Massive storms this week - what do you do in a storm?

 

I feel like we have been hit with by many storms in the past week or two. First there was our own Covid-19 scare, which sent us all into emergency mode. While in the midst of that crisis baby Prosper’s mother came to us with a belly full of puss from the C-section, requiring an emergency trip town to be opened, cleaned and then sent back to us for medical care and a lot of TLC. After two weeks of care she returned to the hospital to be closed up. Now for the real emotional and spiritual healing to begin.

 

Ian and I really needed a break and while the borders to South Africa aren’t open for tourism (third wave about to hit us here), we were able to cross to visit our Zimbabwean stone carver friends in Johannesburg. Artisans all over Africa have suffered terribly as tourism is their only source of income and all tourists have stopped touring.  We were first approached by some literally starving artists in Eswatini, begging for our help. That gave us the idea of commissioning them to do beautiful hand carved jacaranda wood products that we can ship to the U.S. and sell on the Khutsala website to help them feed their families, and support Artisans of Eswatini, not just Khutsala Artisans. That product will be available at www.khutsala.com in August.  Since we were going to ship a container we thought we could buy and send some stone carvings to help those friends out too. So we paid $116 for Covid-19 tests, booked a nice hotel and left Eswatini while we still could.

 

Then the second storm hit. Ian got really sick the second night in Johannesburg with a very high fever and head ache.  OH NO!  Was it Covid? I automatically assumed that it wasn’t (I’m an optimist and we have been SO careful), but now-a-days we have to assume that it is Covid and seek testing and treatment. Ian could hardly walk, but he got up and into the car and we headed for medical attention in downtown Johannesburg, a city that we don’t know well and that I NEVER drive in. THAT was a long day. Hospitals here are in Covid crisis so only allow people in who are being admitted. Travel clinic wouldn’t see us without an appointment, which was impossible to make as they don’t answer their phones. So we ended up at a laboratory for blood work. Our doctor in Eswatini also suggested to test for malaria as high fever is a sign of that.

 

I am happy to say that both tests came back negative and Ian crawled back into bed for the next two days while his body fought off whatever needed fighting. Being in a foreign country, in a city that is not the safest from a crime standpoint (lots of car jackings) and the South African strain of Covid-19 made for a perfect storm for me. I am not a worrier, but what if it was Covid and I was in the same room as him? How will we complete the work that we had to do while here? How long would we be stuck in South Africa with an unknown illness? But the Lord kept reassuring me and reminding me of Joshua 1:6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

 

Not only was He reassuring me in my fear, but reminding me of why He has us in Africa in the first place.  Why on earth should I be afraid during this storm?

 

Then there was the literal storm on that was raging at the same time, but this one was back on Project Canaan. In a period of only one hour an angry storm ripped through the property causing a lot of destruction and fear. Marble sized hail pelleted the ground and piled up like small snow banks and remained in six inch chucks 12 hours later (IN AFRICA!). Here is just a small part of the reports we received from our Managers:

 

·      Estimated that 2 inches (50mm) of rain fell in 20 minutes taking our dams back up to their fullest ever with both dam spillways were overflowing again, but no damage to the dams.

·      There was a power surge on the power lines that fried the control board on the generator so everyone on Project Canaan was without power until that was fixed many hours later.

·      2 electrical poles fell at the dairy

·      Lots of trees fell on the electrical fences around PC and are still being removed and repaired

·      Water reservoir tank cover at the lodge was shredded by the wind

·      Greenhouse down pipes were blown from the gutters.

·      After getting the power up and running they discovered that we were out of water (278 children and 100+ adults with no water) and are still working on solving that issue today

·      An estimated $50,000 in damage to crops and fields, but no animals died

·      Almost all the shade netting at the schools and all children’s campuses were torn, shredded or destroyed

·      Damage at our house to the roof, lots of trees down, but house-sitter Nokwanda and the puppies are all okay.

·      Water seems to have come in to closed doors, windows and roofs all over the property

·      No people were hurt, and everyone prayed for protection through the storm

 

 

And in the midst of this third storm Ian and I were safe and sound in a hotel in Johannesburg while the rest of our incredible team on Project Canaan managed through the crisis, no doubt prayed as they went and then the sun came out. I can never say enough good things about our staff and volunteers at Project Canaan. I will give a big thank you to Denis in particular as he is the Maintenance Manager and is responsible for organizing and/or fixing all things that break. Walter our head Electrician is always there to fix any and all electrical problems and works tirelessly to keep us with light and clean water. Thank you to all the other people who helped at each and every step of this storm. We love you all.

I have attached photos throughout so that you could see a bit of what happened at Project Canaan, but be sure to watch the video at the end where Farm Manager Maganda shows us the ice chunk from hail at the greenhouse the day after the storm.

 

 

It’s Saturday morning and Ian is up and feeling much better. He will have some breakfast and then off we go to run all the errands that we had planned for the week. 

 

God is good, all the time and we give thanks in the knowledge that He is with us during the storms; surgical storms, Covid storms, fear storms, driving through Johannesburg storms or rain and hail storms

Joshua 1:7 goes on to say, “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.”

 

Live from Johannesburg … thankful for our hope through the storms of life.

