Update from Casie

Hello Friends and Family! Muli-Shani! (Zambian Greeting)

Things are going well here in Mufilira. This morning we awoke to the sad departure of half of the team that has become a family. Duane, Beth, Adam, Megan, and Jim left us this morning to move onto their respective locations. Their departure was very bittersweet because we know that they need to go but we were not ready to see them leave. I must admit, many tears were shed by yours truly. :-)This weekend brings two new people to our team! Max should be arriving tonight and Jami will be here on Sunday. We are all very excited about our new additions!

Dr. T dropped us off for our last day at Kalanga. We started with addressing the issue of stigma with the 6th graders. I felt slightly awkward with this group of kids today because yesterday during my talk instead of being from team STS the translator told them that I had STD's. umm yeah. That was def a miscommunication! haha wow.

So anyways...after the 6th grade was the 8th grade. Now this is where things began to get interesting. Before I spoke, the weight of my responsibility really hit me. I have the words of life and I have been given the opportunity to say ANYTHING I want to these kids. I spent time searching scripture and just praying that God would give me the words to say but the responsibility still weighed heavily on my shoulders. I started my talk and just prayed the entire time that God would give me the words that HE wanted me to say. I spoke from heart and about what God has done in my life. I spoke from John 8 and explained to them how Jesus loved the woman who was caught in adultery. I told them that God loved them the same way that he loved that woman. Friends... I did not know that I could preach... haha but let me tell you.. I was preaching. At the end all of the girls crowded around us but didn't really say anything. I couldn't figure out what was going on... a few minutes later one of the girls wanted to know how to accept Jesus as her Savior.. I told her and asked if she wanted me to pray with her... She hesitated and then they were all like..."No, we want you to pray with ALL of us. We ALL want to accept Jesus as our Savior." I was floored. I led them all in a prayer and they all got on their knees and accepted Christ... right there.. in the middle of the school. Praise the Lord! Today heaven in rejoicing over about 100-150 new Zambian girls! Craziness.

So that was the highlight of my day. I was not expecting to lead ALL of the 8th grade girls to the Lord today but Praise God.We then did the stigma talk with the 9th graders and headed off to the Church planting school on foot since Dr. T was out of town picking up Max from the airport. The walk was long and hot but beautiful. After a while... we FINALLY made it to our lunch! It was AWESOME. We had chicken, nshema, and these greens called Rape (almost exactly like spinach). It hit the spot. We then went into town and got water, apples, and chocolate(!) from Shoprite and began our two mile walk home. Needless to say, we were all EXHAUSTED when we made it to our humble abode. When we got here a couple was waiting for us on the front step.. so Elizabeth and Dan couldn't rest. They visited with the couple.

I was very excited to lay down but just as I was falling asleep Dan came to my door and told me that three girls from Pamodzi were here to see me. Even though I was tired... I got up and spent some time with them.

Shortly after the couple and the girls left, we had more visitors show up and everyone is in the living room entertaining our guests. (I snuck away to shower... yay for being clean!)

I am afraid that I am going to smell bad when I get home and not realize it... haha because you get used to it and you don't smell it anymore. I figure that if I DO smell myself... then that means it must be PRETTY bad! I try to shower.... but there are alot of people with only one shower to share. Most of us are pretty grungy most of the time :-) So we should smell AWESOME when we get home! Henry and Pastor Terry did an amazing job teaching the teachers at Kalanga about getting tested. The word from Elizabeth is that they were phenomenal.

All in all we had a very long, good, eventful day! Tomorrow we have a sports competition from 9-12 somewhere.. they haven't told me where yet and then the afternoon is a mystery. No one has told me whether there is something planned for us tomorrow afternoon or not. Knowing this crew... there will be something... it will be a fun surprise!

Well... I love you all. Thank you so much for your prayers. Pray for the unity of our team and the two new members we are getting this weekend.

Nalikutemwa,
Casie

Update from Dan

Today was another whirlwind day with 4 different presentations between two schools. Our morning at Kalanga was a good one. We talked to three groups of kids, about saving sex for marriage and about what if we have made a mistake. We were able to share the grace of God that is new every morning. We shared some of our own stories and mistakes and sin in our own life and how God has redeemed us and continues to redeem us. Because we presented there three times, we didn't have small groups, which is the main means of reflection. So pray that the Word of God would take root in their hearts. Pray that they would know that we are available to talk with them and that they are not the only ones who are struggling with sex and temptation. We will be returning to Kalanga for our last day tomorrow. Please pray that we would end on the right note, one of empowerment and encouragement.

