Eyes to See

It’s been chilly lately here in Austin, and tonight I enjoyed a nice hot cup of tea.  As I poured the sugar into my cup I had a flashback to our time in Zimbabwe. Liz and I had the pleasure to go with Steven Nicholson and Pastor John to visit another pastor from John’s church.  We joined the pastor (whose name unfortunately escapes me) outside his house to have tea and chat for a bit. The kind man, who also worked as a doctor, mentioned that he only had a bit of sugar left and apologized for not having enough for everyone. At a time when bread was even hard to come by, sugar was certainly a special treat. I was touched by the pastor’s willingness to share his last bit of sugar with two complete strangers. And now, every time I have tea I can’t help but picture that moment in Marondera, Zimbabwe, and be thankful for the countless blessings I have.

HELP is currently raising money to help Musha Wevana Children’s Home purchase chickens to supply the orphanage with a steady supply of eggs and meat.  The goal is to raise $5200 by Christmas, and they still need roughly $1500 to meet their goal.  You can go here to donate towards the Chicken Project:

http://www.helpendlocalpoverty.com/2009/12/christmas-fund-donation-page/

There’s also an interview of Pastor John explaining about the vision and mission of Family Praise Fellowship.  It’s awesome… and inspiring…  and humbling… and awesome some more… I cried.  And missed Pastor John.  You can watch it here:

http://www.helpendlocalpoverty.com/2009/12/zimbabwe-interview/

Yesterday marked one year since Liz and I purchased our plane tickets for the Eyes to See trip.  It’s crazy to think that a year has already gone by… sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday that we were meeting the most amazing people in the tiny villages of Africa or the carpet shops of Istanbul.  I sometimes have to ask myself, “Did we REALLY do that?  Like…really??” Man…it was SUCH an incredible experience…  Many thanks once again to all of you for your support, prayers and encouragement – before, during and after our trip.

Also, we have an update regarding our book! Our book is finally available to view and purchase online! You can actually “flip” through the entire 160-page book online, or you can purchase your very own hard copy.    25% from each book sale goes to one of the non-profits we visited on our trip.

Follow this link to view/order the book:  http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/908613