More Great News from Terry Henritze on the Team

First:Special hug requests have been delivered! I had to sub out the actual hug for someone else to deliver b/c I had cleaned my feet with wipes and then took giant banana leaves to lay down to walk on to get to my sleeping bag so my feet would be relatively clean for the night. By the time I climbed into my bag I read the emails and decided a "sub-hug" would be appropriate. Second Emily Woods wanted me to tell her mom she takes her medicine on Thursday Third. Smith and Hunter Chapman did the skit tonight and we were in absolute stitches!Fourth we are on a muddy mountain-the nastiest shoes and socks you could imagine-worshipping and having meals outside under leaky tarps in cold wet downpours and we had an absolutely amazing day. We had about 3 hrs of dry weather where we prayed, shared testimonies, and listened to Alexis and Popa Dao take us to the mountain top and showed us the property from above of where they want to build the African YL retreat for all the YL groups and leaders of Africa to gather. From the top of the mountain it looked as if we could see all of Tanzania. Wilson Carroll and Hunter shared how God spoke to them this morning when we all were bummed about not getting back to the school. As we finished worship, we held hands, prayed, and sang. We then turned and the kids from the school met us on top of the mountain, walked us down to a grassy area near by (on the slant) dug four holes, cut 4 big sticks, planted in the holes for goals and played an awesome game of soccer. The Deputy Headmaster of the school wanted to know where the "white girl" was who played with all the boys yesterday and with that Alex Thomas jumped in the game with her inch thick of mud on her hiking boots and didn't miss a beat. Patrick Bishop played barefoot since most of them were barefoot. Preston Blair scored a goal (youngest playing) Jason Releander (my good friend's son from Connecticut who will be a senior at Duke next year) was an awesome goalie, and Porter who had the winning goal as we had to go to a shoot out at 3-3 (getting dark). We finishing shaking hands and taking a group picture. We did high/low tonight and as we sat under the leaky tarps in the wet cold muddy pouring rain I listened to these kids share highs (no lows today by the way) from these kids that would melt God's heart. The bottom line is this-you have nothing to worry about- I have been blessed to experience this trip with such a fun, enthusiastic, encouraging group of kids who are sincerely seeking Gods heart. They are open, honest, and listening to God. We would like the rain to stop tomorrow but God took us down a different path today that wouldn't have happened without the rain. On a lighter note-today I stuck my head in a bucket filled up about a third of the way with water and developed the most ingenious way to wash my hair! I never thought I could be so thankful for a bucket shower as I was tonight. I also cut down large banana leaves (with the awesome knife AG's dad equipped her with before the trip that she said he would be so proud it was put to good use) in order to line our room as a carpet to help control the mud in our room. As we are climbing into our bags after discussing books we are reading like The Shack and what it really means, and a couple of games of Catch Phrase, I listen to Mama Irene (she's sleeping out here with us too)tell the girls stories and sing as we turn out the lights. It doesn't get much better than this as a mom and after watching the boys each day it appears to be the same with them as well. Love to all and we miss you all as all the girls know I'm writing have asked me to send xoxoxo to each of you so God Bless and good night!In HimTerry :)

Communication and Updates

I am sending this out hoping that many of you on this blog are parents or friends of kids on the Africa trip. I am trying to post emails I am receiving from the group to the blog and suggest if you get any info from your child/friend to post it to the blog. Just copy the email and paste it to a new post so we all at least get some info on how to pray while they are in Legho. The biggest need right now is for the rain to stop and for the sun to come out and dry things out. They are in a mud bowl right now making it hard to reach their construction site and no way to dry out their clothes etc...Continue to pray for their work, their faith, their health, their protection, the weather and their safety...They are in palm of our great Lord and all are well...Suzanne Haverty

Prayer Request From Group

I need to request one more immediate prayer. Our hosts and hostesses here work
tirelessly to make us comfortable as they recognize we are out of our comfort
zone. They scrub mud off front porches with twigs-they haul water over the mud
trail in the rain for us to wash with-they provide 3 meals/day on glass dishes
and clean up afterwards-they provide protection throughout the night. Pray God
will bless them abundantly! Ephesians 3:20 From Terry Henritze
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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Please pray that the rain will cease..it has become a mud bowl and made getting to the construction site very difficult..it is 1.2 miles down a hillside in the mud so please pary for our Great God to clear the skies! Suzanne Haverty for the Group

News from the Blair Family

My soul finds rest in god alone. A moment of rest finds all of us in legho
village.
What a glorious 2 days this has been we bid farewell to our comfort zone of
running water and paved roads to the lush africa mountains where the clay is mre
red than ga
Papa dea and mama irene greeted us with loving arms
Yesterday we were schooled on africa time arriving thirty minutes late to church
we all enjoyed the analogy of god being compared to a land cruiser that never
runs out of fuel
After our hike to the village and picking the perfect floor space, we all
praised god in thanksgiving for our arrival
Papa deo chaalenged all of us to slow down, be afican, and ask ourselves how
attached we are to our materials for that makes us further from our father
He encouraged all of us toi stop and listen to gods voice
Our first morning in legho was truly phenomenal and a demonstration of gods hand
Men women african american worked side by side hauling rocks boulders and soil
in the construction of the medical center which will be able to serve 1000
people. It was amazing to watch the women carrying the water for miles to mix
the concrete we spent the remainder of the day with the school children colring
dancing and smiling
It is an absolute marvel at their sheer delight. Thi simplicity is another
african lesson we are learning
The afternoon broght a serious game of soccer with the locals and american
claimed the victory
The rains have come and drenched us with mud but the lord is stirring our hearts
every moment
Sent by Blair Family via AT&T Blackberry
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