Next Memory Verse - Ephesians 2:10

We have our next memory verse.

For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

I also created a Word By Word version of this which you can download here.

Tragedy: Pray for Vuyo our person of piece in Sweet Home

We've been praying for Vuyo (his name means Joy) our person of piece and champion in Sweet Home. He recently lost his 13 year old son in an accident which caused an asthma attack. Please pray for their family as they grieve this terrible loss. For those that don't know Joy, here is a one of our favorite pictures from our trip last July. Joy took us into Sweet home where we visited a Creche (preschool). He started playing "Fire On The Mountain" with all the kids who were chasing him around the area. It was an amazing day and he has a great spirit.

Training 3: Dennis Wadley

Dennis Wadley from Bridges Of Hope came to our training today. He talked about organization and what is going on where we will be serving in August. It was a great training in that it gave us a much better understanding of the development process and how we will be working at the Academy and in Sweet Home.

Here is a picture of the team with Dennis.

Soccer Anyone?

I think we need to practice some soccer before we go. Here is a photo of the Academy boys beating the American visitors last week.


When we visited last summer this soccer field was simple farm land. Amazing changes are still in progress.

Luke 18:7-8

Hi Everyone! I came across these verses earlier today & they seemed really applicable to the film we watched on Sunday & some of our discussion. Thought I'd share it w/ you all. Hope everyone's having a great week!

-Matt

"And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"
Luke 18:7-8

Memory verses

Here are the two new memory verses for the next training.

Be self-controlled and alert.
Your enemy the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion looking
for someone to devour. Resist him,
standing firm in the faith, because
you know that your brothers
throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
1 Peter 5:8-9

Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you. Come near to God and he
will come near to you.
James 4:7-8

I've created Word By Word versions of these.
1 Peter 5:8-9
James 4:7-8
If it works for you and you want a free license for Word By Word simply send me an e-mail.

Bridges of Hope mailing list

As we discussed in training on Sunday, there is a very informative weekly and daily e-mail list that Dennis sends out. Please sign up for it here.

http://www.bridges-of-hope.org/get-connected.php

Training #2

We had our second training this weekend. We spent more time getting to know everyone, travel logistics, and general preparation. We also watched the movie Dear Francis which is always hard to watch even if you've seen it a few times, but it is also full of hope. So Africa. It mirrors closely our previous trips to Namibia and I'm sure we will be in similar situations with our future trips to Sweet Home.

We also finally took a team photo.

Memorization Verse

Don't forget our memory verse needed for the next (and future) meeting(s).

A bruised reed He will not break,
and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.
In faithfulness He will bring forth justice;
He will not falter or be discouraged
till He has establishes justice on the earth.
in his law the islands will put their hope.
Isiah 42:3-4

A few years ago I wrote a quick little application called Word By Word to help in verse memorization. It simply hides the text while you press the right and down arrow keys exposing the verse as you go. You can try it for free, if you like it and want a free copy, simply send me (Wood) an e-mail and I'll get you a free serial number.
Here is the download

http://www.wordbyword.info/downloads.html
Here is the Isiah verse already typed in for you.
http://www.wordbyword.info/pub/isiah42-3-4.wbw

Community Health Evangalist - CHE

We've mentioned the Community Health Evangelist (CHEs) that have been raised up in Sweet Home over the past few months and I wanted to try and give more information on CHEs and the process. This has been explained to me before, but it is still a deep subject and I don't always get it right.

We were introduced to this process through Bridges Of Hope who was introduced to it through Medical Ambassadors. You can find more information at http://www.lifewind.org/movement_overview.php or about the organization that started the CHE movement at http://www.medicalambassadors.com.

Training 1: Meet and Greet!

The excitement and anticipation was a bit overwhelming as a hundred or so people gathered outside The Lab on Sunday, March 16. Each person anxiously finding the country that God had led them to and picking up a folder filled with important information regarding preparing for the journey ahead of us.

After an hour of an overview of what is expected of us, it was time, time to meet the 20 or so people that we will be getting to know and serving alongside with during our mission to South Africa. Walking into Minilab 4 (I think) we were met by our “fearless” Leader Team. Their excitement for seeing us again, many for the first time, since our interviews, was contagious. There was definite electricity that filled the air as we all hugged and made introductions; a little awkwardness was also present as this was our first time meeting eachother.

This awkwardness was quickly extinguished as we got down to the business of getting to know one another. Now I can honestly say that “I never” thought I NEVER could be so difficult but I think with all the excitement we had for the journey ahead our intelligence became a little cloudy (only slightly ;) ) As we all scrambled and looked to each other to see if we were actually playing the game correctly I realized that the chaos and commotion that ensued from the game would not last long, as God revealed through our leaders how they felt led to choose each one of the team members and purposefully put each one of us here for the gifts we currently have and even those that are going to be built up within us during this journey.

I praise God for the work He has done with the Leaders in putting this team together, for the commitment that each Leader has for Africa and for the faith they have in each team member to be a light for the Lord in South Africa. I think I speak for all the team members in saying WE ARE EXCITED!!!! WE ARE THE LABORERS THAT ARE TO BE SENT OUT INTO HIS HARVEST!!!! His harvest in South Africa – who wouldn’t be excited about that!!!!

-- Claire

Training Dates

Here are the team training dates.