Today was our last day with the sweet girls from Pomodzi. We had the whole school, so we spent some time dancing and worshipping to start the day off. A couple of the girls from the STS club shared a song and Austin and Casie both played songs. They also both spoke from their hearts about saving sex for marriage and mistakes. Then Henry ended with an empowering message encouraging the girls to Be The Change. It felt like a rally... it was pretty cool. Then we had an impromptu time of dance and worship. Everyone was dancing and the girls were shouting the words to the songs and clapping their hands. It was like a celebration... we were all celebrating life, which I think is so crucial in a culture so marred by death. So pray for the girls at Pomodzi that they would believe they have worth and that they would choose life with the decisions they make.

After leaving Pomodzi we all went to get ice cream downtown. The sun was setting in the distance as we all sat under this lovely African veranda (an old gas station) enjoying our strawberry-vanilla swirls in pink cones. I really love moments like this, moments of stupid pictures, moments of laughter, moments of joy, moments of rest.

Finally, today was the last day with a handful of our team members and friends. Megan, Jim, Duane, Adam, and Beth are all leaving for various places: Megan for California, Jim for Florida, Duane for Kenya, and Adam and Beth for Kenya then Uganda. We had an amazing last evening of sharing in worship, confession, thankgiving, communion (Lord's Supper), and intercession for those departing. There were many tears shed. It is truly amazing how God has knit our group into a family in the short two weeks we had together. We ended our time together singing this hilarious song Doctor Thinus taught us in Bemba, which has an accompanying dance... awkward, yes, but it was a perfect end. Please pray for our co-laborers as they go to where God is leading them next.

To all of you back home, we love you so much and we miss you. Thank you for your prayers!

Twa Totella,
Dan
Team Stop the Spread

Update from Elizabeth

Today was a great day! Our two teams (HIV education with the students and Teacher's Training with the adults) worked at Kalanga Basic School in the morning and Pamodzi Girls' School in the afternoon.

The morning sessions finally went exactly as planned. For Zambia, that was an absolute miracle!!!! I wasn't personally in the student sessions, but from the video footage I saw tonight, it seemed like the students absolutely loved it. The HIV education team sang, performed "sketches" (in which "Austina" was introduced!), shared testimonies, and broke into small groups. The afternoon did NOT go as planned, and the students kept getting switched around, so the team worked again with only the STS club girls. Hopefully, tomorrow, they will have the entire school for an assembly. Please pray for that! The teacher's training sessions were also great, and the teachers were very responsive to Duane's seminar! They participated and asked great questions.

After all of this, we crashed when we finally got home - literally. The house was full of sleeping bodies. Casie orchestrated an amazing dinner, and the team that helped definitely deserves honorable mention (Megan, Adam, Angie, Jesse, Dan). We had beef goulash of sorts, garlic-herb mashed potatoes and green beans! Pretty good for a two-burner hot plate, eh??? :) Good job, guys! We finished the night with an impromptu community worship session, singing tons of songs. It was a really neat time of just being together, praising the Lord. I find those times really refreshing to my soul, and I find that it serves to unite and bring our group even closer together after long days.

Trial by Fire - Update from Austin

Today’s blog is titled “Trial by Fire.” I’m not sure if it is common practice to title these entries, as this is my first, but I feel it is appropriate. This fire got particularly intense about 11:00. Since yesterday was African Freedom Day, a holiday for Zambian schools, today began our second week of ministry. We are going to be presenting at Kalanga Basic School (grades 1-9) in the mornings and then, after our daily ration of nshima, we will be heading to Pomodzi Girls High School to meet with the entire school body for the afternoon. I think we have all learned the meaning of the word flexible more every day. I mean, it’s one thing to be flexible, but it is an entirely different thing to be flexible in Africa.

Today this looked like us arriving at Kalanga around 9:00, thinking that we would start around 9:30 and thus, have approximately 2.5 hours with the students in grades 6-9. We were promptly ushered into the office of the headmaster who informed us that the school was “extremely overenrolled” with over 1000 students and that it would be best if we just spent an hour with grades 6 and 7 and then an hour with the 8th and 9th graders. No problem, we expect things to change. Now for what actually happened…

As we walked across the schoolyard it seemed as if the floodgates were unleashed; hundreds of screaming children came running across the yard after us to see what the white “Muzungo’s” were up to. So, we did our best to get the young one’s corralled to another part of the schoolyard. Angie and Casie were great about taking them off to play games so that we could present to the remaining 300 the skits, songs and talks on Biology, Transmission and Myths that we had prepared. I think it was a taxing time for all of us. Even when we broke into small groups, most of us were trying to have meaningful discussion with about 40-60 children which is not the easiest thing in the world to do. And yet, there are good reports; the Lord is always so faithful to both teach us and stretch us. Megan and Jessie did a great job with their talks and games and the kids seemed to have a really good time with them. Dan also reported an incredibly honest small group with the older guys of the group (including a 19 year-old ninth grader). Tomorrow we will be bringing with us some of the church planters from Dr. Thinus’s school to help with interpretation and crowd control, which should be a huge help because those men and women are incredible.

