LATEST FLASH IN THE VILLAGE (March 26, 2015)

Magdalen burst on the scene with her precious eyes piercing the world around her. Momma Aida is all smiles and feeling great as she allows CJ to hold her latest creation. (Her 5th child). Father Nelson said he and the 4 siblings are all happy and none of them are jealous....yet. So the population of Bende Mutale jumped up by one with Magdalen's arrival. What genius in the miracle of birth.

THE POWER OF THE WORD (March 20 & 21, 2015)

The Bible still has great power to transform lives, to awaken hope and to allow dreams to rise in the heart.  In our world, we are so accustomed to having abundance, we don't see having a Bible as unusual or as a gift.   But in Zimbabwe, that's a whole new story. 

I want to introduce you to Enoch Ngula.  He and his brother Amos are wood carvers at Victoria Falls. While working with the carvers 2 years ago, Enoch shyly approached me and very humbly asked if it would be possible for us to bring him a Bible.  He yearned to have one of his very own.   We contacted Todd Lackie with the request and he immediately asked people at Kenwood Church to meet this request. 

It was an honor to bring these men the holy scriptures. Enoch wanted me to sign it for him with a special note to  praise God for Enoch's pure heart with the courage to ask for this treasure. 

Douglas ask if he could speak to me. He is telling me how he had been praying for God to send him a Bible.  He wanted one so badly.  God had us bring him one and for Douglas, that was a miracle.  Each man received their Bible with great joy and thanksgiving.  He further told me he had read in John 14 that night.  They were hungry for God's word. 

Many people approached us like Collene when they heard we had Bibles. Their astonishment and gratitude at receiving one was humbling. 

Victoria Falls is one of the great natural wonders of the world. How appropriate, because God's presence surely dwells in the sweet hearts of His people in this place. And how appropriate to witness the rainbow, the symbol of hope and new life. These beautiful people are teaching us lessons from the soul, heart to heart. Their simple faith is an honor to behold. 

The poverty is a drain to the human spirit. Here, CJ and the girls hand out a huge lunch wrapped in a T-shirt for each man. 

In a very orderly way, the carvers passed through the line 

and quickly found a place to sit down and eat. 

Then, like Kenny here, they got right back to work. We purchased carvings from many of these men in recognition of their great talent.

Realizing how hungry they still were and that if an African man didn't get his "mealie" he didn't feel like he had eaten, we took Amos to the market to get what was needed to prepare it.

Bought tomatoes, onions and "mealie" from street venders.

Then finished off the ingredients by getting the roots from the "root store."

When we swung back by to check on our carvers and tell them goodbye, they had a surprise for us.

They had carved a plaque for us and each of the more than 30 men had carved their name on back of it and presented it to HHTH which CJ received for us. God is good. 

Below this is Trust (carver), his wife Modester (pronounced Modes-star, which means
"mediator"), their daughter Charmaine and son, Craig. They could not contain their joy and
gratitude for their new chicken business.  Modester will be the main care taker as Trust 

must continue to carve. We have every confidence in her as she already has 3
very productive gardens around their little house. She also has 4 years experience in
Raising chickens. They both attended agricultural school. Their chickens should
be about 2 1/2 weeks old already.  They will sell them at 6 weeks. He has already
talked with restaurants in the area who have committed to buying their chickens.
Pray for their success. This will transform their situation. They truly believe God is
the source behind all these blessings. 

"I'm in Heaven": Reflections of a Thankful School and Hungry Teenagers (March 17, 2015)

This video is of Kumalo thanking us for the book drive. He graciously said much more but it only allows me to send only one minute. 

Kumalo asked

for a volunteer to pray. It was a girl, and they 

we're all so respectful during the prayer. 

At this point Zoie and Alanna had gone over 3
weeks with no tastes like home. Then we found a
McDonald's in Nelspruit, on our way back to
Bende Mutale. Not only were they hungry for
something familiar, they knew they wouldn't
get any such food in Venda Land. There are NO
restaurants that far back in the Bush. Just look
at the food these two small teens consumed!!!
I was embarrassed until I saw my own food
that I ordered in a "fast food" trance.

At the Dadani School in Zimbabwe (March 14, 2015)

In Zimbabwe, working with our Dadani

School. For those who never really believed in

"Pumba" in The Lion King, he really is real!  He

is alive and well and keeps the grass mowed

where we stayed at Lokuthola. 

