July 9th Up Date

Blog Insert - 7/2/8

Hey All –

Well, it's been a wild bunch of days and one crazy ride thus far!

In the midst of all the final preparation and packing I finally got my "Lakeland" editing job finished, special thanks to my friend Johnny C. I had to work straight through Sat evening, didn't get to sleep at all and just made my flight. The ride to Atlanta was pretty much uneventful although the Delta flight attendants seem to be de-evolutionizing concerning their people skills…or lack there of.

After switching planes in Atlanta, we flew to the western most part of Africa, Dakar, about 8 1/2 hours. It was when we landed in Dakar that I realized we weren't in Kansas any longer. Once the departing passengers disembarked the craft, a group of African Federal Security Personal entered the plane and commenced to strip search all the seat cushions throughout the fuse lodge…they also went through all of our carry on luggage. A voice from the announcement speakers made mention that this was going to happen while also informing us that if any live animals were found on board, they would be destroyed. Man, can you imagine that. What if you were traveling with little Fluffy and just found this one out…how devastating would that be…?

I was able to pull off a few candid shots before I was told to stop (see picture...if I can add one from here.)

After the two-hour ordeal was over, we then flew another 8 1/2 hours before landing in Johannesburg, South Africa. My layover was about 16 hours and it was here that I realized I was going to have a workout trying to obtain my luggage. One bag was missing. After two more hours of struggling through a communication breakdown I left the airport with one out of two pieces of luggage…by that time, I think I was the only person left in the airport.

Johannesburg was more like Iceberg…it's their winter now and heating isn't a very common luxury. So after a quick evenings rest at a small B&B, fully clothed under two comforter blankets, I headed back to Joburg Airport. Even though my stay in Joburg was short, I did get to experience middle-class suburban living. The streets were lined with old wooden cross polls that strung together electric fence wiring, segregating each housing community. Barbed wire fenced in business after business filled in the gaps between neighborhoods. There wasn't much grass or the color green for that matter anywhere and the overall feel of each community was cold dark, brown and suppressive, the people didn't seem to smile much ether.

Once back at the airport and after bantering back and forth with the counter woman at South African Air…she assured me that my luggage would arrive in Pemba safely…that never happened.

The passengers around me on both flights were made up of mostly big game hunters coming over to the different countries in Africa in search of "the big kill." The guys I spoke with were after Lions, Elephants. Rhino's...that sort of thing. Quite an interesting bunch…they spoke of "the kill" with a passion in their eyes that really caused one to wonder.

The flight to Pemba on South African Air took about three and a half hours. As we flew closer to the ground I could see that most of the dwellings were grass-roofed huts, it was once again very brown and there were fires burning all around these little communities. [I later found out that the sanitation people are on strike and all of the fires are burning trash.] As soon as we exited our little four-engine craft, I could feel the climate change right away – much warmer and more humid.

Going through customs was an experience. You're first greeted (well, you're not really greeted…you're more 'looked at') by the local airline officials that line up and just sort of stand there watching…for what I wondered. Then you wait in line for one man in a booth dressed in a military outfit of sorts. When it was my turn and I approached him, a strange feeling of guilt came over me. I don't know, maybe it was just the way he was looking at me…kind of like I was already guilty of something just because I was merely trying to enter his country Pemba. Once past that…I next experienced the smallest baggage turnstile I've ever seen. It was a small circle, 15 or so feet across that looked more like a child's living room car racetrack. Once again I'm waiting with baited anticipation for my bag…it never showed up. Don't you just hate that?! It has taken me two days to get this far.

Now, the fight is on. Trying to communicate the importance of having your bags back in your possession to a people who don't speak English and really don't seem to understand the word 'urgency' …man, this has been a real challenge. So now it's been a series of translated phone calls and trips to the airport in hopes of finding my missing luggage. The big issue here is that it contains all of my preventative herbs and nutritional supplements. These are things that should be in my body on a daily basis to prevent all sorts of things from happening. All the time I'm reminded of the amount of baggage theft that's been a chronic issue all throughout the African airway systems.

OK, while that's all going on…there is this town called Pemba, and the orphanage, which will be my home for the next month. Wow, this is the most impoverished place I have ever seen…let alone been to! Huts and buildings with no windows or doors. Again, no grass or anything green to speak of anywhere. There are people standing around all over the place just standing…just looking…at what I continue to wonder. Goats are crossing the streets, roosters crowing and children scrimmaging all around. As we pull into the Iris compound, we past through a dirt field with garbage all about and a few small garbage pits with more kids going through the trash. We pass child after child with dirty knees and ripped up clothing. Upon entering the camp it looks something like an extremely low-income tropical housing project. There are people all around, children crying and I'm sensing a strong feeling of survival.

My room is assigned to me. It's a simple space with a concrete floor and bars on the opened windows, no glass, just a screen and rod iron. There's a mosquito net hanging over the bed, a must for this region and triple locks on every door. It was stressed to me over and over to be careful of thievery. Don't leave anything within arms length of the windows, make sure you triple lock each door (there are three doors with triple locks and a security gate between my room and the outside world) and don't walk around after sundown. Welcome to Pemba.

