Uganda/South Sudan Updates 2012

Below are the updates written by team members while we were in Uganda and South Sudan. I'm posting these mostly for myself to have on record but also hoping that other will benefit from reading what God did while in Africa.  Trip Report #1 - Monday through Wednesday  This year's mission trip to South Sudan and Uganda is certain to be an adventure! We have a wonderful team of 9 people, 4 who have gone before and 5 who will be making their first trip to South Sudan, all who will be (and currently are being) stretched beyond their comfort zones. My wife Rose Schwartz was able to come along again this year to focus on the many photography projects, and also to help lead as one of the more experienced team members. Kathy Smarrella was also able to come along again to help lead and to help with photography and the many children's projects. Dawn Morehouse is back for her second trip to South Sudan and is one of the teachers at the Leadership Conference, along with leading the team in Prayer Ministry. Hugh Johnson is making his first trip to South Sudan and is also teaching at the Leadership Conference. Denise Pope, Pastor Mark's wife, is making her first trip to South Sudan and is helping with the children's projects. (Pastor Mark thought about going back this year but Denise told him it was HER turn to see the children!) Sarah Nimmo is making her first trip to South Sudan, though she has been to Uganda before on a mission trip. Sarah is also helping with the children's projects. Doug Patterson is making his first trip to Africa and is a chiropractor, so he is helping with the medical outreach. And last, but not least, is Rodger Parfitt who is a pharmacist and is also helping with the medical outreach. The trip so far has been nothing short of exhausting... I'm not sure why traveling is so tiring, but it really is a trial of endurance. We met at the church at 12 noon on Monday to finish packing the team bags (all 9 of them), prayed and were on the road by 1pm. Traffic through Chicago wasn't much of a problem at all and we arrived at the airport with several hours to spare. Then began our challenges... The plane began boarding, but then they kicked everyone off the plane to do more "maintenance"... We only had a 1 hour and 20 minute layover scheduled in Belgium until our next flight to Uganda would take off, so this had us really concerned. Within 30 minutes they let us all board and we were on our way. We landed in Brussels, Belgium with 45 minutes to get to our next flight. As we rushed to our flight the airline attendants told us to RUN, and so we did! We made it to the next gate just as they were finishing their boarding and we were on the plane. After 8 hours cramped up in a flight from the U.S.A., we ran for 20 minutes through the airport to board our next 10 hour flight, what fun! While we were sitting in the plane, we joyfully saw some of our luggage on a cart outside the plane, which meant that it had arrived from our other flight. But unfortunately, we watched as 2 of those bags drove away from the plane unloaded, and yes, those were the 2 bags that didn't arrive with us in Uganda. The cool thing about those 2 bags were that one was full of children's toys that we can give them later in the week, and the other was Hugh Johnson's personal luggage, but his wonderful wife Laura packed TWO changes of clothes in his carry-on, so he is set for a couple of days until his bag arrives. Because of the lost luggage, we had to fill out some claim forms which delayed everything on our arrival. Pastor Solomon was there patiently waiting for us and took us to our hotel, but we didn't check-in until midnight Tuesday night. It was quite a trip so far! Today (Wednesday), we were able to sleep in a little, and after breakfast we headed to Pastor Solomon's church for a medical outreach. We were told that people started lining up to be treated at 6am that morning and that there were already over 100 people in line! Doug and Rodger got started right away treating patients, they worked very hard and very long today! It was a joy to see Agnes there helping, she is the young lady that helped us last year but was found to have a huge ovarian tumor. We raised money for her back home to pay for her surgery and now she is healthy and "giving back" because of the help she received! Doug brought a medical laser to help treat certain patients, but because of the need for him to do chiropractic care, he quickly trained Hugh Johnson on how to use the laser, so Hugh got right to work also. Rose & Kathy went shopping for various medical supplies while Denise and Sarah went to visit the nearby school. Dawn and I helped triage the patients along with several medical students. Everyone wanted to see the chiropractor, and also everyone wanted to receive some care from the pharmacist. The medical students were running the ultrasound to diagnose patients and administering malaria tests, they were extremely helpful. It was so encouraging for me to see Rodger pray for some patients that we simply couldn't help, he is quite a prayer warrior! Dawn of course was praying for anyone and everyone, it was very cool and received very well. We found one boy with a broken arm that needed surgery, one woman with a huge tumor in her abdomen that needed surgery, another boy who broke his back when he was 3 years old and never had it set correctly, one lady with HIV, and one sad case where a pregnant lady's baby was found to no longer have a