Well folks, we have left Africa. I have shared next to nothing with any of you about our time spent there. I do ask your forgiveness. We had little internet while traveling, and for some reason I have just not wanted to blog. I do want to catch you up on the places and ministries that we have been involved with in the last 3 months, as well as, let you know what we are up to in Romania. We started our time in South Africa. We set up base in Nelspruit figure out logistics and such. Soon after, we headed half-way up Mozambique to a small town called Dondo outside the large city of Beira. We worked at a Iris Ministries orphanage for boys 7 to 18. The base also has a church and a bible school for adults. We were able to get involved in a variety of ministries, but my favorite was our 2 visits to the nearby jail where we shared the gospel and praised the Lord with the 100 plus Christian inmates. It was so powerful to see the genuine praise coming from the lips of these men who have been transformed by the love and grace of Jesus. It nearly brought me to tears hearing these men sing. After Mozambique, we headed back down to SA to rejoin the squad for sometime of refreshment and planning. We spend about a week at a camp site at the base of a mountain. The highlight of the week was the time 7 of us guys spent hiking and camping on top of the mountain. It was some much needed man time to enjoy some adventure, camp fire, and the beautiful scenery.
Just a few days later, we were back in Nelspruit at the Betor House trying to figure out logistics for Malawi. It took several days longer than expect, but we finally found transportation north, as well as, got confirmation with ministry contacts. We embarked on a 5 hour bus ride to Joburg which was only the appetizer for the 30plus hour bus ride through Zimbabwe and Mozambique to Malawi. Finally, we made it to Monkey Bay, Malawi. We could not have asked for a better ministry site nor ministry contacts. Jose and Naara live in a beautiful, newly repaired house right on the beach of Lake Malawi. And did I mention, they were basically given the house for their use for the next 5 years with no cost but cheap repairs. God has so blessed and annointed this couple. Seriously, there aren’t words to express how great our month was spending time with and learning from them. We spent the mornings doing contruction and small work projects around the property. We helped repair a home for Simon, his wife, and 5 kids who live and work with Jose and Naara. We helped further repair and clean other parts of the property to prepare for future teams and visitors. Our team was the first group ever to partner with them. They have spent their first year in Malawi “building the ark’ in faith for the Lord to bring visitors. I truly hope to share more about them with you sometime. After leaving Malawi, we headed for Lusaka, Zambia. In Lusaka, we got involved with some HIV/AIDS hospices, clinics, and ministries. We spent about a week learning about the disease. It is actually quite amazing how little it is spoken of in normal, daily life in contrast with its prevailence. After finishing up in Lusaka, we headed down to Livingstone which is the home town of Victoria Falls. Hears a quick run through of our time there. We visited the falls which was awesome, It is the dry season so the Falls are lower which means less power but more visibility. We also were able to walk across on the falls side which is arguably illegal, but as long as you have an illegal guide your pretty safe. And by God, it was ridiculous the experience that is. The guide took us right up to the edge, on a dry spot of course, to take picures. He then took us to a nature pool literally right on the edge of the falls where we were able cliff jump and then swim out to the egde and peek down the several hundred foot drop. Fast forward a bit and we are on the top of the bridge over the gorge separating Zambia and Zimbabwe. What are we doing? Well, we are fixing to bungie jump 111 meters. It was awesome. I bought the combo deal and also did the gorge swing which was frickin scary. Victoria Falls is awesome! Next….although we usually spend an entire month in one place, team tikvah decide to get a little amibition and try to reach Cape Town as well in the month of August. We some convincing, I was able to get the team on board to hit the road and trust the Lord. We had several unknowns. We weren’t sure if we had the finances to make it, nor did we have a place to stay when/if we got there. I felt the Lord really beckoning us to trust Him and join Him on this journey. To make the story a bit shorter, I will only share the highlights. First, we crossed the border into Botswana, got our stamp, and found a flat-bed truck to give us a ride as far as he would take us. Yes, we hitch-hiked the full length of Botswana…15 hours in the back of a truch for 4pm to 7am. Now, we are in Gaborone and catch a mini-bus to Joburg. Once arriving at the Joburg bus terminall, we found tickets to Cape Town. Within 3 hours of arrival, we were right back on a bus for 18 hours to Cape Town. We arrived in Cape Town, and all I had was a phone number of a family I have never met. I was given the number by their daughter. I called and the Father had no clue what I was talking about. So I explained, and He said, “call me back in a hour, I need to talk to my wife.” I called back and he said we could stay with them and they were on the way to the bus station to pick us up. Damn….I’m thinking….God is so good….so faithful. I kind of can’t believe all this worked out. We stayed in Cape Town with the Mathew’s family for 6 days for free. They housed us, feed us, and took care of us just like the body of Christ should yet, you seldom see. Again fast forward, we are back in joburg doing our final debrief before leaving for Eastern Europe. All the team leaders were taken to a rugby match which is sweet. Soon there after it was time to depart. We hopped a flight from Joburg to Istanbul, Turkey then off to Bucarest, Romania. We are currently residing in a small gypsy village. We are hear with all 52 of us from our squad and 3 other teams from other squads. We are doing church services, construction, and alot of relational ministry in the town. On the 22nd, we will be in Brasov for a the first World Race conference. All current world racers will be there as well as alumni and AIM workers. It should be a blast. Well, that’s my last 3 months in a nutshell. I apologize again for the craziness. I love you all. 
P.S. I am currently looking for flights home from JFK to RDU. If you would like to donate to that cost or perhaps even purchase the ticket, please let me know.
