AHH Sooo BUSY!!!!!

OMGsh!!!! So Much has been Happening!! I'm So Excited To Share With You All the Work God has been doing through Amy I Already!!
But as a Quick Side Note:

(Recap)
~I am working in the Resource Center as well as being Danielle, the Kids Club Curriculum Creator's personal Assistant. I've also been doing a few side things which I'll mention in this blog. In the Afternoons I'm assigned to go to the Capricorn or Overcome Heights Kids clubs to help out the Life Skills Educators (LSEs).
~Amy has been spending most of her mornings with me organizing the Resource Center however starting this week she is working with the LSE team responsible for going into schools. She is very nervous about this but has been willing to step outside of her comfort zone to help so please keep her in your prayers. In the afternoons she too is working with the LSEs at Capricorn and Overcome Heights.

This past week flew by in a blur and a flurry of activity but here is the day to day rundown of events... Ready?... Set?... GO!!!...

Saturday (16th): Went to Cape Point and Boulders today with the UD Team it was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to fellowship with them. Cape Point is the Furthest South Western Point of the African continent and also the location of the Cape of Good Hope. Boulders is home to the Jackass Penguins.

Sunday (17th): Went to King of King Baptist Church across the street from where we are living. It was a very interesting service as the church body was just beginning a fast and there was no worship. That afternoon we went to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, which are rated one of the top Botanical Gardens in the world... after Longwood I'm Sure... then we went directly to the Hillsong Church service in Cape Town Proper. Their Worship was Amazing as Usual and Amy and I both intend to make a habit out of going to their services as often as possible.

Monday (18th): Amy and I spent the morning taking count of everything in the Supply Closet in the new prevention building and generating a list on the computer. We then began to Catalogue and organize the Resource Center. It was heart breaking for me in particular to see the craft supply closet's size and stock as it is, by comparison to churches I've attended, very small and its stock must last them all year. (If you are interested in contributing to their supply closet contact me and I will get you the necessary information.) I also was assigned to create a presentation on Public Speaking to present to the Health Care Clinic Counselors on Friday. We then spent that afternoon at the kids club in Overcome Heights which is one of the poorest townships Living Hope Ministers to. That evening we managed to settle a few more details about our car rental situation and put a hold on a car due to be returned to the lot on Jan 31st. Cost wise it is going to cost a considerable amount more than the original dealership, however our local connections tell us it will be much more dependable, gas efficient and safer... well worth the extra money. And so we pray that God will Supply the additional support totaling approx. $2000 over the course of 6 months and we Humbly began emailing supporters, family and friends.

Tuesday (19th): Amy had her first meeting this morning about her ministry in the schools so I was on my own referencing the Resource Center... Tedious should be my middle name... But I put on some tunes got a cup of coffee and the morning flew by! That afternoon I spent my time beginning my Presentation PowerPoint for Friday while Amy, not feeling so well, decided to just take it easy, and thanks to jet lag finally catching up to me, my mind too began to wonder. I didn't mean to be late to work... I just couldn't get around the Cows... :/

Wednesday (20th): Amy joined me again this morning referencing the Resource Center. She worked on some fabric though cutting it into useable bible story teaching costumes for the kids clubs while I continued to label books and write up reference cards. For the afternoon Amy want off to Kids Club in Overcome Heights while I stayed back and emailed Old Professors and my dad for Public Speaking Guidelines to include in my presentation for Friday. I also sent out some emails about my textbooks, which still hadn’t shipped, and emailed my upcoming semester's professors about my living situation and Textbook situations. That evening I was thankful to receive responses to most of my queries.

Thursday (21st): Amy went off to another meeting for her work in the schools Ministry while I Referenced yet more in the resource center. It's come to my attention that I haven't really named the purpose of the Resource Center... Well it's to provide Resources of Course... Duh!... HAHA No But Really... So The Resource Center, which is now fully stocked and catalogued, is composed of all sorts of Book, CD, DVD, Audiocassette and VHS resources for the Life Skills Educators and the Health clinic Counselors use. The Resources there range in topics from HIV/AIDS to Rape to Diabetes to fireproofing your home. There are even VeggieTales DVDs and a few computer games. Anyway, after a bit of that I started to get to work finishing up my presentation and showed it to Danielle my supervisor who said I should slim it down... A lot... And so Thursday Afternoon I worked on finishing the long presentation and began drafting a shorter version of it while Amy went to Kids Club in Capricorn. I also found out even more detailed information about our car rental enabling us to set its drop off date for Feb. 1st and arrange for payments to be made etc.

