Christmas gifts

On Christmas Eve, we gave our kids Sunday church clothes. They were adorable! The girls got blue and black striped dresses, with black tights, black shoes and a black cardagin, and the boys had matching blue dress shirts, blue and black striped ties, black pants, belts and shoes. we lined the gifts up on a table in the room, with a chair for each kd with thier gift. We then blind folded the kids and led them to thier chair, where they had to wait with the blindfold on till everyone was ready. We ten had them take off their blindfold and as fast as they could, give the gift in front of them to its rightful owner (we mixed them up). After that, we counted to thirty, because we are choir thirty and had the kids open thier gifts. The next part gave me chills, and nearly brought tears to my eyes. The kids screamed for what could have been about 2 minutes straight and jumped up and down, screaming, and ran up to us, hugging us and running around. I've never seen anyone in my life get so excited about one gift as these kids did. We had them try them on. I remember sitting there and thinking why it is that these kids were so excited. Probably becuase this is the nicest thing they've ever owned, and definitly the only dress the girls have owned that is new. I went into the hallway, where the girls were jumping around, giggling and squealing with excitement.




They felt like princesses. as I sat there and told them how beautiful they were, i got this chill, realizing that every girl, no matter who it is, just wants to feel beautiful, and to be told that. These girls have never really felt that beautiful before. Oh, to have that kind of thankfullness for one outfit. They kept twirling in thier dresses, and smiling, and begging me to take one more picture of them. It was a moment where I realized on a clearer note what I'm doing, and even if this was the only meaningful moment this year, that moment of those girls feeling like a princess made it all worth it. When we had the girls walk out, they began jumping and shreaking when they saw the boys. It was a moment of hormones:) but also it was really amazing to see thse kids just appreciate how beautiful they looked. The whole thing gave me chills. They went to dinner that night and sang two songs at the Christmas Eve Service. It blessed me so much to see these kids so happy.

Sledding behind the ATV!



Me and Sarah on the sled:)


The kids perform in thier new Sunday clothes! They looked adorable! Christmas Eve Service in Hordville, Nebraska

The kids show off thier new Sunday Clothes!


Sledding behind an ATV!


Fanta's Santa hat!

Visiting Father Christmas!

Waiting for Santa! He ended up being grumpy!



My mom always made my brother and I get a picture with Santa, so this year, she asked me to get one with the kids, and my brother and sister in law had to get a picture with Santa....




Me and Halima

Those things! They are cutting!

Yes, the things that Jackie was talking about were the prickles on my unshaved legs. The beauty of winter and getting to sit in the hot tub, is that many of my kids are fascinated with arm and leg hair, something that Africans don't have. Frequently, when I'm wearing a short sleeved shirt, a few kids will come up and stroke my arm, as if my arm hair is the most intesting thing they have seen all day. In the hot tub, if it's been more then a day since I decided to shave, my girls love to touch my legs, and say things! In this particular hot tub excursion, Jackie said "ahhhh! these things, they are cutting ahh! auntie!" Yes, they are in fact leg hairs:) something they are learning about! I was trying to explain how mazungus shave them... hehe

Missionary pick up lines

Travelling around from place to place makes for some interesting stories... particularly because you are meeting so many people. I've met some interesting ones, and I've come to a few conclusions about the Christian dating scene... Genereally in non-Christian circles, it's a bar where people will toss out a pick up line or two in hopes that a girl might take them up on thier offer. In Christian circles, the "bar" is church:) Church is "the place" to find someone, although unlike in a bar, instead of for a one night stand, it might be that a guy seems to have been "led by the Holy Spirit, that you seem to be the one for Him. He's done a lot of praying in the last 2 hours, and decdided that you are just the one for him." I've also learned that working in ministry is funny, because there are specififc lines for missionaries., and I wanted to share a few of the ones i myself,and the other ladies I'm working with have recieved that have made for a good laugh. At one place, I needed to go get some lower bills for change for my product table. The pastor said that he had a guy who could give me a ride to the grocery store. Anyways, as we got in the car, the pastor tells the guy to not get lost, and he says "i dont know she's really pretty, we might just get lost." Then as we proceed on what i think is an incredibly awkward ride, he proceeds to ask me all sorts of questions. How old am i, how long i've been working here, where i'm from etc.. then asks me if i have a boyfriend. But the great missionary pick up line would be "so how did you get involved in this ministry? Well, i just graduated from college... blah blah... "ohhhh.... it must take an amazing person to do the kind of work that you do." Seriously, what is that? Missionary pick up lines, using the word of the Lord to try to butter up a girl... haha, it's funny! anyways, it makes for great stories! I also had a leader of one church call me baby, ummmmm one thing about me, is that i HATE the name baby, and that's about the biggest turnoff out there...

