ROCKHarbor Africa Team

August 2008 Trip Dates Confirmed

2007-10-31T14:18:00.001-07:00

Another RockHarbor team will be going to South Africa in 2008.

The trip blog is:
http://rockharborafrica2008.blogspot.com

2007 Trip

2007-02-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to the 2007 RockHarbor Africa scouting trip blog.

http://rockharborafrica2007.blogspot.com

Summer 2006 Trip Dates and Info

2006-01-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

ROCKHarbor will be sending two teams out to Namibia this summer and give the life-changing opportunity to those who feel called to serve God's children in Africa.

The first team will depart 6/29 and return 7/17; the second team will depart 7/16 returning 8/1.

Teams will stay at The Ark, which is home to about 40 AIDS orphans, giving the children some much deserved love and attention while helping out the staff. Days begin with incredible sunrises and end with 360 degree sunsets that are unique in the world. The air is filled with possibility and the sounds of the children's singing praise songs to our Lord. They pray without ceasing in Afrikaans and English and with a heart that is truly filled with faith and love for their Father.

No two days are the same as each is completely spirit led. It is such a joy to start the day with expectation and a servant's heart surrounded by those that share the desires of your heart for service. We will visit the public schools and teach the learners an abstinence based program about sex and God's plan for their bodies. We will bring the truth of their eternal value and give them the tools to change the AIDS crisis in their town and country. We will also visit those who are suffering from AIDS in the town (Blok E) bringing them food, clothing and prayer. We will bring hope, be love and see God at work in a place where there is little else.

We will come back changed, blessed and transformed by what we witnessed. We will know that God used us to be His hands, feet and heart to our brother's and sister's in Namibia...lives will be saved, redeemed and enriched.

Applications are available on ROCKHarbor's website and on the patio - they are due no later than 2/12. As soon as they are turned in an interview will be scheduled between you and the team leaders.

Mandatory Training Dates: March 5, March 19, April 2 (all RH missions training)

April 9, April 23, May 7, May 21, June 11, June 25

The approximate trip cost is: $3300. We help you with the entire fundraising process and while this seems like a lot of money - God's provision is so great and the amount has always been raised by past team members. Each team member will be responsible for a $250 deposit.

Please contact Monica Harter a monica @ monicaharter.com with specific questions.

Africa Video

2006-01-18T14:25:00.000-08:00

We created a video/DVD for ROCKHarbor to play on the patio during the month of January. It is currently playing. It may also be sent to all the ROCKHarbor life groups to view. You can see the thumbnail web version here. If you would like a copy of the DVD send Wood an e-mail. He'll probably just send you one for free. His e-mail is: wood - at - side8.com.

Story Wall at ROCKHarbor

2006-01-05T14:31:00.000-08:00

The Africa team has the Story Wall at ROCK Harbor for the month of January. Well, most of the month, it is supposed to go up today. One of the ideas we had was to turn all of our pictures into a photo mosaic. After gathering all the images and turning them in to a 48"x61" print, Mike Moore of Wow! Visual Concepts offered to print the mosaic for free. We would like to thank Mike and Wow! Visual Concepts for all their help in promoting Africa at ROCKHarbor.

Here is an early draft of the mosiac. Each picture is 3/4" and is very visible when you walk up to the picture.
Here is what it looks like close up. This is a very early prototype, so there are many more images that were used, but it gets the point across. Also, there is much more detail in each of the pictures than what you see here so you can spend hours looking at the 16,000 images that make up the larger print.

As soon as we have pictures of the story wall we will post those as well.

Thanks Mike!

Giving Donations

2005-12-21T07:18:00.000-08:00

After we sorted the donations, each of the children at the Ark were allowed to select a single pair of shoes. It was pandamonium, but everyone got a pair of shoes that they really wanted.

We gave away about three quarters of the donations while we were still in Africa. The rest will be given away by George and Anna Marie who are so generous I wouldn't be surprised if everything was gone within a week of our trip. We took a number of trips to the local community where we would load up the van and drive to a small village.
My favorite trip was to Kwakwas which was about 20km (12mi) on a dirt road then another 10km (6mi) on a single track rugged road. We had originally planned to visit a school, but the school had closed early and the teacher could not call us. We drove to a couple of small shanties where a group of 8-10 kids and a dozen or so adults greeted us with smiles. We opened the back of the van and began to give away cloths, school supplies, soccer balls (each child received a soccer ball) and shoes. I remember one lady really wanted a specific red shoe. I think she is the one in the red hat. This was later in the trip and we had a bunch of single shoes and we could not find a match. We felt really bad, but she really wanted it and was so thankful it broke our hearts. It wasn't until a little later that someone noticed that she had a prosthetic leg and really only needed one shoe. After everyone had their arms full, George told us they wanted to sing us a song. For the second time in the trip I stood in awe at the sound these people could produce. It was an amazing experience and the value of the gifts we had brought did not even come close to the value of that song.

Another way we gave away the donations was to bring a car load of kids from Blok-E to the Ark. We would load them up with cloths, school supplies and toys and drive them home.
I had the honor of driving some of these kids home one day and when we stopped the car to drop someone off all the kids unloaded. One of the Aunties tried to stop them so we could drive them a hundred yards further to to their house, but they just started walking. She told me that they wanted to show off the new clothes to the neighbors.

