Art Auction & Benefit

When we were in Sudan, we helped the children make art projects that will be part of an art auction and benefit our church is having. The money will go to put a roof on the new school building at the orphanage. I was able to submit an article to the paper to help promote it. Here's the link:

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091015/NEWS04/910159955

Sharing My Africa Story - Part 4

I realized this week that the updates our team sent back to The Vineyard during our trip are all available on our church website. So, if you follow the link you can read the updates written by our pastor, Mark Pope, Clint Schwartz, and Kathy Smarrella. It's fun to read the different viewpoints of our experiences.

Sharing My Africa Story - Part 2

With a little girl named Josephine the 1st day at the orphanage, when we passed out toys.

Sitting with a little boy named Job. I tried to hold him as much as I could. He was around 4 or 5 years old, and he was sick the whole time. Very lethargic.

With some of the little girls before we took them into town to buy them new dresses.

Clapping along as the children sing for us.

Sharing My Africa Story - Part 1

Hello Everyone! I'm trying to find the best way to share about my wonderful trip to Africa. If you're on facebook, you've already seen some pictures and heard a few things. To start, I'm going to post 2 of the updates I sent back to our church. Later I will try to write about the trip, especially now that I've processed some things. If you live in the area and are interested, our whole team will be giving a full report on Wednesday, September 23rd at 6:30 PM, at The Vineyard. So, here is 1 my 2 updates I sent from Sudan:

TUESDAY: We’ve finally arrived in Sudan! We made it to Yei around noon on Tuesday and I have to say that I think I’ve fallen in love with this continent! It’s been wild to see in person things you’ve only seen in books or videos – there really are women who can carry large bundles of items on their heads, there really are mud-thatched huts with grass roofs, and there really are dirt roads with ruts the size of Texas in them! After arriving and eating some lunch (rice, goat meat, bananas, & bread), we headed out to the New Generation Dreamland Children’s Home to take the donated toys to the 71 orphans who live there. Wow, it was amazing! The children all gathered when we arrived and sang beautifully for us. Clint was videotaping, so we hope to share this with all of you when we come back. Each child there was able to receive a beach ball, jump rope or Frisbee – all thanks to the kids in our JAM Children’s Ministry program back home! We had also received a donation of soccer balls, so we were able to distribute them as well. Even though it was raining pretty hard, we were able to play with the kids for a little bit. Another neat thing to see was the security fence that has been installed around the property, made possible by the City on a Hill giving campaign – way to go, Vineyard family!

This evening was filled with a time of exploring the town of Yei on foot, laughing at ridiculous things because we are so tired (and a little disoriented), but most importantly, time was spent talking to Pastor Stanley and hearing his vision and hope for the leadership conference this week. Even as I type this, my eyes fill with tears, for we are partnered with a TRUE MAN OF GOD. It was a privilege and pleasure to listen to and pray with Pastor Stanley tonight. His heart longs for the leadership conference to be an opportunity for REVIVAL – for there to be a move of God in that place that changes the course of life here. What an honor that we can play a part in what God will do!

Thanks so much for all of your prayer support – we are reaping the benefits!

Here are some of the praises - Our travel here went very smoothly, and we felt God with us all along the way. I was feeling very sick this morning when we got to the airport for our flight to Yei. My stomach was upset and I felt very depleted when we got on the plane. PRAISE JESUS that He brought relief to me and revived me!! I was able to sleep and when I awoke I felt completely better. God is good, and I take not one bit of his goodness for granted! When the rain blew in this afternoon it brought with it cool weather! Kathy needed a sweatshirt and I drank hot tea for supper! And the mosquitoes have not been bad at all today!