From Mark and Bailey....

"Great minds think alike," so they say!  Here is my last blog in Mark's own words and a lot more detail.  I didn't realize he was planning on writing, but so glad he did!

Hello all from Africa!!!
Sorry it's taken me so long to make our first post from Swaziland but as we like to say here in Africa, the only thing that is predictable - is the unpredictability of things in Africa.
Bailey and my flight to Africa was incredible. Thanks to Jamie's dear friend Ashley Clark (who donated Delta Buddy Passes to us) we got bumped up to first class plane tickets and the ride over was truly FIRST CLASS. I've never before had the opportunity to experience international first class but the ride felt like we were sitting in our living room being waited on hand and foot for 16 hours. Bailey's long face at check-in quickly turned into a smile when we were notified of the upgrade - thanks Ashley!
We arrived Friday evening and spent the night at the Johannesburg airport hotel as it was too late to make it to the border before it closed. On Saturday we boarded a 14 passenger van that Kaleli Mulli (Heart for Africa's farm manager) drove over to pick us up. After a five hour drive and crossing the border into Swaziland, we arrived to our new homes.
Unfortunately, we were not able to immediately move into the house we will be renting as the existing resident will not be out until Tuesday. We ask for your prayers for Shirley as she leaves Swaziland on Tuesday to go to South Africa for 6 weeks of medical treatments. Shirley was in great spirits as we arrived and graciously helped with arrangements for us to stay on Project Canaan until she departs tomorrow.
Our next challenge came while trying to collect our belongings that were shipped over 7 weeks ago. Apparently customs requires us to personally show up to take possession of our shipping container and all of our paperwork was not exactly as they would have liked. ian/Janine and I spent most of the day today dealing with customs and other governmental organizations trying to get things straightened out. We're hoping the container will be delivered tomorrow and we'll be able to begin the process of unloading our lives ... at least that is our hope.
All of this is going on while Jamie, Cameron, and Austin have flown to Kansas City to be with my parents. On Sunday my parents threw a party for us with all of their friends to celebrate our move. On Tuesday morning the family will all load up and make the old (but familiar) trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas to get Austin enrolled and through orientation. This is the same trip they made with me some 32 years ago ... wow, that is hard to believe! Then on Thursday they will all head back to Kansas City where Austin will head back to Atlanta and Jamie/Cameron will come join me in Africa. I can't wait! Austin will soon join us for a couple of weeks at the end of July until I travel back with him to start school in mid August.
Please continue to pray for us as we make this transition. Pray for safe travels for all and that I quickly adapt to driving on the left side of the road. My first experience with traffic was last night trying to make it home from the gas station ... it was quite comical to say the least. Turn signals and high beams are transposed with windshield wipers and washer fluid so getting home was quite an experience. I'm sure I'll have it all worked out by next weekend when I drive to Johannesburg to pick them all up.
We truly appreciate all of the prayers and inquiries as to how things are going. I'm sorry I'm so late in posting but it's been difficult getting online and connected to the internet. We hope to have all of this resolved in the next few days. As expected, the internet will be somewhat sketchy, but hopefully it will be consistently sketchy so we know what to expect.
We love you all - and thanks again,
Mark and Bailey=

Safe Landing!

Wow!  What a crazy week!  During this past week we have loaded up the rest of our townhouse into a container, sold 2 cars, 4 iphones, tried to remember everything to cut off (electricity, gas, cell phones,...), tried to get international healthcare (still working on it!),  and said goodbye to unbelievably great friends and family!  Mark and Bailey got on a plane on May 31st and though they were flying standby (thanks to a very special Delta friend!), not knowing if they'd even make the flight....they were bumped up to "business class" (which I think is the same as first class)!  I don't know why, but God still amazes me!

Mark and Bailey have arrived safely in Swaziland and are waiting for our original container (which left in April) to be let go from Swazi customs.  We are praying that will happen tomorrow - Tuesday.   They don't have really good internet right now and no cell phones.  However, we were able to Skype earlier today and they all sounded great!  Bailey actually asked me to pack another bag full of Oreo's for her and Peace Tea for Chloe Maxwell (daughter of the founders of Heart for Africa).  I bought 9 bags of Oreo's today along with cough medicine because Bailey has a cough and a low-grade fever. 