Donation Sorting

2005-12-20T19:16:00.000-08:00

Before we left for Africa, I spent a very frustrating week trying to get all the donations (shoes, clothes, medical supplies, school supplies and soccer balls) shipped on the plane with us. As a result of September 11, the rules in place make it nearly impossible to ship cargo on the same aircraft you are a passenger on. We decided to pay for a few extra bags and leave any donations we couldn't take with us for a cargo container or the next trip. We took everything we had to the packing meeting fully expecting to take more than half of it back home to store. It seemed to go quickly an before you knew it everything was packed. Everything! What made it even more amazing was that Monica and I had not even packed a second (or third) bag. When packing the donations, the idea was to put as many different things in each bag as you could so customs would not think you were selling large quantities of the same item. We spent much of the first day unpacking and sorting donations. This is a picture of the medical supply section above is one of the three or four clothing sections.After a short time it quickly became apparant that there was no possible way that all of these donations could have fit in the bags we brought. The stuff just expanded into a number of large piles at different stations. It was an amazing experience to look around and marvel.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim donated a lot of jerseys which the kids all loved even though they didn't know anything about the Angels.

Origo - Choose To Wait

2005-12-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

Here are two pictures from our first day of teaching Choose To Wait at Origo primary school. This was by far the poorest school in Rehoboth. There were at least three different barbed wire fences in the playground area and one had an extra coil of barbed wire lying loose on the ground next to it. This picture must have been taken as we broke into small groups. There were only four of us, so we made four different groups and sat the groups at the four corners of the assembly room. I remember the accoustics were so bad you could barely hear yourself think, let alone ask and answer tough questions about sex and marriage. The next day we arrived at the same time determined to take the small groups outside for better acoustics. Michelle gathered them at the front of the room to watch a skit and she turned to us and said they wanted to sing us a song. Once they started my jaw dropped. It was the most amazing sound I have ever heard. I would pay to experience it again. I have been to the Vatican on Christmas Eve and the sound these young adults produced was better than anything presented there. By far.
This was just another reminder that this was a place of contrasts. So much good and so much evil and nothing in between. The most amazing beauty in places you least expected it.

ONE MAN’S TRASH IS ANOTHER MANS TREASURE!

2005-12-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

Several days we had the privilege of taking the car and filling it with children from BLOK E, the poorest section in town. We would bring them back to the Ark and take them into the donation room and fit them for shoes and clothes. We allowed them to choose a stuffed animal or a soccer ball and have a piece of candy.. It was amazing to see their transformation.

I won't forget the little boy in the gray shorts pictured here. His shorts have the front zipper stuck down and the back of the shorts and just strings. Even though we had given him another pair of shorts, he wanted to keep the torn ones. I found another pair in his size and finally convinced him to trade them with me.

I want to thank many of you who donated shoes or clothes for us. KEEP THEM COMING, especially your new or SLIGHTLY used things. We hope to get a container together for 2006. We need clothes, shoes( black school shoes for kids), a large L-shaped couch, towels, new comforters for the kids, children's books, videos, educational items, 2in X 2in square steel rods, electric hand tools (220 volt), kitchen utensils, etc. Thank you.
--Monica

EXTREME HOME MAKEOVER, AFRICA STYLE

2005-12-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

The stores of the hearts of George and Anna Marie could go on forever. George and Anna Marie hired a man named Benny to work on the Reho Evergreen Project. Not only do George want to give Benny a job but he wants to improve his living conditions. You will see from the photos, that George is building Benny a new yellow house. His old house is also pictured here. George has built a number of these houses for people with AIDS in the area. We hope to include this as a part of our next mission. We would love to bring a team of people to build 40 of these houses in two weeks. Do you know people that would be willing to invest in this makeover?

THE AMAZING REHO EVERGREEN

2005-12-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

George and Anne Marie are have started an amazing project called Reho Evergreen. The land in Rehoboth is very fertile yet, they mostly import their fruits and vegetables from South Africa because no one has invested in the land. George has been given some last behind the Ark so that he could start this garden. The plan is for people with AIDS to work in the garden to make some money to pay for their medications and care. The garden has many, many challenges including many people who don't like the idea and want George to stop. George is determined to help people by giving them a place to work. The garden has just started buy has beautiful rows of corn, beets, onions, lettuce and potatoes. It is truly beautiful.

One of the key roadblocks is watering the garden. George, with the help of some of his friends in Germany, is digging a well for the property. When we visited, they did some drilling. They thought they may have do go down 50 meters but in the end they had do go down about 130 meters to find water. Of course, that made the price tag on this project sky rocket! George shows great faith and knows that God will provide. We are so excited to partner with George on this project.. We could use teams of people that want to come and help with REHO. EVERGREEN!!
-Monica

George and Anne Marie Show Us Love

2005-12-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

One of the best memories I have from our trip to Africa is the generosity of George and Anne Marie. When you arrive at their house, you feel totally welcome. You know that they would give you everything that they have. That just spills out of them the minute you are around them.
Anne Marie made a mirror to put up in the bathroom in the girls room because we had accidentally mentioned not having a mirror the first time we were there. The mirror was beautiful with green and gold around the edges.
The room we stayed in was perfectly cleaned when we arrived. Melissa, one of the older girls at the Ark, told me she and one of the Aunties spent the entire day getting our room ready for us. She mentioned how enjoyable that day was washing the walls, all the linens and cleaning the bathroom and shower. It was very different than a US teenager discussing housework. They really love serving others.Finally, I will NEVER FORGET the night we did communion. George said he wanted a few of us to share our stories of what God has done in our lives. It was a beautiful candlelit evening filled with emotion. At the end of the evening they announced the wanted to wash our feet to show their gratitude. Anne Marie and Suzette washed our feet and prayed for us and then Auntie Rachel would massage our feet, sing and pray all at the same time. They gave us 100% of themselves. They truly know how to treat people and we all felt totally loved.
-Monica

Lailanie's Thoughts - Jet Lag 'Socks'

