here is a newspaper report of the story:

Couple held for gruesome murder

Welkom - A young couple was arrested for the gruesome murder of a 23-year-old Welkom man, whose body was found with limbs missing, Free State police said on Wednesday.Police spokesperson Captain Stephen Thakeng said a 24-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were arrested late on Tuesday and all missing body parts were found.
Thakeng said the police task team, with other experts, made a breakthrough in the investigation.
Michael van Eck, 23, was found murdered and in a shallow grave at the Welkom cemetery on Sunday morning.
"The body didn't have a head, a right arm, or left foot and both legs were amputated at the knees," Thakeng said at the time.
Police contacted Van Eck's parents after finding his car at a Welkom taxi rank on Sunday morning.
They said he had gone on a date on Saturday night and should have been at work on Sunday morning, however, his employer later told the police that he did not arrive for work.
The employer said Van Eck was to have met his date - a girl he met on the social networking site Facebook - at the Welkom cemetery.
There, police found Van Eck's shirt. Police sniffer dogs found the shallow grave.
On Tuesday, information was followed up which led the investigation team to a residential area in Welkom where the man and woman were found.
Possibility of Satanism probed
Thakeng said police searched the property and the missing body parts of Van Eck were found in a fridge, a cupboard, and buried in the garden.
Police said cats apparently also belonging to the young couple were found buried in the garden.
The two were arrested for murder and would appear in the Welkom Magistrate's Court soon.
Thakeng said the possibility that the man and woman were involved in Satanism would be investigated.
Police also arrested a man who was found with Van Eck's vehicle.
The 23-year-old man was arrested for questioning until he was charged for theft of a motor vehicle.
That case has been postponed for a bail application to April 12.
He was apparently not linked with the murder, said police.

Imagine an event like this happing in a town like Ankeny. It makes you realize once again that humans are a depraved race. Why would God ever love us, let alone send His Son to die for people who commit such atrocities. Some reading this might say that Jesus didn't die for those kinds of people. But Scripture is clear that He did. And Scripture is also clear that in God's eyes, even the most righteous among us are no better than the two perpetrators of this crime. Yet God made Him who knew no sin to be made sin on my behalf, so that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Never forget the price that was paid for you, and the spiritual battle for the souls of men, women and children around the world.

The House Has Opened...

2011-04-03T15:29:00.000-05:00

On March 31st our first children's house opened. Lerato and Monica have been living with us since December 20th. They were very excited to see the progress and couldn't wait to get into their new house. The night before Monica had some second thoughts, but then the big day arrived and all hesitation was gone. The girls seem to love it and we should be getting more children very soon!
Praise the Lord with us for His faithful provision!

The First Children's House is Finished (....mostly)

Mama Lizar with Lerato & Monica

The Living Room

The Kitchen

Dining Table

The Bathroom

The Housemother's Bedroom

The Girl's Bedroom

Mama Lizar and the girls reading the Bible
The first night Monica was scared to sleep in her new bed, because it is the first time in her life she had ever had her own bed. Mama Lizar said she sat down with the two girls and read the Bible, which seemed to help calm Monica. Then she sat with her on the bed until Monica fell asleep. The next night she slept with Lerato.

Meredith's Bear

2011-03-25T05:04:00.000-05:00

This is Meredith's best friend, Alli. Before we came back to Africa Aunt Rosina took Meredith to the Build-a-Bear workshop where they created this little cutie. Meredith is a natural born leader, which causes some challenges for parents. But she loves to teach, and here is her latest Sunday School class.

Mamele

2011-03-19T03:24:00.002-05:00

The following story may not be for young ears. It deals with some of the realities of life here in South Africa. It isn’t a pleasant story to tell, and I’m ashamed to say that it caused some emotions in my mind that aren’t Christ-like. There will be no photos in this update to protect the privacy of the young person involved.

Life in South Africa is full of contradiction. It is a country full of beauty, in which tourism is one of the primary industries. Yet many of the people live in constant fear of violence, malnutrition, and disease.

