Kulani Kahle

Jesse, Pastor Shaun and I at the orphanage with some of the kids

Mitch playing with one of the children

Wed 3/31

If home is where the heart is, than I want to go back home.  My heart is in Africa and I am ready to go back.  I am here now and will try to make the best of this situation, but I am planning and counting the days till we get to go back.

So todays post we will answer a few questions.  1.  What's the plan.  2.  What was the trip about  3.  What will you be doing there?  First let me start by thanking all of you for following along and keeping Jesse and I in your prayers.  There were definitely times that we could feel and know that God was going before us and opening doors.  Please continue to keep us in prayer over these next couple of months as we begin to walk out what we feel is the direction that God has set before us.  It won't be easy, and I am expecting some big attacks from the enemy.  I will update the blog periodically as things happen, but probably not daily.   Stay tuned over the next couple weeks as I will begin to upload more pictures now that we are home and have better bandwith.  We also have someone working with us to put together a video that will include a lot of footage from our trip, but also answer the questions above.  So hopefully that will be ready in a couple of weeks as that will be one of our primary tools for raising money.

So back to questions.  1.  What's the plan.  The plan is for us to go back to Africa, this time with our families.  The ideal time frame would be sometime around the first of September.  There is another trip to Lesotho in the works around that time that we would love to be a part of and also there is a Calvary Chapel  Africa Pastors conference in October that we want to be at.  We would travel with the Strauss family to Cape Town where the conference is.  It would give us a great opportunity to meet other Calvary Pastors working in Africa and share our vision and ideas for what God is doing in Durban.  So the plan is to start selling everything, start raising support, and start packing and preparing.

2.  What was the trip all about?  I have felt called to Africa.  We started putting out feelers to see where and what part we wanted to go to.  This opportunity in Durban, South Africa came up.  It felt like a great fit for what our heart was and what are giftings are.  So before I even left I felt like this was where we were supposed to go, but before I moved my whole family there sight unseen (I have done this before with very negative consequences) it seemed wise to make a trip over to spy out the land.  So in my mind I was looking for red flags.  We planned our trip around the churches mission trip to Lesotho to give us a chance to build some relationships with people in the church, but also see how we worked and got along with Pastor Shaun.  As Pastor Shaun says, "we either had to bond or break, and we bonded."  We got along great with the Strauss family.  Got a chance to be a part of 3 Sunday morning services.  We met and hung out with others from the church.  Got a chance to spy out the land as far as the skatepark goes. Please continue to pray about that, we are waiting word from the local school as to whether or not we can use their tennis courts.  So the trip was an opportunity for us to do some mission work while spying out the land and looking for red flags, which I found none.

3.  So what we will be doing there?  Our ministry objective will be threefold.  First, the orphanage.  This is where we will be spending most of our day to day time.  There is a lot of work to be done here.  From administration, to day to day running, to helping coordinate a possible building project to help meet the space requirements.  Ma, who runs the place is currently taking care of 32 orphan children and 4 of her own.  They currently get help from the state for 4 children.  The state has told her she only has the space and staff to take care of 16, so they are constantly threatening to shut her down so that they can bully her into taking more kids off of their hands and not having to pay here.  Some of her kids are not custody of the state at all, but are simply orphan children in her neighborhood that she has taken off the street.  So first area of ministry will be the orphanage.  Second, youth ministry.  We will be helping with the Jr. and Sr. high youth areas in the church.  This will include outreach programs consisting of the skate park, coffee house & music venue as well as the regular youth events.  The long term goal would be a "rocket-town" type place where the skateboarding, music venue, coffee shop would all be under one roof, but the immediate goal is to find a free or cheap outdoor location for the skatepark and begin using the current church building for a youth center which would have some music shows and a place where youth can hang out.  Final area of ministry - Mashai, Lesotho.  It is a place that people are hungry for the Gospel.  The church feels led to begin helping build a church there so that we can make disciples and use it as a launching pad down the road to reach other tribes and villages.  So long term goal would be to build a church there and raise up the church leadership.   Short term goal is to raise enough money to take them a tent hopefully in Sept. that they can begin using for Sunday mornings.  Right now they are meeting in house that can seat about 15 people, and during our trip there were at least a hundred people who came forward to give the lives to God.  So the huge need for them right now is a place where they can all meet together.  Also right now we want to pour into Daniel who is the pastor there right now and try to raise enough money to support him so that he can minister full time.  Right now he has to leave 2 weeks at time to go and work in another village.  Jesse and I went to Lesotho for the purpose of meeting Shaun and building relationships with a few of the people from church, but left with a heart for the Lesotho people and excited about what the Lord was doing there.

So, Orphanage, youth ministry, and Lesotho.  That will be our primary ministry and focus.  So the task before us now is to raise support so that we can make it over there.  As US citizens we are not allowed to work over there and getting a work visa for South Africa is much more difficult than getting a "missionary" visa.  We will also be raising money to help build the skatepark, and the tent for Lesotho.  I will keep you posted on our fundraising endeavors and as thinks happen or we get news from our friends in South Africa I will let you know.

Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Lesotho mission trip video

Monday 3/29

Home Again, Home again.  We were able to catch an earlier flight in DC and our 11 hour layover ended up only being about 3 hours.  So that was a real blessing after the 16 leg of our trip.  I will update more pics and videos later, ready for bed now.

blessings

Sunday 3/28

This is it. Having weird emotions, I am excited to go and see my 
family, but I am sad to leave the Strauss family. They have been 
excellent host and made our trip very nice. Like Shaun said we were 
either going to bond or break. Luckly we bonded or else it would have 
been a really long trip. I wish I could just being going to the 
airport to pick up my family, but I need to go home and get things in 
order. It's nice to be back at a small church, there is alot that 
needs to be and few people to do it, so you feel alot more needed than 
at a bigger church. My opinion anyways. There is much to do here. The 
Lesotho people are hungry for the gospel and calvary chapel 1000 hills 
is anwsering the call to go and make disciples. There is great need 
for youth outreach in forest hills. The orphanage needs tons of help. 
She is receiving money for only 4 kids and should be getting it for 
16. So there is lots of administration that needs to be addressed. We 
would also like to get sponorships going so that folks in America or 
wherever can send a monthly gift to help with school fees, clothes, 
food, and water.

Jesse and I will be working on our videos and trying to get more pics 
up once we get home. The upload speeds are pretty slow in south Africa.

It's 5:30 we are in johansburg sitting waiting for our plane to take 
off. Hopefully we can catch an walker flight tomorrow in dc or we will 
be sitting for 11 hours. We will see. I will let you know what's for 
dinner.

Saturday 3/27

Our last full day here in south Africa. It's hard to believe it's been 
two weeks already. I am ready to go and see my family but I also 
desire to stay and start all that God has laid on our hearts to do. 
These next six months will be hard but exciting at the same time.
We went with the family to have coffee one last time at the pot and 
the kettle. It's the place with the monkeys. We did see a troop of 
monkeys across the street from shaun's house as we were leaving. It 
seems if you have dogs they will stay in the trees and pass over your 
house. I am still looking for a gift for a few people, but I am down 
to airport shopping.
We got back to house and got ready for the bry. There were some people 
from the church that came by and we had a nice time.  We started our 
trip with a bry and ended with a bry. We spent the evening packing and 
spending time with the family. It's been a good trip. I will miss the 
Shaun, Gail, Mitch, Paige, Seth, and Jude, the children at the 
orphanage, the children and people of Masahi in Lesotho. Prayerfully 
we can get back and get started soon. Thanks for taking the journey 
with me and praying thru this adventure with us. We should have some 
more pics and videos to share when we get back. If you, your church, 
your business, or someone you know would like to support our move and 
mission outreach here in Durban South Africa, please let me know. We 
would love the opportunity to share our story and our vision if your 
interested just feel free to email me. We leave at about 2:40 tomorrow 
Durban time so please keep us in prayer. Also pray there would be an 
earlier flight for us in DC so we don't have our scheduled 11 hour 
layover.
Blessings

Friday 3/26

Today Gail ran Jesse and I around a little bit in the morning so that 
Shaun could study for Sunday. We tried out another coffee shop in 
hilcrest which is about 20 mins away. After that we went to another 
mall.  Seems like every mall here has a grocery store attached to it 
so you can do everything at one time. Still looking for gifts for the 
little boys, but there is always the airport. So we walked around the 
mall and grabbe so stuff at the grocery for youth tonight.
Sometimes you forget this a third world country with their big huge 
malls, beautiful beaches, shops a plenty but you are snatched back to 
reality when you see a guy bathing in the house at the gas station, or 
people digging thru the garbage you set out looking for food, or the 
gate the you have to close and lock across your driveway every time 
you leave or come home, or the bars on the windows, or less than 15 
mins from your house pushing water bottles in a wheel barrel. It is a 
different world here, one that will take adjusting. Curious how long 
it will take me to stop seeing everything in American dollars.
We had a nice left over lunch and did a littleore shopping for youth. 
Shaun pulled me aside and we just talked one on one for awhile just to 
make sure we were all on the same page. It was good.
Youth is a little different here. Jr youth is like grade 3-8 and high 
school youth is the year you turn 13. Right now Shaun is doing 
everything so Fridays are pretty crazy for him, but it was a good 
night. Kids are on break Here for two weeks.
Not sure what tomorow holds, but I will let you know.

Thur 3/25

Thursday 3/25

Headed back to the Zulu village shops this morning.  Still looking for 
gifts fir a few people and there is a really cool coffe shop there 
that Jesse likes. Went to a new store that was part of a safari place 
and they had some cool things. Came back to the house for a late lunch.
Sat down with Shaun and Gail and worked on our budget so we have an 
idea of what we need to raise.  Yea it's alot. But I know that God is 
control. I don't say that as a cop out or a crutch but I just know 
that I can't do this in my own strength, which is a good place to be.
Later on we headed back out to the orphanage in hopes of seeing more 
of the children. We saw maybe half of the 36 kids. It is never a bad 
trip. We are all staring to have our favorites children. I asked Shaun 
why they likded us so much is it because we are white, because we are 
guys, or because we are there.  He said it was probably a little of 
both.  I am ready to get back and start spending time there on a more 
consistant basis.
We came back from the orphanage and Jesse and I made a Mexican dinner 
for everyone. Pretty sure it was the first ever Mexican meal for the 
Strauss family.  It was as close to traditional as we could make with 
the ingredients that are available.  They have one type of salsa, old 
el paso that you can get in mild and medium. That's it one brand. 
Tortilla chips, forget about had to go three stores to even find them 
and they were tiny little bags for about $3. Crazy. Never have got to 
try the Chinese place here, but I guess there will be time for that 
later. There is a KFC down the road and you can get ice cream cones 
there for about .30 cents so I am guessing that will be one of our 
treat stops.

