7 Months Pregnant

I am 7 months pregnant today, Thanksgiving Day. I have been feeling pretty good lately. I just get very worn out by the end of the day. Tomorrow I am going in to the hospital where I will deliver the baby for a 4D sonar scan. (I didn't know there was even such a thing as 4D, I am not sure what the 4th dimension is?!?) If it goes well, we will actually be able to see what her face looks like. I am really looking forward to going, it will be a lot of fun to see what she looks like! And, still no names. We have kind of narrowed it down to 4 names, but still no sure thing yet. The names are Kendi (East African meaning "loved one"), Emmy (short for Emmilyn or Emmerson), Riley, and Ryan. Let us know which ones you like.
Also, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!! We are so thankful for a healthy baby, our family's health, God's provision and protection, family and friends near and far, and each one of you who reads our blog (we know there are at least 2 of you :) )
We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

Visitors Blogs

I encourage you all to visit the blogs of our visiting teams. Jen Starbuck was here with the Red Rocks team. Her blog is www.jenstarbuck15.blogspot.com.
Maury and Taylor have a blog at www.taylor-bischoff.blogspot.com.
I think that you'll find these interesting because they offer a visitors perspective of the shelter and South Africa.

Freedom Park and Red Rocks

November 2, 2006
Today I took the Red Rocks team to Freedom Park. It was a very moving experience for them to see such extreme poverty. Every time I go there it is a new experience. This time I spent quite a bit of time talking to one of the care givers, about Freedom Park, her life story, and the plight of the residents of Freedom Park. She told me the story of Freedom Park’s origins for the first time. It is actually a really interesting story. Apparently Freedom Park began when women came to live outside of the mine in order to sell their bodies to the mine workers. The original name of Freedom Park was a word that when translated into English means “women to men.” The local tribal group that was responsible for this area, the Bapututswana (sorry for the misspelling), opposed the women living outside the mine for this purpose. They sent troops to kill the women and burn their shacks. After this continued for some time, the ANC (currently the ruling black political party) sent troops to oppose the Bapututswana. These troops supported the women and fought for them to be able to live there. Apparently the ANC won the struggle and changed the name from “women to men” to “Freedom Park.” I find it very interesting that the origin of Freedom Park basically started around prostitution. They are now reaping the consequences of those actions. Dr. Neil tells us that 70% of pregnant women in Freedom Park are HIV positive. The care giver we were talking to today told us how she came to Freedom Park after fleeing an abusive husband. She found a boyfriend in the mine. (“Boyfriend” is the term that they use to describe what is basically prostitution.) She told us “I got money for the weekend with him and got a disease for the rest of my life in return.” She is HIV positive, has a son in highschool, and a 4 year old daughter. She volunteers her time at the Freedom Park clinic to care for those who are dying of the disease that she will eventually die of.

Red Rocks visits Phokeng

This is Lincoln writing. The Red Rocks team visited the orphans in Phokeng last tuesday. We've written about these kids before if you scroll down to some previous posts. I wasn't with them, but I understand it was rainy and muddy most of the time, so they had to spend a lot of time inside Martha's tiny little house. Imagine 80 rowdy kids and about 8 adults in a tiny two bedroom home. The team taught them some kids worship songs, complete with movements. The team really had fun spending time with these wonderful kids.
 

Cindy and Latondo

Cindy (from Red Rocks Church) come over to our house with a cute little guy named Latondo. While we were talking Latando fell asleep on Cindy's lap. He slept this way for quite a while. He is a cutie!!