The afternoon at Pomodzi was a wonderful experience and that is God’s grace on us, because we were all pretty exhausted from the morning. As I’m sure has been said previously on here, we spent last week with the school’s Stop the Spread club, consisting of about 60 girls, trying to empower them to be leaders and women of God. Today we met with much of the student body, giving much more of a theatrical presentation that the week before. We sang some songs and danced and then did a skit called “Doctor’s Office.” Then Megan and Jessie gave their performances, again doing a stellar job. The girls were very responsive and I think we all left excited and encouraged about the rest of the week there.

I want to close this entry with a story, not my own story, but the life of a girl that decided to share with me as we were sitting around while waiting to be picked up. We were making small talk, I was asking her about her family, school, future plans, etc. She told me how much Stop the Spread has meant to her over the last 3 years and I asked her if she had any questions about the things we had covered. She said no at first, but then asked “how would you feel if someone you love very much died, and you didn’t find out until 2 years later that it was from HIV?” I told her that I would be hurt very much, that I couldn’t really imagine how hard that would be and then I asked her if that had happened in her life. She then told me about the death of her father. He moved away when she was 12 and she heard soon after that he had died. She couldn’t even go to the funeral. The hardest part about her story for me was that she found out at age 14 that he had died from AIDS from her younger sister and that aside from her sibling, this now 16 year old high school Junior had not told anyone. She told me that I was the first person she had talked with about his death since she heard. That really blew my mind. I asked her “so you have held this in for 2 years?” She nodded her head and then talked with me for a while about her emotions and the process of grieving. She told me right away that she was a Christian and that her faith had been a source of comfort for her. I felt like I was really able to encourage her in the Lord that she is a daughter of God and that nothing can take that away. I know there are so many more like her all around us. The disciple John says that “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Praise the Lord for that. May Christ be all of our hope and strength and life as we continue this week. Thank everyone that is reading this for your prayers, they are powerful, effective and much needed.

-Austin Crane, Team STS

Update from Casie

Dear Friends and Family,

This is Casie writing. It's about 11pm here and I am exhausted but I am excited to be able to share some of Africa with you before I head to bed! You probably heard about some of the happenings last week... We spent the mornings at the Church Planting school learning about HIV/AIDS underneath Duane Crumb who has been studying it for about 23 years. In the afternoons, we packed up all of our gear and headed over to the Pomadzi girls school where we worked with the student leaders who are in the STS club.

This week we will be going to Kalanga school where we will be working with primary and secondary school. This will be interesting because we are going to have a much wider range of ages as well as alot more kids. Instead of about 10 to a small group we will probably have about 40 each. We will go back to the Church Planting school for lunch and then go back over to Pamodzi in the afternoons to work with the entire school. Our goal is to involve and empower the student leaders we worked with last week by encouraging them to assist us in our program this week as we work with the entire student body.

Church Sunday morning was my first African church experience. It was interesting... to say the least. It lasted four hours.... that is UNHEARD of in the US! I made it a good three hours before I became ready to walk around. I have found that Zambians really enjoying talking into microphones and being in front of large groups of people. They also feel the need to repeat things such as announcements or instructions about 15 times (no joke) in fifteen different ways before they can move onto another subject... This is where I become VERY American! I really enjoy being efficient with time :-)

Despite some frustrations, I love the people here. They are extremely loving, friendly, joyful, and hospitable. They are simply beautiful. I see a beauty in them, despite their trails or surroundings that is deep, real, and lasting. It breaks my heart to hear the stories of the horrendous things that happen every day here. After I spoke at Pamodzi last week I talked to several girls about their own lives and struggles. One girl pulled me aside and told me about her life long abuse and neglect. She sat there in tears telling me that no one loves her and she has no one to care. These things are real and it tears me apart. I put my arm around her, listened to her story, and cried with her. It's all I had to offer. I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported us in any way. What you are doing, the things you are praying for, and the things that are happening here in Africa are making a difference. So easily the worlds problems can overwhelming and we can feel defeated. It's so easy to assume that nothing we can do will actually make a difference in anyone's life. What I have learned is that it is not true. We can love people and that makes all the difference. We don't have to change the world, we just have to love the people in front of us wether that be in the US or in Africa. The world is not an ambigous blob of problems... it is made up of faces with names, stories, and hurts.