The electricity here is intermittent and power surges are a common occurrence. We get only cold water to wash up with, sometimes, and you can't throw your used toilet paper in the toilet…it has to be placed in the trashcan. My brother Jan would loose it right here…maybe some of you as well.

I'm writing this on a word document because there is no Internet around so by the time you read this, it will have been days before I cut and past it onto my Blog site.

One more thing before I close this entry out. One of the strangest things about this area is that right across the street from all of this poverty is a beautiful view of the Indian Ocean and just up the street is a four star (five or six for this area) hotel. Some Arabian Sheik built the hotel and it's about as out of place here as a palm tree in the middle of Alaska. Very surreal.

I'm now off to go about helping with the orphanage's business…still learning all about that and will fill you in more as it unfolds. I do know that the reason for all of the orphan kids is due to the after effects of Mozambique's Civil War, Apparently many of the adults were slaughtered leaving a whole colony of orphan children left roaming about the country. This place (The Iris Ministry) has certain brought a whole lot of life, love, support and hope to thousands of people countrywide.

That's it for now…

Blog Insert - 7/4/8

It was like a space ship re-entering the earth's atmosphere. That's what the culture shock was like coming from the fast-passed (20 hour day) of a rather comfortable and active lifestyle in Los Angeles, to the slow, dirt ridden poverty of a small village in a suppressed country on a third world continent. All I can really say is …Wow!

My first couple of days here have not been all that settling…on the contrary, I've been having a bit of a struggle with it all,

"What am I doing here?"

"This was a big mistake!"

"I'm not cut out for this."

These were just a few of the constant streams running through my being as I began to take everything in for the first time. I actually became angry at times and would find myself 'going off' at many of the various frustrations I was encountering It can become way too easy to take the many, many, many comforts and conveniences that so many of us have grown accustomed to, for granted.

Dirt is becoming my new companion…along with a 3:30 am rooster each morning, but that's another story. You just can't seem to get away from the dirt. Before I came here, I saw many pictures of the children with their dirty little bodies and would wonder if the pictures might have been taken when they were the dirtiest, you know…for effect. But now I can see first hand…this is just the way it really is…always!

Sue and I needed to handle some Internet business yesterday (I'm still fighting for my lost luggage) and there's computer access in the hotel down the way, so we ventured outside of the compound (orphanage) for the first time. I'll tell you this…it wasn't all that pleasant…truthfully, it was even a bit scary. It seems as soon as you step outside of the guarded gates, there is village person after village person just waiting to approach you. This wouldn't be so bad aside from the stone cold truth that many of them want to steel from you. Some even want to hurt or kill you so that they can take from you what they can. We pushed through a few of the people and then were approached by a couple of small gangs. JUST KEEP WALKING! We had to exercise a bit of strategy to get past the second couple of shady guys but finally made it to the guard gate at the hotel. Whew!

As soon as we approached the gate…the guard came running out from his booth yelling at us in a language I couldn't make out (there are literally hundreds of languages and dialects in the area.) He was aggressively saying something and pointing at us. We finally turned around and saw that there was a Cobra snake slithering along the curb right behind us. It wasn't that big but nonetheless it was enough to excite the local guard. Once in the safety of the hotel grounds Sue told me that she recognized one of the guys on the street and that he had pulled a knife on her a year ago. She talked her way out of getting stabbed last time but you can imagine what she might have been feeling right about then.

Needless to say…when we were finished with our emailing…instead if trying to walk through all of that again…we caught a truck ride back to base.

Just think only three and a half more weeks to go!

Keep checking back…I don't believe this Blog site will be boring…

Blog Insert - 7/7/8

It will most likely be about 3-4, or more, days before I'm able to get to an Internet signal again, so the timing of these inserts will most likely be a bit off…but the order of events should be correct. I'm hoping…

Since the last time I wrote, I've been on my first village outreach…and my ability to put this experience into words is being immensely challenged. Afterwards, on our way back to base camp, Sue actually make mention… "How are you going to put that experience in your Blog?" I'm still not sure. I believe I could actually write an entire book just on the experiences I've had in the last forty-eight hours. Talk about trying to squeeze five hundred pounds of potatoes into a five-pound sac…!

I believe I made mention in an early entry that Pemba was the most impoverished place that I had ever seen or been…well guess what…my perspective has certainly changed since then. We journeyed out approximately four hours deep into the bush, and as we traveled further and further away from Pemba civilization, life became more and more foreign to me. Man, I'm finding it quite challenging just trying to put this experience into words…it was too much!

