Where He leads...: 2010

I think this year went by faster than any other year! It seems like just yesterday at I was celebrating my birthday in Namibia with my AIM friends. And now... I'm back in the States, had a whirlwind two weeks of Christmas festivities, and as of today I find myself another year older.

Despite having to be on the road most of the day, I had a wonderful birthday. I spent the morning with Mom and Granddaddy. He has improved so much since I saw him in September. That's the best birthday present I could ask for! Last night the family we were staying with bought a cake for me and we went to the movies.

After leaving West TN this morning, I hit the road heading for New Orleans. I stopped to have Starbucks with a friend along the way, and then joined up with Stacy in NOLA who was waiting to go out for dinner. She mentioned one or two other people who might join us, but when I got there I discovered that she had set up a surprise birthday party for me! We had a delicious dinner at Rum House, a new Caribbean restaurant in Uptown. They had bought me a gorgeous cake from Whole Foods. Stacy made me a photobook with TONS of pictures from my time in Namibia. It must have taken her hours to scour through my blog to get them all together. It was one of the sweetest and most thoughtful gifts anyone has ever given me! We had a great time laughing and reconnecting. These peeps are some of my favorites in the whole world. We haven't seen each other in over 18 months and yet we can pick right back up like I never left. Several of them will be on the Israel trip with me that begins tomorrow. I can't wait to spend some more time catching up with them!

I feel very blessed and loved on my special day. I got phone calls all day from family and friends. My favorite one was probably from my 7 year old cousin who sang to me, ending it with "You look like a monkey and you smell like one too!" He told Kelly before he called me, "I'm going to do the monkey part. She has lived in Africa after all!" What a cutie!

Thanks to all of you who have supported me this past year. It was certainly a year to remember and I look forward to many more just like it to come!

If you don't already know this.. we had a White Christmas here! No more dreaming. It actually happened! I could hardly believe my eyes this morning. There is just something magical about snow. And it happened to be the perfect kind of snow for building snowmen! And yes, for those of you in the hot places like Namibia and others... there are different types of snow! Come visit next year... maybe it will happen again! Though I won't hold my breath. ;)

For those of you who also had snow today, I hope you took the chance to enjoy it! And for those of you who didn't... maybe these pictures will bring you some joy.

Namibian Santa! And he's ready to cook! :)

Matt wanted to make the biggest snowball EVER. He did make a couple pretty big ones. The cat was the unplanned (but pretty stinkin' awesome) result. :)

merry Christmas

2010 took me places I never would have imagined! I’m thankful to be back home “for now”, celebrating this wonderful season with family. There’s no place like home and getting loved on by so many special people. I’ve realized that one reason God’s brought me back home is to be filled up and refreshed by the love of those here so I can continue on my journey, sharing that love with those who need it.

May you be filled with God’s love this Christmas. And I pray He will use us all to spread it around in 2011!

Love and blessings, Hannah

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

If you've been able to follow along with my journey in Africa, you know that I've recently said my goodbyes to all my wonderful friends in Namibia. When I signed up to head to Namibia with Africa Inland Mission, I gave a time frame of 18-24 months. It's been 18 months and I have felt for a while now that God was bringing my time there to a close.

Now that I've found myself back in East Tennessee, I still have much to process from such an incredible and overwhelming experience. I will continue to write about Namibia from time to time, but I've written my final prayer letter and would like to share it with you.

I can never thank you enough for all of your support, prayers, and encouragement throughout my time in Namibia. I know that God sustained me through your prayers. I have so much to be thankful for. Those 540+ days were filled with blessings beyond my imagination.

I am excited for the days ahead. I know that God is continuing His work in me and will continue to use me wherever I am, if I'll allow Him. I am open to His leading and I hope that you will keep praying with me as I continue on this journey.

Click to enlarge, and click again on next page to enlarge even more.

Everything is unique - nothing is wasted.

