As time flies by...

Hello everyone who is following our lives through this blog. I again apologize for the lack of information coming your way. We have been apart of an amazing movement over here though and so if you want to follow along I’ll tell you all about it. 

Since i wrote last ALOT has happened, the New Hope team from Texas has left and another team from Davos, Switzerland has arrived. The team is the smallest team we’ve had so far being just 3 guys and 2 girls. But they have brought God in their hearts and a passion to serve. They have already been in South Africa for 2 and a half months so are on the last leg of their journey. Please pray for energy and strength to give 100 percent for the rest of their time here. Thanks. 

The house that I’ve been working on so closely with the worker (Lucky) is almost finished. We’ve finished the walls, put on the roof, poured the floor, backwashed the walls, and have one window left to put in. So a lot of work has been put into this house and we have named the house “the sanctuary.” But like lots of good things, there has  been a great deal of spiritual warfare. After spending the afternoon with the boys there coloring and praying with them, the next morning they were robbed and the house got trashed. I’ve spent more time there than anyone else so I was the first to find out and felt so sad for these boys who have almost nothing. We (10,000 homes staff and Davos team) were able to stand together and rebuke the evil spirits and tell them there is no room for them in this place. It was wonderful, but we were tested again the next night when a storm hit, the biggest one i’ve seen since being here. Full grown trees were ripped from their roots and roofs were ripped off and there was a mess everywhere i went. Lucky and myself left early that morning to see what damages were caused at the boys house and “the sanctuary.” Like we thought their place was a mess just like everywhere else, except “the sanctuary” it looked new and stood strong against the mighty winds. It reminded me of the story in the Bible about building your house on a firm foundation. I stood there looking at their old house and how it was ripped apart and looked at the new one that stood strong. This house I sweated over to help build, is move than walls and a roof, its a sanctuary where God was invited in and lives. Please stand with us now to pray for these boys to know God as their Savior and Father they have never had.  

Dear Jesus, we thank you for all you have done for us sinners. You have shown us love in a way we do not deserve. For while we were still sinning you died so that we may live. Jesus thank you, we love. We lift up these boys, as strong as they are, i know they are searching for someone to hold them and comfort them. God show yourself to them in a way that is indescribable. They need you father, have mercy on them, for we all sin and fall short of your glory. Be merciful. God we pray over this house, this sanctuary, we pray that no evil spirit will be invited into this house, that this is your house where they learn to grow and share. God give them eyes to see, ears to hear, and mouths to speak praises to you father. God give them more and more of you. Show them your mighty powers but your kindness and love. God only you can restore them, consume their hearts, set a fire off inside them. Let our love be like a fire and let our lives be a flame, may they see our hearts for them God. May they know our love for them is your love for them. May they move into the sanctuary and know they are safe, that their stuff is safe, that they don’t have to live a life of fear anymore. That you oh God are their protecter and their fortress. God we thank you for who you are and the promises you give us. Praise be to you God. Amen.

There is also lots of construction going on around the base. God has been answering financial prayers like crazy around here! Two staff families received all the money to build their houses we’ve been praying for and there well on there way now. Another has been praying for money for a vehicle and received a $7000 cheque from a donator. Our base leaders have been praying for money to go home and visit family, friends, and donators. They sold their vehicle and are using the money for that! Its been amazing to see how God answers prayers when they seem so impossible. God we just thank you for all that your doing! Thank you for providing for us, God we lift up all those who are in distress and are less fortunate. God show yourself to them, reveal your power and love oh God. Thank you Father. 