Palm Sunday!

"Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!" Today we are remembering Palm Sunday and also I am looking forward to the NEXT time Jesus comes!!! What a day!

I am asking for prayer today as Shelby and Jesse are flying home. They have a long flight and an 11hr layover in Washington DC. We are specifically praying that they can find a flight home from Washington sooner than their flight is planned to leave. Thank you for praying for their safety and health with us!

Blessings,
Andrea

Quick update

For the past 3 days Shelby has not had internet... therefore no updates by him. Sorry! He and Jesse overloaded the Strauss' internet with all the uploading and Skyping. Sorry, Strauss family!!! They did get the Strauss family another gig of internet, but they wont use it because they dont want to use it up again!

Today, Saturday, is Shelby's last full day in South Africa. He sounded a little sad today when I spoke with him. You can hear it in his voice how his heart is already there. I think it is very cool that God has surrounded the trip, and has spoken and confirmed our mission to that particular area of South Africa!!!
Praise God!

Today they had a Bry (b-b-que) with the church. Tomorrow they go to church one last time and then head home later that evening. We will see the guys here at home on Monday evening. Please pray for the remainder of their visit, and for safety in their travels. We cant wait for Shelby to come home!!!

Blessings friends,

Andrea

Gateway Mall

Thursday, March 25, 7:30 AM

todays reading:

"but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year". Deut. 11:11-12

Pretty cool verse, this is known as the valley of 1000 hills.

Yesterday we went to the school in the morning where Shaun shares with a group of 9th grade students every week.  There were about 20 students I am guessing.  They were very shocked at the idea of us leaving America to come to Africa.  They have a very Hollywood idea of America that is completely false.  Shaun did his lesson and then Jesse shared a bit of his testimony and then did some Q&A.  It was very kiff.  After Jesse, Shaun came up and shared some of our vision for the skatepark and the kids got very excited.  The closest place for them to go is about 25 minutes away down in Durban.  They even said they would be willing to pay.  Shaun asked me to close in prayer and they said don't forget to pray about the skatepark.  So that was really cool.

In the afternoon, we went to the largest mall in the southern hemisphere.  It was huge, and we didn't even walk the whole thing.  Its about 30-45 mins from the house and has a nice skatepark in it.  It's not huge but does have a lot of elements; big half pipe, mini ramp, street course, and a little concrete bowl.  There is also a wave riding pool where you can ride mini surfboards or body boards.  They can adjust the waves from 1' to 10' so we sat and watched a few guys ride.  It was pretty cool.

Last night instead of Bible study we did a meeting with the church just explaining to them the heart and vision of what we want to do and where we are going.  It was just nice to share our hearts with them.  We are still praying for the property by the school, that seems like it would be the best situation for getting started.  

Today is some more running around Kloof.  We have some more video to shoot and couple of other little things to pick up for our families.  This afternoon, after school, we will head back out to the orphanage so that we can meet all the kids.  YAY.

Blessings,

Shelby

Wed. 3/24 6:47 am

Yesterday we drove around the area, looking for potential spots to do skateboard outreach and possible a youth   center.  Commercial property here is very expensive, and warehouses are outside of town in unsafe neighbourhoods.  There are some old tennis courts very close by.  Shaun has written letters to the school to see if we could use them.  It would be a nice area.  They are fenced in so the ramps would be secure.  There is power nearby for music and sound and also some street lights and a couple of small spot lights.    So this has become our first choice and we are praying that the school board would allow us to use the property.  They only cost involved would be the lumber for building the ramps, and maybe a small fee to the school every month.  The youth center / coffee shop at this point could be in the building that the church is in.  They have a room upstairs that we could let for another $300 a month and could set up just for youth events and then we could start having some shows in the sanctuary.  So if you could join us in praying, we are asking for favor with the school board because at this point that would be our first choice.

After lunch yesterday, we headed to the orphanage.  I posted some pictures last night.  It was a good trip.  The buildings are a little rough, but they have a lot of space so there is much potential.  They are pretty overcrowded.  Right now she has 36 kids and legally is only supposed to have 16.  She only gets paid from the government for 4, so everything else she is on her own.  They have some chickens that I think they raise for meat more than eggs, and they are trying to grow some veggies.  There were only about 10 of the younger kids there as the rest were still in school while we are there.  The kids were like magnets.  There was not a single second where one the kids was not hanging, climbing, or grabbing Jesse, Shaun, or myself.  It was very kiff.  Not sure how much interaction they get with men.  The needs here are many and this will be the primary focus of our ministry upon moving here.  The youth and skateboarding will just be more like areas in the church where we serve.  We will go back again Thursday, a little later in the day so that we have a chance to meet all the children.

Today, we heading to the school nearby with Shaun where he does a devotional with the 9th grade guys.  Then we are heading down to Durban for some more sight seeing of the area.  Tonight we will have a meeting with the church where we will begin to discuss our vision and what is on our hearts.