 

Janine

 

Practicing real love

 

This morning I read a scripture that spoke to me and gave me the theme for today’s blog. It was 1 John 3:18 which says,

 

“My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.

This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality.

 It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism,

even when there is something to it.

For God is greater than our worried hearts

and knows more about us than we do ourselves.”

 

This week was a week of practicing real love at the Project Canaan children’s campus. I will share four stories and will start with the hardest one.

 

We received a call about a home filled with 16 children (ages 3-11) who were covered with scabies.  A quick Google search finds a description that reads, “A contagious, intensely itchy skin condition caused by a tiny, burrowing mite. Scabies is contagious and spreads quickly through close physical contact. The most common symptom of scabies is intense itching in the area where the mites burrow. Scabies can be treated by killing the mites and their eggs with medication that's applied from the neck down and left on for eight hours.”  

 

 

This Swazi home did not have any access to medication and the wounds were starting to fester. The children were suffering and we were asked to assist. I asked our nurse Anthony to pay them a visit and assess the situation. He returned with photos and a report that was not only shocking, but heartbreaking, sending a text that reported a “the kids have a hygiene-related parasite infestation. They are desperate.” This particular home should have access to government care and treatment, but after not being able to get help for three weeks, they called us because they knew we would help. We want to practice real love for those children next week with antibiotics, ointments, lessons in bathing, cleaning clothes and house to try to rid them of these vicious mites. You’ll learn how you can help at the end of the blog.

 

We received two new babies this week through Social Welfare, the first two of 2021. The first little boy came from the young mother I wrote about in last week’s blog. We have named him Prosper with Jeremiah 29:11 in mind. It reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This little boy and his mother needed this scripture spoken over them.  He was born by cesarean at 34 weeks and weighed 5.5 pounds and the mother wants nothing to do with the baby. The mother was taken to ICU, but has recovered and has been discharged to an uncertain future. We were able to practice real love by giving Prosper a loving home and hope to be able to practice real love by assisting his mother next week.

 

 

The second child had been in the hospital suffering from malnutrition for a couple of months. His mother lost two other babies and was not mentally stable enough to even feed this little guy. The doctor and social worker worked hard together to try to find him a safe place to live with family, but their attempts were unsuccessful, so he was placed with us where we are blessed to be able to practice real love to a child who has never known love. He is now a happy and healthy 4-month-old and we will call him Mandla. 

 

 

Lastly, Ian and I had the privilege of taking Nokuphiwa and Nokwanda to South Africa to get a surgical assessment from a plastic surgeon with the hopes of avoiding future travel to the U.S. as Covid-19, border closures and cancelled flights seem to have closed the doors to U.S. medical assistance for the future. Not wanting to put her care on hold any further we are pursuing options in South Africa, where the private healthcare is some of the best in the world. Getting this young lady across the border required no less than 3 full days in Mbabane trying to get a medical visa from the South African High Commission as well as Covid-19 tests for $56 USD each. NOTHING is easy here, but we persevered and got everything needed to cross the border. Practicing real patience is sometimes the key to practicing real love.

 

Only one adult was allowed into the Doctor’s office due to Covid restrictions so I took the lead on this appointment. The surgeon was SO kind and SO informative that I left knowing more about Nokuphiwa’s medical condition and needs than I had after two years of reports from the medical team in the U.S. That is not meant as a slight to them, I was just really happy to be able to ask a million questions that I hadn’t been able to get answers for. The bottom line is that this surgeon is not our guy, but he is referring us to a hospital in Durban where there is a multi-disciplinary team that would be best to assist us for the next many years of surgery. The surgeon was personally calling the head of the department who was also his professor. Nokuphiwa’s case will need to be assessed by the multi-disciplinary team and they will need to “approve” her as a patient. If and when that happens they will make a long-term plan that will include; finishing her lips so that they close and hopefully become more functional, constructing a nose from her forehead and rib cartilage, constructing a left ear also from rib cartilage, closing the tear duct above her burned eye and hopefully giving her a prosthetic eye that is so real looking we will hardly know it’s not real. I felt that this surgeon was practicing real love as he wanted to go above and beyond the call so that she could get the very best possible care and outcome.  That is what our goal is too.

 

 

Would you like to practice real love today and help a child in need? Here are a couple of ways you can do it right now. You can become a monthly sponsor either Prosper or Mandla and pray for them by name as they continue to heal and grow.

 

Child Sponsorship in the U.S.:  https://www.heartforafrica.org/HOPESTARTS/

Child sponsorship in 🇨🇦 Canada:  http://bit.ly/hfahopestartsca

 

OR you can make a donation to our Emergency Medical fund to help us provide the urgent care that those 16 children need to rid them of scabies.

 

Medical care gift in the U.S.: https://www.heartforafrica.org/Emergency-Fund/

Medical care gift in Canada: https://heartforafrica.ca/emergency-fund/

 

You can also practice real love today by calling a friend who might be lonely or sending an overdue email or dropping a food pack off at a neighbor’s house who might just need to feel some real love today. Who can you show real love to today… right now? Don’t delay. You will be blessed by doing it.

 

Live from Eswatini … practicing real love to our dogs by bathing them in ringworm shampoo!

 

Janine