Workouts!

Silly faces


Arm exercises



And Legs

The kids show off thier new Bibles at Thanksgiving!




Enid blows bubbles!



Anna in the snow!

First Snowfalls

The Friday after Thanksgiving, we moved from a church to a camp to spend the rest of the weekend. I was a little worried when we got to the camp, because we didn't know what we were going to do with the kids all of Saturday, and we were out in the middle of nowhere... so there we were thnking we would have to be very creative in how to enterain the kids for a full day. But on Friday night, it began to snow, and snowed all night, so there was a nice, beautiful white layer on the ground when we woke up Saturday morning! The kids were thrilled! It is quite an experience to see people who've never watched snow fall before, to see them experience it for the first time. They were squealing, and saying the funniest things! "Auntie, look, it's shiny! Ahhhhhh Auntie, it's COLD! Auntie, it's white!"





After breakfast, we played in the snow! We had two sleds, which wasn't very many for 26 kids, but they waited thier turn.Jacob kept throwing snowballs at me. And i spent a great deal of the morning chasing boys who threw snowballs at my head. Faulanta, Jackie, and Halima made thier first snowmen! They weren't exactly large snowmen, only being about a foot tall, but they were proud of thier snowmen! Anyways, this will be the first of many snow adventures with our kids! I'm very excited!

Thanksgiving thoughts

I spent Thanksgiving with all of my kids, and the chaperones. Because its a bit intrusive to stay in host families over the holidays, we stayed at a church... all of us together... It was fun, we made a wall of sheets that separated the girls room from the boys room, (although we were all sacked out on the floor).. made meals for the kids, and watched The Sound of Music and Cinderella on Thanksgiving day. Because this was much different from a holiday that I am used to, God showed me more of why I have sooo many reasons to be thankful for what He's given me. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at another church. When getting there,




I realized that we were just about the only people under the age of 75 there. My initial reaction was "yeesh, what are we even doing here? This is wierd, and we all feel so out of place." However, as I sat back, I realized the reason these people were all there was because they didn't have any family to spend Thanksgiving with. I think many of them were from a retirement home. As the dinner went along, I became more and more aware of how blessed I am just to have somewhere to go on Thanksgiving! This was the first time in my life I didn't have a family to spend it with. Through the course of the day, God changed my outlook from sadness, homesickness and wishing I could be with my family, to realizing that there are so many people in the world that never have people to spend the holidays with.




As I sat there and looked at my kids, God reminded me that many of my kids not only don't have family to spend the holidays with, but have never really celebrated as we would, because they don't have the means to do so. God really blessed our day. He helped me to have some more perspective, and helped us to be able to enjoy our day with our kids. Watching movies is a HUGE deal to our kids, because they never really get to do it. Also, we gave them thier Bibles, thank you Trinity Church! They LOVED them! I wish i would have gotten thier reaction on tape! They were screaming, cheering and whistling (Africans really know how to cheer, it's funny:)! Then, as I gave them to them, they immediatly started reading them, and they love reading them! Every night at the host family, my girls ask me if they can read. Oh how blessed we are, to have kids who are seeking after the Lord!
I am incredibly blessed!

Countdown for Tour Events as of November 7,2007:

Number of Homestays at so far: 29

Number of times I've left something at a host family: 3 (not too bad)

Number of pick up lines from creepy janitors at churches: 3

Number of times I've been asked what brought me to do this work, my major and where I'm from: Way too many to count

Number of times someones mistaked the girls for boys: 3

Number of hugs recieved from kids: 28-30 per day!

Number of host families who wanted me to let them break the rules: A lot!

Number of bad host family stays: 1

Number of times boys fought over who carries my things: at least once every day!

Number of ugly, torn or wayyy too big clothes tossed: dozens

Number of times God has blessed our Group in huge ways: 4

Number of times I've packed my bag, dragged it to the back of the bus, then loaded other kids' bags: 48

Number of lost teeth: 15

Number of kids that have grown over two inches since getting here: 3

The other night, we took the kids swimming and Jenny and I were in the hot tub. We decided to get in and swim with the kids. I swam with Anna for about a half an hour. After swimming was completely over, Beth mentioned that Anna had puked in the water about five minutes before Jenny and I got in the water..... mhmmmmmm, nasty, yay for parenting!