On a light note, I was sitting on my bed last night enjoying some quiet down time. Elizabeth was happily writing in her journal as I was looking through the pictures I had taken that day. As I am intently focused on my beautiful pictures.... this MASSIVE crazy noise sounded like it exploded next to my head near my ear!! I freaked out and fell on the floor... a few seconds later after I had composed myself I returned to my bed only to have it happen and again and startle me just as much! Elizabeth (who had her headphones in and only witnessed the occurance) thought that I was crazy. I told her that something BIG and SCARY had flown by my head. She told me it was probably just a moth and to stop freaking out. About fifteen minutes later, Elizabeth had emerged from her world of ipod and was dicussing the day with me when this MASSIVE locust flew past my head AGAIN and landed on my pillow. I proceed to scream due to the scare and yell for the boys. For some reason they did not believe us when we told them it was a BIG bug... :) It took about an hour of going back and forth between it appearing with us in the room alone and freaking out and then the boys coming to try to rescue us. They did eventually find and kill it... it was about 4-5 inches long! gross...AND eggs went everywhere when they killed it. OH the JOYS of Africa!A few days ago we were at the Church Planting School and shortly before lunch a car pulled up and a few guys got out. They went to the trunk and proceeded to take out about 10 live chickens.....Yum. Lunch. They butcher their own chickens here... I am definitely not in America anymore.

Ok well... I am heading to bed! We have a long day ahead of us.

God Bless,
Casie

P.S. If you have been trying to call and it hasn't been working we have figured out that some people did not get the right number... here it is 011-260212411517

G+G- I have been emailing you!! For some reason it must not be going through... I got your e-mail today and wrote you back. I'm sorry if you thought that I hadn't written. (I've written you every time I've written my mom) So know that I love you and I miss you! and that we will hopefully get the e-mail thing figured out soon!

Update from Jesse

We need your prayers. It is hard to communicate with the school girls sometimes. I am not sure of how much heart to give away. It hurts to look into their eyes. Today we were at church for about four hours. Mr. Duane gave a dynamic speech concerning HIV and the church. We then had lunch at a friend of Dr. Thinus's house. The group ate in the backyard. It was fully decorated for us. I did not feel as if I was on a mission. We were fed roasted chicken, potato salad, potatoes salad and rice with Fanta or orange juice to drink. It was so delicious; lunch was so good today.

Following lunch we left for an outreach for the rest of the afternoon. We went to an traditional village outside of town. There were huts made of adobe brick and roofs made of straw. Hard to imagine probably, but it was probably the neatest thing I have seen here so far. Not many people experience a true African village. The children flocked to us right as we pulled up. We all jumped out of a big hippie van with the letters "Say yes to Jesus" on the windshield. Our team is so bizarre, yet so unbelievably brilliant. I am in love. We walk over to school while kids are swarming around us. Most of the kids are about 5 to 13 years old and have nothing on their feet as they play on the hard red dirt. Dan asks me while to entertain the smaller children so the older Zambian youth, involved in the local STS club we were visiting, would be less distracted. I agreed and Johnny and I went to round up our troops. First we played Duck, Duck Goose. This did not turn out too well. We moved on to Red Rover. This lasted a good twenty minutes. The 70 kids we were working with had too much fun. They really enjoyed trying to break the bonds of the other team's hands. As this began to get old, we then tried the game London Bridge is Falling Down. This game passed about 10 minutes of time. Not too successful. We needed a simple game that can manage all of the kids, fast! We were losing them. The real time breaker was a game Johnny thought of. We held hands with one other person and instead of the kids running underneath our bridge, they would walk across our forearms. This was such a fun activity. I loved watching the kids try to succeed at walking all of the way down the line. All in all, it was a beautiful day.

After that we came back to the house, made PB and bitter marmalade sandwiches and played card games. About seven of us spent the night refilling our coffee/tea cups between neverending rounds of playing cards. It was a nice way to end Johnny's stay with us. Keep him on your prayers as he travels back to Botswana. Tomorrow is Africa Freedom Day, so we get the day off. A handful of us will stay at the house and rest. And the others will travel to Chimfunzi, the Chimpanzee orphanage... oh the blogs to come! Pray that our day off would be a chance for the Lord to minister and energize us. Thank you for each and every prayer!

Jesse Barnes
Team Stop the Spread

Update from Megan

Greetings all. Today’s news is brought to you by Megan (yes, I’m really here, despite Dan forgetting to mention me - I won’t hold it against him for too long). I am so happy that God brought me back to Zambia for a second year. The team is already such a tight family, and we’ve been called to support each other in so many ways that we never could have expected.

