Safari Day 3, Kili Day 4

sorry we weren't in touch yesterday. as it turns out, there is no wireless here at the lobo lodge in the Serengeti, and the lodge's internet connection was down yesterday evening when we arrived. unfortunately, there is also no cell service here - the lodge, which is really neat, is actually built into the side of a rock in the middle of the Serengeti, so it looks like an african swiss family robinson hotel, which is awesome, but not exactly "cell phone friendly." so, i have not spoken directly to drew and the kili crew, but was able to connect with alexis who is in arusha and speaking with me and drew to relay news of both groups to the other. at the end of today, we have 29 of the original 31 safely at base camp 4, which is just amazing! 2 of our girls are down from the mountain and back in arusha due to illness and altitude, but we are so proud of their efforts and how far and hard they pushed themselves. we all said from the beginning that each person hiking kili will have a different "summit" for some it may be 15,ooo ft, for some it may be 19,200. ft., so we are proud of each one of the 31 for going until they couldn't go any farther! As for the safari 12, we have been having an amazing experience! We left Ngororongoro Crater around 8 am yesterday, and after a stop in a Masai Village and at a local museum, we made our way into the Serengeti and arrived for lunch around 12:30ish? once we got into the park, the animals began to appear and they just kept coming out for us all day. we saw multiple lions, and in fact watched two lions mating from about 15 feet away, which was pretty cool. grace blair, the 9 year old twin sister of anna blair that made the initial statement, "animals are cooler than hiking" said that, "lions are WAY cooler than hiking. especially when they do that thing." so, we have all been experiencing the circle of life and it has been fun and educational for all ages of our group. :-) finally yesterday we saw elephants! they are phenomenal and personally, they are my favorites! still seeing lots of zebras, giraffes, widebeasts, warthogs, gazelles, hippos, monkeys etc... also yesterday we saw a crocodile, which was pretty cool and another really neat thing we saw was a lioness on the hunt. unfortunately, the 12 safari trucks around tipped off the gazelle she was after, so we didn't get to see a kill, but we are still hoping. :-) so far we have seen 4 of the big 5 - elephants, buffalo's, lions and rhinos. we are still searching hard for the leopard, and also hope to get a good look at some elephants up close. we went out this morning around 9 for our game drive, and it was a bit slow, but we saw some great elephants. just had lunch and now down time as it is hot and the animals aren't out...several of the group are lying poolside hoping to see some animals as they migrate. we headed back out around 4 pm today which was possibly the most amazing afternoon ever. we saw a pack of 22 lions - 20 lioness and 2 lions - then, we watched for over 45 minutes as 17 of the lioness took down a buffalo. watching the kill was incredible to say the least. seriously, it was incredible. preston blair said it was the "most spectacular thing i have ever seen!" i can assure you that i do NOT have enough film/memory cards if tomorrow is even remotely as awesome as the past 3 days have been. we start out with an early morning game drive tomorrow at 6 am and then back for breakfast and a full day game drive with a picnic lunch. it's exhausting as you can imagine... truly, the safari 12 are spoiled rotten about now, and having come from legho village, are so grateful for the small things like toilet seats and running water. our prayers are with the remaining kili 29 and our 2 friends back in arsuha. i know the Lord is using this experience to work in each of our hearts in his own way and we are all so grateful for the opportunity to spend time with him in Africa here among his great creations.



i'll be in touch soon with more from the kili group, but please continue to pray hard and pray strong for them - Day 4 is hard, and Day 5 will be harder as they each move towards their own summit. but the fact that 29 made it to 4th base camp is HUGE and i am confident the Lord is hearing our prayers for them and will continue to do so as they move onward and upwards on Kilimanjaro!