Well like most of you know it was mine and Jaclyn’s first anniversary as a married couple this past monday. We started the celebration off early (good thing cause she got super sick monday) on saturday. We booked a cave tour called Sudwala caves, that are the oldest known caves in the world... or something like that. I don’t know, if you want to know more ask Jaclyn i don’t keep track of things like that or look them up yourself, i’m sure you’ll find some sweet pics. Anyways it was so fun and adventurous! We went a total of 4 km in the caves, in parts where we were had about a foot of room above us for 12 meters long and water 8 inches high. So it was a great test to see if you were scared of small spaces! We saw some bats and parts of the cave that went up like 50 feet. After weshowered in the sketchiest showers ever we went and got some food and hung out with some of the Davos team at a coffee shop that we’ve grown quite fond of. :) Got home late and played some settlers!!! Sunday we booked a bed and breakfast at a place in Nelspruit about 45 minutes away. It was gorgeous! It felt really good to get away from the base for a night and sleep in a good bed. We didn’t know of any nice places to eat in Nelspruit so we decided to just drive around till we found one... bad idea! Started pouring rain and totally got lost for what seemed forever. Finally got to some junky place and i was about ready to go in and eat but Jaclyn didn’t want too so i just asked a couple that was walking out of there if they knew of a nice place to eat. ha ha. It was kinda forward but thats me, and it worked. We actually followed them to a nice little Portuguese restaurant that they knew of! Mmmm it was sooo good and our waiter was so great! What a great night! ;) 

Monday rolls around and Jaclyn became even more sick than she was before. She had a headache and neck stiffness for a couple days and monday it just became unbearable. So off the the clinic we went. Nurse-y said it could have been a couple things so we were a bit scared but we know God is with us. So figured out our insurance stuff and went to the hospital. She was given some drugs for the pain and got blood work done and tests for malaria but everything came back negative. Woot! 

And now another week starts. A bit slow cause we’re both not feeling 100 percent but we know the end is coming near and we want to give all we have before we leave. So please pray for our health and strength to finish strong. Thanks friends!

Pictures from South Africa

I know some people have been waiting to see some more pictures, so here are a few.  Please enjoy, it's really difficult to upload here.  There are a lot of stories behind these pictures, I hope I can share someday.  I'll add a few words, but I really just want the pictures to speak for themselves. ( Please ask permission before copying these pictures, thanks! )

My friend Merici dishing out food in Mbonesweni.

 When the kids pray, its so powerful I believe.

 There are many mouths to feed!

They LOVE dancing!

It's quite chaotic when free balloons are handed out!

They love colouring!

Lets Re-cap this last week (written by both of us)

The weekend was so fun, we went with the Orlando team to a bunch of beautiful sight-seeing places. Went up to Byrd River Canyon to a place called God’s Window for the obvious reason that it looks heavenly. We did some hiking up to some waterfalls... they were absolutely stunning! We also had a volleyball tournament much to Josh’s delight! Tuesday was a sad day as we said goodbye to our dear friends from YWAM Orlando as they headed home after their 2 month outreach. It was so great getting to know them and working with them. They really were amazing! 

But before they left, 230 am Monday morning I (jaclyn) got up to greet the new mission team arriving from New Hope church in Texas. The church there has sent teams here before so they are already connected to what goes on here and were very prepared. They brought boxes and boxes of toys, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and many other things. They always come to bless, and bless they did. 

There has been some amazing changes around the base and the church most of us attend in Mbonesweni. The Holy Spirit has been working in so many different ways to grow us and challenge us to do more and do it better. By this I (josh writing now) mean connecting with the people we minister to on a whole new level. Talking about the hard topics, like sex, love, forgiveness, and restoration. Most of all the young adults and youth come from messed up homes. God has been challenging us to break that bondage that is holding these kids back from really experiencing the forgiveness Jesus did on the cross for all of us. The New Hope team has brought that extra kick we needed to really reach some of these kids. After many tears and laughter as the Holy Spirit touched so many lives this week, we find ourselves with many new young adults free of bondage. Praise be to God, for He is good. Amen. 

With all the commotion going on around here, with teams being here, starting a new house and trying to finish another off, we had to say bye to some staff members that are  gone for 4-5 weeks on a fundraising trip to the states. The Kaufmans (a family of 4), and Kerri Dodge all left this week to travel to different states to explain what God is doing over here through us, and to get people on board. Their schedule is not totally full yet so please stand with us as we pray that God will direct them to churches and people whose hearts are broken for this orphan crisis.   