Janco our guide delivered us safely to 

Zimbabwe (Zim) and we went directly to see

Kumalo at Dadani. Our shipment had not arrived,

but we had brought many other essentials for

them. We loaded 700 books on my Kindle and 

donated that to the library. Kumalo had never

seen such a thing but he very quickly caught 

on. He was very grateful. 

Kumalo thanked us for the Kindle and introduced

us to Nyasha, the bright new librarian who will

Organize the more than 3,000 books coming to

them. They have only one set of books for all

classes so each class must bring the books

back to the library for the next class to check 

them out. She can barely believe the books 

will come. 

Dadani has two paths. One for the academically 

inclined hoping to go on to college some day. 

The second path is vocational to help the 

children learn a skill so they can get a job. They 

are at this very moment building the vocational

building so the students can learn about food

and beverage industry, brick making and other

useable skills. In this video, the man is

hand making all the bricks to build the Vocational

Building.  Hard work but a useful skill. 

A Break in the Timeline - a forgotten blog post from the flight to Johannesburg (January 30, 2015)

Alanna and Zoie ( 2 of my great granddaughters), CJ, Sidney and Wayne (out of the photo), wait to load on the flight bound for Africa. What you can't see all of, are our TWO Red Cap carts

Waited to be loaded aboard.  Out of the 20 bags we only got 4 for all 5 of us. The

rest are filled with clothes, dresses, shorts, shirts, shoes, school bags, etc. that many of you helped us sew for our precious Venda Tribe. 

After resting up to get on this time zone,

we will be ready to search for a trailer so

We can pick up 74 boxes of goods on our way to the villages.  Tune in for more.

Trust and Modesta Chicken Business (March 4, 2015)

We signed a contract with Trust and Modesta to help them start a chicken business.  We truly believe they will be successful because of the pride we see in how neat and orderly they keep their surroundings in spite of their poverty. Trust has 4 years experience in raising broiler chickens. We will be able to see their progress in 5-6 weeks. They were very happy seeing their dream materialize. 

Trust signs agreement with HHTH Charity Alan Salomon created for us. 

Janco helps load up materials for 

Chicken Coop. 

Trust getting the chicken wire to fence in

The broiler chicks.  

Going to See the Wood Carvers (March 3, 2015)

Today we went to see our Wood Carvers. They

could not believe we  had brought them each a

Bible. They are so hungry for God's word! Janco

brought the Bibles Kenwood sent in 2013 from

"Jabulani" for us to hand out. They clapped for

joy and reverently formed a circle to pray and

give God such gratitude from their hearts.

Enoch is the one who so shyly asked me for a

Bible because he never had one and badly

wanted to read God's words. I presented him

with my study Bible.

Enoch fell into my arms, his eyes brimming over with gratitude. I can't
explain the miracle of witnessing the
power of God's love and His power
in these men's lives.

Each man couldn't thank us enough.
We just didn't have enough. We could have passed 50 more. These precious

people are on the lowest rung of the
survival ladder and they cling to Jesus. 

This is Douglas and he came to me to let me
know how much he appreciated getting God's
Holy Words.  He said he had prayed and prayed
for God to send him a Bible and God did. Doug
said it was a miracle for him. He wanted to
praise God for our Church bringing him a Bible.
He was in awe of God's love for him. It was a
very humbling experience. 

Love to all our Brothers and Sisters, Sidney

Part of a Letter to Todd Lackie (February 28, 2015)

We are back in a cloud forrest with African torrential down pours. We are picking up our trailer and Janco (pronounced Yanco), our guide for Zimbabwe.  It is not safe enough for us to cross the border by ourselves. We are anxious to see our wood carvers and take them the Bibles. They will be astounded that God doesn't forget them. Also, there is a family there we are considering helping with a chicken project as well.

We are all well and God keeps opening doors of opportunity for HHTH to do His work and He also shows us the path to get it accomplished. This continues to teach me the awesome power of God and just like when He called Joshua, making him face the battle with so little, all would know that it was won only because of God's power. Not ours.

Very humbling.

Arriving at the Venda Villages (February 22, 2015)

Arriving at our Venda Villages in a smoldering 

heat of over 100 degrees, we immediately 

contacted Edison, principal of Tshikuyu primary

School where we administer to many orphans. 