This may sound weird, but I am seeking just one more confirmation from God.  Call me Gideon, but this is a very big move and just want to make sure that this is it.  I don't really even know what to ask for specifically, but if you could just pray that in His perfect way and His perfect time, He would just let me know clearly that this is what we are supposed to do.

blessings,
Shelby

KULANIKAHLE- Grow Well in Zulu

Tuesday, March 23 6:26 AM

Well, like I said yesterday was a holiday here in South Africa.  Human rights day, I think.  So we went down to the beach in the morning.  I needed to pick up a little more sunburn to complete my trip.  It was also nice to see the city of Durban in the daylight.  It is a huge city with loads of people.  Where we are in Forest Hills is about 30 minutes from the down town section of Durban.  Forest hills is located in a part of Durban know as the valley of 1000 hills.  When we were at the zulu shops on Sunday, there was a lookout point where you could see all the hills.  They just keep going and going.  You literally descend all the way to Durban.

After the beach, we headed back to the house for lunch.  Then there was lots of talk about future plans.  We are discussing all the options that we have here.  Wednesday night we will be having a church meeting with the body to talk about the vision and the next steps.  We went back out last night and did a little more walking around and checking out an area called Hillcrest.  There are a few little towns all right on top of each other here.  We are in forest hills and then there is Waterfall, Assagay, Bothas Hills and Hillcrest all kinda right on top of each other and within 15 to 20 minutes.  So lots of ministry opportunities.  The church is nicely located to reach all these areas.  We went to a a place for dinner called, Spur.  It was kind of a burger joint with a Native American theme and feel.  Monday is buy one burger, get one free.  They also have a rib burger which was like our McRibb, only better.  I had that.

Again, last night lots of talk about what to do and what would be the best area to focus on.  Today the plan is to visit some commercial spots to see what the cost would be to move the skatepark inside.  We have some land where we could do it outside, but everything would have to be portable and moveable in order to lock up at night.  Then this afternoon we will be going to the orphanage I hope.  That is what I am most excited about, to see what God wants to do there.  From what I understand the could use a lot of help.  34 kids I think being looked after by 1 family.  Mainly the wife in the family because the man is working.  Social services keeps telling them they have too many kids, but then they will turn around and bring them more kids.  Anyway, I am excited about today and I will fill you in later.

Please pray.  I am looking for on more bit of confirmation before I leave.  Not really anything specifically, although maybe it should be.  This is a just a really big step and I am just asking God for that one last stamp of confirmation.  Thanks

blessings

Shelby

Sunday March 21

Church day.  Was very nice.  Great group of believers and nice time of worship, teaching, and fellowship.  Came home and had lunch and then went to some of the Zulu shops.  You can find all sorts of hand made jewlery and that sort of stuff.  Bought some gifts for the women in my life.  Not alot there for the boys, but we will find something for them.

Stop at a little restaurant to have a drink.  I tried the lime shake, thanks to Cody Berger for recommending that.  They have monkeys here like we have squirrels.  they would run down to the tables and steal the sugar packets and then run back up in the trees and eat the sugar.  Very cool to watch.

Tomorrow is a Holiday here in Africa, so we are going to take a much needed rest/sabbath and head down to the beach.  May even try my hand at surfing, we will see. 

Tuesday I think we are heading to the orphanage which I am most excited about.  That is what I am most looking forwarding to.

Opposition today from a very unexpected source.  I guess that will happen, just threw me off my game a bit, but trying not to let anyone or anything steal my joy.

blessings,

3/20 March 20th

I am back in Durban and will be posting my journal entries and will try to upload some photos.  Upload speeds are very slow here.  thanks for all your prayers.

Shelby

Friday March 19 11:41 pm Durban

Friday March 19 11:41 pm Durban

Long day breakfast was about seven, I got up at 6 and had my last 

quiet time on the mountain. Shortly after breakfast we started packing 

and taking down the tent and loading everything up. We were short a 

vehicle going back so three of us (me included) had to ride back in 

the back of a truck. We had a lot less stuff coming back so we had a 

little room. We blew up an air matress to sit on. We left masahi about 

8:30am. We drove on mountain dirt roads for about three hours. Stopped 

for lunch about 1:30 and got into Fitchburg at about 4:00. Even with 

putting sunscreen on twice today, I still got baked from riding in the 

back. My legs and arms are pink. But I will take sunburn over stomach 

issues any day. I managed to stay healthy all week which was good.  We 

went straigtaway to the spar and got some water. Took showers. Then we 

went to kfc for dinner. I came up after dinner and started working on 

editing footage so we could do a video on Sunday. I will try to get 

some stuff uploaded just havnt been getting really good upload speeds.

It was a great trip, something that I will never forget, but now our 

trip is really just getting started. We need to go to the orphanage, 

check out some houses, check out some possible skate park venues, 

visit lumber store so that I can figure skate park prices, of course 

we have to go to the beach at least once, set up some interviews for 

our video, etc., etc.

Up early for breakfast at 7 and then on the road again for another 5 

hours but this time in a car not the back of the truck.  This hotel 

doesn't seem neAr as bad after a week in masahi.  Can't wait to skype 

with the family, it's been really hard having no communication with 

them at all.

     

Thursday 3/18 8:23 pm

Thursday 3/18 8:23 pm

This is our last day here in Durban.  I am crying as I write this. 

