Jamming - Sparrow Village

We are now in the last days of the Sparrow Music Project. The kids are finishing up their final songs for the CD. Anticipation is building amongst the musicians...

Here's a behind-the-scenes peek at a rehearsal for our studio recording last week. (Our piano player was absent, so I had to fill in for this one - Michael is the pianist on the actual recording.) I love the groove that the djembe player is feeling!

The final product is probably my new favorite song of all the songs they have written. We go into the studio again tomorrow for the finishing touches, after which the masterpiece can be fully unveiled. Enjoy!

Put on your Sunday Best - Child Haven

Our three littlest girls on the way out the door to church this morning...

Spring Day, 2010 - Sparrow Village

Last year on September 1st I was introduced to Spring Day and Sparrow's fun-but-freezing tradition of dumping buckets full of water on top of each other all day long to celebrate the new season.

When the 1st of the month arrived this week, the kids did not disappoint! In fact, their skills only increased with the use of a water hose. The soaking began at 9am and continued all afternoon.

Here are some of this year's snapshots...including my own personal experience of getting "Statue of Liberty-ed" (their term) on top of the grill!

I love this little one hiding from the big kids!

Strike.

We are currently in the third week of a massive civil service strike in South Africa. One million union members are protesting for higher wages throughout the country, most significantly in the healthcare and education systems.

At government hospitals, army medics have been called in to serve in the largest (and often poorest) hospitals alongside volunteer nurses. Many lives have been lost due to the paralyzing lack of hospital staff and doctors, including several newborn infants. Some protestors have stood outside the entrances, barring patients from entering the hospital.

The school system has suffered as well. With thousands of teachers on strike, public schools have been officially closed for three weeks now. This break in the school session, on the heels of the 5-week school holiday during the World Cup, has Matric (Senior) students scrambling to finish their exams and apply for university before the end of the year. It has also left all of the Child Haven and Sparrow kids sitting at home - the younger ones asking "Auntie, is it school tomorrow?" and the teenagers contentedly sleeping in and lazing around all day.

We've finally received word that the public schools will re-open next week (to the cries of "Amen!" as all the aunties breathe a huge sigh of relief). The government and the unions, however, are still going head-to-head over the wage dispute.

For more information, check out the BBC report.

Our Princess Adopted - Child Haven

Me: "You're a beautiful girl, S."

2-year old S.: "I'm not a girl. [pause] I'm a princess."

Never before in our lives have we encountered such an articulate, intelligent, beautiful and adorable 2-year old. Yesterday, our precious Child Haven princess went home with her very own new family.

S. came to Child Haven one year ago -- our 13th child. In one year's time, she stole the hearts of every individual in our family. Though we had been praying for her and her baby sister from Baby Haven to be adopted by the perfect forever family, our joy was mixed with great sadness when her parents, a pastoring couple from Cape Town, arrived to take the girls home with them to Cape Town this week.

S. with her new parents

There were too many tears to count from every auntie and the other children at Child Haven as we said goodbye to her. It was so very beautiful to see S. in the arms of her new Daddy and Mommy, yet selfishly we grieve the departure of a little girl who brightened the lives of our family for over a year of life.

We have been blessed beyond measure by her presence, and we praise God that for the rest of her life she will bring joy and laughter to another wonderful family. May God richly bless those children left behind in our home, and may the Lord go before S. all the days of her life as she walks into her destiny.

S. meeting her baby sister at Baby Haven

for the first time in November 2009

S. with housemothers Anna and Amy,

shortly after explaining to her that she would be going to

her very own new family

God sets the lonely in families

(psalm 68:6)

Farewell, princess, you will be missed terribly;

yet we forever rejoice with you and your new family, baby girl.

Blessings!

Shopaholics? - Child Haven

Last week I took two of the Child Haven girls out shopping for some new school shoes. The ten-year old was hopping around the aisles, looking for the perfect pair of pink and white sneakers.

However, after about 30 minutes of searching the mall, this is all that was left of the five-year old!

Spotlight: "Mandisa"

Just got back from this year's Masiphane Havens Banquet - an annual event to raise funds for the four havens supported by our church in Johannesburg.

For last year's banquet, our video featured all of the kids at Child Haven expressing their hopes and dreams for the future ("When I grow up, I'm going to be five"). This year we decided to focus in on one very special child and her testimony of receiving new life at Child Haven.

I pray that Mandisa's story touches your heart as it has touched ours. May this precious girl encourage you with the truth that God is at work restoring the lives of so many wounded ones the world over through families such as ours at Child Haven.

God Works All Things Together

Before I came to South Africa, my experience on this continent was limited to French-speaking, West African nations. I confess, South Africa didn't make that much sense at first: what use is a French degree in a country in which none of the eleven official languages is French?

But the Lord works things together in marvelous ways.

A few weeks ago "Mimi" arrived at Sparrow Village. She is eleven years old, and she and her younger sister are immigrants to South Africa from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - a French-speaking nation. Mimi speaks and understands very little English. When I was introduced to her and began speaking to her in French, her entire face lit up! She started sharing stories and asking if I was going to teach her English and how to read and write.

Her French, however, while far stronger than her English, is also quite stunted. Although French is the official language of the DRC, people rarely speak it in the home and only learn it at school. Since Mimi does not even know her ABC's, it is clear that she did not receive much schooling before she came, and since coming to South Africa she has received none.

Cue one more of the Lord's marvelous workings:

Not only can I be at Sparrow to speak French to this precious little girl, but I also work down the street at Child Haven with Anna, a housemother from the DRC who speaks French, Swahili and Lingala. I brought Anna over to meet Mimi at Sparrow last week, and the two of them chatted away in Swahili in a conversation that revealed much of Mimi's previously unknown past. Anna will now be helping Mimi to read, write and speak English so that she can start attending school with the other Sparrow children as soon as possible.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

A Touch of Jazz - Sparrow Village

17 year-old Michael Thwala, our star pianist at Sparrow, has been progressing musically at a remarkable pace this year. His classes at the Central Johannesburg College of Music have taught him more in six months than I can often play after 18 years of piano!

Last week, in a 6-hour period of time, Michael composed, recorded and edited the following jazz piece. The title is "Peace". When I asked him why he chose that name, he held up two fingers in the peace sign and said, "You know, peace." Go figure, but the song is amazing!

Mumps - Child Haven

It's the last week of "winter" (okay, really "World Cup") vacation, and unfortunately the Child Haven kids have all been quarantined with the onset of 4 cases of the mumps.

The mumps inoculation is optional here in South Africa, so the majority of them were never vaccinated. Hence the swollen glands and tired little ones who have had plenty of good movies to watch and yummy jello to eat this week!