2005-12-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

I'm writing this to you at 6:00 on a Sunday morning....what's wrong with this picture? It's jet lag I tell you!...haven't had a full night's sleep since I've been back last Saturday :( Be rest assured...I am amusing myself in the wee hours of the morning...one morning at about 3am I woke up and it was freezing- (a sharp contrast to waking up in Africa in the middle of the night because I was sweating) and realized my socks had come off. So I had to sit up (which wakes me up even more) and put them on. As I was putting the socks on I say "this sucks" and totally laugh at my my own pun in my head...get it? "sucks"..."socks"....what? it's just me??? Anyways, I tell you this as a disclaimer. I've been wanting to write you guys upon arriving from Africa a week ago so here it is...please forgive me as I write in a sleep deprived state :)

We were asked at our debriefing the Friday we left to describe this trip in three words. I chose Heartbreaking, Challenging, Amazing.Heartbreaking to see children orphaned by AIDS or just by irresponsible parents. Heartbreaking to know many more are being orphaned daily. Heartbreaking to hear stories of rape, death, and abandon. I saw a 29yr old man who lost his brothers to AIDS and was literally on his deathbed when we saw him- a physical skeleton with skin, living in a tin shack on a mattress on the dirt floor. Heartbreaking to see so many without....just without....and I wonder "how do they live?" Really gives meaning to "Give us this day, our daily bread."

Challenging to be stretched everyday, not only physically (our days started at about 6/7am to about 10/11pm) but emotionally and spiritually. Challenging to love and serve without pretense and judgement...does that make sense? Challenging to have to give so much of ourselves to so many people in such a short amount of time.

Amazing to see the joy the children have in their hearts- being content and satisfied with so little- (I guess our version of little, right?). Amazing to see the love and generosity George and AnnMarie pour out on all the children at the Ark, to the community, and to us. Amazing to hear the people sing praises to God, when they welcome us to their school or home, we really felt like it was a sneak preview of Heaven. Amazing to be able to bless others with the donations we collected. Amazing to see over a hundred students make the committment to "Choose to Wait." Amazing to see God's beautiful creation- in the people, the wondrous sky (the pictures don't do it justice), the sparkling stars and shooting stars we saw every night, the landscape, the giraffe, monkeys, and even the rhinos:).

As I've been home it's been hard to process all that has happened and all that I have learned. As you all know, we get so busy- esp. at this time of year. I know God brought me on that trip for a reason, or reasons, and I may never see it or understand. I am so blessed to have been chosen to go and to serve alongside such wonderful, extraordinary people. Will I go back? I hope so.

As for now, I pray that the Lord will continue to soften my heart and lead me...whether it be here or a country thousands of miles away. I don't want to get caught up in material things, in the busyness of Orange County life, and forget that there are many things I can do or pray for outside of myself, ouside of my own world.

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and prayers. I can honestly say I felt it the entire time I was there. You have no idea how much it means to me that you gave. Again, I went as an extension of you, so I know the Lord will bless you as well.

Here are 2 verses that I held on to as I was there:

Psalm 115:1
"Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness."

Ephesians 3:20-21
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power, that is at work within us. To Him be the glory in the church in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever, Amen!"

With much love and gratitude,
Lailanie

Lynne's Thoughts

2005-12-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

Heartbreaking, joy-filled, Spirit-led.

These are the three words I used to describe the trip to Namibia during our team de-briefing session last week. I am struggling to describe the trip. "Great" seems cliche. A life-changing experience to be sure.

I am caught by the contrast of where I have been these past weeks compared to returning America...the "OC".... and at Christmas. I am overwhelmed by the people I met and how content they are with so little, how grateful children and adults were with the smallest of gifts, and how much joy there is in their lives.

Pictures my heart will not forget:

Barefoot, dirty children living in the shanty-town area - Block E....running after our van with their tin-bowls for some soup and bread, which is brought every-other day. I am certain that this is the only meal some get.
The smiles and songs of the 32 children at the ARK... the children's home where we stayed. These kids crave love and attention. If foreign adoption was allowed in Namibia (it isn't), I would have brought a couple children home with me.

The excitedness on the faces of children and adults in receiving a new pair of flip-flops....waiting patiently in line to be fitted. Our team brought over about 1000 pairs of shoes to distribute. Receiving new clothes was beyond belief for many....and when we handed out the bright yellow soccer balls in a village... the roar was deafening!

Picture 32 orphaned children all wearing new ANGEL baseball jerseys (Finley's number) with new Galaxy Soccer team visors on.

I thought I was standing at the threshold of heaven when we prayed for healing for Johaness....a 29 year-old in the last stages of AIDS...our team praying in Afrikaans, Taiwanese, Dutch, German and English. Johaness lives in a 2room shanty 'house' made from aluminum siding with a dirt floor and a mattress. He became a Christian while we visited.

400 7th-12th grade learners (students) meeting each afternoon in a local church to hear about "Choose to Wait"- an abstinence ciriculum. I was awed that we could go onto school campuses and announce our program, pray at assemblies held in our honor, and even teach 'Choose to Wait" in several of the school's classrooms.

I could go on and on...will send photos soon. I again, want to thank you for your support, prayers and encouragement for this trip....truly one of a lifetime!

Peace and grace.
Lynne

Meidos Surgery

2005-12-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

This was some e-mail from Lynne today -

The REAL reason I am writing (other than to say hi and I miss you), is to remind everyone to pray for Meidos...as she has her surgery on Tuesday...she is in the hospital NOW. Pray for God to be a fence around her, for the doctors that God's Spirit will guide them as they perform the surgery, that no infection will be allowed near Meidos, and for her speedy recovery and that that her mental state will be fortified. I know that she will have someone with her...but the hospital is a scary place.