In Zambia, our plans never seem to turn out as we intend, and this morning was no exception. We had told the students at the Mufulira Teachers’ College that we would be playing sports with them for a few hours, but since Monday is a holiday (African Freedom Day, or so I’m told) all the students have left town for the three day weekend. Financial restrictions definitely don’t stop people from travelling all over the place. So we showed up to discover that there were no students to play with, but we remained undaunted and set up our volleyball net in one of the nearby fields, to see if anyone would join us. And it turned out really well – lots of local kids turned out to kick their homemade balls around, an official-looking girls’ soccer game started up, and we found plenty of people who wanted to play volleyball. Elizabeth and I also got some of the little kids to play Sheep Sheep Come On, which we learned last year in Murundu.

Then we all piled back in the Jesus van to go to the Zambian Crocodile Hunter’s home where we got to handle all kinds of snakes, including an absolutely enormous boa constrictor. Which started hissing. I stuck to the little ones, and made very good friends with a small albino constrictor. We also held some baby crocodiles and saw a very shy jackal, which looks rather like a large gray fox. The would-be Crocodile Hunter was not there himself, but we were led around by Ringo, one of the local farm workers, who was willing to humor our curiosity. I can’t imagine what we look like to the locals, 13 muzungus in matching t-shirts crammed into the trusty Say Yes To Jesus van, wanting to see snakes…

To crown the day, we went to the house of Dr T’s Italian friends for an authentic Itailian pasta dinner. Delicious food and fascinating conversation – Enrico has been in Zambia since 1951, and his wife Daniella, who is originally South African, pretty much grew up here, so they were in Zambia when the British withdrew and gave Zambians their independence.

We didn’t get back to the house in time for showers – the water still turns off every night at around 10pm. But at least we’re not getting electrocuted in the shower anymore, since the ingenuity of Jim solved that problem… After grounding everything he could find, we were still picking up an 8V potential every time we touched the shower handles, which REALLY stings when you’re standing in a pool of water. But as they say, if you can’t ground it, break the circuit (yeah, no, nobody says that, sorry for being a huge nerd). So our shower handles now have rubber protectors, affectionately named Shower Condoms…you’ll have to see the pictures.

So, life is good, a day of rest and play is always welcome, and we’re looking forward to Duane preaching tomorrow. I’m very curious to see how our Zambian friends respond to a sermon about HIV/AIDS. I think it’s going to blow some minds and cultural barriers. So prayers for a Spirit-filled message tomorrow morning would be appreciated, and just that the ears and hearts of the congregation would be opened to the challenges Duane is going to bring. Thanks for all your support!

Megan Sheridan
Stop the Spread Team

Update from Adam

This blog post is coming to you from Beth and Adam Hunt. We are joining the STS team for these two weeks as part of HIVHope. We are also the only married couple on the team and have been blessed with the "royal suite" in Dr. T's house, which happens to be a room with two single beds pushed together with a big gap in between the mattresses. We live in Fishers, IN and this is our second time in Africa. It has been an incredible week in Zambia; we have all truly been thrown into the fire together which has developed relationships that are going to last for many years. We feel especially blessed because these friendships are an outcome that we had not prepared for, nor expected. The two teams are one, and we are becoming in tune with each other's spirit.

Today, the Pamodzi Girls' School had another activity, and some of the team needed rest, so we did not visit with them. It was the final day of the Agape Church Plant School seminar, and all of the attendees presented their creative ideas for teaching others. We enjoyed watching several dramas which displayed things like: how to counsel a person who has discovered that they are HIV positive, how to encourage married couples when one is positive and one is negative, etc. Several others sang songs in Bemba, which were beautiful to listen to. I think everyone in attendance was blessed by what they saw and heard. To close, Duane explained that the students could leave and be like the Dead Sea, or like the Sea of Galilee. The Galilee has an outlet, and therefore the water that flows in, flows out the other side. The Dead Sea has no outlet, and therefore it takes in water which becomes still and cannot support life. We should be like the Sea of Galilee. This knowledge and training about HIV education and motivation should not be taken in and held, but it should flow out to others to give life and hope. The students were then presented with their HIVHope "graduation" certificates and they all agreed that they needed to begin sharing their new knowledge with the community right away.

The evening consisted of a few movies, some worship, prayer, and card games. Tomorrow begins our first weekend, and it is filled with several exciting things which you will hear about later.

Thank you for your prayers. God is moving here in ways that are big and new to me, and it is a privilege to be part of it.

