Thursday Night (7-24-14):

What a great day!!! The bath house was completed just before the sunset last night. Lots of cheers went up as the last bucket of cement was being poured into the final bag. As a way to honor the men who had worked so diligently alongside our team all week, the guys from our team followed the example of the woman in Luke 7:36-50 and humbled themselves and washed the feet of these brothers in Christ. 

We finished our last full day of camp, by throwing a special birthday party for all the kids. They were treated like kings and queens as we sang to them, gave them each a cupcake, and a few small gifts. The total joy and excitement in the room was priceless and hard to for us to convey in a simple blog post!

Thursday....

Matthew 20:37..."And whosover will be chief among you, let him be your servant." One of the hightlights for me as a team leader is seeing the lives of the team SHINE. One of my favorite things in this world is soaking in the African skies and at night soaking in the stars shining like diamonds on black velvet. That is the way I feel about the Servanthood when people on a team are totally commited to Christ and being HIS servant. Each one becomes a bright star as they are serving in a new country with so many differences. It has blessed my heart beyond measures to watch the team and hear their hearts as they process. Each person has worked soooooo very hard, whether it be with teaching the kids, who for the most part have never been to school, or working construction. In the States parents freely use Ridalin as the "calming" for those with ADD.........that is not something found around here, :) so there are lots of hyperactive but also very hurting kids. As we hear the backgrounds and their stories our hearts are just broken. We are understanding the quote...."Lord, let my heart be broken with the things that hurt yours. The things that hurt God's heart, should hurt ours. The abuse and neglect and the poverty that they have experienced are painful to hear and even harder to accept or absorb. Each of the team is responding in their individual ways....Please pray as we all begin the goodbyes on Friday, and process in our own hearts.

 Today is our last "work" day. Please pray for the Biblical truths that we are teaching today. Pray for the fun times, the games times, and the craft times. Also tonight we are having a Birthday Party. Thanks to the Westover 4/14 team that has organized Birthday cards and fun things as we celebrate all 55 kids and staff that are here. I wish I could convey the exceptional bonding of the team with ALL the people with whom we are working. There is a harmony and unity that I would like to say is too hard to explain....but then, why should it? We have said over and over that this IS the way the body of Christ should be... laughing and singing and ABSOLUTE back breaking, cement work, learning to relate to active happy kids who have so much JOY when they have so little.

I am so blessed by the Servant hearts of each one on this team............... The time has gone quickly, still much to be done. Thanks for your Prayers....... We LITERALLY have felt them every single day.

From Jephat's Facebook Post

As Jephat said: 'The Hard Work is Done!"  Praise the Lord!

Day One of Camp & Construction

Day one of camp is complete! Campers were up and ready to start at 4am! We weren't. :) We were able to give every child a new pair of shoes and a Camp Allelu t-shirt. There were lots of smiles when they received these new things. We split the kids up into groups based on their ages and were able to spend some time in small groups discussing the story of the Good Samaritian, doing a craft, and teaching basic math and English. Each group came up with a chant and presented it at the evening meeting. Free time in the afternoon was filled with a low ropes course, crafts, reading, and soccer. We finished up the day with some singing and dancing to the beat of african drums! 

Construction on the bath house began today as well. The construction team worked alongside several other Christian men from Zimbabwe all day and got a good start on things. It is definitely back breaking work mixing dirt and cement. A little competition ended the day as we picked teams and raced each other to complete one layer of the walls.

The Kids Arrived!

Big smiles, blankets, soccer balls and Aunties in tow. The kids arrived!!! How fun it was when we saw Taurayi.... a dear little boy who was at Camp Allelu 2013. He arrived with his name tag from last year and a BIG smile....and one little guy had his last year's T-shirt!!! There was so much JOY among the kids...AND ALL of us! We had a wonderful first evening and loved singing and dancing with the kids. We can't wait for many more memories to come this week! Thank you Jesus!

On Sunset Summit

Hi everyone...you are the BEST prayer team!  Things could not be going any smoother...from the NY connection, to the arrival and ALL THE LUGGAGE getting through sooooo easy. (Judy chatted with the ladies at the customs counter while Jeff Neubauer (or Fryer...one of the Jeffs!) quickly put them through the x-ray machine.....ALL went thru without a hitch.)

