Thursday, March 15th – We started out with another wonderful self-serve breakfast and morning devotions. While we had all stayed up past midnight the previous night, there was still plenty of energy for the variety of jobs on our list. Brian led the outdoor team – Chris, Tara, Mick, Justin, and Tom started out with final mapping of the playground, digging (chiseling) postholes, and hauling materials and tools to the work site. Ed took on the metal staircase by starting with sanding, grinding, and chipping away at the old paint and rust. Indoors, Martha and Dawn continued Rachel Ray-enviable planning and preparations. Lori and I had dish duty and then moved on to one of the vaults (of the 3-4 total). This task focused on unloading the suitcases of toys and clothing that had been sent with us in to the inventory system set up by previous Point of Grace volunteers. We got through about four by lunch.

After lunch, there was a quick clean up and trips to deliver ice water out to the playground work site. Trips to the work site started to reveal Brian’s vision of the playground – an object that may be visible from space. As the afternoon ended and before dinner, I had an accident that left me with a broken arm and few cuts and bruises around my eye. As you might expect, this caused quite a bit of commotion and I did go to the hospital. No need to worry – God had his loving arms wrapped well around me and I am at the Pines at this time and helping out in slightly different ways than planned. I am fine and will fill in more details when I get back to Iowa.

I will continue to try and get my story posted. Stay tuned.

Love in Christ,

Dee Dee

Quick Update - Photos

Just a quick post this morning - here is a picture that will tell you even more clearly why we are here.

God Bless.

Running Late!!

Well, let's just say, this is Africa, and with Africa we are finding there are many unique experiences and challenges. Some of those challenges include Internet connectivity and the ability to post when we try. Since this is working at least right now, let me say please keep looking, more will be coming as we can get posts out.

The Beginning of Work and Play

Today is Wednesday, March 14, 2007, our first full day in South Africa. We met all of the children this morning and it was off to school for them at 7:30. The school is not far from the Pines Center but Brian transports the children by van to school and picks them up in the afternoon. It will take a while for us to learn all of their names but I am diligently working on it. The ones I know so far are Nswaki, Punseletso Gladys, Punseletso Maria, and Mpho. Brian and Lois tell us they are not used to the level or style of teaching done here. The resources are very limited and teachers often do not get much beyond teaching names and play. One of the high schools runs a student/teacher ratio of 30:1 and they do not bring in substitutes when a teacher is not present. Brian and Lois are in the process of setting up their own school for the children here at the Pines. Our project for the first day was to trim up a few trees that are in the area of where the new playground will be located. One tree ended up being “trimmed” A LOT. I think Brian has a vision for what purpose the tree will play but we are not sure what his vision is. Maybe tomorrow we will know more. We worked hard for about two hours with trimming and cleanup and then delivering the firewood to a South African community, which is referred to as zone 7. Brian and Lois were very lenient about our work schedule today just because they figured we would have jet lag. Some of the zone 7 children walk a very long way to go to school so Brian takes them to school and picks them up with the children from the Pines. The zone 7 children came home from school with our children and waited to be taken home once we got the firewood loaded up. What I saw next was something I have never seen in my 53 years. It is hard to describe my feelings, however, I will tell you that it felt like a lightening bolt went right through my heart and I was sobbing on the way back to the Pines complex. The zone 7 housing is something that most of us will never experience in our lifetime. Most houses are made out of tin and just a tarp roof held down by big rocks or anything else they can find to use. The floors are dirt. It is very hard to fathom that about 45 million people live like that here. It humbled me beyond comprehension. When I returned to the Pines, I fell on my knees and praised God and just prayed for the zone 7 people to inherit treasures in heaven, which I am sure is His plan. In the middle of the afternoon, we had cake and ice cream for Nswaki’s 10th birthday. It was a real joy to see the pleasure on the kid’s faces when they tasted the cake. After the birthday party, the children wanted to jump on the trampoline. I have not jumped on a trampoline for a long time. I did jump with for a while doing a summersault and having a lot of fun. After that activity, Justin and I went for a swim with the kids.. Not too long into the swim, it was very windy and we had seen some fire across the road but didn’t think too much of it. Before I knew it the fire had jumped the road and had set another pile of garbage surplus on file. It was close enough that I heard it crackling – and it scared me half to death – especially with all the kids outside. We told the kids that they had to go in because of the fire so we sent them in for their safety. Brian and Chris took a watering hose out to put the fire out the best they could. Our food has been fantastic since we came here. Martha and Dawn have been doing a fantastic and painstaking job of keeping us all fed. They have even prepared wonderful desserts for our pleasure. Praise God for them!! At our dinner, we all pretty much talked about each of our salvation stories. It was awesome to learn more about everybody and it was kind of like we all formed a bond of some kind. Especially later in the evening when the whole team was in the lounge area discussing our lives and God’s salvation and grace until 1:00 in the morning. Actually, a few of us were still discussing until 1:30 am. God has really been at work here in South Africa. Not only are we helping out the people here, we are developing such wonderful relationships with all the team members. They will definitely last for an ETERNITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love in Christ,

Dee Dee

We made it!