Wayne, CJ and I worked with Edison to identify

children who needed shoes.

He is a selfless man, never asking for himself. 

We presented  Edison and the teachers with 

 gifts and they were over joyed for such a small

 kindness. These dear teachers give so much 

to help these at risk children get an education. 

We are all painfully aware it is the only hope to

escape the bleak fate of poverty. 

42 children were identified who had no hope of
getting a pair of shoes. Though this area exists
In deep poverty as a way of life, fate has
Cruelly plunged them even deeper. Recently,
the local coal mine closed, and 2,000 of the
Venda people have lost their jobs. Since each
working person supports 7 - 20
dependents,
this has devastated the area.

HHTH has been working to relieve suffering for
over 3 years now. God has lead us here, so we
stay focused on what we CAN do, and
not on the immensity of the poverty. Many of
you reading this Blog have faithfully supported
helping these villages. YOU have done more
than you can ever imagine. Each thing we do,
each child who get shoes, school supplies or
clothing multiplies our gratitude for you.

Alanna, CJ's granddaughter is drawing the feet
of the children who need shoes.  She and Zoie -
not seen, are our great granddaughters.
They are deeply Involved in helping us to work
with the Venda). Alanna is 14 and Zoie is 12.
CJ Is home schooling the girls as we journey
Across South Africa.  They hearts are full of
compassion for the needs and children love
to crowd around them because they almost
never see a white child. Zoie and Alanna are
getting an education that far exceeds what
they would have gotten in a typical class
room. Alanna's comment after this event,
"This is the happiest I have been since the
6th grade."

Reaching beyond our own world truly makes
us a bigger person and fills our soul with
peace.  

Working in a Bush downpour.
It is exotic to experience an African storm. And
They so badly needed to break the heat, if only for
a day.

We went into Bende Mutale and the children
ran to us right away because they knew we
would have suckers for them. We also checked
on one of the chicken projects from 2013. There
were still live chickens!!

Then we took the torturous road into a time
warp and arrived at our smallest village of
Bileni. And another wonderful surprise greeted
us. The garden we had helped them put is was
still thriving. Maurice Thikolelwi Mdua, the
young man who coordinated the workers who
Created this garden had told the parents of the
Creche children, "These are not my kids. This
is not MY garden. You must not let it collapse.
Your children, not mine will be hungry."  They
have "learned to fish" on this one!!

A Letter to Bobby David (February 17, 2015)

Dear Bobby:

We have worked daylight to dark. So many exciting things to share with you when we return. We are involved in many heart warming projects to help our villages - we are helping to provide jobs and little entrepreneurial businesses. God is more than good and leading us to many needed works. The Tshikondene mine closed down. 2,000 people lost their job. A doctor at the mine said each person working touches almost 20 others so 40,000 people have been impacted. The already deep poverty is now at an excruciating level. So far, we have started 2 large community farm projects and 2 major chicken projects. It is over 100 degrees so it feels like we are melting during the day. Yesterday, we distributed mosquito nets to women and children in 5 villages. And put shoes on over 40 orphans. They have never had shoes, so their reaction flooded me with tears. There are other ways we have created 5 more jobs. I have prayed that God guide us to answers as he reveals the great need. Would you pass this along at Church. I will try to get a blog out soon. Please take care of yourself sweet friend. Know that I so appreciate and miss you.

Love, Sidney

Safely in Johannesburg (Jan. 29, 2015)

We landed safely in Johannesburg after a
grueling 21 hour flight. Janco Scott, our "guide
on the ground," met us in the Landy we have
partnered in Purchasing a Land Rover to safely manage the roads in South Africa. A big thank you to
Sidney's brother Kayo Randolph, who helped
us with more than half our share. The rest was
raised  by CJ & I through our crafts. We have
dubbed her "Jabulani," which means "to be happy".in African.
We are still considering the other name of "
"Dr. Livingston. "  the name that the most
People chooses will be the winner. Just do a
return email with the name you like best, and that
Will be the Landy's name, and YOU will have
Gotten to choose the name.

Janco performed magic and got 10 0versized
Suit cases. 10 carry-on's and various other
stuff In and On top of "Jabulani." It was
awesome to behold.