When visiting, it is easy to feel sympathy when confronted by the vast amounts of physical poverty. But we frequently remind people that it isn’t the physical that should cause a broken heart. Life in a tin shack isn’t as terrible as one would initially think. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago in the US that large portions of our population lived in similar poverty. My grandmother lived through the Great Depression and told us many stories about it. Several of my aunts and uncles remember getting electricity in their house for the first time. We’ve become so used to these relatively modern conveniences that it seems so terrible to us when someone else doesn’t have the same. But the real issue in South Africa is it’s great spiritual poverty.

These fears of violence, malnutrition, and disease are all real. They exist not because of poor education, lack of resources, or few opportunites. They exist as a result of sin. Selfishness, greed, anger, lust, laziness, and a host of other vices are rampant. It is these very things that cause the miserable conditions faced by the majority of South Africans. The following story vividly illustrates the challenges faced by the young people of South Africa.

In our ministry over the past several years we’ve come to know many young people. Some of these children because they have come to live with us, and others through our various outreach projects into the community. This story is about a young girl named Mamele who has been living in Extension 15, an informal settlement near Thabong.

Mamele has been living in a shack with her mother’s last boyfriend and his new wife. Since she is orphaned they have been serving as her guardians. From everything we can tell they truly care for her and provide as well as possible. But life in the townships being what it is there are always a host of complications.

Mamele is 16 years old with a clear Christian testimony and a bold witness to those around her. Something that sets her apart from almost 100% of her peers is the fact that she claims to be a virgin. We have no reason to believe otherwise. At least, she was a virgin until sometime at the end of January.

Without going into any details, we recently learned that she had been raped around that time. A young man had cornered her and threatened her with a knife, to which she replied “Go ahead. I know where I’m going if you kill me.” As she was trying to talk her way out of the situation a couple of this boy’s friends arrived at his shack. She asked them for help and their response was “You’re going to give him what he wants and we’re going to help.” They then stood guard outside while he proceeded to violate her purity.

Because of his threats against her and her family she didn’t tell anyone. As you probably know, this is very common with victims of sexual crimes, no matter where they live. She did call me around that time and tell me a boy had threatened her with a knife, but left out the part where he had actually abused her. Since those types of threats are part of daily life there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. We told her to tell her “father” which she said she did.

Two weeks ago she came to us, telling us that she had been feeling sick for a couple weeks now. The day before she had gone to one of the clinics for an exam. During that exam she learned she was pregnant. The doctor could tell this was her first time and that it had been violent.

For about an hour we listened to her tell what had happened. Normally she is a very vibrant and outgoing person. When she started with the story she seemed to be as strong and mature as ever, but as it continued you could visibly see her shrink back into the child she is. We gently questioned her to make sure the details fit and remained consistent. Lois, Amber & I spent some time counseling her. The most heartbreaking moment came when Lois took some time alone with her. She looked at Lois and said “I just want my mom.”

This is the shameful part for me. As we heard this story an overwhelming feeling of intense anger came over me – anger at this young man, anger that a girl who is living right would have to face something like this, anger that this unborn child has to be born into this situation. All I wanted was to find this kid who committed the crime and make him feel the pain that he had caused. I truly wanted to hurt him badly.

As we continuted counseling Mamele I brought up the issue of abortion. She said “No, I would never do that. This baby didn’t do anything wrong to deserve to be killed.” I also asked if the young man should be punished. She said he should, but that she wants him to come to know Jesus. She felt sure that if he came to God for forgiveness he would be forgiven and would know that what he did was wrong. Here I am the missionary, on the outside looking in, filled with anger this kid, and what she wants is for him to come to Christ.

We took her to a godly nurse we know here in the community. This nurse knows her well and spent about 30 minutes speaking to her, comforting and counseling Mamele. We asked this nurse how common a situation like this is. Her estimate is that over 90% of girls have been raped or sexually abused in some way by the time they reach age 20. Statistics like these are notoriously inaccurate, due mainly to a lack of reporting. According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, South Africa rankes 2^nd in the world in rapes, 2^nd in assaults, and 1^st in murders. So when we say that this is a reality of life in the townships it is no exaggeration.

Now Mamele is faced with many decisions. As soon as the school learns she is pregnant she will be expelled, regardless of the reasons. We are still working with her as to the best way to handle everything. Adoption is a very strong option, but the US and South Africa don’t have a great relationship in this field, so there is still some research we need to do. Obviously there is still much counseling that we need to do with her in relation to the baby and in relation to her own needs.

