Time out!

I wanted to take a break from Africa, and mention another place that I have a passion for, Juarez. I know, I know, I don't shut up about it, but it is a special place for me. I read the El Paso Times regularly to keep up on the goings on in Juarez. Today I read an article from last week that says the murder count for this year is 1000. That means 1000 lives, 5 lives a day, have ended due to the drugs and violence in the city. Some of the people killed may have signed their own death certificate by getting involved with the people they got involved with, but many of those 1000 didn't have a say in it or were police trying to stop the violence. When you say your prayers tonight, put the innocent people of Juarez down as a request for peace and safety. We are all one with God, no borders, no color, no country. Your brothers and sisters need your prayers, who are we to deny them that?

Just another Saturday in Africa.

Here is something I wrote last Saturday, but never posted. Not the most exciting, but it shows what the day was like.

What can I say about today, Saturday. We started off with a 4 hour walk up and down the mountain, several times. Chad spotted a zebra on the opposite mountain, so we spent a lot of time watching him, then a kudu showed up. Something made a sound that echoed down the valley that had Chad and I wondering just how fast we needed to run to stay ahead of it. Luckily we didn't get chased. We talked to a couple that said they had seen the cape buffalo just an hour earlier where we had just been. There are two of them on the farm, but they are rarely seen, that would have been huge to have seen them. We then went to Entabeni, which is a game preserve, that has the big 5 African animals, lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo and leopard. The drive into the park had zebra right next to the road
a herd of empala in the road
and a group of about 15 wildebeast about 10 feet from our car. We hadn't even started the official game drive and we had all ready seen about 50 animals. When we arrived at the starting point, the staff of Entabeni greeted us with a glass of apple juice. After a few minutes in the gift shop, we loaded up the vehicles and headed out. The first 20 minutes were spent with our guide tracking a lion, so we could see it. He gave up and said we would look for the rest of the pride instead of trying to find just the one. We saw some of the old standby's, wildebeast, empala and birds, but most of us were ready to try and find the lions or elephants. We pulled up to a little pond and there were 10 giraffe drinking and eating.
It was amazing to see that many animals all together in one place. We watched them for quite awhile, drove around the pond and got right in the mix of them. We even had a younger one walk right in front of our vehicle. We continued on until our driver stopped to give us a poop lesson. He picked up a piece of elephant poop to show us what it looked like. He said it was probably 3 days old, so I was ready for him to drop the poop and move on. A few minutes later, we drove up on a black backed jackyl. We didn't stay there long because our guide got a radio call about some elephants, so we took off to find them. As we came around a corner, we spotted a rhino and a baby rhino, so we stopped to take pictures. Some of our crew spotted something in the weeds behind us, so our guide backed up just in time to see two lionesses jump up and chase a warthog. It's hard to see, but that black area in front of the lion is the warthog. I tried to get the chase on video, but wasn't able to find it on the view finder, since I was really trying to watch it with one eye. We didn't see the end of the chase, so I can't tell you the outcome, but that was cool. We thought our lion action was over, so we turned our focus on two more rhino a bit further down the road. As we were watching them, two more lionesses came out of some trees and started walking towards the rhino.
They passed the first group of rhino, so we knew they were after the baby.
We actually got to see them stalk this baby rhino, plus we saw how the mother rhino defenede her young.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the male lion showed up as well.
This may just have been the coolest thing I have ever seen. The ride ended with a cup of hot chocolate provided by the staff and a ride home. Just when you think you have seen everything, you step out of the car, look up and see more stars than you ever have in your life. We could even see the milky way, which I have never seen before. Crystal clear and breath taking. God has created something so beautiful, it is amazing. If you ever get the chance to go, I would highly reccomend it.

WOW!