Adam Hunt

Update from John (aka, "the peace corp guy")

Hello everyone, today’s blog is brought to you by Johnny Payne, a new person you have not yet heard of but who is very excited to be a part of the STS-HIVHope program in Mufulira this week and is going to be working to bring it to Botswana. My name is Johnny Payne and I am a Peace Corps Volunteer working in Letlhakane, Botswana. The story of how I came to be involved in this week’s activities in Mufulira is a little complicated, but the short version is that God is working in Africa and has decided to include me in it. Working as a Peace Corps Volunteer means that I am definitely not a missionary but I do have opportunities to work with the faith-based organizations involved with HIV/AIDS in Botswana. Originally, I expected my role this week to be an observer, in order to learn lessons from HIVHope and STS staff on motivational methods for HIV prevention and to share some lessons from my work with a district AIDS coordinator in Botswana. I have been truly blessed and excited to have the opportunity to join STS in visits to Pamodzi Girls’ School. Apart from that, the spiritual encouragement and fellowship have been more than I could have hoped for.

Today was a break-through day both in the Agape Church’s morning seminar and our Abstinence session at Pamodzi. The participants at Agape were once again confronted with a host of questions through which Duane asked them to analyze the role of the church in dealing with abstinence, sexual behavior, condoms, stigma, and other issues which they will face in their efforts as HIV prevention motivators. A couple of questions which challenged participants the most were how to address sex in a church setting but in a culturally appropriate manner and how to relate to church members who are living with HIV/AIDS. Having lived in Botswana for over 1 year now I can tell you that this is a big issue in many cultures and countries in Southern Africa and it must be addressed head on if we are to seize the opportunity that we have to show the world who Jesus is through our response to HIV/AIDS. While most churches in America have learned to stay relevant to the culture by addressing current issues, African Christianity has taken another course in its evolution. Churches in Africa either face the problem of retaining cultural aspects which conflict with the Bible or else they become so far removed from the culture that they cease to be relevant to the people they are trying to reach. HIV/AIDS, with its complex social and ethical dimensions, has only exacerbated this trend. The participants have shown us this week a truly admirable passion both for their churches and for the lost people of their nation. God will use them in a powerful way as they learn more and put it into practice.

The talks given by Austin and Casey at Pamodzi today were life-altering for many of the girls lucky enough to fit in the small classroom that we were crammed into since the hall was being painted. Austin’s message brought many insights for the girls, who I am sure have not and will not hear many 20-year virgins as they grow up in their culture. Austin’s speaking ability, which was clearly supernaturally assisted if you ask me, allowed the girls to comprehend him as they would one of their own and I believe many of them will remember his example as they choose to testify to their school, family and friends in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. Casey’s message which focused on the ability of God to heal pain and restore his children spiritually also seemed to have received some extra unseen power. She spoke with courage, conviction, and compassion in a way that touched the girls deeply. Many girls probably believed God was speaking directly to them through her as many came forward at the end to ask for prayer, and Casey told me that one approached her asking to receive Christ as her Savior, something I don’t think Casey was expecting to result from her talk. I also received a surprise as my small group ballooned from 10 to about 25 girls who I was able to talk with about sex, abstinence, dating, and marriage. I really enjoy the give-and-take with this age group, and in fact, I am doing a similar program with young people in Botswana through a program called GLOW, Girls and Guys Leading Our World. All the things that have happened this week have been so inspiring and we are just getting started! I am sad to have to return to Botswana on Sunday but I wish the STS group the best as they continue on in Zambia and I think you can expect to hear more about me as plans to bring STS to Botswana will be developing before too long.

John Payne.

Update from Dan - first blog from on the ground!

After days of traveling on planes, cars, minibuses, vans, and by foot, our whole team is now all here and our programs are well underway. The first wave (Jesse, Austin, Casie, Elizabeth, Angie, Megan, and Dan) arrived safely in Mufulira (our Zambian 'Base Camp') on Friday night after lovely stops at the Smith's in Washington and the Jordaan's in South Africa. The second wave (Duane, Adam, and Beth) arrived safely early Sunday morning after being picked up in Lusaka by Dr. Thinus and Jim (a week after their collision with a bull in Botswana). We spent Sunday getting over the post-travel grog and went to a lovely Italian couple's house in a neighoring city. That evening we picked up two other team members, Johnny Payne and Victor Thanke, who were last minute additions. Johnny Payne is an American in the Peace Corps who has been working in Botswana for the past year with the government to develop a HIV education program. He is a really dynamic and inspiring guy who has quickly become one of our team. By the way, he is hilarious! Victor is a Botswanan who works for the UN helping Botswana develop HIV education. He is a humble man who is extremely intelligent and has a real passion for his country and continent. Victor had to leave us on Tuesday for a job interview and Johnny leaves on Saturday. Please pray for their travel. There presence will be very missed! We have been blessed by their being with us.