Friday (22nd): We spent Friday morning in the weekly LSE planning meeting where we find out what the following weeks lessons will be on and receive the tools and resources to teach them. Afterward, Danielle helped me pull apart my presentation even further cutting a 20 slide PowerPoint into 6 slides... Quite a Feat Believe Me. After a quick packed lunch I gave my presentation to the Counselors which really seemed interested and eager to hear what I had to say and invited me back to give another presentation though a little more in depth, next month on Public Speaking. I was feeling so good about the presentation I decided to go for a 3 mile run with Amy and Amanda (A UD Team Member).

Saturday (23rd): I went Surfing in the Morning with a few Members of the University of Delaware Team and our Team House buddy from last year Clynton. The Surf was Great and if felt sooo Wonderful just to be out in the water. Caught several waves and got some sun on my face. After surfing we got Ice Cream from a tiny ice cream parlor called Sinful... So Good. After returning to the house to get cleaned up and eat lunch we loaded up a couple vans and a car with volunteers and Living hope and Acts workers and drove into the City where we went to the Commemorative Game at the Brand New World Cup Stadium. It was AMAZING!!! Afterward Amy and I joined a few other volunteers and grabbed some Seafood at a local cheap but delicious seafood restaurant near our lodging.

Sunday (24th): We went to Church at Capricorn this morning and it was wonderful to finally get to see all the kids we worked with while here last January. They've all grown sooo Much! After the service we decided after having had such a busy week and following all the festivities of Saturday not to mention only just recovered from Jet Lag that a trip to the beach was all our agendas could afford. And so, not having a car yet, one of the long term volunteers Christina, who we had been eager to spend some time with, picked us up and took us to Simon's Town Beach where we laid out and actually had some deep conversations. It was really nice to establish stronger relationships with the other volunteers we will practically be living with for the next 6 months as they are your immediately available source of support. In Christina's case she has already been here 5 months so everything we're heading through and into she's been there experienced that so it was great her hear her input etc. After Laying on the beach I got sick with a Nasty Stomach bug of which I will spare you all the details.

Monday (25th): I don’t really know what happened as I didn't leave my room... Remember that stomach bug... Yeah, well it pretty much kept me from doing anything all day.

And Finally Tuesday (26th): Today was Amy's first day going into the schools in the morning with the LSEs and she loved it! I spent my morning finishing the last of the referencing in the Resource center then attended Pat Ball's farewell Party. Pat has been with Living Hope as a volunteer for 4 years and was loved by all and will be sorely missed. She is returning to the United States to work with Living Hope's sister organization Emergency Response in Atlanta. I wish her all the best and every blessing as she follows God's will for her life. After finishing up a few things in the Resource center I hitched a ride with another Volunteer Melanie, who has been rooming with Amy, to the Capricorn Kids Club where Amy, riding along with the LSEs, and the UD team all met up with us. Kids Club went very well and was as much a blessing to me as ever being around the kids.

And now for tomorrow… Well that's still a Mystery to Me but God Knows what he has in store for us and I'm eager to see his plans play out so on that note I bid You all a Good Night until tomorrow... Maybe Thursday...
Blessings my Blessings!
Ronnie

And So... We Begin!