There were a few heart-breaking moments this week that I suppose I should mention.  At the feeding in Dwaleni way over the usual 200 kids showed up.  The team serving did such a great job but they ran out of food.  I’m afraid the kids at the end of the line didn’t get enough.  It’s happened before, more show up than they have food for, and kids at the end of the line end up fighting for the scraps.  It’s hard to imagine not having food, but it’s something that is a reality here. It’s hard because this is one of the only meals most of the kids get to eat each week. We’re really just praying that the staff fundraising in the States right now find sponsors to fully fund the feedings and open more.  

Another heart-breaking moment was at the other feeding in Mbonesweni.  There were some really hungry sick kids there, and it broke my heart holding them.  Josh and I fed two kids about 4 years old, it was a bit gross cause they don’t use utensils and it all mushes together!  It’s hard to describe what a hungry kid looks like. They’re really exhausted and just collapse in your arms, passing out at times to the point where we can’t wake them up without splashing a bit of water on their faces.  Many kids are sick and have really bad coughs, I sometimes wonder if some have TB.  It’s hard seeing the little ones, cause they can’t speak english yet, and I want so badly to tell them I love them and tell them they’ll never be alone.  But many go home to no parents, and some don’t feel safe or protected at night, some really are all alone.  At these moments I have to build my faith stronger, and know that God is with them every moment. I can hold them for a few hours every week, but then I have to trust Him to do the same when I’m not there.  Please pray with us for the kids this week.  Pray for protection and food and provision and healing.  They all need it so badly! 

Well you have seen a small picture of the breakthrough and the heart-break that happens over here. Everyday has its new challenges but we believe that God is much bigger than this crisis. As we continue to fight for freedom from bondage and hopelessness, please remember us in your prayers. Thank you for all your support and walking with us in our life. May God be with you this week and bless you as He has blessed us. 

Love, Josh and Jaclyn Hennan

Because She Said So!

Hello everyone! It’s been awhile since our last update and a lot has happened! So all who are interested, grab a cup of coffee, sit back and get ready for Josh to tell whats been going on these past weeks and what God has been doing!

Well last week was a very long week for myself, busy working on pouring a floor in a house that we have been working on and its almost done! YAY! And by pouring the floor i mean wheelbarrowing different kinds of sand up a small hill and mixing it with concrete and then eventually getting it in the house to level and smooth it. Much bigger task than i can explain but it has been awesome having the Orlando team here, even though there are limited guys (4) to the 20 or so girls on the team. But everyone has helped out where they can and its been great getting to know them all. A little bit about the family that this house is for: there are 4 young boys and one girl and a single mother. A couple months ago the boys were out cooking beside there house on an open fire. When the fire got out of control and their whole house (sadly its hard to say that because it was more of a shack that most of us wouldn’t put our dogs in to sleep in). They lost everything! All the money they had saved, furniture, dishes, everything was inside and they were left standing hopeless. The people here at 10,000 homes heard of the distress of what this family had just gone through and have been building a home for them since. I must admit it has been difficult to put the final touches on it (ie: doors, security bars on the windows, etc.) because of the lack in money coming in for it. So please if God is tugging on your heart to give please don’t hold back from sending an email to myself or Jaclyn about how too. 

Okay i kinda got away on myself there sorry. But really there is need all around us and money can only go so far, so please keep us in your prayers. Pray for divine appointments and opportunities to really love our neighbors. 

Above everything that happened at the house last week I also completed my soccer field that I had to take down the same day because we needed the nets. Pretty lame but we got to play the African mens church team on friday so it ended up being worth it. There was no joking around with these guys, who were dressed in uniforms, cleats, and shin-pads. Surprise them we did though with only 6 guys on the field and about 15 girls lol. We battled hard and with a great pass from one of the girls i got open and just about scored but got took out by the goalie!! So PENALTY KICK and no i did not miss so tie game one- one in the end. It was a great time all around and many laughs!

Well that’s last week in a nut shell. 

The soccer field!