We greatly request your prayers for this young woman, and for us as we continue to work with her. Pray also for the perpetrator of this crime. We ask that you continue to lift up the people of South Africa, that the gospel of Jesus would grow and lives would change for Him.

The Life & Times of Louis & Amber - Fun with Wildlife

2011-03-18T12:16:00.000-05:00

These past 4 weeks we've hosted two different teams from the US, hence the scarcity of new updates. Last Friday we took the Slater Baptist group to a local lion farm. The farm also has several other big cats. Leopards are my favorite, and they have two females that are about 2/3rds grown. Surprisingly, they allowed us into the pen to play with some of God's greatest killing machines. You'd be amazed at how gentle and playful they are. Most of the time they kept their claws sheathed, but you'll see a few exceptions if you watch my face closely. Also, even though they were just playing their teeth weren't any less sharp - One of the most awesome experiences of my life.

The Life & Times of Louis & Amber - Twister

2011-03-02T09:37:00.000-06:00

The Life & Times of Louis & Amber - Quiz

2011-02-20T11:52:00.000-06:00

One of these two will have a successful career in the plumbing industry. Guess which one.

The Life & Times of Louis & Amber - Eggs

2011-02-18T13:07:00.000-06:00

One day at the property I found these two tiny white spheres tucked away in the latch of one of our containers. I made an educated guess that these might be eggs of some some variety, since they hadn't been there the day before and couldn't have arrived there at random. I, of course, decided to take these home.

My sweet wife Amber indulged my curiosity, allowing me to keep them in a glass jar in our office. She faithfully checked on them every day for the first few weeks. Then it declined to about once a week, and from there down to just occasionally. We had about forgotten about them since they hadn't hatched. If we had remembered we probably would have thrown them out. Then tonight Amber just happened to see that the egg shells were broken open on the bottom of the jar...and the jar was empty otherwise.

So we now have a reptile of some sort roaming our house. Or perhaps we'll discover some very tiny birds one of these days. Oops.

The Life & Times of Louis & Amber - Church Happenings

2011-02-13T10:16:00.000-06:00

Church Happenings

I’d like to update you all on what has been happening at our church the last few weeks.

-The school is going through some facilities upgrades. One of those includes a new fence. This meant that during the school holiday they used one room to store the materials as they worked. Of course, they chose the cleanest, most organized room – the one we were using (why do you think it was clean and organized). We arrived one Sunday morning to find a new gate over the door to our room, a gate that was welded shut. This forced us to find a new room.

-The school has no electric service in any of the classrooms due to vandalism. As a result of our forced move we found the new classroom we selected also housed the electric panel box. While everything had been stripped out of it, the stub wires coming in were still hot. Brian rigged something up to allow us to clamp onto those wires each week. So we’ve been able to use our projector for music and sermons, and plug in a keyboard and speakers.

-Thanks to the Moses family (Amber’s aunt and uncle), we now have a real speaker for the church. We had been using our computer speakers. This new speaker is big enough to be heard all over the school property, as well as across the road if necessary, but still small enough to be easily transported. It is nice because we use it before church to play music, thereby letting everyone know that there is something going on that they need to come check out.

-The principal at the school is new, as of mid-term last year. Nanabolela Secondary School has a terrible reputation, ranking as one of the worst two schools in the whole area. We’ve been told there is much demonic, gang, and drug related activity. This principal is working to change and improve the school and seems to be making some progress. The problem with that is now there is a reason to keep the gate closed and locked. The key is held by a man named Slender who allegedly is the security at the school. We have to go to his house each Sunday morning before church to get the key. So far we’ve been able to find him every week. We’ll see what happens when we can’t find him.

-In early January Brian’s uncle and aunt were visiting from the US. His uncle was able to preach for us and the sermon was fantastic. When we arrived at the school that morning it was locked for the first time. We contacted Slender who told us that lock was only temporary because the workers were still installing the fence. Therefore, he didn’t have a key to the temporary lock. Brian was able to “pick” the lock (with permission), using a pliers and blunt force trauma. We had finished church, everyone left, and we locked it right back up.