March 16, leaders:2-6, team:3-6
April 6, 11-2
May 4, 11-2
May 18, 11-2
June 1, 8:30-2:30
June 22, 11-2
July 13, 11-2
July 27, 11-2

August Team Selected

The team for the August trip was selected. We had amazing candidates and felt blessed to have such strength, but we also had to turn away some amazing candidates as well. We think God has truly chosen this team and we are looking forward to training over the coming months and our first team trip to work with Bridges Of Hope in Cape Town, South Africa. Specifically in the Cape Flats township of Sweet Home.

Leaders:
Monica Harter
Lailanie Cruz
Kristy Blankenship
Alan Freedman
Wood Harter

Members
Matt Andre
Claire Coyne
Anessa Freedman
Harrison Freedman
Nicole Gallaher
Carla Gates
Jonathan Guinta
Jonathan Harrison
Keira Kirby
Rachel Luigs
Kat Reese
Amanda Young
Aaron Young

Required Vaccinations

The best place to get vaccinations is the Orange County Health Care Clinic. Here is a document with all the information on travel vaccinations. Call early as you will require an appointment and they sometimes require a booking a month in advance.

Travelers Clinic in Fountain Valley is a great doctor that specializes in travel vaccinations.

Here is the CDC list of required vaccinations from their website.

Vaccination or Disease	Recommendations or Requirements for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Routine	Recommended if you are not up-to-date with routine shots such as, measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine, diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT) vaccine, etc.
Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG)	Recommended for all unvaccinated people traveling to or working in countries with an intermediate or high level of hepatitis A virus infection where exposure might occur through food or water. Cases of travel-related hepatitis A can also occur in travelers to developing countries with "standard" tourist itineraries, accommodations, and food consumption behaviors.
Hepatitis B	Recommended for all unvaccinated persons traveling to or working in countries with intermediate to high levels of endemic HBV transmission (see map) and who might be exposed to blood or body fluids, have sexual contact with the local population, or be exposed through medical treatment, such as for an accident, and for all adults requesting protection from HBV infection.
Typhoid	Recommended for all unvaccinated people traveling to or working in Southern Africa, especially if visiting smaller cities, villages, or rural areas and staying with friends or relatives where exposure might occur through food or water.
Rabies	Recommended for travelers spending a lot of time outdoors, especially in rural areas, involved in activities such as bicycling, camping, hiking, or work. Also, children are considered at higher risk because they tend to play with animals and may not report bites.
Polio	Recommended for adult travelers who have received a primary series with either inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) or oral polio vaccine (OPV). They should receive another dose of IPV before departure.
Malaria	We will not require Malaria medication for the Cape Town trip. If you are planning other travels, there is a malaria advisory for other parts of South Africa. If you will be visiting a malaria risk area in South Africa, you will need to take one of the following antimalarial drugs: atovaquone/proguanil, doxycycline, or mefloquine (primaquine in special circumstances and only after G6PD testing). Note: ROCKHarbor does not allow the user of Mefloquine on missions trips. There have been incidents in the past with side effects. Note: Chloroquine is NOT an effective antimalarial drug in South Africa and should not be taken to prevent malaria in this region. Malaria risk area in South Africa: Risk exists in the low-altitude areas of the Mpumalanga Province, Northern Province (Limpopo), and northeastern Kwa- Zulu-Natal as far south as the Tugela River. Risk in Kruger National Park.

Applications are in

Applications were due this past weekend and we have already had a few interviews to build the next RockHarbor South Africa team. I'm sure we will be very busy with interviews over the next few weeks getting a team chosen for the August trip.

Sweet Home Committee Training

The Sweet Home committee continues their training and we received this picture of their training event from Bridges Of Hope. This picture was taken during last week's lesson on Jesus Healing the Paralytic. Lulama (on the right) is the director for Bridges Of Hope in the Cape Flats area. We met her on our scouting trip when we toured the amazing church that was built in Phillipe. Phillipe is a township much like Sweet Home, but has a much longer history with Bridges of Hope. I believe this picture was taken in the building adjacent to the church in Phillipe.

Sweet Home Committee Selected

This is the new committee that has been selected in Sweet Home! They will be trained to oversee the Community Transformation work there over the next few months and it is critical that they grasp the fullness of the task they are being equipped for, so please keep them in your prayers as they begin their training. They are meeting in a shipping container for now.

Prayer Meeting

We had our second Prayer meeting last night. I just noticed that I never posted about the first prayer meeting. We are planning on having them once a month.

Last night we focused on the Uganda team which will be leaving around Christmas. There were around 15 people in attendance. We met for an hour and prayed and talked about the various issues facing Uganda and the team preparing to leave for Uganda.

And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
Mark 11:22-25

RockHarbor adopts Sweet Home

RockHarbor has officially adopted a township in Cape Flats (just outside Cape Town) called Vlie (pronounced fleh) and nicknamed Sweet Home by the locals. Our first trip with a full team will be in August 2008. Over the next year, Bridges Of Hope will be raising up leaders and coming to a better understanding of the needs of this community as we at Rock Harbor begin to build teams to help address these needs and work alongside Bridges Of Hope and the community of Sweet Home.

Prayer Meeting November 19

We will be having our second monthly prayer meeting. This month we will be focusing on the upcoming Uganda trip. We will also continue to pray for Bridges Of Hope, Rehoboth, EBCAIDS ministry, Elias' ministry in Zandspruit, Boothlai in Soweto and Dennis in downtown Johannesburg. I'm sure there are a few others I missed. Please join us.

• When: Monday, November, 19, 2007 at 7pm.

We will meet at RockHarbor in one of the Mini-labs. Check back for more details.