Outside our tent they are playing the passion of the Christ for the 

village. I don't know if these people have ever even seen a movie, yet 

alone something this powerful. I can hear women and children crying as 

they drive the steaks into my savior hands. I don't understand much of 

what the translator say but perirodically he just cries; my jesus, my 

Jesus.

These are a beautiful people. We forget in our comfortable American 

houses that there are people who need the gospel. Today is the day of 

salvation and that his been true every day here in Lesotho. The only 

problem that I see is that god sai to go and make disciples, not go 

and make converts. Calvary chapel 1000 hills is praying thru the best 

way to do that. Pastor Shaun feels it best to stay in this area as 

appossed to moving from tribe to tribe. There has been some land 

donated to the church and righ now the plan is to build a building 

that can be used as a church and also as a base for our mashasi 

outreach. As you stand and look from where we are you can look and see 

other tribes on adjacent mountains. Yesterday and today we drove to 

different villages and did open air outreaches and both days were very 

fruitful. It seems the fields are ripe with harvest. We also found a 

inn/hotel down the road where we can stay if we need to just come up 

for a quick weekend trip. It is rough, but it is inside, and has 

indoor plumbing.

So as for today. Last night was the coldest it has been all week. It 

is crazy how much the weather changes here from day to night.  Jesse 

is still sick. He threw up last night and has spent most of the day 

sleeping. What a sucky place to be sick. After breakfast and devotions 

we headed down to the river to bath. I was tryin to go all week 

without one, but broke down. It was more mentally refreshing than 

anything and really re-enegized me. Who knew? Gary let Jesse drive the 

truck back so I guess he was feeling ok this morning and got worse 

this afternoon. I got to teach the final session for today and for the 

week today on 1 Timothy 6. It was fun, I had Jacob for a tranlator and 

I think thAt it went well. Shaun said I am definetley a calvary 

pastor, so that was kiff (cool). Tom had told Shaun earlier in the 

week that he felt like he was suppossed to offer me his second 

sesssion, so I was like yes I would love to. So anyway that was cool 

to be a part of that. So we went after lunch and did the open air 

outreach. We stopped at the little hotel we found and bought some soft 

drinks. We are very low on drinking water and it was nice to have a 

drink. Mike had to use the b/r so we left him there. Gary went back to 

pick him up though. It has been nice building relationships with Gary, 

mitchell, Tom, and Shaun. Now when we come back we had friends and 

found memories. The others on our team were justin, rolph, and 

Veronica from another church in Durban; and mike from cape town.  Mike 

is being called to go start a work in Madagascar so maybe future trips 

will be up there to help him out.

I hope that I have captured enough on film. It is tough to take the 

camera everywhere but I have done my best to get an overall idea of 

what we were doing, the people, and the place.

I miss my family. Two more days and I we will be able to talk with 

them. It's hard to be away, but to be away with no communication is 

really hard.

We have a long drive down the mountain tomorrow on terrible dirt/

gravel roads. The hotel that we stayed at in ficksburg sounds alot 

better now than it did the first time.

I am ready to move, better yet I will stay and just have Andrea sell 

everything and come. There is so much ministry here and we havnt even 

been to the orphanage yet. We have talked about the skateboarding 

outreach but will get to look at some places when we get back to 

Durban. Just hard to imagine that we are not supposed to come.

Don't think I have mentioned it bit will now quickly and then I must 

get to bed as we have an early start.  2 things about the Lesotho 

people 1. There is no concept of time here. They basically start when 

everyone is there. They go to bed at dark and wake up at daylight. 

Everything is twenty minutes away even it takes an hour. 2. The people 

here love to dance. We start to play music at the open air outreach 

and you can look around and see people dancing all around the village. 

Worship is alot of singing and dancing and can go on for awhile 

followed by a sermon more singing and another sermon. Sometimes there 

may be three or so sermons in one night.

It's 9:12 and as hard as it is to imagine i am going to bed. When in 

Lesotho do as the lesothians.

Wed 3/17

Another good day here in Lesotho.  Still no shower now going on day 4.  Just the good old baby wipe down.  I don't think any of the lesotho people will complain.  Maybe the guys in the truck on the way home, but oh well.  Took a walk up to the top of the hill thinking the village stopped, but it just kept going. There is a school there on the other side.  The children here are amazingly beautiful.  In our standards they have nothing, but the smiles on their face tell you they have everything.  It is fun playing soccer with the older kids, but tag with the younger ones is my favorite.  There is a girl here probably two we were playing peek a boo last night at church and then some soccer this morning.  This afternoon I was playing with the older kids and she was on the side screaming & waving until I would look at her.  We would start doing this little dance and the soccer ball would fly by and remind me that I was in a soccer game.

The weather here is pretty crazy.  It can be blazing hot one minute and then the sun will go behind a cloud and its quite chilly.  I got some pictures of a guy builidng a house.  He just stood there posing not understanding I wanted action shots.  We went to a different trive this afternoon and did worship and testimonies and teaching.  Again many people responded to the gospel.  It is awesome to watch and be a part of.  I went and talked with the village elder, but they seemed to all be drunk and not real entrested in what we were doing.

Gary, myself, Jesse, and Pastor Daniel (the local pastor) drove up to the school today and we talked with the principal and some of the teachers and some good pics of the children.

Tomorrow I teach.  Kinda weird not having my normal resources, just my Bible.