I think I'm still in shock that I was able go to Africa, something I never dreamed of doing, and I'm also sad that it is over. I'm always glad to get home and see my family, the boys rushed into my arms at the airport and to hold Marcy again was something I had been thinking about for days. I'm blessed in so many ways I can hardly believe my life. When God laid on my heart that I was supposed to go to Africa, I didn't even question it and told Marcy I was going before my brain even had a chance to wrap around the idea. Within days I was talking to Chad about it, thinking it might take some convincing, but didn't have to beg or anything. Then the letters for financial support, one of the hardest things I had ever written. Why so hard? Well, I had to ask for help, something I fail at continually, and no I don't know why. The response was overwhelming, beyond my wildest dreams. I figured I'd be able to raise half of my goal and I was more than willing to come up with the rest. I should have known that God had bigger plans than me. I've all ready been asked, would you go back? In a heart beat. If these Abod homes work as Blessman Ministries sees it, the program will continue and I would be more than happy to go back and build them again. Now that we have a system down, I know we could build 10 in a week. Everybody pray about it, see if God lays on your heart to support me again, or for the first time if you weren't able to this past trip. I'll be telling you more about the homes we built, you will see some of the children whose lives were changed and you will here stories. There was a film crew at the site the whole week we were there, so as soon as the video is done, it's supposed to be on the Abod website, I'll let you know. The homes are fantastic, although the "4 African women can build it in one day" is a bit mis-leading. These would have to be huge, agile, African women that don't need a break and are as quick as a jaguar. These homes are easy to build, once you get them figured out, but we usually had 7 people working on them at one time and we could do 2 1/2 houses in a day. The main issue came with the rivets we had to install. You had to drill through the metal house frame, plus the metal sheeting on the outside, then hold it all together with a rivet. If I had to guess, I'd say there were at least 200 rivets per house, probably more. The drill bits we had broke regularly, so we had to change them often. The rivet gun required alot of pressure to use, so at the end of day one, my palms were aching. My legs had bruises on the knee and shin from leaning on the ladders. My back was sore from being in positions I'm not accustomed to. After the first day, I was discouraged because we only had 1/2 of a house done and only 4 days in which to complete the remaining 4 1/2. Chad and I had a discussion Monday night and agreed that we would forgo all of the weekend activities, if we needed to, and work the weekend to complete the houses. Knowing the rest of the team as I now do, I know they would have felt the same way. We knew why we were there, for the children who were going to live in these houses, so we would have sacrificed everything to complete the Abods, THAT was why we were there. I'm so glad we finished so soon and were able to do the other things that we did, but the game drives weren't why I went. If you know me well, you know that there are 2 things that I'm very emotional about, my family and my missions. The family is a no brainer, I love my family. They mean everything to me, my wife, my kids, my brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I have been supported my whole life and wouldn't trade any of them. My close friends fit right into the family. I don't have a lot of friends, mainly because I'm busy with the family and I don't really meet people easily, I'm kinda shy. The friends I do have mean so much to me. They too have been so supportive, I can't thank them enough. Now, whenever I try to talk about my mission trips, I get emotional. I think it's because I know I have been direct by God to do these things, and I'm humbled by the experiences I've had. I feel so good when I do the things I do, and I thank God for giving me the opportunity and for sending me where he has sent me. I used to think there were a lot of coincidences, but I don't see it that way any more. This trip is a prime example. I wrote about it in my support letter, but I will repeat it because it is important to this trip. Here is part of that letter:

This year World Vision brought a traveling African village to my church. They talked about the children who have lost their parents to AIDS and how their own family members, aunts and uncles, wouldn't take them in because they were afraid that the kids had AIDS and would infect them. I would like to think that my family wouldn't do that to me! These kids then are left to fend for themselves. Upon entering the exhibit, you were assigned a child and given an MP3 player to listen to your child tell his or her life story. These were actual kids telling their stories, not actors playing the part. Hearing the story was heart breaking, to say the least and personally, I was moved. I kept asking myself, what can I do? Right then, sponsoring a child was not an option for us, but I did not forget and knew that God would provide an opportunity to serve. In November, the opportunity I had been looking for and praying about appeared in the newsletter from our church and I felt God telling me to GO to South Africa. I feel in my heart that I am supposed to serve the people of South Africa by building homes through the Mission South Africa work project. I am asking you to partner with me, so I can help a few of the millions that are hurting.

Was it a coincidence that I went through that exhibit and then there was a new trip to South Africa that involved physical work, which is more my style than words? Could be, but man that is a big coincidence. Since I have been working for God, I feel better, I'm happier and I feel at peace. I've been asked, "Aren't you ever scared?" A little, when I go far away from home and to places like Juarez which is dangerous, but the thing that sticks out to me is, I'm not afraid to die. I sure as heck don't want to, but I have the peace in my heart that takes all of the fear away. Enough of that, check out the business located across the street from where we were building.

Not sure what the "Fun" is.

I'm home!

Let this be a taste of what is to come.

Home sweet home!

I should be on my way home. If I haven't posted, get ready, they will be a coming. If I have, then know this was set up prior to my departure, so if I died, don't let this "voice from the grave" freak you out.

I saw a cape buffalo today, what did you see?

We went for our morning walk today with hopes of finding the elusive cape buffalo. After hiking up a steep road, we walked up on this huge animal, a mere 20 feet away. We froze, then fumbled for our cameras, and it ran off into the bush. This is one of the big 5 animals, which means it is dangerous, so were we a bit shaken up, but extremely happy we were able to find it. I'm leaving for the airport now, see you back in the states soon.