God Bless and love to all,

anne genevieve

safari day 1, kili day 2

i can say with confidence that the safari 12 had an easier day than the kili 31, but am happy to report to all that BOTH groups are well, in good spirits, good health and at their respective locations for the night! i spoke with drew earlier this evening while he was hanging off teh side of kili to get cell service (you have to love technology!) and he said that they had arrived safely at their second base camp and all was well. they were getting ready for dinner and then worship and were hitting their tents early as tomorrow is a BIG day for them, so please continue to pray hard and pray strong for the health, safety, strength, endurance and will of each one on the mountain. as for the safari 12, anna blair, who is one of the wisest 9 year olds i have ever met made a very astute comment the other day that was confirmed in absolute truth today by the 12 of us. anna said, "animals are way cooler than hiking." NO DOUBT they are! today we say tons of zebras, a lion! a lioness with her kill, wildabeasts, wild boar hogs (i can't recall the real name), a giraffe, a rhino!, hipps, birds, gazelles, antelopes, ostriches, flamingos, a really rare cat that looks like a mini leopard (also can't recall name) - but the point is, animals are way cooler than hiking :-) there is no doubt that the presence of the Lord is here as we have had the opportunity to view some of his most exotic creations and landscapes, and they are nothing short of magnificant. need to scoot as i am on the hotel computer - as it turns out, there is no wireless or room internet, only one computer in the hotel with internet, so pictures are still on hold for now, but i promise good ones as soon as the wireless comes through - TIA!... but, so far so good for both groups - please continue to pray that the Lord will continue to work in each of hearts as we journey through this amazing experience.
love to all and God Bless,
anne genevieve

The Safari 12 are back in Arusha...

and the Kili 31 are on their way to the summit! Please lift them up in your prayers as the rains in Legho left some with a bit of a cough/sore throat and not feeling 100%. I know the Lord is carrying each of them, especially as today is their first day on the mountain. I expect a call from Drew in the next 30 minutes/hour to give me an update on how their day was and will report back in to you all tomorrow night - provided that our safari lodge actually has internet, which allegedly, it will. :-) Walter has some wicked blisters from earlier in the week, so please shoot some special prayers his way as well, that his feet will heal swiftly and he will manage through the pain. (As a blister-er myself, I know how awful they are and can not imagine hiking that mountain with the holes he has in his heels.)

We are back at the Arch Bishops Hostel tonight and I know speak for all 12 of us when I say that we each found Legho Village to be an amazing experience. There is no way one could miss the presence of the Holy Spirit there, but, we are THRILLED to be back in the land of running water and a mattress on a bedframe, not a cement floor. Also, the lack of mud in Arusha and the sunshine is definitely refreshing. Running out of time, so that's all for now - will be back tomorrow night with an update from Kili 31 and Safari 12 after Day 2 on the mountain and our drive to teh crater and first day on the hunt for African wildlife!

Also - hopefully more pics to comer tomorrow!

God Bless,
anne genevieve

Asphalt and Plumbing

Hallelujiah, half of the group is safe and sound in Arusha and resting up for the safari migration while the others arrived at the base of Mt. Kilamajaro this morning and are SLOWLY making their first ascent. WE are well and overwhemed with thanks for our time in Legho. I walked down the paved street in search of a phone card and found a DHL shipping office with DSL....but I am being kicked off because they do not want to run the generator. TIA!!
I love and miss my family.

Latest News before Climb and Safari

Thank you so much. We got better showers tonight, have packed, and been debriefed by our kili guides. Everybody on both safari and kili super psyched. New and different challenges than rain in Legho but we've learned a lot about perserverance in difficult circumstances. We all seem to be in good health other than a few minor head colds. We had our home stays today and shared this evening over bonfire out on a point from the mountain where we can see as far as Kenya. Popa Dao prayed over us and binding satan. Very powerful. Everyone shared about the families we spent the day with and the stories were amazing and heartbreaking. We were split into groups of 5 and hiked with directions to our homes. Our particular family was Modest Massawe. He is a 64 yo man married with 5 children. They live a stick and mud hut. We were served food and treated incredibly graciously. He shared his dreams for his children which are no different than ours but it may be generations before his dreams are realized. We had the opportunity to prayer for his family, take a long mountain walk, and then he escorted is all the way back to Legho on the muiddy path. We were all humbled in all our groups of their hospitality, sacrificial generosity, and servants attitude. We all had the exact same experience to a man. Lots of other personal stories and testimonies I will try and save for later but am heading to sleep to be rested for the climb tomorrow. We read Psalm 121 this morning to the group and said it was from all of oir prayer warriors back home. Drew, Alexis and the YL staff both from Atlanta and Africa have been awesome and deserve yours and my kudos for their hard work and encouragement to each one of us! God bless you all. We are half way home!Terry

More Good News from Leghos

Terry sends at 5 PM their time today...