Back in Iowa

The other night, I had the opportunity to bless a family that I was staying with. They were a young couple, and had 14 pets, interestingly... Anyways, they had a rental house and as of 8:30 Tuesday night had not painted the kitchen or part of the living room. Anyways, they were both really stressed about it, because the dad had to work at 5 the next morning. Anyways, i decided to offer to paint for him, so he could go to bed and stay with the kids. So the host mom and i spent about 4 hours painting thier living room and kitchen, so that the person that needed to move in could. He was scheduled to move in the next day. Anyways, its funny how God sometimes just drops things in your hand that really bless someone else. I didn't realize until afterwards, but i think it really blessed them. So yay:)

So this is hilarious! This is Faulanta, she's 9, and it was her first time bowling...:) Several of the host families decided to go bowling on this night, and it was funny to watch the girls try to bowl. I must say bumpers make me feel much better bout myself:)

Fargo, North Dakota- hanging out with the Lost Boys

On Sunday, we had three concerts as usual. On Sunday morning, in West Fargo, Fox news came to the church and wanted to film and interview a couple kids and chaperones, so we did that. I think they were on Fox news Sunday night. But then, we drove to Fargo, and had a concert that night. When we arrived there, the church leaders told us that a group that had made the documentary about the "lost boys" was in town that night, for a showing of thier movie, and a talk back session. Apparently, Joseph, one of the ones who the story was written about grew up in Fargo, so he came back for a visit, and to present his story. The Lost boys story is kinda famous; at least amoung Christian circles right now. It's a story of two boys from Sudan who hike for hundrends of miles alone to safety, and then become educated and succesful adults. Anyways, so Joseph, one of the guys that the movie is actually about, and Jacob, another African man who was involved in making the movie, along with a couple of film makers came to our concert, wanting to film our kids. They are making a second part to this documentary, and wanted to show some footage of our kids singing for thier new movie. Anyways, so we had them sign a release, but the organization hasn't yet okay-ed whether or not they can use the footage. But we will see. Anyways, it was kinda cool, because i got to speak with Joseph, and then members of our group went to the showing of his movie. It's quite a neat opportunity to meet so many different kinds of people:) i thought this was cool!

God Always Provides what you need, and sometimes so much more

Two nights ago at the church we were staying at, us chaperones heard word that a man wanted to take us shopping to get some things for the kids. He was an Egyptian man, and had not himself come to the concert, but his son had come, and apparently called him about us. He's from Egypt, and was just visiting North Dakota, however, he was very interested in taking us shopping. So Jenny, our tour leader went with him,and the pastor to Wal-Mart, the pastor was sort of a translator, because the guy didn't speak fluent English. As the began thier spree, he asked her what we needed. She said, oh we could use some snow boots for the kids. So, the get 26 pairs of boots into a cart for the kids. The guy looks at her and says "what else, i want to get you more!" so she thinks for a second and says, "well, we could use another pair of pajamas for the kids, " and in goes 26 pairs of pajamas. Then, he says, well what else? so she has to think hard, and says, well some of the boys' pants don't fit so well, so they get more pants. By this point, there are three carts full of stuff! The man looks at her, wanting to get more and she said, honestly i can't think of anything else we need, but you have given us so much! thanks! he seemed disapointed that he couldn't give us more, so the pastor suggested that he get us a giftcard. He liked that idea..:) Anyways, the total came out to over $1000 of stuff, and then he gave us a $1000 gift card! You never know when God will bless you with what you need, and tonight He truly did!

Tour Schedule

For updated tour schedules, you can find them at africanchildrenschoir.com
US Heartland & Cross Canada

October 17, 20077:00pm
First Assembly of God Church
ND

October 19, 2007 7:30pm
Belle Mehus Auditorium
ND
Bismarck

October 21, 2007 7:00pm
First Presbyterian Church
Fargo, ND

October 21, 2007 8:30am & 11:00am
Faith Lutheran Church
West Fargo, ND

October 24, 2007 6:30pm
Cornerstone United Methodist Church
Watertown, SD

October 26, 2007 7:00pm
St. Mary's Catholic Church
Worthington, MN

October 28, 20076:00pm
Calvary Chapel
Sioux Fall, SD

October 28, 2007 7:00 pm
Burlington United Methodist Church
Burlington, KS

October 30, 2007 9:00am & 10:30am
Hillcrest Baptist Church
Sioux Falls, SD

November 1, 2007 7:00 pm
First Presbyterian Church
Sioux City, IA

November 2, 2007 7:00 pm
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
IA
Fort Dodge 1023 S 27th StTel: (515) 573-8618

November 4, 2007 7:00 pm
First English Lutheran Church
IA
Spencer 1311 E 18th StTel: (712) 262-5598

