Slovensko

We had such a wonderful (if a little rushed) time in Slovakia! We were able to see quite a bit of the country in just a few days. Landing in Austria, Matthew's folks picked us up and we drove the two hours over to Trnava in SE SK. (of course stopping for a cup of tea/coffee on the Danube across from the famous Bratislava Castle. We were so glad to see my (matthew's) folk's home and their "favorite haunts". Of course we dove right in and sampled as much traditional Slovak food as possible. We ate lots of sourkraut, and great greasy stuff! We went up to the Vysoke Tatry (High Tatras) and, well... have a look!

(me and my dad and the tilley hat)

The mountains were magnificent--always rejouvenating and pointing to a powerful God!

We also had a chance to blitz through Schonbrunn's Palace gardens in Vienna.

(melinda, me, my mom and the neptune fountains sans H2O)

I'm so thankful for the chance to recoup a bit and process the transition together with my folks (even if we were the waking dead the majority of our 4 nights/5 days there--SK being 9 time zones removed from CA).

So we're here in South Africa now! We are in Stellenbosch, just outside of Cape Town. We were very warmly received by all the staff here (complete with a poster and fresh baked cookies!). We're staying in a lovely granny-flat attached to the Wadley's home. (Dennis and Susan Wadley direct the ministry of Bridges of Hope here in South Africa.) We've already been out looking at several appartments with the awesome help of Mrs. Annelise LaGrange--our South African administrator. After battling bull mastiffs, tiptoeing over puke-stained carpets, and squeezing through miniature apartments, we've yet to fall in love with a flat here. We continue to ask that God would provide the right place at the right time.

SNAP

Stop Now And Pray. One of our colleagues, Erik Anderson, has hit a major road block in his path to obtaining his temporary resident's permit. The office of Home Affairs has rejected his application. This could very well mean that he will have to leave the country, return to the US for a while, then re-enter the country and re-start the convoluted and ever-changing process (the requirements for application seem to change with the seasons and the moods of the officers). Pray with us that the SA office of Home Affairs would extend grace to Erik and grant him his permit (after all, he's a major asset to the country, doing much needed work here that noone else will do, id est, development in the townships). This is actually quite maddening considering all BHI staff is paid through money from America and pours resources into South Africa and yet they make it so difficult for us to be here. Urgghh!

Orphan and Vulnerable Children Update

Today we spent a few hours meeting with the staff and planning the orphan support group for tomorrow afternoon. This group has increased to 49 members! Tomorrow we have a fun afternoon planned of games, songs, small groups (tomorrow boys and girls will be split and will discuss respecting themselves and each other-cross-genderly), and snack time. We are super excited to get involved in the group.

We spent some time today looking online for more fun game and craft ideas (the kids love playing games and making crafts). We've been encouraged today by talking and dreaming about the longer-term vision for the orphan and vulnerable children's ministry. We will be looking at potential properties for the self-sustaining orphan farm. We will be drawing up the farm proposal for potential donors. We also began to brainstorm and plan for the next orphan retreat (early Dec). What a sweet priveledge to serve these kids!