Everything great today. Make sure folks back home know we're ok! Today much better-home stay fantastic-sunshine out! T

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Last night in Leghos

Praise God! The weather has been better for Thursday. After three long days of rain, they have packed their belongings and are heading down the mountain for their homestays tonight. According to Terry, the team is doing very well...a little dirty and muddy but all are well. Please pray for their time with the families that God would provide an enriching time of fellowship. As I write, it is 5:00 PM in Leghos. Please pray that they all get a good night's sleep as they prepare to leave Leghos at 8:00 AM on Friday to begin either the climb or the safari. Please pray for God to restore their strength and energy, to stay healthy and for fabulous weather over the next week. We continue to commit each of you into His mighty hands! "God - His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him."
Our prayers are with you!

Update of above post

They have asked to pray that the rain will stop....(sorry it dropped the text when I posted it above)...Blessings!

News from Leghos

From Terry Henritze

Despite the poor conditions we taught at the school and worked on the clinic
construction. Later in the day we went to a shack on the mountain that would be
like a cantina and sang, danced, and as we did it attracted kids from the jungle
area to sneak up and after much encouagement come in. Since no electricity on
mtn we used Drews portable ipod speakers for music. We then held club and it was
great to see these kids of all ages laugh, dance, and participate in club. We
hurried back up the mountain before dark and more rain thru thick mud. Slipping
and sliding along the way. We love and miss you all!
Come on sun! I will read psalm 121 in the morning when we are all together
again!
T
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From Suzanne Haverty...The conditions at Leghos have gotten worse and we have been asked to pray for the rain to stop. We may lose contact with Terry until Friday because they have lost power due to the weather. As soon as they leave Leghos, they will be able to update the blog. Terry has assured me that, although the conditions are not good, that Ben Haverty, Todd Blair, Fred Henritze and the YL leaders are taking good care of the group and that the group will be in Leghos for their village house stays for Thursday night and then the group splits for Kilimanjaro and the safari. Please pray for our sweet Lord to clear the skies so the group can enjoy the beauty of His creation in Leghos for their last day..."Because you have made the Lord - my refuge, the Most High - your dwelling place, no harm will come to you; no plague will come near your tent, For He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all of your ways. They will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." Psalm 91 Thank you God!

We are praying for all of you there, and send our love! I am sure that God is blessing you and those around you, even and especially, in the rain and the mud! Anne Genevieve, I am assuming you are remembering your Illahee days of wet and soggy clothes! You are a mud veteran! :-) McGiver was thrilled to hear that your knife came in handy! :-) Love, love, love to all! Carol Anne

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
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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
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Prayer Requests from Legho

Our travelers are in Legho Village now where they do not have internet access.  Legho is a remote village at the base of Kilimanjaro.  They have worked on the floor of the medical clinic which we began on Into Africa last year, and also visited the children at the local school, where they gave out candy and beanie babies.  They will be working there this week, worshiping and experiencing God in amazing ways- as they are all now way out of their comfort zones!  On Friday they are going to stay in homes in the village, before leaving on Saturday and dividing up.  Please pray for the Kilimanjaro group as they prepare mentally and physically for their climb that begins on Saturday.  Pray for the home stays to go well, as this is a first for the villagers, also.  Lastly, please pray that the clouds will clear before they leave.  If that happens, everyone will get to see Kili, which is quite awe inspiring. Steve Larme (YL Africa) said last fall that, to many in Africa, the mountain is like God.  Even though they often cannot see the mountain for the clouds, they always know that it is there.  God is the same;  He is always with them. How awesome for each of our group to experience that in their own personal way, to be still and know that He is God, always faithful and always true.  Be exalted, O Lord. 

a few photos from Sokoni One...