For those that don't know, the surgery is to amputate her left foot. Lynne and Monica took a number of trips with George, Anna Marie and Meidos to Winhoek to see doctors. They all wanted to make sure that this was the right decision, so they went for second, third and fourth opinions.

Meidos has the most incredible spirit you can imagine. Her smile is constantly from ear to ear. If there is a spirit in the world that can make the best of this surgery, I'm sure it is hers. I hope that everyone can say a prayer for her.

Quick update

2005-11-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

A very quick update. We had over 90 young adults pledge to Choose To Wait last night in Rehoboth. We've been meeting with them for two hours each day since we got here. It was an amazing evening. This will make a huge difference to this region.

Yesterday morning and this morning we went to two different towns to hand out shoes, cloths and toys. Yesterday the group wanted to sing us a song after we had finished and I have to say it was one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. The price difference between what we gave and received was not even close. There is so much beauty here.

We met with Joust today. He is the founder of Christ's Hope International. It was a productive meeting and I hope that it helps to continues to build on an already strong relationship.

We leave here tomorrow, no one wants to go. We are going to Okahanja to stay for a day, then we fly out on Friday morning. This trip was way to short, but the amount we did in that short period was amazing.

I hope everyone can forgive so few blog entries on this trip. Our schedule has been 6am-11pm everyday. Any excess time was filled with playing with the children at the Ark.

The most amazing trip ever

2005-11-27T02:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry there has not been an update. It has been as busy as you can possibly imagine. I just fixed someone's computer and as payment they allowed me to make one blog entry. The one day I had an opportunity to go to the internet cafe, George asked me to video on the well he ws digging. He hit water and everything looks like it will be a successful community garden.

We have been teaching Choose To Wait three times per day every day. The first two sessions were at different schools and the evening was at a local church. The turn out at the church was overwhelming at first with probably 200 kids. We are now around 100 and it is more managable. I think this cirricullum will make a big difference to these young adults. It is an amazing experience to teach this.

Yesterday was our first day off and we went to the wood carver's market in Okahanja.

On Thursday we had Thanksgiving with the whole group. It was one of the best Thanksgivings ever. Lynne cooked a great meal. The next day was actually Christmas in Namibia. They had a small tree for all the children and wrapped presents for the kids. Mostly the clothes we had brought were given as gifts. Wood was asked to dress up as "Father Christmas" and hand out presents. They gave him a big red suit and the team made a beard out of construction paper.
After handing out presents, he did a quick change and came back to the Chirstmas tree. He called Monica to the front and proposed. She was completely surprised and said YES. We have lots of pictures to share.

Care and Compassion and Pre school are going well too.

That is all we have time for, we'll try and get to the internet cafe next week.

First day of work

2005-11-21T01:53:00.000-08:00

We split into three teams for the day. The pre-school team, the care and compassion team and the choose to wait team. The care and compassion team was going to Blok-E. The pre-school team had a lesson planned. The choose to wait team drove to six or seven different schools and met with the principals. All, but one of them would allow us to come onto campus during morning break and pass out flyers. We will be going back to each of the schools every morning and speaking with the kids and asking them to come to our 4pm meeting. It was amazing that all but one of the schools were very receptive and had no concerns with this project. We had Michelle with us. She is the Choose to Wait coordinator for Windhoek and she knew someone from most of the schools even though she had never taught Choose to Wait in Reheboth before. She had worked in one of the schools a number of years before. It was a blessing to have her with us. It is final exam time and this is burden to take any of the student's time right now. The results were outstanding given the circumstances.

Church and Unpacking Donations

2005-11-20T01:13:00.000-08:00

Today we awoke early and went to church. The sleeping arrangements were great and everyone said they were well rested. We were asked to stand up at church and introduce ourselves. The service was all in Africaans and we had a couple of two sentence translations. The music was great.

After we returned from Church and began unpacking the donations we had brought with us. It is interesting to look back on the amount of uncertainty we had in getting the donations here in the first place. There was so much stuff, then at the packing meeting it just disappeared into everyone's bag and it seemed that there wasn't enough to fill my third bag. We actually had to get more stuff to fill up the last two bags. Then when we unpacked it was as if it expanded into a huge mass of stuff, cloths, school supplies, cleats, soccer balls, angels jerseys, medical supplies. Huge amounts. In looking back it, the doubt was erased and God compressed all that stuff into the bags.

Each child at the Ark was allowed to choose one pair of shoes. They loved it, but the real question I kept hearing, "When do we get the togs?". (Togs=Cleats) The soccer cleats had be separated into their own box and all the boys were standing around looking at them. I'm not sure when they are going to be handed out, but I moved the box out of the room because it was cruel and unusual punishment to have that box out in the open reminding the boys. They are so excited.

Later in the afternoon, we all played with the kids. Chalk on the cement. Soccer. Hide and seek. Great fun and the kids are wonderful.

Bean needs a job

2005-11-19T02:31:00.000-08:00

Bean lost her job this week and is looking for a new one. We need your help. She's a hair stylist and has done office management work as well. When we return home she's hoping to find something part time. Two part time jobs would be best. The most important job would be at at a salon that has a lot of walk in traffic. If you have any part time positions or know someone please contact her at alisa_morrow@hotmail.com. We will be returning on December 3 and any help in getting a her a good job would be a true blessing.

Arrived in Johannesburg

2005-11-19T02:26:00.000-08:00

We arrived safely in Johannesburg, South Africa. There is a three hour lay over here and then get our final flight to Windhoek, Namibia. From there we rent a van and drive the van that Kim, Kevin and Lynne arrived a day early to purchase. All the bags made it on board. We probably have 24 bags of donations averaging 50 pounds each. Let's pray they all arrive at the same time in Windhoek.