heartbeat. These were some of the few cases that we couldn't physically help, but we certainly prayed and interceded for them. Most everyone else received physical help in one way or another. Church started around 5:30pm, but the line at the medical clinic was still out the door, so Rodger, Doug and Kathy stayed back and continued to treat patients. Worship at the church service was once again very, very neat! They sure know how to dance in Uganda! After worship, the entire team shared a little but then Hugh Johnson stood up and taught about the "reluctant leader" in Moses, and how God empowers those that he calls. Dawn then followed with an invitation to receive prayer for people who need God's power in their lives to accomplish what He asks them to do. A couple of dozen people came forward and the team surrounded them and prayed. It was a very moving ministry time. After church, the ladies headed back to the guest house while the guys cleaned up the medical outreach. There were still people waiting to be seen by Rodger, but we simply had to go, so we left some aspirin and multi-vitamins with one of the church leaders to continue to hand out so they felt like they had received something that could help. Over 150 people were seen today, a great precursor to what will happen in South Sudan. Upon returning to the guest house around 8:30pm, we ate a nice dinner and are now headed to bed. We are having breakfast at 5:30am, leaving for the airport at 6:00am and hopefully in the air by 8:00am for our final destination of Yei, South Sudan. God has been very good to us so far, but please continue to pray for health of the team and also that our luggage will show up on Saturday. Thanks again for all of your prayers! Clint Schwartz Thursday, September 27, 2012 Hello Vineyard! Greetings from South Sudan! Thank you so much for praying for our team. We are all here safe and sound, praise God! We had an adventurous time traveling here from Uganda. We arrived at the Mission Aviation Fellowship Airport, and we were uncertain if all of our luggage would be able to come with us to South Sudan today, or if it would have to be left behind and sent on Saturday. After some stressful moments of trying to figure it all out, we were told all our luggage could come today. It was a great answer to Kathy Smarrella's prayers! The plane itself was quite an adventure...it was very small. There were only nine passenger seats. Since our team has nine, and there was one other gentleman traveling with us, Denise Pope sat in the co-pilot seat. The pilot was very kind, and prayed for our trip before we left. The first take off was a little rough, but the rest was pretty smooth, and was a very beautiful trip. Once we arrived in Yei, Pastor Stanley brought us back to the guest house on his property and we got all our luggage settled. We then went into town to get our tourist visas. While waiting outside the office, a man on the street asked us if he could take Sarah and marry her...we said no, she was not available. You never know what people might ask you! We are now in the process of preparing medicines for the medical outreach at the Dreamland Children's Home tomorrow. We also sorted through the donations that we will be passing out to the kids. It is so exciting for all of us to finally be here, and we all look forward to tomorrow, and the various ways we will be serving the people.   Pastor Stanley is a wonderful man of God, and it is a privilege to be here helping further the Kingdom of God through his ministry. I did want to quickly share one moment from yesterday. It was a long day of seeing a variety of medical needs, some of which were very hard to see because there was nothing we could do. One of the most heartbreaking was a woman named Grace who was HIV positive. She had this horrible rash over her entire body...it was hard to believe just how many sores she had. It was such a powerless moment for us...we could use the laser on her, and Doug could adjust her back, but this rash was not going away anytime soon. Even harder for me to see was the vacant look in her eyes. It seems that the life was already draining from her, and she seemed to be in so much discomfort. Her need was so beyond what we could provide. I'm so grateful to know the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, and to know that He hears us when we pray. He heard A LOT of prayers for Grace yesterday - many of which were tear-filled. In the physical realm, we are limited, but in the Spirit, we are powerful. So, we pray, we hope, we love, and we trust. Who knows what the Lord might do? As she comes to mind, please pray for Grace to have an encounter with our Great Physician! One prayer request for our team is that several team members struggled to sleep last night, and could really use a good night of rest tonight. Many blessings to you all, as you are blessing us with your prayers! On behalf of our whole team, Dawn Morehouse Friday, September 28, 2012 Dear Vineyard family, Wow, what a great, great day we have had in South Sudan! Personally, this is my third trip to this part of the world and it's become a second home to me. Today, as we pulled into the Dreamland Children's Home in the back of a pickup truck and were greeted by children whose names I have come to know-and who now know me! (how cool is that)-my love for this place was confirmed yet again. Our team went in two directions today. Six of us went to the Dreamland to work on art projects for our upcoming Art for the Heart of