That's the slogan of Kitengela Glass Studios. A place we visited before I left Kenya. And what a place it was! As you drive in, bumping your head all over the place because of the terrible road, you start to see art and sculptures everywhere. Kitengela recycles everything possible... scrap glass, bottles, plastic bags, packing material, used oil, tools, and more. From all of that they make some of the most unique and beautiful artwork I have ever seen. If you're ever near Nairobi, you just need to go for yourself. There are stores all over Kenya, but going to the main studio is a real treat! You can even watch the men melt and shape the glass. Kitengela has an impressive history and they try to do right by the locals. They've trained over 50 people to work throughout the business, support a local orphanage, award scholarships, loan school fees, help repair roads, have planted a thousand trees, and of course lead others in the way of recycling.

We had a great time walking around the property, admiring the artwork, and of course shopping. They had a bead and jewelry room that I spent a fair bit of time in.

Here are a few photos to give you a better idea of the place...

That's one big pig!!

The main shop

Bead and jewelry shop

Another shop

On Thursday Jenny, Laurel, and I went down the mountain to a children's home called Beat the Drum. This is a home that was started by John and Mary, a husband and wife team that opened this home as a response to the movie with the same title.

We sat down with John and Mary when we first arrived. You can tell that they are dedicated to and love these children. Currently they have 20 children at Beat the Drum with hopes of one day housing up to 50. Like most organizations, funding is always limited and they expand in stages based on the money that they have at the time. Right now, their funds are quite low and they are praying that God will provide for them to have a Christmas celebration, food and hopefully a few little things for the children. This would be a place that I would love to raise awareness about and try to send some money their way. For as long as Jenny is here, another 18 months, it makes it easy to do that since I can send them through her.

All of the children at Beat the Drum are HIV+. For most of the children the HIV virus has already attacked the immune system to such a degree that it has developed into AIDS. Beat the Drum is located in Mai Mahu. This town is a truck stop on a major highway. Unfortunately most African truck stops and prostitution go hand in hand. With this combination, the spread of HIV and AIDS is rampant. Beat the Drum currently has four houses, five children and an "aunty" in each. The aunties are also HIV positive and help to give the children a sense of family. You can see that the children are loved and that they play well with each other. This is significant especially because there are 6 tribes represented among the children. Tribalism is a common struggle in many African countries. I saw this also in Namibia. Just like race, the tribal differences can cause a lot of tension and conflict. To see John and Mary willingly taking in these children from so many different tribes, and to see them living in harmony, is a beautiful thing.

Beat the Drum opened in 2007 with five children to start with. They have gradually grown in numbers, but five of the kids we met there had only been there for two weeks. Most of those kids still looked a bit shell-shocked. And I can imagine they would be. They've been taken from their homes, maybe a bad situation, or more likely--their parents have died--and have been brought to this new place. They don't know anything about this place. They just know that they no longer have a home anywhere else. I can't imagine being a child and having all of those thoughts running through my head. But I am hopeful that their smiles will soon return to their faces. I'm hopeful that John and Mary will be great new "parents" for them, and that they will regain a sense of family after experiencing such a traumatic loss.

It was also great to see how healthy the children looked. John said that many of them arrived in a terrible state, with death appearing imminent. With the free ARV treatments in this country, they have all recovered so well and have been brought back to a place of good health that the drugs should hopefully be able to maintain for a while. As long as Beat the Drum can pay for transportation to the hospital, the drugs will be available to them.

After John told us about Beat the Drum, we prayed with him. It is wonderful to see how God has already provided for them in so many ways, and we prayed that His provision would continue. We also prayed that John and Mary would be renewed daily as the task ahead of them is not an easy one. I am so thankful for their servant's heart and joy as they care for these kids who would otherwise have little hope.