Arrival

2005-11-19T01:50:00.000-08:00

We arrived. Lynn says van was purchase went perfect. It was ready and waiting for Lynn, Kim and Kevin. We arrived the next day and Kevin guided us through customs. For future reference, there is a form we can get from customs ahead of time that will allow us to pass through customs without paying duty. We paid duty on the gifts, but it wasn't a lot. The customs folks were actually disappointed that they had to take the money from us and wished we had gotten all the paperwork done ahead of time. Christ's hope (Walter, Josh from Apex, and John) met us with a truck and an extra van.

The caravan to the Ark was through beautiful countryside. It rained a little at the beginning of the drive and as the sun went down there was a rainbow. Amazing gifts.

Once we arrived the children were gathered and sang us a bunch of songs. We introduced ourselves and then we all came together in an amazing welcome. We went outside and presented the new van to George and Anna-Marie. The kids were running around in celebration. There will be pictures posted soon.

We were planning on church early the next morning and soon went to bed. The accommodations are very nice.

Quality Copy Center In Orange

2005-11-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

I had to get a lot of copies of a flyer we will be handing out in Rehoboth to get kids to come to our Choose To Wait program. I fully expected to pay for the flyers. When I went to pick them up, Paula at Quality Copy Center donated all the copies and extra paper we will be using to teach Choose To Wait. I have used Quality Copy Center a number of times to print everything from flyers to product manuals. If you need copies or full printing their service and quality is top notch. Thanks from everyone on our team it is greatly appreciated.

First Flights

2005-11-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

Our first team members leave tonight. Kim, Lynne and Kevin will be boarding flights tonight. This is so exciting. They are leaving a day early to make arrangements for the new van we were able to purchase for the Ark. As they stated in an earlier e-mail, let's just pray that everything falls into place. I know there are a lot of issues that could go wrong. From wiring money to local police they just ask that you pray it all goes smoothly. Thanks for all the donations. If you financially helped a member of our team, then you helped purchase the van.

Thoughts from KDub

2005-11-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

my dad called me yesterday to pray with me before i left and i'll share a couple of things with you that he shared with me:

psalm 37:5 "Commit your way o the Lord and do good; trust in Him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

isaiah 41:17 "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs."

its all HIM friends and there will be much glory to bring to His name - travel safe and i'll see you all on the ground in namibia! you guys are wonderful - great packing last night!!

kw

Commissioning and Packing

2005-11-14T07:43:00.000-08:00

A very busy weekend and an amazing send off by ROCKHarbor. We went to 7 services this weekend for our comissioning, then we packed everything up last night. This was the last group meeting. Our next meeting will be at the airport. Emotions are high and from my angle a lot of spiritual warfare is going on to try and pull out all the stops to keep us from this trip. If the amount of uncertainty we are experiencing is any measure of the amount of good we will be doing, this trip is going to be huge. HUGE. When we arrived we had boxes and boxes and boxes of the most amazing things. Over 1500 pairs of shoes and flip flops, 50 soccer balls from the LA Galaxy. As many jerseys from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. At least 100 pairs of used (in good shape) soccer cleats. Bags and bags of clothes. Medical supplies. Diaper. Bibles. School Supplies. We split all of it up between us so as to lessen the likely hood of customs thinking we were selling the items. We were all exhausted as we finished by taking communion, praying and heading home.

Thoughts from Amir

2005-11-12T21:07:00.000-08:00

I'm not able to sleep, so I figured if I write out what's keeping me up I'll be able to slip away to dreamland! For the last couple of months we have been getting ready for our trip by doing a variety of team building activities and going through the process of getting to know each other better. I wasn't able to make all of the meetings and I apologize for not holding my end of the bargain. Ok, that’s out and I'm feeling better already....this is a great form of therapy!!
Another thing that is keeping me up is not so much the trip, but the conditions we will face and deal with. I was watching a special on AIDS in Africa earlier today. And as I was watching it, the light bulb came on.....I'll be seeing people, an entire country, afflicted by this disease by the end of the week. I'll be in an area where people are waiting to die. That shook me to my core. We are going to see and experience things on a daily basis that is going to challenge the way we view the world. I know there will be times when it will be difficult for us to keep our composure; we're going to laugh, we're going to cry, and there will be times when we feel completely helpless because we wont be able to help everybody. But one thing I want us all to try and do, is that when we are out in the community (at the home, with the teenagers, out in the shanty towns, etc.) Try and be strong. Put on your best smile and be the beacon of hope and light that people will need to see. We will be strong for them when we are ministering and when we need to let go of all our emotions and process what we're going through we will be there for each other.
I'm not sure if anything I wrote just made sense but I'm looking forward to this trip, spending time with all of you, and making a difference.............................and I'm out

-Amir

Van For The Ark - Update

2005-11-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

This is an update from those in our group that are handling the purchase of a new van for The Ark.

car info is pray! pray that there is one available, pray that the police don't put a hold on it, pray that it's within our budget! the money has been wired and hopefully everything will go well, won't know until we're there...

The van will be purchased in Namibia with funds that the group raised over the past few months. Thanks to everyone who donated, this is going to be an amazing gift.

Invisible Children At ROCKHarbor

2005-11-11T08:05:00.000-08:00

ROCKHarbor Uganda Team will be screening the documentary Invisible Children tonight at ROCKHarbor. If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it, but you should know that it will absolutely break your heart. It is also full of hope. To see kids doing math homework while hiding in a sewer shows that there is always hope. Always. Even in the strangest of places. These kids have to hide every night from a rebel army that kidnaps them, then tortures/brainwashes or kills them to turn some of them into fighters. This has been going on for 25 years and was filmed just as the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003. Another movie has been filmed and is currently being edited.

date and time: Friday, November 11, 8-9:30pmlocation: the centre @ 345 fischerAfrican food served at 7pm for $5 followed by the documentary film "Invisible Children."
http://www.rockharbor.org/calendar/event.aspx?id=674
The movie is free, food costs extra, but goes to a good cause.