Africa Benefit Auction (on October 26; you don't miss it!), and to hold a medical outreach for the children of this orphanage. Doug Patterson & Rodger Partfitt saw over 100 children today at the children's medical clinic we built with funds raised from the 2011 Art for the Heart benefit. Among lots of other things, Doug took temperatures, bandaged wounds and other hurts, adjusted backs (he's a chiropractor, if you don't know); Rodger, with the help of some Sudanese friends, met individually with each child to discuss ailments and prescribe medication (our resident pharmacist). He and Doug created index cards on each child, so that when a medical officer is hired for the clinic (maybe this week!) he or she will be better prepared to move forward. I love seeing plans come together! Denise Pope, Sarah Nimmo, Rose Schwartz, and myself spent the day with the Dreamland children, though in a much different way! Our project for the day involved creating art with the kids-this is our fourth art project with these children, and I love seeing how they get more and more creative! These kids are fantastic! We worked with about 20-25 children at a time (we have 118 children at the Dreamland now). Denise shared a short teaching with the kids-really what she was doing was sharing her heart, her love for Jesus, and her love for these children!, and then we dove right into the art. We also started our "photo shoot" with the kids and, as Rose (our lead photographer) can attest, it is great fun to see the smiles on their faces as photos are taken, and more fun to try to get them to smile! A personal highlight from me on today. . . at one point, we were working with younger kids who have trouble writing their names and understanding English. We recruited help from some of the older boys and girls, who jumped in and helped the kids to write and paint and communicate with us. It touched my heart deeply. . . last year, I left burdened, wanting the children to have role models; adults to look up to and who would care for them. I saw that God answered my prayer today. The older kids take such good care of the younger ones. They are becoming the role models for their younger "brothers and sisters." Wow, I was humbled and blessed. It was one of about 10 times I found tears in my eyes today. While we are at the Dreamland, Clint Schwartz, Hugh Johnson, and Dawn Morehouse led a leadership conference at a new church plant at "Mile 13" (about 13 miles from downtown, Yei). About 100 church members attended and from the stories Hugh, Dawn, and Clint shared tonight at our team debrief, it was a remarkable day! Clint taught our Vineyard themes of "Loving Jesus, Growing Together, Giving Back"; Hugh taught about God's covenants delivered though His chosen leadership throughout the Bible leadership and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to effective leadership; and Dawn followed with a message on the power of the Holy Spirit! Dawn's message culminated in an amazing time of prayer and ministry. Each one of them came back bursting with how they had seen God work throughout the day! And now. . . at about 10 pm, our team is winding down. Dawn & Hugh are discussing messages for tomorrow, Denise & Sarah are planning for more art projects; some are taking "bucket showers," and we are all anticipating another amazing time of ministry tomorrow. Thanks to all of you who have prayed diligently for our team and for these children and great people of South Sudan. Your prayers are so necessary and lift us up in ways you can't imagine. So keep it up! J With much love in my heart tonight, Kathy Smarrella (for our team) Saturday, September 29, 2012 What an eventful and effective day in South Sudan! The torrential downpour at the end of the day pales in comparison! Today, as usual, the team split up to leverage our efforts in each ministry arena. Most of the ladies, Denise, Rose, Kathy and Sarah, invested their day at Dreamland. It was a heroic effort to complete all of the children's art projects, and not surprisingly, they were absolutely successful. Tonight, as I write, they are sorting project materials and organizing the hundreds of pictures Rose took today. They seemed both exhausted and delighted tonight during the debriefing, with hearts obviously permanently captured by 118 loveable children. The med team, Dr. Doug and Roger, expertly executed another long day, doing general exams at Dreamland, prescribing medications, performing chiropractic adjustments, and treating wounds and injuries. One significant challenge is to reduce the incidence of colds and intestinal track ailments, caused by close living quarters and poor sanitary habits among the children. Today, Clint, Roger & Doug went shopping, though I don't believe that is their favorite assignment. They were able to purchase a large water tank to install outside the bathrooms. With an iodine treatment in the water, and a new rule that hands are washed after potty breaks and before eating, we may be successful in diminishing the spread of viral infections. Encouragingly, this is perhaps the primary health threat to the children. Otherwise, our med team's diagnosis - we have a pretty healthy group! Dawn and I comprised the teaching team today. Today was the final day of the Leadership Conference at Mile 13 Church, a new church plant in the area. There were at least 150 people attending the conference. Our experience has been, that no matter what we plan to do, God steps in and adjusts the agenda. We started