Saturday in Sokoni One

Sokoni One is the the poorest neighborhood in Tanzania, and it is where Alexis, Jacque and team run Young Life. For me to sit here and type to you about the work they are doing and tell you it's amazing may be the understatement of the year. I wish that words could explain the looks across the faces of the children that live here - they are filled with more hope and love and happiness than I would ever have expected, which is somewhat ironic considering the basically have nothing but their faith and each other. Here it is truly about community. We spent time today with the orphans in Sokoni One... there are several women in the community who are known as "the mamas" and they, along with Young Life, care for the children in the community who have no mama or papa of their own... they have built a school for them and also make sure they get fed at least one meal a day by providing them lunch. I think the thing that stunned me the most about hanging out with these children was their desire to just be held and loved. It didn't matter to them that we don't speak their language and they don't really speak ours. What they needed from us went far beyond what words could have described - they just wanted to be held tightly, to feel safe, secure and loved - which is interesting, because while we live a continent apart from these children, and each one of us here have so much more than they could ever fathom having, our need is the same as theirs. And that is the beauty of God's grace and the love Christ has for each of us, and as I sat there today, looking around at the faces of these children that we can never save from this poverty, to whom we could never possibly give enough, or love enough, I was overwhelmed with the peace of the Lord, because I know that what we can not do, HE CAN. and that is what is happening here - HE IS WORKING, HE IS SAVING and HE IS HERE - EVERYWHERE - and it is awesome.

Please continue to pray for us. Pray for our energy, our strength, for the Lord to speak to each of us in the ways that we need. To reveal our own brokenness to us and to allow us to go to Him to hold us tightly.

We will be in Arusha again tomorrow and then head to Legho village through the end of the week. Getting to the internet has proven to be a bit more difficult than we initially anticipated, so don't worry if you haven't heard from us in a few days. We'll be back in touch as soon as we can, and in the interim, know we are walking in the light of the Lord, and it just doesn't get better than that.

God Bless to all of you from all of us!
Anne Genevieve


PS: Happy early Birthday to Anna Hawkins! love Sarah Lawton :-)

here we are...wow

apologies for the delay in our first official blog post since departing... hopefully you were on the email list that received our note of safe arrival in Ethiopia Thursday night. We stayed at the Crown Hotel there, which is not affiliated with any type of Crown Hotel with which you be familiar... there was one rat incident in Ali and Sarah Lawton's room, but they took it like champs. We arrived at the airport at about 7:30ish and left Ethiopia Friday around 10 am. We flew into Kilimanjaro with a quick stop in Nairobi. To say we were all really excited to FINALLY be in Tanzania is an understatement to say the least. Getting through customs was less of a hassle than I would have expected for 35+ Americans , and we were greeted with huge smiles, happy faces, hugs and the warmest welcome we could have imagined from from the Young Life Tanzania crew - Alexis, Jacque, Laban, Christian, Richard, Doreen, Irene, Isaiah and Linus - once we got everything loaded up onto the buses, we went to a local "market" to get our first feel for local African life. Market is a term I would use loosely when describing the scene... picture goats, cows and other animals for sale on an open, flat, grass/dirt area - definitely not the "markets" that we are used to seeing in the states! Our group caused a bit of a stir... picture 35+ white people cruising through the African farm animals... but we had a great time and really enjoyed the experience. Afterwards, we had some lunch at a local pizza and art gallery and then headed into Arusha to the Arch Bishops Hostel where we are staying. Supper that night was the first time all 44 of us have been together, which was really a treat. Afterwards we had the opportunity to share some thoughts about our first real day in Africa and worship together - then, exhausted, we all tried to sleep to the sounds of the chanting monks which sounded something like wild coyotes. Again, the Ambien was flowing... up next was Saturday in Sokoni One - more to come on that shortly...

love to all and God Bless,
Anne Genevieve

The Prayer of Habakkuk

Three years ago, Drew Voyles, his sister Kelly and I all had the pleasure of spemding time on Kilimanjaro with our guide Gabrielle and his excellent team. The prayer that gave me strength going up the mountain was the last verse of the small book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament. There it states: " The sovereign Lord is my strength. He make my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to go onto the heights". My prayer for each of the climbers is that God will do the same for you. All of you are in our prayers every day. Blessings to you.

Last year's trip was and continues to be such a blessing to our family. Our hope is that this year's trip will be a lifelong blessing for each of you and that your eyes will be opened to see the fullness of God while experiencing His love in new and challenging ways. Know that every morning we will be praying for each of you with anticipation of the great things God will be doing in your lives. Matt Hawkins and I will also be praying for good weather, especially while you are on Kili. Enjoy the treat of being with Alexis, Jaque, Laban, Papa Dio, Irene, Gabriel and all the YL staff. God's speed!