Cooking at the Acadamey

So we thought that we would be a little adventurous and try a local breakfast. We went to the local market and found ProNutra. It is supposed to be a hot cereal like malto meal, but it turned into a kind of paste and tased like card board. We would not reccommend it.

One night Ben (another staff) cooked a meal for us from a recipe his mom sent him and it was spectacular. The dish was tye and had a great peanut ginger sauce.

Another night Dwight ( the psychologist who came to talk about anger and forgiveness) took us out to dinner at a local seafood place. While there we had this wonderful South African desert, I can't remember what it was called, but it was fantastic. It was a small chocolate cake saturated in a toffee syrup. It just melted in your mouth.

We made it home! We took a flight from Cape Town to Jo-berg, Jo-berg to Dakar, then to Washington DC, Denver and finally to PDX!!! We went through five check points, I got patted down twice, passed customs & declarations and watched 8 movies. We had one bottle of lotion blow up and sacrificed a checked bag to the airplane gods. Life is good. We will write again soon but right now we are just trying to fight to keep our eyes open.

Peace

Mateo and Beautiful

Hey everyone-
We just wanted to say that we are having a blast over here but are looking forward to coming home for the holidays! We have great stories to share when we get back. For the last few days we haven't been able to get Internet access and we won't be able to again before we leave so pray for us. Pray that the last two days in South Africa go well and the trip home is a safe and fast one. We will continue to write more of our stories when we get back to keep checking and keep praying.

Peace

Kwezi & Nokwezi

We have had the blessing of Dwight Carlson, a psychiatrist, visiting this week to run anger and forgiveness groups in Philippi for CHE (Community Health Evangelist) workers and the youth from the church. This last week he left the people with some great tools on how to deal with their anger and this coming week he will share about forgiveness. It was very freeing for the people of Philippi to hear that anger is an ok emotion. After processing that anger is ok, Dwight gave the people healthy steps to finding a solution to Anger.

His steps include:
Recognizing your angry, waiting before responding, praying, identifying why you are angry, evaluating if you have the right to be angry, confronting the person, forgiving the person and then hopefully finding resolution.

The hope is that the information he shared was received in such a way that the people who heard it could share it with more people. Already we have had reports that people are talking about anger and how to resolve it with their families.

It has been so encouraging to be with the people of Philippi, they are so intelligent and are so open, there is so much growth here!

(CHE is the health ministry that teaches AIDS awareness and other health issues. The CHE model is to train people who will train others, who will train others, and so on. The goal is multiplication.)

The end of this last week we had the opportunity to lead games at the Orphan Support Group, before Dwight did his talk on anger. The youth were so much fun! Matthew began the time with his announcer voice and got some great reactions from the youth. Some of you are familiar with the "sit" game, where you get everyone in a tight circle all turned the same direction and then have them sit at the same time. We all had a lot of fun playing and falling as we found it difficult to support each others weight. But eventually we got it to work:)

During Dwights talk with the youth the kids asked a lot of great questions, including if it is ok to be angry with God. Many of these youth have parents who had died of aids and some of them respond to that with anger towards God. We think there are many different ways people respond to this question. As we talked about it we found that we wanted to know what others think, please share your thoughts with us by clicking the comments link below.

The camera saga continues as we just got the camera working and then somehow deleted all the pictures we had managed to take!!

Thank you for sharing in our adventure.

Matt and Leslie

Working on the Farm

When we are not helping in Philippi, we are out on the "farm" that will become Bridges Academy and Bridges Retreat Center. The idea is to have a place for the orphans and children of Philippi to gain an education and skills they otherwise could never receive. The purpose of the retreat center is to have a place for orphans and adults from Philippi to escape the outside world, to learn leadership skills, receive discipleship, to experience new things and to try new challenges.

It is so encouraging to see the Philippian leaders rising up and taking over the the work that Bridges of Hope started. As the empowering of the people of Philippi to help themselves comes to a close, the focus of our ministry will shift to the Academy.

Currently on the property there are 6 buildings that have been used as a retreat center and Bed & Breakfast. It is a beautiful property with 360 degree views of mountains and 12 acres of blessing. There is a guest house that will be able to house 6 couples and the kitchen facilities. A bunk house that will have beds for 30 and a "shed" that is being converted to a rec room. These will be the facilities for the retreat center. We are spending most of our time at the farm getting this facility ready for the first retreat in December. There is a lot of work to be done but we know that it will be a one of a kind experience for the children who will visit.

On the other side of the property the three remaining buildings will be the start of the academy. Over the next year there are plans for a main house that will both provide permanent residence and rooms for instruction to the children who attend. It is BHI's hope that in two years the retreat center and academy will be up and running year round.

We have posted the location of the farm on a previous entry. Please enter the coordinates into Google Earth or other satilite program to see where we hope to spend the next few years of our life.