over an hour late, as people made their way to the front of the church (a bit of a misnomer, as it consists of a thatched roof with no sides,) and asked for prayer. One lady slipped up and knelt in front of me, taking my hands in hers. Dawn and I prayed for her, while another young woman with a small child waited for healing prayer. Next, an older man who had been a soldier in the Sudanese civil wars, wracked with arthritis pain, and troubling memories of war, sat between us as we prayed for physical, emotional and spiritual healing. This went on for some time before we were able to begin the teaching sessions - probably just as God planned it! I taught sessions focused on the principles of Biblical leadership, while Dawn brought important messages concerning bitterness and forgiveness, the priesthood of believers, and the responsibility of each member of the Body to accept their important role. She ended her ministry time with a challenge for South Sudan - God wants to bless this new nation, but He needs to see sold-out believers with clean hearts, spreading the Good News. South Sudan can be a shining light, a precious gem on the African continent, if Godly leaders will emerge. Several times during the day, we were privileged to see God "break out" in individual lives releasing people from spiritual slavery to dark forces in their world. Tomorrow, we will minister at Pastor Stanley's church right here on the campus, which will afford a much-needed opportunity to sleep in a little. That will be followed by a baptism service at the river, and finally a community outreach event in the evening. It's surprising how satisfying this ministry work is, for a team of exhausted but passionate believers! Hugh Johnson Sunday, September 30, 2012 It's been a great day for all of us. We started off by being able to sleep in, which was a wonderful thing. We were able to take our time getting ready for church. The casualness of the morning was really nice. This was a day of being recharged physically and spiritually. After days of giving and giving to others it was refreshing to be fed by the Holy Spirit through others. Church started off with worship that was intensely led by the Holy Spirit. Team members were in tears while freely able to worship with the family of New Generation Church. Clint started off the teaching time with introductions of the team members and a short teaching on not losing focus of what God is doing. Hugh then spent 45 minutes teaching on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It was a teaching like I've never heard before. I've heard this story many times, but never like this. It was a message that was very appropriate for the Sudanese people and even for me. After Hugh's teaching Dawn led the ministry time. Wow! God was in the building! 10+ people accepted Christ into their hearts for the first time. Many people received prayer for chains to be broken off of them so that the God's "wave of love" can propel them forward. All team members were able to lay hands of people during this prayer time. This was a powerful time of the Holy Spirit moving among his people. Some things that I got from the church service this morning... There was a young mother who went onto the stage to join the worship team in worship. This young momma had a baby wrapped onto her back with a little girl joining her. I was struck with how this momma was worshiping God with ALL her being and her little girl followed her example without hesitation. The worship was incredible as it was, but then to see this displayed in front of me was amazing and brought me to tears. I was convicted with "What am I doing as a mother to teach my children to worship and pray with their wholebeing?" Am I the example they need in knowing how to do this? Do they see me love Jesus with my whole heart? I couldn't take my eyes off of her and her little girl. I wanted to meet this young momma after church but God instead gave me the opportunity to pray for her during the ministry time. My heart is full. Hugh's teaching was spot on! The main point of the message was, "A faith that is tested by the fire is a faith that can be trusted". As soon as I heard that sentence the tears came again. It was a Holy Spirit kind of morning for me. J Clint and I have been through the fire apart and together. It was because of our faith that we were able to survive through the fire and come out of it with healing and much more whole. The people of South Sudan have been through the fire in so many ways. Their faith appears to be so much stronger than ours when we worship and pray with them. They challenge us spiritually. Is our faith strong enough to live through the fire of life? Life isn't always easy and life can be full of challenges that we don't know that we can handle. Will we cling to the source of where our faith comes from when we are going through the challenges of life? How strong is our faith? What a great Spirit-filled message through Hugh! After church we all piled into a hot SUV while some of the church people piled onto the back of a truck and headed down to the Yei River for baptism. We were so excited to be able to witness a South Sudanese baptism ceremony. Most of those getting baptized were teenagers and 20-somethings. To see this was encouraging to see the next generation rise up and celebrate new life in Christ. It truly was a celebration for them. They sang songs of praise while being baptized. What a joy to be a part of their