The stars here are amazing.  We are at 10,000 ft avove sea level and no lights at all, you feel like you could grab them.  Asking God for confirmation that we were suppossed to move here and there was a huge shooting star.   One of those great big ones that left a streak for a couple of seconds.  It was very kiff (cool)

Tues March 16

6:30 AM the scenery here is amazing, not sure that it can be captured in a photo, but I have tried.  Thanks to Gary we all have tents and air mattresses to sleep on  I like him and I am beginning to understand his sense of humor.  Shaun is apparently feeling better today.  praise God.

The people here sleep with the rising and setting of the sun.  Already there is activity everywhere.  Women carrying water, kids playing, and smoke rises from villages across the valley.

It was cold last night and even this morning, there is a slight chill in the breeze.  As the sun rises I fell the need to lose my sweatshirt.

Like my son, I already have a leg covered with bug bites.

Numbers 16 - Moses continues to stand in the gap for a disrecptpful, unrepentant people and continues to turn away the wrath of God.  Will I stand in the Gap?

-Evening-

Today was a good day  I got to drive a car with right steering wheel, stick shift.  Not only that but it was like rock crawling.  It was pretty fun.  Shaun did a devotion on Romans 10:14 & Isiah 52:7.

We had to drive to the river to get water for washing dishes.  Makes you appreciate how easy we have it here in the states.  After devos and b-fast I drove with gary back in to town to buy light bulbs.  We had 5 hours in the car and it was exactly the reason we came to build some relationships.  After coming back from town we did some outreach in our village with the children.  There were about 100 children there.  They were very open to the Gospel.

After the outreach, we started playing soccer.  The big kids didnt want the little kids to play, so I took the little ones and started playing tag.  That was fun, but I am old and Lesotho kids are very fast.

Worship/outreach tonight.  worship last for a couple of hours, with lots of dancing.  After worship, Pastor Shaun shared the word and lots of people came forward to give their hearts to Christ.  Praise God

Awesome day, and Shaun asked if I would teach a session on Thursday on 1 Timothy 6.

Monday 3/15

Monday 3/15

Numbers 14:8-9

Seems like we have been here longer than 4 days. My sleep is restless 
but about six hours last night. There were a couple of times yesterday 
that I found myself dosing off but I think I had alot to do with 
sitting and doing nothing.

We slept on top of our sheets last night, as I am still slightly 
weired out by this hotel. Jesse says he has stayed in worse, but not 
sure I can say the same.  There is something living in our walls. If I 
was home I would say it was a rat, but this Africa so who knows. Oh 
wait now there's two.

This morning we cross the border into Lesotho. They say it should take 
about an hour.  As we drive into the mountains they say we will drive 
one kilometer forward and 1.3 kilometers up.  So yea pretty much 
straight up. 6 hours to go 250 kilometers.

6:00 pm durban time what a day. We are finally here. Lots of difficult 
driving. We had a great breakfast at the hotel and then got on the 
road about 8:30. Made it thru customs with no problems. Never really 
ate lunch had some snacks on the way. Currently we are sitting and 
waiting to find out where we can set up. We need to set up the big 
tent and also ou personal tents and also start making dinner. This 
Africa time thing is very difficult sometimes. We have alot to do and 
are losing daylight fast.

I have a fever blister breaking out on my face not sure if it's stress 
or what.

The quote of the day would be "give me sweets". Every village w came 
to the children would run out to the road and say give me sweets, so 
obviously at some point they have been given handouts. It's hard to 
put into words what you see. The scenerary is breath taking. Never 
ending mountains. And then just randomly there are villages spread out 
thru out the trip. You see kids in uniforms walking miles for school 
and others naked or barefoot standing in front of their homes. 
Handouts are obviously not the answer, and quite frankly I'm not even 
sure what they are missing. The would have never known sweets if 
someone would have never introduced them.

I don't know what time we were suppossed to get here or what we were 
suppossed to get done, but I know we were late and the only got out 
tents set up, the big tent up, and ate.

The is no power, water, or electricity.  There are many children oddly 
enough smiling, laughing and having fun. Within minutes of us stopping 
the trucks and all gathering around trying to figure things out we had 
a crowd. The stood their distance not knowing what to think. They were 
spread out just watching us watching them. Well Shaun had went to meet 
the cheif so I decided it was time to meet our neighbors. I walked 
towards some of the younger ones and they quickly retreated. I backed 
up towards the cars and waited a minute before I decided to try again. 
This time I headed to the oldest boy. I remember saying out loud (as 
if he could understand) you must be the leader. We shook hands and 
suddenly they were running and lining up to shake hands. We played 
some soccer and then proceded to make camp.

Shaun is sick it is weird really it didn't happen till we pulled into 
camp and he met with the leaders.  Sounds like vodoo magic to me. We 
had pb& j for lunch and it is off to bed early.

Sunday March 14

Sunday March 14

The church in Africa is a mile wide and an inch deep. Pastor Shaun.

So on our way to lesoto and we stopped at the garage (gas station) to 
use the rest room and stretch and while using the restroom there was a 
lady in there cleaning like it was no big deal. Oh and while we are on 
the subject of restrooms, apparently if you need to use the restroom 
while driving in Africa just stop wherever and go for it. Pretty nice.