GOD is so obviously here with us, surrounding and blessing us. Church today was so special. Gari's message was such a blessing....the singing was out of this world.  Anna's birthday is today, so we celebrated pretty much all day in different ways. We won't have internet until next week, but we will try.  KIDS arrive in hour....YAY!!!

The children listen intently as "Mbuya" (Judy) speaks...I wonder if she is is speaking to them in Shona?  (VS)  :-)

 

The evening's icebreakers begin...

...and a Camp Allelu GSO skit makes its Camp Allelu Zimbabwe debut!  :-)

 

Hello All!
Thanks so much for your prayers!  It has been an awesome 2 days here in Zimbabwe. A lot of people were praying for our travels which we can't thank you enough for. Not only did our transfer from LaGuardia to JFK go without any hiccups, but when we arrived in Harare (the capital of Zimbabwe) we went through customs very easily. Judy stood and talked to the customs agents with small talk and Jeff Fryer was throwing bags through the x-ray machine and no one was asking us any questions.


Day One - The Group at Habitation of Hope

When we got to Habitation of Hope Jephat and his team told us about the vision they have for this property. Let me tell you, they have HUGE hearts and such a driving passion for the people that come to the camp, as well as a vision for the people that they want to help in the future. They are awesome men of God!  And they are hilarious!


The Team tours the grounds.

Since we have arrived we have seen several of the Hands of Hope homes and spent some time with the kids. What a wonderful ministry.  It was so fun  to hang out with some of the kids (ranging from 2 months to 16 years old).


 

 

We also visited several feeding centers that Hands of Hope supports. Most of the centers feed anywhere from 50-150 kids 6-7 days a week.  There are 19 feeding centers that Hands of Hope supports around Zimbabwe.

 

 

God has blessed us with precious smiles from kids, wonderful time hearing and seeing the ministry firsthand from the Hands of Hope leadership as well as pastors and some of the aunties at the homes. The kids come in for the camp tonight and we will be at Habitation of Hope for the week building a bathhouse, building a playground, and hanging out with the kids at camp.



Thank you so much for all of those who have prayed for this leg of our trip.  Who could not have imagined that we would have time to grab a cup of coffee while waiting for our connection!  God has truly gone before us and taken care of all our travel plans.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to pray this morning; please don't stop! :)  We look forward to a restful flight and for ALL our bags to arrive in Harare!  

Our Prayer Calendar

Thank you for praying for the 2014 Zimbabwe Team as they head out to run Camp Allelu at Habitation of Hope.

July 17 - The team will meet for prayer at 5:30 AM at Delta. Please pray from the comfort of your home, :) or join us in person, as we leave early to travel to NY’s LaGuardia airport, where we will have to pick up and transfer 42 pieces of luggage and 14 people, then travel from LaGuardia to JFK during rush hour and get re-checked...all within 3 hours!  :)  This part will be our first adventure of the trip AND WE REALLY need your prayers!

Donya Hafshejani requests prayer that The Lord would give her guidance, and that she would be a light and encouragement to the kids and HOH staff.

July 18 - We arrive in Harare...24 hours later...at 12:20 PM on Friday.

Heather Morgan asks for prayer that God would show her exactly where He needs her to be involved throughout the trip.

July 19 - On Saturday morning the team will divide into three groups and each group will go to visit two different HOH homes, then they will spend time at 3 feeding stations where 50-60 kids get a meal each day.

Robert Dawson requests, “Pray I will have strength and energy and to have full focus on the kids.”

July 20 - Sunday we will visit the two Shona Churches that are sending children to the Camp: Rugare Church and Mbare Church.  The team will take part in the Worship Services - two, back-to-back services. These children are the ones who can’t afford to attend school, so people from the church provide a daily feeding program just to be sure the children get at least one good meal a day.  The Church also has a Building School tutoring program to get the children ready scholastically (so they won’t be so far behind) in case SOMEDAY they get money for school fees.

· Children arrive in the afternoon; pray as we get to know the kids and have our first meeting. 

· The first Bible Lesson: The Good Samaritan - Loving others.