celebration! The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing by most of the team although Hugh and Dawn chose to go to a local outreach nearby. They experienced a new kind of offering of people literally giving their goods that they normally would be selling. There was corn, greens and even a chicken in the offering basket. Imagine giving those kinds of things in an offering. It challenged us in ways we never thought possible. Clint, Doug and Rodger were able to meet with a young man, Amula, to discuss the possibility of hiring him as the Medical Officer of the Children's Medical Clinic. He seems to be a perfect fit for the position and is clearly interested in the position but is wanting to do what God wants him to do. Please pray for Amula as he seeks God for direction. As the guys were meeting with Amula; Denise, Kathy, Sarah and I went for a walk towards the market. We came to the town square and saw that there were a lot of people standing around the football (soccer) field in the square. As we came closer we saw football players on the sidelines getting ready to start a game. I got very excited! I had just told Clint a few daysearlier that I'd love to see a football game played in the square. God granted me that wish!  While the four of us ladies were standing there I noticed 2 young men approaching us. I greeted them and we chatted a little. They offered for us to sit on seats to watch the game. I insisted that the ladies join me in following them to the seats that I was sure they arranged for us to sit on. As we walked over to the seats the young men had the guys on the blue team's bench move for us! We were shocked and felt a little weird about it but the guys didn't seem to mind at all. To be sitting on the team bench was a little strange but I enjoyed the game immensely.  We left at halftime to get back to the compound to join everyone else. This is a memory that will be with me for a long time! I don't take my camera into public out of respect and because it can be dangerous (we heard a story of someone getting arrested for taking pictures in town). I was so wishing I could take pictures but to be able to say that we saw a competitive football game in the town square excites me.  So the day ended with an event that may never go away in my mind. As we were having our team meeting and a time of debriefing the rain came. It poured and poured. We knew that we would not be able to have hot water for our bucket showers since there was no fire because of the rain. So whatdoes one do when they are in desperate need of a shower and there is no water? We shower in the rain! Yes, we do! It was quite refreshing to say the least. We all jokingly talked about doing this and then I found Clint out there in his shorts, showering. So us ladies decided to do it too. You should know that we did wear some clothing even though it was in the dark.  I'm not sure that I will ever forget this "event"! This was a very memorable day in Yei, South Sudan for myself and the entire team. It was God-filled, Holy Spirit-filled, relaxing, fun and refreshing. God is good to us! In Him, Rose Schwartz (for all the team) Monday, October 1, 2012 It's almost 10pm, the end of another wonderful, yet exhausting day in South Sudan. We started the morning early as we had planned to meet the potential Medical Officer for the Dreamland Children's Medical Clinic, Amule, at 8am sharp to take him to the medical clinic to help us for the morning outreach. The driver arrived early (that doesn't happen often here) and Doug, Rodger, Dawn, Amule and myself took off to the Dreamland. We opened the clinic and quickly began treating children from the Dreamland school, the line never got shorter the rest of the day. Amule was a great help and we hope to hire him in the upcoming weeks. I rode back with the driver to begin our first shopping adventure of the day. The ladies, (Kathy, Rose, Denise & Sarah) and Hugh went to the market to buy food for the evening's feast. They eventually returned with 3 goats, 2 chickens, eggs, sugar, salt, rice, cabbages, tomatoes and a can of soda for each child. We then sent Hugh, along with the cooks, to the dreamland to deliver the "food" so that it could be prepared by that evening. When you are really starting from "scratch", it takes a little longer to make a meal in South Sudan! When the driver returned to the base, we all loaded up to head to the market to finalize our shopping for the Dreamland.   We purchased several personal items for the girls of the dreamland as they are growing up to be young ladies now, alongwith some washing basins for laundry day and 4 new mattresses to replace some old ones. The boys had asked for some games, so we purchased a board game and several decks of cards. One boy had asked for a mp3 player to listen to "gospel" music, so Rose & I decided to give them a couple of our mp3 players preloaded with Christian music. The problem is that they don't have electricity at the dreamland, so when the rechargeable batteries die, the mp3 players won't work. Fortunately, solar panels are getting rather cheap and we were able to buy a solar panel with hook-ups to charge the mp3players. Sarah donated her personal speakers so that they could play the music for all to hear. Back at the dreamland, Hugh and Doug helped with the butchering of the animals, and Doug actually helped skin the goat! That was quite an accomplishment for someone who can faint over the sight of blood! Rodger continued to see patients and Dawn helped entertain the children while they waited to be seen.   