Molo (this means hello in Xhosa/ we don't know how to say goodbye yet:)

Matt and Leslie

On driving and running out of gas in the middle of the night in a strange continent:

So driving is a past time of Matt's in the states, Matt loves to go and have a nice trip into the country and enjoy God's creation. Here it is a little different. As we said before, we practiced the Saturday we went for a hike and did ok for our first times. Matt drove in the hills and in Franschhoek and Leslie drove in Stellenbosch. We took our time and just got the feel of it with no particular place to go.
Then came Monday. We were told that we had to go to Stellenbosch by ourselves, in traffic and be there early in the morning. We were flung on the unsuspecting victims of the South African roadways. Luckily there were no casualties but one woman did lose a hand bag and we gained a hood ornament. Just kidding, but we have had some very interesting experiences in the cars here.
We ran out of gas two nights ago going up hill at 11:40 PM on our way home before curfew at midnight! We tried to turn around and start to coast back down the hill but didn't make it and had to stop in the middle of the down hill lane before we hit a ditch. Quickly we jumped out of the car to try and push it away from the ditch but because of the way the turn was banked, we couldn't make it budge.
Cars were zooming by us and we were blocking a lane of oncoming traffic. We had to act fast. So Matthew, using his super human strength lifted the back of the van and set it down facing the way we had come. Or we just kind of turned a little more and missed the ditch. Either way, we started back down the hill.
It was about 5 miles of coasting, 10 minutes of prayer and more then a couple of deep sighs before we reached a gas station within our coasting distance. It was a close call but not as close as the one we had today.

But it is late here and we want to keep you reading our blog so we will save that for another update.

Goodbye for today and God bless,


Matt and Leslie

Wow it has been a roller coaster.

We have received Xhosa names, learned how to drive on the wrong side of the road, got lost in the wrong side of town twice, listened to stories of hope, peace, sadness and great joy. We have led groups for orphans, worked on the academy and have gone on a tour of Robben island where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. So lets start at the beginning (I am going to try to do a new post for each story).

Our names:
Igama lam ngu Kwezi! (q-way c) We were helping out one of the orphan support groups and the wife of the pastor, Llulama, said that we needed to get some more supplies. So Leslie and I went with her to the store (which was an experience in itself) and helped carried the supplies. We were on our way out and she asked if we had Xhosa names yet. We said that we didn't and so she looked at me and said, "Your Xhosa name is Kwezi." I said thanks but had no idea what she meant by it. Later it was explained to us that the people here give us new names. Leslie was given her name later that day. It was also explained to us that it was very unique to receive our names the way we did. Mine means Bright morning star, which is a name that has not been given to a staff before and Leslie's is the female version of the same name. Having names that are similar is also very rare. We were told that it means we look like we are perfect for each other. Very cool!


We love you,

Kwezi and Nokwezi

P.S. I am sorry I can't send any pictures yet. I am not able to get the camera to work, but I will keep trying.

We just wannt to say that we have been very busy and are going to try to relate some of our adventures in this evening so keep checking. Hopefully we will have pictures for you.

We love you all,

Kwezi & Nokwezi (our Xhosa names)

Driving on the wrong side of the road!! This week we have been learning how to drive so that we can get around on our own. Matthew has done great, today is Leslie's turn.
Weekends are free time and yesterday we went hiking outside of Franschhoek in the pouring rain. The mountains are beautiful and look like the Scottish Highlands. At one point the fog was so thick we lost site of the car!
It has been beyond anything we could have imagined. The beauty, the need, the love of the people and the presence of God. Very cool!
We hope to post some pictures soon but we forgot to bring our cable so it might take a while.

We love you all,

Matt & Leslie

Well after two days in the air and transferring from one plane to another, we have made it here! We got a good night's sleep and after a little briefing we went straight to the township of Philippi to check things out.
When we arrived we were shocked and amazed. The scene is one of abject poverty, tin roofs, human waste and dirt. In the middle of the shanties rose a slightly taller green roofed church. This is the Anglican Church of Philippi. We parked in front and walked past workmen putting the final touches on the church for the the commissioning next week.
We were introduced to a number of people both long term staff and orphans. And then came the singing. So much song. Beautiful three part harmony, tribal songs, songs that were written by the orphans and hymns that we could sing along with. The mentality was paradoxical and overwhelmingly good.
We also got to visit one of the families in their home. There where four generations living there (8 or 9) people in the size in a 20 x 10 shack. The Great-Grandmother had bone cancer and it had it so bad it broke her leg. We prayed for her and left; her with our prayers and us with the sobering realization that we are not here to ease the pain and suffering of life. We are beginning to see that our role is that of guide and question askr. This, so they will be able to navigate the pain and chose better paths. So much to learn.
Please pray that our hearts are open to learn and hear what we are to be taught.

Thank you for all your prayers,

Matt & Leslie

If you would like to see where we will be, you can download Google Earth for free and then input these coordinates; 33degrees 51'51.26 South and 19 degrees 02'14.83 East

Peace out

God has a Sense of Humor-

So we got our tickets and are on our way. We will be leaving at 7:45 Am on the first! We are getting really excited to go and almost have all of our papers in order.