Welcome from Welkom, South Africa. My how time flies. It is 11:30 pm South Africa time and 4:30 pm Iowa time. First thing – math quiz. We left Des Moines International Airport at 6:05 a.m. on Monday, March 12th. Our flight stopped in Detroit, Michigan, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia, Dakar, Senegal, and last but not least, Johannesburg, South Africa. Oh, we weren’t finished yet. Then in a truck and a van (pulling an open air trailer with all the luggage, except one bag, in it), we embarked on a 3 hour trip to the Pines Village here in Welkom. Praise God for wonderful transportation and very, very, friendly people on all the flights. Okay, if your math isn’t the greatest, Dawn said that we spent 34 hours (give or take a couple) on our journey. Boy are my ankles swollen and I didn’t sleep very well on any of the flights!!!!!! Brian and Lois Neihoff (the couple that runs the orphanage) met us at the airport in Johannesburg along with two of the girls (they are the sweetest things) with their Point of Grace signs in hand. It was a wonderful welcome and they made us feel right at home. God blessed me already in the trip back here to the Pines. I was sitting in the back of the van with the two girls and Justin Davis (16 year old son of Tara and Chris) and the girls proceeded to sing about 15 – 20 minutes of different songs they have learned about Jesus. I cried because I couldn’t have had a much better blessing in the first couple of hours here in South Africa. The land from the plane was fantastic – really red clay dirt. Most of what you see from the plane looks upscale. From what I saw in the dark closer to here was a different story. I have had a shower since about 3:30 am Monday morning – I feel good. Need to sign off for now since I am very low on energy. Many, many, thanks to God for choosing me to be so blessed here. I am sure I will be a very different person when I get home.

Love in Christ,

Dee Dee

Less Than 24 Hours

Today is Sunday, March 11th. In less than 24 hours, our team of 10 people will all be heading for Johannesburg, South Africa. WOW! I don't think it has sunk in completely to my brain what I will be doing to serve the Lord in the next two weeks. I am feeling very humbled and very, very blessed that God has chosen us to serve others doing His work in this way in South Africa. I heard from God this morning as I was taking a shower before church. This past week I have been listening to a CD by Shephen Curtis Chapman entitled 'All About Love'. The second song on the CD, gosh, I don't know what the name of the song is but it talks about being face to face with someone and wanting to know "how does it look from their side of the world". It made me think about how the children and people in South Africa see things from "their side of the world". With the AIDS pandemic, it must be a pretty bleak and frightful look. I am really praying that God can use all ten of us on the team to pass along the good news about His Love and the HOPE that we can feel when we know who He is and the Mercy and Grace that He gives to us everyday if we trust Him. Praise God for choosing me and my fellow team members to pass along His goodness and love. Also, He told me to remember this song when I am dealing with people right here in my world. You know, someone at work, in the grocery store, etc. He wants me to remember that I must always try to remember that how things look from someone else's world may be way different than mine. They may be in the middle of a divorce, they may live with an abusive partner, they may have been hurt by someone making fun of them, they may have overwhelming medical problems. Whatever the reason, just one loving word or touch may change their view of their world enormously. We must reflect God's love, mercy, and grace in everything we do, every minute of every day. So, as all ten of us embark on this AMAZING journey that God is taking us on, I pray that we are very aware of how the people we meet see things in their world. We would all like to thank everyone at Point of Grace for their support for us in this endeavor. We would also like to thank our families and friends outside of Point of Grace for their support. I know we will all be lifted up by your prayers.

God Bless All of You!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Jesus' name,

Dee Dee Throckmorton

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog of our missions trip. It will be an adventure! It is my hope that a regular journal of our work here will help bring a blessing to you. It will also, no doubt, be a chronicle of the many emotions that will be part of this trip. Please check back often - I look forward to the journey.

Assuming I can access the web, I will be updating this blog as often as possible during our time at the Pines Christian Village.

God Bless.