So Amy and I are both currently approaching information overload! Yesterday we got a tour of all the different Living Hope Mission's Branches and were given a brief rundown of the plans Living Hope has for us. Today we actually began our training with the Life Skills Educators (LSEs). For the present I will basically be assisting Danielle who is one of the permanent volunteers. She is responsible for putting together the kids club curriculum for Living Hope's Prevention Program. As they just moved their office location to a brand new donated building for a week or so I will simply be helping to organize and arrange all of the resources. After that is done I will be assisting Danielle to write and put together the kids club curriculum's for the various age groups and club locations.
Another exciting endeavour I will be responsible for involves the presentations the health center counselors give on a regular basis.
A Little Background: The Health Center Counselors know more about AIDs and HIV than I have any hope of ever learning and they are responsible for counseling individuals both before and after administering the most HIV test. Depending on the results for the test they empower the individual to live a healthier life style, or help them to get the help and support they need. Because of their close involvement with the health clinics they do presentations and oral speaking on a regular basis to spread the awareness and understanding of HIV/AIDs and Living Hopes role in preventing the virus's spread.
It was recently brought to the attention of Living Hope Admin. that many of these counselors, while more educated than many, are not very efficient public speakers. Since I took a college level course on Public speaking in High School I agreed to put together a lesson, outline and helpful guidelines on efficient public speaking.
Amy will be working more closely with the Life Skills Educators going into schools to run prevention programs as well as a number of other equally exciting activities but I will allow her to make the next post to fully explain the works she will be a part of.
We still need support by end of this month so we can afford a rental car which we have a hold placed on for January 31st. It is imperative that we raise this additional $225 in Support per month so if you find it in your ability to fund us please do not hesitate to send support in via crossroads at xrdschurch.com > Give > Living Hope S Africa Fund!
Please by praying with us that God continues to provide for all our needs throughout this trip. He has blessed us immensely so far and We believe he will continue to use us to carry out his works during the duration of this trip.
Blessing my Blessings,
Ronnie

We're Here!!!!

After months of Planning, Saving, and Fund Raising Amy and I have arrived in Cape Town, South Africa and are currently in the process of getting settled in and organized.
We had relatively flawless flights here and got to spend a day touring Frankfurt in the snow and were welcomed to Cape Town by one of their Rare 100 Degree Weather Days. (Major Climate Shock) We are both Pretty Jet Lagged but feeling energetic and ready to serve. Tomorrow we begin our missions work as Life Skills Educator for Living Hope, by attending their Friday Training Session.
The most pressing Prayer Request we currently have involves our support. Because the exchange rate is continuing it's decline further and further out of our favor, and because we were advised upon arrival to use a different rental car provider we find ourselves severely short on sufficient funds for transportation. Originally we budgeted on renting a car for Approx. $150 per month which was accurate with the exchange rate at that time. And in my prior blog post I updated that amount to $200 which I believed to be accurate with the current exchange rate, however upon arriving we were advised to use a different more reliable rental company which, as the old saying goes you get what you pay for, is going to cost us Approx. $375 Per Month (which includes the necessary insurance package). Please Please Be praying about this need and if you find yourself able to support us monetarily or know of someone who would be please do so or direct them to us promptly as until we receive the necessary funds we are severely limited in our transportation.
On a side note we will not have dependable internet at home until the 18th and so until then we will be using a small internet cafe, with very limited hours, whenever we have to opportunity to get to it.
Looking forward to your comments and interaction on this Blog!
Blessings,
Ronnie

PRAISE THE LORD O MY SOUL PRAISE THE LORD!!

Hello Everyone!

I know Ronnie just updated the blog yesterday, but I just had to update it today with the most recent news. So to make a long story short, the South African Consulate General in NYC has given me the hardest time ever in getting my passport and visa. BUT things finally all came together after over 1,000 phone calls to them and I just GOT MY VISA by fedex just a couple of minutes ago. PRAISE THE LORD!! He has everything in control and orchestrates it so well. I think He's just trying to stretch my faith.....well keep on stretching it, it needs to be stretched more :) better be careful what I ask for haha

So thank God we can continue with plans, and I will be flying out of Philly tomorrow night at 8:25pm and will arrive in Detroit at 10:10pm where Ronnie will come and get me. I will spend a couple days with him and his family and then we fly out as scheduled on the evening of Jan 11th. Cape Town, here we come!

Thank you so much for your constant and continuous prayers. They are going to be much needed. Looking forward to seeing what God has in store and looking forward to keeping you all updated!!

Found It!!!