-We have had a variety of visitors come and go. The boys from our Bible Study are now back at school, diminishing our numbers a bit. Okuhle has been bringing a couple friends every week for several weeks now. DJ had some family members visiting over the school holidays and they are also gone now, but our average is still 25-30.

-Knowing that some day I’ll be sick, or run out of time to prepare, or for some other reason be kept from preaching I’ve decided to introduce video sermons. With the projector we’re able to put it up on a screen that we bring along. I’m going to try to use one of these videos or podcasts about once per month. This past week we showed a sermon on Luke 13:22-30 “The Narrow Door”.

-Several young boys have been coming since the first Sunday. You may remember that they came to the school the first week just to loiter and cause mischief of some sort. We told them they needed to come to church or hang out somewhere else. Predictably they left. Surprisingly they returned 15 minutes later with several friends. These boys have been back every week except two, and they informed us in advance that they would be gone those weeks. Both those things are very unusual in this culture. This week, after the Narrow Door sermon, the 5 boys approached me and said they wanted to accept Jesus. I took them around the building to speak in private and asked several questions to make sure they understood. 4 of the 5 answered questions and it seemed they did understand. I led them in prayer, then we had a further discussion about living a Christian life. Time will tell which of them were making genuine decisions, but we are thrilled with their response. As a funny side note, one of the boys came in a few minutes late and picked up the podcast right as the preacher asked “Who are you going to trust?” Usually when I preach the sermons are a bit interactive, so he must have thought the same here. When he heard the question he blurted out “JESUS!” loud enough for everyone to hear. At least we know the message is getting through!!!

Praise God with us for the fruit He is producing in lives. We haven’t yet made a concerted effort to promote the church within the surrounding community. We have some teams coming soon and we hope to do some outreach, as well as do some ministry within the school in partnership with the principal. Pray that these will result in many people coming to Christ.

The Life & Times of Louis & Amber - A Day in the Life...

2011-02-08T12:30:00.000-06:00

Today started bright and early. We got the girls off to school by 7:30, then picked up Alex - our new helper and one of the boys from Bible Study. We got to the property and laid out some tools for our daily projects. I started finishing up the brandering for the ceiling, Alex started working on a trench for the phone lines, and Brian began digging a junction pit for the phone lines.

At 9:30 three helpers showed up from the Methodist church. These three have committed to a year long missions trip. All three are from Welkom and they have decided to use the bulk of their missions trip here in Welkom. They learned of our project through a friend of a friend and wanted to help. So these three are coming every day this week, while 17 more of their friends are joining us on Saturday. We spent most of the day working together filling cracks between the bricks of the children's house. It was a great time of fellowship with these three believers.

At 2:00 it was time for me to pick up the girls from school. It took me 20 minutes longer than normal because, for the first time in 2.5 years of living in Welkom, there was a traffic jam. Not sure what caused it, but it took me 11 minutes just to get out of the school parking lot.

Then it was back to The Village for some more work. Brian had to leave early for an errand in Johannesburg, so I finished up with our three volunteers. Just as they were leaving two random guys showed up to inspect our work. They are local contractors and saw our special bricks on the house. I spent 20 minutes explaining to them what we are doing, how we are doing it, and why. They are potentially interested in buying bricks themselves, which is a funny thing because Brian and I have recently been discussing potential ways to make and market them. Could God be at work in this? Only time will tell.

After these guys left I was joined by our friends Lawrence and Trish who were at The Village watching the Niehoff children. You can't visit with "Pops" and "Banana Trish" without a theological discussion cropping up, so we spent 30 minutes discussing the will of God and how to know it. Then it was time to pack up, lock up, and leave.

Only while we were packing, locking, and leaving I received a call from Okuhle. You'll remember Okuhle recently moved from our former ministry to live with her "father" in Hani Park. She was calling to say a young man had approached her sexually and when she refused he began threatening her. This has happened two other times with other guys, but both times her father was home and able to take care of things. This time he was at work in the mines and not able to be there. After consulting with Amber, Alex and I went out to check on things and talk to this guy. He was still a bit upset when we arrived, but after 20 minutes I think we were able to make peace. Again, only time will tell.

After that I dropped Alex off at his house in Thabong, then made it home in time to catch the end of supper with my family. And now, I'm posting a quick update, then heading to bed. Night.