Commissioning

2005-11-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

ROCKHarbor will be commissioning our trip this weekend. Our team will be onstage at the end of each service. Please come to a service and see us off.

Service times are:
Saturday 6pm
Sunday 9am, 11am, 7pm, 9pm

Addresss:
ROCKHARBOR
345 Fischer Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Website:
http://www.rockharbor.org

Taylor Frick Jewelry

2005-11-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

Taylor Frick made custom necklaces for each of the children at the Ark. Each necklace is different and she spent many hours making every one of them. Taylor is a very caring person. She always likes to do thoughtful things for people and share what she has with others. She loves soccer and plays on travelling team while maintaining good grades. She loves reading, the outdoors and hanging out with her family. We know the children in Africa are going to love these necklaces. Her sister Hailey also helped with several of the necklaces. They worked as a team.

Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim

2005-11-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Say what you will about the length of team name, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, we love them. They donated fifty jerseys to our trip and the kids at The Ark are going to love them. Not ony that, but they were the winners of their division this year!

Africa Pictures at ROCKHarbor

2005-11-03T02:38:00.000-08:00

We hung a dozen or so pictures of Namibia in the main lobby at ROCKHarbor. This was for an awareness campaign leading up to our trip. Mike Moore of Wow! Visual Concepts donated all the printing and materials. These are top quality printings from digital pictures. We want to thank Mike for all of his time and support. I know he spent a lot of time on this and the pictures look great.

Thanks to Los Altos Brethren School

2005-11-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

The 300 pairs of shoes that were dropped off at my office yesterday were donated by Los Altos Brethren School in Long Beach. The students from kindergarten through sixth grade participated and donated over 300 pairs of shoes. Thanks to Mrs. Johnson for organizing the drive for us.

I made good progress on getting all the supplies to Africa. South African Air has agreed to ship everything on the plane with us. We just have to pack it ahead of time and get it into the cargo system. I'm still working out the details on that and it looks very promising.

More Shoes from St. Mary's and All Angels School

2005-11-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I picked up five more boxes of shoes from Ms. Burchall's class at St. Mary's and All Angels School in Aliso Viejo. These look great and there are a lot of soccer cleats in the bags that I looked at.

This morning I got to my office and the cubical next to mine is filled with eight large black trash bags filled with shoes. I really appreciate all my coworkers bringing in so many shoes. There were many more bags of shoes and cloths beyond this and I really appreciate the outpouring of support.

This is a picture of the shoes before they were put into the bags. There are over 300 pairs. Very cool.

I called the airlines yesterday and have been working on ways to get them to Africa. The shoes are above and beyond the cloths, health/hygene supplies and school materials that we have already raised and we have a lot to pack. This is going to be an incredible trip that is going to start with a Lynne and Kim leaving a few days early to purchase a new car for the Ark. Great things are happening.

Pre Packing Meeting

2005-10-31T13:58:00.000-08:00

We met for our pre-packing meeting last night at Monica's. She made chili and spinach dip and we talked about all the issues we are having to deal with as the trip quickly approaches. Only a few weeks left.

O'Fallon Progress

2005-10-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Monica's shoe drive hit a new milestone and our trip made the front page of the O'Fallon Progress newspaper in St. Louis. The story is not online, but when I get a copy I will post it here. The basics story is that LaVerna Evans Elementary in O'Fallon, IL promoted her shoe drive and came up with hundreds if not thousands of shoes.

We dropped these off at the shipping agent who will be putting them on a pallette and shipping them to California. The original idea was to bring big duffle bags and bring them back on the plane. There were way too many shoes to make this possible so we had to find other arrangements. This picture of the pallette doesn't do it justice since the boxes are not yet stacked and most of them are beside and behind the pallette. There was enough to fill an entire pallette.

Thanks to Team Worldwide in helping us get these back to California. Next we will be working on a way to get all these shoes to Africa. Hang on! It's getting to be a wild ride but everything has been falling into place.

What's your most valuable posession?

2005-10-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was thinking more about our photo project. We still don't have the means to print, but I'm working on it. I was thinking about disasters like fires and floods. What is the first (non-living) thing that people think of when they prepare to evacute a fire or flood? In every case I have heard, people talk immediatly of their pictures. Either they grabbed them first or they were lost.

It looks like it costs around $0.27 for something that has more value to a human than any other non-living posession. It makes perfect sense when you think of it in those terms. This is something that could make the smallest change, but have the biggest impact. The more I think about it, the more need I have to make sure this happens. I found an Epson portable printer at Costco today for $149. It's a little bulkier than the HP, but it has a better price. I need to keep doing my research. Does anyone know anyone at HP or Epson? I could really use some contacts.

Choose To Wait

2005-10-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

The Choose To Wait curriculum is moving along nicely. We have 7 days planned out and will be bringing stickers and crosses for those that make the commitment. These are some of the options we are looking at for gifts.

These are a few of the cross necklaces we have been looking at.

http://www.dollardays.com/detailview.asp?itemid=166307&N=62
http://www.christianarea.com/ChurchSupplies/displayproductExtended.asp?productID=778
http://www.sav-on-closeouts.com/cart/cart.php?m=froog&p=13783

I'm posting them here in case someone has some they want to donate or can find a better deal. I think we need 100-200 necklaces and at least 200 stickers.

Thank You LA Galaxy

2005-10-25T07:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the LA Galaxy for donating 50 soccer balls and jerseys for the Ark. We'll have a lot of pictures from our trip here with big smiles at this donation. With all the shoes we have been donated I'm sure we'll have enough cleats to field a few teams as well. This is going to be an incredible experience.

