What a Monday! Amy, E and I started off early by meeting Ben at The Recreation Project. Ben is a friend of the Rudy's and IJM and has led staff care days for us. Today we had the opportunity to sponsor 33 former child soldiers, now young adults, for a day in the woods. Read more about The Recreation Project here: http://therecreationproject.org. And enjoy watching the group feed Eleanor through the "spider web" - one of the morning games:
We then met Philip and Jesse for lunch by the office and visited several organizations listed below - all friends of IJM, and all doing amazing things in this underprivileged, war-torn community. The first three groups help women by teaching them not only a craft, but then helping them use the money from that craft to launch into other areas of business. They teach them to read and write and how to handle money and be smart with a business of their own. They teach them about Jesus and mentor them until they're ready to step back into independence again. It is really precious to see 165 women sitting and crocheting happily together, nursing babies, laughing and singing underneath the giant mango trees. For just a minute it feels like God really is on the move in Africa. And of course He is. It just rarely FEELS that way. Here are the websites - really worth a look:
http://www.remnantintl.org/about/
http://www.krochetkids.org
http://31bits.com/about/
http://invisiblechildren.com
We got to meet so many of the women and chat with leaders in each organization - it was a privilege. Krochet Kids is actually partnering with IJM's aftercare department so we got to hear more details about that as well - really exciting!
That night, Philip's stomach was bothering him so he went back to the hotel while E and I joined Jesse and Amy for dinner at Ben (Rec Project) and his wife Holly's "super hut." Ben and Holly have built this phenomenal house, modeled after an African hut - with all the smart parts including a thatched roof. It's two stories and has mahogany doors and windows along with an incredible outdoor master bath upstairs with a stone tub that looks out over the beautiful grasslands. They are completely off the grid with their own solar panels, etc. He said it only cost them $25-30,000 to build. Pretty amazing as it is laden with mahogany - everywhere you turn! I tried to take pictures. It was really great to be with them and they were so sweet to have us!
We returned to the hotel to find that Philip had indeed gotten sick so Eleanor and I got a separate room just in case. Poor Philip - we felt terrible for him!
We then met Philip and Jesse for lunch by the office and visited several organizations listed below - all friends of IJM, and all doing amazing things in this underprivileged, war-torn community. The first three groups help women by teaching them not only a craft, but then helping them use the money from that craft to launch into other areas of business. They teach them to read and write and how to handle money and be smart with a business of their own. They teach them about Jesus and mentor them until they're ready to step back into independence again. It is really precious to see 165 women sitting and crocheting happily together, nursing babies, laughing and singing underneath the giant mango trees. For just a minute it feels like God really is on the move in Africa. And of course He is. It just rarely FEELS that way. Here are the websites - really worth a look:
http://www.remnantintl.org/about/
http://www.krochetkids.org
http://31bits.com/about/
http://invisiblechildren.com
We got to meet so many of the women and chat with leaders in each organization - it was a privilege. Krochet Kids is actually partnering with IJM's aftercare department so we got to hear more details about that as well - really exciting!
That night, Philip's stomach was bothering him so he went back to the hotel while E and I joined Jesse and Amy for dinner at Ben (Rec Project) and his wife Holly's "super hut." Ben and Holly have built this phenomenal house, modeled after an African hut - with all the smart parts including a thatched roof. It's two stories and has mahogany doors and windows along with an incredible outdoor master bath upstairs with a stone tub that looks out over the beautiful grasslands. They are completely off the grid with their own solar panels, etc. He said it only cost them $25-30,000 to build. Pretty amazing as it is laden with mahogany - everywhere you turn! I tried to take pictures. It was really great to be with them and they were so sweet to have us!
We returned to the hotel to find that Philip had indeed gotten sick so Eleanor and I got a separate room just in case. Poor Philip - we felt terrible for him!
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