Whenever you say something about what you're experiencing…the common response from the 'long term' missionary's is usually… "This is Africa." I've spent a bit of time in 3^rd world countries and I pass through Skid Row in downtown LA pretty frequently…but THIS is something else! Mud hut villages with kids everywhere! Dirty kids with dirty, ripped up clothing. Some of them with sadness in their eyes but most of them, oddly enough, running around with laughter and joy on their dirty little faces. These villages are in the middle of nowhere with nothing but bush surrounding them for miles. There's no water, no power, no sewage system (unless you call a hole in the ground a system), no furniture, no cars, NO NOTHING! And there's no sign of anything even remotely 'society/community' familiar anywhere around. Sometimes along the road, before you get into the deep bush, there'll be a small row of makeshift stands with people displaying some fruits or vegetables or maybe some pieces of clothing or building materials (straw and sticks.) But outside of that, you just sort of wonder…how do they do this? How can they even survive out here…how does this society of people maintain itself…with practically NOTHING!?! AND THIS IS JUST THE WAY IT IS…AND HAS BEEN! And there doesn't look like there'll be any major up-grade happening for…well, ever!

This blows my mind!

Where do I go from here? OK, so we pull into the village with a caravan of white Land Rovers and a team of missionaries. The minute we show up in the village literally hundreds of local village people swarm the trucks yelling and screaming with sounds of joy and excitement, As everyone gets out of their trucks and begin to interact with all of the children…I hate to say it but the hard reality is…the smell is overwhelming. It's a familiar smell likened to a corral of animals or maybe a zoo. You're kind of turned off for a bit but within just a short amount of time you forget all of that and are taken up with all of the love being shared.

NOTE:

I'm going to have to figure out a way to edit and condense my observations or this Blog will literally become a novel…maybe that could be, but it's just not something I have the time for at the moment…after all, having the experiences that I'm having each day takes quite a bit of time in and of themselves…writing about them takes even longer. Maybe I'll write the novel when I'm old or something.

We go out on another outreach tomorrow so I'll write in more detail about the 'village' experience after this weekend. If you catch this before the weekend is over maybe you could pray up a few prayers for me…there's a ton of whichcraft going on in these villages. I mean wild stuff that you only hear about or maybe see in an M. Knight film.

New Day:

Today we didn't have any water…some days you get it and some you don't. The same holds true for the electricity…it comes and than…it goes. (It's actually been going on and off all during the time I've been writing this.) I had to purchase a voltage regulator yesterday…about forty bucks. The power surges are killer here so if you have any of your electronic equipment…phone, computer, etc, plugged in during one of those jolts…well, you can pretty much write it off. I look at the purchase as Mac insurance.

And then there's Internet access…or should I say, lack there of. Internet is sometimes available at some of the local hotels…and then again, sometimes it's not. One of the difficulties is that if you are going to take your laptop over to one of the 'Hot Spots', you might get robed on the way to or fro. And if you don't finish up by 4:30pm…well, you're pretty much looking at a very sketchy situation. You pretty much need to be off of the streets by sun down…about 4:45. If not, you're really asking for trouble. Getting around in a vehicle is OK…if you can find a ride, but walking isn't a smart idea.

There's hardly a day that goes by that I don't see someone in the garbage dump. Today I saw a woman with her little baby kneeling down, picking around at the trash…that one was a bit difficult for me. You have to be very careful whom you try and help and give things to. If you don't handle the situation correctly you can cause more problems than you're trying to solve.

You know…in the midst of all these barefoot kids with the same torn up, dirty cloths and un-washed bodies…is a spirit of joy and love that just doesn't make sense. The longer I'm here… the more I realize how much more these kids have than most of the kids (and adults for that matter) I picture back home. A hug, a squeeze, a short broken up conversation or even a high five can give these kids so much love and comfort. You don't need a ride in a plush SUV to find an Apple Store at Disney Land to put a smile on their faces.

It's real easy to get involved in the short-term adoption plan here, Just about every missionary, speaker and guest that's here has gravitated to at least one child – or visa-versa. The kids call you Daddy so and so – or Momma so and so. They're just starving for parental figures. This is a pretty sensational experience althouigh the tough part is that when it's time for the missionary to leave Pemba, the separation anxiety is a heavy experience for both parties (adult & child.)

Yesterday I interviewed the International Pastor for Iris Ministries. A gentleman who's in charge of overseeing all of the churches that Iris has planted in Mozambique…roughly 8,000 of them. Can you believe that? I'm telling you…this ministry is doing a serious job over here… I'm quite impressed as well as proud to be a small part of it all. Interviewing this gentleman was one fascinating conversation! This guy is the real deal! His heart is so right…and the miracles he's seen in his life can easily be made into a book or a mini-series. His name is Surprassa and just ablut everyone in this country (and out) not only knows him…but beams with love when they hear you say his name. Watch for his interview in our next documentary.

We're heading back out into the deep bush tomorrow so they gave me a 'take it easy' day today. I'm going to see if I can find some Internet service somewhere and shoot this up-date out to you all. I ran into a bush pilot last night and it looks like he's going to grant me a rare opportunity next week to grab some arial footage from high above Pemba...should add some terriffic production value to the doco.

NOTE:

If you're reading this than your name is on a list in my room and each time I see it I try and remember to hold you all up in prayer. So keep open...

Africa Blessings Your Way!