Oh and I saw my first African zebra and a spring buck. Jesse says he 
saw a monkey but he has no witness so it doesn't count.  But, two 
other people saw my zebra so it counts. Shelby 1, Jesse 0.

African to American dictionary
Lekker = nice
You dig it? = you like this?
Now now = within the hour, example -I will call you now now
Just now= later on today, example - I'll see you just now
Baggies = board shorts
Slips = flip flops
Howzit = how you doing?
Bry = bar b que
Robots = stoplight
Biltong  = kinda like beef jerkey, but with weird 
meets, ostrich, game, etc
Sharp sharp = cool
Jol=fun

Good for now

7:30 just arrived in fiksburg, free state, south Africa.  Heading to 
Lesotho in the am. Very scary hotel oh and there is a community 
bathroom. Jesse and I are sharing a room with two twin beds, pushed 
together all romantic like. Heading to spar to get some pies. ( I will 
explain later)

8:36 (Durban) so still here in the lovely town of fiksburg. Went to 
spar (grocery store) to get some pies (pop pies) but they were all 
out. So we went to kfc (only restaurant in town) but they were closed, 
but the drive thru was open. So, we walked through the drive thru. 
When we went to order they were out of chicken. Hmmmm kfc with no 
chicken. But they still had chicken wraps....hmmm don't chicken wraps 
have chicken? So we ordered our food, walked around to the window and 
low and behold there were other guys from our group inside.....hmmmm 
but I thought they were closed. So we got our food and went inside. 
Very weird night.

Spent 6 hours in the car with Shaun, mike, and Jesse. The only guy who 
felt the need to pass gas those 6 hours was guess who??? Jesse fuller

So still trying to figure out our transportation situation. We lost 
one of our vehicles.  But god is in control. We were studying in acts 
this morning in chapter 13 about the pauls first missionary trip, the 
first place he went, the first thing he did - PREACH, and then what 
happened? Opposition. So when we are doing the work of the Lord and 
preaching the gospel we should expect opposition.

Church was really good.  There is something sweet about being  at 
small church. Everyone knows everybody. It just has a family feel. 
Reminds me of our koininia nights back at bible college. They don't 
drink coffee before church, but after everyone hangs out and drinks 
coffee after.  It was really good.

We spent alot of time on the drive up here just talking about the 
vision. At this point we are thinking about trying to find something 
in door and see what we could find. Right now we would like to be back 
here by the middle of October at the latest. There is the African 
pastors conference that we would lke to go to. So still praying for 
wisdom and discernment but there is a lot of need here for ministry. 
It all seems like what god has been working on our heart for a long 
time.

Saturday 3/20

I am back in Durban and will be posting my journal entries and will try to upload some photos.  Upload speeds are very slow here.  thanks for all your prayers.

Shelby

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Thank you and many blessings,
Andrea

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Update from Andrea

Hi everyone,

Today We got to Skype with Gail and Paige. Brie and Paige talked for about 2 hours and Brie ended up talking with a slight accent... it was very funny!!! Drew and I had a good time giggling at her.

Gail told us that Shelby had the opportunity to teach yesterday (our today). He loves to teach so I am sure it was a huge blessing! She said 60 people got saved!!! I can't wait to hear all the details. Then last night they showed the movie Passion of the Christ and 30 more got saved. The guys must be on a high! I am so excited that God has been working and that the guys have gotten to be a part of this.

Gail said she has never heard of so many salvation's except in the book of Acts :) Way to go God! We are also so thankful for all the pastor training that they have done all week. All of these new converts will have pastors to lead them.

The team is leaving Lesotho tomorrow. We are still praying for good weather so that the roads can be driven on. They have a full day of travel tomorrow and then another half day on Saturday. I am hoping we can Skype with Shelby on Saturday evening. We are all looking forward to seeing his face.

I am thankful for the bond with the Strauss family already. How wonderful the body of Christ is!!! He continues to blow me away with His care for us!

Thank you for your prayers!

Blessings,

Andrea

New update from Gail (Shaun's wife)

Hi everyone!
Gail wrote me a little note today and it made my heart so happy!!! She told me that 30 people gave their lives to the Lord yesterday evening at the first evangelism outreach!!!

She also told me a little story: The boys were all sleeping the other night and then heard a pack of wild dogs come into their camp, normally this could be very scary. The dogs were trying to get at the food supply.  Jesse, clad in thermal underwear, ran around the camp yelling and the dogs bolted!!! If you know Jesse you can actually picture him doing this and this picture has given me and my kids a good belly laugh. Gail said she is learning he is quite a character... I agree!

Today we got to Skype with Gail and her daughter Paige. First off I am reminded that the unity in Christ is a wonderful thing. He has made it so that we are knit together in our hearts by Him, we are bound together by Christ. It is a wonderful thing to meet someone, over Skype, and have such a bond in Christ and His body! It is something to be truly thankful for.

Todays update for us, from the boys, was that today they had pastor training again and it is going well. This afternoon they did door to door evangelism and 50 more people received Christ! WOW!!! Tonight they were doing street evangelism again so prayerfully more will come to salvation.
Some in the group have some bumps and bruises and "runny tummies". Please keep them in prayer and their tummies :)
The boys have also asked that we pray for good weather for Friday. The roads are sandy and when it rains the roads turn to mud and they wont be able to drive out of the mountains. Please keep this in prayer so that they can leave on Friday.