The weekend was great, we get saturday off so we got off the base and went to a new area in White River that has tons of little fancy shops everywhere. There were some pretty boring artsy stuff that Jaclyn loved and I pretended to be interested. But was more afraid of breaking something or Jaclyn breaking something! So that didn’t last long and we were out looking at more shops, home decor, winery ; ) that happened to have tastings (one had hot peppers in it that just about killed me), a chocolate shop mmmm.. and a bunch more that probably don’t interest you so I’ll spare you. After a nice lunch we drove 20 minutes to the big city of Nelspruit. And we went and took some pictures at where they held some soccer games for the World Cup. The place was huge! And then just killed the rest of the day exploring and hit up a newer mall where i found a .... VOLLEYBALL! I’ll explain more later on why thats so exciting but until then we’re on to Sunday. 

We felt kinda lazy so skipped out on church in the morning but spent the day with God never the less. I finished the book “The Shack” which i started the Sunday before.  All who know me, know I hate reading, so reading a book in a week is a big deal. And Jaclyn also finished “The Bait of Satan” which she said was very good and really helped her understand some things that she didn’t even know she struggled with. And then went to a youth service that was put on by the Orlando team who did a swell job talking about the hard topic; sex. They really broke it down in explaining God’s heart, and why He created sex. In talking with some of the guys in attendance after the service they said it was well taught and had many questions. They said they had never had a service like that before. So God is very at work here and we’re so blessed to be part of what he is doing here.

  

So since its already almost wednesday here, i’ll just add a bit about this week and then Jaclyn will be even more impressed and maybe get off my case about writing this. Mondays around here are what everyone wishes their mondays was like haha. We kinda sleep in a bit and everyone is just in slow motion and no one really wants to do much of anything. But i had other plans that included my new volleyball. I’ll try and add some pictures cause i’m sure its kinda hard to picture what everything looks like, but I made a fantastic looking volleyball court! And the Schmidt and Beauchamp family know how much we love playing v-ball !!! So after cutting the foot long grass twice and raking twice i’m finally almost done it after 2 full days. And tomorrow i’ll get to try it out with the Orlando team!! 


So thats all I got for y’all! Hope you enjoyed it as much as i did writing it. Not being sarcastic at all really. I miss y’all so much and hope everyone is doing as well as we are. Be blessed my friends. 

Week 1

Sorry it’s been awhile!   We’re having a great time here at Ten Thousand Homes.  It is so beautiful here, and it’s so hot!

We want to tell you a bit more about Thousand Homes, now that we are here!  This base is a ministry of Youth With a Mission and it is run by 15 full-time staff.  They run feeding programs for a few hundred kids a week, and work to build homes for orphans in the surrounding communities.  There are so many children without parents here!  10,000 Homes host many Ywam Outreach teams and Church Mission’s Trips.  They also run a Discipleship Training School once a year.

The last few days have been quite exciting!  As interns we get to sit in on many staff meetings and be a part of what goes on here.  This week we’ve help with visited the nearby communities, getting food ready for the feeding programs, and helping serve at two different feeding programs.  We’ve also been helping the staff around the base with cleaning and prep for a large team that is arriving this next Monday!  

Some highlights from this week included our trip to Krugar Park on the weekend!  Krugar Park is a National Game Reserve (the location for most of Animal Planet’s safari filming!)  It’s huge! We spent 12 hours exploring and touring through the park.  We saw so many animals, it was amazing!  

Some of the best moments were:

-seeing lions! 

-watching a huge hippo climb out of the river

-when two giraffes and some zebra walked across the road behind our car

-finding a family of about 40 baboon traveling down the road in front of us!  

-We also saw a rare black Rhino and elephants!

Sunday we went to a church in the community we will be working in.  The whole hillside was filled with the beautiful singing voices of about 100 people.

It was such a pleasant surprise to us that the pastor spoke in english (and it was translated into Swahiti too).  Most people here speak english, which is so nice!

The feeding programs went well this week!  We met many kids, and one little three year old wanted me to hold him all day.  It’s hard to see kids so deprived of love.  This week we’ve also been cleaning out the cottages for an outreach team from Orlando.  I personally found 3 lizards and about 8 frogs.  There are many little creatures living with us!  (I found a giant toad in our closet last night! ) 

Well I guess that’s it for now!  We hope and pray that wherever you are in the world that you have a blessed week!