Bowling for Namibia

2005-10-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

Last night we the Namibia team met for bowling. It was a lot of fun and Lailanie won the second round against Wood, Chuck and Amir. Way to go Lailanie. It looks like this is going to be a great group to go to Africa. It sure seems like it is getting close and everyone is coming together nicely and getting everything done. Great work team and great bowling!

Family Pictures

2005-10-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here is one (of many) photos that were taken of people in Blok-E on the last trip. This family ran inside to grab a radio (with a frayed cord and probably not working) and a dog. They took this picture just to look at it on the lcd. Imagine if we could have handed them a print. This is the type of picture we would like to take and give to people as we also deliver food, hygiene items and a tiny bit of hope to those dying of AIDS.

We are looking at digital printers with batteries. If anyone has experience in this regard, please contact us.

No thanks Polaroid

2005-10-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

This week we called Polariod after they had us fill out a long application. We originally sent them the letter below and they replied and had us fill out the application. We finally had to call them about the application and they told us they do not do any international charity. It would have been nice to know this before they had us fill out all the paperwork! It would also have been nice if they had called us instead of waiting until we called them. Now we are short on time and working on other options. I just wanted to save others the time. If you are going to ask Polaroid for help only do so if you are not international. Otherwise they will just be wasting your time. I would never have said anything if they had just said 'No'. Instead they had us fill out the application when they knew ahead of time they would say no. Very bad policy Polaroid.

We're currently looking at digital printers that can operate on battery. If you know anyone that can help, please contact us.

Here is the letter we sent them.
-------------

July 28, 2005

Dear Polaroid,

I am leading a trip to an orphanage in Namibia Africa in November. I would like to present you with a unique opportunity which I recognized on a trip to the same orphanage last year.

I brought a digital camera with me and never expected the response of joy when I would take someone’s picture and show them the back of the camera. There was laughter, giggles and hope in a place that you would never expect it. I have enclosed some of those pictures from an area called Block-E where the orphanage is located. This is a shanty town of approximately 10,000 people where entire families sleep on the ground inside small shacks made of all types of refuse.

On the next trip, I would like to bring a Polaroid camera and as much film as I can possibly pack. I want to take a picture and instantly hand the families and children their picture. I believe this will be an extraordinary experience to these people. Most have never seen themselves in a mirror and could never afford a simple photograph. For people who have absolutely nothing, a simple family picture made by Polaroid will bring them pride, hope and joy.

It is my hope that Polaroid would somehow like to sponsor this portion of our trip. We can video tape and photograph and would be happy and willing to report back on the results. This could not only promote Polaroid, but could also promote a region that is experiencing social and economic devastation.

The tip leaves on ___ and is organized through Rock Harbor Church (http://www.rockharbor.org) in Costa Mesa, California. They run numerous mission trips around the world. This trip is focused on the AIDS epidemic where over half of the children are currently growing up without parents. We are teaching a choose to wait program and bringing health and teaching resources to the over worked staff that run the orphanage. It is a life changing experience for all participants.

Please help us.

Sincerely,

St Paul's Donates To Africa

2005-10-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

St. Paul's Elementary school donated their monthly tithing to our Africa trip. Monica and Kim met half of the students yesterday morning and Wood and Kim met with the other half of the students this morning. We told them about our trip and thanked them for their generous support. This money will go a long way to help the Ark. We really appreciate the outpouring of support from the local community.

Roadblocks (not here)

2005-10-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

From my perspective, it seems there have been a lot of road blocks in getting this trip organized. I just wanted to make note that this is just par for the course and we have to make sure we keep a positive outlook. In the end, this trip is not about us at all. It is about a lot of kids who need some food, time and spirtual guidance. No matter what it takes, we are committed to making even the smallest change in this crisis no matter how much work or frustration it requires.

Group Meeting

2005-10-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

We had another meeting as we prepare for our trip. Only six weeks left and individual fundraising seems to be on target. The airline tickets were purchased last week. We spent a lot of time discussing the Choose To Wait program we will be teaching in Namibia. The more I read the booklets we have, the more impressed I am with the curriculum. It really does teach kids what they most need to know to make an informed and adult decision.

As I was writing this, someone just dropped off a big bag of Old Navy flip flops. All brand new. Made my day. This trip is going to be a great experience and I think we will make a difference to some people who could use a little hope.

Pocket Testament

2005-09-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

The group that went to Africa with CHI a few weeks ago from another church recently used these books to give out to people they met along the way, including the students. They are free but each person can only order about 30. The team that went gave out 400 but said they could have given out double or triple the amount. People were studying every word of the books.

Could you all get some to take on the trip? They said the one with the rose titled" the perfect love story" was perfect for both men and woman with goes with our message about Love, God and Marriage. I think you have to register to get the books.

http://www.pocketpower.org/resources/

African AIDS orphans

2005-09-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

This statistic I found the other day still has me reeling.

In Africa 266,000 children are orphaned due to AIDS every month. – July 2005 – UNAIDS Report

What do you do with 266,000 children a month who lose their parents? What can you possibly do with 1.2 Million children a year? The fact that these children are probably not only losing their parents, but their extended families as well is staggering. This problem is so large that there is no traditional solution we can possibly turn to. We need to start thinking out of the box.

First off, the problem seems wide spread across a very large region. If you were to house fifty children per orphanage, you would need (does some quick math) 24,000 new orphanages every year. With two people (volunteers) running each orphanage you would need 58,000 long term volunteers every year. That seems like a big number.