One interesting thing that was noted is that the children in the neighboring community were found to be worse off than the children within the Dreamland. Praise God for Pastor Stanley as he is doing a much better job of caring for these children than many of the parents of the children in the local community! The shopping group stopped by the base camp to pickup the remaining gifts for the children and we headed to the Dreamland. We arrived just as the children were getting out of school so we unloaded everything into the dining hall to be given away later. The girls of the dreamland had informed us that they needed black shoes and white socks to be within "dress code" at their school. The boys already had black shoes from Christmas, so we decided to have a shoe salesman come to the dreamland to fit all the girls with shoes. They were so excited! As the girls were getting their shoes, we also gave each of them a headband that was crocheted for them by Jennifer Thomas from The Vineyard. They all looked so happy and so pretty! Thank-you Jennifer! While the girls were getting fitted for their shoes, I took the boys their gifts. It was really neat for me to see that boys are the same no matter where you are in the world...they love electronics, music and games! It was so much fun to see the joy in their eyes as they began to "play" with their toys. It was now time to play football (soccer) against the boys. They had challenged us earlier in the week, so now was our chance to play. We all joined in, though Dawn stayed on the sidelines to take pictures as she wasn't feeling extremely well. Rodger played goalie, and the rest of us tried our best to fill the various positions. We recruited a few of the boys to play on our team, and began the game. The boys took it easy on us, though many of us had them dribble right around us and even pass the ball through our legs to other players. All the other children, teachers and adults were on the sidelines cheering us on. The girls were real troopers as they played really hard, even in skirts! The boys scored a couple of goals against us, but we finally scored a goal of our own. We decided that was about all we could take, as I personally didn't think I could run up and down the field one more time, so we called it quits. They were a little disappointed that the game was already over, but I thought it might be good to quit while no one was hurt! What fun that game was! Next, we went back to the dining hall to watch a program put on by the children. They sang for us, told us a riddle, laughed and thanked us again and again. We felt so appreciated by the children and by the leaders of the dreamland. One of the highlights of the evening was when our team gathered around the 18 new children to pray blessings over them. It was sad to see the "blank looks" in their eyes as they all just arrived within the last couple of months, but so encouraging to know that within the next couple of months that look will be replaced with the same smiles that the other children now have. God is doing some good things in the Dreamland! After the program, we handed each child a Bethel String Bag (Thanks Bethel College!) that contained a solar rechargeable flashlight, a toothbrush, 2 small notebooks of paper, several colored pencils and some candy. In a community without electricity, it gets really, really dark at night so they were all very joyful to receive the flashlights and all of their gifts. Thank-you Vineyard Church for your generosity to finance these gifts and the evening meal. Speaking of the meal, the children then lined up to receive their awesome meal of goat, chicken, vegetables and rice along with a can of soda! They were smiling from ear to ear as they savored every bite. As I walked around the area, several of the boys invited me over with a customary "You are welcome". They were so grateful for the meat as they only get a little meat 2 times a week and the goat and chickenwere a wonderful blessing for them. They were also excited to hear that they would have eggs in the morning. It is so much fun to bless these children with good gifts! By this time, it was getting late, so we had to prepare to leave. We took a group photo, passed out dozens of hugs and climbed into our truck to depart. In the morning we will depart for Uganda and hopefully arrive to our homes and families in the USA by Wednesday evening. The last departure from the children is always such a surreal time for me. I'm usually exhausted, and this night was no different. I am happy and sad all at the same time. I'm happy that we had such a marvelous team and were able to bless the children and bring health to their bodies and joy to their hearts, but I'm sad to know that it will be some time before I will see their smiling faces again. After having traveled to see these children 5 times over the past 4 years, I've really grown to love them. The children are doing so much better now than when I was here in 2008, and their creativity and love of God has grown so much. The children's home is really making a difference in each of their lives. I think Rodger said it right one night when we were having a team debrief, he said "the dreamland is where children can begin to dream again". And that is what is happening with each of these precious 118 lives. Thank-you Pastor Stanley for your leadership, and thank-you Vineyard for your prayers and financial support to make this dream a reality. Clint Schwartz