Homes of Love

Internet connection was not successful, so we received a note via iphone. So, this posting is brief and to the point…

Here safely.

100 Year Celebration was amazing!

The Father is doing great things!

Great team for Cambodia. Twenty-one people from 21-76 years old, one handicapped. But all young at heart.

Full day on Sunday, but I am going to bow out of some things to spend time with some street children here.

Had fun with HOL #2 girls today. Will send photos soon.

Words for today: HOT, grateful, HOT, seeking wisdom, HOT, loving my cool shower before bed, amazed!

P.S. We sent out a prayer request for Caitlyn as her heart was was “fluttering”. The hope was that it was dehydration. They spent some time of prayer, rest, and getting her hydrated. She seems to be better. Please continue to pray for this.

“In the last couple of days we had a great time praying over Lasting Impression property, working on the A-frame, encouraging and guiding the young entrepreneurs during our business seminar, and loving on the Homes of Love kids.”

“How about a huge python in the midst of the mission field? Hmmm, any symbolism there? Unlike us, the enemy is not a happy camper.”

“Steve Hall lead a business seminar for some people in the nearby town. I bet there were at least 50 young men and women there eager to learn how to start their own business. These folks are hungry to learn but lack the skills and principals needed to get started and maintain their own business. That’s where Steve came in. He gave them tools to and basic principles to get their wheels spinning. I love how Steve kept the sole focus on the importance of staying Christ centered, maintaining integrity and building solid foundations for a healthy business.”

“We spent time with the Homes of Love kids and the staff children here at Lasting Impressions.  We played games, did crafts and just loved on the children.  Faith the youngest, who is two, chased Loc right into the pool.  I do mean a swimming pool.” [note from Loc..."Yes, I was chased by a two year old right into the pool.  You might ask me why I didn’t see the pool?  Well, I was moving backward.  Also, my iPhone was in my pocket.  I tried to resuscitate it by drying it out, but it did not make it.  My iPhone was laid to rest on June 21, 2011.  Any condolences will be welcome.] “We had so much fun with the kids and they got really excited when we took them home in the 3 wheeler wagon.  It was such a sweet time of laughter.”

“I am getting over some of my fears of wildlife, walking through the bush at night and of wasps (as they are flying around all over the house all the time and apparently are important for killing the spiders, which are important for killing the mosquitoes…you get the idea).”

Sounds to me that God is working in many lives in Africa!

I am excited, full of expectation, homesick already (missing Gary) and a little nervous about what lies ahead.  I see God’s hand all around with pieces…but the picture is not seen yet. So many conflicting emotions.

Looking ahead:
Time with a street child who has found herself in a desperate place; celebrating with believers the 100th year of Christianity in SE Asia (and what a celebration it will be!); 8 1/2 hour bus ride to Cambodia where I know I will feel overwhelmed and a bit hopeless for 6 days; back to the place I love in SE Asia for the camp with the children I love (HOL children and some of my own!) where there will be reunions, laughter, hope and much joy; traveling on to the different homes where I will hear first hand how the children are doing.

I need prayer…see my desperate need for my Savior!
I know God is in this trip yet I will miss Gary for 3 1/2 weeks- God be my lover these next weeks!

How do I once again see the desperate need in Cambodia and walk away again now knowing what to do or how to help-God in your timing raise up what we need to help your precious children there. Help me wait on your perfect timing with peace in my heart.

Trying to figure out how to help a HOL child who has just come forward with sexual abuse that happened before she came to HOL- God please heal her heart and show us our part in her healing!

What do I say to these dear parents to convey my love and appreciation to them for the all they do to help the HOL children in their care- Let my words convey your great love and delight in them as they love so well those who you love so much.

God guide, direct the steps of my path, for in you is all hope, peace and joy.  In that I find my comfort!

We will start our blog today with some prayer requests then have a special note from Sue.

• Praise God that the first team safely arrived back in Knoxville following their journey through Zimbabwe.
• The second team is on their way to Africa at this time. Pray for safe travels and all luggage to arrive with them.
• Steve Hall was flying separate from the team and got delayed along the way and missed a connection into Zimbabwe. Please pray for the safe arrival of both him and his luggage.
• Please pray for meetings that Steve Hall will be having with Christian Businessmen throughout the next few weeks.
• Pray for John & Sue to have some rest and refueling before the arrival of the next team.

Now for a note from Sue…

I had a wonderful morning with the HOL kids at their house. They are all very excited about their schooling. As I arrived they were just saying their pledge to the the Lord and their pledge of allegiance. They do this every morning before school starts. It was sweet to hear. Unfortunately I did not get it on video, I was so busy enjoying it that I forgot to pull the camera out. I will try to get them to do it for me again so I can capture it. After being there a few hours I took Millie out for lunch and we had some really good time to catch up. We chatted for a good 3 hours over lunch. Much growth is coming through reading and teaching that they are receiving. They look forward to getting to a place where they can be encouragers to others in similar situations.

Now to change the subject…to a different part of the world…South East Asia…

Debbie Chesney and several other people will be leaving next Wednesday for South East Asia. Please remember them in your prayers as they complete the last minute details and prepare to leave their families for a few weeks.

Our blog is going to be busy in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more from Zimbabwe, and South East Asia. God is so good!

HOL Zimbabwe Children...Starting to the left of the pink bear: Pumie, Aubrian, Amy, Faith, Gillian

Hi all,

The HOL children left yesterday absolutely exhausted from a long hard day of playing. They loved their build-a-bears. What a wonderful thing. At first Gillian thought she wanted the bear that Amy got but when one of the team pressed the bear’s hand and it said “I love you” she hugged the bear and decided it was the one she wanted. Millie and Shad got home safely before dark.