It is good to hear that the Lord is working and taking care of the guys! I can't wait till Saturday when we can Skype again with Shelby. We all miss his face and talking to him.

Blessings,
Andrea

Update from Andrea

Everyone that is stopping by to check in on Shelby and Jesse you are very much appreciated. We are blessed by all the prayer that has been surrounding us!

I heard from Gail today, Pastor Shauns wife. She said that they got to Mashai in Lesotho. They got there a little late in the day yesterday and just had time to set up camp, eat and sleep. Today is their first day of pastor sessions and tonight will be their first night of evangelical outreach. Please pray!!!

It is good to know the guys are safe and I am sure they are being blessed to serve the Sotho people. I can't wait to hear all about it when we have communication again.

Blessings and thank you for covering all of us in prayer,
Andrea

Sunday 3/14

Another good nights sleep, seems like maybe we are past the jet lag.  Had a little storm come thru in the night and cooled things off quite a bit.

Love skyping with the family, it is going to be hard to make it this week without being able to see everyone.  My kids and Shaun's kids talked last night for about an hour and had a chance to ask all their questions.  Life here is not much different than back home.  Simpler, a lot simpler.  Lot less multi-media.  TV, computers, and cell phones do not run there lives.  Lots of hanging out and talking.  Kicking it old school.  Reminds of when the power went out during the hurricanes in Florida.

Well we just got back from church, not much time to stay on, we are leaving for Lesotho soon.  Have to eat lunch and then we are heading out.  I will have to put off my language lessons until we get back next week.f

Please pray for us this week.  We are heading deep into Lesotho.  Very rural county.  Pray for our safety, against spiritual opposition, and pray that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would fall on fertile ground in the hearts of the Sotho people.

Blessings
Shelby

south africa - day 2

Keep waiting for the jet lag to kick and so far, so good.  Got about 5 hours of sleep last night and got tired a couple of times today, but never felt like I was going to pass out or anything.


Nice laid back day today.  We got up had oatmeal for breakfast.  went and did a little shopping at the local mall.  very nice place had a lot of the creature comforts at home.  had some African beef jerky, learned you have to specify what kind of meat you want or else its not very tasty.


Had some friends over to our bry (bar b q) mostly just talking about the trip tomorrow.  We leave about 2PM (Durban time) for a 6 hour drive, stay the night, and then about 3-4 hour drive on Monday to end up in Lesotho.  please continue to pray for that trip.  We recently had one of the guys cancel and are in need of another vehicle to make the trip in.  


Thanks I am falling a sleep as I write this, I will update you tomorrow on all the new fun words i am Learning.




Blessings
Shelby

some pics while we were traveling

Arrival

We are here.  After about 25 hours of travel, we have arrived, and yes we have found wi-fi.  Unfortunatley I have the wrong power converter, so I will keep this short for now and try to conserve a little bit of power for tomorrow.

I finally got to skype with the family, the last time we talked was about 20 hours ago before I left DC.  That was nice.  It is almost 1 am here in Durban and we have been up talking with Pastor Shaun and his family for a little bit.  Now its time for a shower and see I can get some sleep even though my body is telling me its time for dinner.

They speak English here, but I am learning a lot of new funny words for things.  Not much planned for tomorrow, rest, a bry (south african for bar-b-q), and buying a converter, and maybe a prepaid phone, so i can talk to the family more often.  I will try to get some pics uploaded, but thanks to my wife for getting some on earlier today.

blessings
Shelby

Continuation of Day 1

6:30 (Durban) just landed in johannesburg. Made it thru customs and 
then back thru security to board our next flight. I have my first 
stamp on my passport. Have an hour and half till our last flight to 
Durban.  This airport is huge and is very very hot. Still no wifi, but 
our quest continues. Oh and the really nice guys that offer to walk 
you to your gate, they want money.

7:10 (Durban) first off all subways are not created equal. Really 
thought that was a safe choice but now I am praying that it doesn't 
make me sick. Just trust me. There is no free wi fi anywhere in the 
airport and not sure if it's worth having to put in my credit card for 
a few moments online. Would be nice to talk or text with my family but 
maybe when we get to pastor Shaun's a little later.

There was a man working in the bathroom mopping floors and whistling 
that song, don't worry be happy, which as a side note will now be 
stuck in my head for a few days. But as a previous janitor I know that 
being able to whistle that song while you are working in a mens room 
means your a man who likes his job.  So whatever you do, do it as unto 
the Lord. We should be a happy and joyious bunch, mental picture - we 
should be Tigers not Eeyore's (Winnie the pooh reference). So like the 
old disney song - whistle while you work.

8:07 (dur) boarded and headed for Durban where hopefully we can find 
some wifi

9:26 (dur) touchdown, now 30 minute car ride, hopefully a shower, and 
maybe some wifi????


The above was from Shelby, now the below part is from Andrea:


We were so excited to actually get to see Shelby and speak with him!!
It was hard not talking for a whole day, but we are blessed to know he
is safe and there in Durban. We even got to say hi to the Strauss family.
Thank you Strauss' for taking care of my honey while he is away.


Shelby told us that is is VERY weird driving on the wrong side of the road.
I have never done that and bet it will be something that you adjust to over
time. EEK! Thank you all again for your prayers and support.


Love,
The Renders