November 4, 2007 9:30 am
First Congregational Church
IA
Clear Lake205 W 10th Ave NTel: (641) 357-2818

November 7, 2007 6:30 pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church
IA
Waterloo1301 Kimball AveTel: (319) 234-5501

November 9, 2007 7:00 pm
St. Thomas Aquinas Church
IA
Ames2210 Lincoln WayTel: (515) 292-3810

November 11, 2007 7:00 pm
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
IA
Urbandale8301 Aurora AveTel: (515) 276-1700

November 11, 2007 9:00 am & 11:00 am
Cornerstone Family Church
IA
Des Moines3114 SW 61st StTel: (515) 243-2852

November 14, 2007 7:00 pm
Faith Lutheran Church
IA
Clive10395 University AveTel: (515) 225-8334

November 16, 2007 7:00 pm
Willard Street United Methodist Church
IA
Ottumwa175 N Willard StTel: (641) 682-5421

November 18, 2007 6:00 pm
St. Paul's Lutheran Church
NE
Omaha13271 Millard AveTel: (402) 895-3366

November 18, 2007 9:00 am & 10:45 am
Kingsway Christian Church
NE
Omaha1106 S 139th StTel: (402) 333-2231

November 21, 2007 7:00 pm
Evangelical Covenant Church
KS
Clay Center1330 15th StTel: (785) 632-5653

November 23, 2007 7:00 pm
First Christian Church
KS
Abilene612 N Buckeye AveTel: (785) 263-1204

November 24, 2007 6:30 pm
First Baptist Church
KS
Wamego1911 Grandview DrTel: (785) 456-7396

November 25, 2007 9:00 am & 11:00 am
Wanamaker Woods Church of the Nazarene
KS
Topeka3501 SW Wanamaker RdTel: (785) 273-2248

November 30, 2007 7:00 pm
Silver Lake United Methodist Church
KS
Silver Lake204 Madore StTel: (785) 582-4714

December 1, 2007
Keep checking for more dates!

Here I am in North Dakota- land of hicks and waterparks

Well, North Dakota's mmmmmmm, i can't lie, we're out in the middle of nowhere:) I like it out here! The state of North Dakota has less people then the city of Minneapolis, so that'll give you an idea how spread out and hick it is out here:) One of our chaperones got to go hunting in the morning before leaving, i was a bit jealous, but that's what people do out here! I've noticed most of the host families i've stayed in have had at least one large dear head on thier wall, i also got to go into someone's shop where they stuffed the animals and kept them (i think he might have been a taxedermist?) more dead animals then i've ever seen before..:)
Anyways, i suppose the biggest adventure this week has been swimming. In the last three days, we have been blessed that churches have wanted to treat us to water parks, so we got the kids into thier new "swimming costumes" as they call them. They are soooo cute in thier swimsuits:) hehe some of them are beginning to develop pot bellies, and the suit doesn't hide it as much as thier other clothes do:) At the first water park, us chaperones were kinda nervous, because most of the kids had never even been in water, much less knew how to swim... so, we were determined to combine our powers into the most supervision possible. my main job was "toilet bowl" assistant. :) The toilet bowl is a slide where you get into a tube and it goes around and around in a big circle and then down a hole, like a toilet bowl:) of course most everyone wanted to go, and couldn't w/o a chaperone, so i went at least 20 times on the toilet bowl, we only had one case of flipping, and unfortuantly it was with one of my 7 year olds, and she cried, but all is well now... and then Enoch, one of our older, responsible boys decided to get out of the tube right before it went down the hole... hmmmm,then he has this sly grin and says "auntie, you left me!" What???? i gave him a hard time:) it was so fun, then we did the same sort of thing tongiht, it wasn't quite as nice of a waterpark, but at the end, they turned off the jets so the kids could sing, i tell ya every time those kids sing the Lord bless you and keep you (different then the one from high school that's not as cool:) i kinda get choked up:) they are awfully cute...:)
hmmm, also, i'm excited i have wireless tonight, ND doesn't seem to make itself known for its technology, at the last host family i was at, we had AOL dial up that was INCREDIBLY slow... i waited for over an hour, and never got to check my e-mail... ah well:) the snow is coming soon, so the kids are decked out with thier coats, hats, and new long underwear! below i have a little video of one host family, where christine and halima were trying thier skills at the drums... it's not a fabulous clip, but will give you an idea of my life in the host families:)