Today we got to visit a sweet African family in their village. The team was very excited to see the inside of a real mud hut for the first time.

We will get to see the HOL family again in our journeys but for now we will be travelling north to minister in the little town of Chinhoyi.

John is calling me for a team meeting so I had better run. Please keep praying.

—————

It is now day 8 in Zimbabwe and we are in Karoi, a town two hours north of the Capital.

It was very exciting to get a phone call from Millie on Friday night. That morning, just after she woke up, Amy began conversing with Millie like she has never done before. (Having spent her first three years in a hospital waiting for someone to come and get her Amy has been very shut down. She was as sweet as can be but not at all conversant.) At lunch time that day she asked Millie all kinds of questions. There have been some wonderful break thru moments in both Amy and Gillianʼs lives this past week. The Lord is faithful to answer prayer.

Tomorrow we will be going to a part of the country where we will have no signal for phones or internet. We like to give our teams a taste of the wildlife in Africa and it is a wonderful time to connect with the missionaries we minister with. We will be on a houseboat with the Croudace family. Life is so busy when we are at the Camp we are not able to connect at the heart level and going away gives us an opportunity to love on them, and at the same to debrief, pray for each other, and refuel before we will hit the ground running again. We will then go to Chinhoyi where we will visit the Good Shepherd Orphanage.

We will see the HOL family again when we go back to the capital. Thanks again for your love, prayers and support.

Sue Dee

Today it was great to have the day with the Homes of Love family here at Lasting Impressions away from the craziness of the capital city of Harare. This morning Beth, Morgan, Caroline, Beka, and Deb had fun with the HOL children and Lasting Impression’s staff children and played games, drew pictures, played soccer, did crafts, face painting, balloons, bubbles, and laughed a whole lot. This was all on the go while Susie Flynt and I spent some time with Shad and Millie listening to some of their struggles and rejoicing with them in some of the victories. Suzie was able to affirm them using her counseling skills and we were able to give them some helpful reading resources.

This afternoon Debbie Hill shared her family’s experiences with adoption and was a huge encouragement to Millie and Shad. We gave each of the children a fluoride treatment and even little Faith (2 years old) sat patiently with her mouth open. We will get more time with the family when we go back to Harare at the end of our trip. There is so much I would love to share with you all. God is so good.

This is day 3 now and we are at Lasting Impressions Youth Camp. This is the first internet connection we have had.  My first night was spent in Harare with Missionary friends. Saturday morning I went over to Homes of Love #1 and visited with the kids and Millie Bekar.

The kids were looking beautiful and happy. It was fun seeing their new school desks and to hear from the kids how they are loving school. Pumie was smiles ear to ear when I asked him if he liked homeschooling.  The children were having fun playing out in the yard while Millie and I shared over a cup of tea.

Millie told me she feels the Lord has told her she needs to come home and be with the children full time and do their homeschooling. They are still using a tutor as having three who are needing a lot of personal one on one attention. It is working well so far.

There are some big concerns right now as they are dealing with some of the children’s pasts but really good things happening with signs of trust and bonding beginning to occur. Some big break through!  All answers to prayer.

I left them at noon to go and meet the rest of the team who were coming in together with John.  We all had great flights and all of our luggage came through with us. We are thrilled!

On Thursday the whole HOL family are coming here to the camp to have a day with us. We are excited all will come. Please pray though as they are having some vehicle problems. There was a gift given for the Bekars and it is looking good for them to be able to have the vehicle running by Thursday. Please pray it all happens.

Millie and I had a good heart to heart and she shared some deep struggles with me.  It is good to have such open communication and trust. Please pray for the Lord to give Millie and Shadrech wisdom in handling some of the issues they have which are unique to children who have been through what their kids have experienced.

Yesterday we went to Tariro (Hope) children’s home where there are 12 orphans. Some very exciting things are happening there. Much fun was had with the children ranging in age from 5 months to about 15 years old. The team blew bubbles, painted hands and faces, played soccer snapped photos and  had a  wonderful time with the children while Shelley and I had a great conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Magama the couple who run the little orphanage.  What a lovely, caring couple.

That is about all for now folks I will try to update again as I have access to the internet.

Thanks so much for your prayers

Sue

Sue Dee is preparing for some much needed rest! She leaves today for Zimbabwe! She hopes to catch up on some sleep on the 20 hour journey.

When she arrives in Zimbabwe she will be busy with many activities including, leading two teams and working with the newly established Home of Love there. She will be gone for six weeks.

Please remember to pray for Sue, her husband John, their team members, and the Homes of Love in Zimbabwe. May God truly bless their time there.

Be watching here for updates from her African adventures!

Dance For Love is a dance raising money for the Homes of Love.
100% of proceeds from the dance will be contributed to Homes of Love.

Thursday, December 16, 2010
7:30pm – 11:30pm
Admission is $5.00 at the door
Come decked out in your dance worthy attire.

Chesney Dentistry
111 Loudoun Road
Farragut, TN 37934

Sponsored by: Steve Key, Kirk Allen, Philip Chesney, and Mike Zaczyk

The evening will be split up into two segments:

• 7:30-9:30 swing, rumba, and shag dancing with some lessons included.
• 9:30-11:30 dancing to the songs of Justin Timberlake, the Hip-Hop prowess of M.C. Hammer, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (rave, techno, etc).

Will you Dance For Love ?

Invite your friends to enjoy an evening that contributes to a more than worthy cause.

Facebook Event