Hello Everyone!
So much has happened in the last 24 hours it's necessary for me to update the blog again. (This is both good and troubling... mostly good though)

OKAY... So we located Amy's Passport. It is still at the South African Embassy in NYC. Apparently when they began processing her visa application on Dec. 4th they found some of the paperwork to be out of order or incomplete. They claim they called her house phone and left a message on her answering machine at that time however, Amy never received said message. They provided her with their fax number yesterday afternoon and she has been acquiring all the necessities as quickly as possible as they assured her as long as they got all the information and her Visa was cleared by noon Thursday it would be sent to her via FedEx Overnight... Just in time for her to fly out to meet me in Ohio Saturday evening. Please Pray that she is able to acquire all the necessary paperwork in a timely manner as some of it must be faxed/emailed from South Africa which, obviously, is on a seven hour time difference than us East-Coasters.

*Support Updates*:

Our exchange rate is much worse than when we were putting together our original trip budget so if you find yourself able to give please do because the support would be most appriciated as our car rental alone is now going to be approx. $50 more per month than we had originally budgeted.

IMPORTANT NOTE to our Supporters with Outstanding Pledges!
Please carefully consider giving your pledged support as soon as possible as now after paying for a majority of our living expenses and airfare, we are depending on those pledges for ALL other expenses in the upcoming months beginning in February!

And finally on a lighter Note... It didn't snow today in Toledo, OH!!! YAY!!! Pretty certain that makes it the first Day without so much as a flurry since I've been here. :)
I am so excited to be arriving in Cape Town in exactly a week!!!
Thank You All for Your Prayers and Support!

And PLEASE Feel free to post comments on these blogs with encouragements, questions, or suggestions for what you'd like to see more of in them (Pictures, videos, stories etc.) My hope is that this blog can be a way for Amy and I to interact with you all while we are on our Journey!

As Always, In His TLC,
Ronnie

Visas, Passports and Travel... Oh My!

So now that we are less than a week away from our departure date (Jan 11th) The time has come to start regularly updating this blog on as close to a daily basis as I can achieve... Are You Ready!?!?! :)
Just to Quickly Recap what has been happening since the last blog post here is a list:
1) We Booked Return Tickets for July 31st setting our trip length at a healthy 6 1/2 Months.
2) We applied for visas.
3) I packed up my Delaware Residence and moved to Ohio on Dec 22nd, and have been spending the holidays with my family in Toledo, OH.

{My Room Was a Real Mess for a couple days while I Packed}

{The drive was Worth it when I was Welcomed by these Three Adorable faces}
4) New Years Rolled around and my Visa Arrived in the Mail, just as I was beginning to worry about it.

Now that we are all caught up here is what is currently happening.
While my Passport has been returned to me, Visa Approved, Amy has yet to receive hers from FexEx. She mailed hers in Early Dec. and received a delivery confirmation saying it was delivered at the NYC South Africa Embassy on Dec. 2. The standard processing time is 10 days for our Visas. I sent my Application and Passport nearly 2 weeks after she did and even over the holidays received my approved Visa and Passport only nine days later. Her's has yet to arrive and she has been unable to speak with anyone at the Embassy, not from a lack of trying.
The real problem this presents is not so much the Approved Visa, as that can be applied for at any time within a 90 day period of arriving in the country. The real issue is that we had to mail our passports to the Embassy along with our Visa Applications. So she doesn't even have her passport to leave the country on Monday.
Please, Please, Please be praying that her passport, visa approved or denied is returned to her ASAP!
We are currently exploring our options (ex. Speed apply for new passport for her in Phili, Go to NY Embassy, etc.) If you have any experience with this sort of Scenario please contact Amy or I as soon as possible.

Also please be in prayer for our traveling safety what with current air travel restrictions, regulations, and security on high alert and changing.
And Finally, we ARE still accepting support and appriciate any and all monetary contributions made. And if you have pledged to support us a certain amount over the course of our trip do not hesitate to begin those payments. (A further note on support, for those of you expecting them, tax deduction forms will be mailed out shortly now that the new year has begun.)
Thank You All for Your Prayers and Support!
In His TLC,
Ronnie