Winter in October and thoughts

We are in Alexandria, Minnesota and headed to Bemidji, Minnesota tommorrow. Apparently, it snowed three inches in Bemidji yesterday, and has been very cold, definitly cold enough to snow here... I'm not sure what I think of having winter this early, but here goes:) We got the kids' new winter coats to them just in time for the huge weather change... from 87 and humid one day, to 50s the next, and then 40s today..they look so cute in thier new coats and hats:)
The "honeymoon stage" of tour has began to wear off... and now i'm really beginning to see a glimpse of how tour will be for the duration:) I'm learning a lot about parenting... Mainly, that there really is no manual to being the perfect parent, and it would be nice if there was one...:) I pray continually that God will give me wisdom in advising and parenting these kids, but it is definitly something that the Lord can only give me strength for, because it's not something I've ever done, and it's hard sometimes...
It is hard for me to stop and take five moments to ponder where I am at in my own heart, as my life is constantly consumed with taking care of these kids... however, as i sit back and think, here are my thoughts for my heart thus far. It's funny how life becomes much more simple when you your life revolves around kids, all of the sudden, many of the screaming questions i struggled with in college do not seem so important. Christ is showing me that at the core, all that matters is the basics of His grace. These kids had nothing when they came here, no chance for an education, no hope of stability in life, little food, or health, or someone to care about them enough to teach them about God. The truth is, God has blessed them in giving them an opportunity beyond anything them or thier families could ever have dreamed of. And, its amazing how they fully understand this, and are so thankful for it. These kids work really hard, they study hard, they sing hard, the rehearse hard, they worship with thier whole hearts, and "argue" over who will get to be the one to pray. Oh, to live like that. I don't think its possible for someone as spoiled as myself to ever fully understand the deepness of God's grace and His gifts to me, at least i know not as these kids understand it. Although i teach them, they teach me things every day about my own greediness, lack of thankfullness, and how much i take life for granted. I suppose the only thing to do is ask for God's grace to become more aware of His uncountable blessings.
As I try to sort all these things out, i'm realizing i don't need to be hard on myself, but instead to look forward, and be more concious of being thankful for the things He's given me.

Woodbury, Minnesota- Teacher Terese

We flew from Philli to Minneapolis, and went straight to Woodbury to have concerts all day Sunday. On Monday, I taught my first class. I was a little nervous, because I majored in business and communications, and didn't feel equipped to teach a class, but

nevertheless, I was heading in full speed as a teacher:) Each chaperone

is teaching one subject, with science, social studies, math, english/composition and C.R.E, (Christian religious education), or thier bible class, the class that I am going to teach. Because the kids are different ages, they are broken up into P1-P4, and so I teach all of the CRE classes, with a few hours each day, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Although I was nervous at first, I am quickly learning that much of elementary education has nothing to do with the content of what is being taught:) i spend most of my time answering questions like "is this where i write my name?" "yes," and then i'd have to check everyone's paper to make sure it was right... and then the same thing for, "do i skip a line or put this on the same line.." over and over again:) it's quite funny, but I actually really like the teaching part! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday are the days we have school for the kids, and it's working out quite well. Each kid has a school bag, with some containing books, and pencils and what ever else they need to have school.
Yesterday, In my P2 class i decided to have the kids play a game at the end to see how many things they were remembering from our class. That sorta got crazy, and I think i learned not to do teams, because one team was way ahead at the beginning, so i decided to manipulate the game a little so the other team didn't feel so bad... that sorta came back to bite me, because the kids could all tell... but anyways, i just have to remember they are the kids and i'm the teacher and what i say goes:) even if they don't percieve it as fair:)
Last night, I taught the three girls who were staying with me how to make cookies. It was so funny, because i had a 7,9 and 11 year old. The 9 year old, asked me if the cookies were going to come out of the mixer, she thought the mixer was some sort of cookie vending machine that would spit out a finished cookie:), the 11 year old (Margaret) kept doubting that the dough we were making, would, in fact, make cookies, as I was promising... hehe... and the seven year old was excited about every ingredient that went in, espeically when the brown sugar was packed so tight it fell out in the shape of a square:) it's really fun to see them experience these things for the first time...After cookies was a dance party, where dancing to the Backstreet Boys took me back to high school:) then showers, then bed!
Today, we will travel to Hastings, Minnesota, and on the way, we get to take the kids to the Mall of America! I'm quite excited about it! Thursday's my day off! Yay! I'm sooooo excited, because we haven't had a day off yet. I thnk me and two of the other girls will go to the Mall of America for our day off and shop:) K, that's all for now!

Here's Bono! Sarah, Harriet, Peter, Florence,Enid, David
Halima, Jackie, Prisca

George Bush Sr.