The rest of us, Austin, Cameron and I are in Kansas City, KS, now getting ready to go to Fayetteville, AR for Austin's orientation on Tuesday, June 5th.  I am excited to see the campus and help Austin sign up for classes in Industrial Engineering.  We fly out of KS on Saturday, Austin to Alpharetta, Cam and I to Africa.  I will say I am ready.  Leaving has been hard on so many fronts, emotionally and physically.  I am ready to start this new chapter of my life.  I can't wait to see what God has waiting for us...and to hold those sweet babies at the El Roi Babies Home on Project Canaan!



14 Days and Counting....

Well we are finally down to the two week window.  We load the rest of our belongings in 12 days, then Mark and Bailey leave in 14 days!  Austin, Cameron and I will fly out to Fayetteville, AR, 2 days after Mark and Bailey leave for Africa.  In Fayetteville we will be attending orientation at the University of Arkansas where Austin will be attending in the fall.  After orientation, Cameron and I will fly straight on to Africa leaving Austin in Atlanta until he visits Swaziland in July.

It's incredible to believe we are really so close!  I don't think I've fully wrapped my brain around the move, but I know that I have incredible peace.  We have been absolutely amazed at God's provisions for us in this last month.  God has provided great things for us in the past, but we have experienced truly miraculous provisions that defy any other explanation.  We have bought a car for Austin, sold 4 houses, and have finally found health care for us and Austin!  Thank you for the many prayers that are being offered up on our behalf.  They are truly invaluable to us!

We have had wonderful friends come along side us to host birthday/send off parties for each of the girls and our family as a whole (thank you Heitmeiers, Lasts and Reeds!)  It is such a blessing to see our children just glowing in the celebration and love of their incredible friends! We are definately "leaving well"! 

We have been approved by our church as "missionaries" and will be commisioned this Sunday by our church and will have a "commisioning/send off" for our family.  I think I'll bring TWO boxes of Kleenex.  This is such an incredible time of new beginnings for our family...a dramatic change in our family purpose,  moving to a new continent, Austin starting college, and Cameron starting middle school.  Wow!  We serve a really BIG God!

Countdown.....

It's really starting to sink in....it's just over 40 days now until we permanently move to Swaziland.  So much has been done and so much yet still to accomplish!  This has definitely been a busy year for us with mission  classes, Austin's highschool graduation, college visits, Cameron's 5th grade graduation, plays and Bailey's lacrosse...not to mention planning a move overseas, applications, more applications, then more applications!  Yet, God has been so gracious to us and we have been able to accomplish things I am still amazed at!  The chief among those was to hit a financial goal by April 1st that would allow us to go ahead and ship many of our belongings in early April.  We actually hit our goal 10 days ahead of time!!!!  And that was after actively fundraising for only 3 months!  We still have additional financial goals, but were able to commit to our late May/early June leave date. 

It takes 6-8 weeks to ship our belongings, so in order to have some belongings when we landed in late May/early June we loaded 2/3 of all our belongings into a 20 foot container over Spring Break.  (Cameron quite enjoyed having to climb in and over piles of furniture and mattresses to help Mark rope up some loose items!)    We will load the remainder of our items before Mark and Bailey leave on May 30th.   (Cameron, Austin and I will be going to the University of Arkansas for orientation the following week so we will be a week behind.)

 So, we are now "camping" in our townhouse, sleeping on air mattresses and using floor cushions for extra seating.  We will definitely enjoy getting to Africa and sleeping on beds again!  We so appreciate all the many expressions of support, including the use of a washer and dryer, and extra blankets because we packed most of ours!  I know this will be a busy month and a half and truly appreciate your prayers and support!

Build it and they will come.....

Wow!  Much has happened since my last post.  Has it really been so long???  The best news of all that I want to share is the introduction of 4 sweet babies to the El Roi Baby Home.  El Roi is the Hebrew name for the "God who sees". 

Joshua

 

Baby #1:  Joshua was a three-day-old baby boy was brought to us because his mother couldn’t care for him and had planned to “dump” him as soon as he was born.  The child’s father had been murdered months prior to the baby’s birth and a caring Social Worker convinced the mother to bring the child to life safely and she would help find him a home.  El Roi is his new home.