On Monday we catipulted into our first day of ministry. Our time at Dr. T's Church Planting School in the mornings have been great. Duane has been working with 15 or so church planters and HIV educators. The 'mazungus,' Zambian word for white people, have been silent observers, taking notes and soaking up Duanes strategies and motivational information. He runs his workshop in a very conversational way, so we have been learning so much about Zambian culture as well as HIV and the stigma attached to it. In the mornings this week, all has gone as planned, for the most part.

In the afternoons... well... not so much. The Youth HIV Ed Team (Austin, Casie, Angie, Jesse, Dan, Megan) are at an all-girls' school called Pomodzi, which is our 4th time at that school, and has local Stop the Spread leaders who work with the students year round. We were planning on teaching a seminar to around 15-20 students, and around 75 showed up. Oh flexibility, a missionary's best friend! So we spent Monday and Tuesday with them, breaking them into small groups and getting to know them, while talking about What HIV Is, How Its Spread, and Myths and Truths of HIV. It has been a really good time of sharing with them and encouraging them. One thing that has really struck us is how well they have been taught about the aforementioned topics. It is proof that the STS-Zambia (the local Zambians who have taken ownership of the program) are doing an amazing job. That has been a continual theme in seeing how capable and motivated the local leaders (there names are Henry, Terry, Oswald, John, Jessie) are to stop the spread of HIV and share the good news of the Gospel. Zambians are going to be able to teach these things better than we can because they know the culture, language, motivations, etc. So one of our objectives of this trip in encouraging and empowering STS-Zambia. Praise the Lord! On Wednesday, the girls at Pomodzi had the afternoon off, but Thursday and Friday we are going to be tackling some of the more intimate subjects like Abstinence, What If You've Made a Mistake, Stigma, Getting Tested, and Abortion. Austin, Casie, and Angie are going to be talking. Please pray that the Lord would anoint them in their words, that the hearts of the girls would be open, and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would take root and be strengthened among them.

Also, to fill you in on the Seminar Team (Duane, Elizabeth, Adam, Beth), they have spent the afternoons at a teacher's college. They were expecting nearly 50-60, and around 400 showed up. This has its benefits, but it is not what they had planned on. So they have continued to be bold and step out in faith and teach about HIV in the Spirit's leading. Today, the college informed us that they were having evaluator's coming in from the capitol to observe the students, so Thursday and Friday are cancelled for HIV Hope Team. So please pray that another door would be opened for them to serve!

Just a few parting reflections...

First of all, I have been overwhelmed with the amazing people who are on the team this year. Everyone has been so engaged and encouraging. I don't know if I have ever seen a group of people bond so fast. There is a sense of realness in this house, in these people. Pray that the Spirit would continue to work in this way, through our community with each other.

Secondly, there has been alot of laughter, which I think is absolutely neccesary. There are alot of harsh realities here with which we come face to face. It is devestating at times, and it should be. Life is devestating, at times. But The Lord has blessed us with humour and laughter and pray that the Lord would continue to minister to us in this way!

Lastly, thank you. Thank you for your phone calls. Thank you for your emails. Thank you for your concerns. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your faith in this mission. Thank you for your reliance on the Lord. Most of all, thank you for your prayers... they keep us afloat.

Glory be to God.
Dan
Team Stop the Spread

Update for Tues, May 20

The phone / internet was finally working tonight, but then the power went out before the team had a chance to send any updates. TIA, right? When I called they were eating PB&Js in the dark and discussing tomorrow program.

On the traveling side, the portion of the team coming up from SA had some action, but managed to come out unscathed. They avioded an elephant on the road in Botswana, dealt with the Zambia border patrol wanting to compound their trailer full of supplies, and skidded to a halt in time to miss a herd of 20 cows in the middle of the night in Zambia. They heard some rattling noises just before picking up Duane Crumb, Adam and Beth at the Lusaka airport...it turned out to be due to lots of missing or stripped lug nuts leaving rear wheels that were about to fall off. A borrowed lug wrench and some slow driving got them and the newcomers the rest of the way to the house in Mufulira by 5 am on Monday.

On their way to Muflira they stopped at an orphanage called Villages of Hope for about 6 hours. On the agriculture side, Jim V gave out pods with Moringa tree sprouts, explained about this "Miracle Tree", and distributed information. The people were very welcoming and seemed very excited about the tree and its amazing health benefits. The team members who were there also attended an evening concert run by Villages of Hope.