We headed outside to greet the children. We got a brief tour of one of the homes. And then Jenny refreshed their memory with some games she and others had taught them before. I played for a bit and then sat down so I could snag some photos. After the games, Jenny told them a Bible story. She had a few of the kids help her act them out. We passed out some sweets, took some group photos, and then it was time to head home. Some of the children came up to me with their hands out for a handshake. I pulled them close and hugged them tight. These children need to know that we are not afraid to touch them. To love them with a sweet embrace. I hugged one after one of them and made sure no one was left out. "Who needs a hug?! Did you get a hug?!" After the individual hugs, I had them gather around for a big group hug.

The time with these beautiful children was way too short for me. But I know that Jenny and others from RVA will continue to love on and bless these kids. And like I said, I hope to raise more awareness about children impacted by this disease and to send gifts to be able to help people like John and Mary who have dedicated their lives to live among and care for them. I know those at Beat the Drum will appreciate your prayers for them as they fight against the terrible consequences of HIV and AIDS.

This was the kitchen in one of the homes. Currently it is the only kitchen between all of the homes. Eventually, when they get the funds, they want to have a kitchen in each home. If you look under the silver pot on the right, they cook using "jikos"--charcoal burners.

This little guy was probably my favorite. He had the best smile that he constantly wore all over his face!

Laurel and her new friend, Evelyn.

Jenny also with Evelyn. As the youngest one, she was a little timid to join in on all the crazy games.

This little girl, Faith, was so precious. Other than the problems she has with her left eye, she looks like any normal, healthy child. You can also see one of the "new kids" sitting in the background.

A group shot including some of John and Mary's own kids. They have four of their own and one they have adopted.

Some onlookers from the town. They were quite curious.

The video below is nothing special in terms of videography. It shows them singing and then playing "Stop, Go", a simpler English version I taught them of "Red Light, Green Light". It's just the raw footage to show you the kids in action. :)

I want to close by providing you with some daunting statistics concerning children and HIV/AIDS. I hope you will not simply read them and move on, but that you will let these realities sink in. And that you will pray about and consider what you can do to make a difference in the fight against this pandemic.

More than 1,000 children are newly infected with HIV every day, and of these more than half will die as a result of AIDS because of a lack of access to HIV treatment.
At the end of 2009, there were 2.5 million children living with HIV around the world.
An estimated 400,000 children became newly infected with HIV in 2009.
Of the 1.8 million people who died of AIDS during 2009, one in seven were children. Every hour, around 30 children die as a result of AIDS.
There are more than 16 million children under the age of 18 who have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

...kicked my butt.

On Tuesday, Jenny and I went with a bus load of other RVA folks to Mt. Longonot. She had asked me before I came if I wanted to do this hike. I happily agreed. I'm always up for an adventure! As we drove into RVA I got my first view of Mt. Longonot...

I mean, I expected a mountain, but not one this big! And actually, Mt. Longonot is a volcano. Its been dormant since the 1860s and rises over 9,100 feet above sea level. There's a trail that goes up to the crater rim and then the trail continues up to the highest peak and all around. Getting up to the crater rim was difficult enough, but we decided that we might as well do the whole thing. Wow! It's about 5km up to the rim and another 10km around the crater. So that's over 12 miles round trip... and I felt every step of it in my calves, hamstrings, and everywhere else! My poor knee on the way back down was hating me. But we had a great time and what great exercise! We even saw some game along the way... some kind of antelope too far away to distinguish and several giraffes. We did get rained on a bit and it was quite chilly if you stopped. The "Just Keep Swimming" song from Finding Nemo went through my head more than once--substituting swimming for stepping of course.

As difficult as the hike was it does make me really excited to get back home to my mountains. Ok, well, they aren't my mountains, but the Smoky Mountains are the most special mountains in the world to me. Coming home is coming back to them and all the rest of the wonderful things home brings. Thanks, Mt. Longonot for the great warm-up! Maybe one day we can do it again...

The view from the crater rim. My camera couldn't capture the full panoramic view.

I found this one on Google for a better view. Pretty amazing, huh?

To the crater rim but not even halfway through our journey.

The light brown line you see on top of the rim is the path. Quite narrow and a bit treacherous going down the other side of the peak.

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