The humor comes from an email that was sent by the director of BHI to us saying he was excited to have us coming. After giving us a few more details he asked if either one of us had any experience with tiling and kitchen cabinets. When Leslie and I saw this we both laughed out loud. For the last 7 months out of the 9 we lived in our house we remodeled our entire kitchen. It has been the bane of our existence but we now know that even the most frustrating things in our life he uses for His plan.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement, keep praying for us as we continue to live out this adventure.


Matt & Leslie

So here is the news:
Two weeks ago we got the approval to look up flights and start preparing to go. This was very exciting but also raised some problems. We needed to get our vaccines before our current insurance ran out on Friday. My sister went to South America last year and when she was searching for all the shots she found it cost $150-$500 a person. So we called in our order and asked when we could get our shots. They said they would be ready for us in a few weeks. We were sad that our insurance would not cover this costly necessity but we looked on the bright side. The Lord had provided for us this far in amazing ways so we trusted in his ability to provide for us again.

A week later, and a day before our insurance was out, the doctors office called back and said that they had our orders in. We were excited and asked if we could come and pick them up the next day. They said that they would not be open tomorrow and they closed at 5:15 pm this evening. I looked at my watch. It was 2:55 in Central Oregon. The place to get our shots was two hours away in Salem and Leslie had just started a workout video. I interrupted the singlet clad yoga instructor and explained the situation to Leslie. She asked if I thought we could make it over the pass in time and I said that if we could leave in less then 5 minutes (a miracle for any Adams), there wasn't much traffic on the pass and rush hour was late, we might make it. With a smile of adventure, she said, "Let's go for it!"

I sped...for about three miles. After that we got stuck between no less then three different cars going 45 MPH! I started to freak out. Leslie just prayed for me and her safety as I tried to pass the cars.

At 5:08 we reached Salem.

5:11 the front door. Past the front desk and to the back of the building to the Nurse Treatment center.

5:12 We reached the station for the shots and were directed back to the front desk.

5:13 Margie said, "Yes, deary I can make that appointment for you. Take this number and just sit right over there."

We had made it. By the grace of God and the protection of his angels we made it.
The nurse called our names and met us with 8 needles and a morbid sense of humor.
"Who is the first pin cushion? Oh honey I am only joking; I say that to every one. Now stop hiding behind your wife and come over here."

With Leslie's help I came out from under her coat and sat down on a stool.
2 yelps and one tear later we walked out of the doctor's office pumped full of a weakened form of every major virus, bacteria, plague and infection known to man. All this for only $40 (can we say Provision).

We then began the two hour trip back home and started to cogitate on what we had learned this afternoon like the cardigan shedding points to ponder Mr. Rogers always has at the end of his adventures.

Leslie learned that even grown men hide, needles still hurt and praying when I drive, just might save your life. I learned that planing these things out might actually help my overall stress level and pick up lines that start with "Kiss me I have Typhoid" don't get me very far with my wife.

All in all it is just another testament to both God' character and his desire for us to go over seas. His Love is eternal, his knowledge complete and his strength stalwart.

God Bless

Mateo and Leslie

Hi Everyone,

We have news! Last time I wrote I shared that we were unable to go Africa with Orphans Overseas and that we had contacted Right Now (a ministry with a database of missions opportunities) to try and find a new group to go with. Soon after we contacted Right Now, we were speaking to a friend who was planning on leaving for Africa with a mission organization called Bridges of Hope International. After speaking with her we decided to contact Bridges of Hope. When we contacted them they asked us to fill out an application. The application was 10 pages long!! It took us a few days, but it was well worth it.

Just this last week we had our phone interview and it was amazing. Dennis and Susan Wadley are the couple who started Bridges of Hope about 4 or 5 years ago and they are the ones who did our phone interview. We learned so much, Bridges of Hope has three programs going on in South Africa. One of the programs is a health ministry to the community of Philipi which addresses AIDS and other health concerns. A second program is an after school program for Orphans. In this program they disciple (teach the Orphans about God and living life for Him) the kids and give them a safe place to play. The third program is the one we would be involved in. This program is a Academy and Retreat center. Bridges of Hope has purchased a bed and breakfast with 12 acers just outside of Philipi for the Academy/Retreat Center. The hope is to be able to provide a boarding school for Orphans where they can receive a good education and to provide a retreat center for Pastors, Orphans, and other community members.

Our role is to help develop this program!! We will work along side other Americans and Natives to develop the School/Retreat center. Matthew will be able to use his degree in business to write a business plan for the new program and his skills in the outdoors to build a challenge course. I will have the opportunity to provide counseling to the youth, and to help develop a horse program. We are so excited that the gifts and skills the Lord has given us will fit so perfectly with the need this program has.
This program requires a two week trip for anyone looking into participating in this program for longer term. They provide this opportunity to make sure the people know what they are getting themselves into before committing for the minimum 18 months. We are excited to leave for our two week trip sometime in Oct. or Nov. Please keep us in your prayers. We will begin raising our support this next week and our monthly need is around $3,000 dollars with $8,300 in one time start up expenses (plane tickets, visas, equipment. Many of you expressed a desire to support us in this adventure and if you are still interested we would love include you in our support team.
Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and we hope that you are all well.

Love,

Matthew and Leslie