While part of the team was traveling up to Mufulira by road, the majority of the team had flown into Ndola, Zambia (the same province as Mufulira). Friends picked them up and took them to the house, so I think they had a little time to rest and re-group before the programs started bright and early Monday morning.

All of the programs appear to be running smoothly. Henry (our STS-Zambia Coordinator) has done a great job with the prep work in Zambia for the HIV Ed teams - both for the programs in the high schools as well as the logistics for training for the teachers and church planting students. There are two HIV Ed teams running programs simultaneously this year for these first two weeks. One team is focusing on one-week teaching/training programs and the other is primarily running 2-week programs at nearby high schools where there are STS clubs in operation year-round. This week, the teaching/training program is at Dr Thinus' Church Planting School in the morning (which everyone is attending) and at the Teacher's Training Institute in the afternoon. The other team is at Pamodzi high school in the afternoon, a school that we have worked with for the past 3 years. This week at Pamodzi is focusing on working with a small number of students who are more active in the club, and next week will be the main program with the entire high school.

Hopefully the power will turn back on soon and the team members will be able to update you first-hand, but until then I'll do my best to keep everyone in the loop.

Tannen

from Elizabeth

Hi, family and friends!

We are safely in Zambia at long last! Actually, most of us (Dan,Elizabeth, Austin, Casie, Jesse, Megan, Angie) have been here for a few days, but we are having trouble with our phone lines, which is why we've been unable to communicate with you! Hopefully, we will be able to fix that problem tomorrow morning and be able to use both telephone and email at the house by tomorrow evening (Lord willing!). This is Africa! :)

Thankfully, everything else has been smooth and easy, as far as travel and luggage is concerned. Dr. T., Jim, Duane, Adam and Beth made it in this morning, and I am typing on behalf on the team from a friend's house in Kitwe. We will start our various programs bright and early tomorrow morning.

Please continue lifting us up in prayer and know that we are also praying for you! We cannot wait to share more in detail about the awesome things that the Lord is already doing in our team and in Zambia!

Happy and safe,
Elizabeth on behalf of the STS team

P.S. Thanks to all who have written...we cannot read your emails, because of our spotty internet connection. We promise to read and respond as soon as we are able!

STS Team arrived safely in Zambia!

The STS Team that departed on May 14th has arrived safely in Zambia. I don't think that they have internet and phone access at the house yet, but they should have it soon.

Dr. Thinus, Jim (my dad) and Duane Crumb are on their way from Lusaka last I heard. They may have even arrived in Mufulira by now.

~Tannen

Update from South Africa

Just talked to my husband in South Africa. Joseph and Jim plan to have a mass Moringa Tree planting at Joseph's place. They have been discussing things at length and are both excited about their plans. They started 200 moringa seeds. Some are for Joseph and some are for the Village of Hope, an orphanage near Lusaka, Zambia. They scheduled a four hour workshop to teach about the Moringa Tree at the Village of Hope on Saturday morning. It is on the way to pick up Duane Crumb, so that will work out well.

Joseph and his wife have three children, pay for the education of 20 orphans and feed about 100 orphans that do not stay with him. Joseph has been studying Jim's Moringa Tree information during this time down time when they are stuck in SA. To obtain necessary funds for his projects, Joseph raises 600 chickens from two days old to 3 months and then takes them across the border to the Congo to sell. It is tougher now that the price of corn is heading up because mashed corn is the staple that the orphans and chickens eat every day. They will be adding the nutritious Moringa leaves to it. If a nice percent of the trees survive maybe Joseph can start selling Moringa!

Dr T has a friend who runs a Johannesburg airport shuttle service. He will take the larger STS team to Dawid Jordaan's house when they arrive in South Africa for the night. Some of the team knows Dawid and his wife. They are awesome.

The Chevy isn't fixed yet, but several solutions are in progress. Nothing to worry about for you all who will be arriving.

Karen VZ

Cows in Botswana

Dr. Thinus, Joseph, and Jim (my dad) are back in Centurion, South Africa. Yes, they did leave on Friday morning and crossed over into Botswana by late Friday afternoon. It became dark and they were about 20 miles into Botswana when they hit a cow. The Land Rover is a wreck, but they walked away without a scratch. Dr Thinus hitch hiked back to South Africa to get help while Jim and Joseph stayed to guard the supplies. They used a flashlight to wave people around the injured cow.

Some of Dr T’s “spiritual sons” returned to Botswana with him to tow the Rover back across the border. It is now at a workshop in SA. Dr Thinus’ other vehicle is also at the workshop and they said that they hope to have it ready by Wednesday so that they can start driving again for Zambia in time to meet the rest of the team in Ndola on Friday.

Tannen