DAY 9 RECAP

The silence has broken! Tammi called this morning at 8:45 am to let us know they had not fallen off the face of the earth, but that life is busy!

The safaris were great, eventhough some of the students did not even want to go out once. They saw every animal one could hope to see on the safari; lions, lionesses, baboons, giraffes, zebra, etc… Everyone is healthy and there have been no injuries. Praise God!

This morning they went shopping and bought out South Africa. Tomorrow they have a little extra time before traveling and will visit a mall.

Tammi said they create a scene wherever they go, as you can imagine, and during a recent stop at a gas station, a man approached her and asked if this was the missionary group that had been traveling to tribes? If so, how can he arrange for them to visit his tribes, he stated that he was chief of many tribes. She deferred him to their missionary team. A few minutes later the leader of the missionaries brought Tammi the man’s card and said he was part of the royal family.

They are looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!

DAY 8 RECAP

(This update comes from Mr. Van Deusen through his wife.)
Mr. Van Deusen called about 5:35am or so, which would have make it 12:35pm or so their time. He said that when they traveled to the nature reserve they stayed the night in a “lodge” near Johan’s home. (They did NOT have to camp.) They got in late that night, and then were up traveling again yesterday to get to the nature reserve. They arrived around 11:00 am yesterday. He said they drove in trucks through the nature reserve, and saw lots and lots of beautiful animals. He was naming all the animals they saw, but his phone was going in and out so much that I missed most of the animals he mentioned. He said giraffes and several birds. He said they had scheduled an evening tour for tonight; and they might be on it right now.

He said all the students were enjoying it, and everyone was doing well.

DAY 6-7 RECAP

On Saturday night, a couple of people came to know the Lord after viewing the Jesus film. On Sunday morning, our students led worship and did a great job. Elam Wallace gave his testimony. Before leaving Lesotho today, the kids got to go on a horseback ride into a gorge. While near the river in the gorge, Courtney Mull’s horse decided it wanted to take a bath, and laid down in the river, with Courtney on it’s back! Kyree Bethel had a bit of trouble when his horse broke into a run. According to Mrs. Peters, he began “screaming like a girl” and Joey VanDeusen needed to lead his horse for the remainder of the ride. Today the group is heading out of Lesotho back into South Africa, where they will be going to Pilanesberg tomorrow for a safari.

DAY 5 RECAP

Mrs. Peters called today to give a great update. She said that each mission trip has a defining moment when the FCS missionaries see that God is truly moving in lives. One of those moments happened today. Mrs. Peters and their host missionaries visited with the chief of the valley in which they were staying. She invited the chief and his wife to visit with the seniors; she also invited them to have dinner with the seniors at 5 PM. The missionaries told her later that the chief would not come as he had not accepted such an invitation in fifteen years. However, sometime after 5 PM, the chief and his wife arrived for a visit. The seniors presented the dramatization of the Via Dolorosa and Elam gave his testimony as well as shared the Gospel with those who were visiting. Mrs. Peters said that the chief was moved to tears. He and his wife left shortly after. According to the host missionaries, the miracle was that the chief attended at all. The FCS missionaries witnessed God at work.

Mrs. Peters ended her update with a description of the events at the moment of her phone call. The students were sitting outside taking in the wonders of the Milky Way and the Southern Cross, the stars were twinkling brightly, people were watching the Jesus film, and all were blessed.

(In a post script, Mrs. Peters said that the students are all healthy and don't want to leave Lesotho. They are planning on staying!)

DAY 4 RECAP

Mrs. Peters called with great news this morning. Everyone is 100% healthy! The temperature ranges from 90 degrees in the day and 45 degrees at night, but everyone is doing well and sends their greetings.

Our group is currently in a remote village four hours from camp to show The Jesus Film, but the weather is uncooperative. We ask that you pray for the rain to stop so this most important message can be delivered to the people, most of whom have traveled great distances to attend.