What about starting a new city. A sanctuary where children could make their way to. A safe place of learning and work where you would need less volunteers (teachers, builders, administrators) on a shorter time frame, and rotate the management load across fewer people. A place where you take children from grade school through trade-school or college. Trade schools could be used to run the city itself. I think you could you run such a place with 5800 volunters? It doesn't seem as impossible when you look at that number. That's 206 children per volunteer (assuming 1.2M children total) which seems manageable when think that many of the older children could be called upon to take up some of the duties. Where would you start in such an endeavor? Does anyone else have any other ideas?

It sure seems to me that educating these children is going to be the only long term solution. What if you could build such a city which turned out 260,000 college graduates every year? A diaspora back to their homelands where they then rebuilt the infrastructure and educated the next generation. An educated Africa would be an amazing achievement.

From everything I have seen, these kids want to learn. They want to do math. They want to be productive. Even in the most appalling of situations (Invisible Children) where you see kids doing math home work in a sewer at night while they hide from militants. If we can just give them that opportunity, in a safe environment, and allow them to change their own future I think we could turn the tide from red to green.

African AIDS Statistics 2005

2005-09-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

I compiled a list of African AIDS statistics for some of the brochures we are making. The numbers are staggering. I don't think I thought they wouldn't be staggering, I just don't think I can even begin to comprehend the numbers they are so staggering.

I decided not to post them all here to save space and clutter on the blog, but I did put them all on another website. The page is called African AIDS Statistics 2005.

Here are just a few that seem to rock me to my core:

In Africa 1.2 Million children are orphaned due to AIDS every year. – July 2005 – UNAIDS Report
Epidemiologists predict that by 2010, life expectancy will be 29 in Botswana, 30 in Swaziland and 33 in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Without AIDS, life expectancy would be near 70. – Los Angeles Times
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates AIDS will have claimed one-fifth or more of agricultural workers in most countries in Southern Africa by 2020 – July 2005 – UNAIDS Report

Over 120,000 children a month become orphans and grow up without parents. Over ten years, that is 12 million children. Who will teach these children the difference between right and wrong if they don't have parents? That number alone tells me there is an even bigger impact in the future if we continue to ignore this problem. This trip and the many more like it that I hope to take will not even come close to solving this problem. If you are reading this, we need you too.

The third statistic went on to talk about possible food shortages and related problems as the population loses a large percentage of it's food producers. It stated that even the loss of one worker on a farm can cripple the farms food potential.

It is my deepest hope and prayer that, through this trip we can make even a small change in this dire situation.

Weekly meeting

2005-09-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

It looks like we are moving along nicely. We spent our Sunday meeting working on layout ideas for the foyer display which we will have for the month of October. We will be focusing mostly on awareness leading up to our trip. With as much creativity as the organization has shown so far with fundraising, we shouldn't have much trouble getting the word out.

Donation Items

2005-09-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

::DONATIONS::
be creative and think big!

This is a list of donation items that we would like to take with us.

Clothing: preferably children’s
Cloth Diapers
Shoes: flip flops, tennis shoes – all shoes!
New packages of children’s underwear – boys and girls
Swimsuits
Towels
Twin Sheets
Shampoo & Conditioner
Soap
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Band-Aids
Neosporin
Medicines (Children’s as well as Advil, etc…)
Children’s books
Games (must be easy to understand – remember the language barrier)
Coloring Books
Crayons
Glue
Scissors
Pencils
Picture frames
Bath Mats
Dish Towels
Kitchen knives
Flashlights
Polaroid Film

Remember – we’ll be on the patio collecting donations, but when people ask give them these options and keep your eye out for ways to improve their lives down there through material needs.

Team Members

2005-09-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

This is our current list of team members on the Namiba, Africa trip.

Leaders -
Kevin DeAllen
Kim Wyatt
Monica Frick

Team Members -
Alisa "Bean" Morrow
Amir Law
Caitlin Caccavari
Janelle DeCou
Kimmie Oswell
Lailanie Cruz
Lynne Fishel
Paige Wallace
Shawn Shmaltz
Tamera DeGennaro
Tracy Close
Wood Harter

Team Members from Taiwan-
Linda Kung
Sophia

APEX mission trip

2005-09-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some links to another mission trip to Namibia Africa. APEX Nambia mission is a medical mission to some of the same areas we will be visiting in November. After looking, they seem to have two different blogs going. Here is the second one which shows pictures of The Ark http://www.blogomonster.com/namibia2005/ where they visited this past week.

Beach fire

2005-09-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

Our beach fire was a hit and I think everyone got to know each other better. There were gymnastics by Caitlin, Paige, Tracy and Monica. Amir brought Dodger dogs which were so large they had to be broken in half and laid double decker to fit on the buns. Bean played some guitar which really added to the ambiance. Wood brought wood and burned most of it. After the double decker hot dogs, there were triple decker smoores. I know I ate too many. A good time was had by all and our trip is moving along nicely.

Wood has been creating his own website to follow the trip. If anyone else has links they want posted here, let me know and I'll add them. Send me some pictures from the beach fire.

In the beginning

2005-09-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the ROCKHarbor Team Africa blog. We are travelling to Namibia, Africa in November.

We have a group of 21 people going on the trip. Our primary missions are the following projects:

Choose to Wait – teaching a curriculum to 5th-7th graders that discusses the root causes of HIV/AIDS.

Care and Compassion – bringing much needed prayer, medical supplies, food and hygiene items to those dying of AIDS.

The Ark (Children’s Home) – spending time teaching preschool, playing games, tutoring and just hanging out with 38 kids who have been orphaned by AIDS.

We are also trying to raise enough money to buy The Ark a new van and to buy some land for a community garden.

Last night we had a beach party to help get to know each other. As the days continue, I will try and post more and more information about our mission to Africa. Please stay tuned.

Here is a picture from the previous trip to The Ark.