Esther

Baby #2: – Esther was a 14-day old baby girl who arrived a couple of days after Joshua.  Esther’s mother was young and planned to commit suicide in her eighth month of pregnancy.  Again, a caring (and life-saving) Social Worker convinced her to save her own life and the life of the baby.  The baby was abandoned at the door of a man who delivered the child to a local hospital.  The mother is HIV positive and Esther was treated as soon as she was born.  We will know in a few weeks whether she is HIV positive as well, and what her future care needs will be. El Roi is now the home for this little girl.

 

Caleb

Baby #3: Caleb is a baby boy and is 8 months old and only weighs 12.3 pounds.  He was delivered to a local hospital in a cardboard box, by his father who is in the final stages of HIV/AIDS.  His mother had already succumbed to the disease and the father was no longer able to care for him.  Caleb is HIV positive and is being treated with ARV’s.  He has active Tuberculosis and is covered in terrible sores and lesions.  If that wasn’t enough for this little guy, he is severely malnourished and is struggling to survive.  El Roi is now his home.

Levi

Baby #4: Levi  is an 8 week old baby boy who arrived on March 29, 2012.  His mother was raped in South Africa and as a result is HIV positive and while she does not want to have anything to do with the child, the Social Worker encouraged the mother to care for the baby for a time to see if she would change her mind.  However, after 8 weeks she brought the baby to the hospital and left him there.  El Roi is now his home.

Baby #5: Anna is a baby girl, is a month old and has been living in a government hospital since she was found in a pit latrine (outhouse/toilet) just after she was born.  She has been struggling with a chest infection since then and getting treatment in the hospital.  While she has not arrived at El Roi yet, we are praying that she will be released to our care in the hours/days ahead and El Roi will be her home.

As you can see we have much to be thankful for and much to pray for.  The emotional and physical cost to care for these babies is high.  Please join us in praying for Helen Mulli and the others who have been hired to provide 24 hour care at the El Roi Baby home. As some of you may know, Helen was rescued by Mr. Charles Mulli at the tender age of eight-years old and was raised by Mr. & Mrs. Mulli at the Mulli Children’s Family Home in Kenya.  She has grown to be a wonderful woman of God, married Peter Mulli (Charles’ youngest brother, and Kaleli’s Uncle) and is now living at the El Roi Baby Home to care for “the abandoned and ignored” babies who are brought to us.

What do Rotary, TOMS, and UPS have in common?

Their support of Heart for Africa and their mission to work alongside the people of Swaziland to bring hope and care to orphans and vulnerable children.

Specifically:

The Rotary Club of North Fulton is partnering with Heart for Africa to raise money to build a dam on the farm.  Though that may not sound exciting at first glance....this dam is necessary to irrigate another 90 acres of land so that crops there can be grown year-round.  This is just another exciting step towards making Project Canaan self-sustaining!  We are so thankful!  Read more about it in the Alpharetta Neighbor:  http://alpharettaneighbor.com/stories/WATERS-OF-HOPE,180555?content_source=&category_id=1,2,6,8,9&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=stories&town_id=&page=

In addition, TOMS shoes has chosen Heart for Africa to be a giving partner in Swaziland!  TOMS has a neat "one for one" program in that when you purchase a pair of their shoes, a pair will be given to a child in need.  Now, many children in Swaziland will get to experience this wonderful gift!  We can't wait to get over there this summer and help hand them out!!!

And last but certainly not least, UPS has donated money to secure fencing around the El Roi Baby's Home, the Long Term Volunteer Housing, and the farm manager's building.  This will ensure the safety of the orphans as well as those who work tirelessly on Project Canaan!

We are so excited and thankful to be a small part of what God is doing in Swaziland.

Appliance Update!!!

While they are not the most interesting things in the world...appliances...we really do appreciate them!  Especially when we think we may have to do without some of them!  We originally thought we would be able to take our appliances (refrigerator, washer/dryer) saving us major $$$,  then thought we hit a snag and couldn't.  However, after talking with a Heart for Africa volunteer from South Africa, we learned that yes indeedy - our appliances will work - with a transformer of course!  What a blessing!

Mark and I have just started a weekly class called Perspectives which teaches what the Bible has to say about missions.  There is an enormous amount of reading and preparation involved, but we have been told it will be of great benefit to us.  This certainly adds to our list of many things to do, but I am so thankful that we have been able to keep from feeling overwhelmed.

Please pray for us as we prepare for our move.  Things are moving at warp speed now, and there is so much to do and many wise decisions to be made.