Last night after going to sleep, the girls let out several screams because a snake was outside their door! It was only this morning that the girls remembered how much Mrs. Peters LOVES to play pranks!

Today’s VBS went very well with approximately 250 children in attendance again, Praise God! Continue to pray for these children and those in the AIDS orphanage. Mrs. Peters gives thanks to everyone for donating clothing and other items to comfort these children in such difficult circumstances.

DAY 3 RECAP

From Mrs. Peters:
The kids are all swimming in a ravine the locals showed them near their campsite, and are enjoying their time to relax and play. Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Trevino hiked out of the ravine and she described it as a “killer hike” (with a chuckle)!

This morning, their time, the girls visited a nearby AIDS orphanage. This was a good experience for the girls, but heartbreaking at the same time. The boys spent their morning repairing the building and completed one half of the repairs. Mrs. Peters shared how pleased she was with their progress today.

Last night our Seniors traveled to a nearby village to show The Jesus Film. After setting up the equipment, it began to rain. The longer they waited, the harder it rained. They decided to pack the equipment to protect it, and as they prepared to leave one of the locals asked them to stay a bit longer because there were quite a few elderly that traveled distances to see the film. They continued to pray for the rain to let up, and the skies began to clear! Praise the Lord, the Southern Cross appeared in the sky and they were able to show the film! Tonight they plan to show the film to a village further away.

Adventurous Emily Duke decided to find out what it was like to ride a donkey brought in by one of the VBS girls. In short order, the donkey took off running with Emily screaming and holding on tight! It was quite a funny scene with 250 girls chasing after Emily and the donkey!

Mrs. Peters wanted you all to know that everyone is happy and says hello!

DAY 2 RECAP

Mrs. Peters phoned in this morning with this update. We apologize for the quality (we just had her turned up too high on our recorder). click here to hear the phone call.

Here is the trascript of the phone call:

“We are having a great time! A few of the kids have the same stuff that is going around school which lasts about 8 hours, but we are doing fine. Did Vacation Bible School for about 250 kids that came out-they were so excited when we rolled up. Experienced a storm which lasted about 30 minutes-strong winds, stormy-Kevin Winebarger and Joshua Blalock did not put up their rain cover and had about ½ inch of rain in their tent. We are showing the Jesus film tonight! The weather is great, clear for the next week, we have no electricity! It will be a growing experience for us all! It is hard to communicate 8,000 miles away, everyone says hello! All is well, we are having a great time!”

Continue to pray for the health of our team, their safety, their ‘culture shock’, most of all their effectiveness to share the love of Christ with everyone they meet, for the glory of God!

DAY 1 RECAP

3-2-10 Update from Mrs. Peters

The school received a call @ 8:45am from Mrs. Peters. ALL IS WELL! Praise God! The group is still traveling by caravan to Lesotho. They have already traveled 8 hours with a couple of interesting stops!

One passport was forgotten and left hanging on the wall of where the group slept the first night. Thankfully, the student realized the passport was missing and the group was able to turn around and retrieve the passport from exactly the spot the student had hung it. Back to caravanning the group came upon a sizeable market where they stopped to purchase more food supplies for cooking.

Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Trevino found a cappuccino shop and doughnuts (we just thought they were roughing it!).

In this market some kids found a Kentucky Fried Chicken and couldn’t pass up the chance for some food from home. Beginning the caravan again, another student who will remain nameless like the first (until the culprits are revealed upon safe return to the States) realized their passport was missing and then remembered that the passport had been on the KFC tray which was dumped in the trash. The group huddled for prayer and a student had kept a receipt from their KFC purchase. Mrs. Peters was able to call the restaurant and ask if someone would look in the trashcan. The trash had since been taken to the dumpster. Through the urging of the Holy Spirit and 50 US dollars an employee of KFC searched through the dumpster and found the passport. PRAISE GOD for His protection. Some of the group have gone back to retrieve the passport.

Needless to say, now Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Trevino have possession of all passports!

Keep praying!
KG is great!