Love, Josh & Jaclyn 

Canadian Postcards

Two weeks ago I found myself in a Canadian souvenir shop buying Canadian postcards. Not to send anyone.  For myself.  I know, I know, you’re not supposed to buy postcards of your own home. Maybe I’m a bit strange. But maybe I also know I’m going to miss my home, and I am not sure what to expect. I’m not really one to get too home sick, especially when I’m doing what I love.  But this trip is going to be so different then what I’ve done before!

There are different types of leaving.  And I’d say moving away from your own culture and country is the hardest.  Moving out of western culture is going to be a shocker I think.  I’ve lived in Australia and America, but that’s what I’d consider to be ‘Western’.  If the majority of  people look and talk like you, your in a ‘Western Culture’.  Yes that includes All-inclusive Resorts in my mind, just the name sounds like the west made it up.  I’ve also lived in Thailand and Cambodia for 2 months.  That’s the longest.  And it was an Amazing trip, but oh soooo incredibly hard in some aspects.  

Not sure how to get ready for this though.  How do you get ready to walk down the street and stand out so awkwardly.  Not being the majority is hard for most of us to understand.  I will be a struggle to communicate with people I’m sure.  HUGE culture barriers I’m sure.  It will be a struggle.  But It’s also an adventure. 

So why are we throwing ourselves into a new culture, and country fully knowing it’s going to be a struggle to fit in, and a challenge to communicate.  Knowing we’re going to be stretched out of our comfort zone every day.  Why are we doing this?  Do we just want the experience and adventure of it?  Most people would guess that I suppose.  But no it’s really not about that.  

This is about us feeling a calling to help the vulnerable, to care for orphans, widows, and the poor.  The people who are often considered to be a burden to society are actually the people we think have so much potential.  They are so close to God’s heart.  And that’s the key here.  We want to get closer to God’s heart.  What breaks his heart?  What is he doing about the AIDS crisis in South Africa?  Does he hear the cries of the  babies that have gone days without food?  What's he going to do about all the pain and suffering I see around me?   

 I don’t exactly know, but I am going to find out. 

getting you up-2-date

15 Days until we begin the long trek over to White River, South Africa!  There Josh and I will be working with a non-profit organization called Ten Thousand Homes.  We’ve been accepted there for a three month internship.  How did this all fall into place for us?  Good question... 

Back up two years ago, when Josh was going to school at Youth with A Mission in Denver, CO, he heard about Ten Thousand Homes, an organization that builds homes for South Africa’s most vulnerable children.  He remembered the name, and people that told him about it, and over the last two years its always been rolling around in his head and mine.

Since last April, when we got married we’ve been saving money.  And we’ve been able to save all the money that we need for this three month trip.  It sounds crazy!  It sounds unreal to me, that we could be in this position to be able to do exactly what we’ve been wanting to do.  We didn’t really know that whole time that we’d be going to work with Ten Thousand Homes, in fact we just got accepted by them in the new year.  

In the past when we have been going overseas to volunteer or be a part of a mission’s team we’ve had to raise support and fundraise to be able to do it.  And so this time around when we send out letters to family and friends, to keep them up-to-date we’ll be asking for their prayers and also if they would support this amazing organization and ministry.  On their website: tenthousandhomes.com you can actually support them in many ways.  We think this is just such a great way for us help them by telling everyone we know about what they are doing!

So details, details... everyone wants to know all about it, but to be honest there are many things we’ll just have to tell you about when we get there.  It may be overwhelming for some to think about just up and leaving for three months and going to a different country, culture, not really know all the facts.  We are ok with it all though, we look like we’re just flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants, but really we’re just confident that God has it all sorted out, and the surprises/inconveniences of living in a new place will just be opportunity for us to grow!  

Right now we are in Portage la Prairie, for the next two weeks.  We’re working hard, we’re exhausted at the end of everyday, but we’re excited and hopeful for everything that’s just around the bend for us!