Please pray for Babbette Mabe and Traci Clayton as they share their testimonies, through interpreters in church this morning.

July 21 - First full day of camp. The Bible Lesson focus is: Lost Sheep - God continually pursuing us.

Anna Lilly asks, “Pray that I put my full trust in God’s provision throughout every aspect of the trip...travel, camp and communication.”

July 22 - Our construction projects for the camp include building a playground, constructing soccer goals AND the huge project of building a bath/shower house. This will involve shoveling A LOT of sand, which is back-breaking work. Pray for “Not toooooo sore muscles”.

· Bible Lesson Focus for Camp - Prodigal - We have all sinned, but God is ready to welcome us to HIMSELF.

Jeff Neubauer asks for prayer as he leads the building team.  Pray that his energy will be renewed daily, and that God will use him to mentor well the people with whom he works. 

July 23 - Today is the day jet lag and fatigue often hit. Please pray that God will renew our strength...that we would rise up on wings like eagles and complete all that God has in store for us AND with each of the campers and Shona staff.
· Bible Lesson: House on a Rock - Obeying God’s word is God’s firm foundation.

Amy Cox requests prayer that she would depend on the Lord daily for His strength, and not rely on her own strength during this time.

Angie Allred asks for prayers to stay healthy; she is in remission from Crohns. Pray for her parents while she is gone; her Dad is in the early stages of Alzheimers.

July 24 - Greatest Journey - Focus on Christ’s journey to the Cross and His plan for bringing us back to HIM.  Pray that many will put their faith in Christ this week. 

· Pray for ALL of the Shona helpers. We will have counselors helping those who do the teaching, and we have hired 5 young Christian men to help our construction team. This serves a two-fold purpose: With an unusually high  unemployment rate in Zimbabwe, this provides jobs for believers for at least a couple of weeks.  (They are thrilled for this opportunity.)  Secondly, it will be an excellent opportunity for relationship building and mentoring.

Jeff Fryer requests prayer that while he is on this trip the Lord would help him slow down and focus on things of eternal importance.

July 25 - Pray for our final Bible Lesson with the 55 campers: The Greatest Question - Will you put your trust in Jesus? · · · Pray for safety on the road as we take ALL of those kids on our final outing to a Game Park 30 minutes away.  Pray for us as we say goodbye to the kids.

· Friday afternoon the team will visit the Foundations for Farming ministry of Brian Oldrieve & Craig Deale.

Rachel Rogers asks for prayer that she would be a vessel God can use and that she would have wisdom in the academic part of our week with the kids.

July 26 - Last full day in Zimbabwe. Please pray that we have a good time of closing things up, and that we will continue to be a blessing and encouragement to Jephat, Gari, Farayi and James of HOH ministry. 

Jason Clayton requests prayer for ‘no flight anxiety’; 17 hours in a plane is a long flight!  Pray for their family members while they are gone; these family members are going through some physical challenges.

July 27 - Pray for our overnight at Bally Vaughn Farm with Gordon and Debbie.  This is our debrief time. Pray that we will have Godly closure to this opportunity that God has given us. The team leaves at 5:00 PM on Sunday, but will have to be at the airport by 2:00 PM before heading home for the same long return journey. Pray the team would be a blessing to those they meet, and for good health and travel mercies.

Carolyn Huskins asks for prayer that she will not get lost in “the busy-ness of life”.  Carolyn is Co-leader of the team, and will capably be lead the team back to Greensboro.

July 28  - Please pray for that TIGHT reverse connection between JFK and LaGuardia: going through customs, getting on shuttles and catching the homeward flight :)  The team arrives back in Greensboro on Monday, on Delta #3457 at 1:04 PM.

Judy requests prayer as she stays on in Zimbabwe for some extra days.  She has organized a retreat for the 35 HOH Aunties, who are the caregivers of the residential homes, and ladies from the church Lynn pastored from the late 70’s to the early 80’s.  They will all meet together for Bible study and encouragement throughout the following week.  (Judy will arrive back in Greensboro on Mon., Aug. 4.)

We thank God upon every remembrance of you - Philippians 1:3 

  For your prayer support, for your love and encouragement, and investing in the team is so many ways. 

Praying for Lives Transformed in Zim Through Him!